~*~FriEnDs AnD FoEs~*~
By: Aisling Conlon
It's early morning in New York. The sun is barely shining through the grimy windows of the Newsboys Lodging House. Sleeping soundly on one of the rough, hard top beds of the boys' bunks lies a boy of about 15 or 16. He has one arm hanging off the bed and into the face of Snipeshooter, a boy of about 13. His other arm is draped lazily over his face, covering the black patch on his left eye. He has sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. He is tall and lean, with very few obvious muscles. He has strong arms and hands, however. This is Kid Blink, known to all his friends simply as "Blink."
On the bed next to Blink, sleeping with a pleased smile spread across his tan face, we see a boy of about 14 or 15. He is shirtless, exposing his bulky arms and dark, muscular chest to the early morning sun. He looked as if he was of Italian or Mexican heritage because of his deep bronze skin. He had a body that left every girl swooning. He had dark, curly hair that just made every girl ache to run her fingers through it. His eyes were so deep and dark, one would get lost in them without even trying. His sweet dimples made girls giddy. His defined six-pack and adorable butt both made girls forget where they were or run into things. This is Mush.
Across the semi-dark room, we find an old door. The paint is peeling and the lock has long since rusted over and broken. Upon opening this scrappy door, we see a room much like the one we just departed. The same hard uncomfortable bunk beds are aligned neatly against the walls. However, sleeping soundly in the beds are girls.
In the most comfortable bottom bunk, sleeps a tall, slightly tan girl of about 14 or 15. She has reddish blonde shoulder length hair. She is hugging a black teddy bear to her chest as she sleeps. This is Aisling.
On the bunk above Aisling, directly under the window, sleeps a girl also about 14 or 15. She has dark brown and auburn hair, cut to her shoulders. Her skin is olive colored and lightly tanned. She is a restless sleeper, tossing and turning many times during the night. This time, she had kicked off her sheet. She is sleeping in a white shirt down to her knees. She hugs a stuffed leopard to her chest. This is Muse.
All is silent in the two rooms. All you can hear is the soft shuffling and sighing of the sleeping Newsies and Newsettes. Then, the front door opens, and an old, wrinkled man walks swiftly in. This is Kloppman. "Boots!" he barks into the silence.
"Huh? Uh…" A little African-American boy known as Boots mumbles as he lies back down and closes his eyes.
"Skittery! Skittery!" Kloppman cried.
"Huh? I didn't- I didn't do it!" A boy wearing pink pajamas mumbled as he sits up with a look of surprise on his face.
"Well, sometimes I wonder…" Kloppman answered the boy's half-sleeping claims. "Get up! Up! Up! Up! It's time to sell the papes! Sell!" Kloppman went on like this as he went around and tapped the boys on impatiently on the heads. He then pushed open the old door and walked into the girls' room.
"Wake up! Wake up!" Kloppman cried as he pulled the newspaper that covered the window away, revealing the newly arisen sun.
"Eeek! What's going on?!" Blue, a girl with dark blonde, curly hair cut a little past her shoulders cried in surprise. She was about 14 or 15 with eyes as ice blue as the sea in winter.
"Hiccups! Get up!" Kloppman called to the girl with long dark brown hair sleeping in the corner. She was about 17 or 18. Her hair had a thick streak of blonde in the front of her hair. She refused to explain the white piece of hair to ANYONE but Spot. She has very large navy blue eyes that people were constantly complimenting on. Her skin was pale and never tanned, much to her dismay.
"Oh Spot! Of COURSE I'll marry you! But, alas, I can't wear a NEWSPAPER as a ring!" Hiccups murmured as she rolled over onto her stomach.
"At least she's dreaming about papers…Sort of…" Kloppman said as he yanked the sheet off Hiccup's bed. Kloppman called one last "Get UP!" as he made his way through both rooms and out the Lodging House front door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Back in the Newsies' room, there is no movement. Skittery and Boots had long since fallen asleep, and most of the other newsies never woke up to begin with. But, we do see Mush sitting up in his bunk, scratching his head and yawning a tired yawn. He immediately pulls out a black comb from under his pillow and runs it through his hair. He throws his feet off the top bunk and kicks Racetrack, a boy of about 14 or 15 in the face.
"Hey! What did ya do that for?!" Race asked, grabbing Mush's feet and pulling him off the bed.
"I was just waking you up!" Mush squeaked as he fell to the cold floor.
Race sighed. "Well, since I'M up, I think everyone else should be up!" he said as he jumped out of bed. He ran around to every bed, pulling the sheets off the sleeping bodies. After many grunts and curses, all the Newsies were up and preparing for the day.
All the while the boys were sleeping, the girls were up, bustling around and getting ready to go out into the day. All who had planned on it had showered, and they had all made their beds and brushed their teeth. Their hair was brushed and braided, and they were raring to leave.
"I wonder if the boys are ready?" Aisling said as she and Eclipse sat on Eclipse's bed looking out the window.
"I wonder what Mush is doing now?" Eclipse asked dreamily.
"Oh jeeze…" Aisling sighed. "Well, I don't feel like waiting around, so I'm going to get them moving." Aisling stood up and walked to the door. "Boys! Up and ready yet?" She called through the door. She heard excited whispers, some shuffling, then an audible reply; "Yea Ais, we're ready." It was Kid Blink. Aisling smiled to herself and opened the door. Blink was leaning against the wall. Her saw Aisling and smiled. She felt her breath catch in her chest as she smiled back.
"C'mon girls! Let's get moving!" The NewsKids marched out the front door and into the bustle and excitement of New York.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The group of kids walked to the Distribution Center. The gates were still closed when they arrived. Instead of sticking a wonderful song in the mix just to waste time enough for the gates to open, Blink got mad.
"Aw, BUMMER!" He said, kicking the gate.
"What's the big deal? It'll open in a few minutes." Race said, slapping Blink on the back of the head. Blink automatically hit Mush in the back of the head. Mush gave Blink a dirty look, but continued to talk to Eclipse.
"WELL! Urgh, I don't want to wait! There are SOO many people out here now, and by the time we get in there and get our papes, everybody'll be gone!" Blink whined.
"Aw, don't worry. There'll be people." Aisling comforted. Blink smiled at her and leaned coolly against the gates.
Suddenly, the gates swung open. Blink let out a little squeak as he fell through. He quickly stood up, dusted himself off, and smiled. Racetrack muttered something about "Klutz" and they walked through the gate. They heard a kid cry "Dese is for de Newsies!" as they made their way up to the window to buy their day's worth of papers.
Behind the window, a short, scruffy man was waiting. He was dirty, and in need of a good shave. This is Mr. Wiesel, known to Newsies only as "Weasel."
"How many?" Weasel asked Blink as he stood at the window.
"100 papes!" He told him, handing him the coin.
"NEXT!" Weasel cried. This continued for a while longer. Amidst the chaos of buying and discussing the papers, no one but Race and Blue notice three kids, 2 boys and a girl, walk up to the window.
"Hey, who are they?" Blue whispered to Race.
"Hmmm….Dunno…" he replied, watching them closely.
"How many kid?" Weasel asked the stranger.
"20 papers please." Weasel gave him the papers, but the boy didn't move. He was counting.
"You got your papers! Beat it, kid!" Weasel said impatiently.
"I paid for 20, and THIS is only 19!" The boy cried.
"What, are you saying I can't count, you little varmint?" Weasel asked threateningly.
"No, I would like my missing paper, now." The boy said indignantly.
"You got a hearing problem, squirt? He said Beat it." One of Weasel's newsboys, Morris, growled through the bars of the distribution window. Blink noticed that there was a problem going on, so he walked up, counted the boy's papers, and replied smugly.
"Well…Yup. That's only 19. So, I guess we ARE saying you can't count. Or, at least your talking APE back there can't." Blink scoffed and looked evilly at Morris. Morris brought his fists up, and Blink snorted. "Pleeeease…I wouldn't want to indulge myself." He pulled 2 bits from his pocket, laid it on the distribution table, and said, "Another 50 for my friend. And it better be 50."
"No, I don't want-" The stranger began to say, but Blink cut him off.
"Well of course you do! We all want more papes!"
"I don't. I don't take charity from anybody, especially street rats who can't afford to GIVE charity. Here are your papers." The stranger boy said stiffly, shoving the papers into Blink's arms. Blink didn't look a bit hurt by the insults. He just smiled.
"Okay. I'm Kid Blink." He looked down at the little boy standing next to the cocky new kid. The boy was short and young. He had brown hair that was mostly covered with his hat. He carried a cardboard sword. "What's your name, kid?" Blink asked him.
"Les! And that's my brother, David! He's older." The kid replied solemnly.
"Are you sure?" Blink teased. Les looked confused, so Blink shot him a quick smile and looked back up at the stranger he knew now as David.
"And I'M Sarah." The girl with David and Les replied. She smiled at Blink. Aisling had been watching from a distance. She had always been the jealous type, and when she was pretty sure Sarah was interested in Blink, she walked over.
"I'm Aisling." She said. Blink looked relieved that Aisling had come over. He glanced at her, then put his arm around her waist.
"She's my girl." He said proudly. Aisling smiled
smugly.
Sarah returned the smile with a forced one of her own, accompanied by a quick dirty glance. She looked to Blink and said, "So what do we do now?"
"Carry da Banner!" the Newsies cried in response.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Newsies took off calling out headlines. Shouts of "Brooklyn baby born with 3 heads!" and "Extry Extry!" filled the air.
David, Les, and Sarah tagged along with Blink and Aisling. Aisling got utterly annoyed with Sarah's not-stop chatter, but kept silent about the matter. She'd tell Blink later.
Blink sold all 100 papers in less than an hour. Aisling had sold all 100 of hers in about 45 minutes. She had amazing people skills, she was charming, and she was also rather pretty. Selling papers was quite easy for her. David, however, was having problems. He sold all 19 of the 20 papers he bought, but he still had the extra 50 Blink got him.
"Blink, why did you give me these 50 papers, anyway?" David asked in a frustrated tone. Blink looked over at him with a confused look in his blue eyes.
"C'mon! why don't you want 'em?"
"Bad Headline!" Sarah interjected, smiling hopefully at Blink. Aisling snorted incredulously at Sarah's remark. Blink slowly shook his head.
"You've got a lot to learn, kid. Headlines don't sell papes-" Blink began.
"Newsies sell papes!" Aisling finished triumphantly, taking Blink's hand and glaring at Sarah.
~*The rest of the day finished rather abruptly. David gave Blink the rest of his papers. ("I can't sell them!") and Blink got rid of them quickly. They stood around on 14th street wondering where to go.
"What about Tibby's?" David asked.
Aisling and Blink looked surprised at the suggestion. "How did you know about Tibby's?" Blink asked.
"Our father used to work there. That's where we heard about the Newsies." Sarah explained. She seemed eager to jump in to the conversation.
"So it's your dad's fault." Aisling muttered. Blink elbowed her lightly.
"Well, I'm sure the rest of the gang is up there now, so let's head up there and introduce them to David, Les, and Sally." Aisling said.
"Um…It's Sarah." Sarah corrected softly.
Aisling shot Sarah an evil glance, and replied coldly, "Whatever."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Much to their surprise, Tibby's was quiet. As Aisling and Blink walked in with their new friends, they noticed only Mush, Eclipse, and Race at a table. They were counting their earnings for the day.
"A dollar! A dollar! That's not enough! This'll bust me!" Mush was crying out in frustration.
"It's okay, Mushie. I'll support you…I made TWO dollars." Eclipse said as she took the money out of his hand and allowed her hand to take it's place.
Race had noticed that Aisling had walked in. He nudged Mush and said loudly "Heya Mush, look at the ANGEL that just walked in!"
Mush looked up, smiled, and replied in the same loud tone, "Oh! I'm in HEAVEN!"
Sarah blushed and smiled shyly. Aisling noticed this and thought, Ha! She thinks they're talking about HER! Aisling nudged Blink, and he replied to the boys' comments, "Yea…Too bad she's taken…BY ME!" Sarah's face fell, and Aisling smirked. Race and Mush smiled and walked over to them.
"Race, Mush, this is David, Les, and Sarah." Blink said, gesturing to the three kids.
"Did you know Aisling was taken?" Les asked Mush and Race innocently.
"Of course! We do that all the time!" Race answered with a smile.
"We've been friends with these two love birds forEVER!" Mush added, giving Blink a brotherly punch on the shoulder and Aisling a friendly hug. "In fact, I'm taken too!" Mush quickly added when he noticed that Sarah was staring at him and smiling seductively. He beckoned to Eclipse, and once she was by his side, he said, "This here is my girl, Eclipse!" He was looking right at Sarah as he stated this, and, again, her face fell. Aisling was taking great pleasure in seeing Sarah so disappointed, although she would never mention it to any of her friends.
"You guys wanna sit down or something?" Race asked.
"Well duh!" Aisling replied, bounding happily over to the table.
They sat small-talking for a while. Mush and Eclipse were sitting next to each other, holding hands. Aisling was sitting on Blink's lap. The two girls watched Sarah carefully. She was sitting next to Race. She was trying terribly hard to flirt with him. Mush noticed this and said something he hadn't planned on saying. "So, where's your girl, Race?"
