Sound of the Underground

Jade

"Oh, hey, Roy. Is this your girlfriend?"

Considering that all three of us are living there now, our apartment was too obvious a base of operations. So Roy, Emma and I have decided to hold something of a business meeting at a "saloon" downtown, where the two of them have come to train before. The sign says closed but the door is unlocked, and we're greeted by a brunette in an apron

"Yup, this is her," Roy says, wrapping his arm around my waist and kissing the side of my head. It's like he's proud, showing me off, and it makes me blush. No one's ever made me feel that special before. "Jade, this is Haylee, she works here. She's letting us use the place."

I smile. "Nice to meet you," I say. "And thanks."

"You too," Haylee says, smiling back. She's pretty, maybe a year or two older than me, with green eyes and a friendly smile. "Roy talks about you all the time."

"You do?" I ask.

"Of course I do," he says, and my heart flutters.

Haylee waves at Emma, then says, "Well I gotta finish cleaning up before we open. Let me know if you guys need anything." She disappears into the back room, hidden behind a swinging wooden door labeled "Cookery" The sepia-toned portraits on the walls are poorly costumed, obvious fakes. I can't decide if this place is tacky on purpose, or if it's really trying to be authentic and just not doing a very good job. Either way, it's empty, and it'll work for what we need.

Emma sits down on the piano bench in the corner of the room, and Roy and I take the table next to it.

"So we need a plan," I say. Roy taps his fingers against the edge of table. Since he stopped smoking, he's had a jumble of little nervous ticks. It's kind of cute.

"I suck at plans," he grumbles.

"Well, three heads are better than one," I say. They both half-smile at that.

"We should start with what we know," Emma decides. She takes a notebook and pen out her violin case. "Make a list." She seems to have this all thought out.
I've been in this business since I was her age. And I've only just gotten up the nerve to get out of it. At her age, I never would have been able to quit, much less think up something like this.

She's smarter than I am. Braver too.

She's only thirteen. She shouldn't have to be this smart and brave.

"You start," Roy tells her.

Emma purses her lips. "Well, I know she's a major bitch…"

Roy chuckles darkly. "And if only that got us somewhere."

"I'll start," I say. What I know isn't much, but it's concrete. A starting point. "She had me seducing guys, pretending to date them, then after a while I'd give them an address and tell them to meet me."

Emma writes this down. "And then?"

"I wouldn't be there when they showed up."

"Must be Heather and Evelyn's part of the job," Roy says.

"What about you two?" I ask. "What have you been doing?"

"Other than almost being whored out?" Emma says sharply. Roy reaches out and squeezes her hand. His kindness towards her never ceases to amaze me. I think he thinks he's not a nice person.

He's wrong about that.

"We're mostly just stealing things," he says.

"Maybe we should write down what you've stolen?" I suggest. "You know, take inventory."

Emma nods. "So there was the briefcase," she begins.

"And a set of keys, a car engine, a Bunsen burner, couple of cases of wine, some unmarked boxes, a bunch of hospital supplies…" Roy continues.

"What were the keys for?" I ask.

"A stable," he answers. "She had us clean it."

That's weird. "Do you think she's hiding something there?"

"Maybe," he says. "I guess we could start there. Try to get the keys back."

"How are we gonna do that?" Emma asks.

"I dunno." Roy bites a fingernail. "Fuck, I need something to eat. Haylee?"

She pokes her head through the door. "You rang?"

"Three chocolate milk shakes. And all the fries you got."

"What's the magic word?"

"The customer is always right."

"Well, I was looking for 'abracadabra', but…" She laughs, as she slips out out of sight. "Coming right up."

I giggle. "You're cranky."

He raises his eyebrows. "I'm craving a high."

I give him a soft smile and take his hand in mine. "Let me know if you need anything."

Roy smiles back, and rests his other hand on my knee. "I got everything I need."

I am blushing again. "So what do we do about… You know, my job." I hate to bring it up, but we can't just ignore it.

"Well Emma's not doing it," Roy states.

"But who's going to if I don't?" Emma protests. "We can't let her hire someone else."

"I…" I don't want to offer this. But I have to. "I could do it."

"No," Roy says. "No, I won't let either of you do this."

I start to reply, but Haylee comes out of the kitchen, carrying a large plate and three glasses. She sets them on the table, and the sound seems much too loud in the empty air.

"Oh, Emma, I talked to my boss about that piano gig," she says. "He says he'd love to have you."

Emma's face lights up. "Really?"

"Yeah. I'll let you know as soon as I have the date."

Emma smiles and brushes her hair out of her eyes. "Thanks."

"No problem," Haylee says, heading back to the kitchen. "Just holler if you need anything else." Roy starts at the fries, holding them between the fingers of his left hand the same way he held his cigarettes.

