Author's Note: Sorry guys these chapters are kinda short. I'm trying my best to make it interesting. But cut me some slack here, this is my first story: Hope you enjoy!
Thanks for the reviews ya guys love u for that 3 (Mild language, there only 13 and 11 )
Caterina jumped. "Ah-ha I found you." She smiled at Caterina. " So you're the girl that stole my bread." She looked at her with deep blue eyes, 'She looks so pretty' Caterina thought.
The girl held out a hand toward Caterina, "I'll let you keep the bread. " she took the hand and the bread girl helped her up," and I can tell you need a home."
"How?" Catarina answered.
"Your skirt, it looks really dirty, and your face looks like you've been crying a lot." The bread girl looked Caterina up and down. "Have you run away from home?"
Caterina looked at her eyes, then nodded. The girl smiled, " Well I'm glad you ran in here because this is where I live.
She motioned her to follow. They went through the door that led to the rooms. The stair was spiral and made a "creak" sound when you walked up it.
At the top was a doorway that looked like it would lead you to an attic.
"The door fell this way, so I fixed it to swing upwards."
The room was dusty and had rags of old curtains hanging along the windows that viewed the sunset.
A mattress sat at the corner of the room with candlesticks surrounding it and a pile of books.
A small dresser stood next to the mattress, inside held the valuable things the bread girl needed. Plus a closet that was behind the door.
"You know… I'm a runaway too." The bread girl walked over to the bed and sat on it. "My mom died when she gave birth to me and my dad died a few years later."
Catarina made herself comfortable at the edge of the mattress.
"So why help me?" she asked.
"Do you really think you can live out on the streets by yourself?" the bread girl asked calmly. "You need someone to help you, because from what I see, you need help."
"And besides, I want to help as many people I can. I want to be a doctor one day. Well, if I ever get the chance." The bread girl looked dreamily in the air.
"Why did you run away?" Catarina wondered.
"My guardians weren't all that great, they were strict and rich, but they had a thing for discipline. I almost passed out one day because of it." The girl looked at Caterina trying to figure her out.
"So why did you runaway?"
Catarina's heart stopped, she was asking such a personal question to someone she just met.
And it made sense she wanted some sort of answer in return, but this was something personal, something that hurt her really bad.
Would this girl really understand her feelings? Luckily the girl let her go on this question, almost like she read her mind, but it was just the look Catarina had on her face.
"It's okay. If its personal I don't have to know." She smiled. "Your not a very open person."
Catarina shook her head. "That's fine, just tell me when you need to talk."
'She's so confident with herself.' Catarina thought. ' I could never be like that….'
'Maybe I could trust her. But I don't think she'd want me around for long. And then again, she seems really nice, and a really understanding person.' Having these doubts in her mind the girl splits the bread with Catarina to eat.
"So what's your name?"
"Catarina."
The girl shook her head. "Natalie," talking with her mouth full, "you're the pure one." She smiles
Catarina giggled, she never thought of herself a pure person.
"And your eleven, twelve?"
"Eleven."
"Wow, young for a runaway, I'm thirteen. But that's not too bad."
"Natalie, how do you pay for the bread and everything else?"
Swallowing her bread she says it as if she is telling a secret, "This guy who works at the newspaper stand thought I was around sixteen and he needed help in delivering papers. So I took the job."
"He didn't ask for identification or anything, he just needed any help he could get. You could tell he was desperate. The guy did all the delivering and the selling at the stands. It was non-stop work for him. I was like a miracle for him."
Catarina thought it was impossible for Natalie to look sixteen, but taking a closer look she saw that Natalie could pass for a highschooler.
"You don't have to worry about money, food or any of those things." She stood up and opened the closet. "I have it all covered."
She took out a mattress similar to hers and set it at the other corner of the room.
"Your letting me stay?" she asked surprised.
"Of course, I said I wanted to help, right?" She took out blankets and a pillow with something that looked like a sleeping bag.
"It may be cold tonight, so you'll need this." Catarina helped Natalie set the bed.
Catarina smiled. "Your so nice." She had never felt so loved since she was little.
"Well, your going to have to get use to it, because today we are going to have a big dinner celebration for our meeting each other." Natalie opened her dresser and took out a box. Inside she held many papers of lire.
"Today was payday and I was saving it for dinner," she turned to Catarina, "can you wait until then?"
Catarina didn't want to be stingy, the bread would keep her full for a while, even though she was hungrier than she thought.
"Sure."
"Okay, then we'll go out to buy the things we need." Natalie stuffed the money in her pocket and headed for the door with Catarina following.
Walking towards the Market Natalie did all the talking. Caterina took everything in. She has lived in Venice all her life and she never heard of the places Natalie was talking about.
Let alone has Catarina been to any of them.
"The pampering was great and all, but my foster father didn't like kids all that much. I couldn't live with the 'discipline' and his being drunk most of the time. Besides their nephew was a real jerk. He always had the kids' gang up on me in school. But that's past, now I can live on my own, and with you by my side to help me."
At this Catarina smiled. Natalie was sweet and protective, like a big sister. She held on to her hand the whole time they went to the Market, leading her with every step.
Catarina thought their situations were equal. Well at least she didn't get beat all the time. She held on to her arm with the bruise on it. It hurt just thinking about it.
How could Natalie be so strong?
Close to the Market"Come on Prop I'm starving, can you walk any slower." The young boy with blonde hair called.
"This isn't a race Bo." The boy replied. Twelve years old and his six-year-old brother still couldn't listen. But then again he was just a kid.
"Come on Ida's not going to wait forever you know."
"Well at least she allowed us to go and buy the food, alone." Their foster parent Ida always spoiled the boys.
