Stephanie stood on the pier, gazing down at the musicians and the couples dancing on the beach. She had looked forward to this party since her aunt had told her about it. In London, parties were held in the ballrooms of mansions with full orchestras in attendance. She had never been to an outdoor celebration before and so far, it exceeded her expectations.

The young girl had stuffed herself on the food that Aunt Bess had bought for her, indulging her desire to try new things. Eventually her cousins had run off to play with friends and her aunt went to sit by a fire and converse with some women she knew. Stephanie asked permission to go up on the pier and received it. She noticed that people watched her as she passed by. Perhaps she should not have worn such a fancy dress but she had wanted to look her best. Almost everyone else was attired in simpler clothes.

Though she had taken dance lessons since she was four, the music and the dances were unfamiliar to her. They were livelier and less formal. After watching for awhile, she began copying the dance steps of the ladies, dancing with an imaginary partner.

Her quiet night was ruined by a sudden cackle. A boy only slightly younger than her but very short for his age walked over as he cracked a huge grin. "Wow, dressed all fancy like but no one to dance with so you gotta dance alone." He was not dressed nice, in fact he had nothing else to change into so he was in his usual clothes but to Edward, he was always made for every occasion and you can't mess with perfection. The kid folded his arms and snorted. "You're a bit overdressed, eh? And that dancing..' He covered his mouth as he snickered. "I'd have ran home in embarrassment if I were you."

Was somebody laughing at her?

Narrowing her eyes, Stephanie whirled toward the sound. A short thin boy who looked a bit younger than her was walking toward her with a grin on his face that looked sardonic to her. He immediately began insulting her … first her clothes and then her dancing. How dare he! When her parents were alive and she was sheltered from the harsh realities of life, she might have cried and run away. But after nearly three years living on the streets of London, she had toughened up. Now living with her aunt and uncle, she had gone back to her refined ways. However, she didn’t have to be nice to somebody who treated her with such disrespect.

Stephanie’s disdainful gaze raked him up and down. “I’d rather be overdressed than covered in dirt,” she retorted. “Did you crawl out from under a rock or something?” She placed her hands on her hips defiantly. “I’d also prefer to dance alone than dance with you. What do you know about dancing anyway? I dare you to do better!”

For some reason, the young girl felt good inside. Could it be that she had been itching for a fight ever since she had moved to Whitby?

The girl actually stood up to him instead of running away crying. She wouldn't be the first, but unfortunately for her, he was in a bad mood so this was exactly what he wanted. Her attempts at insulting him slipped off of him easily. He puffed up his chest and slapped it. "I'm a man! We don't got time for spending every day bathing in perfumes or whatever!" Could Edward remember the last time he'd even taken an actual bath? His form of a bath was jumping into the river every now and again. "I'm from the street, of course I'm dirty. Who's gonna clean the town?" He shook his head wondering if she was brainless.

"And a real man doesn't know how to dance. We know how to fight and how to be strong." He laughed again. "But I know something silly when I see it!" He said with a huge grin. "I'd never dance with you anyway." The boy seemed to consider something and grinned. "How about you give me every penny you have and I'll walk away and stop telling you how pathetic you look?"

Standing as straight as possible, Stephanie looked down at the boy and laughed sarcastically.  “Are you sure you’re a man, Shorty?  I’m not even a woman yet and I’m taller than you.  I’m from the street too, but obviously a much better street."

Stephanie remembered well how filthy she had been before the theatre manager had taken her to the theatre to live.  Eventually one became accustomed to one’s own stench, but it had still felt like heaven to sink into a tub again.  “You should really find a place to take a bath.”  She pinched her nose and pretended to gag.  “Peeuww!"

The young girl rolled her eyes.  “Real men do dance, Shorty.  And they're good at it too.  You don’t want to dance with me because people will laugh at you and you’d run back to your rock crying like a little baby.”

He thought she was silly, did he?  And was he really so stupid that he thought she would pay him to stop ridiculing her?  Stephanie gave him a sickeningly sweet smile. “How about you shut up or I’ll punch you in the face?”

Edward's grin immediately fell into a sneer as she mocked his height. It was definitely a sensitive point. "If you were from a better street you'd be at the other dance." He said gesturing with his head in the general direction of the hotel. "You're no better than me just cause you can dress up a bit. And no man likes a tall woman!"

He folded his arms, "it's the smell of toughness! I'm not some fancy pants who reads like poetry and bathes all the time." He honestly probably wouldn't mind a bath if he could have one but it was better to pretend he preferred being very manly filthy.

He clenched his fists. "I never cry! And real men don't dance! You show me one man who can dance and I'll show you a man who could never win a bar fight! You just want to dance with me cause no one else will!" He wasn't going to pretend to consider her offer because he knew she'd laugh at him the moment it was revealed he honestly had no clue how to dance.

But when she mentioned a fight , his smile returned and he rolled up his sleeves. "My mum told me never ta hit a girl. Good thing I don't listen ta no one. Just come and try it ya fancy bean pole!"

