Author note: Uh…Yeah…awkward moment…

I was happy to get food in my stomach, and even more happy about the dance. One of my uncle's friends taught me how to dance at one point, because my dumbass of an uncle didn't have time for me.

It was late now, really late. For some reason I just couldn't sleep.

"Sleep!" I demanded myself. I mentally slapped myself for acting stupid and turned over to my side.

"This is useless!" I told myself, getting out of bed and walking over to the window. I peered out at the moon and smiled to myself. It always seemed to relax me. I began to hum a lullaby to myself, one that my mother used to sing to me all the time. I would randomly add the words in at some points. I got bored of humming and grabbed a piece of paper and a writing utensil.

I began to draw. It was a crescent moon with a girl sitting on it, weeping. From her back sprouted angel wings, and a broken halo floated over her head. The moon had a lonesome teardrop falling from its eye.

I felt my eyes getting droopy after I had finished sketching, and I fell asleep on the windowsill.

I awoke the next morning to find myself in my bed, and the sheets pulled tightly over me. I sat up and looked around. Didn't I fall asleep on the windowsill last night?

I scanned the room and pulled out my sketch book, to find that my drawing was gone.

Maybe it was a dream, I thought, closing the book and sighing. I got out of bed and washed up, changing into everyday clothes, and keeping my hair down. I didn't feel like messing with it before the dance.

I lazily walked downstairs and smelt…food? I turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs and opened a door.

"Whoa," I said. "There's a kitchen in here?" Somebody glanced back at me. It was an elderly man.

"You must be Sage," he said, continuing his cooking.

"Yeah, who are you?" I asked curiously.

"The names Wades, I'm the owner of this Lodging House." I flinched. I've never met him before.

"Oh," I said.

"Yup. It's pretty nice for Spot to pay for you to stay here," he said. My eyes grew wide.

"He's doing what?"

"I take it you didn't know this…" I shook my head and watched him cook the eggs.

"Would you like to help?"

"Sure," I said, smiling. He moved out of the way and let me continue the eggs while he started on something else.

"Sometimes I like to cook for the boys when they are having a big day, such as the dance." I glanced over at him and watched him begin the bacon.

"So, which lucky boy has your arm?"

"Art," I said. Wades smiled,

"He's a good boy, very good at drawing too."

"I would think he is, guessing by his name," I said, laughing. I finished the eggs and poured them into a bowl.

"Very good," Wades complimented me. I smiled and he let me finish up the bacon as he cooked some other type of breakfast food.

"You're a good cook," Wades said, glancing over at me.

"Thank you." He nodded as I heard feet pounding on the stairs.

"I smell food!" came Dice's voice. He immediately burst through the door and ran over to the eggs.

"Food!" he screamed. Wades pulled him away.

"No Dice, that's not for you!" he said. "Go wake the others." Dice pouted and left to wake the others.

By the time everyone was up, Wades and I had everything finished. We entered another room where there was a long table, just big enough for all the boys and I.

Everyone filed into the room, sitting down in their seats. Art motioned for me to take a seat beside him. Spot then walked in and sat down at the very end of the table, which was beside me. He must've felt proud being at the head of the table.

I rolled my eyes as the boys said a quick little prayer and began to dig in. I heard Spot groan in annoyance. I glanced over at him. He wasn't even touching his food; he was just staring at it like it would attack at will.

"It isn't going to poison you," I told him. His head jolted up quickly, and his eyes rested on me.

"Don't be too sure," he said. I could tell that he was tired; he had bags under his eyes, and his hair was kind of messy.

"Maybe you should go back to sleep," I said.

"No, mother, I don't need sleep," he shot back, glaring at his food. I flinched and picked at the food on my plate.

"Sorry," I muttered. Spot shook his head and bit into his food, not paying attention to me.

"So, Sage, what're youse wearin tonight?" Art asked me.

"That's a secret," I said, giving him a smile. He blushed slightly and looked away. I laughed at his silliness, and looked over at Spot who rolled his eyes.

"I guess I'll jus' be surprised den."

After breakfast I helped Wades clean up the mess, and I volunteered to wash dishes.

"Wades," I said, glancing over at him.

"Yeah?"

"Is Spot really paying my way in?" I asked. Wades chuckled,

"Yup, he is. He insisted on it." I sighed and scrubbed the plate.

"I wish he wouldn't." Wades smiled and began to sing a song. I stopped momentarily to watch him. He was good; really good. I smiled and sang along, knowing most of the words. Wades pulled me away from the dishes and spun me around. I began to laugh and we started up a quaint little dance. He apparently knew how to dance, since he didn't step on my feet.

I was spun around three more times and then came to a complete stop.

"You're a good dancer," Wades said, leaning against the counter and clutching his chest.

"Thanks," I panted. "I learned from…a friend."

