Hey guys! So I decided to write this as a sort of character evaluation, just so I can experiment with characters I usually don't write about. I'm starting out with Romeo, because I've noticed there are a lot of fans of him and Race (and I must say, they're starting to grow on me). Each chapter will be a different character, and I'll just write about a day in each life. It's not really going to make sense as a continuous story. Just think of it as a collection of one-shots.

Also, this doesn't mean I'm abandoning my other work-in-progress, Stubborn, which you should totally check out if you haven't already; there was a huge plot twist in my last update! (A little self-promotion never hurt anyone, right?:)

Hope you enjoy!

Romeo was a deep sleeper. Jack was always the first one up in the morning; he shouted at the others to wake up and then went around shaking awake the ones that were still asleep. Romeo always had to be shaken awake.

This morning, when Jack laid a firm hand on young Romeo's back, ready to start shaking, Romeo's eyes flew open and he jumped. "Yah! Ah…jeez, Jack…you scared me…"

Jack laughed. "Time to get up. Them papes don't sell themselves."

Romeo moaned. He'd been having a great dream. As he sat up and ran a hand through his dark messy hair, he tried desperately to grasp at the fragments left in his mind. The dream had included a girl…had he kissed her? Romeo shook his head. It was gone. He dreamed about girls a lot.

Jack was still standing by Romeo's bed, but he was reaching up to the top bunk where Race was still snoring. Romeo crawled out of bed, and Jack tussled his hair, scowling up at the still-sleeping Race. "See if you can wake him, why don't you…" Jack said.

Romeo grinned and crawled up to the top bunk. "Race! Race!" he croaked, clearing his throat and shaking Race as he did every morning. "Get the heck up! You'se gonna be late!"

"Wha…?" Race groaned. He rolled over and pulled the covers over his head, kicking at Romeo."Get off…"

Romeo grabbed the thin blanket and tugged it off Race, tumbling off the bunk in the process. He landed nimbly on his feet but stumbled backwards into Specs, who grinned and steadied the younger boy.

"Hey!" Race yelled, finally rolling out of bed with a snarl. He snatched his blanket back from Romeo and glared at him groggily. Romeo shrugged and scampered out of the way. He'd learned not to mess with Race in the morning.

After buttoning up his shirt, lacing up his boots, checking eagerly in the cracked mirror for any sign of facial hair (this was in vain; he watched the older boys shaving every morning with hot envy), Romeo joined the group and headed out to the streets.

He stayed near the edges of the crowd of newsies, hoping for a glimpse of a girl that might give him a kiss. He tried his luck with a young, rich-looking woman, but she just smirked at him and walked away. Romeo watched her get into a carriage and scowled. Jack patted him on the back with a laugh. "Better luck next time, kid."

At the circulation desk, Romeo tried to jump in the front of the line but the others wouldn't let him budge. He found himself being pushed and shoved to the back, as usual. Davey and Les showed up and joined him in the back of the line. Romeo was still shy around them, so he didn't try to make conversation. He found it hard to be comfortable with people he'd just met—except girls. For some reason, girls were easier to understand at first shot. Boys were tougher; Romeo had grown up around the newsies that had become his brothers, but sometimes their teasing made him timid about what other people might think of his frequent interactions with the girls.

Romeo bought his usual fifty papes and plopped down beside Race, whom he'd deemed safe to approach by that time. "How's the headline?" he asked, unfolding one of the papes.

"You got eyes, see for yourself," Race snapped. He waved a paper in front of Romeo's nose. "Lousy, as usual."

Romeo pushed Race's pape away and read the headline of his own. " 'Factory Fire—No Injuries, Extinguished Within Minutes'," he read with disgust.

"Wish the firemen weren't so good," Race said, frowning at a picture of several smiling firemen in front of the factory, which showed no signs of damage.

"Here's a good one," Romeo piped up, flipping the page. " 'Mayor to Re'— oh, never mind, it's rotten. I thought it said 'retire', but it's just something about 'returning funds' to someplace."

"You want me to clean out your eyes for you?" Race asked, clenching his fist threateningly. "Here you got my hopes up, and it's just an old—"

"Let's hit the streets, boys!" Jack called, sending everyone out into the city and cutting Race off.

Romeo jumped up. "See you, Race," he called, scuttling off to his usual selling spot near a salon. Mostly it was all old rich ladies going in there—which was good for his business of course, seeing as how they pinched his cheeks and handed him a dime without him having to hawk headlines much—but sometimes younger women would fly in and out, giving him plenty of opportunity to flirt.

In fact, he had just taken up his post when he spotted a real beauty of a girl, flouncing out of the salon alone. "Hello there, miss!" he called excitedly. The girl stopped and turned, her curls bouncing on her shoulders. "And how are you today?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Um, fine."

"I'm just a kid trying to make a living off sellin' papes, you know…think you'd take one, help a fellow out?"

The girl glanced down at her small purse hanging off one shoulder. "How much?"

"Usually I'd ask for a dime, but for a special lady such as yourself—"

"No need to flatter me, boy. I've got a special young man who does that every day."

Romeo's heart sank, but he didn't give up. "For you, I'd make it a nickel. If you give me a kiss."

She looked up sharply and examined him for a long moment. Then she walked briskly towards him and glanced across the street. "All right, so I don't have a man, but if you're going to kiss me we'd better do it around the corner. Daddy's watching me from across the street and he wouldn't want to see."

Romeo was delighted. They went around the corner and stopped. The girl pressed a cold silver nickel into his hand and he stood on tiptoes to kiss her. Then she was gone, and Romeo, heartened, shouted at a man across the street, " 'Factory Fire Kills Dozens! Families Angry! Authorities Blame Government'! "

The man bought the pape and Romeo made a run for it.

At lunchtime he counted up his coins. He still had twenty papers left to sell, and he'd given two other young ladies the deal he'd given the first one, so he decided to skip lunch. He waved sadly at Crutchie who was hurrying to the bakery, then continued to yell false headlines.

" 'Mayor Retires'!" he was shouting, grinning at the thought of Race's empty threat that morning when Romeo had misread the headline.

He felt a tap on his shoulder, and there stood Crutchie, holding out a single piece of bread. "Couldn't let you go hungry," Crutchie said kindly. Romeo beamed up at him and shoved the bread into his mouth.

"Oh…uh…thanks!" Romeo mumbled through a mouthful of bread. Crutchie tussled his hair affectionately and limped off.

Romeo smacked his lips; the little nutrition that the bread had to offer had nevertheless given him a bit more strength to sell the rest of his papers. He knew Jack would make him pay Crutchie back for the bread, but as he again painstakingly counted up his coins, decided the day hadn't been a complete loss. He'd kissed three girls, and now had enough money for a decent dinner.

Maybe he'd eaten a little too much for dinner, because by the time he stumbled back to the Lodging House, he could barely think straight. Romeo fell right into bed, and Race laughed at him as he passed. "We're gonna hafta call you Sleepy from now on!"

Romeo jerked slightly awake—enough to reach under his bed and fumble for a pencil he kept there. Turning to the wall beside his bed, he made three little tick marks, one for each girl he'd kissed that day. It joined dozens of others, bringing the total to somewhere near fifty. It had been a good day, and as Romeo dozed off, he was vaguely aware of one of the others laughing softly and removing Romeo's hat for him. Then he was asleep again, dreaming about more kisses, more food, and more papes.

Don't forget to review, and tell me what other character's lives you would like to see!

-Sis21K