Things That Happen
"So, do you think it's worth going?" A gloomy voice asked.
"Well, we'll get in trouble if we don't." A second voice answered.
"Who gives a damn?" The same gloomy voice said.
"Good point..."
Another voice added itself to the conversation; "Alex's right, we'll get in trouble. Besides we need an education, don't we?"
"If you can call it education-"
"It's not worth skipping school when in the end everyone is going to yell at us!"
"So what? They yell at us whether we get in trouble or not. We might as well have a reason."
"Another good point..."
"Shut up will you! I thought you were on my side."
"But Di's does have a point doesn't she? I mean we could throw ourselves off the bridge and nobody would care. In fact they would be happier for it, four less mouths to feed."
"What do you mean 'Four less mouths to feed'? We get our own food." the first voice said indignantly
"We steal it you mean."
"It's that or die of starvation."
"Come on people, lets stay on topic..."
Ten-year-old Diane Cassler sat cross legged on her bed and bickered with her friends about the plans for the day. In appearance you would think that she was a stern person. She had long black hair that fell down past her shoulders. She had a proud face, black, eyes, and always wore a no-nonsense expression when she talked with strangers, no matter the situation she always remained calm and dignified. She was prone to moments of sarcasm, and made absolutely sure that whatever she wore was black.
A new voice came into the conversations, "I think we should go to Central London. Get ourselves something to eat. We've missed too many days for our grades to be very good anyway."
Diane smiled, Matt Masterson: The oldest, he was the same age as her, and was to turn eleven in a couple days. What they all found funny was that they had their birthdays all in the same month. Matt had short sandy brown hair and cool blue eyes. He was fairly tall, and had an athletic build. He was more serious then the rest of them. He was, in fact, the unofficial leader of the group. Though he wasn't the best pickpocket out of all of them, he had an uncanny way of finding exactly what they needed when they needed it. He had a way of ending arguments, unlike Diane who liked starting them.
"I suppose I am a little hungry... we'll go tomorrow then..."
Nine-year-old Kim Redhead: Kim was short for Kimberly, she hated the name. She had strawberry blond hair and dark green eyes, She was very intelligent,she actually had more sense then the rest of them, and did not like breaking the law as much as the rest of them, she didn't like it at all, given her way, she wouldn't steal anything.
It sounds like they are some homeless children without a home and a family. They each had a place to stay, in a shabby apartment building in the dark and dirty part of London. There were six families that lived in the building, all unpleasant, four of the families had one of the four children. They seemed to think that giving them a place to sleep was enough, feeding them was a burden, according to them.
"Finally we decide. Besides, three more days. Then schools out for the summer!"
A little jig was accompanied with the last few words, Alex Miles was a very outward person. He was the one who tried the hardest to lift their spirits when they were all down. Which was good because they were down often. He was reasonable height, with curly brown hair and had wide, cheerful hazel eyes. Like the rest of them, he wore black and was physically fit. He was a year older then Kim.
All of them got up and stretched, they had been arguing for the past half hour. And they headed for the door, grabbing their coats off Diane's chair. They paused by the living room. Loud snores issued from the room, along with the strong smell of beer. Matt peaked around the corner and made a gesture with his hand, telling them that the adults were all out. They crept out, not making a noise as they did so. Diane caught a glimpse of their so-called guardians laying in various poises throughout the room. Several bottles lay here and there. She felt a surge of disgust, she will never be like that, if she could help it.
They had managed to leave the apartment and maneuver their way down the stairs without running into any of the other inhabitants. At last they left the dismal building behind. They walked quickly down the street. It didn't pay to linger anywhere here. After a long walk they came across an entrance to the underground. Then came an issue that always bothered them whenever they went to the underground: How do they pay for the tickets?
The answer was always the same; they had to steal the money for them. They all had to steal from people. Then they counted the money afterwards to see if they have enough to buy them tickets. Usually they do. Matt made a signal with his hand, and with that they scattered. Diane weaved her way through the forest of bodies, all thankfully ignoring her. She spotted a wallet with the top sticking out of the back pocket of a bored looking man. Moving casually forward she passed close by him and swiftly removed his wallet and walking quickly off. Looking back, she saw that the bloke had not noticed that he was now missing a possession.
Grinning she made her way to the girls bathroom, as soon as she entered she checked to make sure that she was alone. Sure that the bathroom was empty, she opened the wallet excitedly. To her surprise and delight, there was fifty pounds, enough to buy them all tickets! She smiled and put the wallet deep in her pocket, so it wasn't stolen again.
After five more minutes, she found another fifty pounds and then decided that it was time to make her way to their meeting place. She made her way to the far corner of the station and waited for the others. Diane did not have to wait long, Alex came maybe a minute after she did, and Kim another minute after that. Last came Matt, looking immensely pleased with himself; meaning that he did well.
They pooled the money together and quickly counted it. Between the four of them, they managed to steal over three hundred pounds worth. Pleased with themselves they went and bought their tickets and boarded the train that they just barely made.
