Unlike in Queens, the Manhattan lodging house was packed with people. A room had been emptied out to make room for all the girls who were going to be staying there. The guys watched in shock as girls walked in the front door. Kloppman had told them that new people would be staying, but he hadn’t mentioned the femininity of the guests.

"Are you sure I’m not dreaming," Mush asked, turning to Blink, but his eyes never leaving the trail of girls, "Are they real?"

"I don’t know," Blink replied, "But I hope it’s real. Here, you check." Then he reached over and pinched him.

"Blink," Mush exclaimed, "You’re supposed to do it to yourself, not to me." He glared at his friend, but quickly found his attention caught once again by the new lodgers.

XXX

"Sean, I’ll be fine," Stutter insisted to the guy standing beside her. Standing about 5 foot 11, he was muscular with loosely curled brownish-blond hair and green eyes, "We are staying in the same building."

"I know," Sean, or Muscle to some, replied. He looked down at his twin sister, "If you’re sure…"

"I am," Stutter told him, "Nothing’s going to happen. I’m rooming with girls, remember?" She then followed the rest of the girls to their new room.

The room was about average size, with ten single beds, half on one side, the other five directly opposite. Wheels were attached to the beds in case they needed to move them and they were able to adjust how high they went (if it’s hard to imagine, it’s like a trundle bed). There were drawers placed between each set of beds, one for each person.

"Nice room," one of the girls noted sarcastically. Sodapop glanced around the room, her green eyes, which had a ring of orange around the pupil, taking it in. She had medium length brown hair with natural blonde highlights, stood about 5 foot 7 and was tanned.

"It could be worse," another voice came in, full of optimism. The owner of the voice stepped inside the room, her green eyes shining from behind silver wire rimmed glasses. She had long, straight brown hair and stood an inch taller than Sodapop, "I mean, look at the view!" Spaz smiled at the group before walking to the window, which displayed the street outside, looking as dirty as always.

"What view," Sodapop asked her, "I see the same thing every day."

"Could be worse," a girl with short dirty blonde hair and brown eyes commented, a bit of sarcasm in her voice. Sunshine stood to her height of 5 foot 4, "At least we can see the sunset." She pointed to where the sun was sinking lower in the sky.

There was silence for a moment as everyone looked around the room. This was all new to them. They may not have like the circumstances, but at least they had somewhere to stay for once.

Chapter 5