Prologue: The Mysterious Boy (Cassidy)
Prologue: The Mysterious Boy (Cassidy)
I’m standing out in the cold Paris night. I know I’m not supposed to be outside at night because I can’t speak the language and I’m also only 12 years old, but I'm rebelling I don’t remember why exactly. But as I’m standing outside I can’t help but feel the cold flakes surrounding me. I know I’m not dressed for the weather; we’re only here for a short time and we came from California. California and France in the winter time are so different and now I’m freezing, but I want to explore everything near by.
I’m starting to get scared. I don’t know where I am and I don’t know what’s going on. It’s really dark and I’m really scared because I don’t know how to read French. Suddenly this boy comes out of the shadows and scares me!
“Who are you? I mean… Je ne parle pas français! Please don’t kill me!” I shout at him forgetting the fact that this boy is French and I am not.
“Oh, you’re American? What are you doing here? How did you get here? Where did you come from?” He starts to move closer to me, but I back away. “I’m not going to hurt you! I just want to help you! Please, you can’t be out like this in clothes like that!”
“Yeah, I’m American and I’m trying to get back to where I’m staying and I don’t need your help!” A noise startles me and I let out a little scream.
The boy, who looks a little bit older than me, starts to laugh. “You don’t need help? I think you do. Please let me help you.” He sits down on a snow covered stoop and looks at me. “You can’t be more than what ten? I’m sure your parents don’t want you to wander the streets of Paris by yourself.”
I’m offended and stand up straight to show him my immense height. “I’m twelve and I don’t even know you. How am I supposed to trust you?!”
The boy starts laughing again. “You’re twelve?! I don't believe it!”
I’m not amused so I walk away from the strange boy who wants to help me.
“Wait, please! I didn’t mean it! Where are you trying to go? I really do want to help you!” He calls after me and I can hear his voice get closer and closer to me. “I can take you as far as you want to go. I promise I won’t say anything like that anymore. I do promise.”
I scoff. “Yeah and then you’re going to say it again and I'm going to run from you.” I turn to face him and am staring at a boy who isn’t much taller than me with dark brown hair hazel eyes with messy hair all over the place.
“You’re a feisty one aren’t you?”
“So, you’re not much taller than I am. How old are you?”
“I’m fourteen and yes my parents let me wander the streets alone. They know I can take care of myself. Now, please let me help you.”
“You’re fourteen?! Now you actually look like you’re my age. Fine. I’m trying to find the American Library in Paris because I know how to find my way home from there. You can help me get there, but that’s it. I still don’t know why you’re helping a random American girl. I don’t trust boys. They’re always mean to me and I don’t know why.”
“I know why they’re mean to you,” I hear the boy say under his breath and then say out loud. “You live in that area of town? Wow, okay. I’ll take you there. It’s getting close to 0h00. You’re too young to be out that late without someone with you.”
I retort back that he’s also young, but he doesn’t listen to me. He quickly comes up to me and starts to guide, more like push me, in the direction I was going. He’s walking at a fast pace. So this must be a bad part of Paris. Oh no, I didn’t mean to come this far! I’m scared! I don’t know this random boy and now he’s taking me back to the American Library in Paris because I asked him to.
“What’s your name, nice French boy I don’t trust? I can’t keep calling you that. I’m Cassie.”
“I’m Julien, but everyone calls me Jules because who names their kid Julien. I find that kind of dumb.”
I tell him it’s a nice name and fall silent as I stare at Paris at night. I can barely feel Julien’s hand on my back as I stare out at the nightlife. I didn’t think that it would be this busy at 11:45 at night, but I guess Paris is known for the nightlife. I hear a noise and instinctively get closer to the nearest person. That unfortunately happens to be Julien. He must sense my growing fear because he starts to walk faster.
“I’m going to get you home in one piece. I can promise you that. Now you see why I wanted to help you.” Julien whispers to me.
