"Mom I promise I'll be perfectly fine walking to the bakery. Old Man John said if I could work the oven he would give me a job and we agreed that I could work until you get better." My sickly mother sat in her chair covered in blankets. Just three days ago she was working in the Doctor's building as a nurse for the kids there, but one morning I was fixing her breakfast like I always do and she just didn't look right. Her skin was paler and coughs wouldn't stop escaping her throat. Since then I kept her home like a good daughter would, and her boss agreed to give her her job back as soon as she was healthy again.
"You keep yourself out of trouble then, Penny" my mom said in a hoarse voice and accepted the oatmeal I gave her. With a quick goodbye I grabbed my thin coat and ran out into the chilly morning air. I mentally scolded myself for lying to my mother as I pulled out the trousers and flannel shirt that were hiding in my jacket. Old Man John was kind, but I couldn't make enough money to support my mother if I worked in a bakery, so over the past couple days I decided to work as a Newsie. Quietly I snuck into a hidden alley I found a couple days ago and, as fast as possible, I slipped on the clothes I was hiding and grabbed an iconic grey newsboy hat to hide my thick blond hair. A broken mirror sat up against the brick wall and I adjusted my new clothes to fit nicely and smeared a little dirt on my face to hide some female traits. I softly whispered to myself "You can do this" and began down the street.
The frosty morning air bit at my nose as I walked slowly up to the long line of newsboys waiting to buy their papers. I tried to stuff some of my thick hair back under the grey cap before anyone noticed. A couple boys met my eyes and from what I could tell, they didn't suspect anything so I felt fairly confident. I reached the line and many other Newsies walked up after me. They were all very friendly to each other and I could see I wouldn't go unnoticed much longer. Sure enough the boy directly behind me tapped my shoulder and I nervously turned to face him.
"Hey! I 'aven't seen you before. Is this yer first day?" He asked excitedly. I shyly shook my head "yes" and looked back up to the tall boy with the circular glasses.
"Well in that case, welcome! My name's Specs!" he held out his hand and smiled. "What's yours?" I took his hand firmly and my mind started to scatter. My name? Crap. "Umm.. I'm Ryan." I answered in a slightly lowered voice. Ryan? Sure okay. My new name is Ryan.
"Well Ryan, nice to meet ya!" We shook hands and I looked around at the other boys as they marched up to the window to receive their papers.