past lives

the ghost girl

It was late afternoon in Ramshackle, the scraps were getting the last of the money they could pickpocket, Rich people were walking the streets not as much now as in the morning but still there were some. Street singers were packing up and street artists were leaving. The sun was setting and it was getting gloomy.

but one person showed no sighed of going anywhere, and their name was Astrid. They sat on the floor next to a street lamp smoking a cigarette, she wore a brown sweater with patches on it. she had worn out dirty jeans and beat up shoes. Their short dirty blond hair was up in a mini ponytail. After a few minutes of silence she spat out the cigarette and got up, she stomped on the cigarette to put it out and walked into the dark alleys. her hands were stuffed in her pockets as they walked, she stopped in front of a warehouse she slid the door opened and walked inside. "Well look who finally decided to come home!" Yelled a familiar voice from the top, Astrid looked up to see Dich swinging down. "Yeah, another one of those days" Astrid said walking up to him, "well i know what'll cheer you up" he grinned as he grabbed her shoulder and dragged her upstairs, the room wasn't the best. It was dirty but somehow nice and home like. Probably because this was one of the only places Astrid had ever called home before, "here" Dich said throwing them a packet of cookies and a ad of some sort. Astrid sat down on the couch while stuffing a cookie in her mouth and reading the ad. "it's a weird Party the're in the bar for the rich mans birthday or some shit" Ditch explained "and your point is?" Astrid "what do you mean and? AND there'll be tons of jackasses there to rob! you wanna know how much money we could get from this?" Ditch said throwing himself down next to Astrid. "Cool, maybe we can get thrown in jail on the way" Astrid said looking at him "oh shut up dumbass" Dich snapped "yeah yeah whatever, i guess we can go" 

"i knew you'd agree!" Ditch exclaimed grinning "ya think Vinnies gang'll be there?" "maybe" Ditch responded. "well, i'ma head up to bed, night" Astrid said getting up "thanks for the cookies" "no problem" 

Astrid walked up to a small room with two beds on either ends, this wasn't the only room, there were tons of other because of Ditch's men. Astrid laid down and looked up at the ceiling for a while till she got tired, rolled over and fell asleep.

time skip

"oi, Astrid, idiot, dumbass, Astriddd-" Said Ditch's voice, "Astriddd come on wake u-" before he could finish he got a pillow to the face "toché" Ditch muttered "what the fuck man, why do you feel the need to wake me up like this, it's 7 in the morning" "no it's not, it's 7; 15" "it's the same fucking thing!" Astrid yelled "no it's not!" Ditch yelled back. This went on for about ten minutes until they made a truce, "you're lucky, if it was anyone else id have thrown them in the streets" Ditch teased as they walked out of the warehouse. "oh wow i feel so special" Astrid responded sarcastically. "you should" "shut it will ya?"

"so what the hell you wake me up for anyway?" Astrid yawned, "to get you some clothes cus if we show up like how we are now it'll be straight to jail for us" Ditch explained not stoping. "lead the way, king of fashion" Astrid said walking next to him. 

the two stopped in front of a tiny clothes shop, "welp, let's go" Ditch said as he grabbed Astrids arm and practically threw her in the store. "aw you son of a bitch" Astrid grumbled flipping him off as she walked up to the counter, "um... hello?" Astrid said awkwardly at the old lady siting at the desk "ah hello, can i help you?" the lady said "do you have any-..." she shot a look at Ditch then turned around "a... dress for i guess a special occasion?" She sighed a bit embarrassed. Astrid heard Ditch stifling a laugh, "shut up will you?!" She said glaring at him. 

but the lady just smiled and nodded, "follow me dear" the lady said getting down and walking through a closed curtain, Astrid followed but was a bit confused. Why was the lady being so nice? did she not notice they were scraps? was she blind or something? Astrid stopped and looked around the room and saw lot's of different fancy clothing, something she had only seen rich people wear. But she knew it was just for show, she'd never be a rich person, hell they didn't even wanna be one. after all she had seen them be like over the years, they're all the same, same old jackasses and bitches. she felt her hands grow into fists, but she let them go as quick as she could. 

"now i have this one, i think it'll look good on you" the lady said smiling, she held up a dark red dress with long sleeves. After trying it out Astrid said "i-... i'll take it" as they held it, it felt soft and nice. "i'm sure you'll look wonderful darling" the lady patted Astrids head softly. Astrids eyes widened in shock, when was the last time an adult had treated her so nicely? smiled at her? a genuine smile? when was the last time she felt so loved by a person that wasn't Ditch? it hurt to know a random lady that didn't even know her had made her nearly cry? Astrid hugged the dress lowered her head "thank you" Astrid murmured looking up at the lady. "it was my pleasure, have a nice day" 

when Astrid and Ditch walked out, she could barely utter a word, all they could do was hug the bag that held the dress. "what's up with you? ya barely said a word since we left the shop" Ditch asked as they walked down the road, "i'm fine" Astrid said, her face still in a slight look of shock. "look kid, i've known you for 3 years, i know when you're ok and when you're not. So why don't you just spit it out?" He said stopping "i don't wanna talk about it ok? i'll talk, just give me a while" Astrid said 

"fine, but you better not be lying about telling me later!" Ditch responded as he ruffled Astrids hair, "hey!" Astrid cried as they pushed his hand away. "sucker!" Ditch yelled running away laughing "come here!" Astrid yelled running after him smiling.

and for the first time in years, Astrid felt...

like a kid again.

just

a

kid

-cat🦋