Chapter 1
It was her seventeenth birthday and yet again she had been forgotten. What happened to those days where she was treated like a princess? Always being given new clothes; new dolls and never going hungry. Eponine had been a beautiful girl. She had long brown hair that fell loosely over her shoulders and brown eyes that matched. Everything was on her side up until her thirteenth birthday.
Her family, the Thenadiers, had lost their inn in Montfermiel from bankruptcy and had moved to Paris. They went from owning everything, to nothing. Madame Thenadier had fallen ill; she had started work in a hat shop and suffered from mercury poisoning. That's when she turned mad; she was taken into an asylum, leaving Master Thenadier in charge of their five children. He made a little bit of money through his gang and selling stolen goods, but it just wasn't enough. He threw out his two youngest at the first opportunity, selling them for 100 francs each to a couple who could not have their own children. The third youngest in the family was little Gavroche, he walked out at the same time as his brothers left, cursing his father's name every step of the way and leaving behind his two sisters. Master Thenadier knew he could make money from his two daughters and so had forbidden them from ever leaving. Azelma was a year younger then Eponine and therefore she got it easy, her father sent her to clean the houses of anyone who was willing to pay more than twenty francs for the trouble. Eponine on the other hand was now technically a woman and was forced to go whoring, at first she just had the one customer but then the numbers grew. That night, 7 weeks after turning 13, everything changed for her.
She had just got through the front door when she heard her father shout to her "Eponine, come here" She ran up the stairs as quickly as her legs would take her. When she entered her father's bedroom she noticed that he had company. It was Montparnasse. She had met this young man before, she loved the way his hair fell on his head and how his blue eyes sparkled in the light. He had a bit of a temper on him, mind you.
"Father, are you okay?" she said, noticing blood dripping from the end of his nose. It was clear that he had been hit. "Give 'Parnasse all the money you made today" Thenadier said bluntly. She fumbled in her pocket and pulled out 10 francs, she handed them straight over.
"10 francs, is that it?" Thenadier screamed at her. Montparnasse glared at the father and daughter; he was owed five times that amount. "I know where I can find the money" Thenadier said, and with that he left the room. Eponine heard the front door slam shut and knew that she was alone with Montparnasse. She was scared, he was angry.
"Come here you ugly slut" he said pointing to a spot on the floor in front of him. She had never heard him talk to her like this, she moved quickly. "If you scream I will beat you" he said, grabbing her by the shoulders and throwing her on the bed in one swift movement. Before she knew it he had pulled up her skirt and was on top of her. With one hand he covered her mouth, the other he held down her shoulder. She screamed, it was painful. He kept true to his words and gave her a beating. Once he had finished and had left the house, she managed to crawl to her own bedroom, there she slept.
As she grew older she learnt to defend for herself. She had been beaten, bruised and broken by her father and his gang. She took the blame for everything so that her sister Azelma wouldn't have to suffer.
Because it was her seventeenth birthday Eponine decided to go over to the café musain, where the boys hung out. She passed a bakery on her way; she had been saving her pennies and so treated herself to one macaroon. She nibbled away at it taking smaller bites than a mouse would have done.
When she got to the café Enjolras waved to her to come over. She sat down opposite him, between Joly and Grantaire. "Do you want to eat any slower Ep?" Enjolras said, seeing that she was taking her time. "I'm savouring it, it was my birthday treat for myself" she replied. Enjolras closed the book he was reading and placed it gently on the table. He grabbed something from his pocket and placed it in front of Eponine "here, this is for you" he said smiling "happy birthday" Eponine took the little parcel and unravelled the string around it. It was a box of macaroons. Enjolras knew that they were her favourite and so took it upon himself to purchase her a box of six. She smiled gleefully "oh Enj, you didn't have too!" she finished the macaroon that she had bought herself and then dived into the others. "How are you today?" Enjolras asked, noticing a new bruise on her arm and gently stroking his finger over the top of it. Eponine self-consciously moved her arm away from his touch "it's nothing, leave it" she said. Enjolras always noticed a new bruise on the poor girl every day that he saw her; he didn't usually say anything but this one looked particularly bad. He knew she didn't like the fuss. "Have you seen little Gavroche today?" she said with a mouth full of food. "He said that he had to go and teach his sons how to pickpocket" Joly butted in. His sons, that's what Gavroche called the little boys that he took in. It made Eponine giggle and she choked on a bit of food. Enjolras jumped to his feet but Joly had beaten him too it, he slapped her hard on the back dislodging the piece of macaroon that then flung onto the table. Grantaire passed over his bottle of wine which Eponine took a big gulp of "thanks" she said, her eyes watering.