Emily held tight onto her new friend's hand as they made their way through the shabby halls of the orphanage, finally given the right to leave Ms. Higgins' office after a two hour timeout. She gently pulled the blond with her through the girls' bedroom and out onto the fire escape. "Today's wash day, so you're gonna do it with me ok?"

The younger girl nodded her head, squinting as the smallest amount of sun peeking through the clouds invaded her line of sight. "Only us?"

"No, but maybe only three others. Maybe more, I don't know."

Jennifer reluctantly let go of her friend's hand, watching as the brunette girl went over to the large bin and quickly took a shirt from the messy pile of clothing and submerged it in the soapy water. "Do I wash with you?"

Emily shook her head, soaping up her hands before grabbing onto the shirt that had sunk to the bottom of the bin. "No. I wash, and you hang them to dry ok? There's some pins and stuff over near the door. You gotta hang them on the line."

Jennifer's eyebrow arched. "Its kinda short."

"Well if its all filled, you gotta go down the stairs and hang em' on the other line." Emily run out the small shirt in her hands before handing it off to the blond girl. "Here you go." She smiled as she watched the blond reach up on her toes and hang the soaked shirt up on the line. "Good!"

The younger girl felt herself blush before taking another piece of clothing the brunette gave her. "Thank you."

The girls worked that way for another few minutes before a couple more children made their way out onto the fire escape to join them.

Emily's body froze as a warm hand gently laid on the back of her bare neck, fingers sliding past the dark tendrils of hair that sit around her shoulders. Her eyes didn't even need to look up from the warm water to know who the hand belonged to. "Hi Dennis."

The sixteen year old smiled down to the brunette girl beside him, running his hand from the back of her long neck and down her bent back. "Hey Em. I missed you at breakfast this morning."

Emily slowly nodded her head, continuing on with the laundry she was doing. "I'm sorry."

"Nah honey don't be sorry. I was just saying, that's all."

Jennifer walked back over towards her friend with a new clothespin in hand, her blue eyes looking over to the older girl. She frowned when she saw two older boys and one older girl standing around the brunette, and she quickly swerved through them to get back over to Emily. "Who are they?"

The older girl looked up from her work. "Jenny, this is Dennis. I eat with him sometimes."

Dennis shook his head. "All the time, Em."

Emily slowly nodded her head at the correction, doing her best to smile over to the younger girl. "All the time."

Dennis looked up to the blond little girl with a smile. "You're a pretty little one, Jenny. How old are you?"

Jennifer bit her lip. "Nine."

"Only a little younger than Em." The sixteen year old shook his head. "And almost as pretty, too."

Emily took in a deep breath before handing a pair of socks over to the blond before her. "Here Jenny."

Jennifer pointed behind her to the metal staircase. "I gotta go downstairs to hang them."

Emily smiled gently to her new friend, knowing that the younger girl was hesitant to leave her alone. "Its ok. I'll be here."

Dennis waited until the bue eyed girl disappeared from his line of sight before he let his hand drift from the brunette's back down to cup her butt. "You look so pretty today, Em."

The ten year old felt her breath quicken as the older boy rubbed his fingers along the hem of her dress that fell just below her butt. "Thank you." She glanced up to see the faces of Dennis' friends around her, taking in the smiles they were sending her. "I didn't know you were on was today."

"Oh I'm not." He grinned against her dark head of hair, his lips pressing against her pale little ear. "I just wanted to see you."

Emily's chin began to tremble as the sixteen year old's hand snuck under her dress, his finger dancing over the thin material of her underwear. She quickly shook her head, tears forming in her eyes as Dennis' hand started to creep under her underwear. "Stop it."

Dennis let out a small pout. "Come on, Em. All you have to do it stay quiet."

The brunette vigorously shook her head, pulling away from the older boy and falling on her butt. "Stop it!"

"Hey now!" Dennis' eyes darkened as the ten year old quickly scurried away, backing herself into a corner as she tried to get away. He knelt over to brunette girl, shoving his hand up her dress as she cried. "I told you to be quiet!"

Jennifer hurriedly ran up the steps when she heard the screams of her new friend. She quickly pushed the teenagers away from Emily before shoving Dennis off of her. The blond quickly reached down and pulled her sobbing friend up off the ground, hugging her to her small body. "Are you ok?"

Emily nodded hastily against her friend's shoulder.

The blond glared over to the sixteen year old before punching him just below the belt. "Don't touch her!"

The older girl that stood in betweeen the other boys glared over to the upset children before her. "You think you can do that?" She stepped over Dennis who lay on the floor in pain and shoved the little blond into the wash bucket.

Emily's puffy eyes widened as she watched her friend land in the big bucket, the water sloshing over the sides. "Jenny!" She quickly jumped in after her and helped her get back above the water, her hand hitting her hard on the back as she coughed up the soapy water. "Are you ok?"

Both girls climbed out of the bucket as soon as the teens ran away, holding one another tight just as the door swung open. "Girls!"

Jennifer looked up in fright at the sight of Ms. Higgins in the doorway. "Hi."

"Hi? Look at what you did!"

Emily nervously bit her lip before picking up a big blanket from the dirty pile, glancing over to her friend. "Don't be scared. Follow me, ok?"

Ms. Higgins glared to the girls before her. "Listen to me!"

Emily grabbed onto the younger girl's hand and pulled her down the fire escape stairs, the blanket tight in her hands. "Run!"