EDITH LEFEBVRE took another puff of her cigarette. Leaning against the wall of Voltaire High, she watched as people were passing by. She had only seen a couple of girls, the rest were just boys. She knew they would be very few girls but she still hoped for more than that. She was a little nervous about going inside. She wasn't afraid of classes, she was a pretty good student actually, but she felt like she didn't fit in.

       First, there were the boys. Rude, mocking and above all, obsessed with girls. She couldn't really blame them though. This was the first year Voltaire High would be welcoming girls. But that didn't make it any less embarrassing for her.

       Then there were the girls in question. Pretty, elegant, and well dressed. The complete opposite of Edith. Her family was poor and she was the only girl of four children. Dresses were too expensive, so Edith didn't have any. She only wore her brothers' old clothes. The girls she saw passing by were all wearing pretty dresses and cute ribbons in their hair. Edith was wearing brown pants and a white shirt. How could she feel in her place among all the other girls?

      Her twin brother had already found his friends and did not hesitate to abandon his sister in front of the entrance. Don't get me wrong, they got along very well. Only Edith didn't want to go into the school straight away so her brother simply went first. They had requested to be in the same class but nothing had been confirmed to them. She really hoped that their request had been taken into account. Having her brother with her would make everything so much easier.

      She realized that she had finished her cigarette. She didn't feel any more ready than before but she knew that now was not the time to back down. She dropped her cigarette butt on the ground and crushed it with her heel. She raised her head. Now she had to go. She pulled the strap of her bag back over her shoulder and took her first step into the school.

       She immediately felt eyes turn towards her and heard the discussions fade away. She didn't know if the stares on her were because she was a girl or because she was a girl wearing pants. In both cases, she wasn't comfortable.

       Lucky for her, the bell soon started ringing and all the students gathered in the center of the courtyard to hear the dean's speech. Edith stood a little aside, not wanting to attract attention or be bothered.

      "Welcome to Voltaire High School. The next three years will shape the rest of your lives. In 40 years, you'll still remember some of your teachers. Some of your essays in philosophy will remain etched in memory. Some of the students around you here today will become lifelong friends. Before I let you go with your homeroom teachers, I'd like to remind you that this year, we're welcoming girls to this school. Gentlemen, I expect you to... to be as polite, respectful, magnanimous and dignified as I know you can... when on your best behavior."

       Everyone chuckled at his comment and he let his place to a surly-looking woman who called the first class. Edith was in it, but not Thierry. The pair shared a look through the crowd. While the other teachers were still making the roll call, the twins pushed their way through the people to get closer to each other.

       "We're not in the same class. What are we doing?" Edith asked.

       "We're going to see Bellanger to see if you can switch classes." replied Thierry.

        His sister nodded and they waited until the roll call was over and the classes dispersed to follow the dean to his office.

        Thierry called out to him. "Mr. Bellanger! We need to talk to you!"

        "What are you doing here? You both should be in class." the man with glasses told them.

       "Yes but— this is my sister Edith." Thierry nodded towards the redhead. "We asked to be in the same class but we got separated."

       "We wanted to know if it was possible to change." Edith added.

       Mr. Bellanger gave them a look that seemed genuilely sorry. "Well, requests aren't always approved. I don't know why yours wasn't. I don't think there's anything we can do about it."

       "Are you sure?"

       "I can check but there is very little chance that you will be able to change classes now." the man explained to them. "I'll keep you guys informed. But don't expect it too much. Now you should go back to your classes."

       "Thank you, sir." the twins spoke in sync.

       "That sucks." Edith shook her head in annoyance as they were walking away.

       Thierry shrugged. "Especially for you. You're with Giraud. She's the worst. She's going to murder you for being late."

       "You think?" the redhead frowned.

       "Well, you'll find out soon enough. This is your class." her brother pointed at the door. "I'll catch you later."

      He walked away towards his own classroom and Edith stood with hesitation in front of the door for a moment. She finally gave a light knock on the door and entered the room. All eyes turned towards her but that of the teacher was the only one she noticed because it could have pierced her. A blonde girl with a nice blue dess was standing behind her desk. It seemed that she was precisely Mrs. Giraud's target when Edith came in.

       The teacher cast a disdainful glance at the outfit Edith was wearing and the young girl quickly ran her hands down her pants, a little embarrassed.

        "Late on your first day? Where do you think you are?" the teacher asked the girl.

        Edith tried to explain. "I was with Mr. Bellanger—"

       "Name?" the woman cut her off.

       "Edith Lefebvre."

       "Well, miss Lefebvre, you'll think about what punctuality is during your detention." Mrs. Giraud declared as she checked Edith's name on her list.

