Disclaimer—I don't own Newsies, nor any other Media references I may make.
I am not profiting at all from this story.
A/n—at the beginning of each chapter it says what day of the week it is. If it says 'Still ______' that means the day of the week is the same as the day before it. (duh?) please R&R!
Romeo and Romeo
(Wednesday)
~General PoV~
"She speaks: O! Speak again, bright angel; for thou art as glorious to this night, being o'er my head, as is a winged messenger of heaven unto the white-upturned wond'ring eyes of mortals, that fall back to gaze on him when he bestrides the lazy pacing clouds, and sails upon the bosom of the air!"
"O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or if thou will—"
"Specs, it says 'wilt'."
"I can't do this, Dutchy, this isn't fair!"
Dutchy shot Specs a hilariously stern look. "You promised you'd help me practice if I got the part."
"I didn't think I'd have to be Juliet!" Specs lowered his voice to a whisper, "Dutchy, Juliet is a girl."
Dutchy rolled his eyes, "no, you think? In Shakespeare's times there were no women actors."
"She's a thirteen year old girl."
"Just read the line macho man."
"Fine," Specs grumbled a bit, "or if thou wilt not be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet."
"Shall I hear more or shall I speak this?"
Specs could feel himself blush. Two Italian kids (acted out by Dutchy and he) were courting. He thought of this and reddened further.
Dutchy snapped his fingers. "Hello? Specs, are you with me?"
Specs blinked and yawned. Dutchy clapped his book shut.
"Huh?" Specs blinked some more.
"Specs go home."
"Huh?"
"You're not focused. This doesn't do me any good if you can't pay attention."
Dutchy threw Specs his jacket.
"Dutchy I......... I'm sorry.........?"
Dutchy glared out the window.
Specs put his jacket on, "call me.........OK?"
~Dutchy's PoV~
I didn't mean to be so nasty to Specs. Honest I didn't, he's just so nervous and it makes me nervous. When I'm nervous I can't act. I wonder about what it would be like if Specs had to do some sort of a presentation in front of the whole school
So I called Mush—who is playing Escalus, the prince of Verona—for help. His best friend Blink picked up.
"Hullo?"
"Uh.........hi, is..........uh.........Scott there?"
I could hear the phone being lowered.
"Mush! PHONE!"
And seconds later his voice came through.
"Yep?"
"Hi, Mush? It's John, from the play."
"Oh! Hi, Dutchy, right?"
"Uh huh, anyways, I was wondering, do you think we could get together to practise lines or something?"
He hesitated and I felt so stupid just then.
"Sure come over now. Blink is running over his lines as Gregory. We'll practise together."
We hung up and I breathed a sigh of relief. Practice, here I come.........
~Mush's PoV~
Blink sat down on the couch. He stared at me.
"What?"
"So.........when's this Romeo kid coming?"
"Soon," I flipped through the script, trying not to meet Blink's eye.
He winked at me, "should I leave you alone with Romeo? Fair, sweet Romeo?"
I threw a throw pillow at him, that's what they're for aren't they?
"Stop winking at me."
"I wasn't winking........."
I never could tell that when it comes to Blink. His eye patch totally obscures the view of his right eye. Everyone thinks he lost it in some freak car crash or at birth. Only his family and I know that it's fake. Not even my parents know that Blink wears the patch for fun. He loves seeing peoples' expressions when they notice the patch. He cracks up every time.
"Whatever, blinking, winking, it's all the same."
Blink shrugged and returned to his script. "Do you quarrel sir?"
I grinned, "quarrel sir! No sir!"
He didn't jump in right away; I could see him rereading the script. "Since when is biting your thumb offensive?"
He bit his thumb at me.
I frowned, confused, and bit my thumb back at him.
The doorbell rang; we must've looked pretty stupid biting our thumbs when we answered it.
~Jack's PoV~
"Jack Kelly-Sullivan!"
I flinched and turned.
"Yes Miss Larkson?" I asked in mock sweetness.
"Don't you 'Yes Miss Larkson' me boy. Hurry up! These sets won't paint themselves!"
For a minute I considered pulling a Tom Sawyer and tricking some poor schmoe into painting the sets for me.........but then I saw her glare more openly and thought better of it.
Today was girls practice. Miss Larkson had tried to have co-ed practices so everyone would learn their lines together but we weren't.........mature enough for that. To put it shortly, Piper had a can of shaving cream and shaving cream and Skittery don't mix well.
"Psst! Cowboy!" Something narrowly missed my right ear.
"Screw off Oscar."
It flew a little closer this time.
"And you Morris."
Splat! A giant spitball hit me in the back of the head.
"Stop getting stuff all over the sets." I still didn't turn.
The Delancys were standing on either side of me.
"Hello Art-Boy! Drawing some pretty pictures for your mummy?"
