New York Gem

Chapter 1

My eyes shot open the instant the Morning Bell rang. It's not just for News Boys, we use it as an alarm. I jumped out of bed and took our work dresses out of the closet. Momma and Dad have us wear matching clothes for work because people like the twin aesthetic. Which is true, they do. Amber was awake and brushing out her hair.

"Ribbon or no?" I asked. We decide every morning whether or not to put our hair up in blue ribbons to match our blue dresses.

"Half up." She replied, tossing me my ribbon. I caught it and put her dress on her bed. And so, I changed into my dress. Then, slipping on my black flats, traded place with Amber so I could do my hair. I only captured half of my hair and tied a bow around it, letting the rest fall to my shoulders. (half up, half down style). It's the November of 1899 and overcast. We finished at the same time and headed down together. Momma and Dad were both prepping for opening, which is at the Circulation Bell. That'll be in about five minutes, according to the clock. Momma gives Amber and I the orders to complete, then we bring them to the tables. If it's not very busy, Amber and I take the orders ourselves. The counter is the kitchen. The fridges and things are in the back kitchen, but this is where we do the cooking and baking. There's an opening on both sides of the counters. There's the hidden stairs that leads up to the Lester living quarters, Amber's station on the far side of that. We have all the ingredients for what's on the menu at our disposal. We made Lester Bakery very homely and bright.

At the chime of the bell, Dad unlocked the glass door and flipped the closed sign to open. I saw a News Boy stationed a short way outside of the diner, but didn't think anything of it. 

"How'd you sleep?" Dad asked us.

"Good!" We replied, my voice peppier than Amber's. Dad grinned and went into the back. He does all the budget stuff. Just a moment later, I had my eyes set on the news boy a little ways from our door. From what I could tell, he had dark brown hair an a boxy face. With his side glances to passerby's, I figured out that he smiled a lot. As I was preparing for any customers, I heard a shout. Upon glancing up, I saw a man's fist connect with the boy's face. I dropped the bag of flour and rushed outside, Amber in tow. 

"Hey!" We shouted. The news boy was on the floor, trying to push himself up.

"Well, if it ain't the twins." The man sneered.

"You're just seeing double." Amber retorted.

"What did he do to you?" I demanded the man, kneeling down to try and help the news boy. There was a purple bruise forming on his cheekbone. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He mumbled, flashing a smile. I smiled back and helped him to his feet. 

"Kid was in my way of the diner." The man huffed angrily, glaring at the news boy. 

"We saw him!" Amber and I exclaimed. She continued by saying, "he was well out of the way!"

"Yeah, yellin' at me to buy a paper." The man spat. 

"The only time he yelled was when you hit him." My sister fired back. 

"Move, lemme get some food." He growled.

"Of course!" Amber plastered on a fake smile. "Right this way, sir!"

She trotted ahead of him and led him inside. I grabbed the news boy's arm and took him to the back kitchen. 

"What's your name?" I asked as I filled ice into a bag. 

"JoJo." He replied, carefully feeling the fast forming bruise. 

"Hi, JoJo!" I smiled, handing him the bag. "I'm--"

"Brooke, order up!" Amber called.

"That's my cue." I told him hastily. "Stay there!"

Then I went back to my station and hurriedly baked him a small apple pie. The slices were freshly cut and the dough had been setting overnight. When it was in the oven, I went back to JoJo. 

"Where were we?" I asked, taking a look at the bruise on his cheek. 

"Your name is Brooke." JoJo informed me, grinning in spite of the painful color on his face.

"My name is Brooke." I conformed. "That's my sister, Amber."

"She's... Fiery." JoJo commented. I nodded in agreement. He put the ice bag down and stood up. Looks like he's taller than us. Shocker. "I'd better be goin' now."

"Are you sure?" Has he iced that long enough?

"I can't lose a days pay." He sighed. 

"Okay, well, it was nice meeting you!" I smiled, holding out my hand my him to shake. Little did he know, I had been practicing reverse pick-pocketing. I slipped a muffin wrapped in brown paper into his vest pocket.

"You too!" Then he left, ignoring the icy glare from the man. 

"Does Brooker have a crush?" Amber teased quietly, pouring another steaming cup of coffee for the man. 

"On a news boy?" I gaped.

"I'm just saying." She shrugged, handing the man his coffee. Once the pie was done, I took it out of the oven and cut it. Then I plated a slice and served it to the man.

The day passed slowly without much business. My mind occasionally drifted back to that News Boy, JoJo. How did he look so happy even after being socked in the face by some stranger?

"He'll probably come back." Amber told me in a sing-song voice.

"What?" I glanced to my left to look at her.

"Well, I mean, you more than likely pulled that move where you sneak whoever your helping a cookie or something." Amber shrugged.

"It was a muffin." I muttered.

"A muffin." She continued pointedly. "He'll come back to at least thank you."

"I guess you're right," I conceded, pouring out a small mound of flour to make another round of dough. The pie special tomorrow is going to be black cherry.