Wish I Could Catch a Breeze // Albert DaSilva

Chapter Five

"You almost drowned?!" Alida, one of Gretchen's friends, practically shouted.

Gretchen shushed her quickly. "My parents don't know about that," she said, her voice in a hushed tone. She looked at her two friends sitting with her on the fire escape outside her small bedroom's window. "And I expect it to stay that way."

Her other friend, Sarah, looked at her in disbelief. "How did they not notice that you almost drowned?" She asked Gretchen.

"Yeah, were you not soaking wet?" Alida questioned.

Gretchen shook her head. "I'm not done with the story yet." Gretchen loved her friends, but they were all pretty talkative, which made for chaotic conversations. Once she succeeded in calming them down and getting them to stay quiet, she continued the story of how Albert had rescued her from the river and taken her back to the lodging house to make sure she didn't catch hypothermia.

"Wait," Sarah said once Gretchen had finished her story. "I still don't get how your parents never noticed. Didn't your hair look different? Less fixed?"

Gretchen shrugged. "If they did, they never mentioned it."

"Tell us more about Albert," Alida requested. "Is he cute? What does he look like?"

"Well," Gretchen started, "he has red hair-"

"I have red hair!" Alida exclaimed excitedly, gesturing to her head as if her friends hadn't noticed her red hair in all the years they've known each other.

Ignoring Alida's interruption, Gretchen continued with her description. "He's a newsie, too."

"A newsie?" Sarah repeated, raising her eyebrows and smirking slightly. "Gretch, would your parents approve?" She teased.

Blushing, Gretchen argued, "There's nothing to approve of, he's just a friend." Her two friends mumbled their doubts. "He is!" She exclaimed.

Suddenly, Alida gasped. "Wait, he pulled you out of the river right?" After Gretchen nodded, she continued. "He must be strong! Does he have muscles?"

"I'm not going to answer that!" Gretchen struggled not to laugh at her friend's question. "Look, if you're so curious about what he looks like, maybe you should stop by the shop tomorrow morning. You can come with me when I buy a paper for Ms. Ferguson. As long as you don't embarrass me!" She added quickly.

"No promises," Sarah told her, winking. Gretchen wished she could take back her offer immediately. Of course they would embarrass her, that's what friends do. The only thing she could do was prepare herself and try her best not to get too flustered when she saw Albert next.

The conversation turned to newsies in general, the girls quickly going off on a tangent. Gretchen had known these girls since she was a little girl. They grew up in the same apartment building, and as children, they used to play together. As they got older, they grew apart a bit, but they still had semi-regular gatherings on the fire escape. It had become a bit of a ritual, and none of the girls were ready to stop.

"Oh!" Sarah exclaimed, interrupting Alida in the middle of her sentence. She followed the interjection with a quick string of curses, which was not considered very ladylike.

"What's wrong?" Gretchen asked, since her friend hadn't explained her sudden interruption yet.

"I promised my mother I'd help her clean the house before my grandparents come visit! I have to go!" Sarah jumped up and slipped back through the window. She left the door to Gretchen's room open, and Gretchen heard her mother call her name followed by several sentences in rapid-fire German.

Gretchen sighed. "I'd better go, too." That meant Alida had to leave, too.

"See you tomorrow, when we meet Albert!" Alida grinned, climbing up the steps to the floor above Gretchen's apartment, where Alida and her family lived.

Gretchen went back through the window with the family cat at her heels. She left her room, going to help her mother with dinner like she had asked.

~~~~~
fun fact! Sarah (no relation to Sarah Jacobs-) and Alida are based on real people! Sarah is based on saartje_kam and Alida is based on BARBERSHOPHAIRCUT

anyway, thanks for reading!