When she saw the first couple walk into the house, she tensed. She knew it was going to be over soon. She would meet her future husband, and be a wife to him in two months time. If that's not scary she didn't know what was.
The couple was an elderly couple. Good, that meant no possible future husband yet.
She smiled slightly at the elders as they walked past her. They wished her luck, much like the maids had earlier.
Right after they arrived there was a steady flow of guests arriving. Sophia had to greet each and every one.
She got a nasty look from each woman and young lady that walked through the door. As much as she would have loved to return the look, she didn't. She knew she would be scolded for it later.
Each man that walked through the door, she received a light kiss on the hand from. By the seventeenth kiss she got grossed out. She secretly wiped the remaining saliva on her dress.
Standing at the door, was the relatively fun part of the night. Who said standing there couldn't be fun? Standing there, in the same spot for a half hour wasn't so bad. She shook her head. Of course this wasn't fun! This was horrible. Each time the door opened, a cold December breeze came through. She really should have taken that shawl her mother offered her earlier.
When her parents were sure all the guests were there they started turning to walk in the dining room. She remained where she was. She wasn't ready for dinner. She noticed Gavin hadn't come. Her night was looking just a little brighter.
She thought to soon because the doors opened for the last time, and in the devil walked.
Sophia's nightmare. She literally had nightmares about the bastard. He haunted her dreams and sometimes her thoughts. She knew she was going to have to marry him. She knew she would be miserable for the rest of her life because of it.
He walked in with confidence. He had a cocky swagger about him. He reeked of arrogance. There were not enough words to describe the hatred Sophia had for this man.
He waltz right up to her and grabbed her hand. He brought it up to his lips and lightly kissed it, much like the rest of the men had done. Though Gavin let his lips linger for a second longer. A second to long.
Sophia ripped her hand away. When she wiped her hand on her dress this time, she didn't hide it. She made a point of showing how disgusted she was by the man standing in front of her.
His smile faltered, but he regained control of his face quickly. He tried to link arms with Sophia, but she would have none of it. She walked off ahead of him and her parents. She walked straight into the dining room to join the rest of the guests.
She walked with her head held high, and sat in her usual seat. She usually sat to the left of her father, who sat at the head of the table. As she sat down she noticed an empty seat next to hers. She mentally slapped her forehead. Of course her parents would seat him next to her.
She put her hands in her lap and looked down. She had to regain control of her temper. She wasn't going to let him affect her anymore. She was going to ignore him. She knew her mother would yell at her later but she didn't care. It would be well worth it.
When her mother and father walked in, she noticed her mother openly glaring at her. She wasn't hiding it at all. She would probably look at her like the rest of dinner; she sat right across from her. Gavin walked in and took his seat to the left of Sophia.
She kept her eyes looking down. She didn't want to look at him. Her hands twitched slightly. She clenched and unclenched her fists. She didn't want Gavin to notice the affect he had on her. It wasn't a positive affect what so ever. She didn't want him to see that he bothered her. She would be strong, and focus on anything but the man sitting next to her.
Albert rose from his seat to address his guests. Everyone looked up at the short fat man standing at the head of the table. He smiled, and cleared his throat.
"Welcome, welcome. My friends I do hope you have a grand evenin' tonight. Gertrude and I have been planning this gathering of friends for quite some time." He looked toward his wife with adoration in his eyes. She tried to match the feeling, but Sophia could see right through her. Sophia had a talent for this. Her father continued without noticing his wife's fake feelings.
"My beautiful daughter has a big, big choice to make tonight. She must choose a husband as you all know. This is our Christmas present to her." He smiled down at her. She didn't even humor him with a fake smile in return.
"Do you want me wrapped and put under the tree, or just placed in your bed so we can get right to it?" A warm, unwelcome breath grazed over her bare neck. She shook in anger. She knew this dinner was going to be torture, she just didn't think it would start so soon.
Her father continued to make his speech. He spoke with confidence and what he thought was power. He held his head a little too high, and his pig like nose stuck in the air. His voice was even sort of squeaky. Sophia looked across the table to her mother. She was staring right back at Sophia; her eyes intense with anger.
Sophia looked down at her hands once more. She noticed that her manicured finger nails were cutting into her palms. She loosened her grip and looked back at her father.
