AUTHORS NOTE: Hi Guys, I'm TCEM 3 This is my first Les Mis fic so hopefully I don't fuck up cuz I love the shit out of this. Please review guys any ideas, inspiration, total praise and worship lol jk but no really lol Hope you all enjoy :D

Eponine was laying down, her long dark hair already covered in the early morning dew. Most girls were still safe asleep in their beds covered by warm blankets away from the brisk cold that fell in mid January. But not Eponine, she was way up high in the football stadium bleachers, freezing herself to death over a boy. She dangled a leg over the edge and propped the other on the hard metal, old weathered boots covered in mud from her walk to the school. She took out a cigarette from a crumpled pack, lighting it without so much as a look at the thing. Taking a drag helped warm her lungs but she sighed out and shivered out the smoke.

"Marius." She whispered to the dark.

She took her eyes away from the velvet twilight and glanced at her watch using the lit cigarette as light in her mouth. 4:45, the football team would not get there until five. She shuddered again and watched the orange hue of the embers turn to ash.

" Oh the things I do for you Mousier Pontmercy." She mumbled, a small smile playing on her lips.

She knew he was using her, she was well aware that not every girl would walk from the slums to school BEFORE his morning practice just to give a cute football player his homework. She knew that, she wasn't stupid, or blind, or deaf. They called her Shadow, not Marius, never him; he was too sweet and oblivious for that. He might be using her…but it was HER choice to accept. She made the choice. This was on her, so no not Marius but the hoard of imbeciles that he spent every waking moment with. Les Amis. They were the annoying reason she even felt mild regret or embarrassment at her actions. They were the reason that the love she felt towards Marius ever tasted bitter.

Sure some of the other boys were far more coveted than Marius but they were pigs and dirt, and she had spent most of her life living with that kind, she wouldn't have to look far to find someone like them. But Marius was special. He was kind and sweet and did not look at her with pity or disgust. He was the only one who ever really saw her. He spoke to her; he listened…or pretended to. But that was more than anyone else ever did for her. Maybe they were flimsy reasons for love…but to Eponine…those small gestures meant the world. She was proud to be Marius friend….Shadow…whatever. She was proud to be Marius's whatever.

There was a time when she was younger that she actually enjoyed being with the others, back in middle school. Bossuet, Combeferre, Joly, Jehan, Courfeyac, Bahorel, Grantiare. Even Enjolras, Mr. Marble himself. But that was long ago when status didn't mean anything. When the music you listened to or the clothes you wore or what you liked didn't dictate who you were. She was a nobody, she was invisible…the invisible girl.

There was loud shouting from the tunnel beneath her feet and she sat up in anticipation. The team burst out from the hall with their coach Mr. Javert behind them cussing them black and blue to start their routine. She felt her cheeks heat at the sight of Marius starting to sprint across the track. She let her smoke fall to the ground and jogged down from her high perch and threw herself at the bars against the bleachers and let them hold her up as she leaned forward and let the brisk air snap at her warm cheeks.

Grantiare jabbed at Marius's side as he completed his first lap, his jester smile widening at the sight of her. Marius turned and waved at her and then punched Grantiare on the arm. She had given him an acknowledging nod but he had turned away by then. She felt butterflies in her belly stir and a lightness fill her as he ran past her, warmth spreading through her fingertips and red tinting her cheeks.

She ignored the others as they ran but she didn't miss the laughs from Grantiare or Joly, the gestures to her from Bossuet, or Jehan's embarrassed and pitying glance but it was Enjolras disapproving look that then fully erased the happy look from her face. She smirked at him as he ran past her and casually flicked him off, which he shook of instantly and pushed himself faster to outrun the others. Of course he would.

Captain…Chief…Leader.

She scoffed at the thought and holding onto the bars she jumped the ledge and landed on her feet at the entrance of the tunnel.

Javert turned around to look at the sudden intrusion and turned back as soon as he saw it was just her. It wasn't new to both of them.

"They won't be done for quite a while. " He said out loud and she nodded her head despite knowing he couldn't see her.

"I've got Marius's stuff. " She muttered her mouth now busy as she placed another cigarette in. Javert turned to her and lit it for her. There was a time before when he would have reprimanded her for her behavior but she had pointed out that it was not yet school hours and he wasn't really on duty he let it go soon after, by now he was just used to her.

While Javert believed in no pass, no play and abided strictly between the rules and regulations of the school, he was not oblivious to the fact that some of the boys used their charm to get through classes they might otherwise fail if not for the help of smart foolish girls such as herself. He would rather turn a blind eye to the actions of his men if only because if he didn't there wouldn't be much of a team left.

