A/N: Hey there! I just thought I'd let you lovely readers know that the chapters will be generally around the same length, though I can't guarantee a speedy update. Enjoy the second chapter.


/Spot's POV/

They turned and looked at me and the other two boys I had brought with me. For some reason, only the four Manhattan boys looked surprised to see me. My cousin and her friend just smirked. Stretch's smirk reminds me of mine. Must be a Conlon thing.

"Spot, whatcha doin' here?" questioned Jack. Before I could say anything, though, Queenie answered in my place.

"I think he wants to apologize to Stretch." At that, I scoffed. I have never apologized for doing something. Ever. Not even after I slugged Racetrack for cheating in a poker game we were playing. (He had to be cheating. How else could he have beaten me?) Instead of saying anything, I walked up to the girl who had just spoken. Though I'd never admit to thinking it, she was pretty. We made eye contact for a second before the one-eyed kid, Blink, stepped in front of her.

"Somethin' you gotta say?" I said, expecting the idiot to move. When he didn't, I moved my hand to the golden tip of the cane on my belt, remembering how many times I had ever used it to make someone move. But I guess Jackie-boy saw and knew what I was going to do, 'cause that's when he put his arms in between us to separate us.

"Fellas, the girls jus' got here. How 'bout we talk about this over a coke?" he suggested. Blink looked from me to Jack and nodded. The cowboy then peered down at me.

"Fine." I said.

/Stretch's POV/

I'm glad Jack stepped in to keep them from fighting. I don't know Blink, but I do know Spot, and he doesn't stop punching till they stop breathing.

"Lead the way, Jack." I said, attempting to lighten the mood. I saw Spot turn back to the two others who had come with him, say something, and then watch them walk in the direction of the lodging house. Jack gestured with his hand and began walking, everyone following. Queenie and I linked arms and walked in front of all but Jack. Feeling everyone's eyes on us was slightly unnerving, but I ignored it. We came to a halt as the cowboy opened the door. The place, Tibby's, I think he said, was somewhat quiet and gave off a cozy vibe. It wasn't crowded, which made finding some seats easy. The waiter who came over was an older-looking guy who was wearing the typical outfit of any waiter. If he hadn't been sneering, he probably would've reminded me of a grandpa.

"What would you like?" he asked in an annoyed tone.

"A pony." answered my best friend. Everyone chuckled as the waiter's eyebrow began to twitch. "I'd like a coke." she said.

"I think everybody does." I said, looking to each face for any disagreement. When I saw none, I said to the old waiter, "Seven cokes." He nodded and walked off, muttering to himself about "stupid kids." Spot looked at me in shock.

"Ya can count, May!" he said, putting emphasis on my real name. I glared at him. He knew I hated being called May. My glare, however, was soon replaced with a smirk as I remembered something.

"One of us should be able to, Sean."

/Queenie's POV/

The rest of us could tell it was on. Stretch normally punched out anyone who called her by her real name. In an attempt to break up the fight, I changed the subject.

"So, short stuff," I said, looking to Spot, "To what do we's owe the pleasure?" Everyone then turned their attention to him, waiting for an answer.

"Brooklyn deserves to know why Queens is in Manhattan." he answered, moving his gaze from his cousin to Jack and I, flickering it between us.

"Kinda wondered that, too." Racetrack piped up. I looked at everyone who was currently looking to me, and decided to explain.

"Queens is curious about Manhattan's welfare. I asked my newsies, see what they wanted to do, and this is what everybody agreed on. Jack came to Queens a couple of days ago and said it was fine." The other four, seeing as Stretch already knew the circumstances, were silent for a moment while they absorbed the information. The waiter, finally, returned with our drinks and set them on the table. He reached into the apron around his waist and removed some straws, throwing them down onto the table. He walked away, once again muttering to himself. I passed everyone their cokes, Stretch and I clinking ours together before swallowing some. After drinking down some of his own, Spot looked me in the eyes. His blue gaze was piercing, and made me somewhat uncomfortable.

