Now I know you're all looking at the thingy that's name i don't remeber but the one that says "general/romance" ITS NOT GENERAL or maybe it is. If you could like me know a good alternative for this story please let me know. Maybe action/adventure but i dunno so you tell me. Thanks!
Smokewood, a small town in Texas, was once a very wealthy community. But devastation had struck about 12 years ago when the town hall had caught fire; the fire had quickly spread reducing the large houses near it to ash. Now the town was overflowing with poverty. It's a horrible place to live. The smell alone is enough to turn you off. The street that had once held the town hall and many other important building was now known as "Orphan Block." The orphanage is a large building with scorch marks covering most of it. On this particular night "Orphan Block" seemed exceptionally dark. It was dark most of the time because none of the street lamps had survived the fire but tonight it's different.
Children sleeping, darkness, and silence. If you were to pass by the Smokewood Orphanage, it might have appeared as if nothing of any importance was about to take place. But you would have been wrong, very wrong indeed. Behind all the creaky bunk beds and peeling paint six girls sat in a close knit circle. A small white candle in the middle was the only source of light. The candle cast ghostly shadows across their faces. Their dirty fingers intertwined as they stared at one girl, their leader. The leader's baby blue eyes shone with excitement. "Tonight we do it." They all sat a little straighter and even quieter at these words. Tonight was a night they had been waiting for. Tonight they broke free, free of the hell they were living in. The orphanage wasn't the hell they spoke of. The caretaker was kind but Smokewood held to many horrible memories for each girl. They had to escape or they would go crazy.
"Blondie, are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure." The leader snapped, impatiently throwing her stick straight hair back. "Do you seriously think I would screw something this important up?" Gabs timidly shook her hair, even if Blondie had messed up all the girls new there was no arguing with her. But Gabs almost always tried.
"You got all six tickets?"
"I've been planning our escape since I was 12, don't you think after four years I'd be prepared." She held up the six train tickets, the tickets to freedom. "You all need to grab you things and follow me." The four girls hurried to comply with their leader's wishes.
One stood quietly waiting for someone to gather her belongings and lead her.
If you looked at Shortie you might have thought a lot of things, but looking at the small Italian girl with her short curly brown hair and matching hazel eyes you never would have thought her a pick-pocket. That was Shortie's specialty, although she often felt uneasy about stealing. She was just a girl trying to survive not a criminal. It had been to easy executing their plan; Shortie had stolen the orphanage keys a week before allowing the girls to leave without being caught. Blondie, Bookworm, and Gabs went to the train station. Bookworm read the train times and destinations. Blondie gave Gabs enough money for six tickets (ask no questions hear no lies) and Gabs did what she was best at: talked. Melody sang everyone to sleep as they sat on the train heading to New York and Slowpoke was, well, slow. The train ride from Texas to New York was long and the girls were bored. They amused themselves by talking about how wonderful their lives would be once they got to their destination. They talked about all the places they wanted to go, like the Brooklyn Bridge and Sheepshead Races. Blondie knew they were in for a tough haul, no jobs, raggedy appearances, no money, and not to mention Blondie, Melody, and Shortie, the eldest, were only 16. If they were to buy food, clothing, and shelter for Bookworm, Slowpoke, and Gabs they would need real jobs. Bookworm and Slowpoke might be able to sell papers, seeing as how they were 14 but Gabs, little Gabs, was only 12 as of two weeks. But these were worries for another day, for now all they did rest.
They arrived hungry and desperate for a place to sleep (trains are really not that comfortable), and yet they loved New York already. As soon as they exited the train they could smell that great New York scent and hear all those great New York sounds.
"Hey," a little boy around Gabs age coughed and held up his newspaper to Melody, "buy me last pape miss?"
"Not tha old trick again, Junior how many times has Ise told youse tha you're getting to old ta do tha?" A boy with a cigar in his mouth and a stack of papers under his arm came walking up.
The little black haired boy looked up, suddenly losing his cutesy act. "Jack taught me last year how can I already be to old?"
