Chapter 1

A/N:

How's it going, everyone? After reading Eponine T. Daae's "West End High" (Bookmark this, and go read it now. It's fantastic.) I decided to write my own Les Miserables Fan fiction. I have trouble being consistent with my updates, so the upload dates will be sporadic. I hope you like it! Please Rate & Review!

Eponine Thenardier looked into the mirror on the wall of her doom room as she braided her curly brown hair. If you had told her that she would be where she was now a year ago, she would have called you delusional. She was a freshman at West End University. At the beginning of her senior year of high school, college had been the last think on her mind. Eponine was from a rough neighborhood. She had lived in a dysfunctional family. Her neighbors were con-men, thieves and prostitutes. But, she and her family hadn't always lived like that.

Her family had once owned a little rustic inn in a one of those towns that you find pictures of in travel guides. Their humble business had never made them rich, but, they were happy. Back then, they had been a real, loving family. Even then, her parents were generally not very nice people, but they had always done what they thought was good for their children, Eponine and her two younger siblings, Azelma and Gavroche, and thought about them first. But those times didn't last. Shortly after Eponine turned seven, disaster stuck. A fire broke out in her family's inn and the building burned to the ground. They didn't have fire insurance, so they lost everything. With both their spirits and in funds gone, they moved away from their beautiful town and into the city. The only thing that they could afford was a small house, which was more of a hovel than a home, in the slums of the city.

Eponine had believed that the situation couldn't get any worse than it already was, but after the fire, her parents started to change. Her father turned to drink, drawing together a gang of men from the slum. They were known to get involved in small crime. Her mother started to lose her mind, going off into terrifying rages and sometimes not even recognizing her own family. They had become thieves, often dragging the children into the crime with them. The unkindness that they had shown to strangers was now shown to their children. The only times when they really took notice of their children, were when they needed them for one of their schemes or when they took out their anger on them.

Eponine soon took it upon herself to act as her siblings' caretaker. She kept an eye out for the younger children, kept them out of trouble and as soon as she came to the legal working age, she got a job to help support her brother and sister. She not only cared for them, but also took the heat of her parents rage. She had many scars to show from these terrifying times in her childhood, but she carefully hid them, fearing that if evidence was seen of these beatings, she would be separated from her siblings and they would all be put into the system. Her whole life, from a young age, had been dedicated to her siblings.

When she started her senior year in high school, all of Eponine's classmates had been already applying for colleges and scholarships. It was her plan to just start working full time immediately after high school, but once her best friend, Marius Pontmercy, caught on to this plan, he decided to get involved.

"'Ponine, you realize you can't just work at subway for your whole life, right?" He asked one day as he walked her to work after school.

"I have to work somewhere, and beggars can't be choosers. What do you have against Subway, anyways?" She joked, avoiding his gaze.

Marius frowned. "That's not what I mean, and you know it. I know you aren't even trying to get into any colleges. Why?" He stopped and turned toward her.

She sighed and finally looked at him. "Marius, you know that I can't afford college. It's way too much money. Plus, I have to take care of my siblings. What would they do if I just up and left them?"

"Eponine, you don't have to worry about 'Zelma and Gav! You know that they can take care of themselves. Azelma is seventeen. She's been working for a year now and she and Gav have learned all of the tricks for surviving the ghetto. Your parents will be able to make up for any loss of funds after you stop working to pay for home expenses."

Eponine internally cringed. She had always lied to Marius about her family life. She had always told him that they were just out a lot because they worked multiple jobs. He had no idea about the beatings that she got almost daily.

"Well maybe they can take care of themselves, but where would I get the money? There's no way I could even begin to afford something like College." She retaliated.

"You can get scholarships, 'Ponine! I've seen how well you did on your SAT and PSAT. With those scores, it would be simple for you to get scholarships. We could even go to the same school. That would be great! The way I see it, the only thing holding you back now is yourself."

And he was right. It would be a lie to say that she didn't want to go to college. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and the last thing that she wanted was to end up like them. It didn't hurt to say that she loved the idea of going to college with Marius.

She had known Marius ever since Jr. High. He had been, though he denied it, a wimp. They had been friends ever since she had pulled him out of a dumpster that a few of the jocks in the school tossed him in. Ever since that incident, they had been very close. As he matured, Marius lost the glasses and filled out. He became the star of the baseball team, and was very popular with the ladies. Even after all of this, she was still his best friend. Contrary to popular belief, Eponine didn't fall for the jock that he had become. I was quite the opposite. She had fallen on love with the wimp she pulled out of the dumpster. It was obvious that he didn't feel the same feelings about her, and he had no idea about her feelings for him, but that didn't stop her from spending much of her time with him. The idea of going to college with Marius seemed too good to be true.

That night, after she got home from work, she plopped down on the bed that she shared with Azelma and started to think, chewing on her bottom lip as she did. Azelma walked into the room and after seeing Eponine, joined her on the bed.

