Disclaimer:
I don't own Newsies or Empire Records. I'm borrowing everything and everyone but Jordy, who's mine. If no one likes her, though, I'll kill her off in the second chapter and find something else to do ^^;

AN: My AP English Lit exam is tomorrow (wish me luck!), and I guess this is my way of easing my nerves beforehand. I've written too much angst lately; this is my "guilty pleasure" story. Empire Records is my favorite movie of all time, and I don't think I've met a Newsies fan who isn't an Empire fan as well (to my knowledge, at least XD. There isn't really much verisimilitude in this (they *should* be in 1995, not 2002…), but we can look past that ^^; There WILL be slash in this. Haven't fully decided on pairings, but right now I'm thinking about Specs/Dutchy (bwaha, Wu! I know I promised this story last week but I couldn't think straight then...), Skittery/Snoddy (I adore this pairing…so visually pleasing ^_^), Blink/Mush, and maybe Jack/Spot, if I can figure out what to do with Sarah. PLEASE REVIEW! I'm attempting to write something that's slightly humorous and fluffy, and I need to know if I suck at it or not XD


Not Yet Midnight… (1/?)
by LuLu

Brriiing, brrriiiiing~

Warren groaned and raised the phone to his ear.

"Empire Records, open 'til midnight," he droned. He glanced at the clock on the wall. 11:45, so close to closing time...

"Warren?" Joe's voice drifted through the receiver and into his ear.

"Yeah, Joe, what's up?"

"You're closing tonight, right?"

"Yeah..." Warren searched his mind to figure out exactly what his boss was calling about. "C'mon, I know the rules, Joe: no cigars, no booze--"

"--That's not what I was calling about, Warren. I want you to keep Jordy around with you. You need to show her how to close."

"Aw, c'mon, Joe!" he whined. "Jordy!?"

"What about me?" snapped the owner of the name, a tall, ginger-haired seventeen-year-old, from the doorway to the back room. She picked up the phone on the wall. "Joe? What's Warren bitching about?"

"He's showing you how to close tonight."

"Jooooooe!" she whined.

"Get over it, Jordy! It's just one night, and it's extra pay."

Jordy rolled her eyes and hung up the phone without responding. She had been hired in the beginning of August, right before Corey and A.J. left for Boston, to fill in the shifts they had worked before. She'd be off to college in less than two years herself, but Joe decided that she was the type to stick around, and the quicker they could train someone to know the ropes, the better. The only problem was that she didn't exactly get along with all of her fellow employees…

"Christ…" Warren mumbled as he pulled the store keys from his pocket. "What'd I ever do to Joe to deserve this!?"

"Let's see," Jordy said sarcastically, leaning on the register counter, "from what I've heard, you shoplifted, you fucking brought a GUN here…"

"Shut up, Jordy!" he yelled as he began to lock up the register.

"It's not midnight yet," she observed. "Why're you locking up?"

"Does it fucking look like we're gonna have any customers?"

"Turn the hostility down a notch, would you?"

"You're not Lucas, Jordy, so don't act like it."

"Ouch." Jordy feigned offense as she opened the store's CD player. "What do you want to listen to while we clean up?"

"I'm in the mood for some Bizkit," he said, starting the player again.

"Fuck that shit, Warren." She hit the "eject" button.

"What the hell do you suggest, then?"

"I'd rather hear something 80s…" She closed the CD player before Warren could react and skipped the compilation she had chosen to Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself".

"You say what *I* listen to is shit!?" Warren exclaimed. He reached for the "eject" button, but his coworker held her hand over it to prevent him. "This isn't just shit, it's imitation 80s punk reject British shit!"

"You say '80s British punk' like there's something wrong with it," Jordy hummed, ignoring the degrading words as she went for the broom.

"You sweep, and I'll go count the money where I don't have to listen to this crap!"

"Aren't you supposed to be showing me how to do that?"

"What, you need to be taught how to count?"

"Fuck you," she snapped.

"Sorry, Jor, but I've got work to do," he grinned.

"Wasn't offering, asshole~" Jordy called to him as he went towards the back room.

"Sure you weren't."

Warren suddenly felt a crunch under his feet. Shit! If that was a CD, he was gonna have to pay for it out of his own pocket…he looked down.

"What the hell did you break?" Jordy demanded.

At Warren's feet was a DVD. Funny, but Empire didn't sell DVDs.

"Someone left this here," he said, raising it for her to see. The cover said "Newsies". He opened the case to look at the disc.

"'Newsies'?" asked Jordy. "I think I've seen that once or twice…SHIT!"

She ducked as something sailed past her head. It hit a display and fell to the floor. She picked it up; it was the Newsies DVD, which Warren had taken the opportunity to throw at her.

"Dammit, Warren!" she spat, throwing it back weakly. It flew vertically and fell to the floor only halfway, rolling the rest of the way to Warren's feet.

"You throw like a girl," Warren observed, sailing the DVD back at her as if he was throwing a Frisbee.

"I am a girl, if you didn't notice!" Jordy caught it with both hands.

"I meant it in a bad way."

"Well watch this."

She curled her arm inward like an athlete preparing to throw the discus. She tried to fling it in the direction of Warren, but her aim was off and instead it flew out of his reach and hit the wall, hard. They both heard the crack as it shattered.

"Oh, fuck," Jordy grumbled.

"You weren't supposed to break it," Warren told her.

"No shit, Warren." They both approached the shards of the disc where they lay on the store floor.

"Maybe someone'll glue 'em to the floor like A.J. did with those quarters," Warren offered.

"I somehow doubt that…" Jordy bent down and to pick one up. As she touched it, there was a loud bang, a pop, and a blinding flash of light…



(lalala, large space here is intentional...::gets a naked newsie to flash in the meantime::)



"SHIT!" Warren yelled as he hit the ground. He turned his head to where Jordy had been, but she wasn't there. He heard her scream, though, and looked up too late as she fell on top of him. He cursed again, but this time it was muffled by Jordy's body over his face.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, peeling herself off of Warren. She smoothed her skirt and checked to make sure her fishnets hadn't ripped. By the grace of God, they were still intact.

"No clue, but I just got a view I never want to see again." Jordy scowled and smacked him.

"I swear, Warren, you're such a ---"

She froze as a horse-drawn carriage pulled by.

"We're not," she immediately said.

"Not what?" Warren asked, rubbing his head.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say...."

"Say what?"

"I think we're in the movie."

"Fuck."

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XD Ahahaha, this is so dumb, but it's making me less nervous. Tell me whatcha think!