Chapter 4 - Eleanor

Celebrate when you can.

" H appy birthday, Eleanor," I said with a bright smile, straightening my posture as I looked at myself in the mirror. "Why, thank you, Milton. I'm glad you came to my party. Is that a present you have there?" I practiced my words for the party so that I sounded surprised to see Milton, despite having been with him only hours before.

I pinched my cheeks to give them some color and glanced down at the counter, picking up the lipstick I had saved from my last exploration above. Should I wear it to my party?

Yes.

I was officially a Young Lady, according to the rules here below. I hit my 18 th birthday and was officially a graduate of the Young Lady program. While there were still many things I wasn't allowed to do, I was permitted to wear makeup now. I applied the bright red shade to my lips and grinned. Milton was going to just die when he saw me. I hurried to put on my dress and get going. Glancing at the clock on my bedside table, I realized that the party would start soon, which meant I could make the perfect entrance. I hoped Milton would be waiting for me there with all our friends.

My heart raced as if I'd just seen a creepie all the way from the Young Ladies' floor to the recreation floor, four stories down. I rode the elevator in silence, even though I wasn't alone. I was never alone.

"Happy birthday, Eleanor."

I looked up at my protector, my guard, my DADDY.

"Thank you, Daddy," I said softly and looked back down at the floor. Daddy was strict and hadn't been enthused when I told him my friends were throwing me a party to celebrate my birthday. This was a huge thing for us. I was an adult, but he didn't agree. To him, it was just another day.

"I have a gift for you."

"You do?" I blinked in surprise. My Daddy had only once given me a gift, and it certainly wasn't for my birthday.

"For graduating," he clarified. "Do you remember when I was assigned to you, ten years ago today, Eleanor?" I nodded, and he continued, "Well, I wanted to celebrate that. It's been a very interesting 10 years, wouldn't you say?" He chuckled.

Daddy often joked that I had turned his hair gray from the stress of taking me to the world above so often. I was one of the best at finding things; I had remained rank one for the last five years since we started going on missions. Because of this, I got to go frequently, but it came at a cost. I had much less free time than my friends, and I was watched more.

"Interesting is one word to describe it. Though it hasn't been fun." I pouted as we left the elevator and started down the cold, metal hallway toward the recreation hall.

"Did you expect things to be fun? We have a responsibility to mankind. We don't have time for fun," Daddy recited the speech he'd given me many times over, and I waved his words away.

"Not today, Daddy. Please, just let me have this one night. Let that be your present to me. One night without you watching over me."

His expression darkened. His forehead creased and his eyes turned serious. "That's my job."

"I know but take a day off. It's just a party. Go wherever all the other Daddies in your group go and let me have this one night."

"This is a boy-girl party, isn't it?"

I blushed furiously. "Daddy!"

"You know that Daddies-in-training aren't allowed to date the Young Ladies."

I rolled my eyes. Yes, everyone knew we were untouchable, even to DITs. I was reminded almost daily of the oath we all took so long ago. We reached the doors to the hall, where I could hear music, chatter, and laughter from the other side. I pushed him away gently and he stepped back.

"Please, Daddy. One night. I just want to dance, eat cake and have punch with my friends. Tomorrow morning, I'll be ready to focus on saving mankind." I saluted him.

He rolled his gray eyes and finally relented.

"Fine. As there are no doubt Daddies-In-Training in there." He nodded to the door. "I know they'll keep you safe, even if you aren't assigned to them. Go, have fun, and I'll see you in the morning, bright and early."

I threw my arms around him. "Oh, thank you, Daddy!" I kissed his cheek and hurried inside, forgetting my troubles completely as my heart soared with joy.

"Happy birthday!" The entire room stopped and turned to me, shouting excitedly. I beamed and hurried over to my best friends, who waved wildly.

"This is amazing!" I gushed, taking in the decor. Pink and gold balloons hung from the ceiling like raindrops of different sizes. Streamers lined the tables and walls, and Frankie Valli played from the radio. "I love this song!"

"I know," Pearl said, grinning. "We've had it on loop since the party started so you could enter to it."

"Oh!" I hugged my beautiful friend with hair the color of dried grass from the above world — so yellow and bright.

"Your dress is gorgeous. Where did you get that color?" Olive, our palest friend, tugged on my white skirt. She wore a soft blue dress that matched her blue eyes.

"You like it?" I twirled around. "It was in my CIO box." Cherished Items Only.

When our ancestors were forced to flee their homes and run to the bunkers, they were allowed one single chest to stuff belongings into.

My friends gasped. Most of our boxes contain photos of people long gone, records, or books, but they hardly ever contain clothing. My mother, or grandmother, or whoever else, must have really cherished this dress.

"Was it a wedding dress?"

Olive continued to scrutinize the dress.

"Probably." I shrugged. "I was able to refurbish it into something stylish." I twirled again, and everyone but Olive complimented me. We then hurried to get punch and sandwiches and waited for the boys on the other side of the room to ask us to dance.

After eating, I sat politely with my legs crossed, tapping my foot nervously. Milton wasn't here. He'd promised he'd come. We'd been writing secret notes to each other for months now, and now that I was a Young Lady...

"Happy birthday, Eleanor."

My heart skipped a beat as I turned toward the voice. My smile fell when I saw it was Harold, not Milton.

"Thank you, Harold."

He handed me a present, and I opened it.

"They are leather gloves specifically for the above world. There are plants with sharp leaves that will cut you if you touch them barehanded. Now, you can pick them."

I forced a smile. "This is a wonderful gift."

Dion's song, "Take Good Care of My Baby" came on, and my chin quivered as I listened to the lyrics. Was this some weird sign from the universe? Had he ditched me in favor of someone more attainable? We both knew we had to keep our feelings a secret, but he'd made me think he liked me just as much as I liked him.

I asked Harold if he had seen Milton.

He perked up and looked around the table at my friends. "Yeah, he took Cal to get everything ready for, you know"—he leaned in to whisper."—the real party."

"The real party?" I shook my head in confusion. I looked around the table. My friends were grinning deviously.

"It's a tradition," Veronica said softly. Her bright smile and yellow dress contrasted beautifully against her dark skin. "You don't get to know until it's your time."

I was the youngest out of my group of Young Ladies, and they've never stopped reminding me. I crossed my arms like a child.

"Well, now I'm glad Daddy didn't come."

"Eleanor, didn't you notice no one else's Daddy is here?" Helen, the redhead, motioned around the room. I blinked in surprise when I didn't see a single Daddy in sight. She squeezed my shoulders. "It's a rite of passage. You didn't convince him of anything. He's letting you go with us."

"Go where?" Something about this didn't feel right. My nerves were on edge.

Pearl cleared her throat and smoothed her lavender dress. "Will you keep your voice down? We're going to the above world." She said it in a way that made it sound like a secret, but we'd all been there countless times.

"Tonight? Alone?"

Our Daddies would never allow us to go above in the dark, let alone without them.

Olive stood and lightly shoved me. "No, dummy, we'll have the DITs. It's just us, having fun for once."

My stomach churned. I'd never gone up alone before.

Not without my Daddy.