I ran.

As I ran, I left the orphanage behind me. I left everything -all the horrid girls, the mean boys, the positively evil owner- behind. Lucy Martin was free.

"Oi, you! Little girl!" I grimaced.

And if I didn't run fast enough, I would be going back.

I took a sharp turn around one of the many stalls set up in the market-place. There were so many of them, I was boud to get lost.

"Stop, miss!" The policeman shouted. I didn't halt, and instead ran faster, turning another corner. There was a clothes store on the side of the steet, and I quickly pushed open the door and ran inside before the bobby could get to corner. I saw him enter the street from the corner of my eye and dove behind a rack of coats. As I watched through a gap in the rack, the policeman scurried past the shop I was hiding in, looking frantically for any sign of me.

Once he was out of my sight and on the next street for sure, I stood up, only to come face-to-face with another girl. She was dressed in nice clothes, donning a knee-length, frilly, pale pink dress with a pencil skirt, and her feet wore heels the same shade as her dress. A bright yellow handbag hung from her arm, and a string of pearls were draped across her collar bone. Her hair was mousy brown and fell straight down like a curtain, a pink hat sitting on it. Her murky green eyes were outlined in black and her lips coloured a orangey-red. I suddenly felt very small with my tatty shift dress and bare feet, despite the fact that I towered over her.

Her lip curled at me. "Who let you in here?" I narrowed my eyes at her. My orphanage had taught us to take no -excuse my language- shit from anybody, and this girl was no exception.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked in my best mockery of her voice, making it high and prononoucing every letter.

She looked oddly at me. The sneer on her face dissapeared- it was obvious she didn't catch my mocking tone.

"Whatever are you wearing those clothes for?" She asked, looking at the offending item in distaste. I rolled my eyes. She thought I was like her, just wearing these clothes. I laughed and decided a few more lies couldn't hurt.

"This is only a costume. I have to walk around in it for a few more hours, because my mother thinks I own too many clothes." She looked offended by this, as if having too many clothes was a good thing and my mother had personally offended her. Unless this girl was dead or dug up my mother's grave, my mum can't offend her.

"You can never have too many clothes!" She cried, slapping a hand across her heart. I nodded sadly.

"Oh, yes, but she doesn't understand that. No worries, I'll have them back at the end of the night. Daddy loves me." I said, as if it was simple. I nodded my head again. She smiled at me.

"That's good." She said, nodding. We were both nodding, and when I realised this, I abruptly stopped.

"I have to go now, I came in here to hide from this boy chasing me...he goes to my school, see." I lied. She nodded. "I have the same problem." I grinned cheesily at her and wiggled my fingers.

"Bye-bye, then!" I squealed, turned around, and flounced out of the shop.

As soon as I was out of her eyeshot, I let my haughty smile drop, slouching and walking normally instead of the -chin-up-high-and-brisk-steps routine the upper-class families used. Just then, a loud crash resounded through the air, right before rain started pouring down on me. I growled. This type of thing always happened to me.

I ran to the next street where there was a pretty row of houses, all with a bit of shelter over the door, kind of like a roof. I rushed to the house with what looked like a well-kept jungle in the front garden, knowing that the bobby's wouldn't be able to see me when they patrolled.

The shelter on this one went out a bit farther than the rest of the homes on the street, and I found that I could curl up quite nicely into one corner of the front step. Sleep found me easily, as it was evening and I had been awake since yesterday.

"Mum, we can't keep her!"

Somebody's shout floated into my head. It was a male voice, and not a familiar one.

"Ed, honey, she was nearly blue when we got back home. We have to help her."

That was a woman's voice. It was kind but stern, and I pictured a mother as the owner.

There was a huff and heavy footsteps retreating. I tried to open my eyes. They fluttered but something seemed to be holding them together. I moved my hands to my face to rub them and I felt the hard sleep falling onto my face and sticking to my knuckles. I managed to open my eyes, which I didn't know the colour of. At the orphanage there were no mirrors except in Miss Blake's rooms, and if we were caught in there we were in big trouble.