/General/

"Alright, I want in." Spot said. Jack looked at him a moment before responding.

"Wouldja be stayin' here too?" he asked, already mentally trying to find a place he could stay the night. He was able to temporarily stop worrying when Spot told him he would begin staying in Manhattan tomorrow night. He stood up, reached into his pocket, and withdrew a coin, tossing it down onto the table.

"Leavin' so soon?" Queenie said.

"Gotta get back." he replied, picking up his coke and downing it in one gulp. "Good to see ya, boys." He and Jack shook hands before he nodded his head to the two girls and left. As he was exiting the door, Stretch noticed, two more boys walked in. While both were obviously newsies, one was much older than the other. The younger boy held a wooden sword in his hand, and was thrusting into the air with it, only stopping when the older one asked him to. He spotted the group and made his way over.

"Heya, Davey!" greeted Jack, rising from his chair. He moved over and squatted in front of the smaller boy. "Hey there, Les. Wanna meet some new newsies?" The boy smiled from ear to ear and nodded his head vehemently. Stretch and Queenie could hardly believe such a cute little boy existed, and didn't refrain from emitting a small "Aww..." Jack turned to the two and gestured with his hand for them to come over. They both did, and squatted down next to Jack. "Les, this is Queenie and Stretch." The little one looked at them with an adorable smile, making them both hug him at the same time. They heard a chuckle from above them and released Les, standing up. Jack followed suit and introduced them. "Ladies, this is David, the walking mouth." He shook hands with each of them and opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a loud cough from behind them. When they turned to see who had interrupted them, they saw the grumpy-looking waiter, impatiently tapping his foot.

"Please keep the way clear." he said in an annoyed tone. Queenie vaguely wondered if his wife had admitted to be currently cheating on him and was packing her bags. Honestly, what else could make him that grumpy and mean to the rest of the world? To avoid an argument, though, David nodded politely and moved everyone back to their seats at the table. He took a chair from a different table and moved it next to Jack's. As the rest of the "meal" went on, Queenie and Stretch were still obsessing over how cute and adorable they found Les. Everyone began to carry out conversations with the person sitting next to them.

When they had finished, they stood, pooled money to pay, and gave it to the man at the door who smiled kindly and thanked them for coming. The eight of them made their way back to the lodging house, laughing at the occasional joke Race would tell them. But as soon as they were within the boys' dorm room, Queenie quickly realized she had lost something. She began to panic, groping her neck and hoping to feel the chain against her fingertips, but to no avail. Stretch noticed her friend's odd behavior and asked what was wrong.

"It's gone." she said before running out of the room, ignoring the stares of the other boys. She flew down the stairs and out the door, stopping abruptly a few feet from it. She frantically began looking around for her most prized possession. The necklace itself was sterling silver with a locket dangling from it. Within it was a picture of her grandmother on her mother's side. The reason it was so important to her was because before her grandmother had sadly passed away, she gave it to her, telling Queenie to never give up on her dreams. Of all the family she had, that one woman was the only one to believe Queenie when she explained that she didn't need her parents or their money to make her mark on the world. So now she always wore the heart-shaped locket to let her grandmother know she was always thinking of her, and never giving up on her dreams.

After five minutes of searching the ground frantically, she found the necklace, open, laying perfectly out of harm's way. She picked it up and surveyed the picture of her grandmother, smiling. Queenie put the necklace on and held the locket within the grasp of her hand. She sighed in relief and looked at the area around her, recognized the statue, and realized she had walked all the way to the square without meaning to.

The blonde began walking back to the lodging house and quickly noticed she was being followed, but made no signs to show it. She turned into an alley, stopping after stepping a foot within it. As expected, the person following her tried to enter the alley and was met by Queenie's fist. It was a boy, she saw, and he went flying backward, landing in the street five feet away. The boy held his nose in an attempt to cease the blood flowing from it.

