Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters from the movie "Newsies." Hannah, however, is mine.
Hey everybody :D
So I was reading over this while editing the spelling mistakes and stuff... and you have no idea how tempting it was for me to change everything. Did you guys notice how every single sentence starts with "I"? Bah! It's driving me crazy! And the lack of newsie accents?! It's an outrage!! An outrage, I tell you!
Woah. Sorry. ::Takes a few deep breaths.::
However, I'm not going to change anything but the obvious grammar and spelling mistakes, no matter how poorly written some parts of this are. Guess every writer has to start somewhere, right?
Thanks for the reviews. You guys are way cool.
Aaannddd now that that's said and done, enjoy.
--START--
It was a really long walk to the train yards. Longer than I remembered. It took me about an hour and a half to get there on foot. When I finally did, the sun had been up for a while. It turned out to be a cloudless, warm summer day.
The train yard was empty of trains, except for a few older ones than had broken down and didn't work anymore. A new freight train would come every hour. They would load up boxes of cargo and the train would take off again.
I was leaning against a pile of lumber, waiting for a train to come. I heard voices coming closer. I quickly crouched behind one of the wood piles, and listened. Peeking out from the cracks between the lumber, I saw two workers whose job it was to load the cargo onto the trains.
"Next train broke down at da last station. We're off until da one afta' dat comes." One of the workers said. "Great. That gives me a while, I'm gonna walk into town for a bit." The other one said, as he waved and left towards town.
"'Scuse me, sir..." I said, stepping out from my hiding place. The first worker turned around. "Do you know the time?" I asked.
"Sure thing, kid." He said as he took out his pocket watch. "It's uhh... ten after eight." He said. 8:10... That means I just missed the 8 o'clock train. The 9 o'clock train broke down and isn't coming. That means I have to wait for the train at 10:00! I thought.
"Thanks." I replied, walking away before he realized that I was planning to hop one of the trains.
"Hey! Wait a second!" Crap. I thought, turning around. "Yes, sir?" I asked. "What's ya business bein' here anyway?" he asked. I shrugged and shoved my hands into my pockets. "Just goin' for a walk. Needed to know how long I had 'til I had to be home for lunch." I said casually. One thing I was great at: Lying. I had gotten a lot of experience while living on the streets. I could make up stories on the spot and I almost always got away with it.
"Oh... alright then." He said, obviously convinced. He turned and walked away. When he was out of sight I found a good hiding place where he wouldn't see me. Since the next train wasn't coming for a few more hours, that gave me plenty of time to think. i Great... I already have enough on my mind. I thought. Time to think is the last thing I need right now.
When the train came, I hopped on one of the cars that was towards the back and had a lot of boxes already. That way, they wouldn't load much more cargo in it. And if they did for some reason, I could choose between tons of hiding spots.
I climbed in and lied down between some boxes. The car was dark and cool. I was exhausted from all the walking and I only got a few hours of sleep the night before. I probably fell asleep around 1 and I must have been out of the lodging house by 4. Still, I didn't dare fall asleep. I couldn't let my guard down again, or I might end up jumped and out cold, dozens of towns away like last time.
I didn't wanna sleep anyway. Every time I closed my eyes I saw Mush. His eyes. That smile. The heartbreaking look he gave me that morning. The first time I saw him in the alleyway. It was useless. I couldn't stop thinking about him.
My train of thought was broken when I heard the car door open even wider. Workers started loading more boxes into the car. I quietly inched my way to the back where they couldn't see me.
"This is the last one, Al." I heard one of the workers say. "Tell him he can start up the train." The huge metal door slid closed with a loud crash, and all the memories of running away the first time came back to me.
I heard the train start up, and the freight car started to shake slightly. This is it. Soon I'll be away from here. I can find my parents and start off new somewhere else. I don't have to worry about being tied down in New York City anymore. By poverty, or by orphanages, or by people... As soon as I had that thought, Mush came back to my mind.
No, Mush tied me down. I thought, trying to push him out of my head. He meant well, but he had the ability to make me so much weaker. He had the ability to control every emotion I was feeling.