"Uh oh, I've seen that face before. What's the matter, Ep?" She asked, frowning concernedly.

"It's Marius. He wants me to try to get into college, but I know I can't do that." Eponine said, sighing. She had done a lot of sighing recently.

"Why can't you? If you want to go, I don't see what's stopping you." Azelma said, shrugging.

"You know why, Azelma! We barely have any money as it is! There's no way I could ever pay for school!"

"Scholarships! Loans! Jobs! You can use the money we've been saving for a rainy day! If there's one thing I know about you 'Ponine, it's that when you set your mind to it, you can do anything."

"But even if I could afford it, what about you and Gav? I can't just leave you both. Not in this kind of situation." Eponine gestured around her. The house really was a wreck.

"Eponine, I'm seventeen! I have a well-paying job and lots of friends. You know I can do your job as caretaker just as well as you can. I've been living here almost as long as you and I can continue to do so without trouble." Azelma exclaimed. "If you really think about it, the only thing holding you back from going to College is yourself!"

Eponine sighed yet again. "You sound like Marius... But you're right."

"Good." Azelma said, smiling slightly. "Maybe you should take that as a hint and start listening."

It took a lot of pestering and persuading, but eventually Eponine did just that. By graduation day, she had many scholarships, and had been accepted, along with Marius, to West End University. Talk about dreams coming true. She had been attending the school for almost three months at this point and, though she constantly thought about her siblings, she didn't regret her decision.

Looking out the window of her dorm room, Eponine found that the ground was covered in leaves of all colors and the trees were shaking in the wind, but the sun kept peeking out from behind the clouds. The day would be cold, but not miserable. She crossed to the closet and pulled out the hooded jacket that Gavroche and Azelma had given her as a going away present, and pulled it on.

She looked at the clock next to her bed and found that she had enough time to walk to one of the class buildings. She had an early morning class on Tuesdays this semester and didn't want to be late. She kicked on her boots and, slinging her bag over her shoulder, and headed out the door. You would instantly notice that her room was only half-full.

At the beginning of the year, Eponine used to have a roommate. It had been a girl named Carlotta, but after only a few weeks, the girl had asked for a single room. That day was counted in the top ten happiest days of Eponine's life. Carlotta had been a pain in the neck. She was the kind of girl who practically bathed in perfume, and as a result, the dorm room had constantly reeked of it. It was as if it was Carlotta's goal in life to be as irritating as possible, and that being the case, the perfume problem was not the end of the problems. Carlotta could not keep her clothes and other crap in her own space. Eponine was constantly dumping the junk onto Carlotta's bed, only to find it all over the floor again. Eponine thought she was going to go crazy when, finally, Carlotta asked for her own room. When she found out, it was all Eponine could do to keep from breaking out into song.

On the way to class, Eponine hummed as she tromped through the wet leaves on the ground. She loved fall, and she had never seen one as beautiful as this. As she was walking through the commons, she saw someone a little ways away from her waving. It was Marius. Her heart did a little jump as she hurried over to say hello. Marius was walking the opposite direction with a few of his friends, Thomas Enjolras, Luke Joly, and Owen Grantaire. Eponine found it very strange that most of his friends preferred to go by their last names, but she never questioned them. As she neared the boys, Grantaire got down on his knees and pretended to bow to her.

"Hail! Here approaches the Great and Powerful Epimitus!" He said in a very dramatic voice.

"The great Eponine proclaims that, if you wish to be able to ever have the ability to have children, you should never call her Epimitus again." She declared, glaring at him.

"Your wish is my command! Just don't hurt me!" He said, backing up to hide behind Enjolras quickly.

"Good morning, Eponine." Enjolras said, nodding at her.

"Morning, Enj." She replied, smiling. She turned to face Marius. "Where are you guys headed?"

"Breakfast at the Café. Interested in joining us?" he asked.

"I would, but I have class soon. Can I take a rain check?" She looked at her watch.

"Sure." Marius said, smiling. "Maybe we'll see you at lunch?"

"When do you know me to miss lunch?" She laughed.

"Good point." Grantaire commented, from behind Enjolras.

Eponine glared at him. "Grantaire, you might want to wipe your hands off." She added as she looked at the mud smeared across them from the exaggerated bowing earlier. "Joly's looking a bit nervous."

The hypochondriac mentioned was standing about four feet away from Grantaire, looking disgusted. An evil smile spread across Grantaire's face.

"Ooooh Jolllly." He called in a sing-song voice.

"N-no, don't even think about it, Grantaire! Do you realize how many germs there are on the ground?" Joly cried, backing away.

Grantaire rushed at him. Joly ran like no tomorrow.

"Stop it, Grantaire!" Marius called

Enjolras slapped his palm against his forehead.

Eponine just laughed.

After a minute, Eponine waved goodbye to the boys and ran off to class.

A/N: If you have suggestions or things you'd like to see, don't be afraid to ask. :)