"Relax, toots," he said from behind his hand, "It's just Oscar." She glared at him, making him flinch slightly. "Didn't know a girl could hit that hard." Queenie scoffed; This moron obviously didn't know who she was. She walked up to him, towering over him until he scrambled to his feet.

"You'd be surprised." she said, and with that, walked away. He didn't continue to follow her, and she was almost sad. There was nothing like a good brawl to make a day. When she reentered the lodging house, Stretch was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.

"I see ya found it." she said, smiling. Queenie happily nodded and went up the stairs, going into the room she had previously been in and taking her seat next to Blink. He looked at her and asked why she had run out.

"My necklace, it had fallen off." She pinched the chain between her thumb and pointer finger and lifted it. The blue-eyed boy took the locket into his hand and opened it, observing the picture it held. "It's my grandmother." she said, answering his question before it was asked. The two of them joined the conversation that some of the other boys were having, chiming in once or twice. Stretch was listening, too, but wasn't really talking. She had taken notice of the way the younger newsies were whispering behind their hands to others. Even several of the older boys had begun to do it. She leaned over to Queenie, whispering that she'd be right back.

"You ok?" she inquired. The brunette nodded and stood, making her way to the door. All the boys parted, creating a path for her. She left the room and climbed the next set of stairs, making her way to the highest floor. When the stairs ended, Stretch was met with a hallway with a window at the end of it. She walked up to the window, opened it, and climbed out onto the fire escape. She went up the ladder and found herself on the roof.

Perfect. she thought. The girl had always liked roofs, liked being high up. She sat down on one of the spots where the shingles weren't falling off, pulling her knees to her chest and sighing. Being up there gave her the perfect view of the sunset, and Stretch couldn't believe it'd gotten late that quickly. With nothing but the descending sun to distract her, she remembered the looks on the boys faces, and how much they mirrored the ones of the other newsies back in Queens. Everyone was so... afraid of her. Well, everyone with the exception of Queenie, Spot, and the boy, Jack. Sometimes the girl preferred being on her own, simply because it made her life easier.

But naturally, at moments like this, Stretch would catch herself feeling lonely and longing for someone's embrace.


After about two minutes of Stretch being gone, Jack decided to follow her. He left the dorm room without saying a word, and went up the stairs. He had heard her go up, right? He came upon the empty hallway and saw the open window.

She must be on the roof. he thought. As quietly as he could, Jack went out the window and onto the fire escape, climbing it and wincing every time it creaked or groaned. When he reached the rooftop, he saw Stretch with her back to him. He ducked down when he heard her sigh, and wondered what she was thinking of. His mental question was answered when he heard her begin to sing to herself.

"I know what ya see

When ya look at me.

But I'm more than just words and fists

I'm a lady with a wish.

Maybe I'm just dreamin'

Lettin' my mind off reelin'

But if there's someone listenin' to my song-

Maybe ya know where I belong.

Tell me what it takes to measure up.

So what if I ain't prim or proper?

What if I ain't gots no mother?

I'm more than a tough facade-

There's more to this kid that pushes everyone away.

I'm lookin' for someone not afraid to sing along

Someone not afraid to say I'm wrong.

Boy, that'd be the day.

So, tell me if you're listenin'-

What I've gotta do?

I'm human just like the rest of yous.

I've got voice, but I've got heart-

I'm more than just smart remarks.

So if there's someone listenin'

Could you help me out?

Show me someone a little too proud,

Who's willin' to press their luck

I'm waitin' for someone who measures up.

Show me who measures up.

'Cause I know what the world sees when they look at me.

But that's not me.

That's not me."

When she had finished, Jack was completely shocked. She had the voice of an angel! She then turned around, sensing someone was there, and saw Jack staring at her.


A/N: I must give credit where credit is due. The song, entitled "Measure Up", was written by my friend Melissa, who does have the voice of an angel.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please leave a review!