       "On the first day?" the redhead exclaimed.

       The piercing look of the woman immediately went back on her. "Are you contesting? Would you like another one?"

       Edith bit her tongue to keep herself from answering. She softly shook her head.

       "That's what I was thinking. Well, now that you honor us with your presence, you will sit next to Miss Sabiani. You, get up and go sit at the back." the teacher pointed at the boy who was currently sitting next to the blonde girl.

       "But I can't see from there." he defended himself.

       "Back row, now."

       The boy picked up his things and walked to the empty seat at the back of the class, next to a boy with curly hair. Edith took his place next to Annick and Mrs. Giraud returned to her class as if nothing had happened, but with her usual stiffness. Now, that wasn't really what Edith would call a good start.

★

       Edith sighed as the Latin teacher wrote on the board. She didn't understand much of it to be honest. Next to her, Annick fidgeted in her chair to answer the professor's question, but the teacher was deliberately ignoring her.

         A boy with glasses raised his hand and the teacher questioned him, despite the fact that Annick had already been raising her hand for multiple minutes.

       "I think the lady has raised her hand." the boy smiled.

       The teacher turned to Annick but it was clear that he was annoyed. "Indeed. So?"

      "'The Romans welcome Horatio with joy and congratulations and escort him to his house'." the blonde stood up.

      "'The Romans cheer Horatio'." the teacher corrected her. "Can you conjugate the verb 'ovare'?"

       Edith stopped listening Annick's response. She discreetly looked back when she heard the back of the class stirring and noticed the same boy with glasses passing around a drawing he had just made. The paper landed in the hands of the curly-haired boy who had been sitting next to the boy Annick was sitting with this morning. Since the beginning of the day, he had stood aside, not speaking. He had been one of the only ones not to make any comments about girls and Edith hadn't seen him mock anyone since she had been in that class.

      "Give me that. Give it to me." the teacher called out the boy.

       The boy reluctantly stood up and crossed the classroom to hand the paper to the teacher. The man unfolded it to look at what was written on the sheet and looked back at the boy.

      "You think this is funny?"

      "It wasn't me."

      "Who is responsible for this masterpiece?" the teacher waved the paper.

      The boy didn't reply and Edith turned to the real author of the drawing who was chewing the cap of his pen with a smile. It was clear that he had no intention of denouncing himself.

      "Your name?" the teacher asked the curly-haired boy.

      "It wasn't me."

      "'It wasn't me'. All culprits have the same name. They must all be related. Okay, Mr. It wasn't me—"

      "Laubrac. My name's Laubrac." the boy finally said.

      "All right, Laubrac." the teacher started before stopping to think a second. "Are you the boy from foster care?"

      Edith noticed the flash of panic in Laubrac's eyes. He obviously didn't expect the teacher to expose him in front of everyone.

      Mr. Douillard kept going. "Some nobody's son's trying to graduate? How amusing. Didn't anyone teach you discipline in the care system? I won't let a bastard disrupt my class! Get out."

       "I don't think you're supposed to talk that way." Edith couldn't help but spoke.

       "I'm sorry?" the teacher turned to her.

       "I don't think you're supposed to talk to your students that way." she said again, without looking down.

       The teacher gave her a dirty look. "I don't think anyone here asked your opinion, miss Lefebvre. You can go with your new acquaintance to the dean's office. You'll ask him for an hour of detention for you too. I understand this isn't your first one."

      She frowned in annoyance but left the class, following Laubrac. They walked side by side in silence through the corridors until he decided to speak.

       "You shouldn't have done that."

       "You have a real funny way of saying thank you, you know that?" she replied.

       "I didn't ask for your help."

       "You're welcome, it was my pleasure." she rolled her eyes.

       She knocked at the dean's door and he stared at them with disappointment as they were standing in front of him.

      "I'm sorry, sir. I know how much I owe you." Laubrac apologized.

      "Miss Lefebvre, can you wait outside, please? I'll be with you in a moment."

        She nodded before leaving the room in silence. She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms across her chest in a bored look. Edith wasn't as sure of herself as she let on. Thierry had taught her to change appearances. He was part of a gang and he knew how to play tough. She hung out with them most of the time so she had learned to do the same. It was a way to protect herself. But deep down, she was insecure and she was starting to realize the consequences of having two hours of detention on her first day.

      When Laubrac finally left Mr. Bellanger's office, she entered the room without giving him time to speak and closed the door to his face. Laubrac shook his head with an amused smile. Edith went to sit on the chair opposite the dean's.