Oscar grinned at his 'witty' comment and Morris just laughed stupidly and cracked his knuckles.
"Shut-up about my mother," I hissed through my teeth, I still hadn't looked at them but I could feel Oscar breathing down my neck. I crossed my fingers and prayed that Miss Larkson would call the stupid techies to do something for once. She didn't.
"Why Cowboy? Did I strike a heartstring?" Oscar smirked, "go home to your daddy reject." He kicked the paint can roughly, slopping the paint to the floor. Morris giggled triumphantly and they stalked away.
"Jack Kelly-Sullivan! What are you doing? Spilling perfectly good paint! You clumsy foolish boy."
Ah yes, welcome to the glamorous life of Jack F. Kelly.
~David's PoV~
"Jack Kelly-Sullivan! What are you doing? Spilling perfectly good paint! You clumsy foolish boy!"
I tied the rope from the overhead sandbags. I turned to see Miss Larkson telling off Jack. Quite a lot of snickering was coming from behind the curtains. I pulled the curtain up in one swift movement. Behind them stood a giggling pair of Delancys.
"Lower the curtain Jacobs........." warned Oscar menacingly.
I cleared my throat, "going to help Jack with the paint?" My voice didn't falter, making me sound a lot braver that I really was.
Oscar scoffed at the suggestion, "the freak can take care of himself."
My jaw twitched, "he's not a freak. Go help him."
"Gonna make us?" Morris advanced on me, cracking his knuckles more audibly. So I punched him. Honest, I didn't mean to be such an ass, I'm never like that, but they had it coming.
Oscar and Morris slinked away, Morris clutching his stomach.
From behind me I could hear Oscar reluctantly offering to help him clean up. I smiled and went back to raising the sandbags.
Someone tapped my shoulder violently and I turned. I saw Jack and fought to hide my grin.
"Yes?"
"Listen up David," he prodded my shoulder, "I don't need you to be standing up for me! I can take care of myself."
'I just—"I could feel a lump in my throat.
"Leave me alone David! Just stay to your stupid sandbag business and keep your nose out of mine."
He stalked back to his sets.
Huh?
~Bumlets' PoV~
"A crutch, a crutch! Why call you for a sword?"
I sighed, "my sword I say! Old Montague is come, and flourishes his blade in spite of me."
I changed my voice, slightly higher and less monotone, "Thou villain Capulet! Hold me not; let me go."
Rain bubbled over, "Thou shall not stir one foot to seek a foe."
She grinned widely.
"Blah, blah, blah, extremely long prince's line........."
Piper shook up her shaving cream canister. "A little more expression Bumlets," she warned.
I snorted, "why? It's not like I'm actually in this stupid play."
I swear, all five of them gasped simultaneously.
"It is not a stupid play!" Twitch's fingers tightened around her script.
I laughed. Piper shook her shaving cream more vigorously.
"And why do you have that thing anyways? It's too creepy."
Piper sniffed and lowered the canister to the floor.
Twitch, Rain, Piper, and March glared at me. Spring gazed at her feet.
Ah, can you not feel the tension in the air?
"Yo! Juliet!"
Spring looked up.
"Wanna skip forward to your lines?"
She grinned and flipped through the script.
"O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo! Deny thy father, and refuse thy name; or, if thou not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet."
*
What seemed like five hours later Miss Larkson came into the room to find Spring and I running over Juliet's lines and the other four sitting in a circle braiding each others hair.
"You can go home now Mr Messier. Next time think twice before pulling the fire alarm outside the change rooms."
I shrugged and left without answering.
Very happily I spotted Racetrack's beat-up car in the school parking lot.
"Hey Race!"
"Out of prison?"
I opened the door and got in the front seat.
"You know, the usual, 'don't pull the fire alarm', 'think twice before you do that again'. The same old drill."
Race laughed and pulled out of the school.
"Where are we going?" I retied my bandanna; they wouldn't let me wear it in school. (a/n: think Dominic Lucerio in the Newsie DVD's extra credits)
Race shrugged, "wanna catch a bite?"
I nodded vigorously, suddenly reminded of my hunger.
"Bums, you've gotta stop gettin' caught doin' stuff like that. Learn to be more sneaky, stealth is the name of the game."
I rolled my eyes. "Sorry, not everyone has your stealth."
Race laughed again and pulled onto the highway. He lit up a cigar, no doubt stolen from his father's stash, and took a puff.
"Jesus Christ Racetrack, put down a window." I coughed, waving the smoke away.
He rolled down the window and turned up the music. For a while we drove in silence, listening to the blaring radio.
We pulled up to a rundown old diner.
Sitting outside was Snoddy.
A/n—that will probably be the longest chapter of all. It was just an intro, the rest will be short an' sweet. If your favourite newsie wasn't in this he will be in the nest few chapters. Promise.
