Real eyes realise (1)
joseph descamps × fem!reader
warnings: violence? yk what scene is in this, Joseph's eye gets stabbed, idk what else to tell you
☆mixte 1963 masterlist
the first time Joseph saw her was on the first day of school, circa 1963. Voltaire Lyceum had made the progressive decision to turn into a mixed school, allowing ten girls to enroll in the school. one of those girls was y/n. she wasn't anyone special, really. her father owned a corner shop in a quiet neighborhood, while her mother worked as a secretary at a newspaper agency. nothing special, nothing extraordinary.
and yet, through her parents' hard work and dedication to making sure their daughter got educated, she got ready for her first day in Voltaire high.
her mother stopped her on the door before she left, patting the daughter's dress down, then fixing her hair, ensuring that her headband is on properly. "look at me. make sure to behave properly there. if anyone bothers you, don't make a scene. and do not embarrass yourself or us by extent" she said in that harsh yet caring motherly tone. her gaze barely softens after that. "and do good, dear. i know you can" she says before rushing off to work.
the young girl left her home soon after, saying goodbye to her father who was already running the shop in the bottom story of their house before she got on her bike and began riding to school. she rode her bike, looking around at the city, observing the people walking around, all with their own lives, all with their own routines. she quickly reached Voltaire high, seeing all the students around, mainly boys. she parked her bike, secured it and took at deep breath.
and so, she entered Voltaire high on a breezy yet sunny September morning
meanwhile Joseph Descamps had a slightly different morning. his morning wasn't filled with the nerves that y/n had. his morning was filled with excitement. as was for any boy, i mean, a bunch of teenage boys who've only ever had male classmates now having female classmates? all of them were excited. and especially joseph. he arrived at school earlier than he would've normally, not wanting to miss a moment of the "show", of the new development. he found his friends, took a seat on a bench where he'd have a clear view of the gates, and waited.
and as all boys gawked at the girls who entered the school like animals assessing new food, so did he. he noticed the way she walked, posture straight but with her eyes locked down, as if she didn't want to attract too much attention, but also did not wish to be invisible. her dress was neatly ironed and modest yet fashionable, in a way that complimented her. he kept his gaze on her as she walked to the small bulletin board and read the hung up papers, figuring out which class she'd be in. he silently hoped to be in the same class as her, but then again, didn't every boy wish to be in class with one of the girls?
his wish came to fruition when he saw her step into class, along with 3 other girls whose names he vaguely caught, something like simone, michele and annick. didnt really matter. he wasn't focused at her at first, no. she was just another girl in class, and he was a prick who was determined to mock the girls to no end. whether it was with remarks, drawings or just plain old sarcasm.
she didn't react during the whole scene where Laubrac was caught with Descamps' lewd doodle, nor when Michele stood up for the orphan boy, fully aware that Descamps was the culprit. she simply paid attention to what was happening. she too knew the culprit, but didn't botehr backing up michele or alain. she just glared ad descamps for a bit. and, well, y/n's irritated gaze meant nothing to him at the time. why would it? she was just another girl. nothing more, nothing less.
he wasn't fazed by her quiet disapproval during lunch either, nor when she laughed at Simone's bite back at him. her quiet "good one" to simone went in from one ear and out the other. and he certainly didn't pay her any mind when she rolled her eyes while he was setting the water trap behind the door. he didn't care about her quiet wince when Michele got drenched, it was drowned out by his laugh. and he didn't hear her quiet mutter of "oh no" when Jean Pierre burst into the classroom like a madman or a man on a mission to defend Michele, his sister. he didn't even notice that she didn't even tear her eyes away as the fight broke out. and of course joseph didn't pay any attention to her horrified gasp as Jean Pierre punched him across the face, breaking his glasses -which now laid on a random desk- into his eye.
no, the first time he properly noticed y/n was as he fell to the floor, shocked, petrified, and in immense pain as he whined and moaned from the pain coming from his eye. he properly noticed her amidst all that because while everyone else stood frozen in shock, she rushed next to him. her voice was soft, quiet, and concerned, he could barely hear it above his own cries of pain, and not a single word she spoke registered in his head. but joseph could understand that she was there, and he could feel the care that radiated off of her. the worry for a soul who had been nothing but rude to her so far, albeit not directly. the reassuring nothings that she spoke to deaf ears as the pain overtook his senses.
"my eye! my eye, i cant see! it hurts!" his cries were met with soft whispers, gentle hushes and a hand on his shoulder. "shhhh, it's okay. you're going to be okay. shhhh, dont worry angel, you'll be okay. it will all be okay" it was like gently comforting a kid that fell.
for her, it didn't really matter that joseph had been a total asshole so far. the guy just had glass pierce his eye, sure he had made almost everyone's blood boil all day, but he didn't deserve that as a punishment. even as an accident, it was too far. too much. too painful.
he didn't have the time to ponder on all that too much as he suddenly felt her gone from his side. her warmth suddenly gone, her comforting nothings cut short, the hand on his shoulder replaced by another, by the Dean, who swiftly escorted him out, helped him walk away, called an ambulance and escorted him to it. everything after the punch was a blur for Joseph but he knew that she had shown that concern for him when no one else did. that -maybe unjustified- concern.
