"Adeline. Adeline, it's time to wake up. You've school today." Mother said. I grunted and turned over in my bed. "Adeline, up now." Mother said, drawing back the curtains. The sunlight flooded into my room, and right into my face. "Mother." I whined. "Adeline Genevieve Hearst, be up, washed, dressed, and downstairs in 10 minutes or I'll get your father up here." Mother said before walking out of my room. I groaned and flung the covers off my body. "Good morning Ms. Adeline." Sarah said, walking in with a fresh bowl of water. "Good morning Sarah." I replied, getting up out of bed. "Go ahead and wash your face, I'll have your outfit ready when you're done." Sarah said, setting the bowl down and walking over to my closet. "Ms. Amanda is wearing pink today, and Ms. Gianna is wearing a light blue. Would you like to wear a lavender?" Sarah asked. "Of course. How can I deny the color lavender?" I asked, walking over to the bowle. Sarah chuckled, and I dunked my face into the warm water. "All the talk this morning has been about Ms. Katherine Pulitzer and the Newsie. I feel so bad for the young girl." Sarah said, pulling out a dress from my closet. I whipped my face off with the towle. "She doesn't deserve all the gossip. She's a nice young lady." Sarah said. I chuckled. "That's what you said about Melissa. Look where that got her." I replied. "Oh that girl makes my blood boil." Sarah said. I laughed. "That's your sister-in-law you're talking about." I laughed. "Andrew never should've married her in my opinion. He could've done much better." Sarah said. I walked over to her side, and looked at what she had picked out of the closet. "This must be new. Mother probably had it shipped over from Paris." I said. It was a beautiful cotton skirt, lavender of course. The top was white, there was a lavender vest to go over top, with a purple tie to finish it off. "It makes your eyes pop." Sarah said, as she finished tying the tie. I smiled, and turned toward the mirror. The skirt hugged my hips, and flowed out toward the bottom. "My shoes?" I asked. Sarah walked over to the closet, and pulled out a box of shoes. "These are new as well." Sarah said, taking them out of the box. They were like every other pair of shoes I owned, black and heeled. I slipped them onto my feet and grabbed my books. "Good day Ms. Adeline." Sarah said, as I started my descent down the stairs.
"Adeline! Lovely of you to join us." Mother said, as I placed my books down on the table. I smiled at her. "Morning Father, Mother." I said. I sat down, and Chef brought over my food. "Where's Amanda and Gianna?" I asked. Mother looked at me. "Don't slouch. Head up, elbows off the table." Mother said. I fixed my posture and continued eating my food. "Mother, Father, is Adeline ready?" Amanda asked, walking into the kitchen. I whipped my mouth with my napkin and stood up. "I'm ready. Goodbye Mother, Father." I said, kissing their cheeks. "Have a good day girl's." Mother called. "You are a lifesaver." I said as soon as we were out of earshot. "Thank me later." Amanda said, walking ahead of me. Gianna stood by the door, her books in her arms. "What did you do to Amanda?" I asked her. "I've done nothing. It could be Katherine. You know how close they are." Gianna said. I nodded, and the three of us walked out the door. School wasn't that far away. It was a ten minute walk. "Jack no. You can't come. People'll see you." Katherine's voice sounded. "Come on Ace. It'll be fine." The boy's voice said. "Jack, no." Katherine said. "Katherine!" I said. "Oh Jack, hide!" Katherine said, trying to hide the Newsboy. "Katherine, stop. It's alright." I said. Amanda shot me a look, before she stormed away. I looked at Gianna. "She'll be fine." I mumbled. "Adeline, Gianna." Katherine said. "We heard about what happened." I said softly. Katherine smiled sadly at Gia and I. "Don't worry. You're still a friend to us." I said, placing my hand on her arm.
"Now, might this be the infamous Jack Kelly who took down your father?" I asked, looking behind her to see a boy in black, grey and blue. Katherine smiled. "Yes, this is Jack Kelly. Jack this is Adeline, and her twin sister Gianna." Katherine said. "Nice to meet you." I said. "Likewise Miss." Jack said. "We've five minutes to get to school." Gianna said, looking at the clock. I smiled. "It was nice meeting you Jack, we'll walk Katherine from here." I said. Before Jack could say anything, I gently pulled Katherine and Gia and I started walking. "Thank you." Katherine said. I smiled. "Anything for a friend." I said. "Gianna! Adeline! Let's go!" Amanda snapped. I shot Katherine a sad look. "It's alright." She said. Gianna and I jogged to catch up with Amanda. "Why do you have to be so rude? She's your best friend." I said. Amanda laughed. "Oh sweet naive little Adelien. I don't associate with people who befriend the street rats." Amanda said. I dropped the subject. Amanda'll come around eventually. We made it to school with three minutes to spare. Everybody was standing around talking in little circles. Amanda walked over to her friends, while Gianna and I stood talking with our friends. The talking stopped. You could hear a pin drop. I knew why. Katherine had just walked onto the property. Everybody stared at her, with disapproving eyes. "Street whore." Somebody muttered. Katherine kept her head held high, and walked over to David and his younger brother Les. "At Least she's got some friends." I said to Gianna. The bell sounded, and we all walked to our first period class.
