My Poor Head Is Spinning

Prologue

Emilia Kasprzak: a bit shorter than her brother, wavy black hair, dark brown eyes, trail of freckles over nose, straight jawline, squarish (not boxy) face. Just imagine Anthony Zas as a girl. This is the only character I own so far!

"Emilia, run!" My brother yelled, the man gaining on us. We had picked up a piece of bread and put it back. I guess he thought we were stealing.

Elmer was behind me, and being only 11 years old, we couldn't run very fast. Instead, I led Elmer and the man into a cluster of people. I grabbed my twin's hand and pulled him around a corner before the man could see. Glancing around, I discovered a dumpster and we both climbed into it. The angry grunts of the man had passed, do we left the dumpster.

"That was another close one." He breathed, wiping a smudge on his face. Or, attempting to, that is. It just smeared across his cheek. "We need to find something to do, y'know, make money."

"Yeah." I nodded in agreement.

"We could be Newsies." Elmer suggested.

"I'm not a boy." I muttered crossing my arms.

"We can make ya a boy!" My twin grinned.

"Absolutely not." I shook my head. "Let's just see if they let me in."

"Okay." He shrugged, and we walked into Newsie Square. Because it was skate in the day, boys were going in and out. Not a single girl. A boy that looked to be a little older than us walked by, stopping at the sight of us.

"Whaddya doin' here?" He asked. Another boy closer to mine and Elmer's age hobbled to the first.

"We need a job." Elmer told the older one. He got really close in my brother's face.

"You got a name?" He sneered. The crippled boy leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"Jack does this with everyone." He hissed. I looked over to look at the boy. He had brownish-blond hair, although it could be dirt making it darker, and hazel eyes. And a crutch. I wonder why he has a crutch?

"E–Elmer." My brother stammered, shrinking down. "And—and Emelia."

"Names Jack." He backed off and I went to stand by Elmer. "And this is Crutchie."

I scoffed.

"What was that?" Jack turned to look at me.

"How original." I grinned.

"Ever heard of a News Girl?" A passing ginger boy snickered. I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and yanked him back. He was scrawny, so it wasn't difficult.

"Well, wake up and smell the new century. The games changing." I held the front of his shirt in my small, eleven year-old fist.

"Jack, she's scary." The ginger boy stifled a grin.

"Agreed." Jack nodded, observing me. I released the boy's shirt and stood next to Elmer again. "You's siblings?"

"Yeah." Elmer nodded, clenching his jaw as if it made him more intimidating.

"I see it." Crutchie squinted, eyes flicked back and forth between me and my twin. I looked Elmer and our eyes read the same expression.
Obviously.

"You gets a week with us, and if ya do good, you can stay." Jack decided. I noticed older boys hanging out closer to the door of the Lodging House.

"What about them?" I asked, looking at them. Jack's authoritive expression dropped.

"Dax!" He called. A boy with the same hair color as him strode over to us.

"You're new." Instead of green eyes, Dax had brown eyes as opposed to Jack's green.