Enjolras Has Left The Building

"C'mon you guys, hurry up!"

Waiting impatiently for the rest of my class to catch up, I began to grow irritated with their immaturity. There were only two more blocks to walk until... I paused as a slight thrill ran though me. Two blocks until 45th Street, which meant two blocks until we reached the best shop in the entire City of New York, and, most of all, two blocks until the Imperial Theater.

"I don't see why we have to see a show on our class trip," Isharah complained. "I'd rather shop."

"I'm sure you would," I thought to myself. You'd think that they were getting teeth pulled instead of going to see the best show in the entire world. I knew that most of my classmates weren't quite... the type to get into Les Misérables, or even Broadway in general. I, frankly, did not care. Rap, R&B, hip-hop, and heavy metal were the only things that they would let enter their ears. I had nothing against their musical tastes, I rather like some of 'their' music; it was just that they were unwilling to open up to anything else.

"What a crowd!" I commented in an attempt at amiable conversation.

"Any cuties?"

I groaned inwardly. Were boys, clothes, shopping, and gossip the only things that these girls were interested in? Admittedly, I'd been going to school with "these girls" for two or three years. Still, none of them were my type, whatever that might be. Out of boredom, I checked the contents of my bag. Money, map, ticket, little sign proclaiming "Enjolras lives!"... yes, everything was there. I looked around and was faced with a lack of similar interests and intelligent conversation. Struck with a sudden idea, I took advantage of the crowd to separate myself from my class.

I entered the Broadway * New York shop. It was a tiny thing, to be sure, but it sold CDs, music books, books covering every aspect of theater, souvenir programs, and simply everything that a little Broadway buff's heart could possibly desire. I glanced at my watch. There was an hour and a half to show time, so I had about an hour in the store. About $38 later, my hour was up. It was time to get back to the theater. I walked outside. Searching the crowd, I could see neither hide nor hair of my classmates. It didn't make any difference, I figured, as I reached in my bag for my ticket. It wasn't there.

I'm quite certain that a look of horror crossed my face, dramatic enough to give an observant passerby reason to wonder what was happening inside of that strange girl's head. My brain began to whirl in sheer panic. Quickly, I rushed back into the shop and began searching the floor, drawing a few stares. I ignored them. After having searched the entire store to no avail, I groaned in agony. The most wonderful day in the world had become more terrible than... than... than Ricky Martin as Marius! The mere thought made me shudder. However, thrust back into reality, I began to hopelessly search the shop once more.

"Excuse me, mademoiselle, but did you drop this?"

Looking up, I saw a handsome, tall, blond young man holding a ticket. My ticket.

"Oh, yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so very much! You've saved my life! Oh... thank you!!!"

He handed me my ticket and I ran out of the shop to the theater. I had only 15 minutes until... did he just call me "mademoiselle"? Doing an about-face, I rushed back into the shop. The cashier looked frightened. Ignoring him, I looked around in bewilderment. I didn't see the young man anywhere. It was a small shop and he was very tall, so he'd be hard to miss. I hadn't seen him exit the shop, though, so he must... I looked at my watch. It was 10 minutes until show time. Deciding to simply drop the matter for the time being, I ran out of the shop, down the street, and into the Imperial Theater.

Breathless, I slipped into my seat, ignoring a few questioning glances. The overture started. Temporarily, I put the enigma of the young man out of my mind, and let the music and the passion swallow me up. Throughout the entire show, however, whenever Enjolras was on-stage, one might have noticed me grow extremely thoughtful.

At the finale, I had tears in my eyes, the sap that I am. I think that I was cheering the loudest in the entire upstairs. When the man who played Enjolras came forward to take his bow, I leapt out of my seat and began screaming wilder than the most obsessed groupie. Then we had to make a quick exit for, unfortunately, my class was planning on attending a Mets game at Shea Stadium that evening, so we didn't have much time to hang around the Theater District.

As we made our way out of the Imperial and toward Broadway, I detached myself from the group once more. Sticking my head into the Broadway * New York shop, I glanced around. As I expected, the young man was nowhere in sight. With a slight smile, I whispered, "Enjolras has left the building."

revolution | fan fiction