When I lifted my eyelids, there was a face right in front of mine. I yelped and scrambled back. I realised I was in a bed with heavy covers which got tangled into my legs. I kneeled and tried to kick the quilt off of me, but I stumbled and fell over the side of the bed.

"Uuugh." I moaned, my face buried in the carpet. There was a tinkering laugh and I heard light footsteps walk over to me, and then a hand rested on my shoulder.

"Come on, let's get you up." This woman tried pulling me up, but I was still tangled in the blankets.

"Hang on," I mumbled. The tugging stopped. "Let me get these covers off first." I said, and started kicking wildly, scraping my feet against each other as I tried to rid my legs of the covers.

Suddenly, there was a laugh and a gasp, released by different people. The gasp was high pitched but the chuckle was low and obviously let out by a boy.

I stopped kicking as rolled over, glaring at where I assumed the doorway to be. Two people a little older than me stood there, the boy still laughing and the girl looking at me in horror.

"What you laughing at?" I frowned.

"Su," The dark-haired boy laughed, turning to a girl of similar looks next to him. "This is what you've got to share your room with!" He laughed again and the girl looked appalled.

"I am not sharing my room with anybody, especially not that!" She pointed at me. I glared at her. Admittedly, she was stunning, but her personality made her look bad.

"Did nobody tell you pointing's rude?" I asked. "Especially when you're calling the offending person 'that'." I made speech motions around the last word. They boy laughed. She glared back at me. Then the words sunk in.

"Wait a second!" I exclaimed, sitting upright. As I worked to get the quilts off me, I asked, "What do you mean, share a room with me?" I cut my eyes at the dark haired woman that stood next to these rude people.

"Well, dear," She started. " We found you on our doorstep in the pouring rain, with thunder and lightning (and somehow you slept through it all), and you were soaked to the bone, wearing a tiny dress." She said. I waited impatiently for her to get to the point. "So we-" The boy coughed, "-I," She amended, "Thought you could stay here until we find your parents and guardians." She finished gently.

"I don't have any." I informed her.

"What?" I rolled my eyes.

"Parents. I don't have any parents." I explained. "Or guardians." I said, noticing her open her mouth. She seemed troubled. The girl snorted.

"Explains her clothes, then, doesn't it?" She muttered nastily. The boy laughed again, and I glared at them both.

"Susan, you will have to share you room with..." She trailed off awkwardly as if expecting me to fill in my name. I didn't. She should ask me for my name.

"What your name again?" She asked softly.

"I didn't gave it to you before, but it's Lucy." I said.

"Any last name?"

"Martin."

She nodded. "I'm Helen. My husband is called Frank, but he's at work at the moment." I stared at her.

"Why do you think I'll be willing to stay here?" I asked her, not rudely, just curiously. She smiled.

"You have no parents, no home, and I just saved you from what was likely to be more than a cold." She stated. I thought over the reasons in my head. Alright, she did have a point. I supposed it wouldn't be too bad staying here for a while.

"Fine." That one word made Helen's face break out into the smile and her kids faces twist into the opposite.

"Susan, dear, Lucy will be staying in your bedroom. We can pull out the spare mattress and lay it out for her." Before Helen could go on, Susan interrupted.

"Do you really think I'm alright with some homeless twit staying in my bedroom?! There's no way she's staying with me!" She yelled. Her pale face was rapidly turning red and even her brother looked worried.

"Su, calm down. Mum can put her on the sofa." He said.

"Edmund Pevensie!" Helen exclaimed, looking horrified.

"What, Mum?" He asked. She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm not having any guest of mine sleep on the sofa. That's horrible."

"Lucy won't mind, she's been sleeping on the streets. She could have lice!" I don't want lice in the house and in my hair!" He shouted, suddenly panicked. I rolled my eyes.

"I ran away the day you found me by your front door, and if any of the kids at the orphanage got lice, Miss Blake shaved our heads. So don't go assuming things." I snapped at him. He looked over at me, annoyed.

