The Reincarnations

Disclaimer: I am not Disney, so I do not own Newsies. Everything you don't recognize from the movie is mine.

A/N: Thanks for coming in, guys! I love the movie Newsies and everyone in it, blah, blah, blah. So, this is my first Newsies fic and I hope you enjoy it.

Genre: Newsies Alternate Universe

Chapter Title: Welcome Back to High School

Warnings: Some language.

Enjoy!

7:30 AM

The phone was ringing. The phone was ringing and it was seven thirty in the morning! Why was the phone ringing?

I groaned and punched my pillow. It was the first day of sophomore year at Jefferson High School for the Exceptionally Gifted. I scowled openly and yanked the phone off its cradle.

"What?"

"Morning, Stephie! Let's get up, kid. You've got fifteen minutes." It was my best friend, Jacqueline, or Jackie, who should know not to wake me up at seven thirty in the morning.

"Fifteen minutes?" I said my voice hoarse. "For what?"

"The bus, stupid," she replied smoothly. "The bus for high school leaves in fifteen minutes."

What? The bus? Oh. Yeah. The bus for high school changed its time over the summer. No wonder Jackie was calling me at this time. She wanted to make sure I didn't show up at school looking like a complete idiot. Of course, no one would say anything, because I was the leader of the entire goddamn school.

I pushed the comforter back and muttered into the phone, "I'll be there in fourteen minutes." I hung up on her then, and then grabbed the clothes I'd grabbed last night in my one o'clock in the morning daze and ran to the bathroom. I nearly tripped over my cat, who, for some unfathomable reason was stretched across the doorway and basking in the absent sunshine.

I hit my head on the doorframe to the bathroom again and slammed the door shut.

Okay. I was ready. I snatched a burnt piece of toast from the stack on the table, grabbed my shoes, my backpack and a ponytail band and went out the door.

The sidewalk was hard but muffled by the socks on my feet as I walked down to the bus stop. I didn't wear shoes unless I absolutely had to – it was a little quirk of mine. I liked burnt toast, too. Jackie thought it was from my dad's side.

"Ah, so Sleeping Beauty rises, hmm?" Jackie gave me a bright smile as I sat down on somebody's lawn to put my shoes on.

"If you weren't my friend I would personally beat the crap out of you for being a morning person," I said. I yanked the old Converses on and thought for a minute. "Since when do you go to Jefferson High for the Exceptionally Gifted? Don't you live in Manhattan?"

"I do. But Mom wanted me to transfer because ol' Leeman doesn't give a crap about scholars like me." Jackie grinned again. "So I transferred and being the exceptionally gifted person that I am, I will be the newest sophomore."

I yawned tiredly and Jackie helped me up. We waited together for the bus, and I looked at her when I realized that it was ten minutes after eight. "I thought the bus was coming at eight," I said, looking at her suspiciously.

"I decided that a personal wake-up call and a little bit of hysteria would get you up pretty good," she said coolly, smirking at my anger.

"You know not to wake me up!" I nearly shouted, wanting to tackle her. "Just because you're a morning person-"

A yellow dinosaur rumbled up beside us and my torrent ended. By yellow dinosaur, by the way, I mean the school bus. It was rickety and as old as some of the brownstones 'round these parts, and the school didn't have a lot of money to rent newer ones.

We got on and I saw a lot of my friends around. They weren't exactly my friends, but they weren't exactly my court, either. It was more in-between. I didn't have a right hand guy, or even a left one. I was standing alone at the throne, and there wasn't anything anybody could do about it.

"'Morning, Stephanie." That was Leila. She was one of the closer friends I had. She never called me Stephie liked Jackie did, though. She was bit too proper, and it gave me a headache just to listen to her perfect grammar. "Are you ready for sophomore year?"

I shrugged. "It's just another adventure, Lei," I said. She hated her nickname, and she made a face when I called her that.

Grinning slightly, Jackie and I made our way to the back of the bus. There were only freshmen and sophomores on this bus – the juniors and seniors either rode their own bus or drove. We sat down, me never looking down or paying any attention to what Jackie was doing. I liked observing what was going on in my court, what was wrong, what was happening. I liked being in control of things.

The bus started up and we roared clumsily down the street. Some freshman dude thought it was funny to whack another freshman, only a girl, upside the head.

"If you think it's funny to hit someone," I said angrily, standing up against the driver's rules, "wait till you're laughing on the ground after I take out some of your teeth."

That guy shut up real good and sank down, blushing. He knew I meant business, and my business didn't follow the rules.

"Hey! Siddown, will ya? I ain't gettin' in trouble just 'cause some brat wants ta boss 'round the freshmen." The bus driver frowned at me and jerked his thumb towards a seat.

I scowled and plunked back down next to Jackie. She poked me and I glared at her. God. I can't believe these people are being stupid under my watch and in the goddamn morning. You just don't do that.

We rumbled down Flatbush Avenue and into some of the side streets, where the prestigious high school was and the campus practically took up five blocks.

I had no idea how my parents could get me into a high school with a five-block campus, but being that my dad is the chief of the local firehouse, I guess that does factor into the equation.

And speaking of equations, I never finished my math packet they gave us last year. I'd barely made it to sophomore year, being that I sucked at math but I manned the cash register at Gramps' pizzeria, and I couldn't risk not finishing it.

But hey. Risks are my middle name. I don't take them just because I'm stupid. I take them because that's who I am.

We rolled to a stop light and I could already see it – Jefferson High School for the Exceptionally Gifted. My prison, my jail cell. I hated it there. But since Jackie was there, maybe it'd be a bit better. Besides, I ruled the hallways, the bathrooms, the locker rooms…Heck. I ruled just about everything.

