The Beating of Your Heart

Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

THIS IS NOT HAPPENING.

"Thénardier!" I yell, banging at the door.

The sun hasn't completely set yet and he is nowhere to be found. No, he has to be here. He can't be gone.

"Thénardier, I swear-"

"He's not here," a voice says from behind me.

I turn around and see a girl about my age standing a couple feet away, arms crossed. She's wearing a dress that's all torn up and her skin is so dirty, I wonder when's the last time she washed herself. Plus, she's not even smiling. She seems fun...

"And you are?" I ask.

"Who wants to know?"

I roll my eyes.

"I'm Enjolras."

"Oh, Monsieur Leader of the Revolution, I hear."

"Or just Enjolras..."

"Well, if you must know; I'm Eponine. Eponine Thénardier."

"Oh, so you're the Jondrette girl. I've heard about you."

Her eyes instantly light up.

"You're friends with Marius, right? He has been talking about me?"

I look at her, completely puzzled.

"Why would h-?"

"Oh, umm, never mind. It's not important." She clears her throat. "So what do you want with my Papa, Monsieur?"

"I made a deal with him. He was supposed to meet me here before sundown."

She hunches her shoulders.

"I guess my Papa wasn't going to honor your deal since he has been gone since lunch."

I curse in frustration, throwing the bag of coins I was holding on the wall. The bag tears and all the gold pieces scatter on the pavement as Eponine rushes to them.

"These are all yours?" she asks, clearly amazed.

"These are my part of the deal..."

"Okay," she says, her eyes locked on the shiny gold coins. "What's the deal? Maybe I could, you know, help you instead."

She bends down to pick one up and I slap her hand away. I grab another bag and start picking up my mess.

"No way," I reply.

"Oh, come on, Monsieur Enjolras. I'm sure I'm just as use to you as my Papa. Actually, you'd be getting more out of your money since I'm the real deal around here. Besides, with all these coins, I'm sure it was important..."

"I said no."

"Fine."

She starts humming casually.

"Oh, look," she suddenly exclaims. "What better timing? There's Montparnasse and his gang coming towards us."

"Yeah, right. Nice try."

"I'm sure they'll love to see all these gold coins just lying here, ready to grab... If only there was someone to distract them while you finish picking them up..."

I look behind me and see that she's telling the truth. Crap. I know their reputation. If they see the coins, they'll beat me to death to get them. I see Montparnasse wave and realize that Eponine is waving back.

"Seriously?" I say. "You're waving him over?"

"Time is ticking, Monsieur... They'll be here any-"

"Fine," I mutter. "You have a deal. Get them away from here."

"Great! Meet me under the bridge and we'll make it official." She starts walking towards Montparnasse. "Oh, and make sure you pick them all up. I'll be counting."

I sigh as she walks away and reunites with Montparnasse. They start to talk and although he was pointing towards me at first, now he seems to have completely forgotten about my presence. Oh, that sneaky little brat is good.

I quickly finish gathering up all the coins and stow them safely in my jacket's pocket. I look back one last time towards their group and discretely walk away, towards the bridge. I don't know what I was thinking, but I feel like I have just made a deal with the devil...