"Who asked for your opinion?" He snapped back rudely.

"Um, the girl you're saying has lice?" He scowled.

"Susan, she has to stay in your room!"

"I don't care!" Me and Edmund looked at Susan, who was throwing a hissy fit. I gaped at her as she stomped her foot, her dark hair swishing about.

"Susan!"

"Mum, I'm not letting her!" Susan screamed.

"The only other options are Edmund's bed or the sofa, and I'm not letting a guest stay on the bloody sofa!" Helen exclaimed, pointing at Edmund and the sofa in turn.

"Helen, it's really alright, I can just sleep on the sofa. I'll be gone within a week, you won't have to worry." I tried to comfort her, but it made her more moody.

"I won't let a guest sleep on the sofa. Susan, share the room, or Edmund, share the bed."

Edmund and Susan looked at each other, before turning around and touching the ground, shouting, "Turn around, touch the ground, not it!" Helen rolled her eyes at their immaturity.

Edmund's face dropped as Susan's lit up-Edmund had been slower.

Susan grinned at me and danced past me, ruffling my hair whilst Edmund glared at me, his hands shoved in his pockets. Apparently now that Susan didn't have to share her room she was becoming a lot nicer.

"Can we move the mattress into Edmund's room tonight then?" I asked Helen. She shook her head, almost painfully.

"Edmund's room won't have enough room for the spare mattress. Unfortunately, you're going to have to sleep in his bed." Me and Edmund's mouths dropped open and we looked at each other, horrified. We were going to have to share a bed?! Knowing him (even though I've been awake for twenty minutes), he would kick me off the bed in our sleep and then step on me when getting out of bed in the morning.

"I can sleep on the floor...?" I smiled awkwardly, but hopefully. Helen shook her head.

"I won't let you sleep on the floor. Maybe Edmund can spend the night on the floor and we can-"

"NO!" Edmund shouted suddenly. "I'm not staying on the floor-it's my room, and my bed!" He continued when me and his mother looks at him.

"You're sharing the bed, then." Helen said, in a voice not completely comfortale but firm- there was no arguing with her now. Me and Edmund sighed and followed Helen into the kitchen, where she starting making sandwiches.

"Lucy, you're going to need some new clothes." Helen told me as she grated a section of cheese.

"Okay." I agreed.

"How old are you?" She asked, starting a new sandwich.

"Fifteen." I told her, and she looked round at me, trying to see if I was lying or not. I was a bit surprised, because I thought I looked my age, despite the raggy ten-year-old dress.

"Well, once you get some actual clothes and have a wash, you'll look less like a new adolescent." She turned back to the bread and butter. I was silent.

"We can go shopping today, if you like. After you've had a bath, of course. We need to do something about that hair of yours." I was a little bit offended, but I knew it needed a wash and comb.

Helen turned around and set the plate of sandwiches on the kitchen table. While she had been talking to us, her hands had made a dozen or so.

I picked up a ham one and sat down. Edmund followed, sitting as far away from me as the table would allow. Helen called for Susan, who came running down to the kitchen with a phone in her hand, before picking up two ham rolls and rushing out the door, mumbling something about 'Peter.'

When we finished, Helen ran me a bath and Edmund retreated to his room, while I sat on the large windowsill and listened to the radio. For a while I listened to a slow, romantic tune, before I got bored and changed the station, finding a much more likable song, with loud guitars and drums.

Ten minutes later found me dancing in the middle of the sitting room, twirling around to She Loves You, a popular song that I'd heard a few times coming from Miss Blake's room.

She said you hurt her so,

She almost lost her mind,

But now she says she knows

You're not the hu-

"What the hell are you doing?" I gasped and spun around to see Edmund standing in the doorway, his face a mirror of shock. Then his eyes traveled down, and stopped on my legs. I looked down and my above-the-knee shift was ridden up, showing more of my thigh than it was covering. I hastily pulled it down and his eyes snapped back up to my face.

