The Girl who parles Français (Short Story) by Hanner Goenaga

Years ago, I traveled to a coastal city with two coworkers for the weekend to party and enjoy the sun. We arrived on Saturday night, walked around the city, and enjoyed the fresh breeze that blew through the streets. Later, we went to a club to dance to the rhythm of Caribbean music. As we were walking in, I saw two girls leaning against the wall; their look suggested they weren't locals either. In that instant, I fell in love with one of them—it was love at first sight.

​As the night went on, the beer started to give me a buzz, so I plucked up the courage and decided to move closer to her. Every time someone left an empty spot on the dance floor, I took it, slowly making my way until I ended up right next to her. She was dancing with her friend, and I could tell they noticed me. I was tapping my foot slowly with a beer in my hand, pretending to look at the DJ. She whispered something to her friend and looked over at me a couple of times with an expression that seemed to say, 'What is he doing there dancing alone?' Then, she laughed shyly with her friend, but I was still unable to say a word."

​"When the night was at its peak and I was even drunker, I decided to take a chance and talk to her. However, she was nowhere to be found. I walked through the entire club, searching for her desperately, until I spotted her leaning relaxed by the entrance. She was alone; I had no idea where her friend had gone. I approached her and immediately said, 'Hi, how are you?'

​But she just looked at me and replied, 'Excuse-moi, je ne suis pas d'ici, j'habite en France, je ne parle pas anglais.' Fortunately, I also spoke French and understood her perfectly, so I replied, 'Je parle français.' She immediately tilted her head, crinkling her face with a look of suppressed laughter.

​We kept talking, and in the end, she gave me her number. After getting to know each other better, she confessed that she was actually from this country and spoke perfect English. It turned out to be a bet she had made with her friend: they would speak to anyone who approached them in a foreign language just to confuse them…”