PART 1

“Suzan?” Regina asked as she shook her cousin back into reality. As usual Suzan was lost in a dream world. Suzan looked up and then down at her plate again and Regina started on again with her very long boring story about the time she walked all the way up the Eiffel Tower. To Regina who cared only about staying physically fit this was a great achievement. To Suzan who you could hardly get to walk down the block to the super market it was no big deal. 

Suzan sighed and moved her plastic red stir around in her cappuccino. Here she was in one of the greatest cities in the world with all its history and fashion stores, and yet here she was, sitting with her slightly annoying and slightly older cousin at a café being bored out of her mind. Why she had decided to spend her summer in Paris with her grandmother she wasn’t sure. Of course she loved her grandmother but ever since she had gotten here she had done nothing but follow her cousin around.

“So anyway,” Regina said once she had finished her story, “I decided that today we could hang out with a few guys.”

For a second Suzan thought she had heard her cousin wrong. She looked up at the smiling girl, “Okay.”

Regina and Suzan got into a taxi and they drove what seemed to Suzan has ten blocks before they finally got to a normal Paris looking street. Regina paid the driver as Suzan got out of the car. Suzan looked at each of the buildings not sure were to head. Regina watched the taxi speed away then turned to Suzan and gestured for her to follow her.

The two teenaged girls walked down the rest of the block then turned at an alley way. Regina walked straight in while Suzan hesitated for a second. The alley way was well lit by the sun but Suzan felt as though she didn’t belong there, still she followed her cousin. After all, where ever they were going could turn out to be that great adventure that was missing in Suzan’s Paris trip.

“Wait,” Regina said and she turned to Suzan. Suzan was not your classic girl next door. She wore black, a lot. And her hair which was naturally blond was now dyed black and it actually looked very natural. Regina on the other hand had brown hair and today she had chosen to dress in an outfit she had bought a couple of days before Suzan had gotten to Paris. Regina reached up to her ponytail and pulled it out, “How does my hair look?”

“Fine,” Suzan said honestly, “Do I look okay?”

“You look great,” Regina said excitedly, “Now Suzan, these kids think we’re British. So we’ll need to use our-“

“British?” Suzan asked cutting in.

“Yeah, because this is a cool local hang out and they don’t really like Americans here all that much,” Regina said, “So just act British.”

Suzan wasn’t sure how to “act British” but she could keep up a British accent alright. Suzan nodded at Regina who nodded back and the two girls walked over to the café and entered.

As soon as they had entered Suzan took in the strong smell of cigarette smoke. She stopped and gagged for a second then followed Regina deeper into the dimly lit café. The girls walked over to a sitting area where there were a couple of kids sitting around talking. Suzan hung back while her cousin walked up to one of the guys and gave him a hug.

“This is my cousin, Suzan,” Regina said in her false British accent. Suzan forced a smile and waved awkwardly.

The boy Regina had walked up to got up and introduced himself, “My name is Ryan.”

Suzan was introduced to the rest of the group but she still stayed at her spot more away from the group. The other kids didn’t seem to notice though and Suzan sighed and just watched the scene.

“Hello?” A boy asked and he tapped on Suzan’s shoulder. Suzan turned to look at the boy. He was tall, much taller than her. He also had curly blond hair and amazing blue eyes that were underneath square framed glasses. For a second Suzan was at a loss for words. Then said something, “Oh hi. My name is Suzan.”

“You idiot,” Her mind scolded its self. Not because she hadn’t used her British accent but because here she was in front of a hot French boy and she couldn’t even find words to speak.

“Suzan,” He said and he nodded as though he approved of the name. He seemed to hesitate for a second as he continued, “My name is Pier--Paul.”

Suzan nodded and looked over at her cousin. Pier--Paul looked over at her cousin also. “She’s fake,” He said in a “whatever” tone. Although Suzan half agreed with Paul Regina still was her cousin.

“She’s my cousin and she isn’t fake,” Suzan told Paul and she crossed her arm. He smiled at her.

“You’re lying,” He told her and then he walked back over to the rest of the group. This wouldn’t be the last time Suzan would run into Paul.

“My goodness Ryan,” Pierre said as the two boys walked down the street.

“Even if she is some American poser I still think she’s attractive,” Ryan explained. Ever since the day he had met Regina he knew what she was hiding. Still he loved the way she tried so hard, in some ways he even thought it was sort of cute. Pierre disagreed completely.

“Well she’s sort of annoying,” Pierre protested, “and I don’t think you should keep inviting her to the local spots because the next thing you know the place will be crawling with tourists.”

“If you’re talking about her cousin I only had Regina bring her for you,” Ryan said and he sighed. He had to admit that maybe Pierre was right about Regina. Still he wanted to change the topic, “So did you like Suzan?”

Pierre shrugged, “She seemed alright. I introduced myself…kind of.”

“What do you mean kind of?” Ryan asked curiously. Pierre fixed his glasses on his nose and laughed.

“Well I told her my name is Paul.”

“Paul?”

“I didn’t want her to start falling all over me once she found out my real name and realized that ‘I’m a dreamy Prince with a lot of money’.”

“Well will you set things right?” Paul asked right before the two entered their school grounds. Pierre shrugged and Paul laughed.