"Have a great first day, kiddies," hissed the bus driver when we arrived and we were all filing off. He stopped me and said, "Don't you dare give me anymore trouble. I know who you are."

"Yeah," I said with a smirk. "I'm Brooklyn." Laughing, I jumped the last three steps and landed neatly. Looking over my kingdom, I swaggered in and prepared for the first day of high school.

"Well, a new student," I said, surveying the ginger-haired, freckly faced girl that looked as confused as Jackie was. "Wonder who she is and why she hasn't figured out yet that her locker is down there." I jerked my thumb to the rest of the hallway behind me.

Jackie shrugged. "Could be anyone," she said optimistically. Morning person.

I walked up to her and leaned against the lockers. "I'm Stephanie Conlon. Now before you say anything, your locker is down there" I jerked my chin down in that direction "and now that you know where it is, please, tell us your name."

"I'm Diana Jacobs," she said. "I know where my locker is, thanks. I was just looking for the biology classroom."

"Downstairs," Jackie said, coming up behind me. "Mrs. Palatino wouldn't like it if you're late." She grinned a little. "Even if it's just the first day."

Another one with proper grammar. Hello! We're in New York, here! You have to talk with an accent. It's legendary.

"Oh, thanks," she said. "What classes are you guys in?"

I grit my teeth together. "Well, I'm taking remedial math, because I suck at it," I said sourly. "But otherwise, we should be in the same classes if you're a sophomore."

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm a sophomore." She smiled. "I'm taking three AP classes."

I grimaced. "That's good, y'know?" She was trying my patience. Like Leila, this Diana kid was extremely perky and like they were trying to make you like them. It made me mad. "I could never get into AP classes."

She shrugged. "Oh, that's fine. Maybe next year. I'll see you guys at lunch!" And with a small, perky little flick of her hair, she skipped down the hallway to the stairwell.

I slammed my fists against the lockers when she vanished. "She. Is. So. Damn. Perky."

Jackie laid a hand on my shoulder, a dangerous maneuver. "Hey, you put up with Leila."

"But Leila still keeps her mouth shut." I turned and started walking down the hall. "What is this girl? A walking mouth?"

"Look who it is, girls! It's Brooklyn!" Laughter.

I turned around and saw Maria, Kayla, and Rachel all laughing together. "Don't you start being perky, too," I growled, coming up to them.

Rachel laughed. "I'd bet you three dollars that you actually like perky people."

"You're too cheap, Rachel," said Maria. "Take her for all she's got."

"Yeah, and empty my pockets of all the money I took from the jar today," I said. The jar was where I've kept my money since I was little. They knew what it was.

The bell rang shrilly.

"I'll see you guys at lunch," I called over my shoulder as hordes of students split the group apart. "I have to go to biology with the Walking Mouth."

2:45 PM

"Hey, Joe," I said to my coworker as I came into the pizzeria. "The lunch rush is kinda slow today, huh?" I surveyed the empty pizzeria.

"Yeah, kid. People are too busy thinking about their work instead of lunch time!" The chef grinned and tossed me my apron over the counter.

"They're just too concerned with being thin," I commented. I slipped into the apron and slipped behind the counter. "So, who's on delivery duty today?"

"Angelo," he called from the kitchen. "Your grandfather's taking the day off."

I checked the delivery list and realized that Angelo was making three in one hour. "I hope he doesn't think it's a race," I muttered. "Last time he was on delivery duty, he got five speeding tickets!"

"He's young," said the Italian. "Still dumb in the head."

"Are you talking about me?" Angelo came into the room with his cap a bit lopsided and a stupid expression on his face. "'Cause if you are, I just might have to put Moss on delivery duty."

I winced. "Moss on delivery duty?" I punched him on the arm. "In your dreams."

He laughed and went into the kitchen to help Joe. Soon they were chattering away in Italian, leaving me out of the conversation.

I turned to the counter and leaned against the refrigerator. This pizzeria has been in Dad's family since he was a little kid, when he helped out. Gramps has owned this place since Dad was six, and when Dad was eleven, he started working here. I started when I was twelve, because my dad wanted me to stop getting into so much trouble at school.

Two customers walked in and I stopped my slouching and stood at the counter.

The first lady squinted at the menu over my head and said, "Two of the Brooklyn specialties with extra sausage." She paused. "Do you have coffee?"

I shook my head. "No, ma'am, we stopped serving coffee a way back."

She frowned. "All right, then. Two colas."

I relayed the message back to Joe, and he started muttering under his breath. He was probably cursing in Italian, but I'd never know. Brooklyn specialties were, well, our specialty, and it was famous around the borough. It was also famous in the kitchen, because it took so long to make.

"Ladies? I'm really sorry, but the pizza is gonna take a little while," I said to the women.

"How long?" said the first one. She looked really stuffy, like she only expected the best.

"About forty-five minutes."

She glanced at the second lady. "Can we stay that long, Dolores?"

"I guess so."

She nodded at me. "We'll stay."

I went into the kitchen. "No luck this time, Joe. They want that pizza."

He shrugged. "What people what is what people want." He acted like an Italian philosopher. No wonder Dad liked him so much.

I leaned against the refrigerator again, waiting for some more customers or a call on the phone. There was a long shift in front of me, and if I wanted to get paid, I had to tough it out.

And then, of course, when I just started being just a bit optimistic, Alyssa Giovanni, the only person who dared challenge my authority, walked in with her cronies.

And she looked like she meant business.