The day dragged on. Katherine got stares, and rude comments everywhere she walked. She sat alone at lunch. Nobody would talk to her. Nobody would sit by her. Nobody wanted anything to do with her. It was nearing the end of the day. Everything was fine. Katherine was talking with David. "It's no wonder anyone wants anything to do with her. I mean look at her, she's a whore! To think, someone would go as low as to court a orphan! Not to mention the help! She'll burn in hell at this rate." Amanda said. Katherine snapped at that. "Amanda! You little toad! She's your best friend! You don't turn your back on someone when they need you! Just wait till we get home!" I said. Katherine had run off, leaving David standing there alone. I ran over to him. "Where did she go?" I asked. "Come on." David said. "What about your brother?" I asked. "He knows his way home." David said, before taking off in the direction Katherine ran. I saw the familiar brown hair, and pink dress of Katherine, and ran to catch up with her. She ran through the busy streets of Manhattan, crying her eyes out. Her one friend that she's had forever, doesn't want anything to do with her. Katherine ran into a building. I stopped for a moment to catch my breath. My feet were killing me. I looked up and read the sign above the door. 'Lodging House' "Great." I said. I had lost David awhile back. I walked into the building and was met with the stares of many boys. I took a step father into the building, and was soon surrounded by a few Newsies. "What are ya doin' here?" One asked. "I'm looking for a friend." I said.
I looked around the room. It was filled with boys caked in dirt. No Katherine. "Turn around. You don't belong here." Another said. "Please, just let me check on my friend, then I'll leave." I said, taking a step farther into the lodging house. They didn't move. "Just let me through." I said. Nothing. "Are all boys this stubborn?" I asked. "Not all of us. Let her through. She's here for Katherine." A voice outside of the group of boys surrounding me said. "But.." one started to say. "Henry, let her through." The voice said again. The boys mumbled and walked away from me. Standing in front of me was a boy with sandy brown hair, striking blue eyes, and a crutch. "Thank you for that." I said. "No problem. Any friend of Ace's is a friend a mine." The boy said. "Who are you?" I asked. The boy chuckled. "My name's Crutchie." Crutchie said. I smiled. "My name's Adeline." I replied. Crutchie smiled. "Katherine's upstairs on the roof." Crutchie said. I smiled, and walked upstairs. I reached the bunk room, and was shocked. There were so many boys, but so little beds. I looked around for a window. I found it, and climbed up the ladder. I heard soft sobs, as I reached the top. I got up onto the roof and found Katherine in the corner sobbing into her knees. "Katherine..." I asked softly. "If you're here to make fun of me some more, you can leave." Katherine said. I chuckled. "I'm nothing like them." I said. She looked up at me. Her eyes were red and puffy. Her makeup was running, and her hair was a frizzy mess. "Oh Katherine." I said, sitting down next to her.
She cried into my shoulder. I put my arm around her and let her cry. "Thank you." Katherine said, when she calmed down. "For what?" I asked. "For being a true friend. You didn't turn on me like everyone else. You're still my friend even though you could get yelled at by your parents." Katherine said. "I'd do anything for a friend." I said. "Bill didn't get yelled at too bad did he?" Katherine asked. I chuckled. "Oh he got yelled at. Father was angry that he helped the help. Mother was in hysterics, saying the street rats had brainwashed her darling boy." I said. Kath let out a small giggle. "He's got about three months worth of paperwork to do for Father, then he has to write an apology letter to you father." I said. "Your mother's idea?" Katherine asked. "No, it was Father's." I said. Katherine laughed. "Who would have thought? The great William Randolph Hearst, telling his son, William Randolph Hearst Jr, to write an apology letter to my father, Joseph Pulitzer?" Katherine asked laughing. I laughed. "Mother's not going to be happy with me. Amanda's furious, Gianna's worried, and Bill. He just wants to know if you're okay." I told her. She laughed. "Good old Bill." Katherine said. I got up off the ground. "Come on. I'm not leaving you up here by yourself. You can go hang out with the Newsies downstairs. As for me, I'll be getting home." I said. I put my hand out, and Katherine took it. She laughed, and climbed down the ladder. I followed suit, after taking one last look at the roof. Two beds, a bunch of rolled up drawings. Freedom.
Katherine and I walked downstairs laughing like old times. The boys turned their head toward the sound. I gave her one last hug. "If you need me, you know where to find me." I told her. "Come hang out with David, Les and I after school tomorrow. I'll buy you a coffee." Katherine said. "Sounds like a plan." I said. I turned around. "Good night, gentlemen." I said. "May I escort the young lady to the door?" Crutchie asked. "Why of course you may." I said. Crutchie and I walked to the door. "Will I be seeing Ms. Adeline around here again?" Crutchie asked. I giggled. "As long as Katherine is here, you'll see me." I said. Crutchie kissed my hand. "Until then Miss." He said. I blushed and looked down. "Goodnight Crutchie." I said. "Goodnight, and sweet dreams Miss. Adeline." Crutchie said. I smiled and walked outside. The walk home, I only thought of one thing, the boy with the striking blue eyes, and the crutch.