"I, er, we sure do hope that the young men in the room will treat our daughter like the princess she is." Sophia tried hard not to roll her eyes. It took effort but she managed it. Princess? Ha! More like prisoner. Yes, please treat our daughter like the unhappy prisoner she is.
The warm breath crept along her neck once more. She had to clench her hands hard to keep from bursting in anger. His voice was rough and unpleasant. His words were crude.
"You could be my princess, you know. You could make me a very happy man. I bet you're fantastic in bed. You are a virgin, aren't you?" She snapped her head to him. A curl fell out of place. He remained calm and smiled at her. He moved his hand to her face and pushed the curl to its proper position.
She glared at him. He took no notice to it. He held his smile like a challenge. A challenge he would most likely win.
She knew he wanted her to snap. She knew he wanted her to make herself look bad. If she were to say anything to anyone about the horrible things he said to her, no one would believe her. They would turn a blind eye towards the couple. No! Not couple, that would imply that she wanted to be with him.
She turned her glare into a small, tight smile. This must have been what he wanted because he turned his attention back to her father. She knew he wasn't listening to him. He never did anything he was supposed to.
Be charming? Ha! Be polite? Double ha! Treat Sophia with the up most respect? You're getting crazy now.
She looked back down at her hands. What was she supposed to do again? Oh yeah, not let him get to her. Well that was going splendidly.
Her father must have finished his speech because he was now taking his seat. The servers served the first course of the four course meal. It was soup time. As the soup was set in front of her, she couldn't help was grimace.
Pea soup. Yuck! There was nothing worse than the hot green substance. She looked down at it and wasn't sure what she should do. Move it around and make it look like she ate some sounded like the best plan. Actually eat it didn't sound so appealing to her.
"Eat your soup, Sophia. You're going to need your energy at its best tonight, especially for what I have planned." She dropped her spoon in the bowl and it made a large SPLAT sound. Pea soup splattered herself and Gavin. He huffed in annoyance.
She smiled to herself. Sophia, 1. Gavin, 0.
"Sophia! Please be more careful." Her mother quietly scolded. An almost soundless chuckle came from the left of her. She wouldn't look over at Gavin. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction; after all she was winning in points.
Turning her attention back to the horrible green poison in front of her, she thought of something. Maybe when she married Gavin, she would make him pea soup, and slip some poison in it. Maybe a few drops of arsenic. Yeah that should do.
Not that she would ever kill anyone. No one deserved to be murdered, even if some sure tested the boundaries.
She knew tonight was going to be terrible. She knew nothing would go in her favor.
So far, she was right. Like always.
Well, she was greeted by the back of the cowboy. She stopped short and accidentally scoffed her new, well, new to her, boots on the floor. The sound made the boy in front of her turn slightly. When he realized that she was out, and the sound didn't come from in the washroom he turned to her completely.
He looked down at what she was now wearing. It was a complete transformation.
Her hair, he now noticed, was a soft wavy, brown. It was long, and there was a lot of it. The blond in it now come through a little more, which brought out her eyes; like that needed to happen.
With out the make up, she looked just a bit younger. She looked to be about sixteen, maybe seventeen. She looked overwhelmed in the clothes she was wearing. They wore her, not the other way around. When she was in the dress her hips were pronounced, looking at her in his baggy shirt and the younger boy's pants, she didn't have much of a figure.
He nodded slightly thinking that this was a good thing. The less she looked like when she got here the better. If they were going to keep her safe here, she couldn't attract attention. That may be a problem though, he thought. She was stunning. She looked better without the make up, even if it was running down her face messily when he saw her before. She looked slightly more comfortable.
"You'se look comfy." He finally spoke, a grin across his face. She nodded very lightly. She wasn't sure how long she was staying but she knew these guys wouldn't let her stay for long. There were no other girls in sight, so she figured she would need to find somewhere else to stay. She would need to figure out where to stay as soon as possible.
She looked around to find the boy that saved her. She may not have known him, well, at all, but she was most comfortable around him. That was exaggerating since she wasn't very comfortable around him in the first place.
She spotted him in the same place he was before, still playing poker. She started walking towards him when she was stopped by the "cowboy." He stood in her way. He was very intimidating to her. He had a large body frame. Under is slightly baggy shirt, she could tell he was toned, even muscular.