"I have to go back, Roy," I say.

He reaches out, brushes a lock of my hair behind my ear and then lets his fingers linger on my cheek. "Jade, look what it made you do to yourself. If you go back… What's going to happen next?"

I feel like I might cry. Nobody's ever cared about me this much before.

"Anyway, if you go back it'll look suspicious," Emma comments, shyly. "We have to… We have to look like we're still under her thumb. Pretend like we're…" She looks down, doesn't finish. Roy hands her a milkshake, and she mouths "thanks" as she gulps it down. I take a sip of my own- it's sweet and rich, but feels much too thick against my throat. It hurts to swallow.

"My god," I say, and it feels like choking, "what are we doing to do?"

Roy exhales, a solemn look in his eyes. "We'll figure it out," he whispers. His hand inches it's way up my leg, from my knee to my thigh and under the edge of my skirt.

Emma, noticing this, goes wide-eyed. "Oh my God," she says. "Oh my God, you're…" She hurls her milkshake onto the floor, and it smashes

"You're fucking her!" Emma screams, standing up so fast and hard that the piano bench topples over. "I can't believe this, you're..." She near tackles Roy, knocking his onto the floor as she pounds his chest with her fists. The milkshake lies on the floor beside them, puddle of broken glass and liquid the consistency of blood. From a distance, this would look like a scene of carnage.

"I trusted you!" she screams. "How could you, how could you do this, how…"

I rush over to them and pull her off. "Emma, what's-"

"He's fucking you!" she shrieks, before I can finish. "Why would you let him…"

Oh. Oh my God. "Emma," I say. "Emma it's not like that."

"Not like…" She looks at me, tears streaming down her face. "You mean you're not having sex with him?"

"I…" How do I explain this to her? To a girl who has no idea what love is supposed to feel like.

Four years ago I was that girl, wasn't I?

How did I get out of it alive?

"Em, I…" Roy begins, cautiously. "I love her."

"And I love him," I finish.

"And that makes it okay?" she squeaks, her face and voice distorted by crying.

"I... Yeah," I say. "It does."

She buries her face in her hands, sobbing. I wrap my arms around her. Roy takes one of my hands, and rests his other one on her back. To my surprise, she doesn't fight it.

How are we going to get out of this alive?

The party is a distraction.

That tends to be the way parties work around here. Every so often- birthdays, Christmas, nights when we just can't take it anymore- we throw together the biggest, loudest, wildest event we can, put on high heels and make-up and do our hair. It is an elaborate game of make-believe- regular girls dress up like princesses, we dress up like regular girls.

I am wearing my highest heels and a skin-tight purple satin mini-dress. I've even curled my hair- I could never do that when it was down to my knees, and at this length it looks bouncy and cute. I am the only girl whose boyfriend will be at the party, and I plan on flaunting it.

I've never had a date to a party before.

I wonder sometimes what my life would be like if my mom hadn't died. If none of this had happened. I'd be going into my senior year of high school right now. I think I'd like school. I love to read, and I've always wished I was smarter. And I'd do ballet, instead of martial arts. Maybe I'd be a cheerleader. I can't even imagine what my social life would be like. Would I have had a date to junior prom? Would I have even gone? I feel like I would have- I don't think I'd be the sort of person to shy away from school events, but I don't know. I'm so used to being on the outside looking in. To being alone. Even if I lived a normal life, maybe I still would be.

But I'm not alone anymore. I have Roy. And I can't imagine having a prom date who isn't him.

The party is in the basement of Evelyn's apartment building. It looks the same as all of her parties- bright colors, flashing lights, loud music. A bunch of the girls from our agency are here- Roy's the only guy- and there's a table covered in junk food and cupcakes with pink frosting. Evelyn rushes up to us as we enter.

"Guys! I'm so glad you made it!" she exclaims, sing-song. She flings her arms around me. "Hey there, sexy!"

I smile. "You look amazing," I tell her. Evelyn has on a shimmery fuchsia dress with a tutu skirt, which she's accessorized with loads of sparkly plastic jewelry, a faux feather boa, a silver tiara, and glittery make-up. It looks a bit like a party store exploded all over her, but it fits her personality. And if you aren't allowed to go a little wild on your sweet sixteen, well, when are you?

Roy hands her the present he's carrying. "From all three of us," he says. Evelyn squeals with delight as she tears off the wrapping paper, revealing a Gwen Stefani t-shirt and a sequined handbag.

"Omigod, Jade, you remembered my crush on Gwen!" she laughs. "And the bag is adorable!" She hugs him, then Emma, then me again. "Thank you guys so much! I gotta go but I'll talk to you later, okay?" She scampers off, leaving the present on a table of opened boxes before going to greet someone else.