"Ah, Blue? She's out with her friends. She's meeting me later." Race replied dreamily. Every time anyone mentioned Blue in front of Race, he got all dreamy and floaty- like. He was hard to talk to when he was like that, so the rest of the group ignored him until he came back to reality.
"Good." Eclipse said pointedly. There was an awkward silence following the question. However, it was broken by the door chimes. They looked over to see Jack Kelly, Pandora Davis, Spot Conlon, and Hiccups Ledyard, the Brooklyn Leaders. Spot and Hiccups were the leaders, and Jack and Pandora were the right hand "men."
"Heya fellas! Who're the new friends?" Jack asked.
"This is David, Les, and Susan." Eclipse said.
"Uh…It's SARAH." Sarah insisted.
"Whatever." Eclipse said.
Jack pulled up four chairs and they all sat down.
"Well…I'm Jack." He said. He had brown hair and dark eyes. He was 17, and tall. He wore a cowboy hat and a red bandanna.
"And I'm Pandora." The girl holding Jack's hand said. She had long strawberry blonde hair and a freckled face. She was 15, and also tall. She wore a red bandanna tied around her ponytail, and she had a cowboy hat hanging down her back. She wore a white sleeveless shirt and black pants with red suspenders.
"I'm Hiccups. I don't live in Brooklyn, I live in Manhattan with these guys. But my heart lives in Brooklyn…With Spot." She smiled lovingly at Spot, and he leaned over and kissed her on the nose. She wore black boots, black trousers, an overly baggy light blue shirt and a brown cap. She was 17; a year older than her love interest.
"And I'm Spot." The last boy said, with an air of a certain "bad boy" dignity. However, he was rather scrawny. About 16, he had black hair and crystal blue eyes. His skin was tan and soft. He was wearing a blue shirt, gray pants, and suspenders.
"Hi." Sarah squeaked out. She felt uncomfortable, being the only girl at the table wearing a long, lace skirt. But, she was eyeing Spot very intently. Hiccups noticed this, and immediately leaned over to Spot and kissed him. Rather surprised, Spot jumped, but, of course, quickly calmed down and returned the favor. Hiccups pulled away proudly, and glared at Sarah, as if to say, "Just try." Sarah looked away, ashamed, from Hiccups and Spot, and tried to catch Jack's eye. Jack gave her an odd look, and hugged Pandora. Pandora giggled and said, "Ah, Jackie-boy!" Yet again, Sarah's face fell, and she looked down at the table.
The group talked about the day's sales ("I only made ONE DOLLAR!") until Sarah cried, "Oh NO! We have to go! Father will be worried!" As they got quickly up to leave, Hiccups and Pandora called, "Bye Les! Bye David! Bye…Shannon!"
"SARAH!"
"Whatever…"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Back at David, Les, and Sarah's apartment, a fight had broken out.
"We are NOT selling papers with those…those…HOODLUMS!" Sarah screamed at David, who stood, hands defiantly on his hips, in front of her.
"I don't care what you think because I AM selling, whether you are or NOT!"
"Me too!" Les cried, imitating his older brother's stance and tone of voice.
"Stay out of this!" Sarah cried at him. Les looked hurt, and he trudged off into the other room.
"No David! Please don't! They have no respect for other's feelings!"
"Just because none of the guys liked you doesn't mean that they are hoodlums! And, you know what? I don't really care what you think!" David screamed. Tears streamed down Sarah's olive face, and she turned abruptly to walk out of the room. However, she bumped into her father, who was coming in to see what the problem was.
"Woah! What's all this?" Mr. Jacobs asked.
"Davie's friends are rude and inconsiderate to me, and I feel that he shouldn't sell papers with them at all." Sarah said indignantly.
David sighed and gave his father a pleading look. Mr. Jacobs thought for a minute or two, his hand thoughtfully on his chin.
"Well," he finally said, "I think that David should have a choice of who his friends are. It's not up to you, Sarah. If you don't like his friends, then make your own." Mr. Jacobs said gently.
"But Daddy! There are no more kids to be friends with! They're all Newsies!" Sarah whined.
"You'll find someone. Now go to bed and get some sleep. Both of you." Their father usually finished fights that way.
"Yes, Father." They both sighed and walked out of the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Back at the Lodging House, everyone was bustling around in pajamas socializing. Mush and Eclipse were cuddling in a corner and Blink and Aisling were talking to other newsies about the new "friends" they met that day.
"David was cool, Ais, you hafta admit that." Blink said.
"Yea, but I hope that girl got the hint and doesn't come back." Aisling said, crossing her arms. Blink and the other Newsies in the conversation all sighed and rolled their eyes. They all knew that when Aisling crossed her arms, they'd best change the subject. They never win arguments over the stubborn Aisling.
"Was she pretty, Blink?" A cute newsie with glasses and black hair asked. His name was Specs, and, sadly, he didn't have much luck with girls in general.
Blink looked at him with a forced smile. "Yea, um…She was…Cute?" he answered.
"Great! Maybe she'll like me when I meet her!" Specs said cheerfully. Before either Blink or Aisling could say another word, Specs had walked off to play poker with a bunch on newsies on the Lodging House porch.
"Is she pretty, Blink, or were you just trying to raise Spec's spirits?" Blue, Race's girlfriend asked.
"Um…Well…She's not that bad…" Blink said unsure of himself.
"Ah…I see…" Blue said, walking over to race, who was playing poker. She sat down in his lap.
"Hey Racie…" She said, winking at him.
"I need ya, my little good luck charm…I'm loosing." Race said.
"That's what I'm here for." Blue said, kissing Race on the nose.
Aisling and Blink laughed at the cute couple Race and Blue made.
"It's weird…" Aisling began.
"What's weird, Ais?" Blink asked.
"Blue and Race…I mean, Blue is shy, and pretty cautious. But Race is outgoing and a HUGE risk-taker! It's just funny that they never fight…Their personalities are so different, so…" Aisling drifted off the sentence. She looked frustrated, like she was trying to make a point but couldn't seem to figure out how to do it.
"They're the only couple who has never fought." Blink said.
"That's the point I was trying to make." Aisling said stiffly.
"I know." Blink said.
"Then why didn't you let me make it?" Aisling asked, visibly hurt.
"Aw Ais, I love you."
"I know."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The night was cold. Very cold. No one really understood why it suddenly got so bitterly cold, seeing as it was only September. They had only been in bed an hour, and before they went to bed, the air was nice. There was a slight wind, but it was comfortable.
Aisling lay awake in her bunk, shivering with her thin blanket over her shoulders. She looked up at the sound of the old door creaking open.
"Damn door!" Blink whispered in the darkness.
"Guys! What're you doing in here!?" Aisling asked.
"Oh! You're awake! We were just coming in to let anyone awake know that a storm's on it's way." Blink whispered. "Now say something else so I can find you."
"Over here!" Aisling whispered loudly. Blink groped the darkness until he sighed and said, "Aw, Ais, there you are!"
"Ack! Get off me you shit!" Mush said, pushing Blink off him. Aisling laughed and put her hands out. She found Blink's arm and pulled him down on the bed. "Whew! That was hard!" Blink said.
"Heya Mush…Eclipse sleeps up there…" Aisling whispered, pointing to the bunk above her.
"Oh yeeeeeeea…" Mush said, reaching up and grabbing the top mattress. He pulled himself up on the mattress, and by the sliver of moonlight coming through the window by Eclipse's bed, positioned himself at her feet.
"Wake up, Eclipse…" Mush whispered. Eclipse didn't move. "Dammit…" Mush sighed and gazed at Eclipse.
"So how close is the storm and how bad will it be?" Aisling asked Blink. Just after she finished her sentence, a huge bolt of bright lightning struck, followed by a deafening crash of thunder.
"Close. And BAD." Blink replied.
Aisling shuddered and Blink pulled her closer to him. Eclipse had awoken from the crash with a loud "Eek!" She jolted up, saw Mush, and pulled him over to her.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty!" Mush said, hugging Eclipse. She gripped his arms tightly and squeaked, "I don't like storms…Don't leave…Please?"
"I won't…" Mush whispered, laying Eclipse's head in his lap and massaging her shoulders.
"God it's cold…" Aisling said, shuddering again.
"Okay, hold on, I'll go get my blanket," Blink said, getting up from Aisling's bed and slowly made his way to the door.
"Get mine too, Blink!" Mush called after him.
In a few minutes time, the newsies had awakened and made their way to the Newsette's room. Race was sitting next to Blue. They were using a little candle for light to play poker since neither of them were bothered by storms.
Mush and Eclipse had their sheets wrapped around them trying to warm up. Eclipse was whimpering pathetically, and Mush was saying "Shhh…" trying to comfort her.
Aisling and Blink were sitting on Aisling's bed. Aisling had her head in Blink's lap
Lotus Blossom, a girl with long dark brown hair and aquamarine eyes sat on her bunk with a newsie with blonde hair and glasses named Dutchy. They were talking seriously about how Lotus had aquired the scar above her left eye. She had tears in her eyes, and Dutchy was gently and slowly rubbing her back.
Just then, a tall newsie with black hair and glasses walked in. He spotted Blink and walked toward him.
"I wish girls would so much as give me a second glance." The newsie sighed.
"Aw, Specs, you'll find the right girl soon," Aisling comforted.
The storm just got worse. So did the cold. Specs went and got the blanket from his bunk. When he came back, Slinks, a girl with hazel eyes and brown hair Specs had been eyeing for a while, stopped him.
"Heya Specs! Come sit with me, would ya? I'm cold and I don't like storms." She smiled, and Specs melted.
"Sure!" He said, climbing into her bed.
Everyone was settled, 2 or 3 to a bed in order to keep warm. They got quiet then, listening to the storm rage on.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Blink woke up to the sound of Eclipse and Mush.
"Oh Mush, you're so FUNNY!"
"Yea…I know…"
Blink smiled at the cheesyness of the pair until he heard them kissing. Blink's smile faded. "Ugh" He said, kicking the bottom of the bed. The jolt didn't seem to phase them, however, so Blink stood up and walked toward the Newsies' room to wash his face.
"Blink, where are you going?" Aisling asked, sitting up in bed.
"Just going to wash my face…Don't worry."
"Well…I wanna…Be with you…" Aisling whispered shyly.
Blink smiled and reached for her hand. "Okay."
Together the opened the door.
"Oh my God!" Aisling screamed. She stumbled into the room. Blink stared in shock at the display in front of him. All the windows were broken, and in the middle of the room was a tree. It had crashed through the roof and landed on 3 or 4 bunks; smashing them to pieces.
He glanced at Aisling. She was silent, walking around the room in awe. Suddenly, she clapped her hands over her mouth and fell to her knees.
"What? Ais, what's wrong?" blink cried, running to her side.
"Kl-Kl-Kloppman!" Aisling cried.
"What?!" Blink cried, following Aisling's terrified gaze.
There, under the tree and splintered beds was Kloppman. The only thing visible was his wrinkled hand.
"Ma-Maybe it's not him!" Aisling sniffled.
"No…It is. Look, it's the ring he always wears." Blink whispered.
Aisling let out a choked sob. Blink took her hand, leaned over, and took Kloppman's hand in his other. He didn't say anything.
"What? Blink, what?" Aisling asked urgently, gripping his hand tighter.
Blink sighed, looked Aisling in the eyes, and said quietly, "It's Cold."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Lodging House was silent. Everyone was sitting in the Newsette's room, trying to keep from looking over at Kloppman's lifeless body. Suddenly, Aisling broke the silence with a little gasp.
"What is it, baby?" Blink asked quietly.
"You and Mush slept on those beds." She stated rather bluntly.
At that, Eclipse looked up slowly; eyes wide, mouth gaping. "So…So…If they hadn't come in our room last night…then…then…" Eclipse couldn't finish her sentence. Both girls were overcome with tears. They ran to Blink and Mush and embraced them. The two boys soothed them with soft "shh's" and "Don't think like that!" until Race broke the sadness, turning it into anger.
"So what do we do, Blink? Huh? You're the all powerful leader. Why don't you tell us?" he asked, hands on his hips. He was madder than anyone had ever seen him in all the ten years he had lived at the Lodging House. Kloppman had taken him in at 3 when Race's family had been killed in a fire.
Blink tried to say something just as snide to say in reply, but the words escaped him.
"I…I don't…Know." Blink whispered.
"Well, why the hell don't you, eh? Why not?!" Race screamed. Blue tried to calm him down, but he pushed her down and stormed out of the girls' room.
He stopped at where Kloppman lie, collapsing. Blue ran to his side, throwing her arms around him. Race looked up, tears streaming down his face. He looked directly at Blink and said something so low it was almost a whisper: "It's YOUR fault."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Blink winced as if Race had struck him across the face.
"Wha'? But…HOW!?" Blink asked.
"If you had gone to tell Kloppman that the storm was coming and that we would be fine then he would still be alive! If you had taken the 2 minutes it takes to climb a flight of stairs, then he'd still be alive! That's why it's YOUR fault!" Race walked closer to Blink, his hands closed in tight, dangerous fists.
