THE TWO WEEKS BREAK honestly went by like a dream. First of all, David and his friend had stayed with them all the holidays, which had delighted Edith. The girl had always adored and admired her big brother and now that he was away she was missing him a lot, so having him by her side for two whole weeks was everything she could want. She had also talked a lot with his friend Nathan who was very nice. It turned out that he was only two years older than the twins since he had graduated the previous year and had started his military service straight after. The two boys had returned to their regiment the day before school started but had both promised to write.

      Last but not least, Edith's parents had given her a dress for Christmas. It was her first dress ever. It was white with a light blue veil and fell above the knee. Edith loved it. This was what she was wearing on this first day back in school. For the first time, she wouldn't go to school in pants.

      One of Thierry's friends came to pick them up with the car he had gotten for Christmas. There were two other friends of theirs in the car so Edith found herself sitting in the back between her brother and one of his friends called Nicolas. He handed her a cigarette which she accepted and they drove to school, singing to the sound of the car radio. When they parked, it didn't take long for all eyes to turn to the car and the four boys dressed in leather jackets who were proudly getting out. Thierry held the door for his sister and she got out of the car too, her cigarette between her lips. She took one last drag before throwing it on the floor. Her brother closed the door and they exchanged a "have a good day" before he left with his friends and she headed towards Alain who had just parked his motorcycle.

      "Happy New Year, Alain." she smiled as she stopped in front of him.

       "Happy New Year." he replied as he looked at her new dress.

       "I have a gift for you." she said as she opened her bag.

       Alain, who was looking at something behind her, brought his gaze back to Edith. "You didn't have to."

      "I wanted to. Open it." she smiled as she handed her the gift.

      He smiled in turn and tore the paper. "Le Comte de Monte-Cristo." he read out loud.

      "Have you read it already?" she asked.

      "No, never. Thanks a lot." he smiled genuinely.

       A boy suddenly walked up to them. "Well, Laubrac. You don't say hi to your old friends?"

      Edith stared at him. Leather jacket, cigarettes, slicked back hair. It was obvious he was a part of a gang like Thierry was. She looked back at Laubrac. Had he been part of this gang too?

      "Hi, Yves. What do you want?" the curly haired boy replied, politely but dryly.

      "We're racing tonight. We need you."

       "I can't. I'm busy, sorry."

       "You're busy?" the boy repeated. "Busy doing what? Reading, sharpening pencils?"

       "Not that anymore, anyway." Alain said.

      "Come on! We've been challenged by the Val d'Or guys. We're gonna lose without you! Laubrac is our champion." he added, looking at Edith.

      "It's not my problem anymore, okay?" Laubrac told him, suddenly annoyed.

      "I see. Mister goes to Voltaire High and he forgets his old friends. Your friend can come, if you want." Yves replied, pointing at Edith.

      Alain shook his head. "I said no."

      Yves stared at him for a while before turning to the redhead. "What's your name?"

      "Edith."

      "Well, Edith, if you wanna come, you're welcome to join us." he told her with a smile before walking away.

      The girl turned back to Alain. "You're a moped racing champion?"

      "I'm not." he assured.

      "It's fine if you are, my brother and his friends race all the time, I don't mind." she shrugged.

      "You don't get it, those guys are trouble. Stay away from them." he told her.

★

      It sure had been a weird morning. The boys were all acting strange. As soon as the bell rang they all rushed outside and now they kept going to the bathroom. Edith had also noticed that they were paying Descamps and Dupin to go there. She suspected what was going on even though she had no proof.

      When they came back to class, Descamps and his friends arrived almost late. "And Applebaum?" one of the boys asked.

      "He's going to sprain something." Descamps mocked.

      "He's gonna go deaf." someone added with a laugh.

      Edith shook her head. Now she was sure. She had three brothers, that was a language she knew.

      "Good morning, everyone!" Miss Couret smiled as she came in.

      "Good morning, miss." everyone stood up.

       "Sit down." she said and Applebaum came in at that moment. "Didn't you hear the bell, Mr. Applebaum?"

      "Sorry, miss."

      "Do you know the Beatles?" the teacher asked them.

      Pichon raised his hand. "The British band?"

      "Yes. Let's see if those names ring a bell."

      Dupin and Descamps who were sitting behind Annick and Edith leaned over their desk to call Applebaum.

      "Give it back!"

      "Are the pages stuck together?" Descamps asked and the girls grimaced.

      "Quiet, she'll hear you." the boy with glasses replied before taking the magazine out of his bag.

      When he leaned to hand it to Dupin, Annick grabbed it and hid it under her desk. Dupin and Descamps immediately tried to grab it back so she passed it to Edith. The boys leaned towards her but sat back in their places when the teacher turned to them. She stared at them for a second before turning back to the board.

       Descamps and Dupin grabbed Edith's arms, trying to get to the magazine but she struggled to keep them from reaching it until finally throwing it towards Applebaum.

      "Not me!" he exclaimed before throwing it again.

      The magazine flew before landing on Michelle and Simone's desk, whose eyes widened in shock upon seeing the images.

★

      "He said if we didn't give him a name, the class will get detention every Thursday." Pichon told them as they were all walking out the school.

      "Even the girls?" Annick exclaimed.

      "The whole class." Pichon confirmed.

      "It's not fair!"

      "I won't get punished for Dupin!" Felbec declared.

      Michele turned to Dupin. "Did Dupin bring the magazine?"

      "Yeah, and Vergoux."

      "Hey, dean's niece and pointdexter, no one asked you." Vergoux pushed Felbec.

      "Shut it, Vergoux, it's your fault we're here." Edith shot back.

       "Did I ask?" the boy replied, annoyed.

       Their argument was interrupted by a scream. They turned their heads towards the car of Thierry's friends in front of which Edith's brother was standing with a girl from school - Martine - who seemed very upset. "Thierry Lefebvre, you're despicable!" she yelled before walking away in fury while Thierry and his friends were laughing.

       "Whatever, I gotta go." the redhead declared before heading towards the car. "What was that about?" she asked her brother.

       "Nothing, we hung out yesterday and now she was all over me." he replied as he opened the door for her.

      "Well, maybe you could stop playing with people's feelings." Edith suggested, climbing into the car.

      "I could." he shrugged with a smile before sitting next to her.

      The rest of his friends got in the car and as they drove away, they started talking about a moped race that was happening that evening. Edith listened attentively. Was it the same race as the one where Laubrac's friends were going?

       "We're going to have to stand up to the guys from Val d'Or." one of them said.

       Val d'Or, that was the name Yves said. She leaned over to join the conversation. "Can I come?"

       "Don't you have to work at the restaurant tonight?" Thierry asked.

       "I'll get Lucas to take my shift." she nodded. "Please, can I come with you?"

      "Why do you wanna go with us so bad?" the driver asked.

      The truth was that even though Laubrac had said he wouldn't come, she still hoped he would show up. And even if he didn't come, she could meet his old friends and maybe learn more about him.

       "I don't know, I heard about the Val d'Or guys. I wanna see if they're as good as people say." she lied.

       Thierry laughed. "Okay, you know what, if Lucas takes your shift, you can come with us."

— help i never know how to end a chapter lmaooo

so le comte de monte cristo is a famous book in france and a movie adaptation with pierre niney comes out in 6 months and vassili schneider will also be in it so i thought it was a nice reference ;)

hope you're still enjoying this fic <3