They arrived in Central London around lunchtime, plenty hungry, and headed straight for the nearest fast food restaurant. Which happened to be McDonalds. Diane was eating her fries when she noticed some people wearing the strangest clothes. The man was wearing a formal grey coat with a bright purple tie with sunflowers on it, he also wore a pair of jeans that were twenty sizes to big for him, which were tucked into an enormous pair of gumboots. The women, however, wore what looked like a Gypsy dress, she wore a raincoat, even though it was a perfectly sunny day out, and a pair of old trainers with dirty shoe laces.
You see a lot of weird people in London.
Diane wondered whether it was worth pointing out, there were plenty of people who looked like they were dressed by an inexperienced three year old, all she had to do was walk down the street to see another odd person. She turned back to her fries and listened to the conversation:
"...lets go to the mall afterwards."
"Okay, there's a new book I'd like to get..."
"You and your books."
"I like reading!"
"So do I, but I'm not obsessive about it."
"Obsessive?!"
"I swear if we weren't around you would read all day and night."
"One more word Alex..."
Diane turned to Matt, who was watching their two other friends bicker with a look of amusement on his face. "So what are we going to do this summer Matt? I mean we gotta do something." He sighed "Probably the same thing we're doing now." He said glumly. "I mean, what else do we usually do?" Diane shrugged, "We hussle and do our thing." Matt shrugged also, "Well I think-" "You think? Well that's something new," Diane smirked looking at him. The look on his face made her smirk fade, "Look, I didn't mean it, I was just playing." He gave a small nod and looked out the window, lost in the thought. Diane inwardly sighed, she didn't usually apologize for anything she said to people, only to Matt. This was because he had the tendency to take everything personally. Alex and Kim, on the other hand, they just shake it off, of course they they tease her just as often.
When they were done, they got up to head for their favorite mall, which was just a couple blocks away. The walk was uneventful, though did manage to collect a few more notes on their way there. In the mall, they followed an enthusiastic Kim towards the bookstore, where they roamed around for twenty minutes before they all found what they wanted.
"What'd you get?" Diane asked when they left the store and settled on a nearby bench. Kim smiled and reached inside her bag to show what her purchase was, a thick book about Mythological Creatures, not surprising. Diane showed hers next, it was (To Matt's and Alex's delight) a cook book. Diane was an incredibly good at cooking, it was one of the few things they obsess about. She was very creative about it, she would often change the recipes, all her cook books were practically black with scribbles, she made so many changes. Alex's was a book on dreams, this sort of thing was an interest for him, when he wasn't goofing off, he had his nose buried in books like these. Matt got a book on astrology, surprising for someone like him, but it was an interest. All of them were extremely good readers, even though they were quite young.
They continued on their way, aimlessly wondering around chatting, when they ran right into a couple and their son. The women was tall and bony, she seemed to have more neck then any other human Diane had ever seen. She regarded them with scorn, as though they carried a disease. The man regarding them with equal scorn was large and beefy and had a mustache that they would probably all laugh at later. Unlike his wife he didn't seem to have much neck at all. In fact, if Diane didn't know any better, she could have sworn he didn't have any neck at all. And last was their son. This boy was wider then Matt and her put together. He had blond hair and blue eyes, he was the closest thing to a human pig she had ever seen, he looked maybe a about their age, maybe younger she didn't know.
"Hey, watch where you're going." The boy said roughly with a look of superiority on his fat face. "Why don't you? We were walking here first, tubby." Matt growled, giving the infuriating boy a threatening glare. "The exits over there," Diane said pointing over her shoulder, "Don't get stuck on the way out," The women gave a gasp of shock, the man suddenly roared, "DON'T YOU DARE TALK TO OUR SON THAT WAY, YOU FILTHY LITTLE STREET RATS..." The women however fell on her son and began gibbering loudly, "It's okay Dudders, they didn't mean that..." The man was still ranting on, "...YOU AND YOUR WORTHLESS STEALING FRIENDS MOVE AND STAY OUT OF THE WAY OF PEOPLE MORE RESPECTABLE THEN YOURSELVES-"
Suddenly the window of the store that they were standing beside exploded, showering the crowd that had gathered. Diane, who had been inwardly seething, was taken as much by surprise as the rest of the crowd. A couple of benches caught fire, she looked over at Matt and saw that he looked as bewildered and angry as she felt. Alex and Kim's mouths were hanging open slightly. Diane reached over and grabbed Matts arm and pulled him towards the exit, the others followed suit. When they were out, they ran flat out towards the subway station.
They arrived at their apartment around five. They had all been quiet during the train ride. On their walk home they began to wonder aloud what caused the those strange things to happen.
"Do you think you have psychic powers or something?" Alex asked looking at Matt and Diane carefully, it wouldn't be the first time you blew something up when you were angry," This was true, in fact, plenty of strange things happen when they got angry. "Things happen when you are angry too," Matt pointed out, which was also true.
They entered Matt's apartment and headed towards his room. They crept past the living room. It looked like there was a party going on.This wasn't unusual at all. In fact if there wasn't one, Alex said he would probably have a heart attack. Luckily nobody noticed them as they passed the doorway. If they did, the four would be forced to be the bartenders.