The train started to move. No turning back now.
Then I realized. Yeah, Mush did make me a weaker person. But deep down, I didn't care. He had the ability to, but I trusted him not to. I cared about him more than I had cared about anyone in a long time. He could emotionally hurt me in a flash, but I knew he would never would purposely.
I had to get off this train. Who knew where the next stop would be? It could be hours or days away depending on where the cargo had to be dropped off. I stood up and began to move to the door, but I was thrown down again by the speeding up of the train. I held onto the inside wall of the car and pulled myself to the door. Using all my strength, I heaved the door open. When it unlocked, it flew open and slid as far back as it could go.
"HEY! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" I heard a worker scream as the train passed by a group of them.
"How'd she get in there!?
"I thought you checked all the cars!"
"What happened to just going for a walk!?"
"Someone get her!"
The train was moving fast at this point. Not at full speed, but in a few seconds it would be. If I was gonna jump without getting injured, I had to do it now. If the train got any faster and I tried to jump, I would break something.
I looked down at the passing grass next to the tracks. It looked like it was going by a million miles an hour. I closed my eyes as tight as I could. "Oh God oh God oh God..." I mumbled. I pushed my feet off from the edge of the car at the opening, and held my legs close to me. I hit the grass with a loud thud and rolled about 5 or 6 times before I stopped, sprawled out on my back. Quickly, I examined my arms and legs to make sure nothing was broken. I was fine.
I heard yelling from behind me, and I sat up and turned around. 3 or 4 of the train workers were running towards me. "Hey! It's illegal to jump freight trains, you know!!" One of them said. "Someone get her!" In no time I was up on my feet and running like the wind. "Get back here!" They screamed.
I ran straight into a wooded area. Swiftly hopping over fallen branches and dodging trees, I was able to lose them in about 15 minutes. I stopped to catch my breath, and then kept walking straight. Soon enough I was out of the woods and on my way back to Manhattan. If I hurried, I could be back in New York City before dark.
----
Kid Blink's point of View
The headline was great that day. I bought 50 papes and was able to sell them all by about 5 PM. I got some dinner with the days earnings and I was one of the first to get back to the lodging house.
When we got back from our routes, we would usually hang around in the lobby waiting for everyone else. We would rarely spend time in the bunk rooms except at night before we would go to sleep.
Jack and Dutchy were there when I got back from my route. " 'ey ya, Blink." Jack said. "How's it goin', Jack?" I answered, waving to Dutchy and sitting down on the couch.
Mush came in next. He had a blank look on his face didn't say a word to us. He looked so tired and worn out. Mush walked past us to the far end of the room. He sat against a wall and let his head fall backwards onto the wall.
The three of us exchanged confused looks.
Crutchy came back with Skittery, and soon after Bumlets, Specs, Itey, Snipeshooter, and Boots showed up. I pulled Skittery away from the conversation. "Skittery, you know what's up with Mush?" I asked. Skittery looked around to make sure no one was listening, before he leaned in. "Hannah left. For good. Mush's takin' it real hard." He whispered.
"Wow..." I said. "I've never seen him that down before." Somehow, within 20 minutes everyone knew why Mush was upset. Everyone knew that Hannah had left. Of course we were all gonna miss her. But not half as bad as Mush was going to. We'd never seen him look at anyone before the way he looked at Hannah.
Race got back when it started to get dark, hours after the rest of us. He must have stopped by the races after he finished selling. "Wow Racetrack. Took ya long enough to sell all yer papes." Specs said, teasing him. "I went to the races after I was done!" Race said, laughing. "Sure... whatever ya say. We all know you're the slowest seller here." Boots joked. All the newsies laughed. The truth was, Race was one of the fastest. And he never let us forget it.
"I'll soak ya!" Race yelled. He playfully jumped on Specs' back and pretended to punch him. Everyone watched amused while they wrestled each other to the ground. All the newsies gathered around them and cheered. They weren't serious or anything, just horsing around.
I looked over at Mush. He wasn't even watching. He was still sitting against the wall looking up at the ceiling the way he had been hours ago. He seemed to be in deep thought.