"Well, that was too much dancin for an old man like me," Wades chuckled. I went back to washing dishes.

"You're not old," I told him. "You're what? Twenty-five?" I joked. Wades laughed,

"You're too kind," he said.

I soon finished with the dishes and ran back upstairs. I walked over to the boy's room and knocked softly. I heard a couple of come in's. I opened the door and walked in.

"Heya Sage!" I heard Art say. I smiled kindly at him and walked over to Spot's bed, where he lay. He had one of his arms resting under his head, and the other was holding a little marble. He seemed to be studying it.

"Spot?" I said, grabbing his attention. He looked up at me with tired eyes.

"What?" he asked in a venomous voice.

"I, uh…I'm going over to Manhattan to get ready with Scout," I told him, putting my hands behind me innocently. Spot shrugged,

"So? Why youse tellin me?" I seen a few boys send Spot glares, but he only returned them which brought fear in their eyes.

"Fine!" I said, throwing my arms up into the air. "Be an ass. Next time I just won't waste my time telling you!" Some of the boys gasped, and others chuckled.

I turned on my heel and stomped over to the door. Art caught my arm quickly.

"Do youse want me ta pick youse up at da Manhattan Lodging House?" he asked, looking me in the eye. I glanced over at Spot to see him glaring at us.

"Yeah, that's fine," I said. I then gave him a quick peck on the cheek and left the room, hearing a few "aw's" as I left. I ran to my room and grabbed what I needed and left.

What's with him? I thought, walking over the Brooklyn Bridge. He doesn't have to be so mean…

I sighed in frustration and reached Manhattan in ten minutes. I was trying to be slow, but then again I wanted to get there fast.

I came upon the Manhattan Lodging House and entered, grinning from ear to ear.

"Sage!" I heard Scout say, running down the stairs.

"Hey Scout," I said. Scout quickly grabbed my arm and pulled me upstairs and behind the suitcase.

"Youse hafta help me with tha dress," she said. I tilted my head and stifled a laugh.

"You're wearing a dress?" Scout rolled her eyes,

"Yes, I'm wearing a dress." She walked over to her closet and pulled out something dark blue. I then noticed what it was and gasped.

"Scout, that's beautiful!" I said, running over and examining the fine fabric.

"Where did you get it?" I asked. Scout bit her bottom lip,

"It belonged to me mother. I stole it from 'er." I began to laugh as I ran my hand over the dress and took in its dark blue features.

Scout and I waited for awhile until we started to get ready.

"Youse can go to da washroom and get changed, den youse can tell me how dis thing works," she said, motioning towards the dress that lay on her bed. I laughed and grabbed the bag that held my dress and entered the washroom.

It didn't take long for me to get dressed. I pulled on my shoes and examined myself in the mirror.

"C'mon Sage, lemme see!" I heard Scout's voice from the other side of the door. I laughed, and replied,

"Okay, but you have to promise not to laugh!"

"I promise," I heard her say. I took in a deep breath and walked out of the washroom. Scout gasped, and I looked over at her to see she already had her dress on.

"Dat's beautiful!" she said. She made me twirl around a few times.

"Wow, Sage. Youse look like a princess; where did youse get it?"

"I found it in the closet at the Brooklyn Lodging House," I said.

"Help me with dis," she said, trying to fix her dress. I did what I was told and examined her. The thin sleeves hung off her shoulders, and it opened up as it went down, like mine. She shivered from her bare shoulders.

"It's cold," she said, wrapping her arms around herself. I laughed and ushered her to a chair.

"What are youse doin?"

"Fixing your hair." I curled her hair on top of her head, and I also curled the lose strands hanging in her face. Her light brown hair matched her dress, making her look like an actual girl.

"What are you doing with your hair?" Scout asked me, as I finished with hers. I sat down where she formally did and stared at my reflection in the mirror. Scout glanced over at me as she put on as little makeup as possible.

I shrugged. There wasn't much to do with it. My hair was thick, and straight. It was curly sometimes, but that was only on odd days.

"I don't know," I finally said, sighing in frustration. Scout stood behind me and stared at me through the mirror. She grabbed her hairbrush and ran it through my hair. She then pulled it back into a half ponytail and kept as much down as possible. She pulled the ponytail part into a bun and curled my long bangs that hung in my face. The other part of my hair that stayed down just remained straight.

I looked up at her and smiled. She also did my makeup, very lightly.

"Hey, Sage, Scout! C'mon before da dance starts without youse," came Mush's voice. I looked over at Scout and couldn't hold back my laughter of excitement. She shook her head.

"Ready?" she asked. I sighed.

"Ready."

The two of us smiled and opened the door/bookcase thing, heading for the staircase.

Author note: Sorry, but this chapter got too long for me, so I'm not posting what you read about "The next chapter" thing until the next chapter. That sounds confusing, I know. I just don't want to make this too long.