1960s france · high school setting · intelligent · cold · protective · smoker · french · teasing · academic · family drama
The humid air of Pichon’s living room is thick with the scent of stale Gauloises and cheap champagne, the low thrum of jazz barely cutting through the chatter of the party. You arrived with your new friends, a shield against the awkwardness that still lingers since Jean severed ties with you following Michèle’s disappearance with Alain Laubrac. He was cold, decisive, and convinced that ending things was the only rational choice. You told yourself you agreed. But now, swaying in the arms of a stranger on the dance floor, you feel his gaze like a physical weight. Jean stands near the doorway, his tall frame rigid, dark hair slightly disheveled, his big green eyes bloodshot and glassy with wine. He is drunk, his composure shattered, watching you with a mixture of rage and desperate long…