"I'm gone for a day and you guys are already fighting each other again." We all looked up. Even Specs and Race stopped. Hannah was standing near the doorway with her arms crossed. She had a smirk on her face.
"Hannah!"
"What're you doin' here!?"
"She's back!" Everyone yelled, running over to her.
Hannah's Point of View
The guys all came over and formed a circle around me. They asked me question after question. Everyone was talking at once.
I looked around at everyone's faces. Crutchy, Race, Skittery, Specs, Jack... everyone was there. Except for Mush.
Then I saw him. He was across the room sitting against a wall. He was staring at me with his mouth open a little. His eyes were full of confusion and shock.
I pushed my way through the guys and walked slowly over to Mush. I stopped about 5 feet from him. He stood up and looked at me, his eyes never leaving mine. "What're you doing here?" he asked. There was confusion in his voice.
"I decided I would take you up on your offer." I said, smiling. His eyes lit up. "You mean... stay here? Become a newsie?" He asked. I grinned and quickly shook my head up and down.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me towards him. Then he lifted me up off the floor. "Mush!" I screamed. "Put me down!" I yelled through laughter. "Alright." He said, loosening his grip like he was going to drop me on the floor.
"No don't drop me!!" I yelled, throwing my arms around his neck so he couldn't let me fall. I shut my eyes tight and held onto him. He laughed. "I would never drop you." He said quietly to me before he lowered me to the ground. I let my hands slide down from around his neck so they were on his shoulders.
His hands were still around my waist. We stood still, looking at one another and smiling.
"Ahem." One of the guys cleared their throats. I noticed how quiet the room had gotten. I whirled around, forgetting that the others were there the whole time. They all stood staring at us. They all had huge smirks on their faces and their arms were crossed or on their hips. I could feel my face burning and I moved away from Mush.
They all snickered. "Alright. If these two are done flirting now... I think Hannah needs a nickname. Since she is a newsie now and all." Race said. I gave race a look that said "thank you." I was grateful for the distraction... although I could have done without the flirting comment.
Everyone else's nickname had something to do with their personality, looks or interests. Most of the guys didn't really know my personality too well and there was nothing about my looks that stood out enough to make a nickname out of it. That left interests. "Hannah, what do you do when ya got time?" Blink asked. "What do you mean?" I replied.
"What do you do for fun?" He rephrased it. "hmm..." I thought about it. For the past few years the only thing that had been on my mind was finding food and a place to sleep. "I haven't done anything for fun in a really long time. Not since I've lived with my parents." I immediately regretted saying that. What if they asked about why I didn't still live with my parents? Mush was still the only one who knew the story. Luckily, they were too busy trying to find a nickname.
"What did you used to do when you lived with your parents, then?" Boots asked. I tried to remember.
"I used to love to draw. I used to go to Central Park almost every day with paper and a pencil and just sketch what I saw." I replied.
"Hmm... Sketch. Whadda ya guys think?" Skittery said. They all nodded and muttered their opinions. The newsies all seemed to like it. "Whadda you think, Hannah? You like Sketch?" I smiled. "Sure. Sounds good." The truth was, I didn't even care what the nickname was. The point was I had a nickname. That meant I was one of them. I finally belonged with people... I was part of a group of friends.
-----
I had been lying awake for over two hours. I knew I should be getting some sleep. Mush and the rest of the newsies we're gonna get up early to show me the ropes, give me some tips on selling papes, and find me an angle.
I couldn't sleep no matter how hard I tried. Too much was on my mind, I guess. I was wondering about stuff. Above all, thought, I wanted to know what Mush was going to say to me before I left for the train yards.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground. "I... I think..." he stumbled over his words. He stopped and took a deep breath. "Never mind... Just, good luck, alright? With finding your parents and stuff." I nodded. "Alright. Thanks Mush...G'bye." I repeated.
I sighed and rolled over, shutting my eyes. I kept my eyes shut for a long time, trying to allow sleep to come to me. It wouldn't. I had a strange feeling that I wasn't the only one who was awake.
