Disclaimer: Ever seen the awesome newsies graphic novel? No? Then I don't own them-yet.
Lorraine stepped out of the train the minute the doors opened. She didn't much care for trains. She found it hard to draw while bouncing around rhythmically to the train tracks. Besides, the women next to her snored all the way from Portsmouth to New York, and five hours of morning breath were about all she could handle.
She was going to stay with her great aunt. Lorraine had last seen Auntie Sarah at a family reunion three years ago, and only remembered a vaguely flowery perfume, and sad brown eyes, with a deepish voice telling her how much she looked like someone or other. Probably another older relative who loved to talk about how old she'd gotten, how beautiful a young woman she was becoming, that sort of thing. She wasn't a beautiful young lady- she was an eleven year old. The sort of one that wears comfy overlarge sweaters and blue jeans, with warm boots. Quiet. And strange. On every report, from every doctor. Logical. Out of touch. In her own world, disabled. Accelerated. Unknown. Unconfirmed. Rainy knew this, but didn't really care. She supposed there would be time for looking attractive later in life, when it actually mattered to her. That was the 'unknown' talking, of course, her mother would tell her. Silly mom.
She lugged her bag of books, pads, pencils, and less importantly, clothes, over to the stairs, and walked out into the gigantic foyer she'd read about: the ceiling really was covered in stars. She nodded to herself. It was grand, and it was central. She should have known. She sat tall on a bench, trying to look as visible as possible among the crowds of people. She waved at the women she assumed was Auntie Sarah- old, but nice looking for her age, Rainy supposed. She stood up and walked over.
"Hello, Auntie!"
The women looked around, then seeing her great-niece, ran over and hugged her.
"Oh, Lorraine! I haven't seen you in ages. Do you even remember me? I'm so glad to have you here. We'll have so much fun!"
"Nice to see you too, Auntie." Rainy was a little taken aback by this show of excitement, but she also knew that Sarah was an old spinster, who loved children. Rainy thought they would get along fine, although she had never understood child-loving women who refused to marry. She heaved her bag up over her shoulder and followed Sarah out into the bustling street. The hotel Sarah owned was only a few blocks away, but it took them ages to get through the crowds. Rainy hadn't been in a city like this before. She'd been to Boston a few times, but that had more houses and parks and fewer skyscrapers and squares. Rainy couldn't see anything circular, or anything green.
Once they got to the hotel, Sarah led her upstairs to her apartment. She lived on the top floor of the rectangular, brick, 5-story building. The middle three floors were rooms and suites- nothing fancy, but there was good money in it. The bottom floor was a lobby and dining room, and rooms for the staff members who stayed overnight (a couple of young maids and cleaners.) Sarah had had success in the business sense, at least.
Sarah showed Rainy to a little room she had made up for her, then left to sort out a few matters with the staff, promising to return soon. Rainy went in to her room, unpacked her clothes, and introduced herself to the cat she found under the bed. She wandered around, looking at the pictures on the walls. There weren't many. There was one of the reunion three years ago, and a few nondescript oil paintings of things like kittens and little cottages in the country, and one of a family stiffly posed around the father, one of those old ones where they didn't smile and always looked uncomfortable standing still for so long. The only other one in the hallway wasn't a real photo at all, but a newspaper clipping in a frame, blurry and unfocused. It held a group of boys ranging in age from 8 or so to nearly men, seemingly taken before they had a chance to position themselves. They looked happy about something.
Rainy made her way into the little kitchen area, and started rummaging through the cupboards for something to eat. She was opening a bag of bread when she heard something move behind her. She stopped, straining her ears, but nothing happened. It must be the cat, she thought. She turned back around, but right before she started to eat, she heard a voice. It sounded amused, but it was hard to tell what it said. Rainy looked around the room. She saw the curtain move.
She got up loudly, making sure any intruder would know they should leave, pronto. She looked out onto the fire escape- nothing. She stepped out onto the metal, and looked down at the alley below. There were a few people walking. One of them could have shouted, and their voices carried on the wind that blew the curtain. Rainy wasn't sure why she was reading so much into this. She closed the window, and went back to her room. She was asleep before she decided to take a nap in the first place.