"Est-ce que vous êtes français? [Are you French?]" She asked them politely.

"Oui!" The young man with the red hair quipped. "Est-ce que vous êtes américaine, n'est-ce pas? [You are American, right?]" He asked.

"Oui, c'est vrai. Est-ce que tu parle anglais? [Yes, that's true. Do you speak English?]" She asked hopefully. Her French could only go so far.

"Yes," Said the one with the black hair. "My name is Jean-Luc." He answered, extending his hand, trying to duplicate the American greeting.

"I am Marielle." She answered. She hadn't really gotten to meet any French people yet, so this was new and exciting for her.

"Etienne." The red-headed one said, grinning. Marielle smiled and turned to see where the rest of the gang was. JC looked all alone where he was sitting, and she felt instantly sad for him.

"Excuse me, s'il vous plaît." She answered, trudging out the water and going to sit next to him. "What's up? You look lonely over here," She said, studying his face.

"Nothing much. I didn't really feel like going to swim." He answered.

"Oh. You want to go do something else? I'm pretty much finished swimming." She answered.

"What do you want to do?" JC asked.

"You want to go and check out the stores back in the castle?" She asked.

"Sure." They both got up. JC picked up one of the towels and handed it to her, letting her wrap it around herself. "Hey guys!" He shouted towards the rest of the group, who were playing Marco Polo in the water. "We're going back to the hotel, okay?" Chris waved and nodded to show he understood.

"Aww, look at that," Marielle said, gazing at the dogs that were strolling along next to their owners. The streets weren't crowded at all, and she felt comfortable as she and JC walked side by side. They had gone back to the hotel to change and had decided to go and get some food before they started their tour of the stores.

"What do you want?" JC asked, stopping in front of a small store. There was a display of all of the types of food they sold.

"Hmm," She said, looking at the food, "I think I'll get a sandwich au fromage." She answered a moment later.

"Good idea, I think I'll get one too." JC answered. He motioned for the clerk to come closer. "Je voudrais deux sandwich au fromages, et deux cocas, s'il vous plaît. [I would like two cheese sandwiches, and two cokes please?]"

The clerk took out the sandwiches and sodas and JC counted out enough French money and handed it to the man. "You want to sit on the curb?" He asked her, motioning towards the side of the sidewalk.

"Sure." She answered, taking a bit out of her sandwich. They both sat down.

"How long have you and Dani been together?" She asked him.

JC almost choked on his sandwich, but was able to reply, "oh like two months."

"Oh." She answered, taking another bite. "She must be pretty awesome."

"Yeah, why do you say so?" He asked. He'd have thought her first comment would have been 'she must be real pretty' instead of awesome.

"Oh, well because I mean if you've liked her enough to stay with her for two months, there's got to be something special about her, am I right?" Marielle asked, grinning.

"Is two months long for you?" JC asked her, glancing at her.

She sighed, "nope." And took another bite of her sandwich. "but it takes a lot of commitment."

"Well," JC said with a sigh, looking up from his sandwich. "I think that commitment's over. I don’t think the relationship's worth saving anymore. We don't talk, we don’t see each other, and when I'm with her, I just can't be myself like I am with the guys."

"If it's at that stage then it's for the better for both of you," Marielle pointed out, "don't make it any worse than it will be if you stay with her longer if you have no feelings for her." She finished her sandwich. "Hey! Look at that store! Let's go in?" She begged, pointing at the bookstore down the street.

"Okay, okay!" JC said, chuckling as she grabbed his hand and dragged him there.

"I wonder where they went?" Jessica said aloud, looking around the streets of St. Malo with interest. They had all split up after the rest of them had left the beach and were going to meet back in the lobby at nine.

"Shopping." Justin answered. A woman sat in the middle of the cobblestone streets, turning a crack that led to a machine that played music. The music was eerie, and Jessica shivered when the tune reached her. Justin studied the machine with interest, then glanced at the small container where donations were placed. "Isn't there supposed to be a monkey?" He asked Jessica, who shrugged as an answer.

"I don't know." Jessica answered with a shrug. "Hey!" She answered excitedly, pulling Justin into a store, staring at the beautiful art pieces that were on sale. "I have to get this one," She announced, looking at a drawing of the Eiffel Tour. "And this one," She added, selecting a picture of L'Arc de Triomphe.

"Why?" He asked.

"Can't you see?" She asked him, motioning towards the entire picture, "it's art!" she smiled sheepishly, "I guess I get a bit overexcited when I see something that I feel is really good artistically."

"It's okay, do you draw?" He asked, inspecting the postcards that hung on a rack.

"yeah, a little," She said, being extremely modest. Justin didn't know she adored drawing and was creating a name for herself back at home. "but c'mon let me buy these and we'll see what else they have here that we can go to."

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