Aisling stepped in front of the boys. "Don't, Race…Please." She said, taking his clenched fists in her hands and trying to mold them back into the soft, relaxed hands Race normally had. The hands she held when she was 8 and her parents were murdered. As she touched him, all the memories came flooding back. Then night that she came home from a friend's house to see her parents dead, stabbed, on the living room floor of their small apartment. How she ran straight to the Lodging House, blinded by tears.
She and Race had been friends since they were 6 and she met him at the market. He was trying to sell a paper to her mother. She remembered how Race hugged her as she cried into his arms.
And as she held Race's hands again, just like those 8 years ago, she knew he remembered it too. She met his gaze. She saw in his eyes the love he had for her. Tears crept up on her, but she pushed them away. She locked gazes with Race, willing him to back off. But he ignored it. He pushed her aside, along with all their long ago memories. She fell to the ground, shocked.
"Don't you lay a finger on her…" Blink growled, his hands now in tight, angry fists.
"Please, boys…Don't." Blue said, helping Aisling up off the ground.
"Getting your girl to fight your battles for you, Race?" Blink asked, cocking his head to one side in a manner that screamed, 'Try me…' Race murmured something inaudible, then lunged at Blink.
He punched him in the jaw, then in the stomach. Before Blink could regain his bearings, Race knocked him over and put a foot on his chest. He then pulled a jack-knife from his vest pocket.
"No!" Mush cried, wrenching himself from Eclipse's grip. He lunged at Race just as Race brought the knife down to Blink's chest, whispering, "You killed the only father I had…" Mush got between then just in time to save Blink. But Race didn't stop the knife. It sunk into Mush's shoulder.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"NO! MUSH!" Eclipse screamed, running to Mush's side. Race looked down at Mush, flabbergasted.
"I…I…" He began, but he had no words to finish.
Mush turned his head, his tears leaving a sparkling trail through the blood smeared on his cheek, and simply stated, "You missed."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
No one moved, until Blink said in a strained voice, "You saved my life Mush…But, um…Could you get off me?" Mush turned and gave Blink the most hurtful look he'd ever given anybody…Save Aimee, his last girlfriend. Blink saw the blood streaked across Mush's face, and felt his breath catch in his chest. Blink pushed himself to his elbows. At the sudden movement, Mush let out a howl and rolled off Blink. Race began backing away in terror. No one, not even Blue noticed this. Race slipped out the front door and into the night.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Race stumbled around in the street. He stood, his eyes filling with tears, next to the Horace Greeley statue in front of the lodging house. There was only one place he could think to go at a time of this much fear and confusion: The pier down by the Brooklyn Bridge.
He walked to his little spot under a huge weeping willow, but found that it was already occupied.
"Sarah?!" he said to the figure sprawled out on the ground under the tree. She jolted awake, saw him, smiled, and lifted herself up to her elbows. "What are you doing here? Don't you have a HOME?!" race asked her, bewildered.
"Well, of course! I just needed to get out for some fresh air. The house was too…thick…?" She said, searching for the right word to describe the atmosphere after the fight.
"What do you mean?" Race asked.
"Well, David and I got in a little fight." She diverted her eyes from Race's face. "I was angry about…Well…How none of you guys liked me and that the girls were rude…" She seemed terribly embarrassed, so Race said, "Yea, Blink and I got in a…Fist…Fight and Mush kinda…Got in the way…So now all my friends are against me…Even Blue…She didn't pay any attention when I walked out…"
"I don't have any friends…" Sarah whispered.
Hesitantly, Race leaned over and took Sarah's hand. "I'll be your friend." He whispered.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Back at the Lodging House, there was a fearful feel to the air. Blink was leaning over Mush's shoulder, trying to find an easy way to get the knife out. Aisling held Mush's head in her lap, holding a cool rag to his brow. Eclipse paced back and forth, wringing her hands and whispering to herself in Spanish. Blue was playing 'nurse,' making frequent stops to the kitchen for more water for Blink and Aisling.
"Hold on Mush…This WILL hurt…" Blink warned. He took hold of the knife and pulled. Mush let out a painful moan, and Eclipse burst into tears, running to a bunk and collapsing on it. Dutchy pulled away from Lotus Blossom, and walked over to Eclipse. He rubbed her back, trying to calm her down. Eclipse looked up, and, seeing her best friend sitting there, reached up and wrapped her arms around him. Lotus Blossom smiled slightly.
Blink put the knife down to the side quickly, like it carried some sort of virus that could kill anyone with a single touch. He put a rag on the wound to stop the bleeding. The cut was deep, and the bleeding was heavy. Blink knew that there would need to be severe pressure put on the cut to stop the bleeding. He looked up at Aisling. She had tears in her eyes, but she nodded in understanding. God…The cut is deep…If he bleeds to death I don't know what would happen to Eclipse…Or me…I love Mush so much…He's like a brother to me…Both of us would be heartbroken… Aisling thought as she watched Mush stare at Eclipse as she embraced Dutchy, crying onto his shoulder.
Blink tied the rag tightly around Mush's shoulder.
"There. The bleeding should stop in a couple hours. I will need to replace the rag every few hours…It'll get pretty messy. But, you should be fine, Mush."
Aisling looked deep into Blink's eyes. Her tears were flowing freely now, although she did all she could to stop them.
"Are you okay, Aisling?" Blink asked, seeing her cry.
"Oh Blink…I feel so bad thinking this, but I'm so glad he missed you!" Blink nodded. He wanted to ask her how she was dealing with the fact that Race abandoned her, but she answered the question before he could get it out. "And Race…Well, all the stuff with his family when he was 3…And he being the 1st of us to arrive…And how close he was to Kloppman…I understand how he feels."
"So you're saying that the fact that he tried to KILL me is justifiable?!" Blink cried.
"Nooo…Just that I can see how HE would think that."
They were silent for what seemed like an eternity. Then, Blink broke the heavy silence. "It wasn't my fault." He whispered.
Aisling tore her eyes from Mush's sleeping face to Blink's blue eyes. "Oh Blink…God…Of course it's not your fault!" She cried. She leaned over to Blue and pulled the pillow out from under her head. Placing the pillow under Mush's head, she scooted over to where Blink sat. She took his face into her hands, and kissed him.
"But…But…Maybe it is." Blink said. Aisling was kissing his cheek, his lips, his neck. When she heard Blink's remark, she pulled away.
"Blink. It was NOT your fault. You can't control what the weather does, and you know that even if you had told Kloppman that we would be fine, he STILL would have come to check on us. Just be glad that you and Mush were able to get all the guys in our room, so they weren't hurt. You are a hero, Blink…You and Mush." Aisling said. Blink smiled. They stared at each other for a while. Finally, Aisling said, "You wanna go somewhere private?"
Blink stood up. "I thought you'd never ask."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Aisling stood up, brushed off her pants, and looked at Blink. "Where to?" Aisling asked.
"What if…What if we just take a walk?" Blink suggested.
Aisling sighed, that not being the response she had hoped for. But, instead of voicing her opinion, she smiled, took Blink's hand, and said, "Okay."
~*They walked hand in hand down the street toward the Brooklyn Bridge. There was a pretty comfortable silence between the two of them, until a voice from behind them broke it.
"Hey! What're you two doing down here?" it asked. They turned around to see Spot standing on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge.
"What're you doing over there?" Blink asked in reply.
Spot blushed and looked down at his feet. "Well, me and Hiccups had a fight a little while ago…and, well…"
Blink and Aisling sighed. "Again, Spot?" Blink asked.
"Um…Yea." He replied.
"Who was it this time?" Aisling asked, putting her arm protectively around Blink, like she was afraid he would take to Spot's lifestyle and go sleep with some girl whenever he gets the urge.
"This blonde named Ericka." Spot replied. He tried to stop it, but a grin escaped him and spread across his face.
Aisling shook her head. "Spot, you are such a jerk."
Spot's grin faded. "I'm sorry…" He whispered.
"So…How was she?" Blink asked.
Spot's grin returned and Aisling smacked Blink on the shoulder.
"Oh…It was good…But…I do believe that Hiccups is better."
"Then get back to her!" Aisling cried, pushing Spot in the direction of the Brooklyn Lodging house.
Talking to Spot about where he was that night made Blink a little excited. He turned to Aisling and said, "Should we be heading back now?"
"Yea…" Aisling said, a little confused.
They walked quickly to the Lodging House. Aisling was still a little apprehensive as to why Blink wanted to leave so suddenly, but as they walked she began to understand more and more.
When they arrived back at the Lodging House, Blink pulled her quickly up the stairs and into one of the uninhabited bedrooms.
Finally understanding what was going on, Aisling said, "Blink, don't you think that this is a little-" Blink began to run his fingers slowly down her back. She shivered with pleasure. She turned around and kissed him hard. Aisling pulled away for a moment. She looked at Blink steadily, as if to say Don't break my heart. Blink smiled softly at her, as if to assure her, I won't.
He placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed her. She returned it by putting her hands on his chest. She unbuttoned his shirt slowly, savoring every second.
He pulled away from her, his shirt open. She looked at him. For the first time in his life, he could actually see the love in her green eyes.
"Are you doing the right thing? Do you think that maybe we should…wait?" Blink asked her.
"Maaaaybe…" she said. She leaned forward and began to button his shirt.
"Oops! Changed my mind!" Blink cried, grabbing her. He gently slipped the shirt off Aisling's back and let it fall to the ground.
"You're shaking." Aisling whispered, slipping his shirt off.
"So are you." He replied.
They made their way to the little bed in the corner of the room. As they kissed, their hands traveled lower, toward the snaps of their pants…
~*Blink woke up on the bed, next to Aisling. For a split second, he was confused, but he quickly regained memory. "Oh yea…Well…daaaaamn…" he said to himself, smirking. He stroked Aisling's back. "Wake up," He whispered. She groaned, rolled over, and slowly opened her eyes.
"What am I…Well nevermind…" She said when she saw her's and Blink's shirts on the floor. "What time is it, Blink?" She asked. Blink pulled out the pocketwatch from his pants pocket, and said with a disappointed sigh, "7:30. We'd better get going. We've got papes to sell."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Aisling and Blink walked down the stairs and into the Bunk Room, buttoning their shirts. Blue came running to them, followed closely by Pandora and Jack.
"We can't find Race!" Blue cried.
"So?" Blink replied icily, continuing to button his shirt. He hoped the buttoning would be obvious to Jack and Pandora. It was.
Jack pushed Blue aside and said, "Screw the Race thing for a minute. Why are you two coming out of the extra room buttoning your- OH MY GOD! Did you-"
"Yup." Blink and Aisling stated, smiling a private smile at each other.
"Me and Jackie- Boy do that all the time!" Pandora scoffed. Jack nodded vigorously.
"Now, back to Race. Why don't you care that he's missing?" Jack asked. He wasn't one to stick to one topic for very long.
Blink and Aisling shared a funny glance at Jack's question.
"Didn't Blue tell you?" Blink asked.
"All she told us was that you guys were giving Race crap, so he got all depressed. And of course, the Kloppman thing." Pandora explained. Aisling gasped and Blink gave Blue his best "Go to Hell" look.
"That's not at all what happened." Blink growled. He launched into the whole story. When he was finished, Jack and Pandora were speechless.
"Let's go see Mush." Pandora said.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~They walked into the Girl's Bunk Room to see Mush and Eclipse asleep on the floor. The towel around Mush's arm was brown with his dried blood. He was covered in a shabby sheet. Eclipse was next to him, leaning on one of the bunk beds.
"Woah…" Jack followed that with a long, low whistle.
Blink woke Eclipse up with a gentle shake. He took the bloodstained rag she had in her hand. "Eclipse, what happened while Aisling and I were…gone?" he asked her.
"The police and firemen came. They cleaned out the tree and the debris and broken beds. They took Kloppman too. They made us go in a different room as they moved him out. His family…" Eclipse trailed off, tears in her eyes.
"What, Eclipse…What about his family?" Blink asked, his voice now a low, painful whisper.
"They…They aren't having a funeral…They're just…buried him…" She whispered. Her eyes were all glazed over, like she was staring into some dark abyss that only she could see.
"Where? Where did they bury him?" Blink asked.
"…I don't know."
Blink sighed. "Well…I sould probably change Mush's towel. Pandora, could you go to the kitchen and get two towels? One wet, one dry." Blink instructed. Pandora nodded and ran to the kitchen.
"Are you two selling today?" Eclipse asked.
"Yea…" Aisling replyed dreamily.
Blink unwrapped the towel on Mush's shoulder. At the sudden movement, Mush awakened.
"Hey fellas," He croaked. He noticed Aisling and Blink. "Sooo… Where did you two run off to last night?" Aisling blushed and a smile bigger than anyone had ever seen before spread across Blink's face. "Oooh…" Mush said.
When Blink finished with Mush's shoulder, he stood up, dusted off his pants and said, "Well, we'll leave you too alone. Mush, I doubt you should sell for another couple of days. We'll see you two tonight." With that, Blink, Aisling, Jack, and Pandora walked out the door, leaving Mush and Eclipse behind.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Mush leaned over and took Eclipse's hand.
"How're you feeling?" Mush asked, rubbing her hand.
"I'm okay. Are you?" She asked.
"Yea." He whispered. He pulled her closer to her, and whispered, "You don't have to stay."
She smiled lightly and replied, "But I will."
Then she kissed him; a passionate, urgent kiss. Mush traced his fingers on her back, "I love you" Mush whispered.
He's never said that before! Elcipse thought. Sher smiled. Then today must be it. She smiled slyly at Mush, and said, "I'm ready."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Back at the Distrubution Center, Jack was going off about Blue and Race.
"I can't believe they'd do something like that! I thought they were our FRIENDS! 100 papes!" He cried, throwing the money at Weasel furiously.
"Calm down! Mush will be okay, and if Race comes back, we'll talk to him," Pandora comforted, touching Jack gingerly on the arm. "I think the biggest concern right now is where they're going to stay."
Blink looked up quickly at Pandora. His patchless blue eye was wide open in fear. It was obvious that he hadn't thought about that.
"I mean, all the newsies can't fit in the girl's room. And Brooklyn has NO room for all of you! What are you guys going to do now?"
"I know…" Weasel said grimly.
Blink turned to Weasel. "Um…What?" He was utterly confused. Why would Weasel know what we're supposed to do? He can't send us to the Refuge, can he? Blink was panicky, but he kept his calm exterior despite the fact that Aisling was grabbing his arm tightly.
"I said I know where you kids are staying."
"Where?" Blink asked.
Weasel sighed. "Kloppman was my cousin. In the will he wrote a few years back, he stated that if anything were to happen to him, I was to take in you kids. All of you."
Aisling looked up, astonished. "So that means that we're staying at the Rhapsody?!"
"Yes. With my kids." Weasel said this last bit with a tinge of uncertainty as he glanced over at Morris and Oscar Delancy, with their girlfriends, Kaa and Trinity. Weasel's kids were what the Newsies called "scabbs." The scabbs and the Newsies had been sworn enemies since the beginning when the first Newsie and Scab got in a heated fight, ending in death.
"Well…What other choice do we have?" Blink sighed, smiling weakly at Aisling's horror stricken face. He glanced at Morris, and saw him winking and blowing kisses at Aisling while the others laughed. He glared at Morris. Morris grabbed at his chest, faking hurt. Then he pulled himself from Kaa's posessive grip. He walked cooly over to Aisling, putting his arm around her.
"So baby, you're sleeping in my house now."
"I'll try to contain my excitement." She replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Oh c'mon, you know you're happy. Finally you'll be able to ditch this loser" he tossed his head in Blink's direction. "and get with me."
Aisling smiled and put her hand on his chest. "Oh yes, I'm simply estatic!" She pushed him with all her might after that, sending him reeling into the trash bins a few feet away. He glared at her, an pointing a threatning finger in her face, growled, "You'd best watch yourselves, street rats. You're on our turf now." With that, he walked back over to Kaa and kissed her deeply.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The rest of the selling day was tense with anticipation of what was to happen to them at the Rhapsody. Blink and Aisling stuck together like glue, both afraid of losing one another. Jack and Pandora were standoffish towards the rest of the group; both newsies were extremely ashamed that they were not able to take the rest into their home; forcing them to live with scabbs.
"Blink… What do you think it will be like?" Aisling asked.
Blink smiled weakly and pulled Aisling close to him. "It'll be different, that's true, but, together, with the rest of us, we'll survive. And besides, we outnumber the scabs greatly."
This seemed to ease Aisling, and she sighed contentedly, resting her head on Blink's broad shoulder.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The chaos in the Lodging House that night was more than the Newsies had ever expirencied before. Although no one was really carrying on real conversations, every now and then there were shouts of "Hey! Get the hell outta here!" or "Oy! Get your grimy feet of my shirt!" but, more common, were the remarks, "You bum!" and "For five bucks… maybe." Aisling was laying silently on her bunk. Blink walked slowly over to her, and positioned himself directly above her.
"Deja Vu" She muttered.
Laughing, Blink replied, "We're leaving first thing in the morning. Are you packed and ready?"
"Yea." She replied, pointing to the two small, scruffy bags sitting next to her bed.
"Hey, Ais… What's wrong?" Blink asked as he sat down next to her and began to gently stroke her hair.
"Oh I don't know… Maybe the fact that I'd rather sleep on the streets than stay in the Rhapsody."
"Oh you know that's not true! And plus, I'll be there to take care of you."
"Blink, no offense or anything… But you're no match for the Scabbs."
"But I am." A deep voice said. Aisling looked up and saw Spot standing next to her bed, his normal smug smile plastered on his face.
Aisling laughed. "Then you can take care of me then."
"Course I will! You're only my best friend!"
Blink sighed heavily. "Yes, that may be true, but she's my girl" with that, he leaned down, kissed her neck, and stood up. "Time for bed, everyone!" He cried. With a small, devilish wink at Aisling, he left the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Aisling wasn't aware of the reason for the wink, so she simply went to bed. She was awakened by a soft tapping on her shoulder and a quiet whisper.
"Ais! Ais, wake up!" It was Blink.
"What do you want?" She sat up and tried her best to give him a dirty look. He simply smirked and climbed into bed with her. Putting his arms around her waist and laying his head on her shoulder, he whispered, "Did you like it?"
"Like… What?" Aisling noticed that her breath caught in her chest and she forgot what she was thinking.
"Ya know… last night…?" Blink looked at her with his deep blue eyes expectantly. Just the simple thought of the night before made her blush. Blink noticed this and gently stroked her cheek. "You're blushing." he whispered.
"I…" She was unable to finish her sentence.
"Yes…?" Blink urged.
"Exactly."
"I don't think I understand what you're trying to say."
"You said yes, I said exactly." Aisling had to giggle at the look of utter confusion that washed over Blink's face at that remark. "Yes, I liked it… A lot…" She whispered, looking deep into his eyes.
"You… you have… green eyes…" Blink replied. He was stuttering, something he had never done before with Aisling.
"Are you nervous?" Aisling asked.
"I wasn't last night… but I am tonight."
"Why?"
"Because… I think… Well, I know…" Blink trailed off as if he had gotten lost in the greenness of Aisling's eyes.
"What?"
"I think I have fallen in love with you. Totally, head over heels with you. The way you smell, the way you kiss, the way you touch me, the softness of your skin, the way you fit so easily into my arms… Just… everything." Blink had looked away at something unknown during this speech, and as he looked down, he noticed Aisling was crying. Without a word, her embraced her and kissed away her tears.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Aisling woke up to Blink's sigh. She was surprised to have his arms around her, but she quickly remembered the night before. Smiling, she leaned over and softly blew in his ear. He shivered, and grunted. Giggling, Aisling kissed his ear, her mouth slightly opened. At this, Blink mumbled, "Mush, if you don't stop messing with me, I'm gunna soak you."
Aisling giggled, and replied, "Blink, it's me." At the last word, she breathed on his neck and and began slowly sucking on it.
"All right, All right, I'm up. You don't have to continue the cruel torture you're doing now." He looked at her, smiled, and gave her a peck on the cheek.
"Are we selling today?" Aisling asked as she rolled out of bed and slipped on her black pants and white tank top.
"I don't know. I think we may be heading over to the Rhapsody to set everything up." Aisling groaned, and Blink got up and put his arms around her. "I know, Ais, but… We're going to have to live somewhere else! I mean, there's a huge hole in the roof, and there isn't any insurance on the house, and we have no money to get it fixed! Some of the guys had to sleep out on the streets last night, and we already had 3 to a bed!"
"I know, but, Blink… I really don't want to live there."
"I know you don't, Ais, but… Baby, I don't know what else, or where else we can live." Blink kissed her on the cheek, and ran his hand down her cheek. "C'mon. Get ready. You and I will go set everything up."
Aisling smiled. "Okay."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was chilly outside as the two walked the 3 miles to the Rhapsody. When they reached the big building, Blink put his arm protectively around Aisling.
An old man wearing gray pants and a white shirt was standing in the office of the Rhapsody.
"Yea, whattya want?" He said. He had a gruff, rough voice that gave Aisling chills.
"Oh… We're here to seal the rooms for Kloppman's Newsies…" Blink said. His normally brave exterior had disappeared in the presence of the old man.
"Oh yea. Wiesel said you'se be comin' around here soona' or lata'. You Kid Blink?"
"Yessir" Blink replied steadily.
"Ah. You sellin's taday?"
"We planned on it."
"We?"
"Yessir. This is Aisling." Blink pulled Aisling up to the desk. The man leaned forward and looked Aisling over. Aisling shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably.
"You sell tha papes too?"
"Yes sir."
The man scoffed. "Girls like you ain't worth nothin'. All you do is cause trouble withtha hard workin' boys."
"Blink…" Aisling whispered.
"Girls is only speakin' when they're spoken ta!" The man snapped at her.
"Sir, can you show us the rooms you have designated for us?"
"Yeah, follaw me."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The three walked up two flights of stairs, into a long hall with about 20 or so little rooms.
"All these rooms are yours. I'm sure you're impressed, seeing as you used to live in a dump." The old man said, opening doors and revealing clean, organized rooms with two bunk beds.
"Thank you sir." Blink said.
"Yea. But just remember: No funny stuff. Our kids sleep on the floor below you."
"Yessir."
With that, the man turned on his heels and walked down the stairs.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~**~*~~*~*~*~
"Well, do you wanna go choose a room?" Blink asked Aisling.
"Sure." She said. She walked into each room and took a quick look. Finally, she decided on a room towards the end of the hall. It had a little window that attached to the fir escape, which lead to the roof. "I want this one." She said, putting her bags on the bed.
"I'll share it with you." Blink whispered.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As they walked to Tibby's, Aisling sang a song her mother used to sing to her when she was upset. "You're my sunshine, my only sunshine…" Blink smiled and took her hand.
"Hey you two!" Jack cried as they walked into the restaurant.
Aisling smiled a small smile. Blink grinned his usual Trident grin. "Hey guys!" he said, waving.
"We have rooms in the Rhapdsody now. Blink and I just went to take a look it." Aisling said.
Everyone was rather grim at the reality of what was going on.
Suddenly, Race walked in with Sarah.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Silence reigned in the restaurant as Race stood with his arm around Sarah. "Hey…Heya fellas…Pannie…" Race said to Pandora and the slew of Newsies standing around the door.
"Why you… You little…" Jack said, taking a few menacing steps forward.
But before he could touch Race, Blue came pushing up through the boys. "Race…?" She murmured, tears springing up in her eyes.
"Oh, Blue…" Race said, pulling away from Sarah and taking a step toward her.
"Don't even think about it…" Spot said, pulling Blue back into the group and putting a protective arm around her.
"No, Spot, I want to talk to him!" Blue cried, pushing Spot away. "Racetrack…Ben…" she whispered.
She called me Ben…No one ever calls me Ben…And I've ruined it with the one and only girl I have ever loved. Actually, both of the girls I've loved. Aisling hates me, Blue hates me. Oh my God, what have I done?!
"Olivia… Oh God… I'm so sorry…" Race whispered, taking a step forward and touching Blue's face.
"What happened to you? Where's the Ben that I fell in love with? Where's the Ben that held me the day my parents left me? Where's…" Blue didn't finish her sentence; overcome by tears, she ran into Spot's strong arms.
"I think you need to go. Take your tramp and get the hell out." Spot said, glaring at Race.
"No… I … I love her." Race said. He looked at Sarah, who had tears in her eyes. "Don't cry. I know that I've hurt you, but I love her. I have to let you go. What else am I supposed to do? I know we… Well… You have to go."
"But, please… Racetrack… Ben…" Sarah began.
"You BITCH!" Blue screamed. She had been watching Sarah as Race talked to her; slowly growing more furious. And when Sarah called Racetrack 'Ben,' she exploded.
"Blue, Blue babe, calm down!" Spot cried, pulling her away from Sarah. But Blue was too angry, and the anger made her strong. She pulled away from Spot's strong hold and pushed Sarah hard. She fell to the floor, her skirt flying over her head.
"Don't. You. Touch. Race. Don't. Call. Him. Ben." She said between fierce punches to Sarah's chest and face. However, Blue was not a strong hit, and Spot was too fast for her. He pulled her off, kicking and screaming, and handed her to Race. Her screaming rage turned into crying as she collapsed into Race's arms. Spot helped Sarah up. She had a black eye and a bruise on her chest where her shirt had been torn.
"You're okay?" Spot asked.
Sarah looked deep into his blue eyes. "Yes…"
Spot's eyes narrowed. "Good. Get out." He said as he pushed her toward the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Blue sat there, gazing at Race as if he was from another planet. "I love you…" She whispered. Whether as an act of Fate, or just because she'd always been quiet, no one heard her confession.
"Get out." Spot growled at Race.
"Spot, I…" Race began, standing up and reaching a hand out to his friend.
"I don't care. I don't want to hear your pitiful little excuse as to why you did what you did."
"Spot, I was angry. I lost Kloppman. He was a father to me."
"Yea, yea, and what was Blue? Huh? Obviously not much, seeing as you so quickly and easily replaced her."
Blue began whimpering as Spot spat out the harsh words towards the man she loved so blindly and who she thought loved her back.
"Tell me, Racey… Did you sleep with her? Huh, just spit it out, you Traitor. Did you?"