Joseph wasn't so sure how to feel about that. he spent some time in the hospital pondering about it. but not too much.
the second time he noticed her was the day right after. after a hectic afternoon spent in a hospital, and the devastating knowledge that he'd probably never see out of one of his eyes again, and amidst a sea of students who tensed up the moment they saw him, his singular eye searched for her. the girl who showed him such kindness the day before, and of course she was staring right back at him.
she hadn't been able to keep the incident out of her mind. she didn't tell either of her parents about it, scared that they'd get afraid and pull her out of the school, but the image still replayed in her head again and again like a broken looping record. when she had gone to school the next day, dress once again neat and hair on point, the biting of the inside of her cheek gave her nervousness away. it was a different nervousness from michele's, who was scared her brother would get expelled from the school. frankly, y/n didn't see how the blonde girl's biggest concern of her brother's expulsion and not the possibility of the descamps family pressing charges, but she didn't point that out. it wasn't the time nor the place.
she stayed silent as simone comforted michele, saying how "well, descamps won't show up today so no one will remember him" in reference to the school board meeting about jean pierre's punishment. that logic was..questionable and while y/n's mouth didn't say it, her expression certainly did, twisted in doubt. simone didn't have the time to call y/n out on her doubt as silence fell over the schoolyard and all eyes fell to the front gates, and specifically to a boy with a now bandaged eye. y/n's eyes fell on him and stayed, following his every movement.
her brain was filled with worry. sure, Descamps was a jerk, y/n knew that much, but no one deserved that, and how could she not worry after bearing witness to that horrifying punch? after her skirt suit was stained by his blood during her attempt to comfort him? after she softly spoke sweet, reassuring words to his ears like others did to her when she got hurt as a child, the same amount of worry and care in her voice? how could she not worry as she saw his glasses missing almost half a lens after that punch?
on the other hand, he couldn't fully see the worry behind his eyes. he couldn't see how she winced when she saw the eyepatch hiding one of his beautiful eyes, how her expression shifted and her words of defense died on her tongue before she could speak them as she got distracted by him entering the school. he didn't see all that. just two e/c eyes staring right back into his one eye with the intensity of someone who knew him for years and saw him get hurt. that baffled him for a second. a complete stranger looking so concerned for him.
meanwhile she couldn't tear her eyes away from him. not from the bandage covering his eyes. not from the way his other eye was practically glaring at everyone and everything, with a dark circle under it. not from the slouch on his walk as he headed to find his friends, a sign of the physical and mental exhaustion he had to go through yesterday.
"it doesn't suit him" she thought. he was too tall to walk so slouched, and his eyes were too pretty to have one of them be covered, forever if she had to guess. it really didn't suit him..
an unspoken tension rose again when he stepped into class. no one dared acknowledge it, but everyone knew it was there. joseph's eyes landed on y/n for a second as he stepped one. he noticed her again. maybe he wanted her to notice him too for a second. he didn't know if he wanted to thank her for yesterday or not. he should've, but he wasn't so sure.
he didn't thank her, but his gaze stayed for a second longer before he headed to his seat.
his quiet need for her attention -the one he didn't really admit to himself- didn't last for very long though. as time for p.e. came, and he came late for class after locking jean pierre into a toilet cubby, she was already sitting on the benches. something about a sprained wrist she was still recovering from after helping her dad in his corner shop, not that joseph knew that. he too was to sit on the benches. he didn't sit next to her, not even on the same row, but he didn't sit too far away either. maybe that was the polite thing to do, not that he had cared about being polite before, not lately at least.
she saw him sit a bit behind her. he saw her turn to look at him a few times but pretended he was watching the boys play, not letting her know he saw her. the ruckus caused by the boys was soon cut for him by a hesitant yet polite voice. "are you okay?" she asked. when she didn't get an answer besides a blank one-eyed stare she spoke again "right, that was not very smart to ask" she said before clicking her throat and clicking her tongue. "how is your eye?" she tried again. and yet again silence. "right, sorry" she said awkwardly before turning back to the front.
"i won't see from it again" said joseph after a while. he wasn't really looking at her, but was clearly speaking to her. "and i'm okay, i suppose" he hummed, still looking at the game his classmates were. she was surprised to hear him answer but nodded, unsure of how to respond. seeing her nod out of the corner of his eye, he turned to her finally. "thanks for yesterday. for, you know..yeah" he said a bit more quietly and averted his gaze. if him responding hadn't shocked her, this certainly did. "you're welcome".
that was their conversation, they did not talk more. they did not have anything to talk about, really. at the end of the day, they were still strangers. joseph did not know y/n and y/n did not know joseph. but she saw how he glared at jean-pierre when he snuck into their class to talk with his sister.
she waited after school with simone and michele, the two girls she had gotten acquainted with from her class -she didn't really consider her her friends, she had her friend group outside of school- to hear the ruling of jean-pierre's hearing. and when he came out, smiling, telling michele he only got suspended for eight days and a mere warning, the girl felt uneasy in her stomach. sure, she should be happy for her almost-friend's brother not getting expelled, the poor blonde had been nervous all day about the results of her brother's hearing. but on the other hand, in her inner thoughts she wouldn't share, she was left with a feeling of injustice. it was as if jean-pierre had been let off the hook simply because he was a prim and proper student. she could not understand how his reputation mattered, the dude had literally taken joseph's ability to see from one eye, for heaven's sake!
she went back home with this uneasy feeling still in her stomach, even as she rode her bicycle back, as she changed into a more casual dress to help her father with the corner shop, even as she started restocking shelves and arranging boxes in the back. the feeling slowly left as she stayed in the shop, as she chatted with costumers and hummed along to the music playing quietly by a vinyl in the corner.
and it returned as soon as the bell above the door chimed and a certain bandage-eyed boy stepped into the store, looking down...
a/n: okay this is officially a series cause I don't want to write more at once. my writing style is fairly monotone because I don't write too much dialogue so I'll make it a series to be able to read more easily -xoxo, zwzw
