Graceless

I'd never worn makeup before. Something about it always just felt fake; like I was hiding myself behind a mask by pretending to be somebody else. I never really saw the point of not being myself. And of course since vanity of any sort had been outlawed for commoners like us, my desire to vamp myself up like some sort of doll had shrivelled to less than a miniscule. Yet, somehow despite all that, here I was sitting before my sister in the shambles of our living room getting my face coated in a thick layer of foundation as if I didn't have a care in the world.

Kat's face twisted in thoughtful scrutiny as the put the brush down and stared at my newly made-up face with a tentative expression. "Hm… Not too bad, kid. This colour might just be a bit too dark for you, though…"

She turns to grab the cracked wooden handle of the one small handheld mirror that we had managed to salvage from the wreckage and held it up to survey her own face as she made a few adjustments to her makeup. Through the reflection of the cracked glass I caught a brief glance at my own face and let out a snort. "A bit too dark? It looks like I fell headfirst into a puddle and forgot to wipe my face off."

Kat's eyes flickered away from the mirror for a second and her lips quirked into a small smile, before she turns back to her own reflection, "Sorry, sis, we don't have much to work with here. And besides it would take years and years to find something suited to your… complexion. "

I sigh. She's right, of course. Not that I would tell her that. Make-up is forbidden for us lower class citizens, sure. But, like most things that have been banned, that doesn't stop people down here from getting a hold of it. My only problem is that the Seller's only ever go for the darker shades of it because that's the sort that most people down here buy.

Which is good for them, but for genetically cursed people like me with skin too-damn pale for the stuff it sort of becomes a problem. Just another reason I hadn't bothered with the stuff- before tonight.

I glance over at Kat wishing that I could be a little more like her, not for the first time.

Though we share the same blood Kat somehow inherited all the features that make her practically Amberwell royalty down here among us "lower class citizens". Her skin is perfectly tanned- not a blemish in sight- and evenly matches the thick glossy brown hair that flows perfectly down her shoulders. The only features that we really share are our eyes- a strange grey concoction that often draws the eye from the usual customary brown colour of the other residents of Amberwell Close- our own little private sector of The Underwold. On Kat they look stunning on and mysterious. On me they only seem dull, awkward and too big for my head.

I frown and at the clock as my older sister preps herself in front of the cracked glass. We have a deadline to meet- one that I am not completely thrilled about, but that means the world to Kat- and if we don't hurry things up, we aren't going to make it.

"Kat? You know what the time is?"

She glances at the clock for a second, back at the mirror and then after a second of silence the numbers finally seem to hit her at full speed.

"Oh my god! Why didn't you say something before?! We only have ten minutes left! Have the dresses arrive yet?! We still need to get changed, do our hair and…"

I blank out about halfway through her little speech and smile a little smugly. At least I'm good at keeping us on time…

"I did tell you ten minutes ago, Kat. You just weren't listening," I tell her, but she's still not paying attention.

While she rants on about hairstyles and "What if my dress looks horrible?!" I stand up, walk across the room to the old squeaky bed that we toss a coin for every night, and reach down to pick up the cloth bag with our costumes for tonight. Kat had made a deal for them yesterday from Seller Marko- who was the bargainer renowned for his explorations on the surface- and gotten them fairly cheap. They'd arrived early this morning with instructions not to open the bag until we needed to wear them. I'd found this rule sort of silly but knew better than to argue with one of the Seller's.

I walk back to Kat, holding the bag carefully in one hand and reach down to touch her shoulder with the other. She stops raving for a second and looks up at me, "costumes are right here. You should have the first pick... "

She takes the bag out of my hand and practically rips it open in excitement. Her eyes widen impossibly as she peers into the bag with the biggest smile on her face.

I smile a little and walk over the peek cautiously out of our window. It's starting to get dark. And the worker who dares to hustle us to the surface every fortnight is bustling around in the dark- preparing the carriage. We should probably leave soon.

When I turn back to Kat, I find her enamoured over a stunning gown of what looks like pale violet silk. The cloth bag is lying on the floor next to her with a hint of ivory material peeking out.

"Uh, so you want that one?" I ask, breaking the silence between us, though the answer is sort of obvious. She looks away from the dress for a second to look up at me with a beaming expression.

