"Jasper," I say sweetly, "you're not selling, please help"
"Says who?" he smirks. He takes off his hat and runs his fingers through his hair a few times.
"Me, we have been out here since seven, it's nine and we are nowhere near done." I say, pointing to our still big bundle. "Today, we have only sold eighteen in two hours. We brought fifty."
"Sorry, just have a lot on my mind." He says sitting on a bench. I join him after I sell three. I sit down slowly and his arm automatically goes around me as he sighs.
"Penny for your thoughts?" I ask. He shakes his head.
"I'd rather sell them for a dollar," he smiles.
"That's not happening," I say, "Maybe if we sell all the papes, I'll have a dollar, then maybe I can pay for your thoughts." He smirks as I make him sit under a tree with the papes; I climb to the highest branch and sit.
"Go," I yell down.
"What?" he screams in reply.
"I am right here," I smile; he turns around looking startled I got from the top of the tree to the ground. "You need to sell; I am not doing this all by myself, which is why you are here. I don't know how you sell by yourself, but I need to know right now, so go and sell, and I'll be watching."
"Fine," he smirks, tucking the bundle into his arms. I shake the tree for an apple that isn't quite ripe and hand it to him.
"Leave," I smile, then come back okay?" I ask. I get a kiss on the forehead in reply as he scampers off into the middle of the park. I climb the tree again and see him look through the papers and he yells a headline. He is insanely loud as people flock to buy; most are women with small kids. I wonder why because most of who I sell to is men headed to their business. Then it hits me. They buy from me because I'm a girl. They buy from Jasper because he's a boy. I think I trailed off in thoughts as I hear Jasper shout at me from the bottom. I cock my head to the side as he climbs up, he doesn't have any papers, which makes me happy.
"Was that so hard?" I ask. He nods, someone told me to shut up, called me a street rat and told me to go die.
"Well, when you become a newsie, you are prone to those things, and the good thing is, we know it's not true, I say laying my head on his shoulder. He takes his hat of and hands me ten shiny nickels as I smiles at me.
"Be crazy," I whisper, "Be weird, be yourself and don't care what anyone thinks. We are who we are and if people don't accept that, well they can go live their life thinking that." He smirks as I jump out of the tree as we race to the café. I feel bad for him though, making him run after he sold over twenty papes. Twenty five to be exact; I sit down and he comes in after a waiter sets down a giant slice of cake. He sits in front of me and wipes the icing from it.
"Well then," I smile. There is no way on earth I can eat like a lady. My mom says that eating properly makes you more attractive. I told her love is about accepting who people are, that shut her up. We finish the cake n silence, not knowing what to do next. I suggest taking a stroll in the park, to help clear his mind. He reluctantly agrees as we start from our apple tree. As soon as we reach the park fountain, I know something important is going through his mind.
"What's happening behind those eyes?" I smile. I know it's usually a pickup line for a girl, but hey, I think it's funny.
"Just scarred of losing you," he sighs.
"Jasper, I know that's not true, tell me what's really going on." I coax. He shakes his head as we continue walking. We walk past a man sitting on a bench as he whistles at me. I let go of Jaspers arm and walk over to him. He's stocky, has blonde hair and I could tell he was drunk. I smile sweetly at him as he takes a cigar out of his mouth. He looks about thirty, which is disgusting.
"I have you know that I am fourteen." I smile sweetly as Jasper looks at me. The man gives me a look that says he didn't care, I didn't either. Jasper comes up to me and tries to pull me away, I resist.
"I'll also let you know that I am a lady, not a lapdog." I smirk as I take Japers arm, forgetting about the guy's facial expression. I make a motion towards Jasper as I tell him to run swiftly through the park. He follows me as I squeal, dodging people and making sure I dot run into anything. We stop under our apple tree, meaning we just made a giant circle through the park. Out of breath, I pull him up and sigh in relief.
"Time to tell me what's really going on," I say softly.
"You know this morning when I said I was selling and I kept getting called names?" he asks, I nod, knowing where this might end up. "Well, what if they are true?"
"Japer, you know they aren't," I gasp.
"Ella, it's pretty obvious why people would think that," he says.
"That's because we aren't like the rest of society, they make all of these assumptions about us and it's not true." I use a desperate voice to get to him. He rubs his hands through his hair again. I think back to my thoughts I had a few nights ago and think it's as good as ever to tell them to him. I lay my head on his shoulder as he loosely wraps his finger into my curl; I tap him on the shoulder.
"Japer," I ask like a little kid, "you know it's not true, don't let it get to you. You can't do anything without being labeled by society. If you are fat, you look nasty. If you dress up, you're conceited. If you cry, you're a drama queen. If you dress for comfort, you're a slob, and my favorite: If you don't say anything, you're rude. People make all these assumptions about you and most of them aren't true. For instance, if you're a girl, you work in a factory. If you're a boy, you're rude if you don't hold the door open for a girl." He listens closely to me as I try to explain each one, I can tell it makes him think by the way he reacts. I pick a sour apple from the tree above us and whisper for him to look down. It's Race. I smile at him to get out of sight in the tree as I let gravity chunk the apple downwards, hitting him on the head, he has an immediate reaction as I scamper out of sight, climbing higher into the tree, causing more hard green balls to drop, circling him as gravity makes them fall like rain.
"Ella," I know you're here," he smirks, calling me out. I nod at Japer as I swiftly climb jump down.
"What?" I say, he turns around.
"Were you the one that hit me with these apples?" he says.
"Wouldn't I have to climb down from the tree? I mean, anyone can make an apple fall, it show nature works, and wouldn't I have to be in the tree?" I smirk.
"Whatever just don't hit me with an apple again," he puffs from his cigar, he gives me the appearance he is mad and goes to whistle at some lady holding a baby.
"Race, she is a lady, not a lapdog." I call out.
"Whatever" he replies as he goes after her, I can tell she is furious as she slaps him, hard, leaving him on the ground. I crawl back into the tree with a thought of I told you so. I see Jasper lying down on the branch as I feel a blush coming in. I stop myself as he opens one eye and smirks at me; I turn away, letting him think about why I blushed. He knows why, of course he does, he knows almost everything about me.