I heard someone tossing and turning in their bed. I was right. I wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep. Soon I heard them getting up from their bunk, but I didn't open my eyes. I figured it was just one of the guys going to the bathroom or something.
The side of the bed that I was facing sank down slightly. Someone had sat next to me on my bed. Still, I didn't open my eyes. Whoever it was thought I was asleep.
He lifted up his hand and moved a strand of hair that was hanging over my face. He tucked it behind my ear. Then, barely even touching me, he rubbed my cheek softly with his hand. I opened my eyes.
It was Mush. Obviously, I didn't expect anyone else but I was still surprised. Why was he doing that? I finally admitted it to myself. I liked him. A lot. But something told me it wasn't possible for him to like me back...
When he saw my eyes open, he pulled back his hand. "I- I'm sorry... I didn't... mean to wake you. I didn't realize that-...Sorry." He whispered. He blushed and got up to walk away, but I grabbed his wrist. "It's okay. I was already awake." I whispered.
He looked at me for a second and then looked away. "That's even worse." He muttered, avoiding my gaze. I laughed. "Come sit down. I can't sleep." I said. "Neither can I." He replied. "So talk to me." I said, motioning for him to sit back down.
Neither of us mentioned what just happened. Mush seemed embarrassed and I didn't want to make anything awkward. So we just talked about other stuff. We kept our voices down so none of the other newsies would wake up.
All night, the newsies had started calling me Sketch. It had already stuck. But while Mush and I were talking, I noticed something. Mush always called me Hannah. It didn't bother me or anything, but I was a little curious as to why.
Mush was sitting up against the headboard, but his legs were up on the bed. As we talked, my eyelids started to feel heavy. I closed my eyes, and soon enough we both just stopped talking. I wasn't sure if he was asleep, but I didn't want to check. I was afraid that if he was and I woke him, he would leave to go back to his bed. I felt comfortable and safe with him next to me. And then I fell asleep.
----
Mush's Point of View
I felt someone shaking my arm. "Mush... Mush?" I heard my name being whispered from beside me. I opened my eyes and saw Hannah lying next to me. It took me a second to remember I fell asleep on her bunk.
Hannah's eyes were closed, but she was still saying my name and shaking my arm. Was she asleep? "Yeah?" I whispered.
"I gotta tell you something." She said. She was mumbling and her words were hard to understand, so I guessed that she wasn't fully awake at all. "Okay... What is it?" I whispered.
She paused for a few seconds and slightly nestled herself further underneath the blankets. Then she was still again. I listened to her light breathing. "I'm falling for you." She said underneath her breath. "What...?" I asked, not sure if I heard right. I gave her a few seconds to respond, but she didn't. She had fallen back asleep.
I sighed and looked outside. The sky was light, so I guessed it was early in the morning. I got up and went back to my bunk to get about an hours worth of sleep before I had to get up again. I didn't want to leave Hannah's side, but if the guys woke up and found me sleeping next to her in her bunk, they'd give me hell for weeks.
When Kloppman came to get us up he was yelling at me for ten minutes before I got out of bed. I was exhausted from staying up all night talking to Hannah. The newsies also noticed that Hannah, who was usually a light sleeper, was particularly hard to wake up that morning.
"So... Looks like ya didn't get much sleep last night, Mush. Any particula' reasons?" Race asked, smirking at me and looking towards Hannah who was still in bed. "Put a lid on it, Race." I said, grabbing my clothes and leaving to get dressed.
We all helped out Hannah since it was her first day as a newsie. She sold her papes around Central Park with me, Race, Blink and Skittery. She got 20 papes and sold them all, which isn't bad at all for her first day.
She didn't bring up last night at all. It wasn't as if she didn't have any opportunities to, neither. There were plenty of times, at least 2 or 3, where me and Hannah were left alone. The other guys went to cover separate parts of the park. Still, she didn't say a word about it. I guessed she didn't mean what she said, then. She was obviously half-asleep and completely out of it when she said she had fallen for me. I doubt she even remembered it.
I was really disappointed to be honest. Almost heartbroken, even. There I was, thinking maybe she felt the same way. Then again, I wasn't surprised . She could do so much better than me.
