Chapter Text
I was new to Collège Françoise Dupont. In fact, I was entirely new to Paris. I stared up at the building, sat in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower and slowly mounted the stairs.
There were so many things that could happen at a new school. What if I made a fool of myself on the first day? What if no one wanted to befriend me because I was the new kid? What if I did make friends but was unable to spend time with them because I didn’t know where anything in Paris was and I got lost and never found my way back home and had to live forever on the streets with only the clothes on my back and a scruffy cat named Felix to call my friend?
I took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, and let it out. Nothing, good or bad, would be able to happen if I didn’t actually step inside. So I stomped on the ground, planting my feet in a determined stance, and continued up the stairs of my new school. When I looked around I could see other students making their way up the stairs as well and followed them through the large double doors at the front of the school.
Clutching my bag to my chest, I made my way towards the Principal’s office and knocked on the heavy door. Hearing a call to enter, I pushed it aside and walked cautiously in. Bookshelves lined the walls on either side of the room from floor to ceiling and the view though the window directly across the door was so beautiful that I almost didn’t see the Principal himself, sat in his desk chair.
The man smiled patiently at me. “Is there something that I can help you with, young lady?”
I looked at him and tried to explain myself all at once. “I . . . um . . .new student. . .you spoke to mom. . . uh that’s me.”
He blinked owlishly at me.
I took another steadying breath and tried again. “I’m the new student. I believe you spoke to my mother about my attendance.”
He seemed all at one to remember the conversation. “Ah, yes. You’re the Delecroix girl. I assure you that you will have the best time here at Collège Françoise Dupont,” he said standing and grabbing a folder from his desk. He opened it and scanned the contents before saying, “It says here that you will be joining Miss Bustier's class for the moment. This may be subject to change, it is not often that we receive a transfer to our school so late in the year, but I believe you will do well there.”
I reached out, thinking that he would give me the folder and leave me to find the classroom on my own but instead he pushed back his chair and stood.
“I will be taking you to Miss Bustier’s class for now but for the remainder of today and the rest of the school year you will have to find your classes on your own.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” I said and took a moment to scan his desk’s nameplate, “Principal Damocles. If I have questions about schooling here will I be able to ask you?”
He hesitated. “I believe that Miss Bustier will be better suited to answering any questions that you may have for the rest of the year. Come now,” he said, walking over and placing a hand on my shoulder.
I stood, slinging on my bag and let him steer me out of his office and down the halls of the school. How would I ever be able to keep track of all of the rooms? How would I keep track of my classes? We stopped in front of a door and, without knocking, Principal Damocles turned the knob.
“Excuse me,” he said rather too loudly, “Miss Bustier, I have a student that will be joining your class.”
Miss Bustier, a smartly dressed redheaded woman, paused in her lesson to the class. She looked at Principal Damocles, perhaps a bit annoyed at his disruption but then smiled warmly at me. “Thank you Principal Damocles. Now, would you come to introduce yourself to the rest of the class?”
I looked up at the Principal and he urged me forward. I walked over to stand in front of Miss Bustier’s desk. Adjusting my glasses, I looked around the room. Everyone in class seemed so colorful and there a few faces that stuck out immediately. On the left in the front row there was a girl whose clothes and attitude screamed money sat next to a redhead that seemed much too mousey and sweet to be her friend. Directly behind her was a girl who kept her colorful dreadlocks tied back with a bandanna. I noticed as well that in the first two rows on the right side there were two empty seats. One was next to a pretty girl with glasses and a plaid shirt and the other was next to a boy with headphones slung around his neck directly in front of her.
After taking perhaps too long to look over some of my new classmates, I spoke. “Hello, my name is Camille Delacroix. As you can tell I am new to Collège Françoise Dupont,” I said slowly, trying to get the pronunciation correct, “but I am new to Paris as well. I lived with my father in America until just recently. Now I live here with my mother. I hope that I’ll be able to adjust well and I hope that we will get along.” I looked back at Miss Bustier to see whether my introduction was satisfactory.
She smiled once again. “There are only two available seats in the class at the moment, one next to Ivan and the other next to Nathaniel. I leave my students free to choose their own seating as long as they are not disruptive. Feel free to have your pick.”
I looked back at her, confused. “Only two seats? What about the two open in the first and second rows?”
Just then there was the sound of slapping footsteps and the door burst open. In tumbled a girl with black hair and a blonde boy. They crashed on the ground in a tangle and, though I was shocked, the class only laughed and Miss Bustier wore a put on expression.
“What excellent timing,” she said. “We were only just talking about the two of you. Those seats you asked about, Ms. Delacroix, they are taken by these two students. I hope you will take from them and learn that I do not excuse tardiness. Adrien, Marinette, I hope that you will learn how to arrive to school on time. All three of you, take your seats.” After this, Miss Bustier left the room to speak with Principal Damocles.
I watched as they took their seats with their heads hung and looked for the two empty seats that Miss Bustier mentioned. The boy that I assumed to be Ivan was simple enough to find, he was the largest kid in class and wore mostly black. Nathaniel was much smaller and I almost did not see him, as he sat behind Ivan. I walked over with the intent to sit with Nathaniel who seemed most welcoming if not a bit shy.
I felt something trip me on my way over and I landed on my hands and knees. My glasses were knocked off and I was lucky that I could see well enough without them to get up.
I grabbed them quickly and scrambled to my seat. The rich girl in the front laughed uproariously and after a sharp look was sent her way, the girl next to her began to laugh as well. I sat down quickly, face hot, and put my glasses back on.
I set my bag down by my side and pulled out a notebook and began to write. My first day and I’ve already managed to make a fool of myself by being a klutz. Nice going, me.
On the next page, I drew the layout of the classroom with each of the student desks and Miss Bustier’s desk in the front of the room. On it I wrote my own name in the place where I was sitting. I wrote Nathaniel’s name next to mine and Ivan’s name in front. I paused, trying to remember the other names that I had heard today and wrote in the names of the two late students, Adrien and Marinette in their places. I wrote in Miss Bustier’s name as well.
Underneath the drawing, I wrote a note to myself. Keep track of the names and faces in this classroom. When you ultimately get confused you’ll know who may help you and who won’t.
I closed my journal after this and Miss Bustier reentered the classroom. “Class, we will be continuing with our lesson. Camille, I understand that were made familiar with this work?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied.
“Excellent,” she said. “I expect that you will be able to follow along nicely enough for the project that I will be assigning.”
A bit overwhelmed, I asked, “Are you sure that I will? After all, I haven’t been been present for any of your class discussions or course work.”
She gave an obliging look, “If it proves necessary, I can assign one of your classmates to act as a tutor to you to get you up to speed but, as I said before, I am confident that you will be able to handle your new workload.
Thoroughly silenced, I nodded and took out a notebook to write in.