Race finally let the tears he had been
By: Aisling Conlon
It's early morning in New York. The sun is barely shining through the grimy windows of the Newsboys Lodging House. Sleeping soundly on one of the rough, hard top beds of the boys' bunks lies a boy of about 15 or 16. He has one arm hanging off the bed and into the face of Snipeshooter, a boy of about 13. His other arm is draped lazily over his face, covering the black patch on his left eye. He has sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. He is tall and lean, with very few obvious muscles. He has strong arms and hands, however. This is Kid Blink, known to all his friends simply as "Blink."
On the bed next to Blink, sleeping with a pleased smile spread across his tan face, we see a boy of about 14 or 15. He is shirtless, exposing his bulky arms and dark, muscular chest to the early morning sun. He looked as if he was of Italian or Mexican heritage because of his deep bronze skin. He had a body that left every girl swooning. He had dark, curly hair that just made every girl ache to run her fingers through it. His eyes were so deep and dark, one would get lost in them without even trying. His sweet dimples made girls giddy. His defined six-pack and adorable butt both made girls forget where they were or run into things. This is Mush.
Across the semi-dark room, we find an old door. The paint is peeling and the lock has long since rusted over and broken. Upon opening this scrappy door, we see a room much like the one we just departed. The same hard uncomfortable bunk beds are aligned neatly against the walls. However, sleeping soundly in the beds are girls.
In the most comfortable bottom bunk, sleeps a tall, slightly tan girl of about 14 or 15. She has reddish blonde shoulder length hair. She is hugging a black teddy bear to her chest as she sleeps. This is Aisling.
On the bunk above Aisling, directly under the window, sleeps a girl also about 14 or 15. She has dark brown and auburn hair, cut to her shoulders. Her skin is olive colored and lightly tanned. She is a restless sleeper, tossing and turning many times during the night. This time, she had kicked off her sheet. She is sleeping in a white shirt down to her knees. She hugs a stuffed leopard to her chest. This is Muse.
All is silent in the two rooms. All you can hear is the soft shuffling and sighing of the sleeping Newsies and Newsettes. Then, the front door opens, and an old, wrinkled man walks swiftly in. This is Kloppman. "Boots!" he barks into the silence.
"Huh? Uh…" A little African-American boy known as Boots mumbles as he lies back down and closes his eyes.
"Skittery! Skittery!" Kloppman cried.
"Huh? I didn't- I didn't do it!" A boy wearing pink pajamas mumbled as he sits up with a look of surprise on his face.
"Well, sometimes I wonder…" Kloppman answered the boy's half-sleeping claims. "Get up! Up! Up! Up! It's time to sell the papes! Sell!" Kloppman went on like this as he went around and tapped the boys on impatiently on the heads. He then pushed open the old door and walked into the girls' room.
"Wake up! Wake up!" Kloppman cried as he pulled the newspaper that covered the window away, revealing the newly arisen sun.
"Eeek! What's going on?!" Blue, a girl with dark blonde, curly hair cut a little past her shoulders cried in surprise. She was about 14 or 15 with eyes as ice blue as the sea in winter.
"Hiccups! Get up!" Kloppman called to the girl with long dark brown hair sleeping in the corner. She was about 17 or 18. Her hair had a thick streak of blonde in the front of her hair. She refused to explain the white piece of hair to ANYONE but Spot. She has very large navy blue eyes that people were constantly complimenting on. Her skin was pale and never tanned, much to her dismay.
"Oh Spot! Of COURSE I'll marry you! But, alas, I can't wear a NEWSPAPER as a ring!" Hiccups murmured as she rolled over onto her stomach.
"At least she's dreaming about papers…Sort of…" Kloppman said as he yanked the sheet off Hiccup's bed. Kloppman called one last "Get UP!" as he made his way through both rooms and out the Lodging House front door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Back in the Newsies' room, there is no movement. Skittery and Boots had long since fallen asleep, and most of the other newsies never woke up to begin with. But, we do see Mush sitting up in his bunk, scratching his head and yawning a tired yawn. He immediately pulls out a black comb from under his pillow and runs it through his hair. He throws his feet off the top bunk and kicks Racetrack, a boy of about 14 or 15 in the face.
"Hey! What did ya do that for?!" Race asked, grabbing Mush's feet and pulling him off the bed.
"I was just waking you up!" Mush squeaked as he fell to the cold floor.
Race sighed. "Well, since I'M up, I think everyone else should be up!" he said as he jumped out of bed. He ran around to every bed, pulling the sheets off the sleeping bodies. After many grunts and curses, all the Newsies were up and preparing for the day.
All the while the boys were sleeping, the girls were up, bustling around and getting ready to go out into the day. All who had planned on it had showered, and they had all made their beds and brushed their teeth. Their hair was brushed and braided, and they were raring to leave.
"I wonder if the boys are ready?" Aisling said as she and Eclipse sat on Eclipse's bed looking out the window.
"I wonder what Mush is doing now?" Eclipse asked dreamily.
"Oh jeeze…" Aisling sighed. "Well, I don't feel like waiting around, so I'm going to get them moving." Aisling stood up and walked to the door. "Boys! Up and ready yet?" She called through the door. She heard excited whispers, some shuffling, then an audible reply; "Yea Ais, we're ready." It was Kid Blink. Aisling smiled to herself and opened the door. Blink was leaning against the wall. Her saw Aisling and smiled. She felt her breath catch in her chest as she smiled back.
"C'mon girls! Let's get moving!" The NewsKids marched out the front door and into the bustle and excitement of New York.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The group of kids walked to the Distribution Center. The gates were still closed when they arrived. Instead of sticking a wonderful song in the mix just to waste time enough for the gates to open, Blink got mad.
"Aw, BUMMER!" He said, kicking the gate.
"What's the big deal? It'll open in a few minutes." Race said, slapping Blink on the back of the head. Blink automatically hit Mush in the back of the head. Mush gave Blink a dirty look, but continued to talk to Eclipse.
"WELL! Urgh, I don't want to wait! There are SOO many people out here now, and by the time we get in there and get our papes, everybody'll be gone!" Blink whined.
"Aw, don't worry. There'll be people." Aisling comforted. Blink smiled at her and leaned coolly against the gates.
Suddenly, the gates swung open. Blink let out a little squeak as he fell through. He quickly stood up, dusted himself off, and smiled. Racetrack muttered something about "Klutz" and they walked through the gate. They heard a kid cry "Dese is for de Newsies!" as they made their way up to the window to buy their day's worth of papers.
Behind the window, a short, scruffy man was waiting. He was dirty, and in need of a good shave. This is Mr. Wiesel, known to Newsies only as "Weasel."
"How many?" Weasel asked Blink as he stood at the window.
"100 papes!" He told him, handing him the coin.
"NEXT!" Weasel cried. This continued for a while longer. Amidst the chaos of buying and discussing the papers, no one but Race and Blue notice three kids, 2 boys and a girl, walk up to the window.
"Hey, who are they?" Blue whispered to Race.
"Hmmm….Dunno…" he replied, watching them closely.
"How many kid?" Weasel asked the stranger.
"20 papers please." Weasel gave him the papers, but the boy didn't move. He was counting.
"You got your papers! Beat it, kid!" Weasel said impatiently.
"I paid for 20, and THIS is only 19!" The boy cried.
"What, are you saying I can't count, you little varmint?" Weasel asked threateningly.
"No, I would like my missing paper, now." The boy said indignantly.
"You got a hearing problem, squirt? He said Beat it." One of Weasel's newsboys, Morris, growled through the bars of the distribution window. Blink noticed that there was a problem going on, so he walked up, counted the boy's papers, and replied smugly.
"Well…Yup. That's only 19. So, I guess we ARE saying you can't count. Or, at least your talking APE back there can't." Blink scoffed and looked evilly at Morris. Morris brought his fists up, and Blink snorted. "Pleeeease…I wouldn't want to indulge myself." He pulled 2 bits from his pocket, laid it on the distribution table, and said, "Another 50 for my friend. And it better be 50."
"No, I don't want-" The stranger began to say, but Blink cut him off.
"Well of course you do! We all want more papes!"
"I don't. I don't take charity from anybody, especially street rats who can't afford to GIVE charity. Here are your papers." The stranger boy said stiffly, shoving the papers into Blink's arms. Blink didn't look a bit hurt by the insults. He just smiled.
"Okay. I'm Kid Blink." He looked down at the little boy standing next to the cocky new kid. The boy was short and young. He had brown hair that was mostly covered with his hat. He carried a cardboard sword. "What's your name, kid?" Blink asked him.
"Les! And that's my brother, David! He's older." The kid replied solemnly.
"Are you sure?" Blink teased. Les looked confused, so Blink shot him a quick smile and looked back up at the stranger he knew now as David.
"And I'M Sarah." The girl with David and Les replied. She smiled at Blink. Aisling had been watching from a distance. She had always been the jealous type, and when she was pretty sure Sarah was interested in Blink, she walked over.
"I'm Aisling." She said. Blink looked relieved that Aisling had come over. He glanced at her, then put his arm around her waist.
"She's my girl." He said proudly. Aisling smiled
smugly.
Sarah returned the smile with a forced one of her own, accompanied by a quick dirty glance. She looked to Blink and said, "So what do we do now?"
"Carry da Banner!" the Newsies cried in response.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Newsies took off calling out headlines. Shouts of "Brooklyn baby born with 3 heads!" and "Extry Extry!" filled the air.
David, Les, and Sarah tagged along with Blink and Aisling. Aisling got utterly annoyed with Sarah's not-stop chatter, but kept silent about the matter. She'd tell Blink later.
Blink sold all 100 papers in less than an hour. Aisling had sold all 100 of hers in about 45 minutes. She had amazing people skills, she was charming, and she was also rather pretty. Selling papers was quite easy for her. David, however, was having problems. He sold all 19 of the 20 papers he bought, but he still had the extra 50 Blink got him.
"Blink, why did you give me these 50 papers, anyway?" David asked in a frustrated tone. Blink looked over at him with a confused look in his blue eyes.
"C'mon! why don't you want 'em?"
"Bad Headline!" Sarah interjected, smiling hopefully at Blink. Aisling snorted incredulously at Sarah's remark. Blink slowly shook his head.
"You've got a lot to learn, kid. Headlines don't sell papes-" Blink began.
"Newsies sell papes!" Aisling finished triumphantly, taking Blink's hand and glaring at Sarah.
~*The rest of the day finished rather abruptly. David gave Blink the rest of his papers. ("I can't sell them!") and Blink got rid of them quickly. They stood around on 14th street wondering where to go.
"What about Tibby's?" David asked.
Aisling and Blink looked surprised at the suggestion. "How did you know about Tibby's?" Blink asked.
"Our father used to work there. That's where we heard about the Newsies." Sarah explained. She seemed eager to jump in to the conversation.
"So it's your dad's fault." Aisling muttered. Blink elbowed her lightly.
"Well, I'm sure the rest of the gang is up there now, so let's head up there and introduce them to David, Les, and Sally." Aisling said.
"Um…It's Sarah." Sarah corrected softly.
Aisling shot Sarah an evil glance, and replied coldly, "Whatever."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Much to their surprise, Tibby's was quiet. As Aisling and Blink walked in with their new friends, they noticed only Mush, Eclipse, and Race at a table. They were counting their earnings for the day.
"A dollar! A dollar! That's not enough! This'll bust me!" Mush was crying out in frustration.
"It's okay, Mushie. I'll support you…I made TWO dollars." Eclipse said as she took the money out of his hand and allowed her hand to take it's place.
Race had noticed that Aisling had walked in. He nudged Mush and said loudly "Heya Mush, look at the ANGEL that just walked in!"
Mush looked up, smiled, and replied in the same loud tone, "Oh! I'm in HEAVEN!"
Sarah blushed and smiled shyly. Aisling noticed this and thought, Ha! She thinks they're talking about HER! Aisling nudged Blink, and he replied to the boys' comments, "Yea…Too bad she's taken…BY ME!" Sarah's face fell, and Aisling smirked. Race and Mush smiled and walked over to them.
"Race, Mush, this is David, Les, and Sarah." Blink said, gesturing to the three kids.
"Did you know Aisling was taken?" Les asked Mush and Race innocently.
"Of course! We do that all the time!" Race answered with a smile.
"We've been friends with these two love birds forEVER!" Mush added, giving Blink a brotherly punch on the shoulder and Aisling a friendly hug. "In fact, I'm taken too!" Mush quickly added when he noticed that Sarah was staring at him and smiling seductively. He beckoned to Eclipse, and once she was by his side, he said, "This here is my girl, Eclipse!" He was looking right at Sarah as he stated this, and, again, her face fell. Aisling was taking great pleasure in seeing Sarah so disappointed, although she would never mention it to any of her friends.
"You guys wanna sit down or something?" Race asked.
"Well duh!" Aisling replied, bounding happily over to the table.
They sat small-talking for a while. Mush and Eclipse were sitting next to each other, holding hands. Aisling was sitting on Blink's lap. The two girls watched Sarah carefully. She was sitting next to Race. She was trying terribly hard to flirt with him. Mush noticed this and said something he hadn't planned on saying. "So, where's your girl, Race?"