Quietly, Alex, Kim, and Diane, grabbed a blanket out of the closet, and followed Matt to his bedroom. One by one, they left the room and went down the hall to the bathroom to change. When they all were in the pajamas they piled into Matt bed and tried to sleep. Matt had a large bed, and because they were so small, they were able to all fit comfortably. They needed the each others body warmth because it was very chilly and the thin, ragged blankets that covered them wasn't all that warm.
Diane was exhausted, she closed her eyes and fell asleep almost at once.
When she opened her eyes again, it was still dark out. She noticed that not everyone was in the bed. Matt stood by the window looking troubled. After she managed to get out without waking anyone, she walked over to him, "What's wrong?" She asked, even though she was sure what was wrong. Still he needed to talk about it.
He sighed and rubbed his forearm, something he did when he was in deep thought, and replied slowly, "It's...it's just what that guy said at the mall today." He shook his head and looked at her sadly. "He called us worthless," Diane felt suddenly awkward, she was not someone who was good at moments like this, but she should try to make up for that moment in McDonalds.
"We're not worthless," Diane said slowly, "At least, I don't think so," she looked at him, and was surprised to see that his blue eyes looked a little moist. "He thinks he was better then we are, he and his family probably have a good place to stay and plenty food to eat, the don't have to worry about who they have to steal from, and they never had to think about going hungry." Matt said sadly.
Diane considered this for a moment, "Yes..." She said slowly, "But we have more freedom then they will ever have, we are not afraid of the dark, or the heights because we grew up around them, and we have good friends. So we don't have adults that care about us, we learned to care for ourselves. I would like to see that pussie family try to survive on the streets as well as we can. But you never know, things might change for the better." This felt like a remarkably long speech, and she couldn't help but feel like she missed something when she said it, but it was the best she could do. She then did something that she had not done often before, she hugged him. He tensed, surprised, then relaxed.
She let go after a few moments and turned back to the bed without another word. After another few moments, Matt followed. When he settled, Diane decided to use his chest as a pillow, as opposed to Alex's legs, which were really quite bony.
A couple weeks after the incident in the mall, it was Matt's eleventh birthday. They had a special ritual for birthdays. They spent the entire day out, in amusement parks and zoo's. These places they don't go to unless there is a birthday happening. They went to the zoo first.
"You know," Alex said thoughtfully watching a gorilla scratch it's stomach, "He sort of reminds me of that large bloke we met at the mall, doesn't you think?" This earned a few laughs from them. "Lets hope that nothing blows up this time." He gave one of his crazy grins. Kim laughed. Whenever Alex gives one of his crazy smiles, Kim laughs no matter what she's doing, because she said it looks so funny. "I think he is little more charming," Diane said, pointing at the gorilla, who was now picking his nose.
They spent another couple hours at the zoo, until they had to leave because Alex did something to the cotton candy machine that made it overflow with pink sticky clouds. After grabbing their share they quickly exited before anyone caught them.
They then went to an amusement park, Alex was excited, he kept pointing out rides he would like to go on, and how many times he would like to go. Eventually they went on all of them and again and again. While they were eating, Alex made a challenge to Matt. "Lets eat as much greasy food as we can..." he said with his eyes gleaming, "...and go on the Silver Rocket and see who is sick first." Matt agreed to the challenge and they began to scarf as much food as they could into their mouths. Diane and Kim exchange weary looks but made no move to stop either of them.
Finally, full to bursting, they made their way to the Silver Rocket.
The morning after his birthday, Matt still was feeling a bit nauseous, if he ever saw another fry again it would too soon. He lost the challenge, he expected it to because he just didn't have the stomach that Alex did, who could eat anything.
He was the first person up, as usual. He quietly got changed and crept into the hall and listened just outside the living room door. Just the sounds of the adults snoring away, when they get up, it will be night again, and they will start partying again, he personally found it disgusting. That man was right in a way, none of them had much to live for.
But if he had a choice between being that oversized and overprotected pussie, and living here with his friends, he would live with his friends. Someone had to be around to keep them out of trouble. Someone had to protect them.
His thoughts were interrupted when someone knocked three times on his door.
Confused, Matt moved cautiously towards the door. Almost no one bothered knocking on the door because it was always unlocked. Odds are that this person was a stranger. He touched the doorknob and turned it slowly. Opening the door wide enough to see who it was, but not wide enough to let them in, he peered through.
It was quite possibly the strangest stranger he had ever seen.
"Matthew Masterson?" The stranger asked smiling. Matt nodded slowly taking in his appearance. The man before him wore a formal grey suit and was perfectly normal, but it didn't go with his silver hair, beard, and his mustache, which was so long he could have tucked it into his belt. He had very crooked nose, perched on top of it was a pair of half-moon glasses in which two twinkling blue eyes peered out at him.
"Well good morning, and when twelve comes around, good afternoon."
Matt stared, "Who are you?" he asked slowly. The man chuckled, "Forgive me, I shall introduce myself, my name is Albus Dumbledore."