Today she allowed them to get the food alone because they insisted, but Prosper was regretting it.
Ida was really sick with the flu. Scipio, their old friend from way back when, was taking care of her along with his friend Victor, who was twenty years older than Scip.
Walking towards the market, Prosper saw a young girl about eleven years old stand outside the shop. She looked as if she was waiting for someone, but he wasn't so sure.
'I could give her some extra money. She looks homeless.' He ran his hand through his dark brown hair.
That was Prosper, he always tried to help someone who looked like they were in trouble or needed help. Back then he was the one who really needed help, along with his brother.
Their father died a few years after their mother, soon they were wandering the streets until Ida Spavento found them.
She was a photographer for different sorts of magazines. Ida started to take pictures of random children playing at the park when she found Prosper and Boniface.
Ida followed the boys, because of her intense curiosity, only to find out that they were orphans living on the street. So she took them in.
The girl looked up and caught eyes with Prosper. She looked dazed, Prosper smiled, then she looked the other way really fast.
The twelve year old frowned and walked into the market with his little brother. A few minutes later, Prosper was able to get everything he needed.
While waiting in line, he wondered if the girl was still outside, maybe he could give her something, or ask if she could come back home with him.
Ida wouldn't mind having another one in the family. In front of him stood a short teenage girl with long brown hair, topped in a black beanie and deep blue eyes.
Prosper couldn't help but look at the girl, something about her seemed familiar.
After the girl, Prosper paid for the food and headed outside with his little brother at his arm.
The girl was still outside, but this time she was with the girl who stood in front of him in the line.
'That must be her sister.'
"Hello? Prop? Come on Ida's going to get more sick if we don't feed her anything." The little boy stood with small eyes looking innocently at his brother.
But Prosper wasn't listening; he was looking at the two girls. The younger one smiled and turned around, but before she could go on a young boy came up to her and started talking to her.
Prosper noticed it was his brother.
"What are you doing Bo?" he said to himself. Bo ran back before Prosper could go any further, he could see the two girls were smiling at the innocent child.
"What were you doing over there?" he asked in a strict tone, but quiet so only they could hear.
Bo started walking on, "I just asked what were their names and told them that they looked pretty today." He smiled skipping across the canal bridge. "You kept looking at them anyways."
Prosper sighed, "So who were they?"
"The smaller one was named Catarina and the older one was Natalie." Bo came to the garden of their house. "I think their sisters, they look almost the same."
Prosper didn't answer, and he didn't know why he cared so much in the two. And why was he taking so much interest in the younger one?
All he wanted to do now was make the food and sleep.
Catarina and NatalieCatarina lay awake that night, dinner tasted so good. And the little boy she saw today was so funny.
"You look pretty today." He looked like an angel, so innocent and so kind. The boy with him looked like his brother.
She could see the stress on his face when the little child confronted Natalie and her. 'He seems very protective of his brother. That's good at some point.'
Natalie had been so great to Catarina today. She treated her like family, like they were sisters or cousins. Catarina missed that, she held on to her necklace.
From now on they were family, they were the best of friends. At some point Catarina sensed that Natalie felt alone.
Even though she smiled a lot and was always ready to do…whatever she could, Catarina felt she still needed someone by her side along the way.
Catarina wanted to be that for her, because like her she wanted to be with someone. Just like a family. It didn't have to be big, as long as there was love.
The house didn't have to be great, as long as it felt like a home. That's all she needed, and that was what she finally got.
Finally, she could be happy with someone who could be close to her as a sister.
Someone she could lean on when she needed it. Her own big sister, who loved her and took care of her in any way she could.
Natalie felt like that too, she wanted to take care of Catarina, let her experience what love would feel like.
And the best way she could do that is giving it to her. She would be her own little sister, someone she could care for through all the rough times, like a real family would.
That night they talked to each other, about being best of friends and how their life as a small family is enough.
They didn't really need a mom or dad or any other family member. Right now they had each other, and they were going to stick with that.
Natalie cooked dinner in a pot and pan over a fire they both started with the candles in the house. Catarina wondered how she could do it all; this was all new and yet amazing to her.
That night Catarina lit the candles and layed out the plates and silverware, which they found in the convent's kitchen.
Fettuccini Alfredo and fried vegetables smelled great that night. For drinks they only had enough to pay for water.
They both loved the company. Every morning on weekdays, Natalie would do her job and come back at around four in the afternoon.
Catarina learned how to cook, with the help of Natalie, and soon she was able to make dinner and breakfast for the both of them.
Natalie gave Caterina some old clothing of hers and let her read some books she had in her pile.
It was only on paydays when the two could buy something special that they really needed. Usually, it was clothing or food, and sometimes another book or matches for the candles.
Some days they went out on food, but that was okay, because they could live without it for only a few days.
Catarina needed it the most, so Natalie would give her the leftovers, if there were any at all.
Catarina would offer to share, but Natalie would tell her, "You need it more than me."
Christmas was celebrated with bread, pasta and sometimes a cake. That was all they needed and they would call it a feast.
The things they did for each other and for themselves were all they needed in their lives.
The job was the lucky thing and sometimes the early paydays were also like that.
But far away was Prosper worrying about the little girl that stood in front of the market. He didn't know why, but something about her bothered him.
He kept reminding himself ' they have a home and a family, there both fine, there's nothing wrong with their lives.'
But Natalie and Catarina were all he could think about, thinking that one day he would see them again and help them in any way.
Little did he know, Fate would give him the chance…………
Author's Note: well I hoped you guys like it. This was all I could think of right now…. so help me to do better pleeeeaaassseeeee