Stéphanie's Secret Crush on Simon and the Hurt That Followed

Stéphanie’s attachment to Simon grows out of a long familiarity that makes his changed manner feel both alluring and difficult to read. Their brief intimacy at a party intensifies her hopes, but his subsequent indifference leaves her with uncertainty rather than a relationship: she is caught between pleasure, regret, jealousy, and the sense of being dismissed.

Childhood Familiarity and Attraction

Stéphanie and Simon had known one another since third grade. She remembered him then as a good student who was noisy and pretentious, dressed in 501s and Kickers. By the time she became preoccupied with him, he had changed: he wore a leather jacket, smoked constantly, and seemed sad. The contrast between the boy she had known and the older, more withdrawn figure helps explain the force of her interest without establishing that Simon shared it.

Simon also opened a musical world to her. Through him, Stéphanie discovered Leonard Cohen and the Doors, and she listened to them constantly. The music became part of her intense experience of attraction: what she encountered through Simon seemed beautiful, even as she remained unsure what he felt about her. Her fascination therefore rests on more than a single encounter. It is attached to a shared past and to the tastes and atmosphere she associates with him.

The Party and Its Uncertain Aftermath

At the Drimblois party, Stéphanie drank beer, smoked marijuana, and took poppers. Later, when she was nearly comatose on a sofa, Simon joined her. He whispered personal things, complimented her, and told her secrets. Flattered and weakened by the moment, she let him take the lead. Their kissing surprised her, and their intimacy continued upstairs. The episode is narrated through her fragmented recollection rather than as a settled account of what the encounter meant to either of them.

Her memory of the night remains uncertain. She could not clearly tell whether she had said no, and afterward she recalled mixed feelings rather than uncomplicated happiness: she felt sad and happy, followed by regret and a sense of having had too much. The account makes the imbalance in their positions part of the relationship’s defining uncertainty. Stéphanie was emotionally exposed and intoxicated; Simon initiated the encounter, but the evidence does not establish that he understood her feelings or considered the episode a commitment.

The next day did not resolve that ambiguity. Stéphanie eventually went swimming, and after the party Simon ignored her. The silence mattered because the encounter had given her reason to hope for continued closeness, while his conduct offered no confirmation of it. Her lingering hurt is therefore tied not only to what happened at the party but to the abrupt gap between private intimacy and his public withdrawal.

Jealousy at the Skate Park

After the party, Stéphanie still felt its bitterness. When Rodrigue offered her a joint, she accepted despite having promised herself she would cut back on marijuana after Drimblois. At the skate park, Simon and Rodrigue skated while Romain and the girls watched from the ramp. The setting made the relationship’s imbalance visible: Simon was present and close by, but his attention did not turn toward Stéphanie.

Romain began flirting with her. Rather than feeling wanted, Stéphanie experienced his advances as confirmation of Simon’s indifference; she believed Simon would otherwise have prevented his brother from making a move. The attention thus sharpened her insecurity instead of reassuring her. She felt ugly, sweaty, and diminished, made more conscious of her appearance by the Belgian girl at the park. When Romain tried to put a hand on her back, Stéphanie told him to leave her alone. His angry response drew the group’s attention, and Clémence stepped in.

Simon’s own choice soon made Stéphanie’s jealousy harder to contain. He landed nearby, then asked the Belgian girl to go with him. She agreed, and Simon helped her down from the ramp before leaving with her. Stéphanie was furious. Rodrigue teased them about where they were going, but neither the girl nor Simon answered him. Simon’s silence and departure provide no explanation of his feelings toward Stéphanie; in the scene, however, they reinforce the painful contrast between the attention she wants from him and the attention he gives elsewhere.

A Relationship Without Mutual Confirmation

Across these episodes, Stéphanie’s attachment moves from familiarity and fascination to a brief intimacy, then to waiting, jealousy, and hurt. Simon’s influence is real: he introduces her to music she loves, confides in her, and initiates closeness at the party. Yet none of those actions is followed by evidence of an acknowledged romance. His later disregard and his departure with the Belgian girl leave Stéphanie to interpret the encounter without his help.

The relationship is consequently defined by unequal certainty. Stéphanie remembers the party in detail and continues to measure later moments against it, while Simon’s intentions remain unstated. The skate-park episode turns that private uncertainty into a social scene, where his attention to another girl and Romain’s unwanted advances intensify her humiliation. The evidence supports a consequential crush and a painful episode of intimacy, but not a settled partnership or a clear account of what Simon believed had happened.