      "I'm sorry." she said. "I just wanted to help."

       "Edith, you seem like a nice girl. But do you think the teachers are happy to have you here? With all the problems it can cause? By getting noticed from day one, you prove them right."

       "I'm sorry, Mr. Bellanger. It won't happen again."

       "I'm glad to hear it. Also, I'm sorry but you can't switch classes. I'm afraid you'll have to spend the year without your brother by your side."

      "Oh. Okay. Thanks for trying."

      "Come on, be careful now, and don't mess with anyone anymore." Mr. Bellanger smiled softly.

★

       Edith shared a look with Annick while Descamps was placing a basin filled with water on top of the door. His friends were laughing while the rest of the boys in the class decided to ignore the situation.

       "Shouldn't we do something?" Edith asked the blonde.

       Annick stared at her. "Do what? Get in more trouble?"

       Edith knew she was right but doing nothing seemed wrong. She got up from her chair but before she could do anything, Michelle opened the door. The water fell on her head, completely soaking her hair and her dress.

       Descamps and his friends howled with laughter. Some boys looked at Michelle with sorry looks. Others were too busy laughing and looking at her bra, which was now visible since the water had made her dress transparent.

      Mrs. Couret entered the class and the laughter died down. She quickly handed Michelle her blazer and pulled her out of the class. She had barely left when Descamps started laughing again and drew a pair of breasts on the board.

       "You think that's funny?" Edith exclaimed.

       "Kinda, yeah." Joseph mocked as he approached her. "You know, I have a question that everyone is asking. Are you a redhead all over?" he asked, pulling on a strand of her hair.

       "Hey, you take your hands off my sister!" Thierry exclaimed as he rushed over.

       He immediately jumped on Descamps, tackling him to the ground, while everyone started shouting. Edith rushed to grab her brother's arms, trying to pull him away of the boy, and some other boys copied her. At that moment, another boy entered the classroom and punched Dupin right in the face. Descamps escaped Thierry's grap and jumped to help his friends. Soon it was just a mess of everyone mixing together to try to separate the boys— Thierry, Dupin, Descamps and the boy Edith didn't know.

      Descamps' glasses flew off and he started screaming as he fell to the ground. Edith grabbed her brother's arm to get closer to him. Mr. Bellanger rushed into the classroom and knelt down next to Descamps.

      "Let me see."

      "My eye. I can't see." Descamps cried out.

      "Don't touch it. Can you stand up?"

      Mrs. Giraud entered the class in turn and walked to them as the dean looked up at the students. "Pichon, go get the nurse, now! He's got some glass in his eye." he helped Descamps standing up. "Careful. We'll take you to the hospital."

      "Get back in your class!" Mrs. Giraud yelled at some boys who were standing in the corridor.

       "You're dead." Dupin threatened the boy who punched Descamps.

       "Dupin, take your seat!" Bellanger exclaimed.

       The nurse walked in the room and led Joseph out, followed by Giraud.

      "Jean-Pierre, in my office." Mr. Bellanger ordonned. "Twins, same thing."  he turned to the Lefebvre siblings.

      Thierry spoke up. "But she didn't do anything—"

      "My office, now."

      The boy grabbed his sister's hand and they both walked out the room with the boy named Jean-Pierre. Edith feared it would end up even worse than it already was.

      They had to wait a long time for Mr. Bellanger to hear from Descamps and then to speak with the director. When he returned, he first took Jean-Pierre into his office. The twins understood that he was Michelle's older brother and that, like Thierry, he had acted to defend his sister. Only, Thierry had not blinded a boy.

       Jean-Pierre left his uncle's office after a few minutes and the twins entered in turn.

       "This isn't the first time I've dealt with you two today." Mr. Bellanger looked at them. "Edith, two detentions on your first day. And Thierry, now you're fighting? What are you guys doing?"

       "But he was trying to humiliate her!" Thierry exclaimed.

        "And that's a reason to fight with him? He lost an eye! I know it wasn't you who blinded him, but the problem remains the same. You started the fight, Jean-Pierre finished it. You will both go to disciplinary hearing. You risk permanent exclusion."

       Edith felt as if the ground was opening beneath her feet. If her brother was expelled, her parents would never let her stay alone in school. And if they dropped out of high school, they'd end up working at the bar full time and be stuck there for ever. And for Edith, there was no way this would happened.

— here's the first chapter! so i think i'm gonna make one chapter per episode, or maybe separate the chapter in two parts if it's too long but idk i kinda like this format, wbu?

please vote and comment so i know how you liked it and once again english isn't my native language so i hope there aren't too many mistakes!

thanks for reading <3