-----
Hannah's Point of View.
After we all finished our routes, we went to the restaurant to celebrate. We used pretty much all our money we earned from the day, but it was worth it. I had so much fun.
We pulled about 3 or 4 tables together and sat in a huge group. There were about 10 or 15 of us. "Ya did great today, Sketch." Crutchy said. "Thanks." I replied, smiling. "Yeah Sketch. You're a natural. Soon you'll be as good as Jackie Boy, here." Spot joked, smacking Cowboy on the back. "Whoa, cool it Spot. Let's not get too carried away." Jack replied. Everyone laughed.
When we finished eating, Spot left to go back to Brooklyn and the rest of us walked back to the lodging house. Usually we would go inside, but it was a really warm night. Instead we sat outside on the stairs and on the curb. Skittery found a wooden ball on the side of the street, so we started to play a great game of "beat the crap out of everyone just to gain possession of the ball." I know, it doesn't sound too fun. But there wasn't much to do around there. We didn't have any money to spend, so we had to make our own fun. After about a half an hour, I was really worn out so I sat on the stairs and just watched for a while.
Mush got possession of the ball and they all tackled him to the ground. I watched him as he had a laughing fit and tried to crawl away from the others. It was no use. They all jumped on top of him and took the ball, running off the other way. Mush stood up and brushed his clothes off.
He looked up and saw me staring at him with my chin in my hand. I quickly got rid of the half-smile on my face and turned away. All day he had been treating me the same as always. He didn't mention what happened because he didn't remember what I said last night. He was probably too tired when I told him. I still couldn't believe I had said it. I woke up and just decided to tell him I was falling for him. Really stupid idea. Even though I was half asleep, I meant every word of it.
Never make decisions like that when you first wake up. You'll end up regretting it. I've heard that during the first 10 seconds after you wake up, you're more disoriented than you can get with any amount of alcohol. I lucked out. He was still clueless.
He walked over to me and sat down next to me. "You're not gonna play anymore?" I asked. He shook his head. "Nah. I think I've been tackled enough for one day." He said, smiling. God, I love that smile... I thought.
We sat in silence for what seemed like a long time, just watching the other guys run back and forth. Suddenly he turned to me. "Hannah..." he said. "Yeah?" I replied.
He took a deep breath. "Look, I don't wanna make stuff awkward, but I gotta know. And if you don't know what the hell I'm talking about, tell me and I'll drop it. But did you mean what you said last night?"
"You... You remember? I thought you were asleep..." I said. He laughed. "I thought YOU were asleep." He replied. It became silent again. We were both waiting for the other person to say something first. We both thought the other didn't remember... That's why neither of us brought it up...
I wanted him to know. It didn't matter whether he felt the same or not. "Every word of it." I said quietly. "What...?" he asked. I inhaled. "I meant every word of it." I repeated.
I faced forward and refused to look directly at him. He lifted my chin up with his finger and turned my head so I had to look into his eyes. He inched towards me until his arm was touching mine.
Then he leaned in towards me, still keeping our eye-contact locked. The space between our faces was getting smaller and smaller, until at the last second he shut his eyes and his lips were on mine. He placed one of his hands on my cheek.
A few seconds into the kiss, I realized that the guys had stopped yelling. There were no more quick footsteps on the sidewalk, which meant they had stopped running.
All of a sudden, I heard a "whoa!" Then they burst out into wolf-whistles and laughter. Mush sighed and broke away. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "That... That's definitely a moment-ruiner." He said. I smiled and felt my face start to get hot.
We reluctantly turned stood up and turned towards the others, who had started a round of "Mush and Sketch sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G..." Racetrack quieted everyone down. "Alright, Alright! They kissed. Pay up, everyone. I was 100 right. C'mon, c'mon." He yelled over everyone. A few of the newsies groaned and reached into their pockets.
"RACE!!" I yelled. He turned innocently to face Mush and I. Mush looked at him with a shocked expression. "You bet on us... on us..." Mush couldn't finish the sentence. All the newsies were waiting for him to say it. "well, that!? You bet on that!?" he finished.