His eyes made him look soft, though. They were a chocolate brown, warm and almost trusting. There was something very familiar about this boy. The way he stood in front of her, stopping her. The way he looked at her. None of his features were familiar, but the emotions running behind them were. She could feel the concern and wanting to help radiating off of him. He was definitely familiar. Who he was to her she had no idea. She knew she had never met him before in her life. She couldn't put her finger quite on it, but she would, eventually.
As he looked down on her, she looked less tense then when she had first arrived. He couldn't blame her, she looked less stiff, and she wasn't shaking from the cold anymore. She was trembling, but not as bad as before. He figured she was now warm, so the shaking was from fear.
He had to hand it to her. She was holding up pretty well. She hadn't broken down crying yet, nor had she started screaming and kicking. She was too quiet for his liking, and that scared him. Maybe her being so quiet was worse than her shouting and crying. Maybe he should be more worried, or this could be her in shock. He needed to know what happened to her. He desperately wanted to help this poor girl.
She just looked in his eyes. Her eyes were piercing. They made him feel on edge. He got uncomfortable. He figured she didn't mean to look that way and that she was just scared. The fear was evident. He wasn't that scary, was he? No, no, of course not. She was scared because she was in a room full of boys she didn't know, in clothing foreign to her, in a house she had never been to.
She probably had never been to this part of Manhattan. She was probably used to rich, clean, pristine housing, and snotty people. She didn't strike him as snotty. She didn't seem to look down at him, which could just be because she was so afraid. She just didn't seem like the type that would stick her nose up to him.
He shook his head, realizing they were just staring at one another. She probably thought of him as a freak for just staring at her for so long. Her stare didn't falter; her eyes had confusion running through them. He smiled warmly at her, knowing he should introduce himself.
"I'se Jack. Jack Kelly dat is. Ise da leadah heah. You'se in 'Hattan. We'se da 'Hattan newsies." He stood proud, but not cocky. She nodding, trying to process this. It wasn't a confusing string of sentences in the slightest, but what was he the leader of?
She obviously had no idea what he was talking about and he noticed this. He opened his mouth to explain further when the kid with the eye patch walked over to the duo. He stood next to Jack with his hand on Jack's shoulder. He watched the girl carefully.
She tried not to look at him for long. She didn't like the way he spoke to her before. He didn't seem too nice, and she definitely didn't want to get on anyone's bad side. Not when her fate was in their hands.
His mouth opened then closed. He must have thought better of his words, but then maybe not.
"Jack, she's one ah da hoity toity goils. She don't know what we'se arah. She don't know who we'se arah." She raised an eye brow to the kid with the eye patch. He made assumptions rather quickly. She should have defended herself, but where was her voice? Probably taking a vacation. He kind of glared at her, but held out his hand to her.
"I'se Kid Blink. Me friends call me Blink, but you'se can call me Kid Blink." She looked at his hand then at him. His hand looked almost identical to the boy's who save her. It was dirty and ink stained. She looked back at his face; he was looking sort of smug. He probably thought she wouldn't shake his hand.
She reluctantly took his hand and shook it. This seemed to surprise the two boys in front of her. Shock was written across their faces. Kid Blink slowly took his hand back, and nodded. Without saying anything more, he walked away.
Jack looked at the girl, and apologized for Kid Blink's rude attitude. She didn't respond. She looked down at her feet. She sure don't show much emotion, Jack thought. He thought that introducing her to the rest of the newsies would be the best, so she could feel a little more comfortable. She seemed to be at a bit more ease. She wasn't completely comfortable in any way, but what little progress was made was enough for him.
Jack turned his back to her and whistled. Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and looked at their leader. The girl stood in amazement that so many boys listened to just one person. It finally dawned on her. He was leader of these boys, of these newsies. She mentally slapped herself. She turned her attention to the boy in front of her.
"Alwright! I'se gonna introduce this goil to all of you'se. So stay quiet fah five minutes." Jack put out his hand for the girl to take, which surprisingly she did, and lead her over the poker table. Her hand was warm in his. It was soft and smooth, just like he thought her skin would be. His on the other hand were rough and calloused. He cringed slightly when he realized this, but she didn't seem to mind very much.
All of the boys at the table, who were playing poker, looked up to their leader and the terrified girl standing next to him. They gave Jack their full, undivided attention. Seeming pleased, Jack went around the table and named each newsie there.
