"How can you hate chocolate?" Elmer laughed, stretching his arms out behind him. 

"It's so sweet!" I exclaimed. "And the texture is so weird--"

"That's the best part!" Elmer's dark eyes widened. 

"How?" I gaped. It was dark and we only had so much time before Katherine needed to return home. 

"Lemme get you the world's greatest chocolate." He bargained.

"Elmer. This is New York and you're a Newsie." I reminded him.

"That doesn't matter." Elmer shrugged. "I'll find a way."

"Already?" Jack sighed when we approached them. Katherine stood up from the bench they had been sitting on.

"Jackie, I'm gonna go with them." Elmer told him. "We's been playin' games back at the Lodging House if you wanna join in."

"Sure." Jack nodded before grabbing the front collar of Elmer's shirt and pulling him until they were face to face.

~Jack's Quick POV~

"Keep my girl safe." I hissed to the younger boy. "And yours too."

"I will." He promised.

"Oh, so we ain't denyin' it anymore?" I grinned teasingly. 

"Wha-- Hey!" Red crept up his face and he shook his head frantically.

"I see you, Elmer." I laughed, releasing him so he could join Katherine and Maize.

~Cornelia's POV~

"I wonder what they're talking about." Katherine whispered to me as we watched Jack and Elmer's short back and forth.

"No idea." I agreed, stifling a laugh when Elmer began shaking his head violently. Jack pushed him back over to us and Elmer glared at him.

"Are you ready?" Katherine asked with an amused smile on her face.

"Uh, yeah." He nodded. Katherine waved at Jack as we departed from him. We walked back to the Pulitzer residence to return her, Elmer hiding out of sight so Katherine didn't get in trouble.

"Very well." Mr. Pulitzer nodded stoically after having answered the door. So now it's just Elmer and I left to walk back to the Lodging House. 

"Race said that he went to the Refuge 'cause of you." I said after just a moment of walking in silence. "What's that about?"

"It's a long story." Elmer told me hesitantly. 

"We've got like ten minutes." I shrugged. 

"Okay." He nodded. "After the fire, I was starving and had to start stealing food. And I happened to steal from the wrong man one day. Snyder came for me and Race took the blame and went to the Refuge in my place."

"That wasn't long." I smiled despite the low mood that hung in the air.

"I trimmed the fat off of that story." Elmer laughed. 

~Elmer's Flashback POV~

"Hey!" The guy hollered. I flinched and tried to hide the bread I had snatched from him. I was twelve at this moment in time. "You rat!"

"I--" I started before yelping when the bread slipping from my hand. I whipped around to see a taller kid with curly blond hair. I turned back when the man grabbed my arm and ripped me forcefully with him. "Lemme go!"

"It wasn't him!" The other kid shouted in protest. I was thrown into a scary-looking man.

"Get this menace off of these streets." He barked. Panic clouded my thoughts. The other guy had his hand on my neck when the blond kid ripped me away.

"I ain't gonna say it again." The boy yelled. "I took the bread, leave him alone!" The man made a grab for him and the kid pushed me away. "Go to Newsie Square, they'll give you a hand." And before I knew it, he was tossed into a carriage and hauled away.

"Wait, no!" I cried, taking off in pursuit. It was obvious that I couldn't keep up with the horses, so I stumbled to a stop. And I then numbly travelled to Newsie Square.

~Present Day, Cornelia's POV~

"Now back on the other subject," Elmer grinned. "What kind of person hates chocolate?"

"You ain't lettin' this go, are you?" I laughed.

"No!" He shook his head vigorously. I think I've finally made friends.

We got back to the Lodging House faster than expected, so we sat down on the couch where we were sitting before we left. Romeo and Mush were sharing an armchair and Jack had pulled a wooden chair from the dining room table. The others were either not here or not playing the game.

"Okay," Buttons shouted over the clamor. "We're gonna play Wink Murder."

"Wink Murder?" I whispered to Elmer.

"He'll explain it." He murmured in response. 

"Elmer, gimme your hat." Buttons ordered. Romeo tossed him a pencil and Buttons tore pieces of paper into strips. Elmer didn't seem to have been paying a ton of attention to the dialogue around him, because he made no move to take his hat off. Jack nodded at me and I took Elmer's hat. He came back to earth instantly.

"I need your hat." Buttons repeated with a grin. I tossed it to him and he jumbled the strips of paper into it. "Right. You can't tell anyone what you got. If you got murderer, you wink at people. If someone winks at you, wait about five seconds then drop dead."

We all nodded in understanding and drew a strip of paper from the hat. Mine read 'victim'. I looked up to try and read everyone's poker faces. We all seemed to be staring at each other when Mush fell to the floor and played dead. Romeo playfully stepping on his stomach, causing him to let out a gust of air. Jack nudged Romeo to focus. Then Racetrack crumbled and scooted out of the way. I was looking around to try and catch someone in the act of winking when I made eye contact with Crutchie. He, with a completely straight face, winked at me. I dropped down and scooted away just like Race had done. 

At the end, the remaining players were Crutchie, Elmer, Romeo, and Jack. 

"I think it's Jack." Elmer decided amidst the silence. 

"Me?" Jack gaped. "No."

"I think Jack." Romeo agreed. Crutchie nodded. 

"And now is when the murderer admits." Buttons told them from where he was sitting, leaning against the front of the couch. 

"And you had no idea!" Crutchie laughed.

"What?" Jack gawked. "You ain't never been any good at a poker face!"

"I've never had to use it." The lame boy grinned. Everyone started to stand back up and Elmer reached his hand out to me. I took it and he pulled me up next to him. 

(This game is kind of like Among Us.)

I was the murderer the next round. My first victim was Romeo, then Buttons, then Crutchie (he couldn't fall as abruptly), then Elmer. I winked at him and his eyes widened in shock. After about five seconds, he dropped to the floor.

Romans 6:13, "Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness."