Georgia stared out the window, then looked at her watch. One more glance out the window, one more peek at her watch. She seemed to be very impatient. "Where is he?" she thought. "I waited four months for this very day, and now he doesn't arrive!" Indeed, she was frustrated. However a certain aura of hope seemed to float around her. Though she was frustrated, it was out of anxiety. She couldn't wait for him to arrive.

It had all started almost two years before...

*_*_*_*

She was still the new girl around, having arrived recently from England to stay with her Uncle Kloppmann. While most of the newsies seemed in awe of her at times, for her polished manners and correct way of speaking, he had barely even looked her way. She, in turn, hadn't really noticed him either. He wasn't her type, why should she? She used to think she liked lovey-dovey fellows, and he was the exact opposite. But one day she found herself looking around for him. At first she didn't even realize she was looking for anything. When suddenly, he emerged from around a corner in the big lobby and her heart skipped a beat.

"Georgia!" she scolded herself, "what on earth are you thinking? You've never even looked his way before, how could you be interested in someone you barely even know?" She turned her gaze towards the floor and tried to direct her thoughts elsewhere. Anywhere: "My, the floor definitely needs some polishing. Why, with all us newsies running around in our old boots, it is doomed to tarnish sometime." She heard movement behind her and quickly raised her head. It wasn't him. "Oh, darn," she thought. Then she realized what she had just done. "Oh, bother!" she exclaimed out loud, and scurried away from the room, leaving weird looks behind her.

Over months, she found herself paying more and more attention to him, and she tried to avoid it at all cost. She tried to fool herself into believing she was not the least bit interested. It was hard, though; and his teasing manner did nothing to help. In addition she couldn't deny the twinges of sharp pain she felt when she saw him prance about with other girls. And that was quite often. Indeed he was very popular among the ladies, and liked well enough among the fellows. Still, he wasn't exactly the type of date you'd feel comfortable taking home to meet your folks. This thought didn't really apply to her, though, for her parents were gone and she lived in a lodging house.

*_*_*_*

She smirked when she remembered how she had actually had that thought She looked around her. It was empty today. Everyone was out selling, or getting a bite to eat, or just enjoying the lovely day. Alone or together, everyone was somewhere. She was the only one in. All she could do was wait. Wait for him to arrive. Another impatient glance out the window. She shuddered at another memory....

*_*_*_*

When she finally thought she had supressed her feelings for Mr. Rugged, it was because someone else had entered her life; Mr. Hypocrisy. She met him before Mr. R and she truly despised him at the beginning. Somehow along the line, her dislike started withering away into a cautious friendship, which eventually progressed into something else. What exactly, she couldn't define. The talks late at the night, the inside jokes, the (pseudo)feeling of mutual understanding, had it ever been love? She doubted it now. It had come very close to being an 'official' relationship, though. All that was missing was a kiss to seal the deal. Thankfully it never happened.

Mr. Hypocrisy hadn't always had that name in her mind though.There was a time when he could be thought of with much nicer names. He had earned this one though. For as Georgia later found out, he had been deceiving her. What was worse, with a close friend of hers. She and Sophia had a serious and overwhelming conversation one day; they both compared their ends of the story and discovered, with a mix of shock and disgust, which things he had said to both of them, what sweet talk he had given one while making the other feel unique, the lies he had told. After some tears and angry words, they reached the conclusion that his mental equilibrium couldn't possibly be stable. That 'answer' lessened the horrible feeling of being cheated. It was something hard to recover from though, for both of them. They had each placed so much trust in their relationship with him.

Then Mr. Rugged came back into Georgia's life. Her breathing still became irregular when he was near, her pulse still quickened. But now things began to get more serious. And one week in July, something happened. She was feeling a bit blue one day, and decided she had nothing to lose. She'd give it a shot, try to get the message through. So they were leaning over the balcony, watching the sky with some other people around them. She inched closer to him, and held her breath, but he didn't move away. In fact, he seemed to pick up the cue. Something sparked up between them, and suddenly they were in a fun stage of their relationship; the kind of awkward stage where all that has to be done is the first move, and the rest will be history.