"Dat's Racetrack, Mush, Skittery, Jake, Bumlets and you'se alweady met Blink." She nodded to show that she caught all of their names. She didn't though. They were such odd names. Jack and Jake were normal names, but Mush, Racetrack, Kid Blink? Those were not normal names. Who named a child Bumlets? Wasn't a racetrack a place? How in the world were these names? She was very confused by this, but didn't show it. She didn't want to insult the owners of the odd names.
Jack took her over to some more newsies and started naming them, just like before.
"Dat's Snoddy, Dutchy, Swifty, Specs, Itey and Snitch." She nodded once again. The names were unbelievable. Was Jack playing a joke on her? All he had to say was" You cannot stay here, I'm sorry," if he really didn't want her to stay.
She instantly tensed at the thought. He must have felt the tension because he turned toward her. Questioning eyes looked down at her. She looked right back into those questioning eyes, feeling the familiarity of them. His eyes seem to speak unspoken words. She knew they asked if she was okay so she nodded. Looking at her a moment more he turned, tugging on her hand gently.
She followed him to a group of smaller, younger boys. Once again, he started naming them.
"Dis is Snipeshooter, Boots, Patches, Teddy, Socks, Crutchy, and last but not least Pie Eater." When he finished he turned to her and smiled. She just stared at him in disbelief. Her eyes looked confused and somewhat irritated. He laughed. She didn't show much emotion, but her eyes were kind of easy to read.
"Don't worry, da longa you'se stay, da fasta you'se will loin everyone's name. It takes a while, dat's all." The confusion stayed in her eyes, but the irritation was replaced by surprise. It was Jack's turn to look confused. What was so surprising about what he had just said?
He whistled once more and told everyone to go one with their activities. When he looked back at the girl she had the same face on. He narrowed his eyes and realized she must not have thought he wanted her to stay.
"You'se safe heah. I'se want you'se tah stay. Da oddah guys will warm up tah you'se. Don't worry 'bout dat. Dey will like ya, I'se promise." For some reason she actually believed his words. There was no sarcasm laced with them. They seemed to be completely honest.
The surprise left her eyes, as well as the confusion and fear. Jack noticed her eyes were now unreadable. They held no emotion, they just held his gaze. Feeling uncomfortable, he looked down. He really wanted to get to know her. Something pretty bad must have happened if a "hoity toity" girl ran away from home, and was willing to live with a bunch of newsies.
He held out his hand for the girl to take, and she did once again. This surprised him for a second time. She must have trusted him just a tiny bit, if she was willing to take his hand.
She was terribly confused. She hid any evidence that she was from Jack. She put up her walls again. She was used to this; she never showed what she was feeling to the men back at home. They didn't care how she felt or what she thought all they cared about was if she was willing to marry them.
Why did he want her to stay? What was in it for him? The bigger question was, were those their REAL names? They couldn't possibly be. They weren't real names, they were made up. Nicknames maybe.
She shook her head. Jack led the girl over to a bunk. The boy who had saved her came over, his name was Racetrack. The other boys called him Race. She made sure to catch his name specifically. With Race standing near her, she felt some what more comfortable.
Jack climbed up on to the top bunk and motioned for her to come up. She looked up at him, knowing there was no way she would be able to climb up to where he was. He smiled down at her, holding out his hand for her to take. She took it and felt him pull her up to him with no problem at all. It was almost as if she weighed no more than three pounds. She shifted next to him awkwardly until she was as comfortable as she was going to get.
Race smiled up to her, his eyes full of laughter. She was right about him not being intimidating. In fact, compared to Jack, he was a teddy bear. His whole demeanor was full of humor; no seriousness was detected from him. She found this quite comforting.
"So what's yer name?" Jack asked with a small smile. Her eyes went wide.
She wanted to answer him, honest! She couldn't find her voice again. This was beginning to be a slight problem. They probably thought she was a mute or something. If her voice would just come back from that damn unplanned vacation it took, she would feel better. She started panic. She didn't want them to think she was being rude.
She opened her mouth willing something to come out. Anything voice, would be nice. She thought. I don't care what! Just say something! ANYTHING! Did her voice listen? Nope, it was probably tanning on the beach drinking a pina colada. She looked to her feet.
