I come to fight. Or at least, to listen.

chapter 2

Chapter 2

~Welcome~

"Then welcome." Enjolras responded with a serious tone. He gave a curt nod and turned and walked away. When they both stood up Evelyn had to look up to speak to him. He was at least a head and a half taller than she. 

Enjolras moved through the crowd, speaking to each young man. 

"The time is near, so near it's stirring the blood in their veins. But yet beware, don't let the wine go to your brains!"

Evelyn could tell this was his natural element, leading the people. She could almost feel his energy from across the cafe.

"We need a sign, to rally the people, to call them to arms, to bring them in line!"

Enjolras was the clear leader of les Amis. It didn't necessarily surprise Evelyn; he had that sort of presence that demanded respect and commanded attention. 

She made her way over to Eponine.

"Eponine!" She shouted to her friend with a grin. Eponine smiled back and rose to meet Evelyn, leaving Marius infatuated with his love letter. The two met with an embrace. Eponine spoke first. 

"I saw you talking to the marble man over there," she gestured her head towards Enjolras. 

"Is that what they call him?"

"For clear reasons, am I wrong? He looks as though he's David, carved by Michelangelo himself!" Eponine giggled, teasing Evelyn. 

Eponine and Evelyn were practically sisters. Eponine rejected the life of crime (or at least resented it) and with it, her family. Evelyn's family both rejected and resented her, so they were similar on that front. 

Evelyn was not appreciative of her family trying to marry her off for their own benefit. Since she turned 15, she was dressed in gaudy imitation-bourgeois clothing, taught lessons in "manners" (though she highly doubted the authenticity of such), and paraded around like a prized cow. When the procession returned back to their abode in the slums of Saint-Michel after, yet another, failed day, Evelyn was shut up in her room, as to "not damage the goods". So, she turned to books. She convinced her parents that no middle-class man would take a girl who could not read or write fluently (she had a basic knowledge already).

She read all kinds of books. Fiction, history, adventure, but her favorite was medical science. She wanted to be a doctor. Not a nurse, but a doctor. It was ridiculous, she knew, but she felt, in her heart, that her vocation was to help people in need. Of course, no hospital would employ her on sight, so she decided that she would have to impress them with her impeccable knowledge. She was already quick-thinking and resourceful, all she needed was the technique. 

Her family rejected her passion, so Evelyn rejected her family.

After a year of being appraised like livestock, she became her own person altogether. Evelyn gathered all she could fit in her small, worn portmanteau and slipped out in the middle of the night without a word. 

Evelyn spent a few weeks on the streets. She looked for jobs high and low, but none seemed to come. Eventually, she was broken down into begging for food and selling everything in her portmanteu. She met Eponine while hanging around a street corner. She must've seen how hungry Evelyn was-- she hadn't eaten in a few days. Eponine handed Evelyn half the piece of bread she was eating, a small, but much needed gift. They talked about themselves and their pasts and it was enough to motivate Evelyn to re-kindle her job search. Later that day, by God's grace, she had found one at a book store. She visited Eponine everyday and waited until she had saved enough to rent the tiniest of apartments, about 4 months, and asked Eponine if she wanted to move in together. She said yes, and the two had only been living together for about six months until this whole rebellion business started.