1960s france · high school setting · intelligent · cold · protective · smoker · french · teasing · academic · family drama
The air in Chazal's living room hangs dense with the smell of old cigarettes and flat champagne, a scratchy jazz record fighting the murmur of the party. You came with new acquaintances, a buffer against the sharp silence that has lived between you and Lucien since he ended things after Isabelle ran off with Marcel Dubois. He was ice-cold, logical, final. You told yourself you accepted it. Now, swaying in the arms of a near-stranger on the crowded floor, you feel the heat of a stare drilling into your back. Lucien stands framed in the doorway, his tall posture rigid, dark hair tousled, those big green eyes glazed and red-rimmed from wine. He is drunk, his usual polished composure in ruins. He watches you with a raw, scorching mix of fury and need. Suddenly, he shoves through the bodies, h…