"What can I say?" Race smirked. "I knew it was comin'." He said. Mush let out a nervous laugh and dropped down to a sitting position again on the steps.
----
The circulation bell rang and the gates opened. All the newsies crowded into the enclosed area. While we stood online to get our papes, Mush and I exchanged glances. I hadn't had a chance to talk to him about what happened the day before.
Honestly, I couldn't get near him. Every time I tried to talk to him one of the other guys would make a comment about the kiss. So we sort of just avoided one another. I reached the desk and guy standing behind it asked, "How many?" I put my money down on the surface. "50." I replied. He handed me my papers and I started to walk away.
I figured I would be selling alone since Mush and I couldn't spend time together without being tortured. I was just about out of the gates when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw Mush. "Can we talk?" he asked. I nodded.
He grabbed my arm and walked quickly, bringing me somewhere. When he finally stopped, we were at a harbor. Steam ships passed and the air was filled with the sound of boat horns and seagulls. The harbor was one of the busiest places in the city. Men were loading wood and other cargo onto boats from the docks.
I followed Mush to a less-busy area. The breeze was cool and felt good against my face. It was a really hot day out, and the salty smell of the water was refreshing. Mush sat down on the edge of one of the docks and motioned for me to join him.
I took off my shoes and placed them on my pile of papers so they wouldn't blow away. Then I sat down beside Mush and let my legs dangle off the dock. It was low tide, so my feet didn't reach the water.
I thought sitting in silence would be awkward, but for some reason it wasn't. Even after what happened, I still felt comfortable with Mush. I just hoped that Mush wouldn't start treating me different. We were already off to a bad start, since we had only spoken a few words to one another since this whole thing started.
I just sat there, swinging my legs over the water. I got used to the rhythmic sound of the small waves crashing against the wood pier. Since we were farther away now, the busy sounds of boats and people were still there, but they sort of faded into the background.
I looked over at Mush. He kept his eyes on a certain spot in the water, and he seemed to be in thought. He was searching for the right words.
Mush opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed it again. I laughed at him. "What?" he asked, smiling. I shook my head. "Nothing." I said. He shrugged and looked back down at the water. We came here to talk, and yet neither of us had said a word to one another. I thought that was a bit ironic.
Mush took a deep breath and looked up at me. "I'm really sorry about that whole thing, Hannah..." he said.
I gave him a confused look. "What whole thing?" I asked. He had nothing to be sorry for. "You know... about yesterday." He said. He paused for a second and sighed. "The guys are ruthless when it comes to teasin'. I'll tell them that I kissed you so they'll leave you alone." He continued.
I shook my head. "No." I said firmly. "I don't care if they tease me. It really doesn't matter. I kissed you back." I said, smiling at him. He looked me in the eye and blushed.
"Besides, they'll get sick of teasing us soon enough anyway." I said. Mush laughed. "You obviously don't know the other newsies too well. They don't give up." He replied.
I shrugged. "Fine, then let them torture us. I've got nothing to be ashamed of." I said. "Neither do I." Mush said, grinning.
We both returned our gaze to the water and sat there for a while. I had a half-smile on my face that I couldn't seem to get rid of no matter how hard I tried.
Suddenly, Mush picked up my hand and held it. "C'mon, let's go sell these papes." He said, getting up. He pulled me to my feet and reluctantly I let go of his hand to put my shoes back on.
We started walking away from the harbor and back towards the city. I held my newspapers in one hand, but my other swung freely as I walked. Mush grabbed my hand again, but this time he laced our fingers together. I smiled and bit my lower lip. I lowered my head and let my hair fall in my face so he wouldn't see me blush.
----
Since we got a late start on selling our papers, we got back to the lodging house around an hour after everyone else. We opened the door and tried to sneak into the lobby of lodging house without being noticed.
No luck. One by one, they turned around, saw us, and smirked. "So, uhh... Where have you two been?" Skittery asked, grinning. "Selling papers." I answered calmly, taking a seat on the couch.
"Oh? Why are you two so late?" Crutchy joined in. Mush shrugged. "We didn't start right away." He replied, sitting next to me. I hoped they would just go back to their card games and conversations. But of course, newsies never give up.
