Who: Dot and Reina What: Practicing French Where: Reliquary When: Noon Saturday Warnings: None
Reina sat cross-legged in Reliquary in her customary seat, feet tucked between calf and thigh on her chair to keep her toes warm. A knit cap covered her rioting curls - they didn’t approve of the weather - and fingerless gloves covered her hands. She watched the threads spinning from her mirror without paying much attention to them. They twisted and turned, sometimes curling around people, as if interested in them. Their colors shimmered, catching the light and throwing dazzling patterns against the wall that only she could see.
She felt like a crackhead trying LSD for the first time.
Sliding her finger off the glass of the mirror, she leaned back in her seat and tossed back a hearty gulp of her more-sugar-than-coffee coffee. Her gaze slid over the people in the shop, idly taking them in before dismissing them again. She looked vaguely focused, but mostly vacant, an expression she preferred to adopt. No one bothered someone who looked like an idiot. She liked when people left her alone.
To her right, she heard a young woman’s voice, muttering something in French. Interest piqued, Reina tilted her head toward the girl, listening. She wasn’t bad, but if was studying for an oral exam or something similar, she would get a few points off for pronunciation. After fighting an internal battle of “do I put myself out there and make an ass of my self or not?” Reina scooted out of her chair and lightly tapped the girl on the shoulder. “Voudriez-vous l’aide?” she inquired with what she hoped was an inviting smile.
Dottie had been lied to when she registered for Intermediate French. The T.A. that she had spoken to had promised that it was an easy course, especially for someone who had taken French in the past. What she didn’t realize was that the professor would be speaking in 100% French at all times, without slowing down even for questions. It was frustrating to say the least, but she wasn’t about to let her crazy professor know that. No, instead, she’d started practicing two nights before her oral exam, in an attempt not to look foolish in front of her professor.
At around 11AM that morning, operating on 4 hours of sleep, Dot decided that she needed a change of scenery from her apartment and set off to Reliquary with her backpack of notes in tow. Ordering a fancy coffee that tasted more like vanilla than actual coffee, she chose a table that was mostly out of the way and went about reading her notes quietly to herself.
The hand on her shoulder broke her out of her half-concentrated, half-asleep, trans and she looked up to see a curly-haired girl with an open smile on her face. It took her a second to realize that she was speaking French and responded in her own slightly-off accent, “Parlez-vous Francais?” She would welcome any help at this point.
“Oui,” Reina replied, pulling out the chair next to the girl and settling in it. “I’ve been speaking it for a while. Would you like some help?” She hesitated, biting down on her lip, and then gave her another smile. Switching to French, she continued, “My name’s Reina. What’s yours? Are you studying for an oral exam?”
There may have been a mental sigh of relief as the girl pulled up a chair and sat down. She was more of an audio-tactile learner than a strictly visual learner, but none of her friends were taking this class. Replying in French, she gave Reina a small sheepish smile, “My name’s Dot. And yes, it’s tomorrow. I think I probably should have started earlier.”
She couldn’t say she knew the feeling, not with foreign language, but she remembered late nights spent studying math or science the day before an exam. She could empathize with that much. “Maybe, but don’t worry. I can help you out.” Leaning over, she scanned one of the papers on the table. “Is this a list of topics? Pick the one you’re least familiar with and we’ll talk about that. I’ll give you some pointers.”
Sifting through the papers, Dot found a cheat sheet for future tense and handed it to Reina. “I think I’m okay with the past tense stuff, but I’m having a hard time remembering the stuff on this sheet.” To be honest, she wasn’t sure how this whole oral exam thing was going to go down, she managed to miss the last class, so she’d been studying off the slides and handouts from previous classes, “Where did you learn to speak French so fluently?”
Reina skimmed the sheet before nodding to herself and setting it aside. “I taught myself, actually,” she replied. “I’ve had a lot of time to myself over the years. Never anything formally, though.” She tapped her lip, her eyes focusing on a space somewhere over Dot’s shoulder. “Alright, one of the topics is summer break.”
That was a foreign concept, so she wasn’t sure exactly what one talked about regarding summer vacation. So she said something generic. “What are your plans going to be this summer?” She figured that would require answering in the future tense, and she could correct Dot if the need arose.
Dot noticed the slight shift in Reina’s gaze, but didn’t say anything. She didn’t think she had any business meddling in her business, at least not when they’ve just met. There was a moment of silence as Dot sorted out what she wanted to say, in her head, before she started speaking in agonizingly slow French, “I am planning on travelling to Rome, in July. What will your plans be?”
Dot was slow but not awful. If she could pick up her pace a little, she would sound well enough, at least in Reina’s estimation. So she slowed her own speaking just a little, because that’s what a native speaker would have done, and replied, “I will be going to Las Vegas.” A total lie, but this wasn’t exactly about being truthful, was it? It was about learning how to speak using the future tense. “What will you be doing in Rome? Will you see the Colosseum?” She tried to use the future tense deliberately in her questions, to get Dot used to hearing it. She figured that would help.
“Oh, Las Vegas sounds fun, I will plan to go there one day,” Of all the places that she had been, neither her parents or her foster parents had thought that it would be appropriate to bring a child to Las Vegas. Her attention was drawn back to Reina s she continuing, taking not that she too was speaking in the future tense, “I will definitely be seeing the Colosseum and the Trevi fountain, as well. I will also be eating a lot of gelato and doing a lot of travelling by Vespa.” Vespas were definitely one of her favourite modes of transportation.
Reina smiled. “Mmm, I love gelato. Which flavor do you think you will try first?” she inquired as she skimmed the paper for another topic. Future goals. That could be a good place to go next.
“I think I’ll try strawberry or cappuccino first,” She grinned, Reina was really helping, it was starting to get easier. She felt more confident now and was starting to speak with less pauses and stalling. It still wasn’t perfect, but she was getting there.
Seeing Dot gaining her confidence, or hearing, as it were, Reina began peppering her speech with words that the other girl might not know but that were similar enough to English she’d be able to catch the meaning. She asked a few more questions - who Dot was planning to go with, how long she would be there - and those covered the generic topics of “time and duration” listed at the top of the study guide.
Finally, when Dot was conversing with her fluidly, Reina sat back with a laugh and switched to English. “Wow, you did really well,” she said, grinning. “I think you’ll do fine on your test. Just stay relaxed.”
“Thanks, I’ll do that!” Dot had really enjoyed talking to Reina, even if it was in French. She paused for a moment, wondering if it would be cool to exchange numbers. Grinning again, she decided that it was a good idea, even just to ask, “I have to go and try to get some real sleep in, before tomorrow, but we should hang out some time.” She wrote her number on a napkin and passed it to Reina before beginning to shuffle her papers into a makeshift pile and shoving them into her bag.
Reina took the napkin with a nod, tucking it in a pocket and quickly scrawling her number across another one. “You bet,” she said. “And anytime you need help with French, let me know. I’d be glad to help out.” With a small wave, she slipped from the chair at Dot’s table, returning to her own, still smiling faintly when she picked up a mirror to start her work again. A vague feeling of pride buoyed her through it. There was proof that she could make friends and interact with the world normally.