I awaken the next morning in the arms of what felt like an angel. As I looked around at what surrounded me, I rub my eyes to make sure it's real.
How did I make it all the way to New York City? The arms that had kept me so safe and warm the night before had been nothing but a statue… I hopped down from where I had slept the night before to see that it was the statue of Horace Greely. I don't know who he is… but he had been my angel that night.
I looked around to see if I could find someplace to wash up and begin my new life. Something about this place felt right, felt special… the same feeling that home gave me. I raised my head to look at the signs above all of the businesses and the only one that seemed welcoming was "Newsboys Lodging House".
I quickly made my way to the door and knocked… not knowing what to expect. No one answered… so I decided to push open the big solid oak door and peeked around to make sure someone was there.
A friendly looking old man slept behind the counter, his snores loud and repetative. I quietly walked to the desk, avoiding making any sound. There appeared to be a bell on the counter, but I felt that that would be a dreadful way to wakeup, especially when one had fallen asleep while doing work the previous night.
I walked around to the other side and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.
I suppose I scared him because one second he was right in front of my eyes, the next minute he was on the floor, arms and legs flailing freely.
"I'm so sorry sir, I didn't mean to startle you!" I whispered as I helped him come to his senses and get back to his feet.
He laughed with such enthusiasm and chuckled with such a gleam in his eye that on any other day of the year I would have mistaken him for Santa Claus.
"Not a problem young lady, it's a good thing you woke me up though, I have to get these boys up! Time for them to carry the banner!"
"Carry the banner?" I said quite bluntly, not even meaning to say it outloud.
"This my dear is the Newsboys Lodging House, as I'm sure you saw on the sign when you came in. These are my boys, my children, and you my dear may call me Kloppman." He said as he stretched forth his hand for me to shake.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Kloppman," I took his hand, "I'm Bailey."
Pleased to finally make an acquantance he led me upstairs to a room full of bunk beds and boys.
"Time to wake up! Carry the banner! You can't spend your whole life sleeping!" Kloppman shouted at the boys.
Only a few actually woke up, but the others apparently had to be addressed personally. "Boots! Come on Boots, rise and shine! I want you fella's to meet a new friend of mine! Skittery, Skittery Skittery!" He got right into a boy with pink longjohns face and screamed.
I stayed in the corner, acting as shy as a hermit crab, not leaving my shell. My dull brown eyes turned down at the ground as my run of the mill brown hair stayed in position behind my ears, cascading down my back until it reached my elbows.
Boys had never really given me any attention, I was not the most beautiful, or the most flirtatious. There was nothing special about me or different. I was extremely ordinary looking with nothing that stood out amongst a crowd. My dresses were dull and torn and I couldn't help but be shy around people I didn't know.
The boys began to wake up and some of them just stared at me, wondering why in Gods name a girl was in the boys room.
"Boys, this is Bailey. She's gonna be staying with us for a while, til she figures out what it is that she's running away from." Kloppman announced loudly then gave me a quick wink.
How did he know I was running away?
"That's where you'll be sleeping, if that's ok with you?" He said pointing to an empty bottom bunk.
"That's wonderful…" I said distantly. My attention wasn't towards the bed, but who it was that lay beside it, the only person still sleeping.
I sat down on the bed, waiting to be approached by someone, anyone willing to be my friend, someone willing to show me the ropes of the newspaper business.
Hands folded together I sat on the bed, listening intently to the conversations going on around me.
"She's not bad looking…" I heard one voice from behind me say, "ordinary." I looked behind me to see a boy with an eye patch talking to a boy with a head full of curls and a killer body. Noticing that I had caught them in the act of gossiping, the both looked away.
The whole room appeared to be talking about me, saying similar things, I heard the word "ordinary" more times then I could count on all of my fingers and toes.
I felt like crawling into a little ball on the bed and dieing right then and there. I could feel all of their eyes on me as I moved, watching me every which way. I couldn't take it any longer.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT!" I screamed at them, "Yes boys, I am quite aware that I am the only girl in the room, along with the fact that you are all staring at me. I know I am ordinary looking and that when and if you ever wanted to havbe a girl stay in the room she would be the equivelant of an angel, but I'm not. Sorry to disapoint you."
I had never screamed like that in all of my 16 years. I had never let anger out in the form of words and it felt so good, but so wrong.
The figure in the bed next to me was awaken by my screaming, and I could feel his eyes on me, they were the color of honey I noticed as I stared back at him. He was absolutly the most gorgeous creature I had ever been fortunate enough to look upon. Sandy colored hair and eys as sweet and seductive as honey color that they appeared.
As we both sat there, frozen in our stares, he made the first move. "Jack." He said.
Not knowing whether that was his name or some kind of bizarre code I decided to take my chances by introducing myself.
"Bailey." I whispered as I nodded my head.