"You can leave his things with me. There is no reason to contract hypothermia for him. "He replied his arms crossed behind his back and standing rod straight as an overseer.

She let out a bark of a laugh and crossed her arms as Les Amis took another lap around the field. " I'd rather die than miss the torture you give these fucking idiots."

Javert's back tensed at her language but she saw the corner of his mouth twitch in an effort not to smile. He really was too used to her.

He turned to her and took in her appearance. Old torn jeans and white camisole with a thin flannel shirt and a black cardigan riddled with holes. He sighed and passed her a team jacket.

She cringed at Grantiare's name on the front but the offer was clear…put on the jacket and stay or get your ass off my field. She took the jacket from his hands and he turned back to the boys.

Shrugging into the alcohol smelling jacket she walked away and sat on a hard wooden bench against concrete wall a small smile on her face every time Marius ran by.

Eponine was a fool and this she knew. She was in love and all love ever did for her was destroy, love to her was controlled insanity. Her smile turned dark at her thoughts and she hid her face behind a pair of stolen Ray Bans blending in with the shadows once more. She was a foolish girl…but this was her life and she could do whatever she wanted. So was the life of a Thenadier.

"And how was your morning young mademoiselle?" Adrianne said as she jumped onto her lab table.

Adrianne was one of the four people in the entire school with whom Eponine could have a conversation with without wanting to bash someone's head in.

"Magical." Eponine enunciated with a burst of her hands.

"Ah…unicorns and rainbows in the twilight?" Nina added hugging the other girl from the back. Another of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

"Better….men in tights throwing themselves at other men in tights ….over balls." Eponine joked high fiving Nina in a way of hello.

" Ah…gay porn…magical indeed." Suzy added walking in behind Nina. She looked around the room, the tips of her ears turning a fiery red as she noticed Joly nearby. The girl was as infatuated with the little germaphobe as she was with Marius. Only it looked really cute when she did it seeing as she looked like a real life pixie. Jet black hair cut like Audrey Hepburn and a small petite form, was it not for her families economic problems she would have surely found better company elsewhere.

" Did somebody say gay porn?" Lizbeth draped long arms around Adrianne and Nina both on the other side of the table as Suzy took Nina's seat next to Eponine while still looking through her eyelashes at Joly.

"How goes it commander." she asked Eponine.

A title she'd come up with after they found out Enjolras was getting called Chief on a constant basis.

"If that little sexist worm is going to be called chief then we need a truly spiteful commander and who can hold a grudge longer than Eponine I mean really. From now on Eponine will be Commander of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." Lizbeth joked.

They made quite a sight the four girls huddled at the back of their history class. All mismatched and threadbare.

There was Eponine with her dirty grungy Kurt Cobain castoffs that hid bruises old and new from a life that turned harsh. Nina and her red dyed hair, rebelling against acts in her past that made her distrust men, and hate mothers. Taking comfort only in her paint and brushes both always on her person be it sticking out from her messy bun or multicolored splattered jeans. Suzy was sweet and girly and would make them listen to Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson and wore sparkly ballet flats even in the harshest of winters. Adrianne had her provoking clothing and flirty teasing driving even Les Amis crazy, even if she admitted long ago that she preferred the company of other women and they loved her for it. And of course Lizbeth, whose blond hair was always up in a ponytail, curls escaping every now and again, who was despite being wealthy and well of always wearing a school t shirt and tight jeans. She hated her family, her mother and father and brother included, the dear chief, Enjolras. She had moved in with Adrianne's family two summers prior. Her family never looked for her. Not even Enjolras who was once as she tells it the best big brother that ever lived.

They were proof that they didn't all need to be the same to be friends. They symbolized, at least to Eponine that not all love could hurt. That it was the others that were wrong.

The bell rang and the room filled steadily driving the girls to their seats and Eponine to open a book.

Mr. Valjean walked into the room and smiled softly when he saw her. Most teachers were aware of Eponine's home situation and sympathized with her. She hated it. She lifted an eyebrow in annoyance at the display when he turned his back. Her family had a reputation and a list of crimes and misdemeanors that could fill the school twice over. There wasn't a day where some girl didn't shy away from her with the whisper Thenardier.

Teachers like Valjean tended to oversee the last name and focus on who she was as a student but she always felt as if the letters Charity Case stamped onto her forehead. She much preferred Javert, who instead recognized the fact that yes she was a Thenardier…yes she stole, cheated, and lied, BUT she was an excellent student and had one hell of a volleyball spike.