"I so want this one! But.. uh, I think the other one would suit you better…"

I reach down to pick up the cloth bag from the floor, "We'll see. The carriage looks like it's being prepared now, so let's hurry and get dressed."

She nods enthusiastically as I make my way to the tiny little bathroom to the side of the bedroom. It's probably the room that sustained the least amount of damage when the Topsider's struck Amberwell a few weeks ago but pieces of glass and plastic still litter the floor. I have to tread gently across the space until I find a place relatively clear of the debris before I dare to take a peek into the cloth bag.

All I can tell from the outside is that it is something dark with a slightly torn hemline. Outside of our ruined house I hear the clock tower bell begin to ring. The Carriage will leave in exactly 5 minutes… We don't have much time.

With this In my I stick my hand into the cloth bag and pull out the most beautiful dress that I have possibly ever seen. It's nothing compared to Kat's gorgeous gown or some of the other elegant garbs that I've seen the other girls wearing when they've snuck off to Ball's but for me, right now, it's perfect.

Slipping off my usual beige clothing that's common for us lower citizen's I tug the dress over my shoulders and slip the hem over my hips.

The dress is the deepest black that I have ever seen- not faded like most of the clothes they supply down here in The Underworld - embroiled at the hem and the bust with little navy flowers and maybe a size to big on me. The colour is startling again my pasty skin and falls just past my knees in ruffles.

It is a bit of a change from my usual… style. But after wearing the same plain beige garbs over the last two years, they could've given me a hessian sack and I probably would've thought it was perfectly fine. I might have a bit of a warped taste in fashion but… I guess I like it.

I smile at myself in the fractured glass that covers the floor one last time and make my way to the door.

"Kat, you ready?" I call through the door and after receiving a "yeah, get in here!" walk back into the bedroom.

Kat's eyes widen for a second when she looks at me before she smiles a little. "You'll do."

I take in her own costume. The lilac dress fits her like a second skin and falls to just above her knees. It's strapless and pretty and makes her look just as good as any royal on the top side that we've ever seen. "You too. That dress… looks amazing on you."

Her small smile turns to a grin, "I know."

We fall silent for a minute, out of words to say, and just stand there listening to the clock ticks before I force myself to spring back into action.

I shove our plain clothes back into the cloth bag and hide it carefully back under the bed as Kat has taught me. "So… we need to do hair or something now before we leave?"

I say, making sure that all of our "valuable" possessions are out of sight from any of the windows. That's one of the keys of living around here. Hide all of your stuff and hope they don't notice anybody lives there.

"Only yours. I fixed mine up while you were changing."

"Oh. Okay."

She picks up her brush and gestures for me to come over. A few minutes later we're standing before the door waiting for the street to clear before we make our way outside and sneak carefully over to the carriage.

The driver looks us over with one eyebrow raised. "Surface tonight?"

"Yes," Kat says seriously, though by the way we are dressed it is sort of obvious. Sneaking off to the surface and royal balls is one of the only reasons why people dress up around her.

She reaches into her bag and pulls out the equivalent of half our weekly food supply in rusted silver coins.

Apparently it was worth it and with Kat's 18th age day in the midst… well, I just couldn't find it in myself to deny her for once.

The driver takes the coin in satisfaction and nods for us to climb aboard the carriage.

There are four other girls in the carriage from our section, already sitting in the carriage trussed up in simular garbs to ours. They smile eagerly as Kat climbs in but after I join her a few look sceptical. One girl with black hair that I don't recognise so well scowls at me.

"So, Graceless is going, is she?"

I bite my lip and look around suddenly reminded about what all the others think of me. It's not a surprise but sometimes when It's just me and Kat I forget how much of an outcast I am around Amberwell.

I don't reply. Kat certainly does.

She shoots the girl a harsh glare that seems to shut her up, "Yes. Grace, is attending. You have a problem with that?"

The other girl rolls her eyes a little, but says reservedly, "No."

The carriage goes silent. Tense.

About then the Driver- who's name nobody around here seems to know- decided that now is as good a time as any to start the journey to the surface.

As the Carriage pulls out of Amberwell I take a deep breath and stare out my window for my first ever glimpse of the world outside the only one I've ever known.