Racetrack laughed, "Youse was to old last yea." He held out a hand out to Blondie, who had protectively stood in front of her friends, "The name's Racetrack but youse cin call me Race."
"Blondie," she said as she took his hand. Racetrack looked slightly taken back.
With a funny look he asked, "Wha kinda goil has a newsie name? Ise aint evah seen a goil newsie."
"It's not a newsie name. It's a name that my friends call me." She emphasized the word 'friends' and he got the point.
"An' how do udders address youse?"
" 'Hey you' will work fine. Or-" She was cut off by a tap on her shoulder. Blondie turned and glared at Bookworm, who had tapped her. She would have yelled into those dull blue eyes, who dares interrupt Blondie when she's talking, but she noticed where Bookworm's other finger and gaze were pointed. About 6 feet away there was a little girl with wavy blonde hair and dark brown eyes was playing, rather sword fighting, with a dark haired boy. "GABS!" 10 minuets they were in New York and already one of her charges was taking off with a strange boy. Blondie pushed people out of her way and grabbed Gabs arm. And so began the reprimanding.
Racetrack turned his attention to the red head. "She always like tha?" The girl glanced at him, he caught a glimpse of stunning green eyes and a face of freckles.
"Who Gabs or Blondie?" She asked as she turned back to the little show being put on by the for mentioned girls.
"Blondie."
Bookworm answered as the rest stifled their laughter. "Yea, she's always treated us like her children."
"Why?"
All the girls shared glances, it was obvious to Racetrack they were hiding something. It was the red head you spoke next. "That's a tale for another day. I'm Melody by the way." She turned and pointed to the girl with thick glasses and short choppy hair, "That's Bookworm, she reads everything."
Bookworm snorted, "I do not!"
"Yes you do." The small Italian girl laughed, "I'm Shortie, for obvious reasons, and that over there," she pointed to Gabs, who was now being shaken so fiercely she looked like she would be sick, "is Gabs, she never shuts up." Racetrack noticed a dark skinned girl with shoulder length black hair, grey eyes, and evident muscles. Melody, following his gaze, answered his unasked question.
"That's Slowpoke, don't expect to get much out of her, she barely moves and never speaks, well she never speaks coherently." Slowpoke started mumbling.
"How youse know wha she's saying?"
"I don't, we usually guess from her tone," Slowpoke suddenly pointed to Race, "and body language."
"How'd she get like tha?"
"No idea."
"And yet you're friends."
"I love her like a sister. We all do."
Blondie rejoined the group with Gabs in her right hand and Junior in her left. Shoving Junior at Racetrack she spat, "Keep him away from her." Race was utterly and completely confused, Junior was only 12 how bad could he be?
"Wha'd he do?" Blondie glared before stomping off with Gabs, the rest following suit.
"He probably didn't do anything. Blondie is overly protective of Gabs." Melody whispered before joining the others. But not before she sent Race a smile that made his stomach flutter.
Blondie had no idea where she was going all she knew was she wanted to get away from that Junior kid. He hadn't actually done anything….yet. But, she knew, one day soon he'd be asking Gabs to be his "goil" and things would go down hill from there. Guys were not worth the heart ache. Trust Blondie, she new.
"Extre, Extre body foun' in Mayor's office!" A tall boy with a cowboy hat and a red bandanna around his neck was yelling at the top of his lungs. Blondie noted how pathetic his attempt at being a cowboy was. He noticed Blondie staring, "Well hello, wha cin Ise do for you goils?"
Taking advantage of the situation Gabs spoke up, "I'm hungry."
"If youse is hungry and on a budget," he looked at Shortie's skirt with a long cut across the side where she had once unsuccessfully tried to jump over a fence and Gabs shirt which was too big for her and obviously a hand me down, "then you wan' Tibby's." Shortie was rather interested in this new boy, he was cute and seemed friendly.
She put on her sweetest and most innocent look, "We're new here, would you mind taking us."
He smiled, "Of course not."
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