"Mum said to tell you your bath is ready." He said. I nodded soundlessly and walked past him into the hallway. I went up the stairs and heard Helen humming from a room on my right. I walked to it and stuck my head around he doorway and sure enough, Helen was stood next to the bathtub, her hand mixing the water.

"Helen?"

She jumped and face me, her arm dripping water onto her flowery dress as she scratched at her neck.

"Ah, Lucy." She greeted. I nodded. "Your bath is ready, when you're done just wrap up in a towel and go into Edmund's room. I'll get Edmund to stay downstairs until you're dressed." I smiled at her as she went through the doorway.

"I'll leave some of Susan' clothes on the bed for you." She told me, and then she was gone, the door closing with an click. I locked it behind her and undressed before stepping into the bath. I immediately hissed and pulled my foot out. The water was burning hot. I waited a few seconds before dipping my foot in. It was alright, so I slowly lowered the rest of my body into the tub.

I managed to get my hair shampooed and conditioned (something I'd never done before) before washing myself with the soap. It was a nice smell, and I might've used a little too much. I noticed a razor and some kind of gel soap let out for me so I used that too. At the orphanage, there were two razors and five razor-knives. Whoever got there first got the proper razors, and as I woke up before all the other lazy duffers, I usually got the razor.

When I got out, I wrapped myself in a towel as Helen had instructed me, and then squeezed my hair out into the bath. Then I bundled up my own clothes and made my way out of the bathroom and into the room Helen had pointed out. I walked in and noticed the clothes on the bed. There was a dark blue, thin belt, a mustard yellow dress that only looked a little bit too big for me (I guessed that's what the belt was for), a dark blue brassiere and matching underwear. I thought it would be a bit awkward, me wearing another persons underclothes, but casted the thought away and pulled them on after drying myself.

I held the dress up to my frame and though it should fit, so I unbuttoned it and was about to pull it over my head when the door burst open. I dropped the dress in shock and squeaked at the dark haired boy in the doorway, while he stared at me.

"Edmund!" I barked, though his eyes were trained on my chest. Pervert. I crossed my arms and his eyes roved lower. I growled and stomped towards him before slapping him upside the head.

For the second time that day his eyes snapped up to meet mine, but then he narrowed his eyes.

"For the love of God, put some clothes on!" He exclaimed. I huffed.

"I would have some on, but you just barged in here!" I hissed back at him.

"Oh yeah, it's my fault you don't dress quick enough-"

"Edmund!" Helen called up the stairs. We looked at each other wide-eyed before I shoved him onto the wall next to the door and shut the door. He looked away as I pulled the dress over my head. I didn't have time to button it up before there was a knock on the door. Helen didn't wait for an answer before opening it.

I started buttoning up the front as the door smacked into Edmund. I had to stifle a laugh as a muffled, "Ow!" came from behind the door.

"What was that?" Helen asked confusedly, and made a little cough. "Just clearing my throat, sorry." She nodded and set down a white basket onto the bed. It contained clothes, which I assumed were Edmund's.

She started hanging them in the wardrobe, but when half of the wardrobe was left empty she moved to the drawers, rearranging everything to take up as little space as possible. I frowned and tightened the belt around my waist.

"I've got to leave half of the space for you, dearie." Helen explained, and I could almost hear Edmund's scowl.

She stood up ad left, saying that she was going to get me a pair of shoes. When she left, I dragged Edmund out before shutting the door in his face. When he left I opened it again, making in unsuspicious for Helen to leave an open door and come back to a closed one. Pointless, yes. Do I care? No.

Helen came back with a pair of fashionable blue heels. "These should fit you." She smiled and left me to put them on. When I finally got downstairs (heels for beginners is hard), Helen took me and Edmund's arms and dragged out the front door.

She clapped her hands together, smiling at the clear, bright sky. "Time to go shopping!"

A/N : This is the first chaptered story I feel like I can write more than two chapters for. I'm really hoping this will go well. Please Review, it helps. Constructive criticism and flames are completely different, and I don't want the latter, please. If you didn't like it, please don't cyber-yell at me.

Again, please review!

Kia xoxo