The two boys watched her struggle. Neither knew what to do. Jack looked from the girl to Racetrack. Race looked up to him and shrugged. Jack slowly put his hand on her arm, and she almost jumped off the bed. He quickly retracted his hand. He hadn't expected her to react like this. He tried a different approach.
"You'se don't 'have tah tell us yer name. If you'se mah comfortable wid us not knowing dat's fine." She looked at him almost thankful. She didn't want any of her past coming with her to this new place. If that meant changing her name, then so be it.
She nodded to him. Race spoke up this time. He was awfully quiet standing there. The humor never left his eyes.
"We'se need to dink of a name fah you'se though. You'se can't walk 'round widout ah name."She looked down at him as he looked to be in thought. He started to pace back and forth. She turned her attention back to the boy next to her.
Jack looked away almost instantly. He didn't like the piercing stare that she had. He knew it wasn't her fault, but it would take some time to get used to. Her cheeks turned pink then she looked down. He automatically felt terrible; she probably thought he didn't want to look at her. He was about to say something to her when Race spoke up.
"How's 'bout Raindrop?" She shook her head to that. She knew where he got it from. He found her in the rain. But she didn't want anything to remind her of today. When she woke up tomorrow, she wanted to start fresh. She wanted to forget about her life before this.
Race nodded and got back to thinking. A little boy came up to the trio. He was very short, with light blond hair and big, round green eyes. He looked up at the girl and smiled a big, toothy grin. She tried desperately to remember his name. It was hard considering they had such ridiculous names.
It had just dawned on her. She was about to get one of these ridiculous names herself. Maybe she could think of something relatively normal. She didn't want to end up with a name like Wet Puppy, or Trembles. The young boy spoke, which snapped her out of her naming thoughts.
"I'se Teddy! You'se can call me'se Ted though. What if you'se pick da name Holiday? It is Christmas aftah all." His cheeks grew pink and she almost smiled down at him. He couldn't have been more than five years old. He was cute, and looked so trusting. She shook her head slowly. Holiday would remind her of tonight. She felt bad saying no to the boy, but he smiled and shrugged his shoulders. He must not have been offended.
"What 'bout Lavendah? You'se knows, 'cause ah yer dress?" She shook her head once again. She though back to the dress and remembered she wanted to burn the blasted thing. Race looked stumped. He almost looked defeated. Jack spoke up for the first time in minutes.
"Sometins tellin' me'se dat you'se don't want anyding to remind you'se ah tonight. Is dat right?" He hit the nail right on the head. She nodded. She was shocked he caught on. Jack just nodded and rubbed his stubble. She looked away before he could.
He looked at her, and the attention made her look back to him. So much for the not looking. Her eyes caught him again. They reminded him of that stone. He couldn't think of the name of it. It was getting frustrating. He huffed.
She watched him think, but when his eyes narrowed at the floor she knew he was getting mad. His head shot up and he turned to the room full of boys. His eyes scanned the crowd. His wasn't finding who he was looking for, so he hopped off the bed.
He started to walk to the washroom. Sure enough as he was just about to walk through the door a shirtless boy came through. Jack stopped abruptly and put a hand on the kid's shoulder. They began talking in hushed voices. The shirtless boy looked confused. He shook his head.
Jack started to walk towards the bed again. His brow furrowed. He hopped right back onto his bed without effort. The girl figured he did this regularly so he was probably used to the height. He dropped his head in his hands and shook his head.
"'ey Cowboy, you'se dinking ah a name fah 'er?" Racetrack asked still pacing. Jack nodded his head, and then groaned. The girl stared at him, wondering why this was frustrating him.
Jack kept repeating green stone green stone in his head. It wasn't helping much. He thought of diamonds but they weren't green. He thought of rubies, but they were red. Why was it so hard to figure out the damn stone's name?
He looked back to the girl. She was staring at him. Her eyes. He wanted to name her for her eyes. They had nothing to do with tonight; they have everything to do with her physical features.
Her unnerving green eyes. They looked so familiar, but he was sure that if he saw these eyes he wouldn't have forgotten them. Her right eye brow started to rise, and then he realized he was staring again. He dropped his gaze and looked at the floor.