Eponine snapped out of her thoughts when she felt Nina squirm in her seat. She turned to the redhead and gave her, her best "what is it now can't you see this book is just getting good" look and the other girl wiggled her eyebrows and pointed out who just walked in through the door. Eponine felt the sudden urge to stand. It was only the third week of school, but it was not uncommon for there to still be schedule changes. Marius handed over a slip of paper to Valjean and Eponine had never wanted to throw Nina off a chair as much as she did in that very moment. He looked over in her direction and she almost went dizzy at the dazzling smile he gave. He started walking in their direction, the smile still bright in his eyes.

Her stomach fell when she realized that he was not in fact smiling at her, in fact, he wasn't even looking at her.

Enjolras Amarth.

That little soul sucking demon was sitting in front of them. How the hell didn't she notice that?

She turned to look at Lizbeth, Adrianne and Suzy. The three girls crammed into a single table. Their reactions all said one thing.

OUCH.

She rolled her eyes and she precariously balanced herself on two legs of her chair. Nina sniggered next to her and Eponine wacked her with the Iliad.

She spent the next hour switching between looking at the back of Marius head and willing him to turn and reading, finally forsaking that completely delving into Homers work. She was so caught up in the book she hardly noticed the bell ring and Marius turn to address her.

Nina froze mid-way to her bag, Eponine's head almost snapping at the suddenness to look at Marius.

"Monsieur, how can I help you." She asked sweetly. Nina placed her hand on her shoulder and told her she'd meet her outside. She was pretty sure she nodded an ok.

"My dear Eponine, I have football practice every day afterschool this week….I'll be too tired to do my essay on Marie Antoinette…do you think you could…?" He left the sentence hanging, a look like hope in his eyes.

"Of course Monsieur. I'll make sure to get it done before my own on the French Revolution."

"You're the best Eponine." He said, taking the small of her chin and caressing it softly.

She smiled so big her dimples showed and he left the room without another word, leaving Eponine to bite her lip and replay the gesture in her head.

"That's disgusting."

Her thoughts came crashing back to earth as she noticed Enjolras was still sitting in his seat obviously having seen the entire exchange.

She scowled at him and he smirked.

" So Eponine…do you think you could do my homework as well, maybe clean my boots, do my laundry, you know…those loving kinds of things."

"Ugh" She cringed at his sarcastic tone and made to stand up.

He took her wrist in his hand and he noticed how he could encircle it easily.

"Look I'm sorry." She looked back down at him and it almost looked like it pained him to say that.

"You shouldn't do that for Pontmercy. He doesn't care about you…he doesn't love you. You're only going to hurt yourself and look like an idiot in the process."

"Not that it's any of your business Monsieur, but what would you know of love? You're dating Leslie Snow; she's one of the shallowest most narcissistic bitches out there."

He looked taken aback for a moment and his brow furrowed in retaliation.

" Leslie and I've dated for three years, you should know that."

"I shouldn't know anything about your private life but that doesn't change anything I've said. Status, that is all that matters to the whole lot of you, you've got a cheerleader girlfriend and you are Chief of the Les Amis. As far as you are concerned your life is perfect."

His lips pursed at that and he let go of her hand. She picked up her bag and started making her way to the door.

"Have some pride."

She stopped halfway out the class and rage bubbled to the surface. She stalked back to him and slammed her hands onto the counter top between them.

" And what would you know of my pride you little upper-class motherfucker. You and your little slut of a girlfriend and drunken pals. You don't know anything about me; you don't know anything about yourself. Your life revolves around nothing that matters."

He stood up in anger and got so close to her face and she could almost taste his breath on her lips.

"I'm going to be somebody. I'm going to get into an Ivy League school and become an amazing lawyer. I'm going somewhere in my life. I'm going to have a family with a beautiful woman. Can you say the same?"

"And what exactly will you fight for Mr. Ivy League. What will Chief Enjolras stand up for? What will your degree stand for? The corrupt? The well of? Will your family be so special to you with a beautiful woman instead of with a woman you love? You can lie to yourself all you want Enjolras but you don't know who you are or where you are going and no matter how many clubs you run or teams you join or trophies on your wall that's never going to change."

They stared at each other chests heaving and a look crossed his eyes that she knew well of but couldn't place. She was just about to open her mouth and speak when Mr. Valjean walked back into the classroom.

"Is everything alright here. " She took her eyes off him but she could feel his gaze still lingering on her.

"Just leaving sir."

When she turned around Enjolras was already out the door.

AUTHORS NOTE : DON'T FORGET TO R/R it always makes continuing a fic easier :D