CHAPTER ONE

I had been hearing the whispers all day. The newsie boys are going on strike. It's chaos in Manhattan. Everyone is talking about it! I mean, I'm just a girl who works in a flower shop and I know already! But the whispers I've been hearing are about something else.

Well, about someone else.

See, the boys can't do it alone. They need other newsies from around New York. So they're recruiting in the Bronx, Harlem, Queens, all over. But none of that will matter. Those boys could strike their socks off and it would make no difference. Not unless they get the help of one city in particular.

Brooklyn.

The news boys of Brooklyn, New York is run by one of the most dangerous, respected, feared, outrageous, arrogant, vain, brilliant newsies in all of the state.

At least, that's what I've heard.

If Spot Conlon joins, then everyone will join and they'll be unstoppable. I acted like I don't care, but really, I thought it's intriguing. This boy, with so much power, can make or break this brave movement everyone is trying to start. It could go down in history and it all lies in the hands of one person. I thought that's incredible.

I decided to try and get involved in the strike. I'm pretty close with a few of the boys, and I'm friends with the leader, Jack Kelly. It could at least get me off of work for a few days. It's been a day since the boys went to ask Spot, and I heard that Crutchy was taken away to the refuge. It's going to be tough if Spot doesn't join.

My boss sent me on an errand to deliver some flowers near the newsies lodging house. I figured this would be a good time to check on my friends and see how I could help. Wearing a skirt and a long sleeve shirt made the walk difficult, because it was the beginning of summer, and the sun showed no mercy. I was wearing a sun hat to keep the light out of my eyes, and there was a nice breeze every few minutes. Just as I reached the first corner, the wind kicked in and my hat was blown off down the road. I put the flowers down near the store on the corner (I knew the owner, because I made frequent deliveries there) and took off chasing my hat.

I know I must have looked foolish, but I'm not the type of girl who is afraid to look a little silly. I mean, it was my only hat. Chasing after it was every harder to do in the skirt and I kept stumbling. I went all the way down the street, until eventually I couldn't even find it anywhere. It wasn't ahead of me anymore. I turned around a few times, ran back a little, looked down an alley nearby, and even checked under a horse with a cart. When I had no luck, I went back to the middle of the street I had run down, to catch my breath and wallow in my frustration because I had looked like a fool for nothing.

I had my had on my chest and was breathing heavily when I got a sudden tap on the shoulder that made me jump. I turned around, quickly, and found myself staring into the bluest eyes I had ever seen.

The boy was wearing red suspenders, which was different from any boys I had seen. He didn't look like any of the newsies I knew or saw every day, so he couldn't have been from Manhattan. He had a key around his neck… I wondered what it could go to. His brown hair was hidden under his newsie had, and he was smiling at me, amused. Even so, he was a bit breathtaking and my heart was pounding fast. But maybe that was just from the running I had been doing, or the scare he gave me.

No, it was definitely from staring at him. Most importantly, he was holding a walking cane, which made him look important and on the top of it, like an umbrella, was my hat.

"Looking for this?" he said suddenly, laughing a bit.

I was too speechless to answer in a logical sentence, so I half laughed and half squealed, like an idiot and nodded. He smiled bigger then and I sort of tripped when I went to grab my hat. He caught my arm and leaned his face down right in front of mine, looking in my eyes.

"You okay?" He looked a bit concerned. I finally remembered the English language and said,

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little dizzy… from running." I added quickly.

He looked at me, obviously not believing me, but I just took my hat and put it on.

"Thank you." I said smiling at him.

"My pleasure. Normally I would love to walk ya where ya need to go, seeing the condition you're in, but I can't be seen for now. Personal reasons. Can I ask you a favor?" He said, looking charming as hell.

"Sure." I really was proud of my witty and long responses to him. NOT.

He took a step in towards me and whispered,

"I need for you to not mention to anyone that this happened, and that you saw me. Just for now. No one can know I'm in Manhattan yet okay? But they will later, and you'll see why. But just for now, let's keep it between you and me." He looked at me hopefully and I would have walked to California for him right then.

"Okay, that's fine. I really wasn't going to tell anyone that I had run like a crazy girl down a street after a hat, anyway." I smiled. It felt good to have my voice back.

He gave one more dazzling smile and before he left I said,

"I'm April, by the way. April Evans. Thanks again…"

"Spot Conlon. I hope I see you around, April." I think I might have died right then. I gulped and almost lost my balance again, but managed to spurt out,

"Yeah, you too." Then he picked up his cane and walked away.

I had just met the Spot Conlon. The most dangerous and arrogant boy in all of New York. The most famous and feared Newsie in the world, probably.

I smiled to myself.

He caught my hat.

I took a deep breath and did a silent prayer that I would run into him again. He wasn't as bad as people made him sound. At least he wasn't to me.

This whole strike had just gotten more exciting.

Okay, I want to apologize that it took so long.

Bad me

But I hope everyone still reads it, and PLEASE R&R!!

I hope you like it, gimme feedback!!

Glad to be back,

Spunkyy7