"I'se can't dink of anyding." Jack finally admitted. He threw his hands in the air defeated. Race looked at him, shaking his head. He turned his attention to the girl. She was still staring at Jack. When she finally looked at him, he noticed she wasn't all that scared anymore. He smiled.
Jack hopped off the bed once more but this time he left the room. He went through the door that led to the stairs. She heard the stairs creak under his descend. She turned her attention back to Race. When she got a smile from him, she looked around the room.
The boys all seemed pretty well behaved. None of them looked mean. None looked like they were very interested in her. This was a good thing. She didn't want any unneeded attention put on her.
She looked for a clock. She didn't know what time it was. When she started running it was about 8:30. She wasn't sure how long she was running for and she wasn't sure how long she had been in the lodging house. Race must have noticed her searching for something, because he asked if she needed anything. She pointed to her wrist where a watch would be. He looked confused, furrowed his eye brows and shook his head.
She remembered she saw that he had a pocket watch while they were running. She hopped off the bed and stood next to him. She reached for the gold chain. He watched her carefully. He didn't know what she was doing.
When he saw she had her fingers pointed to the golden chain, he realized she asked for the time. He pulled out the watch and handed it to her. She looked at him in surprise and opened the watch. It read 12:17. Her eyes went wide. Three and a half hours?!
She heard the stairs creaking signaling Jack's return. He had a smile on his face. He must have asked to older man down stairs the thing that was frustrating him.
The girl handed the watch back to Racetrack, and turned to Jack. When he was just about to her he stopped short. He turned around with a frown. The girl furrowed her eye brows and watched him as he left the room again.
When he came back into view he was holding a thin gold locket in his hand. The girl rushed over to him and grabbed it out of his hands. Jack was taken back. He hadn't expected her to move so fast.
She slipped the locket around her neck and hid it in her shirt. She looked down at her feet. He noticed a pink tint coming over her cheeks. Jack made a note to ask her about that later. He had more pressing matters to deal with now.
He walked over to his bed and jumped up. He noticed Race watching the girl. She still had her head down.
"I'se axed Kloppman what da stone was dat's green an he said dat it was jade. So I'se dink dat yer name should be Jade, 'cause of yer eyes." At this the girl looked up. Jack looked down at her and smiled warmly.
"What do ya dink?" The girl thought about it. It didn't have anything to do with tonight. It seemed reasonable enough. It was the color of her eyes. She had even noticed this herself. Best of all, the name wasn't Wet Puppy or Trembles. It was a nice name. She liked it.
She looked at Jack and nodded. She accepted the name that was given to her. She was now Jade. Jack smiled again and hopped off the bed. She made a note that the boy couldn't sit still. He walked to the middle of the room.
He whistled once more and silenced his newsies. Everyone looked up at their leader. When he saw that he had everyone's attention he cleared his throat and spoke.
"Alwight, listen up. Wese has a new newsie heah. 'er name is Jade. She's gonna be staying wid us so if any of youse try anyding wid her, Ise will personally soak ya. Got it?"
Every newsie in the room nodded their understanding. They watched Jack for just a little longer, when her turned his back to them, they went back to their activities. Jack walked back to the newly named Jade. He held out his hand. She looked from his hand to his face. And eye brow raised slowly and she took his hand. He began shaking it, laughing.
"Jade, it's nice tah meetcha." She looked into his eyes and for the first time tonight she smiled.
She smiled a real, sincere smile. And boy did it feel good.
Tell me what you think!
Good, bad, alright. Tell me, all opinions are wanted.
To bE mY HEaRt: Thank you so much. (:I very happy that you like the story. And don't worry, I'll keep updating.
Perfectly Dramatic: I was trying to do something a little different than what I have read in the past, but I still wanted the story to be believable. I tried to think of how I would have reacted if I was Sophia. I try to put myself in the shoes of the characters I write for. I have had the idea for this story for years, but my writing, back then, wasn't up to par. I am finally confident in my writing and decided to write the story. I'm glad you like it so far. (:
Chapter 4 Preview
"Anytin. Tell me anytin." He looked towards her. They stared straight into one another's eyes. It wasn't the first time tonight this had happened. This time it was different though. His eyes didn't have an underlining of laughter, or any humor. They were desperate. She felt the need from him. He needed something from her and she knew what.
"I'm scared." She looked at her hands. She had started picking at her nails, a habit of nervousness.
"Sometin else."