A/N: Here's the next chapter!
My life went from normal to crazy in such a short period of time. I never thought I would be able to adjust to the newsie life, but I guess I'm full of surprises. It's been six years since that night and a lot has happened since, a lot of bad memories, but also a lot of good. I learned how to be a Brooklyn newsie and found out the best places to sell papes. I saw Spot's transition from a tough kid to an even tougher young man. He definitely followed in Danny's footsteps, as well as Gunner I mean there was no way he wasn't going to "inherit" his mean streaks; now Spot was the leader of Brooklyn.
Since that night, we've managed many feats including overthrowing Queenies newsies. They had to be put in their place and if it meant replacing their leader then so be it. Without Manhattan's help we would've never been able to do it. Which brings me to my first bad memory, Race finding out about my situation. He was furious for many reasons. What got to me most though was the fact that he mainly felt betrayed, that I didn't trust him enough to let him know from the beginning what happened. He found out the hard way, and my parents lashed out at him for my sudden disappearance one morning when he went to wait for me to go to school. He seems to claim he got over it, but deep down I know he's still hurting.
Anyways, now I was known as Lucks. Every newsie needs a fitting nickname, and I was thankful for Race to have already given me mine. I still stayed in the one bed, one window room I was led to from the beginning. It didn't take me long to figure out that it was the leader's room, which meant that Danny had once lived in there. To be honest it made me happy that I could see how he lived, and I was able to wear his old clothes whenever I went out to sell papes. That was another thing; I had to be disguised as a boy so as to keep the Queenies in the dark about who I was. Now there really wasn't a need for me to dress as a boy, but I honestly didn't have many girl clothes. Plus, it didn't bother the others or me wearing boy clothes, they knew I was a girl under all that and they treated me as such.
A knock on my door interrupted me from my thoughts.
"Ay Lucks, time ta get up," Spot's voice called from the other side. I heard his footsteps leave down the hall to wake up the other boys. Spot Conlon, I thought as I got up. Due to contrary belief we weren't a couple, although everyone seemed to think we were. Since he was assigned to basically be my bodyguard back when I was twelve, we grew to like…or stand…each other's presence. In other words, we hung out a lot and just got used to it. I highly doubted that he would have the slightest bit of feelings for me. The Spot Conlon settling for one girl? I laughed at the thought.
When I made it downstairs I saw that everyone was gathered around as if we were having a meeting. I made my way to the clearing just in time to see Spot start his speech.
"Alright, alright," he called to get everyone's attention. "Look, I've been told this mornin' that they jacked up the prices." As soon as he said jacked everyone let out a loud complain. That was the second time this week that the prices increased for the papes.
"How'er we sposed to sell? I ain't got 'nough to cover the cost!" Someone complained.
"Hey, hey calm down, look there's been some buzz in 'hattan 'bout them not sellin'."
"Not sellin', ya mean they plannin' on goin' on strike?" someone else called. That brought about a larger reaction from the boys.
"Look, hey, look," Spot yelled over the commotion. "Now I knows youse need ta make money, I'm not gonna stop youse from sellin'. Today sell what ya can, I'll try 'n find out anything else 'bout what 'hattan plans on doin'." The boys then started mumbling their complaints as they filed out of the room. I decided to stay to try and talk to Spot.
"What?" he asked once we were alone. I shrugged and found a seat across from him.
"Just wonderin' what you think a this…" I watched his movements carefully and saw that his look of slight shock changed to his signature Conlon grin.
"Ya know it's still surprisin' afta all this time to hear your new accent," he said as he took a seat. I rolled my eyes; my accent definitely came from being here so long. "Honestly I don't know what to think. If 'hattan is serious, then that's another thing, but these are our jobs. If we's can't sell we's can't live."
"You don't think Jack's serious about goin' on strike?" I questioned. Now, I knew Jack and I knew his antics weren't always well thought, but he was always someone to stand up for what they believed in.
"Hard to say at this point, but if he's callin' 'hattan's shots, that must mean he's their leader. Which is surprisin', they haven't had a leader since Sniper…" Poor Sniper. That brought another bad memory to mind.
"We should talk to Race, see what he knows." He gave a curt nod before we both got up and headed out the door.
"Still think youse can sell fasta then me?" he smirked.
