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"Momma! Momma! What about this one?" A little girl no younger than eleven called. Picking up her skirts, she ran to her mother who was sitting in the parlor with a newly sewn dress in her lap. Emiline, who only wore stockings on her feet, skidded to a stop in front of her mother, who gave her a scowl.

"Emiline! Have I not told you to not run in this house?" Emiline straightened her shoulders and lowered her head. "Yes ma'am, I'm sorry momma." The woman dropped her scowl and smiled towards her daughter. She stood, placing the dress neatly on the corner dresser and looked the little girl over. Emiline did a small twirl to show her mother the school uniform. A long, puffed sleeved baby blue dress that curtained around her black stocking clad ankles, over the dress she wore a thin white sleeveless apron that tied loosely in the back.

Mother smiled and fixed the blue ribbon adorned in Emiline's long black ringlets. "You look adorable, darling." Mother kissed her cheek and smoothed the fine burgundy material of her tea gown.

Emiline smiled and grabbed her brown leather ankle boots and placed them on her feet. Mother turned and tied Emiline's school books together with a black ribbon. "Now Emiline." Mother smiled and turned to her daughter. "Are you ready for the first day of school." Emiline beamed and finished laceing her boots. Mother handed over the tied books and a packed lunch, grabbed a sun umbrella, they were ready to leave.

Emiline gripped her mother's hand and the proceeded out the door into the sunny morning in London. Emiline gleamed up to her mother and admired the older woman. She always kept her dark brown hair in loose waves, her face smooth and collected and walked with dignified grace. Emiline smiled then looked down to her feet as she skipped about to the chime of her mother's laughter. With a small squeeze to her mother's soft hand, she looked up. "Momma, do you have high tea today?" Emiline asked as she smoothed her

Mother nodded.

"I do, so when you come home you need to change into your tea dress that I mended." Mother twirled her pink umbrella and nodded to the passing couples. Emiline nodded and turned with her mother.

"Good day miss." An old man said while taking his top hat off and placing it back on. Mother nodded and gave charming "Good day sir." He nodded toward Emiline who gave a smile and waved. Mother and Emiline walked a few more blocks and halted in front of the school house. The older woman kneeled before her daughter and gave her a quick hug.

"You have a wonderful day." She smiled and smoothed down Emiline's sleeves. "I want to hear all about it when you come home." Emiline nodded. She looked past her mother and stared with curious eyes. A woman in a tattered and torn violet dress walked up to the far end of the school house and roughly placed a boy in front of her. Mother looked up and followed Emiline's gaze. The woman in the violet dress, kneeled to the boy with a scowl as she spoke.

"Now you listen boy, you go in there and be on your best behavior. If I hear anything about you from any teachers so help me child." The woman slurred, gripping the shoulder cuff of her dress and placing it back onto her grimey shoulder. The boy shuddered and lowered his head, tears stinging the back of his eyes.

"I'll be good momma." The boy choked. The woman groaned and popped the boy on on the temple with a scowl. "For Christs sake Ryan, man up will ya'!" She yelled to the twelve year old. A tear slipped down his cheek making the woman laugh and spit out a low "Worthless." Before pushing him towards the building and stalked away. Ryan ran his dirty sleeve across his eyes and sat on the school step with the tattered books in his lap.

Mother sighed sadly to the abused boy. "Poor dear."

Emiline nodded and gazed at the boy. His pale skin brandishing large bruises and scratches, his black shorts and white poets shirt torn and dirty and black shoes that looked grey. His long black hair was probably the most decent to look at, falling in strait ebony strands past his shoulders.

She looked to her mother sadly. "Can we help him, momma?" Mother closed her eyes and shook her head solemnly.

"There are some people that you as a person can not help, sweet heart." Emiline glanced at Ryan and sighed. Her mother smiled. "But you can always help a person by being a friend." Emiline smiled happily and hugged her mother, who kissed her on the head.

Ryan looked up from his lap and gazed toward the woman and daughter. He sighed sadly as the woman leaned down and gently kissed the girls ebony curls. Oh how Ryan wished he was blessed with the tender love of a mother but stuck with a whore woman who would screw around with any man as long they gave her a price. Ryan closed his eyes and clenched his fists in anger. How can a god hate a child so much for him to be in the world he is in today. So many times he wanted to end his suffering and be free, but being only twelve years old he wants to see if his life will get better as many people promised.

Ryan jumped as the school mistress began to ring the bell behind him, signaling that it was time to come in. He scooted closer to the end of the step as child after child flooded the steps to get into the building. Some children laughed and pointed down to him, most would kick him and whisper 'slut child' with a cruel smirk. He sighed sadly accepting all the insults as he always did, wiping away stray tears in the process. The girl he saw earlier with her mother was the last to come up the stairs. Her long ebony ringlets bouncing around her shoulders and her expensive dress flowing around her.

Seeing a first class girl like her, he knew she would be like everyone else and spit at his being as he was nothing but dirt. She passed his step but stopped and turned to him, griping her books in her left arm and carrying her packed lunch in her right. He turned and looked up to her through his hair and they just gazed at each other. Then she did something that no other person ever thought of doing. She smiled. She smiled at him with a kind sparkle in her hazel eyes. Her smile made his heart leap.

He attempted a smile back the best he could and she giggled. She made a notion with her head. "Hurry, we'll be late." With that she turned and skipped into the building. Ryan was flabbergasted. A girl, a very beautiful girl, actually smiled and spoke to him like he was a human being. He blinked when the school mistress gently laid her hand on his shoulder and smiled.

"You coming, son?" Ryan nodded and stood up. Following the woman into the building.