Emma is wringing her hands together, I managed to find a party dress that fits her- pale blue, babydoll cut- but she's hidden it with a bulky black sweatshirt and her combat boots. She's not much of the party type. "I'm gonna get something to eat," she murmurs, wandering off.

Roy turns to me, grinning, and wraps his arms around my hips.. "Looks like it's just us, then."
I rest my arms on his shoulders, hands clasped behind his neck. "Dance with me?"

He rolls his eyes. "I don't have a choice, do I?"

"I love having a boyfriend."

He kisses me, and I pull him onto the dance floor. Just a normal girl and her normal boyfriend.

Evelyn catches up with Roy and I a few hours later, while we're sitting one of the small tables set up, sharing a plate full of candy and pastries. "Are you guys having fun?" she asks.

I raise a cupcake, like a toast. "It's a great party. I even got Roy to dance with me."

"I saw," she says, laughing. "I think every straight girl in the room was jealous of you."

I giggle. "Mission accomplished."

Evelyn grabs a cupcake and flops into the chair next to me. "I haven't tried one of these yet," she say. "Heather baked 'em, you know."

Roy raises an eyebrow. "You're kidding me."

"Heather, that's-?" I begin.

"Mercury Lace," Roy explains. I didn't realize she had told them her name. "I'm surprised she even came."

"Of course she did," Evelyn replies. "I mean, would you miss Jade's birthday party?"

"No, but…" Roy nearly spits out a mouthful of food. "You mean… You and Heather?"

Evelyn smiles sheepishly. "Didn't I mention that?"

I shake my head. I knew she was gay, but I never would've guessed that she and Mercury Lace were a couple. Roy's mouth is still open. "So you're gay?"

"Yup."

"And she's gay?"

Evelyn shrugs. "Not strictly."

"And you're a couple?"

I giggle and dab a bit of hot pink frosting on his nose with my finger. "I think she made that pretty clear."

He smirks at me. "You gonna clean that up?"

I lean in, lick the frosting off his nose, and then pull away. "Tease," he whispers. I smile innocently, and then turn back to Evelyn.

"So how long have you two been together?"

"About six months," Evelyn answers. "Since we started the job."

That's strange. "You've been on this sixth months?" I ask. "I've only been on it four."

Evelyn tilts her head. "Really? That's weird."

Roy raises an eyebrow at me from across the table. I know what he's thinking. What were they doing for those two months?

I don't want to interrogate her at her birthday party. I don't want to interrogate her at all. She's my friend. But we have to get to the bottom of this.

"You know what I just realized, Ev?" I ask, trying to sound casual. "I've known you for years but I don't know anything about your life. About… About how you got here."

Maybe it's not the best question. Maybe it's a horrible thing for me to be asking her right now. But I have to.

I am so tired of having to do horrible things.

Evelyn leans her chin on her hand. I guard my story with my life, but she begins hers with a smile on her face. "Well, I've got two little brothers and my rents were both doctors. We lived in a subarb of San Antonio during the school year and we had a ranch in the countryside where we used to spend the summers. I had a pony named Glitter who was like my life."

Roy chuckles. "Of course her name was Glitter."

"I bedazzled her saddle and everything," Evelyn laughs. "Anyway, um… The question was how I got in the biz?"

I shrug. "You don't have to answer, if it's too personal." Roy reaches for my hand under the table. I think he can sense my nerves.

"No way, we're friends, it's totally cool" Evelyn chirps, playfully swatting my arm. "I guess it started three years ago today. On my thirteenth birthday. That was when my powers kicked in. Woke up that morning and I was on fire. But before I could scream it went out." She snaps her fingers, and a little red spark flares up, like a firework. "Just like that."

"I kept it a secret for ages, teaching myself to control it," she says. "But then one day I was at a party and this girl got totally drunk and knocked a candle over and... I mean, I couldn't just let the place burn down."

"Word spread like a forest fire." She giggles. "No pun intended."

"Things got weird after that," she continues. Under the flashing neon lights, the scars that cover her body seem to shimmer, a mermaid's scales. Perhaps that's a funny thing to associate with burn scares. "The whole town started avoided my family. 'Cause they didn't want the neighbors to associate them with that freaky-gay-mutant McAllister girl. Then one day at school I got called to the principal's office, but the person waiting for me wasn't from my school. Turned out she was an agent from the Sirens. She offered me a job, but I turned her down. The next day my parents got into a car accident."

She says this with no change in tone. The same perky Evelyn as always.

My God, the things this job will do to you.