"Too busy makin' out in an alleyway, no doubt." Race whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. All the other newsies burst out laughing. Mush groaned and let his head drop backwards against the back of the couch, while Race crossed his arms and smirked.
Mush sat up again and put his chin in his hand. He stared at Race, giving him the death glare. Race grinned right back. Mush's facial expression showed that he was mad, but his eyes said otherwise. There was no anger in them. Or aggravation. I don't think Mush minded when Race teased him. They were, after all, best friends.
Shortly after, we went up to the bunks. I got ready for bed, even if I wasn't planning on going to sleep for a few hours. I was exhausted, but I couldn't sleep. See, if two people wanted to stay up, we all had to stay up. Unless you're a really heavy sleeper. Because those guys are LOUD.
I sat against the headboard on my bunk and closed my eyes. The guys were all involved in a conversation a few feet away. "Hey, Sketch?" I heard. I opened one of my eyes and looked over to the other newsies. "Uh huh?" I asked. "You alright?" Kid Blink said. I nodded. "Just tired." I said, closing my eyes again.
A few minutes later, something soft smacked me in the face. It didn't hurt, but I was surprised. I opened my eyes. "Hey!" I said. Mush was standing next to my bed. Even though he was holding a pillow, he innocently looked away and began to whistle.
"Sorry...It was just so tempting." He said. I laughed and moved over so he could sit next to me. He climbed onto the bed and sat against the headboard with me. When our shoulders touched I felt a shiver go down my spine.
The others noticed that Mush had come over to me. They were about to comment on it, but when Mush thought I wasn't looking he mouthed the words, "Not now." To them. They seemed to get the hint and turned back to their discussion.
"Hannah?" He said. "Yep?" I asked. "If uhh..." His voice faded out and he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "If I... um..." I sighed. "Out with it, Mush." I said.
He took a deep breath." If I asked you to... You know, kind of... be my girl, would you?" I smiled and bit my bottom lip. "Is that a hypothetical question?" I asked. "I dunno..." he said. "Let's just say I asked you... right now. What would you say?"
"Yes." I said "You would say yes?" he asked. I nodded and turned my head to look at him. "Then will you be my girl?" He asked. I grinned and said yes, looking down again.
Mush was smiling really wide. "Uh, we might as well sit with the others." He said, getting up. He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. "Because they're gonna taunt us whether we're here or there."
Surprisingly, when Mush and I sat down against one of the bunks to join the conversation, none of them said anything. They did, however, have smirks on their faces as they all exchanged glances. Mush sighed. "Alright. I'll bite. What's goin' on?" he asked. They all laughed. "We decided to give you two a break tonight." Boots said.
Mush gave them all skeptical looks, and put his arm around my shoulder. When they didn't say anything and continued on with their conversations he relaxed a little. I put my head on his shoulder.
Just as I was about to fall asleep, Mush nudged me. "Hannah, we're goin' to bed. c'mon. Get up." He said. I was too tired. "I don't wanna." I whined, keeping my eyes closed. "What are ya gonna do, sleep on the floor?" he asked. "Uh huh." I replied, smiling.
"No, you're not." He said. He stood up and my head slid off his shoulder. "Hey!" I said, sitting up before my head hit the floor. Suddenly Mush picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I screamed because I wasn't expecting it. The other newsies, who were all sitting on their bunks now, seemed amused. "Mush put me down!" I yelled, laughing. He didn't say anything, and I began to squirm. Still, he continued walking to my bunk.
He dropped me on my bed. I laughed and shook my head at him, covering myself with the blanket. "Mush, turn da light off, will ya?" Race asked. "Sure thing, Race." Mush said. "Night, Hannah." He whispered. He kissed me on the forehead and went to turn off the light. I watched him as he went back to his bed and lied down. Even looking at him gave me butterflies in my stomach.
So I didn't have any money. I didn't have a family. I didn't really even have a home. But I was still pretty sure I was the luckiest girl in New York City.
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So what do you guys think so far? Please review if you can :)
Thanks for reading.