“Yes,” I whisper back. “But I still don’t understand why. Oh whatever, I’m cold, hungry and I want to go to bed! Please, can I just go home? This isn’t fun for me anymore!”
Julien stops and looks at me. “Cassie, you’re dressed in a sweatshirt when it’s snowing outside. You’re going to be freezing. Just take my jacket until I can get you to where you want to go okay? And if you’re hungry, we can just stop at my house. No one will notice that there’s food missing. There’s five kids including me. And I can feel you shaking in fear. Take the jacket and let’s go get you food.”
I stop and look at him. “Why would I want your jacket? Don’t you need it? And please. I just want food! But I’m not going inside your house so you’re going to have to get it somewhere else.”
“I don’t need it. We’re close to my house. I can grab another one. And I’m getting you food. Now let’s go. Come on hurry up. I want to get you home before the rowdy people start to step outside the le bar!”
When Julien takes off his winter coat and insists I take it. He won’t move until I get it, I take it and am immediately filled with warmth. It’s so warm and I love it! It swallows me despite him being close to my height. It’s the arms I swear. We walk and talk and he tells me that he’s here on vacation with his family because his aunt and uncle are about to have their first baby and his grandparents have this tradition that everyone comes to their house for the birth.
He also tells me he’s half French and American because his dad came to study at the American University of Paris and met his mom on the streets of Paris when he was stumbling along lost. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be hearing this story, but it distracted me from the sketchy feeling that I had walking around. But Julien made me feel safe and I wasn’t freezing to death anymore which was a giant plus.
He asked me questions about my life and I told him that my dad was here because Stanford University had something called the Bing Overseas Program and were supposed to go to China, but the lady pulled out two weeks before we were supposed to go and so we couldn’t go. And then the director himself told my dad about Paris and my mom said let’s go. But I didn’t want to go. I mean, it’s been super nice, but I had so many amazing friends for once that I didn’t want to come.
Eventually we reached his house and his parents were still up, I could see everyone and I got scared again. His family looked huge and I had never met a boy’s family before. I mean I was only 12 and they were always mean to me so I never had a boyfriend before. I tried to tell him that I didn’t want to go in, but he wasn’t hearing it and practically dragged me inside.
Suddenly I’m staring at nine French people who are staring back at me in shock. “Uhhhh, hi? Your son brought me here and I tried to tell him that I’ll be fine, but he dragged me here anyways.”
The older man I assume to be his dad jumps up and comes over to his son and pulls him aside. The two women spring into action and suddenly I’m being placed at a wooden table with a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows and my wet socks and shoes are off with a blanket draped over me. I’m shocked at the hospitality, but maybe it’s the American dad and all of that. I remember my dad saying that French people were mean, but these people aren’t mean at all!
Then the dad comes over to me and starts asking me questions. He could tell I’m American and wanted to know if my parents knew I was out this late, where I lived, and everything like that. I told him because he’s Julien’s dad and also American so I knew for some reason that he was going to help me.
They all crowd around me as I tell them all about me. I don’t know. This family is one of the most welcoming I’ve ever felt. I just started to spill my guts to them all. I tell them how I wanted to be a marine biologist when I got older and how I wanted to go to a really good university with that. Pretty soon though I got tired and I was told to head to bed. I tried to protest and say I should go back home, but they were all so serious that I wouldn’t be going outside anytime soon.
I glare over at Julien who has a smirk on his face. Of course he would do this to me. I’m led to a room I’m told is shared by Julien and his twin older brothers, but that I get it because I’m a guest. I make sure to gloat that I took his bed. Already after a few hours of knowing him, I know that I can somehow trust him.
In the morning, he and his dad walk with me back to the apartment and I get yelled at, but it was worth it because I think I found the boy I want to marry one day. I just hope I can keep in contact with him. He’s amazing and he gives me his contact information to keep in touch with him and as I’m trying to send an email to him from my email, the iPad goes dead. The charger has gone missing and I can’t find it in time. I wonder if I’ll ever see him again.
