Wow. I mean, WOW. I'm really excited about this fic. I am. I may not be the world's biggest football fan (hey though, no football would mean no marching bands, so it's not all bad), but the game is okay enough. But seriously. I can't wait for this fic. It's going to be so much fun to write and I think I might actually finish it. It may take a while though, because I have research on West Virginia to do, and other fun stuff. But I think I'm going to enjoy it. Because I'm that much of a dork. XD.

No, um, yeah. Seriously. I'm excited. I hope you all enjoy this fic as much as I'm sure I'll enjoy writing it. Hee. Whoo. Fun fun fun.

Much love to my beta, Lute.


~~~
Under Them Bright Lights
Frogger No Baka

Disclaimer: I don't own the megaconglomerate that owns Newsies, I just bash it in my spare time. I also don't own football. OC's who show up in this fic are the property of those who submitted them to me. While I don't condone the eventual sexism and/or racism, it is mandatory to stay true to the time period. To my knowledge, there is no such town in West Virginia named Riverlaw, however I apologize to anyone who lives there if there is.


The man grabbed a glass of water with one hand. He sipped as he wiped the rapidly accumulating sweat from his forehead. Placing the water back on the table to his right, he made his way to the podium and looked out at the audience in front of him.

"Huh," he pondered. "High school students." He pushed the bridge of his glasses up his face. "I remember when I was a high school student. Ah, yes. Feels like long ago. Well, it was long ago, I suppose. 1968. Yep. Times were different then, too. Whites and blacks, we didn't all get along. Hell, women and men, we didn't get along either. Unless we were making love. And then we got along just fine." There was a titter of laughter from the kids and the teachers looked rather uncomfortable.

"I don't know why I'm thinking about it, right now. Normally I don't give speeches on this kind of thing. But I suppose I ought to. After all, your school hired me for a 'drug prevention' lecture. But nobody pays attention during those, do they?" There was no response. "Do you?" That got the crowd. They all responded enthusiastically. "So I'll tell you a story. Of a time that we all thought was much simpler. It was 1968, my senior year in high school. My last year in high school. I was a student at Cooklace High, down in Riverlaw, West Virginia. Riverlaw was a small town. Probably still is. I haven't been back since I graduated. All I know is one thing. We had one hell of a football team."

The man paused a sip of water. "Yep. I was the placekicker on our football team. It was such an honor. Such an honor to finally be playing for the Cooklace Cougars. Such an honor that for once, I would get to be the envy of all who saw me. I got to stand under them bright lights."

~~~

Next Chapter: Riverlaw, 1968.

Song of the Day: The Bulimic Girl's Song in CenterStage

Much love. Feel free to review. Please do.
~fNOb