"After that the agent tracked me down again and made me another offer," Evelyn says. "If I agreed to join the Sirens, they'd pay for my brothers to go to one of the best boarding schools in the country. We didn't have any relatives to take us in and foster care woulda split 'em up, so I agreed.

She smiles. "So I guess that's it. They're eight and ten now. Really cute. Oh, I got their school pictures in my wallet…" She grabs her purse and pulls out two tiny photos. "That's Nicky and that's Owen. Cute right?" They are beaming, bright-eyed boys, who have no idea what she has done for them.

"Adorable," Roy answers. I just nod and smile.

There is a Girls Aloud song playing. "Sound of the Underground". In my experience, the underground sounds like gunshots and gasps for breath and rave music. The beat pulsates through the room, attracting the dancing, half-naked partygoers- little girls all dressed up with no one to impress- like moths to a flame.

"I don't know if I can do this."

Roy shuts the door of the bedroom door softly. Emma has already fallen asleep, still in her party, and we are tiptoeing as so not to wake her. He rests a hand on my shoulder. "I don't like it either."

"We're betraying them," I say. I feel like I might cry. "Heather and Evelyn. It feels wrong."

"It's all wrong," he says. "Doing the job's wrong. Turning on it's wrong." He sits down on the edge of the bed, his eyes downcast. "There's no way out."

I sit next to him. "What are we going to do?" He doesn't answer. Instead he kisses me. Since he quit smoking, it's like I can taste his breath, rich and warm like dark chocolate.

"Well right now I'm going to rip that dress off of you," he murmurs. "We can go from there."

I can't help but smile at that. "We'll figure out a way out of this," I say. I wish I believed it.

"We will," he says. When he says it I almost do. He kisses me again, light as a butterfly flapping it's wings, and everything feels better. I have read about the Butterfly Effect- that the tiniest flap of those wings can set off a chain reaction, large enough to change the fate of the world. Whenever he kisses me, touches me, any tiny brush of his skin against mine, my whole world just lights up.

For the first time in my life I know what love is. And it's beautiful.

Don't know what it's pushin' me higher

It's the static from the floor below

Then its drops and catches like a fire

It's a sound I, it's a sound I know

It's the sound of the underground

The beat of the drum goes round and round

In to the overflow

Where the girls get down to the sound of the radio

Out to the electric night

Where the bass line jumps in the backstreet lights

The beat goes around and round

It's the sound of the under

Sound of the underground

Author's Notes:

Ack sorry I know I said on my profile I thought I'd update like two days ago. I thought I'd have a chance to finish this Thursday night but I wound up having six hours of art homework instead of my anticipated two because, as it turns out, I can't draw and it took me three tries to get a self-portrait that didn't completely make me want to shoot myself. XD XD

Also, sorry this chapter's a little filler-y. It's another case where I'm biding time so I can set up the major plot points coming up. I don't think there'll be too much more filler in the rest of the story.

So let's talk about Evelyn, since these last two chapters are pretty focused on her. In a recent review, UltimateYugiohFan described Evelyn as a "quirky, hyper demon", which I thought was such a perfect description of her. Because she's this adorable, crazy little rave-kid. And yet she's going around killing people. I think a big part of why Evelyn remains so perky and upbeat in spite of her job is because she's really doing this for the noblest of reasons. She's a villain to save her little brothers, and I think that helps her (unconsciously. I don't think she's too aware of this) rationalize her actions; she's not a bad person, because even though she does bad things, she does them for a good reason. I also think that, frankly, Evelyn is not mature enough to realize the implications of her actions. Occasionally (like in chapter 12, when she discusses the nature of villainy), she makes some really profound observations. But mostly she's a sixteen year old girl, and even though she has a sense of responsibility towards her brothers, her priorities are dating and partying. Not that there aren't fifteen/sixteen year olds (and younger) who are very mature. There absolutely are. (I don't really believe maturity has all that much to do with age, I guess?) But for whatever reason, Evelyn just isn't one of them. She's the most child-like of the main characters, even more so than Emma, who is significantly younger, and that's why being a villain bothers her the least.

Oh and about that car accident. The Sirens orchestarted it. Evelyn doesn't know that, which is why she doesn't mention it. But they did. They wanted her to work for them, and they killed her parents in order to get her in a position where she wouldn't have a choice.

And Jade. Oh Jade. You beautiful, sweet, hopeless romantic you. I actually really admire people like her, who are able to be kind and optimistic in the face of adversary and tragedy. It's so hard to write all these awful things that keep happening to her because she's just so lovely and I just want her to be happy. XD

Title and lyrics from "Sound of the Underground" by Girls Aloud. Originally, this chapter was "Tea Party" and chapter 5 was "Sound of the Underground", but I decided it worked better if I switched them.