"Ah, Blue? She's out with her friends. She's meeting me later." Race replied dreamily. Every time anyone mentioned Blue in front of Race, he got all dreamy and floaty- like. He was hard to talk to when he was like that, so the rest of the group ignored him until he came back to reality.
"Good." Eclipse said pointedly. There was an awkward silence following the question. However, it was broken by the door chimes. They looked over to see Jack Kelly, Pandora Davis, Spot Conlon, and Hiccups Ledyard, the Brooklyn Leaders. Spot and Hiccups were the leaders, and Jack and Pandora were the right hand "men."
"Heya fellas! Who're the new friends?" Jack asked.
"This is David, Les, and Susan." Eclipse said.
"Uh…It's SARAH." Sarah insisted.
"Whatever." Eclipse said.
Jack pulled up four chairs and they all sat down.
"Well…I'm Jack." He said. He had brown hair and dark eyes. He was 17, and tall. He wore a cowboy hat and a red bandanna.
"And I'm Pandora." The girl holding Jack's hand said. She had long strawberry blonde hair and a freckled face. She was 15, and also tall. She wore a red bandanna tied around her ponytail, and she had a cowboy hat hanging down her back. She wore a white sleeveless shirt and black pants with red suspenders.
"I'm Hiccups. I don't live in Brooklyn, I live in Manhattan with these guys. But my heart lives in Brooklyn…With Spot." She smiled lovingly at Spot, and he leaned over and kissed her on the nose. She wore black boots, black trousers, an overly baggy light blue shirt and a brown cap. She was 17; a year older than her love interest.
"And I'm Spot." The last boy said, with an air of a certain "bad boy" dignity. However, he was rather scrawny. About 16, he had black hair and crystal blue eyes. His skin was tan and soft. He was wearing a blue shirt, gray pants, and suspenders.
"Hi." Sarah squeaked out. She felt uncomfortable, being the only girl at the table wearing a long, lace skirt. But, she was eyeing Spot very intently. Hiccups noticed this, and immediately leaned over to Spot and kissed him. Rather surprised, Spot jumped, but, of course, quickly calmed down and returned the favor. Hiccups pulled away proudly, and glared at Sarah, as if to say, "Just try." Sarah looked away, ashamed, from Hiccups and Spot, and tried to catch Jack's eye. Jack gave her an odd look, and hugged Pandora. Pandora giggled and said, "Ah, Jackie-boy!" Yet again, Sarah's face fell, and she looked down at the table.
The group talked about the day's sales ("I only made ONE DOLLAR!") until Sarah cried, "Oh NO! We have to go! Father will be worried!" As they got quickly up to leave, Hiccups and Pandora called, "Bye Les! Bye David! Bye…Shannon!"
"SARAH!"
"Whatever…"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Back at David, Les, and Sarah's apartment, a fight had broken out.
"We are NOT selling papers with those…those…HOODLUMS!" Sarah screamed at David, who stood, hands defiantly on his hips, in front of her.
"I don't care what you think because I AM selling, whether you are or NOT!"
"Me too!" Les cried, imitating his older brother's stance and tone of voice.
"Stay out of this!" Sarah cried at him. Les looked hurt, and he trudged off into the other room.
"No David! Please don't! They have no respect for other's feelings!"
"Just because none of the guys liked you doesn't mean that they are hoodlums! And, you know what? I don't really care what you think!" David screamed. Tears streamed down Sarah's olive face, and she turned abruptly to walk out of the room. However, she bumped into her father, who was coming in to see what the problem was.
"Woah! What's all this?" Mr. Jacobs asked.
"Davie's friends are rude and inconsiderate to me, and I feel that he shouldn't sell papers with them at all." Sarah said indignantly.
David sighed and gave his father a pleading look. Mr. Jacobs thought for a minute or two, his hand thoughtfully on his chin.
"Well," he finally said, "I think that David should have a choice of who his friends are. It's not up to you, Sarah. If you don't like his friends, then make your own." Mr. Jacobs said gently.
"But Daddy! There are no more kids to be friends with! They're all Newsies!" Sarah whined.
"You'll find someone. Now go to bed and get some sleep. Both of you." Their father usually finished fights that way.
"Yes, Father." They both sighed and walked out of the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Back at the Lodging House, everyone was bustling around in pajamas socializing. Mush and Eclipse were cuddling in a corner and Blink and Aisling were talking to other newsies about the new "friends" they met that day.
"David was cool, Ais, you hafta admit that." Blink said.
"Yea, but I hope that girl got the hint and doesn't come back." Aisling said, crossing her arms. Blink and the other Newsies in the conversation all sighed and rolled their eyes. They all knew that when Aisling crossed her arms, they'd best change the subject. They never win arguments over the stubborn Aisling.
"Was she pretty, Blink?" A cute newsie with glasses and black hair asked. His name was Specs, and, sadly, he didn't have much luck with girls in general.
Blink looked at him with a forced smile. "Yea, um…She was…Cute?" he answered.
"Great! Maybe she'll like me when I meet her!" Specs said cheerfully. Before either Blink or Aisling could say another word, Specs had walked off to play poker with a bunch on newsies on the Lodging House porch.
"Is she pretty, Blink, or were you just trying to raise Spec's spirits?" Blue, Race's girlfriend asked.
"Um…Well…She's not that bad…" Blink said unsure of himself.
"Ah…I see…" Blue said, walking over to race, who was playing poker. She sat down in his lap.
"Hey Racie…" She said, winking at him.
"I need ya, my little good luck charm…I'm loosing." Race said.
"That's what I'm here for." Blue said, kissing Race on the nose.
Aisling and Blink laughed at the cute couple Race and Blue made.
"It's weird…" Aisling began.
"What's weird, Ais?" Blink asked.
"Blue and Race…I mean, Blue is shy, and pretty cautious. But Race is outgoing and a HUGE risk-taker! It's just funny that they never fight…Their personalities are so different, so…" Aisling drifted off the sentence. She looked frustrated, like she was trying to make a point but couldn't seem to figure out how to do it.
"They're the only couple who has never fought." Blink said.
"That's the point I was trying to make." Aisling said stiffly.
"I know." Blink said.
"Then why didn't you let me make it?" Aisling asked, visibly hurt.
"Aw Ais, I love you."
"I know."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The night was cold. Very cold. No one really understood why it suddenly got so bitterly cold, seeing as it was only September. They had only been in bed an hour, and before they went to bed, the air was nice. There was a slight wind, but it was comfortable.
Aisling lay awake in her bunk, shivering with her thin blanket over her shoulders. She looked up at the sound of the old door creaking open.
"Damn door!" Blink whispered in the darkness.
"Guys! What're you doing in here!?" Aisling asked.
"Oh! You're awake! We were just coming in to let anyone awake know that a storm's on it's way." Blink whispered. "Now say something else so I can find you."
"Over here!" Aisling whispered loudly. Blink groped the darkness until he sighed and said, "Aw, Ais, there you are!"
"Ack! Get off me you shit!" Mush said, pushing Blink off him. Aisling laughed and put her hands out. She found Blink's arm and pulled him down on the bed. "Whew! That was hard!" Blink said.
"Heya Mush…Eclipse sleeps up there…" Aisling whispered, pointing to the bunk above her.
"Oh yeeeeeeea…" Mush said, reaching up and grabbing the top mattress. He pulled himself up on the mattress, and by the sliver of moonlight coming through the window by Eclipse's bed, positioned himself at her feet.
"Wake up, Eclipse…" Mush whispered. Eclipse didn't move. "Dammit…" Mush sighed and gazed at Eclipse.
"So how close is the storm and how bad will it be?" Aisling asked Blink. Just after she finished her sentence, a huge bolt of bright lightning struck, followed by a deafening crash of thunder.
"Close. And BAD." Blink replied.
Aisling shuddered and Blink pulled her closer to him. Eclipse had awoken from the crash with a loud "Eek!" She jolted up, saw Mush, and pulled him over to her.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty!" Mush said, hugging Eclipse. She gripped his arms tightly and squeaked, "I don't like storms…Don't leave…Please?"
"I won't…" Mush whispered, laying Eclipse's head in his lap and massaging her shoulders.
"God it's cold…" Aisling said, shuddering again.
"Okay, hold on, I'll go get my blanket," Blink said, getting up from Aisling's bed and slowly made his way to the door.
"Get mine too, Blink!" Mush called after him.
In a few minutes time, the newsies had awakened and made their way to the Newsette's room. Race was sitting next to Blue. They were using a little candle for light to play poker since neither of them were bothered by storms.
Mush and Eclipse had their sheets wrapped around them trying to warm up. Eclipse was whimpering pathetically, and Mush was saying "Shhh…" trying to comfort her.
Aisling and Blink were sitting on Aisling's bed. Aisling had her head in Blink's lap
Lotus Blossom, a girl with long dark brown hair and aquamarine eyes sat on her bunk with a newsie with blonde hair and glasses named Dutchy. They were talking seriously about how Lotus had aquired the scar above her left eye. She had tears in her eyes, and Dutchy was gently and slowly rubbing her back.
Just then, a tall newsie with black hair and glasses walked in. He spotted Blink and walked toward him.
"I wish girls would so much as give me a second glance." The newsie sighed.
"Aw, Specs, you'll find the right girl soon," Aisling comforted.
The storm just got worse. So did the cold. Specs went and got the blanket from his bunk. When he came back, Slinks, a girl with hazel eyes and brown hair Specs had been eyeing for a while, stopped him.
"Heya Specs! Come sit with me, would ya? I'm cold and I don't like storms." She smiled, and Specs melted.
"Sure!" He said, climbing into her bed.
Everyone was settled, 2 or 3 to a bed in order to keep warm. They got quiet then, listening to the storm rage on.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Blink woke up to the sound of Eclipse and Mush.
"Oh Mush, you're so FUNNY!"
"Yea…I know…"
Blink smiled at the cheesyness of the pair until he heard them kissing. Blink's smile faded. "Ugh" He said, kicking the bottom of the bed. The jolt didn't seem to phase them, however, so Blink stood up and walked toward the Newsies' room to wash his face.
"Blink, where are you going?" Aisling asked, sitting up in bed.
"Just going to wash my face…Don't worry."
"Well…I wanna…Be with you…" Aisling whispered shyly.
Blink smiled and reached for her hand. "Okay."
Together the opened the door.
"Oh my God!" Aisling screamed. She stumbled into the room. Blink stared in shock at the display in front of him. All the windows were broken, and in the middle of the room was a tree. It had crashed through the roof and landed on 3 or 4 bunks; smashing them to pieces.
He glanced at Aisling. She was silent, walking around the room in awe. Suddenly, she clapped her hands over her mouth and fell to her knees.
"What? Ais, what's wrong?" blink cried, running to her side.
"Kl-Kl-Kloppman!" Aisling cried.
"What?!" Blink cried, following Aisling's terrified gaze.
There, under the tree and splintered beds was Kloppman. The only thing visible was his wrinkled hand.
"Ma-Maybe it's not him!" Aisling sniffled.
"No…It is. Look, it's the ring he always wears." Blink whispered.
Aisling let out a choked sob. Blink took her hand, leaned over, and took Kloppman's hand in his other. He didn't say anything.
"What? Blink, what?" Aisling asked urgently, gripping his hand tighter.
Blink sighed, looked Aisling in the eyes, and said quietly, "It's Cold."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Lodging House was silent. Everyone was sitting in the Newsette's room, trying to keep from looking over at Kloppman's lifeless body. Suddenly, Aisling broke the silence with a little gasp.
"What is it, baby?" Blink asked quietly.
"You and Mush slept on those beds." She stated rather bluntly.
At that, Eclipse looked up slowly; eyes wide, mouth gaping. "So…So…If they hadn't come in our room last night…then…then…" Eclipse couldn't finish her sentence. Both girls were overcome with tears. They ran to Blink and Mush and embraced them. The two boys soothed them with soft "shh's" and "Don't think like that!" until Race broke the sadness, turning it into anger.
"So what do we do, Blink? Huh? You're the all powerful leader. Why don't you tell us?" he asked, hands on his hips. He was madder than anyone had ever seen him in all the ten years he had lived at the Lodging House. Kloppman had taken him in at 3 when Race's family had been killed in a fire.
Blink tried to say something just as snide to say in reply, but the words escaped him.
"I…I don't…Know." Blink whispered.
"Well, why the hell don't you, eh? Why not?!" Race screamed. Blue tried to calm him down, but he pushed her down and stormed out of the girls' room.
He stopped at where Kloppman lie, collapsing. Blue ran to his side, throwing her arms around him. Race looked up, tears streaming down his face. He looked directly at Blink and said something so low it was almost a whisper: "It's YOUR fault."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Blink winced as if Race had struck him across the face.
"Wha'? But…HOW!?" Blink asked.
"If you had gone to tell Kloppman that the storm was coming and that we would be fine then he would still be alive! If you had taken the 2 minutes it takes to climb a flight of stairs, then he'd still be alive! That's why it's YOUR fault!" Race walked closer to Blink, his hands closed in tight, dangerous fists.
