Chapter 1

The cold, marble eyes stared straight back into mine as if it were exploring my very soul, deciding whether or not I was deemed worthy enough to gaze up this...mysterious piece, I guess you could say. I looked down at the card marking the sculpture and read aloud, "Joan of Arc. Artist...Henri Chapu. Made in...1872." Nope, nothing intersting here. Just another useless slab of artwork for people to stare at when they're bored. But, I did have to admit, there was something about this sculpture that seemed...I don't know...familiar. Strange. I had never been here in my life, yet here was this odd case of déjà vu. I shrugged slightly. It was probably a false feeling, anyway.

"Joanna!" A familar voice called from what seemed to be the other side of the room. "Come look at this!" I turned toward the voice, clearly finding her across the room from me as I had suspected. Shrugging slightly again, I strode over to meet my friend and see what she wanted me to see so bad. Once I got there, I suddenly regretted it.

"OH GOD." I turned away in disgust at a certain sculpture which was revealing a bit too much for my tastes.

Ashley just laughed. "Isn't he hot?"

"...You're weird."

"I know I am." She smiled.

I couldn't help but chuckle at this. Ashely was one of those "screw what the world thinks" kind of people, so she didn't really care what she was called. In fact, she loved it when people called her weird, nerdy, and strange. It made her feel unique, I guess.

"Hey, Joanna. Today we can choose anywhere we want to eat seeing as how there is a whole line of restaurants down this street. We should totally choose the one with the best view of hot, French guys." She winked at me, playfully. "You never know when you'll meet that special someone."

I gave Ashley an odd look before deciding to give into her demands. "Fine, fine."

Ashely's chestnut eyes lit up with happiness. "I knew you would say yes!" She quickly wrapped her arms around me in a tight, sisterly hug, then released her hold after a few moments. "Lunch starts in a few minutes. So, meet me outside when you're done touring, okay?" And with that, she was gone. But not too far since there was another naked sculpture a few feet away. I laughed to myself. "What am I going to do with that girl?" Shaking my head a little, I decided it was best to move onto the next area. There was still much to see before lunch began.

Before I knew it, the small amount of time had passed and it was now lunch time. I walked out of the museum and met up with Ashley, then we followed the group just down the road towards a restaurant hotspot. I allowed Ashley to choose where we would eat, even though I knew I would regret it. She chose this extremely expensive restaurant that I knew we both couldn't afford, so I had to drag her across the road towards a least expensive one. Ashley was not happy. She was pouting the whole time, even when we sat outside and practically got the same view as across the street. I tried to reassure her that we would see plenty of cute Frenchies from this end, but she wouldn't believe me. She finally shut up when our waiter came to take our order. From the look in her eyes, I could she she was lovestruck. The waiter had brown hair which would have fallen to his shoulders if he hadn't kept it up in a ponytail. He had dazzling green eyes and a thin figure which looked extremely good on him. From what I could guess, he seemed about our age of seventeen. Oh gosh, he was hot. But, still, he wasn't my type. Now, Ashley on the other hand, he was her type defiantly. Then again, everyone was her type.

"Que puis-je vous aujourd'hui?" He asked in his heavy French accent. Ashley was too love stuck to speak, so I spoke for her.

"Nous voulons tous deux de l'eau, s'il vous plaît," I answered back. The waiter nodded and left us for our drinks. I turned back around to see Ashley still gawking at the waiter. "Ashley...Ashley...Ashley..." I poked her head simultaneously each time I said Ashley. "EARTH TO ASHLEY!"

She looked at me startled. "What?"

"I think you're scaring our waiter."

She shot me a quick scowl. "Are not."

I laughed a little. "I think he noticed you making googly eyes at him."

Ashley looked frantic. "H-He did! CRAP."

I laughed a little harder this time. "Don't worry. There are more guys out there."

"But they're probably not as hot as that one!"

This time I couldn't think of a good come back. I was laughing too hard to come up with another one.

"Don't laugh at me!"

"I-I'm sorry! B-But you're too funny sometimes!"

"I don't know whether or not to take that as an insult or a compliment."

Finally calming down, I replied, "Just take it as a compliment."

Ashley stayed quiet for a moment, then nodded. "Fine. I will."

We laughed for a little bit until our waiter came back with our waters. That's when I realized that we had yet to look at the menu. I sent the waiter away for a few minutes-much to Ashley's dismay- and flipped through the menu. I smirked when I found a dish that Ashley would know all too well. "Hey, Ashley. Let's get some escargot."

"NO."

I snicked, then went back to flipping through the menu. Ashley did the same as I. It was a moment before either of us spoke and, of course, Ashley was the first to speak. "Let's get some crepes."

"...Isn't that a breakfast food?"

"Who ever said you can't have breakfast for lunch?"

"...Touche."

"Crepes it is then!" She fist-pumped the air in triumph. While Ashley was cheering for joy over her victory lunch, I turned to gaze at the street. So many people were out for lunch and most were pretty much couples. A sudden feeling of lonliness washed over me. For some reason, it felt as if I was missing someone. Someone very important to me. But, I didn't have a boyfriend or anyone like that, so why was I so lonely? My deep blue eyes searched for an answer along the streets of France, but nothing seemed to be giving me any clue. All I had was that strange feeling of déjà vu again. I was just about to turn my attention back to Ashley, when I noticed a strange man. He had short, blonde hair that fell to his shoulders in a wavy fashion and a light stubble across his chin. His eyes were a deep, ocean blue which reminded me of my own. I couldn't tear myself away from him for a moment until a hand slapped itself on my shoulder and shook me violently.

"JOANNA!"

I turned to look at Ashley with a slightly confused expression upon my face. "What is it?"

"You zoned out!"

"Oh."

"OH! Is that all you can say!" She stood up, staring at me with an intense worried expression pastered on her face. "There's something wrong! I just know it!"

"There's nothing wrong, Ashley. I just saw a cute guy is all."

Ashley gave me and odd look. "You were staring at a...guy?"

I nodded and she smirked. "I knew you would like it here! This is the perfect guy-check-out-place, am I right?"

I just nodded again even though I had picked this restaurant in the first place. It was best to leave it just as that in these cases, because Ashley was always right no matter what-she made sure of it too! I turned my head to see if the man was still standing there, but he wasn't. My lips curved into a small frown. There was something about him that was all too familiar. I just didn't know what. Had I met him before? It was possible, but I doubted it. Maybe I was just going insane.

Starting a new story.~ I dunno. I was just really inspired to do this for some reason. I guess I'm just a huge FrancexJoan of Arc fan. :3 Well, please review and tell me what you think!

Translations:

Que puis-je vous aujourd'hui? - What can I get you today?

Nous voulons tous deux de l'eau, s'il vous plaît. - We both want water, please.