Ok... so feeling inspired by a wonderful, rather random, NML chat, here's what I came up with. Deal with it. Reviews make me happy! But then again, so does chocolate. So if I got both, I'd be like the happiest person evah!
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I awoke to Kloppman calling my name to wake up. No matter how long I've been doing this, I'll never get used to waking up early to sell newspapers. It's hard on my leg. Damn thing. I curse it every day.
I struggle to get out of bed, my head not quite clear. I drank too much the night before. I should have never had that beer. I am going to quit drinking so much. Half a beer next time. That's my limit.
The other guys were all chattering around me. As much as a bunch of teenage boys could chatter so early in the morning. A couple mumble their good morning and whatnot as I hobbled my way to the washroom.
"Morning, Crutchy," a familiar voice greeted.
I grinned at Itey, who's washing his face next to me. "Morning! Sleep well?"
"Ooh! Look how cute he is in the morning!" a female voice whispered.
"Who said that?" I demanded. I wondered if Itey snuck a girl into the bunkroom last night.
"Said what?" Itey asked.
I glanced at him. "No-nothing. Nevermind." I put on a fake smile, hoping he would leave well enough alone.
He shrugged and returned to his task.
"Aw, his hair is so cute! I wanna touch it," the voice whispered again. It sounded so far away, but maybe it was just really quite. I couldn't tell.
I shook my head, hoping to clear it. 'Stupid beer,' I thought. 'My head is so foggy. I'm hearing voices.'
"Hey! Quit that! Are you trying to kill us?" a different voice, but also female, asked. She sounded quite irritated.
"You're not hearing voices because of the beer, although that would be cause for concern," a third female quipped.
The voices were getting louded. 'How many are there?' I wondered.
"Just three. I promise. There's Shoe, MG and me. Aki.' the third voice answered.
I froze. They could read my thoughts. My eyes grew wide and my mouth hung open. This wasn't right. No girl ever talks to me, now I have three conversating in my head. Maybe I'm going crazy. Yes. That's it. I am going crazy. I knew it only a matter of time.
"This is great. I'm stuck in Crutchy's head with Miss Perky and Miss Giggles. My life is now complete," came the sarcastic voice of the second female.
"Oh, hush, MG. You are just upset that you aren't in Skittery's head," the first one teased.
"Shoe, Morning Glory, that's enough. You're scaring the boy," Aki said.
"Aw, Aki! We weren't doin' nothin'," the one known as Shoe whined.
"Quit your whining. And your double negatives. It's annoying," Morning Glory, or MG, scolded.
Shoe sighed. "Fun sucker."
"Giggle stick."
"Party pooper!"
"Party thrower!"
"Deb- wait. What?"
"I don't know. I couldn't think of anything."
"Enough!" Aki yelled over the two.
"Sorry," they mumbled.
I didn't know what to do. The voices were very clear now. I snapped out of my daze and looked around. I was still at the sink and only Snipeshooter was left. Poor little guy. He was always the last one left.
"You okay, Crutchy?" he asked me. He had a funny look on his face. I imagined I look pretty odd standing at the sink with a dumbfound look on my face.
"Huh? Oh! Oh yea. I'm fine. Just a little tired. That's all," I lied. the fake smile was back in place. 'Only I'm going completely nuts.' I slowly made my way to the bunkroom to change.
"You're not going crazy! Geez, Crutchy! Get a grip. You're freaking out," MG said expasperated.
"What she means to say is you're fine. Just go about your day, and we won't bug you. If you need anything, just ask. Or think. Or something. Whatever," Aki trailed off.
Shoe giggled. "Carry the banner! Whoo!"
"Just don't shake or hit your head. You'll kill us," MG flatly asked.
I slowly got dressed, defeated. There wasn't going to be many papers left. I was going to lose money to day. Not like I didn't most days anyhow. 'I hope they aren't around long. How long are you gonna be in there?'
"Oh, could be hours. Could be years. Who knows," Shoe answered calmly.
I hobbled down and out of the lodging house and made my way towards the distribution center. Hopefully I can still get soem papers. 'Damnit.'
"Oh, he swore. Bad Crutchy. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Aki scolded.
"You dolt! He doesn't have a mother!" MG shot back.
"Quiet! You're upsetting him. Poor, Crutchy. It's ok. Shoe's here for you," consoled Shoe.
I finally arrived at the distribution center. There were a couple of boys left, standing around and scanning the headlines. I made my way up to the window and ordered my usual twenty papers.
"How many did he get?" Shoe asked.
"Probably twenty. He probably can't sell that much," Aki answered.
"He should sell more! I know he can do it!" protested Shoe.
"Are you kidding me? No one buys from a crip. Most people think he's faking it anyhow. Besides, the headlines probably junk," MG retorted.
They continued to argue. I tried my best to ignore them, but it wasn't working so well. Oh well. I planned on talking to Jack next time I saw him. He would understand. He's a great leader like that. Until then, it was going to be a long day.