A/n—at the beginning of each chapter it says what day of the week it is. If it says 'Still ______' that means the day of the week is the same as the day before it. (duh?) please R&R!
Romeo and Romeo
(Wednesday)
~General PoV~
"She speaks: O! Speak again, bright angel; for thou art as glorious to this night, being o'er my head, as is a winged messenger of heaven unto the white-upturned wond'ring eyes of mortals, that fall back to gaze on him when he bestrides the lazy pacing clouds, and sails upon the bosom of the air!"
"O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or if thou will—"
"Specs, it says 'wilt'."
"I can't do this, Dutchy, this isn't fair!"
Dutchy shot Specs a hilariously stern look. "You promised you'd help me practice if I got the part."
"I didn't think I'd have to be Juliet!" Specs lowered his voice to a whisper, "Dutchy, Juliet is a girl."
Dutchy rolled his eyes, "no, you think? In Shakespeare's times there were no women actors."
"She's a thirteen year old girl."
"Just read the line macho man."
"Fine," Specs grumbled a bit, "or if thou wilt not be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet."
"Shall I hear more or shall I speak this?"
Specs could feel himself blush. Two Italian kids (acted out by Dutchy and he) were courting. He thought of this and reddened further.
Dutchy snapped his fingers. "Hello? Specs, are you with me?"
Specs blinked and yawned. Dutchy clapped his book shut.
"Huh?" Specs blinked some more.
"Specs go home."
"Huh?"
"You're not focused. This doesn't do me any good if you can't pay attention."
Dutchy threw Specs his jacket.
"Dutchy I......... I'm sorry.........?"
Dutchy glared out the window.
Specs put his jacket on, "call me.........OK?"
~Dutchy's PoV~
I didn't mean to be so nasty to Specs. Honest I didn't, he's just so nervous and it makes me nervous. When I'm nervous I can't act. I wonder about what it would be like if Specs had to do some sort of a presentation in front of the whole school
So I called Mush—who is playing Escalus, the prince of Verona—for help. His best friend Blink picked up.
"Hullo?"
"Uh.........hi, is..........uh.........Scott there?"
I could hear the phone being lowered.
"Mush! PHONE!"
And seconds later his voice came through.
"Yep?"
"Hi, Mush? It's John, from the play."
"Oh! Hi, Dutchy, right?"
"Uh huh, anyways, I was wondering, do you think we could get together to practise lines or something?"
He hesitated and I felt so stupid just then.
"Sure come over now. Blink is running over his lines as Gregory. We'll practise together."
We hung up and I breathed a sigh of relief. Practice, here I come.........
~Mush's PoV~
Blink sat down on the couch. He stared at me.
"What?"
"So.........when's this Romeo kid coming?"
"Soon," I flipped through the script, trying not to meet Blink's eye.
He winked at me, "should I leave you alone with Romeo? Fair, sweet Romeo?"
I threw a throw pillow at him, that's what they're for aren't they?
"Stop winking at me."
"I wasn't winking........."
I never could tell that when it comes to Blink. His eye patch totally obscures the view of his right eye. Everyone thinks he lost it in some freak car crash or at birth. Only his family and I know that it's fake. Not even my parents know that Blink wears the patch for fun. He loves seeing peoples' expressions when they notice the patch. He cracks up every time.
"Whatever, blinking, winking, it's all the same."
Blink shrugged and returned to his script. "Do you quarrel sir?"
I grinned, "quarrel sir! No sir!"
He didn't jump in right away; I could see him rereading the script. "Since when is biting your thumb offensive?"
He bit his thumb at me.
I frowned, confused, and bit my thumb back at him.
The doorbell rang; we must've looked pretty stupid biting our thumbs when we answered it.
~Jack's PoV~
"Jack Kelly-Sullivan!"
I flinched and turned.
"Yes Miss Larkson?" I asked in mock sweetness.
"Don't you 'Yes Miss Larkson' me boy. Hurry up! These sets won't paint themselves!"
For a minute I considered pulling a Tom Sawyer and tricking some poor schmoe into painting the sets for me.........but then I saw her glare more openly and thought better of it.
Today was girls practice. Miss Larkson had tried to have co-ed practices so everyone would learn their lines together but we weren't.........mature enough for that. To put it shortly, Piper had a can of shaving cream and shaving cream and Skittery don't mix well.
"Psst! Cowboy!" Something narrowly missed my right ear.
"Screw off Oscar."
It flew a little closer this time.
"And you Morris."
Splat! A giant spitball hit me in the back of the head.
"Stop getting stuff all over the sets." I still didn't turn.
The Delancys were standing on either side of me.
"Hello Art-Boy! Drawing some pretty pictures for your mummy?"
