A new year, new semester. Eponine walked through the halls thinking how strange it was to be back. Winter break was only two weeks, but those two weeks had felt long when she had spent most of it by herself in the shabby room she called home. As she walked through the school halls she felt relieved to be here, even if she didn't have anyone to hug or squeal with like the students around her. She only had him.

Subconsciously she knew she was scanning each face for those lively eyes, that boyish grin. Her breath caught as she bumped clumsily into a solid torso, she exhaled heavily when the boy looking down at her wasn't the one she was looking for. The brown eyes glanced at her a moment, the voice a soft murmur: 'Sorry.' Then he was gone. Eponine stared offhandedly at his receding red jacket. Pull yourself together she thought. The last thing she wanted to do was stand out, and that's what would happen if she kept being so clumsy.

After half a day of staring out at the oval or trying to catch a glimpse of him at the lockers, Marius appeared at lunchtime and to Eponine's surprise, he came directly to the table in the cafeteria where she usually sat by herself. She kept her distance from people for fear they would find out about her living conditions, or her family's reputation, or how crabby she could be with people sometimes. It was just easier not to get too attached. Marius was the only one who knew all about her, and as long as she had him, she didn't need anyone else. Usually they spoke in between classes or on the way home from school, so it was strange that he appeared before her now at lunchtime.

'Ponine, hi!' He seemed so enthusiastic that if he were anyone else, she would have raised an eyebrow. But the fact that he was here, talking to her… she couldn't help but grin.

'Hi!'

'Ponine there's a new girl here, have you met her?'

This wasn't what Eponine had been expecting. 'No I haven't… why?'

His face fell. 'I thought you might have got to know her… I want to ask her something but I feel bad, I don't even know her name!'

Eponine was getting an ugly feeling about this. 'What did you want to ask her?'

'Well I wanted to ask her out… or get her number, or something,' Marius was blushing slightly; she had never seen him so flustered. 'Oh I know I sound ridiculous Ep, but if you could only see her! She's… indescribable!'

'I'm sure.' Her voice was light but she couldn't help the bitterness of her thoughts. What made this new girl so great?

'Hey look, there she is!' Marius nodded his head discreetly towards the entrance of the cafeteria where a slim girl entered, as if in slow motion, her golden hair streaming behind her. At seeing her, Eponine's heart sank. This girl was beautiful… no, she was more than that. She was luminous. Her smile lit up her face and in turn, her presence seemed to light up the room. And what was worse, Eponine knew her.

Cosette. Memories of a sad half-starved foster child, one which her parents had treated so poorly, came back to Eponine. All those years of standing by, watching Cosette labour over tasks Eponine had never had to do, of soaking up praise while poor Cosette wept for her birthmother Fantine's affection; all those years had come back to haunt her. It had to be karma: their roles had been reversed, and here Eponine was, pretty much homeless and watching her beloved Marius fall for Cosette.

'Eponine?'

'Huh?'

Marius was studying her expression. 'What is it? You look like you've seen a ghost.'

Something like that. 'It turns out I do know her,' Eponine admitted slowly.

'You do?' Marius was so excited, he sidled closer to her and gripped her arm. Chills of excitement ran through her. 'Ponine, you have to tell me all about her! Who is she, what does she like?'

She wanted to say things just to make him stay, to make sure he kept holding her like this, to make sure he needed her. But she couldn't bring herself to lie. 'I only knew her when we were small children. I really don't know that much about her.'

Hope lingered in Marius' eyes. 'Do you remember her name?'

Eponine's heart fell as she surrendered the scrap of knowledge she had to offer. 'Cosette.'

Already his gaze had drifted to the table where Cosette sat, surrounded by new friends. 'Cosette… thank you Eponine!'

'No problem.' The words were said to an empty chair.

Across the cafeteria, she glimpsed once more the girl everyone seemed to be falling in love with. She wore fitted light-blue jeans, long leather boots, a knitted cream vest and a silver necklace- none of which was overly showy, but modest in a flattering way. Eponine felt like a fly on the wall, no worse: a brick in the wall, with her boring brown dress and her long black coat, which she usually wore to hide her undernourished body. She pulled the hood up now, a habit she had when she wanted to disappear. It wasn't hard though- no one noticed her.

Nearby was the table Marius usually sat at; all his friends turned to watch him make his way toward Cosette, The one who drank a lot nudged the boy beside him and grinned, the others snickering at Marius' bold stride toward his newfound love. Only one of the boys wasn't snickering with the rest- he had turned to glance at the direction Marius had come from. His brown eyes met Eponines, before he abruptly collected his books and left the cafeteria. Once again, Eponine found herself staring at the red jacket as it vanished from sight.