A few days into the strike, Spark was starting to get worried. She had been careful with her money, only spending when she absolutely had to, but her savings were still dwindling. Not to mention, she still needed money to buy papers to sell once the strike was over. This was a problem. She had only eaten an onion and three pieces of bread. All the food the guys brought back was meat. Spark couldn't stand eating animals, it simply made her sick. She walked through the lodging house, and made her way to the washrooms. She had trained herself to wake up before the boys did, so she could wash in private. Needless to say, she was shocked to find Skittery already up and naked. In fact, she was so shocked that she simply stood there, watching him get wet and wash up. Then shave. Then towel himself off. Eventually, she shook herself out of her shock. "Oh, uhm, sorry…" she said, turning and covering her eyes.
"Don't worry about it." That was all he said before turning and heading back to the boy's room. Spark smacked herself on the forehead, and went to clean herself up. She finished just as everybody else began to make their way into the room.
"Aw, damn, I missed it!" remarked Itey, eyeing her up. She turned and slapped him lightly. He made the same joke every single day. Once she got back to the girls room, she sat on her bed with her head in her hands. She felt someone get on the bed next to her.
"What's the matter?" asked her friend Pillow. "Are you sick? Are you pregnant? Do you have consumption?" Spark laughed a bit; Pillow tended to overreact.
"No, no, nothing like that. I'm just worried I'll run out of money." Pillow looked confused, but nodded anyways. She didn't really have to worry about that stuff. She had run from her rich family, but still had a trust fund she could access, and didn't really have to worry about her family anyways because she got kicked in the head by a horse and had amnesia. Another girl, Basket, came up to her.
"Go away, Pillow. Now, what's this I hear about you being nervous? Don't you know there are other ways for a girl to get money?" Spark gasped at this.