"Dad, I am going on this date and you can't stop me!"
Flip forwards six years. Picture two men in their early thirties. One is attractive, with closely shorn hair to try and hide the oncoming storm of grey, and the other is too, but with puffy blonde hair. Danny and Tom.
"Yes I can, young lady. You're still grounded from last week!" Tom exclaimed, arms folded across his chest. The girl, Jess, sighed. She was beautiful, really: green eyes outlined in makeup borrowed from a friend, long blonde hair left in waves, curvy body wrapped in black jeans, a white shirt and a waistcoat. Too beautiful.
"Listen to your dad, Jess. You're fourteen! You're too young to be gallivantin' round with some lad-"
"Girl." Jess suddenly spoke up, a flash of annoyance in her eyes overwhelming the pre-existing, typical teenage eye rolling at her father's words. "You mean girl."
Danny wasn't faltered. "Gallivantin' round with some girl. You're fourteen! You're not going!"
Jess sighed loudly. "You never let me do what I want!"
"Jess, we gave you a chance last week when we let you go to that party. You came home roaring drunk! Do you really think we're unfair?" Tom's voice was utterly full of exasperation.
"Grandma let you go to parties when you were fourteen! And your mum did, daddy! You've told me all about them! You even had sex when you were fourteen! All I want is an innocent date with a girl that I like a lot eating crappy food and chatting about everything and nothing at once! I'd be back at nine at the latest!" Jess glared at them, before suddenly turning on her heel and walking out of the room. Danny went to go after her, but Tom laid a hand on his arm.
"She'll be back in a minute. She always is. She's probably just going to cool off."
Danny laughed, a tired laugh. "Why is she so mental when you were such a goody two shoes?"
"You've rubbed off on her, Dan. Anyway, while we wait for her to calm down and cheer up a bit, I've got a great idea for a song. I've written some lyrics, but haven't gotten the tune quite right yet."
"Oh yeah?" Danny smiled. "What about?"
"About your dad not approving of your partner, funnily enough."
"Wicked! What do you wanna call it?"
"Have a listen – I'm thinking Down by the Lake, though."
Danny smiled as Tom sang, completely captured by Tom.
Jess wasn't going to see her girlfriend: she knew that if she did and her dad's found out, she would be murdered. Well, not murdered, but in rather a lot of trouble and probably grounded for a fairly substantial amount of time, which she didn't want. Instead, she went to see a woman who was a great friend of hers, and almost a substitute mother: Joy.
"Come in!"
Jess opened the door and stormed it, still furious.
"Oh, hey Jess. Do you want a cup of tea?" Joy smiled at her. Joy was on a roller coaster into her thirties now, but her hair was still dyed crazy colours. That particular week, it was dark silver, giving her a very natural look that suited her tremendously. Jess nodded wordlessly.
"What's up, buttercup?" Lauren asked from across the room.
"My stupid dads!" Jess exclaimed, suddenly getting worked up again. "They won't let me go on a date with a girl because I got drunk one time!"
Joy laughed, stirring the cup of tea in her hands. "Yeah, but wasn't that just last week?"
Jess shrieked, sounding rather like a dying cat. "Yes, but that's beside the point! I just want to go and chat and eat chocolate with her, not take pot and drink vodka!"
Lauren smirked. "For a start, you don't take pot."
"Maybe I'd know that if they let me hang out with my friends more!" Jess replied quickly, making all three of them crack into laughter for a moment.
"You haven't given them a reason to trust you, so they don't. You got three discredits in one day last week – yes, I know you have Miss Harris – and you got drunk. Now you've left the room when you're grounded. You'll never be allowed to do stuff if you constantly get in trouble. Just go back there, sit out your grounding and then ask politely if you can go and see your girlfriend. If you act like a little delight for the next few weeks, they'll definitely say yes. I've known your dads since they were teenagers, and yes, they can be prats, but they mean well for you."
This unusual bout of common sense from Joy made both Lauren and Jess stare at her. Slowly, Jess got up from where she was sitting.
"Thanks for the tea." she murmured, feeling absolutely stupid that she didn't think to be just simply 'nice' herself.
"I shouldn't have stormed out and I should listen to you and I'm probably grounded for like an extra decade but I deserve it." Jess babbled as soon as she stepped through the door. Tom and Danny were sat together on their bunk, looking anxious. When they heard that, both laughed.
"Not quite a decade, love." Tom smiled. "Though you're right, you shouldn't have stormed out and you should listen to us – we're geniuses, didn't you know?"
Jess nodded. "That explains me, then. If you weren't extremely gifted, how could you have produced a child like me?"
"Who knows?" Danny chortled. Then, he put a more serious expression on his face. "Me and ya dad had a chat, and you can see this girl – if she comes here. Not tonight – maybe tomorrow, or the day after."