Aisling stepped in front of the boys. "Don't, Race…Please." She said, taking his clenched fists in her hands and trying to mold them back into the soft, relaxed hands Race normally had. The hands she held when she was 8 and her parents were murdered. As she touched him, all the memories came flooding back. Then night that she came home from a friend's house to see her parents dead, stabbed, on the living room floor of their small apartment. How she ran straight to the Lodging House, blinded by tears.
She and Race had been friends since they were 6 and she met him at the market. He was trying to sell a paper to her mother. She remembered how Race hugged her as she cried into his arms.
And as she held Race's hands again, just like those 8 years ago, she knew he remembered it too. She met his gaze. She saw in his eyes the love he had for her. Tears crept up on her, but she pushed them away. She locked gazes with Race, willing him to back off. But he ignored it. He pushed her aside, along with all their long ago memories. She fell to the ground, shocked.
"Don't you lay a finger on her…" Blink growled, his hands now in tight, angry fists.
"Please, boys…Don't." Blue said, helping Aisling up off the ground.
"Getting your girl to fight your battles for you, Race?" Blink asked, cocking his head to one side in a manner that screamed, 'Try me…' Race murmured something inaudible, then lunged at Blink.
He punched him in the jaw, then in the stomach. Before Blink could regain his bearings, Race knocked him over and put a foot on his chest. He then pulled a jack-knife from his vest pocket.
"No!" Mush cried, wrenching himself from Eclipse's grip. He lunged at Race just as Race brought the knife down to Blink's chest, whispering, "You killed the only father I had…" Mush got between then just in time to save Blink. But Race didn't stop the knife. It sunk into Mush's shoulder.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"NO! MUSH!" Eclipse screamed, running to Mush's side. Race looked down at Mush, flabbergasted.
"I…I…" He began, but he had no words to finish.
Mush turned his head, his tears leaving a sparkling trail through the blood smeared on his cheek, and simply stated, "You missed."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
No one moved, until Blink said in a strained voice, "You saved my life Mush…But, um…Could you get off me?" Mush turned and gave Blink the most hurtful look he'd ever given anybody…Save Aimee, his last girlfriend. Blink saw the blood streaked across Mush's face, and felt his breath catch in his chest. Blink pushed himself to his elbows. At the sudden movement, Mush let out a howl and rolled off Blink. Race began backing away in terror. No one, not even Blue noticed this. Race slipped out the front door and into the night.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Race stumbled around in the street. He stood, his eyes filling with tears, next to the Horace Greeley statue in front of the lodging house. There was only one place he could think to go at a time of this much fear and confusion: The pier down by the Brooklyn Bridge.
He walked to his little spot under a huge weeping willow, but found that it was already occupied.
"Sarah?!" he said to the figure sprawled out on the ground under the tree. She jolted awake, saw him, smiled, and lifted herself up to her elbows. "What are you doing here? Don't you have a HOME?!" race asked her, bewildered.
"Well, of course! I just needed to get out for some fresh air. The house was too…thick…?" She said, searching for the right word to describe the atmosphere after the fight.
"What do you mean?" Race asked.
"Well, David and I got in a little fight." She diverted her eyes from Race's face. "I was angry about…Well…How none of you guys liked me and that the girls were rude…" She seemed terribly embarrassed, so Race said, "Yea, Blink and I got in a…Fist…Fight and Mush kinda…Got in the way…So now all my friends are against me…Even Blue…She didn't pay any attention when I walked out…"
"I don't have any friends…" Sarah whispered.
Hesitantly, Race leaned over and took Sarah's hand. "I'll be your friend." He whispered.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Back at the Lodging House, there was a fearful feel to the air. Blink was leaning over Mush's shoulder, trying to find an easy way to get the knife out. Aisling held Mush's head in her lap, holding a cool rag to his brow. Eclipse paced back and forth, wringing her hands and whispering to herself in Spanish. Blue was playing 'nurse,' making frequent stops to the kitchen for more water for Blink and Aisling.
"Hold on Mush…This WILL hurt…" Blink warned. He took hold of the knife and pulled. Mush let out a painful moan, and Eclipse burst into tears, running to a bunk and collapsing on it. Dutchy pulled away from Lotus Blossom, and walked over to Eclipse. He rubbed her back, trying to calm her down. Eclipse looked up, and, seeing her best friend sitting there, reached up and wrapped her arms around him. Lotus Blossom smiled slightly.
Blink put the knife down to the side quickly, like it carried some sort of virus that could kill anyone with a single touch. He put a rag on the wound to stop the bleeding. The cut was deep, and the bleeding was heavy. Blink knew that there would need to be severe pressure put on the cut to stop the bleeding. He looked up at Aisling. She had tears in her eyes, but she nodded in understanding. God…The cut is deep…If he bleeds to death I don't know what would happen to Eclipse…Or me…I love Mush so much…He's like a brother to me…Both of us would be heartbroken… Aisling thought as she watched Mush stare at Eclipse as she embraced Dutchy, crying onto his shoulder.
Blink tied the rag tightly around Mush's shoulder.
"There. The bleeding should stop in a couple hours. I will need to replace the rag every few hours…It'll get pretty messy. But, you should be fine, Mush."
Aisling looked deep into Blink's eyes. Her tears were flowing freely now, although she did all she could to stop them.
"Are you okay, Aisling?" Blink asked, seeing her cry.
"Oh Blink…I feel so bad thinking this, but I'm so glad he missed you!" Blink nodded. He wanted to ask her how she was dealing with the fact that Race abandoned her, but she answered the question before he could get it out. "And Race…Well, all the stuff with his family when he was 3…And he being the 1st of us to arrive…And how close he was to Kloppman…I understand how he feels."
"So you're saying that the fact that he tried to KILL me is justifiable?!" Blink cried.
"Nooo…Just that I can see how HE would think that."
They were silent for what seemed like an eternity. Then, Blink broke the heavy silence. "It wasn't my fault." He whispered.
Aisling tore her eyes from Mush's sleeping face to Blink's blue eyes. "Oh Blink…God…Of course it's not your fault!" She cried. She leaned over to Blue and pulled the pillow out from under her head. Placing the pillow under Mush's head, she scooted over to where Blink sat. She took his face into her hands, and kissed him.
"But…But…Maybe it is." Blink said. Aisling was kissing his cheek, his lips, his neck. When she heard Blink's remark, she pulled away.
"Blink. It was NOT your fault. You can't control what the weather does, and you know that even if you had told Kloppman that we would be fine, he STILL would have come to check on us. Just be glad that you and Mush were able to get all the guys in our room, so they weren't hurt. You are a hero, Blink…You and Mush." Aisling said. Blink smiled. They stared at each other for a while. Finally, Aisling said, "You wanna go somewhere private?"
Blink stood up. "I thought you'd never ask."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Aisling stood up, brushed off her pants, and looked at Blink. "Where to?" Aisling asked.
"What if…What if we just take a walk?" Blink suggested.
Aisling sighed, that not being the response she had hoped for. But, instead of voicing her opinion, she smiled, took Blink's hand, and said, "Okay."
~*They walked hand in hand down the street toward the Brooklyn Bridge. There was a pretty comfortable silence between the two of them, until a voice from behind them broke it.
"Hey! What're you two doing down here?" it asked. They turned around to see Spot standing on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge.
"What're you doing over there?" Blink asked in reply.
Spot blushed and looked down at his feet. "Well, me and Hiccups had a fight a little while ago…and, well…"
Blink and Aisling sighed. "Again, Spot?" Blink asked.
"Um…Yea." He replied.
"Who was it this time?" Aisling asked, putting her arm protectively around Blink, like she was afraid he would take to Spot's lifestyle and go sleep with some girl whenever he gets the urge.
"This blonde named Ericka." Spot replied. He tried to stop it, but a grin escaped him and spread across his face.
Aisling shook her head. "Spot, you are such a jerk."
Spot's grin faded. "I'm sorry…" He whispered.
"So…How was she?" Blink asked.
Spot's grin returned and Aisling smacked Blink on the shoulder.
"Oh…It was good…But…I do believe that Hiccups is better."
"Then get back to her!" Aisling cried, pushing Spot in the direction of the Brooklyn Lodging house.
Talking to Spot about where he was that night made Blink a little excited. He turned to Aisling and said, "Should we be heading back now?"
"Yea…" Aisling said, a little confused.
They walked quickly to the Lodging House. Aisling was still a little apprehensive as to why Blink wanted to leave so suddenly, but as they walked she began to understand more and more.
When they arrived back at the Lodging House, Blink pulled her quickly up the stairs and into one of the uninhabited bedrooms.
Finally understanding what was going on, Aisling said, "Blink, don't you think that this is a little-" Blink began to run his fingers slowly down her back. She shivered with pleasure. She turned around and kissed him hard. Aisling pulled away for a moment. She looked at Blink steadily, as if to say Don't break my heart. Blink smiled softly at her, as if to assure her, I won't.
He placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed her. She returned it by putting her hands on his chest. She unbuttoned his shirt slowly, savoring every second.
He pulled away from her, his shirt open. She looked at him. For the first time in his life, he could actually see the love in her green eyes.
"Are you doing the right thing? Do you think that maybe we should…wait?" Blink asked her.
"Maaaaybe…" she said. She leaned forward and began to button his shirt.
"Oops! Changed my mind!" Blink cried, grabbing her. He gently slipped the shirt off Aisling's back and let it fall to the ground.
"You're shaking." Aisling whispered, slipping his shirt off.
"So are you." He replied.
They made their way to the little bed in the corner of the room. As they kissed, their hands traveled lower, toward the snaps of their pants…
~*Blink woke up on the bed, next to Aisling. For a split second, he was confused, but he quickly regained memory. "Oh yea…Well…daaaaamn…" he said to himself, smirking. He stroked Aisling's back. "Wake up," He whispered. She groaned, rolled over, and slowly opened her eyes.
"What am I…Well nevermind…" She said when she saw her's and Blink's shirts on the floor. "What time is it, Blink?" She asked. Blink pulled out the pocketwatch from his pants pocket, and said with a disappointed sigh, "7:30. We'd better get going. We've got papes to sell."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Aisling and Blink walked down the stairs and into the Bunk Room, buttoning their shirts. Blue came running to them, followed closely by Pandora and Jack.
"We can't find Race!" Blue cried.
"So?" Blink replied icily, continuing to button his shirt. He hoped the buttoning would be obvious to Jack and Pandora. It was.
Jack pushed Blue aside and said, "Screw the Race thing for a minute. Why are you two coming out of the extra room buttoning your- OH MY GOD! Did you-"
"Yup." Blink and Aisling stated, smiling a private smile at each other.
"Me and Jackie- Boy do that all the time!" Pandora scoffed. Jack nodded vigorously.
"Now, back to Race. Why don't you care that he's missing?" Jack asked. He wasn't one to stick to one topic for very long.
Blink and Aisling shared a funny glance at Jack's question.
"Didn't Blue tell you?" Blink asked.
"All she told us was that you guys were giving Race crap, so he got all depressed. And of course, the Kloppman thing." Pandora explained. Aisling gasped and Blink gave Blue his best "Go to Hell" look.
"That's not at all what happened." Blink growled. He launched into the whole story. When he was finished, Jack and Pandora were speechless.
"Let's go see Mush." Pandora said.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~They walked into the Girl's Bunk Room to see Mush and Eclipse asleep on the floor. The towel around Mush's arm was brown with his dried blood. He was covered in a shabby sheet. Eclipse was next to him, leaning on one of the bunk beds.
"Woah…" Jack followed that with a long, low whistle.
Blink woke Eclipse up with a gentle shake. He took the bloodstained rag she had in her hand. "Eclipse, what happened while Aisling and I were…gone?" he asked her.
"The police and firemen came. They cleaned out the tree and the debris and broken beds. They took Kloppman too. They made us go in a different room as they moved him out. His family…" Eclipse trailed off, tears in her eyes.
"What, Eclipse…What about his family?" Blink asked, his voice now a low, painful whisper.
"They…They aren't having a funeral…They're just…buried him…" She whispered. Her eyes were all glazed over, like she was staring into some dark abyss that only she could see.
"Where? Where did they bury him?" Blink asked.
"…I don't know."
Blink sighed. "Well…I sould probably change Mush's towel. Pandora, could you go to the kitchen and get two towels? One wet, one dry." Blink instructed. Pandora nodded and ran to the kitchen.
"Are you two selling today?" Eclipse asked.
"Yea…" Aisling replyed dreamily.
Blink unwrapped the towel on Mush's shoulder. At the sudden movement, Mush awakened.
"Hey fellas," He croaked. He noticed Aisling and Blink. "Sooo… Where did you two run off to last night?" Aisling blushed and a smile bigger than anyone had ever seen before spread across Blink's face. "Oooh…" Mush said.
When Blink finished with Mush's shoulder, he stood up, dusted off his pants and said, "Well, we'll leave you too alone. Mush, I doubt you should sell for another couple of days. We'll see you two tonight." With that, Blink, Aisling, Jack, and Pandora walked out the door, leaving Mush and Eclipse behind.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Mush leaned over and took Eclipse's hand.
"How're you feeling?" Mush asked, rubbing her hand.
"I'm okay. Are you?" She asked.
"Yea." He whispered. He pulled her closer to her, and whispered, "You don't have to stay."