“I could have gone if I had wanted to.”  There was a trace of sadness in Stephanie’s voice.  If her parents were alive, they would have taken her to the ball at the hotel, unless it was for adults only.  She wasn’t sure if her aunt and uncle could afford it.  They didn’t live nearly as well as she had in London.  They called their house large, but it was tiny compared to the mansion she had grown up in … and the other one she had been thrown out of.  Sometimes she wanted her old life back and sometimes she just wished she was back in the theatre.

"I never said I was better than you. Shorty.  I’m just nicer.  I don’t insult people unless they insult me first.”  Again she rolled her eyes.  “I have no idea what life is like under a rock, but here women don’t like men who are shorter than them.”

Stephanie continued to pinch her nose.  “You don’t smell like toughness.  You smell like a privy.  Maybe you live under an outhouse instead of a rock.”  In truth, he didn’t smell all that bad, certainly no worse than she had when she lived on the London streets.

She gazed at the dancers, observing them for a moment before pointing toward one couple.  “See that guy down there … the one in the blue shirt and brown pants?  He has lots of muscles.  I bet he could win a bar brawl.  And you can see that he knows how to dance.”  The man in question was more clumsy than graceful, but he was dancing.

Was this boy right?  Would nobody dance with her if she was down there?  He had uncovered one of her insecurities and that made Stephanie angry.  She placed her hands on her hips again, her blue eyes spitting fire. “I wouldn’t dance with you if you were the last boy on earth!  Some of your dirt might rub off on me!”

She really really wanted to give him a black eye.  Stephanie half-expected him to run away calling for his mother, but instead, he rolled up his sleeves and dared her to punch him.  Using a trick she had learned at the theatre, she turned around and lowered her eyes as if he had called her bluff.  Without any warning, she clenched her fists, whirled back around, and stepped forward.  She swung one fist right toward his eye ...

"Sure, sure, because people really come here if they had a choice between the two!' Edward snickered at her. This was for the common man, the rich definitely were at the hotel, and anyone who could get in.

"You don't need to say it! I can see it the way you look down on me." He immediately scowled at her. "I don't mean literally. And you're wrong, it's guys who don't like tall girls!"

He folded his arms. "I smell like a man! I don't cover it in perfumes and powders like you girls do!" Maybe he stank, but it wasn't easy to change and he was used to it so it was fine.

The boy smirked, "He just whipped by his old lady. She's making him dance, he's barely keeping in step!" He was sure the guy was forced to dance with the woman enough he didn't step on her feet. What guy would ever practice dancing? Just the mental image was hilarious.

"Heh, like I want to dance with you! Even if you begged me to! I might be dirty, but dirt can be washed off. You're dirty on the inside, stuck up girl."

Then she punched him, he knew she'd threatened it but girls rarely were violent. He cried out and held his eye where he knew he'd have a shiner later. He looked at her and sneered. "You're gonna regret that!" He then rushed at her to tackle her to the ground. She was worried about getting dirt on her dress, he'd make it a muddy mess!

There was no use explaining her situation to this rude and insensitive boy.  Sometimes it was difficult for Stephanie to understand it herself.  She had been born into a life of luxury, reduced to a poor street rat, and now her status was somewhere in the middle of the two extremes.  The young girl struggled with feelings of worthlessness and only pretending to be somebody else onstage could make her forget them.

“I wouldn’t like you even if you were taller than me.  Or even if you were handsome, which you are definitely not.  You’re not a prince.  You’re a frog!”

Once again, he defended his so called manly smell.  Stephanie wished she had a vial of French perfume with her.  She’d spritz it on him.  In fact, she was going to carry some with her from now on just in case she ran into him again.

She gazed down at the dancers. “Even if his wife did force him to dance, he’s still smarter than you.  He knows that men should always do what women tell them to.”

How dare he imply that she was dirty on the inside (which was one of her greatest fears)!  She was going to beat him to a bloody pulp!  Her fist connected with his eye and a feeling of immense satisfaction rushed over her. “You deserved that, you filthy twit!  Now go run crying to your mommy like the coward you are!”

Instead he told her she was going to regret what she did.  Stephanie folded her arms and rolled her eyes.  “Yeah?  Then show me what you got, Shorty.”

She braced herself to step back and avoid his punch, but he tackled her, throwing her off balance.  Screaming, she fell on the hard planks of the pier.  She tried her best to fight him off by hitting him and attempting to bite him.  If she could maneuver herself on top of him, she would have the upper hand.  But was she strong enough or was she going to have to admit defeat?

Edward glared fully at the girl before him. "I don't care if you like me!" And he didn't, she was just a stranger who thought she was better than him and danced alone like a weirdo.

Then she said men should listen to women and he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. "That's just like those people who think poor people should listen to rich or 'smart' people. No one should listen to someone else just cause they think they're better! Everyone can be wrong!" He nearly shouted in her face, not caring if it drew the occasional glance over at the squabbling kids.

He was glad he managed to tackle her but he was almost immediately on the defensive. He had to keep her down otherwise she'd be able to just pummel his face, which he knew well from personal experience. Why did this have to happen on the pier? There was no dirt to rub into her eyes. He tried to keep her down and finally decided to grab a fist full of hair and pulled it over her face, hoping to keep her from trying to bite him. "I'll rip out all your hair if you keep that up!' He said sharply.