The Love Album Series: Ride -BWWM- (SLOW UPDATES)

13

-Hard Times by Paramore-

Laundry day came earlier than Denise and Mark had planned. They were going to go to the laundry mat after their first weekend in Burlington, Vermont, but an accident changed that.

With his earbuds in, Mark put the sheets to the van bed in the washer machine.

A visibly annoyed Denise came out of the bathroom, holding her balled up her pajamas in her hands.

Mark notices her and takes one ear but out, "are you still upset?"

"Just move," Denise couldn't look him in the eye.

Mark steps to the side, letting her put her clothes inside the washer.

"You don't have to be embarrassed," he told her. "It was an accident. Besides, it's no different than you farting in front of me."

"No, it is different, Mark," Denise argued. "It's different because I've never bled through the sheets with a guy laying beside me."

"Look, it's fine, it happens."

"How do you know 'it happens'?" she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I am one out of three siblings and the only boy, so," Mark shrugged.

"Well, good for you," Denise gave him a pat on the arm. "I'm feeling kind of vulnerable, so I'm going outside to smoke a cigarette." Taking the pack of cigarettes out of Mark's front pocket, she goes outside.

Mark hated that she was embarrassed about the accident, and at the same time, was fascinated by how different she was around her time of the month. She way calmer than usual, to the extent of coming off drained, depressed, and exhausted. Denise slept a lot and ate a lot of snacks. Furthermore, she was a lot more sensitive and looked like she was going to go into tears at any moment if the wrong thing was said.

Usually, he'd pick at her, but he knew it was better to tread softly, considering her fragile state.

Outside of the laundry mat, stood Denise, contently smoking her cigarette.

She was thinking about Mark's point. If she farted in front of them, this shouldn't have been such a big deal. Then again, everything seemed like the end of the world when it was that time of the month.

Denise shook her head and said to herself, "I could use some cheese fries right about now."

As she smoked her cigarette, a woman came outside and stood a few feet away from her. She then pulled out a pack of cigarettes to find it empty.

"Merde!" she cursed in French.

Before Denise knew it, her knowledge of the French language surfaced as she held her pack of cigarettes out to the woman, "et voila."

"Merci," she took a cigarette while interested on how much French Denise knew.

"Parlez-vous couramment le français?," she asked if Denise was fluent.

"Oui, je ne parle pas la langue depuis longtemps," Denise explained that she was fluent despite having not spoken the language in a long time.

"Well, you sound great. Comment as tu appris?" she asked how Denise learned.

"Private school," Denise rolled her eyes. "My parents were strict on education. I had to know three languages before middle school."

"Oh, wow," the woman nodded, impressed. "Can I ask you something?"

"What?" Denise inhaled her cigarette.

The lady leaned close to her, lowering her voice, "C'est ton petit ami à l'intérieur?" she asked if Mark was her boyfriend.

Denise laughs, "Non, mais c'est un emmerdeur," she calls Mark a pain her ass.

The woman laughs, and the two start having a full conversation in French. The lady told her about her recent divorce, being a single mom, and all the stress she's been going through.

It was evident she had a lot on her plate, so Denise mostly listened and commented.

They were so deep into their conversation that neither of them noticed Mark come out of the laundry mat. He stood there in shock at Denise's fluent French. He wasn't expecting it since she hadn't mentioned knowing another language.

It wouldn't have been such a big deal if there still wasn't a lot of things Mark didn't know about her. She was like this puzzle, coming together very slowly.

Once the woman was done with her cigarette, as she was thanking Denise for the smoke, Denise noticed a wide-eyed Mark.

"Oh fuck," she mumbled as the woman went inside. "You aren't going to make a deal about this, right?"

Mark scoffed, raising his eyebrows at her.

"You are going to make a big deal out of this," Denise shook her head, pulling out another cigarette.

__________

"I told you, it's not that big of a deal," Denise tells Mark, as they entered their hotel room with their bags. "It's not uncommon for people to know other languages."

"No, it isn't," Mark closed the door. "But it is surprising when I only know that you're from LA, and lived in Massachusettes with your aunt. There's more to you, and you know that, and you don't care, and you won't talk."

"You're right," Denise didn't have the energy to argue as she usually did. "But fine," she tossed her bag on the bed. "Since you're so interested, I am fluent in French. My family valued education and sent me to the best privates school since I was five. By the time I got to middle school, I knew most of all the love languages, French being the most fluent I'm in. I also know Korean and Swahili."

"Private school?" Mark was at a loss of words. "You? Private school? I can't imagine you in those hideous uniforms, let alone at some high-end rich school."

"Well, that's because the girl you see tonight is not the girl from then, and if I do say so myself, I looked adorable in those hideous uniforms."

"If you went to private school, that means you came from money. Don't tell me your some governors daughter or something."

"Youk now what, this conversation is over. I'm exhausted, and I know you wanted to get lunch, but I just want to take a shower and clock out."

"Yeah, don't worry about it. As a matter of fact, why don't I just go to the store, pick up some snacks, and we stay in for the next few days? We could even watch some movies."

"Really? That actually sounds great," Denise was happy just to rest.

As outgoing as she was naturally was, her time of the month turned her into a major introvert. A few days inside was just what she needed. 

****

If a French speaker reads this, forgive me if the French isn't accurate. What do you guys think about Denise, and having gone to private school? I'm sure you guys are slowly but surely understanding her past and putting the pieces together.