She smiled lightly and replied, "But I will."
Then she kissed him; a passionate, urgent kiss. Mush traced his fingers on her back, "I love you" Mush whispered.
He's never said that before! Elcipse thought. Sher smiled. Then today must be it. She smiled slyly at Mush, and said, "I'm ready."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Back at the Distrubution Center, Jack was going off about Blue and Race.
"I can't believe they'd do something like that! I thought they were our FRIENDS! 100 papes!" He cried, throwing the money at Weasel furiously.
"Calm down! Mush will be okay, and if Race comes back, we'll talk to him," Pandora comforted, touching Jack gingerly on the arm. "I think the biggest concern right now is where they're going to stay."
Blink looked up quickly at Pandora. His patchless blue eye was wide open in fear. It was obvious that he hadn't thought about that.
"I mean, all the newsies can't fit in the girl's room. And Brooklyn has NO room for all of you! What are you guys going to do now?"
"I know…" Weasel said grimly.
Blink turned to Weasel. "Um…What?" He was utterly confused. Why would Weasel know what we're supposed to do? He can't send us to the Refuge, can he? Blink was panicky, but he kept his calm exterior despite the fact that Aisling was grabbing his arm tightly.
"I said I know where you kids are staying."
"Where?" Blink asked.
Weasel sighed. "Kloppman was my cousin. In the will he wrote a few years back, he stated that if anything were to happen to him, I was to take in you kids. All of you."
Aisling looked up, astonished. "So that means that we're staying at the Rhapsody?!"
"Yes. With my kids." Weasel said this last bit with a tinge of uncertainty as he glanced over at Morris and Oscar Delancy, with their girlfriends, Kaa and Trinity. Weasel's kids were what the Newsies called "scabbs." The scabbs and the Newsies had been sworn enemies since the beginning when the first Newsie and Scab got in a heated fight, ending in death.
"Well…What other choice do we have?" Blink sighed, smiling weakly at Aisling's horror stricken face. He glanced at Morris, and saw him winking and blowing kisses at Aisling while the others laughed. He glared at Morris. Morris grabbed at his chest, faking hurt. Then he pulled himself from Kaa's posessive grip. He walked cooly over to Aisling, putting his arm around her.
"So baby, you're sleeping in my house now."
"I'll try to contain my excitement." She replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Oh c'mon, you know you're happy. Finally you'll be able to ditch this loser" he tossed his head in Blink's direction. "and get with me."
Aisling smiled and put her hand on his chest. "Oh yes, I'm simply estatic!" She pushed him with all her might after that, sending him reeling into the trash bins a few feet away. He glared at her, an pointing a threatning finger in her face, growled, "You'd best watch yourselves, street rats. You're on our turf now." With that, he walked back over to Kaa and kissed her deeply.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The rest of the selling day was tense with anticipation of what was to happen to them at the Rhapsody. Blink and Aisling stuck together like glue, both afraid of losing one another. Jack and Pandora were standoffish towards the rest of the group; both newsies were extremely ashamed that they were not able to take the rest into their home; forcing them to live with scabbs.
"Blink… What do you think it will be like?" Aisling asked.
Blink smiled weakly and pulled Aisling close to him. "It'll be different, that's true, but, together, with the rest of us, we'll survive. And besides, we outnumber the scabs greatly."
This seemed to ease Aisling, and she sighed contentedly, resting her head on Blink's broad shoulder.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The chaos in the Lodging House that night was more than the Newsies had ever expirencied before. Although no one was really carrying on real conversations, every now and then there were shouts of "Hey! Get the hell outta here!" or "Oy! Get your grimy feet of my shirt!" but, more common, were the remarks, "You bum!" and "For five bucks… maybe." Aisling was laying silently on her bunk. Blink walked slowly over to her, and positioned himself directly above her.
"Deja Vu" She muttered.
Laughing, Blink replied, "We're leaving first thing in the morning. Are you packed and ready?"
"Yea." She replied, pointing to the two small, scruffy bags sitting next to her bed.
"Hey, Ais… What's wrong?" Blink asked as he sat down next to her and began to gently stroke her hair.
"Oh I don't know… Maybe the fact that I'd rather sleep on the streets than stay in the Rhapsody."
"Oh you know that's not true! And plus, I'll be there to take care of you."
"Blink, no offense or anything… But you're no match for the Scabbs."
"But I am." A deep voice said. Aisling looked up and saw Spot standing next to her bed, his normal smug smile plastered on his face.
Aisling laughed. "Then you can take care of me then."
"Course I will! You're only my best friend!"
Blink sighed heavily. "Yes, that may be true, but she's my girl" with that, he leaned down, kissed her neck, and stood up. "Time for bed, everyone!" He cried. With a small, devilish wink at Aisling, he left the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Aisling wasn't aware of the reason for the wink, so she simply went to bed. She was awakened by a soft tapping on her shoulder and a quiet whisper.
"Ais! Ais, wake up!" It was Blink.
"What do you want?" She sat up and tried her best to give him a dirty look. He simply smirked and climbed into bed with her. Putting his arms around her waist and laying his head on her shoulder, he whispered, "Did you like it?"
"Like… What?" Aisling noticed that her breath caught in her chest and she forgot what she was thinking.
"Ya know… last night…?" Blink looked at her with his deep blue eyes expectantly. Just the simple thought of the night before made her blush. Blink noticed this and gently stroked her cheek. "You're blushing." he whispered.
"I…" She was unable to finish her sentence.
"Yes…?" Blink urged.
"Exactly."
"I don't think I understand what you're trying to say."
"You said yes, I said exactly." Aisling had to giggle at the look of utter confusion that washed over Blink's face at that remark. "Yes, I liked it… A lot…" She whispered, looking deep into his eyes.
"You… you have… green eyes…" Blink replied. He was stuttering, something he had never done before with Aisling.
"Are you nervous?" Aisling asked.
"I wasn't last night… but I am tonight."
"Why?"
"Because… I think… Well, I know…" Blink trailed off as if he had gotten lost in the greenness of Aisling's eyes.
"What?"
"I think I have fallen in love with you. Totally, head over heels with you. The way you smell, the way you kiss, the way you touch me, the softness of your skin, the way you fit so easily into my arms… Just… everything." Blink had looked away at something unknown during this speech, and as he looked down, he noticed Aisling was crying. Without a word, her embraced her and kissed away her tears.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Aisling woke up to Blink's sigh. She was surprised to have his arms around her, but she quickly remembered the night before. Smiling, she leaned over and softly blew in his ear. He shivered, and grunted. Giggling, Aisling kissed his ear, her mouth slightly opened. At this, Blink mumbled, "Mush, if you don't stop messing with me, I'm gunna soak you."
Aisling giggled, and replied, "Blink, it's me." At the last word, she breathed on his neck and and began slowly sucking on it.
"All right, All right, I'm up. You don't have to continue the cruel torture you're doing now." He looked at her, smiled, and gave her a peck on the cheek.
"Are we selling today?" Aisling asked as she rolled out of bed and slipped on her black pants and white tank top.
"I don't know. I think we may be heading over to the Rhapsody to set everything up." Aisling groaned, and Blink got up and put his arms around her. "I know, Ais, but… We're going to have to live somewhere else! I mean, there's a huge hole in the roof, and there isn't any insurance on the house, and we have no money to get it fixed! Some of the guys had to sleep out on the streets last night, and we already had 3 to a bed!"
"I know, but, Blink… I really don't want to live there."
"I know you don't, Ais, but… Baby, I don't know what else, or where else we can live." Blink kissed her on the cheek, and ran his hand down her cheek. "C'mon. Get ready. You and I will go set everything up."
Aisling smiled. "Okay."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was chilly outside as the two walked the 3 miles to the Rhapsody. When they reached the big building, Blink put his arm protectively around Aisling.
An old man wearing gray pants and a white shirt was standing in the office of the Rhapsody.
"Yea, whattya want?" He said. He had a gruff, rough voice that gave Aisling chills.
"Oh… We're here to seal the rooms for Kloppman's Newsies…" Blink said. His normally brave exterior had disappeared in the presence of the old man.
"Oh yea. Wiesel said you'se be comin' around here soona' or lata'. You Kid Blink?"
"Yessir" Blink replied steadily.
"Ah. You sellin's taday?"
"We planned on it."
"We?"
"Yessir. This is Aisling." Blink pulled Aisling up to the desk. The man leaned forward and looked Aisling over. Aisling shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably.
"You sell tha papes too?"
"Yes sir."
The man scoffed. "Girls like you ain't worth nothin'. All you do is cause trouble withtha hard workin' boys."
"Blink…" Aisling whispered.
"Girls is only speakin' when they're spoken ta!" The man snapped at her.
"Sir, can you show us the rooms you have designated for us?"
"Yeah, follaw me."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The three walked up two flights of stairs, into a long hall with about 20 or so little rooms.
"All these rooms are yours. I'm sure you're impressed, seeing as you used to live in a dump." The old man said, opening doors and revealing clean, organized rooms with two bunk beds.
"Thank you sir." Blink said.
"Yea. But just remember: No funny stuff. Our kids sleep on the floor below you."
"Yessir."
With that, the man turned on his heels and walked down the stairs.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~**~*~~*~*~*~
"Well, do you wanna go choose a room?" Blink asked Aisling.
"Sure." She said. She walked into each room and took a quick look. Finally, she decided on a room towards the end of the hall. It had a little window that attached to the fir escape, which lead to the roof. "I want this one." She said, putting her bags on the bed.
"I'll share it with you." Blink whispered.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As they walked to Tibby's, Aisling sang a song her mother used to sing to her when she was upset. "You're my sunshine, my only sunshine…" Blink smiled and took her hand.
"Hey you two!" Jack cried as they walked into the restaurant.
Aisling smiled a small smile. Blink grinned his usual Trident grin. "Hey guys!" he said, waving.
"We have rooms in the Rhapdsody now. Blink and I just went to take a look it." Aisling said.
Everyone was rather grim at the reality of what was going on.
Suddenly, Race walked in with Sarah.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Silence reigned in the restaurant as Race stood with his arm around Sarah. "Hey…Heya fellas…Pannie…" Race said to Pandora and the slew of Newsies standing around the door.
"Why you… You little…" Jack said, taking a few menacing steps forward.
But before he could touch Race, Blue came pushing up through the boys. "Race…?" She murmured, tears springing up in her eyes.
"Oh, Blue…" Race said, pulling away from Sarah and taking a step toward her.
"Don't even think about it…" Spot said, pulling Blue back into the group and putting a protective arm around her.
"No, Spot, I want to talk to him!" Blue cried, pushing Spot away. "Racetrack…Ben…" she whispered.
She called me Ben…No one ever calls me Ben…And I've ruined it with the one and only girl I have ever loved. Actually, both of the girls I've loved. Aisling hates me, Blue hates me. Oh my God, what have I done?!
"Olivia… Oh God… I'm so sorry…" Race whispered, taking a step forward and touching Blue's face.
"What happened to you? Where's the Ben that I fell in love with? Where's the Ben that held me the day my parents left me? Where's…" Blue didn't finish her sentence; overcome by tears, she ran into Spot's strong arms.
"I think you need to go. Take your tramp and get the hell out." Spot said, glaring at Race.
"No… I … I love her." Race said. He looked at Sarah, who had tears in her eyes. "Don't cry. I know that I've hurt you, but I love her. I have to let you go. What else am I supposed to do? I know we… Well… You have to go."
"But, please… Racetrack… Ben…" Sarah began.
"You BITCH!" Blue screamed. She had been watching Sarah as Race talked to her; slowly growing more furious. And when Sarah called Racetrack 'Ben,' she exploded.
"Blue, Blue babe, calm down!" Spot cried, pulling her away from Sarah. But Blue was too angry, and the anger made her strong. She pulled away from Spot's strong hold and pushed Sarah hard. She fell to the floor, her skirt flying over her head.
"Don't. You. Touch. Race. Don't. Call. Him. Ben." She said between fierce punches to Sarah's chest and face. However, Blue was not a strong hit, and Spot was too fast for her. He pulled her off, kicking and screaming, and handed her to Race. Her screaming rage turned into crying as she collapsed into Race's arms. Spot helped Sarah up. She had a black eye and a bruise on her chest where her shirt had been torn.
"You're okay?" Spot asked.
Sarah looked deep into his blue eyes. "Yes…"
Spot's eyes narrowed. "Good. Get out." He said as he pushed her toward the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Blue sat there, gazing at Race as if he was from another planet. "I love you…" She whispered. Whether as an act of Fate, or just because she'd always been quiet, no one heard her confession.
"Get out." Spot growled at Race.
"Spot, I…" Race began, standing up and reaching a hand out to his friend.
"I don't care. I don't want to hear your pitiful little excuse as to why you did what you did."
"Spot, I was angry. I lost Kloppman. He was a father to me."
"Yea, yea, and what was Blue? Huh? Obviously not much, seeing as you so quickly and easily replaced her."
Blue began whimpering as Spot spat out the harsh words towards the man she loved so blindly and who she thought loved her back.
"Tell me, Racey… Did you sleep with her? Huh, just spit it out, you Traitor. Did you?"
Race finally let the tears he had been