Oscar grinned at his 'witty' comment and Morris just laughed stupidly and cracked his knuckles.
"Shut-up about my mother," I hissed through my teeth, I still hadn't looked at them but I could feel Oscar breathing down my neck. I crossed my fingers and prayed that Miss Larkson would call the stupid techies to do something for once. She didn't.
"Why Cowboy? Did I strike a heartstring?" Oscar smirked, "go home to your daddy reject." He kicked the paint can roughly, slopping the paint to the floor. Morris giggled triumphantly and they stalked away.
"Jack Kelly-Sullivan! What are you doing? Spilling perfectly good paint! You clumsy foolish boy."
Ah yes, welcome to the glamorous life of Jack F. Kelly.
~David's PoV~
"Jack Kelly-Sullivan! What are you doing? Spilling perfectly good paint! You clumsy foolish boy!"
I tied the rope from the overhead sandbags. I turned to see Miss Larkson telling off Jack. Quite a lot of snickering was coming from behind the curtains. I pulled the curtain up in one swift movement. Behind them stood a giggling pair of Delancys.
"Lower the curtain Jacobs........." warned Oscar menacingly.
I cleared my throat, "going to help Jack with the paint?" My voice didn't falter, making me sound a lot braver that I really was.
Oscar scoffed at the suggestion, "the freak can take care of himself."
My jaw twitched, "he's not a freak. Go help him."
"Gonna make us?" Morris advanced on me, cracking his knuckles more audibly. So I punched him. Honest, I didn't mean to be such an ass, I'm never like that, but they had it coming.
Oscar and Morris slinked away, Morris clutching his stomach.
From behind me I could hear Oscar reluctantly offering to help him clean up. I smiled and went back to raising the sandbags.
Someone tapped my shoulder violently and I turned. I saw Jack and fought to hide my grin.
"Yes?"
"Listen up David," he prodded my shoulder, "I don't need you to be standing up for me! I can take care of myself."
'I just—"I could feel a lump in my throat.
"Leave me alone David! Just stay to your stupid sandbag business and keep your nose out of mine."
He stalked back to his sets.
Huh?
~Bumlets' PoV~
"A crutch, a crutch! Why call you for a sword?"
I sighed, "my sword I say! Old Montague is come, and flourishes his blade in spite of me."
I changed my voice, slightly higher and less monotone, "Thou villain Capulet! Hold me not; let me go."
Rain bubbled over, "Thou shall not stir one foot to seek a foe."
She grinned widely.
"Blah, blah, blah, extremely long prince's line........."
Piper shook up her shaving cream canister. "A little more expression Bumlets," she warned.
I snorted, "why? It's not like I'm actually in this stupid play."
I swear, all five of them gasped simultaneously.
"It is not a stupid play!" Twitch's fingers tightened around her script.
I laughed. Piper shook her shaving cream more vigorously.
"And why do you have that thing anyways? It's too creepy."
Piper sniffed and lowered the canister to the floor.
Twitch, Rain, Piper, and March glared at me. Spring gazed at her feet.
Ah, can you not feel the tension in the air?
"Yo! Juliet!"
Spring looked up.
"Wanna skip forward to your lines?"
She grinned and flipped through the script.
"O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo! Deny thy father, and refuse thy name; or, if thou not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet."
*
What seemed like five hours later Miss Larkson came into the room to find Spring and I running over Juliet's lines and the other four sitting in a circle braiding each others hair.
"You can go home now Mr Messier. Next time think twice before pulling the fire alarm outside the change rooms."
I shrugged and left without answering.
Very happily I spotted Racetrack's beat-up car in the school parking lot.
"Hey Race!"
"Out of prison?"
I opened the door and got in the front seat.
"You know, the usual, 'don't pull the fire alarm', 'think twice before you do that again'. The same old drill."
Race laughed and pulled out of the school.
"Where are we going?" I retied my bandanna; they wouldn't let me wear it in school. (a/n: think Dominic Lucerio in the Newsie DVD's extra credits)
Race shrugged, "wanna catch a bite?"
I nodded vigorously, suddenly reminded of my hunger.
"Bums, you've gotta stop gettin' caught doin' stuff like that. Learn to be more sneaky, stealth is the name of the game."
I rolled my eyes. "Sorry, not everyone has your stealth."
Race laughed again and pulled onto the highway. He lit up a cigar, no doubt stolen from his father's stash, and took a puff.
"Jesus Christ Racetrack, put down a window." I coughed, waving the smoke away.
He rolled down the window and turned up the music. For a while we drove in silence, listening to the blaring radio.
We pulled up to a rundown old diner.
Sitting outside was Snoddy.
A/n—that will probably be the longest chapter of all. It was just an intro, the rest will be short an' sweet. If your favourite newsie wasn't in this he will be in the nest few chapters. Promise.