That didn't please Jess at all. How was she supposed to make out with her date in front of her dads? It was a forced smile that twisted her lips.
"Thank you, I'll ask her at school tomorrow what day is best for her." Jess had absolutely no intention of actually asking: just imagining her dads trying to make her girlfriend laugh made her subconsciously shake her head.
"You're grounded for an extra three days, by the way - definitely not a decade." Tom added. "You worried us when you just walked out, and you didn't talk to us like you should talk to your gorgeous, hilarious, beautiful fathers."
Danny struck a stupid pose at that, but Jess couldn't bring herself to laugh.
"Three more days!" she exclaimed. "That means I won't be able to go to any clubs or anything until...the Monday after next!"
The way the Fletcher-Jones family worked was rather peculiar. Due to the fact that all three had very healthy senses of humour, even when Jess was being told off for one thing or another, there was usually something funny about the conversation.
"Danny?"
"Yes, Tom?"
Tom beamed at Danny before continuing. "I want to go outside."
Danny did a doubletake. "You what?"
"It's been almost ten years, Dan. I want to go outside."
Danny stared at Tom, not breaking away his eyes. "Why? We have safety and security down here, as well as family."
"But we can have more! We could have jobs! We could go on holiday somewhere hot, and swim in a bright blue pool! We could buy guitars and finally form a band! We could do anything, anywhere, anytime! Jess could grow up like a normal teenager, and not go stir crazy down here. She hasn't been outside in six years! We haven't been outside since we were teenagers, Danny." Tom spoke fantastically, his eyes gleaming, a huge smile lighting up his face.
"What if I get recognized?" Danny asked, biting his lip. "Plus, there's the government. Soldier Miller is still in charge, don't forget! The world is crazy up there – every man has to join the army, every child goes to boarding school..."
Tom closed his eyes. "Danny, I know things."
"You what?"
"I passed by an office of one of the official people down here, and just by chance, I saw a bit of paper on the floor. I stopped to pick it up. I read it, because I'm nosey. It's all a lie, Danny, a lie to keep us down here! The world is different! There was a war, a terrible war, and Soldier Miller went missing. The world is better now, like when we were small! And down here, they've been restricting the internet and the TV to keep us here through fear!"
Tom had had this knowledge for almost three months, and hadn't breathed a word to anyone, no one at all. It had been killing him.
Danny pinched the bridge of his nose. "I think I want to go as well."
"We couldn't go without James, or Joy, or Lauren, or our family. We'd have to do a lot of convincing. And we'd be starting out with nothing, nothing at all..." Tom trailed off, aware that he was damaging his own point.
"I think everyone would want to go, if they knew the truth." Danny stood up, and took hold of Tom's shoulders. "Are you sure, Tom? Are you really sure? This is a really sudden decision."
Tom slowly nodded. "I'm sure, Danny. I've always been sure."
Debbie agreed almost immediately, as did Bob and Carrie. Lauren and James both seemed absolutely delighted at the prospect of leaving the tiny, stewing underground world. Jess practically had a fit, screaming with excitement at the idea of fresh air.
"I've lived here for so long, though..." Joy murmured, biting her lip as she stared at the eight people in front of her, all of whom looked absolutely excited.
"Joy, do you even remember the real world?" Carrie asked. "Do you remember how the sky looks in the middle of the night when it has snowed, and how everything looks so light even when it should be so dark?"
Hesitantly, Joy shook her head.
"Joy, please. If you hate it out there, you can come back. I'll be by your side." Lauren pleaded. "Just please, please try it."
Joy rested her head in her hands. "Would I see flowers?" she asked. "Would I smell grass?"
Bob rested a hand on her shoulder, smiling. Tears were forming in his eyes. "You could see and smell the world. You could do anything."
Sighing, Joy slowly nodded.
A few people had left over the years, and they were always allowed to. They were even given things to assist them in their new life. A small sum of money in whatever currency was used above ground (it had now gone back to sterling) per person, a few items of non perishable food, a blanket that folded up very small and a large, lightweight rucksack.
"Are you all sure about this?" the government official asked, handing over the leaving packs to the nine people. All nodded, absolutely ready.
"Your check out time is ten tomorrow morning. Just go to the opening, and you'll be let up. It'll be a shame to see so many of you go, though."
The official gave them all a small smile, and as they moved away he waved at them.
"Mum?"
"Yes, Tom?"
"Can me and Danny sleep in your room tonight, like we did when we first arrived here?" Tom's voice was tiny.
"Me too!" Carrie exclaimed. "Fletcher family sleepover – Jess, you too!"
"James, you can stay with us." Joy grabbed James by the shoulder. "Not Fletcher family sleepover!"
They all laughed at that. Their final night underground.
They'd have been better off staying underground.