Tremaine

- Chapter 6 -

When my eyes fluttered open I immediately remembered what happened the night before. I had kissed Gregory. Not just a peck, but a real, passionate, enchanting kiss.

After I kissed him he just stared at me, his green eyes dancing with joy. He held my hands in his own, as if he would never let go. He looked out into the water. The sun had already gone down and it was very dark.

"We should get back," he said looking back at me. "It's getting dark," I nodded, and we walked back to the orphanage hand in hand. When we got to my room he said, "Anastasia?" "Yes?" "I love you," he kissed me gently on the cheek and left.

When I walked into my room and locked the door I squealed. My heart was pounding and I was sure I was blushing. Gregory just told me he loved me! It was like a dream come true.

As I was walking to breakfast I heard someone calling my name. I followed the voice and saw it was Directress Jewel. "Is something wrong ma'am?" I said. She led me into her office and sat down.

"You have been here for 2 weeks now, and have done nothing. It is time for you to get a job. You will need money because if you are not adopted you will be kicked out, and having money is very helpful,"

My eyes went wide. A job? I had never had a job before. The hardest thing I have ever had to do was tighten a corset for Drizella. "Where can I find a job?" I asked, trying to hide my nervousness.

Directress Jewel cleared her throat and said, "You can ask around at the stands. I'm sure one of them will be willing to hire you. Now run along and get breakfast. You have a long day ahead of you,"

And boy was she right. After I ate with Gregory I went out into the town. I looked around at the stands until I saw a stand that was selling odd jewelry. "Excuse me?" I said to the woman standing behind the stand.

"Are you hiring?" She looked me up and down. "Yes. I will hire you. Go to the back of the stand and give me string and beads," "Oh! Okay. My name is-" "Go!" she instructed.

I walked to the back of the stand and saw a box of beads and a box of string. I grabbed both and gave them to her. She took them and sat down. "So, how much will you be pay-" I was cut off again. "Go to the train station. I have more beads coming,"

I sighed and nodded. It was a struggle to walk to the train station and back, especially with the heavy box of beads. When I finally got back I placed the box down. The woman handed me many pieces of the odd jewelry.

"Stock the shelf," "Alright," I grumbled angrily. She had not told me her name or how much I was going to be paid. I worked like this until sunset. I was putting all of the jewelry away when she walked up to me.

"Here," she handed me 20 pounds. "Oh! Thank yo-" "You can go now," she said. She really liked to cut me off. I nodded and walked back to the orphanage. She was an interesting lady.

When I got back to the orphanage I walked up to the roof. Gregory was sitting on the ledge as usual. "So you got your first job today, huh?" he said, as I sat down next to him. "Yep," I answered.

We sat on the roof until it got dark out. Once I said goodbye to Gregory, I went to my room and changed into my nightgown. I realized that I had really changed since I had first gotten here.

The change felt good. It felt really good. As I laid in my bed that night my mind wandered to Drizella. I wondered what she was doing, and if she knew about what had happened.

I stared at the ceiling and remembered all of the good times I had with her. Sure we fought a lot, but I still loved her. I wondered what she would think of the new me. I bet she would think I was ill, I thought.

I missed her, but what I didn't know was that I would be seeing her a lot sooner than I thought.