The next night, she felt a bit queasy. Maybe it was the sudden heat wave, maybe the small amount of food she had eaten; less than she usually did, which was already unhealthy in itself. "Gee, you feelin' ok?" Bookie asked her. "She's right Gee, you do seem kinda pale," Racetrack commented. They were all sitting on couches in the lobby, and she tried to brush off the two's worries by showing she could get up. "No, I'm fine, really, I just need to get some fresh --" before she could say 'air' she half- collapsed back against the couch. "Whoa! Bookie, gimme a hand 'ere!" Race exclaimed. "Uh, Gee, I think you should lie down a little," Bookie replied while helping Race straighten her out. "In a bed," Race emphasized, when she tried to lie down on the couch. "Come on," he continued "I'll take ya ta da boy's bunkroom, its kinda empty now since all da guys are..." he gestured with his free hand "well, ya can see."

All around them, newsboys and newsgirls were engaged in conversations, in games of cards, and the like. It was a Sunday and they were letting out their steam before a new week began. To the newsies though, there wasn't much of a margin between one week and the other. Monday was only the first day of the week by tradition. Their lives were a continuous week, getting up every single day to sell papes. Be it a monday or a saturday.

"Oh, fine," Gee answered. She felt very weak by then, and she allowed Race and Bookie to help her up the stairs and into the bunkroom. "Where shall we put 'er, Race?" Bookie asked. "Ovah heah, Tax's bunk. Its right by da window so she can git da fresh air she was needin'." They gently placed her on a bed next to the window. "No, wait..." she mumbled. Then she thought to herself "this is HIS bed! I don't want him to see me here, all pale and sweaty and..." But she was too tired to protest. Her head slipped down on the pillow and she dozed off before she could utter a 'thank you'.

Race and Bookie watched over her for a few minutes. "Dý'ya think she'll get bettah?", Race wondered out loud. "Yeah, she'll be just fine," Bookie smiled, thinking of how considerate he was. "Now come on, let's get back downstairs and let 'er rest." She linked her arm into his and he turned around and smiled. "Shoah, let's go see if Snipes wants ta roll me fer dat cigar he stole dis mornin'!" Race exclaimed, acting all grand. They both laughed their way out of the room and down the stairs.

An hour had passed, then another. A few people drifted in and out of the room but Gee hardly noticed. She was still rather dizzy and couldn't bother opening her eyes. However, at one point, she felt a familiar presence nearby. She managed to open one eye and caught her breath upon seeing Tax and Bumlets standing in the doorway. "Who's dat in me bunk?" Tax questioned. "Oh, its Gee," Bumlets replied. "Race an' Bookie tole me an' Illy dat they put 'er up heah cuz she wasn't feelin' too good". He didn't really seem affected by this and turned around, ready to go back downstairs. "Hey Illusion, you done already?" he shouted up the stairs to the girls' bunkroom. "Shhhhh Bumlets!!! Don't yell, Gee's sick!!! An' hold yer horses, I ain't done!" Illy shouted back in an equally loud voice. "Whaddaya mean y'ain't done? What da heck you'se doin' up dere anyway?" Bumlets yelled again.

Tax shook his head at the two; they were constantly bickering. They always made up and ended in a cuddle, though. Chuckling, he shut the door and walked over to his bunk to check on Gee. She had been half-oblivious to the whole scene. All she noticed was Tax so closeby. She shut her eyes and tried to breathe normally as he approached. Tax sat down on the bed, quite close to her. She opened one eye and managed a weak smile. "I'm sorry," she said faintly, "you must want to go to bed, I'll get up". She raised herself up on her elbows. Tax chuckled once more. "Yer not goin' anywhere. I jist wan'ed ta check if Bumlets an' Illy woke ya up. How d'ya feel, by da way?". Gee giggled. "Bumlets and Illusion bickering again? Naw, they didn't wake me up, thats one sound I've become real used to by now." They both let out a laugh.Then an awkward moment of silence settled in, as Tax stared openly into her eyes.

When she held his gaze, he quickly turned away. "Er, so.. didja eat anythin'?" Tax asked her. "Ya must be hungry." "No, not really but I don't feel like eating anyway..." she replied. "Nonsense," he said, "you'se sick, you'se gonna eat, period. I'se gonna go down an' git me suppah, I'll git somet'in fer you." "No, its ok, really..." Gee tried to protest, but Tax held up his hand. "Na-na-na, not one more woid outta you. Now rest, ya heah me? I'll check back on ya latah" and gently,in a playful manner, he pushed her back down onto the bed. She giggled once more, and agreed by nodding and closing her eyes. He got up and looked at her for a minute before turning his back and leaving the room.