"Any time any day," I challenged. "I mean, I did learn from da best." It was moments like these where I realized I liked Spot best. This was him, the fun guy who liked having challenges, not the guy who always fought and slept with girls almost every night. That disgusting trend started as soon as he became leader. The one thing though was that he was always there for me if I ever had a bad day, which back then was fairly often.
We both got our papes and walked to our sellin' spots, mine just around the corner from his. It had been this way so that he could easily keep an eye on me incase I suddenly got kidnapped during selling times. It didn't take long until I successfully sold all of my papes before I joined him.
"I win," I smirked with my hands behind my back, temporarily forgetting I was dressed as a boy. While it didn't bother me to be dressed like that, it definitely bothered other people, people more wealthy and distinguished, which were usually the people who bought from us.
"Youse is gettin' better every day huh," he asked with a proud grin. I leaned against the wall as I saw him finish up selling. I don't know why but I always liked watching him. He was so interesting, especially if you knew how angry he could get. It was almost surprising to think that he could act civilized one moment but in the next not hesitate to brutally hit someone who wronged him. "Ay," he called getting my attention. "Wanna go to Tibby's?" I was surprised he would ask me to go with him considering we never really went there seeing as how it was in Manhattan. It's not a date, he just wants to find out information, I reminded myself. I nodded and we started our walk over. We had made it to the docks when Writer approached us.
"Hey Spot, got some 'hattan boys on there way over, just started on the bridge," he told us. He was one of Brooklyn's birdies; well he was when he wasn't writing something down. The guy was so creative it was a shame he sold the papes instead of writing them.
"Thanks Writer," Spot nodded as Writer ran back to the docks to our left to jump back in the water. I envied him. It felt like it was the hottest day in New York in my life, especially since there wasn't a cloud in the sky to cover the sun's steaming hot rays. "Ya wanna go swimmin'?" Spot asked with a smirk on his face. He must've seen my longing look to the cool water. I was about to answer when I saw a familiar group of guys in the distance.
"Can't, youse got company." We watched as they got closer until Spot did his annoying leadership thing.
"Why don't youse go take a seat ova there. We's can go swim afta we's is done." I was gonna argue with him, but I've learned many times not to argue with the Spot Conlon, especially when it involved official newsie business. Sighing I trudged over to the stack of boxes and crates and sat watching the guys jump off the dock. Looking over in curiosity though, I noticed I saw a new face I didn't recognize. Jack and Boots yes, but the guy, who looked to be doing most of the talking, he was new. No doubt he was educated, his clothes were nearly spotless and not nearly as wrinkled as my shirt was. Maybe he's like me, I thought as they wrapped up their discussion. I snapped back to reality when I realized that I was still staring at them. Spot didn't come over until after they were a good distance away, probably contemplating what had just happened.
"Well?" I asked once he reached me. "What was it they said?"
"Da 'hattan newsies are crazy," he started before sitting next to me. "They's is serious about this strike. They's want Brooklyn to join."
"And?" I pressed. I swear sometimes it was like I was Spot's right-hand man…or woman that is…
"If we's join den the otha boroughs are sure to join," he left his thought hanging as he looked over the water.
"But, we ain't join'n are we." He let out a big sigh moving his glance down to his knees.
"I can't make any quick decisions 'bout this. They's need ta show they's mean business. That they's gonna stick through wid this 'til da end, not abandon it come tomorrwa. Until they's can show me proof they's are dead serious, Brooklyn's out." He had a point. The Brooklyn newsies were always up for a fight, but they had a head on their shoulder. I sighed as I looked out at the water for the tenth time since I sat down. It really did look inviting. I heard a small chuckle to my right.
"What?" I snapped.
"Youse keep lookin' at the wata, it ain't goin' no where. Go for a swim, it's a hot day no one will think twice a youse jumpin' in." I scoffed at him thinking he wasn't serious I jump in, in my undergarments with half of Brooklyn's newsies swimming in their trunks. I'm pretty sure most of the guys hadn't even seen me in a proper dress, and I wasn't about to flash my garments to them. I'm not that kind of girl. I realized though that he was serious.
"What, youse want me to show everyone my undergarments? Think again Conlon, I might be hot but I ain't that hot," I shook my head in playful disbelief. Spot just sighed before forcing himself up; he took my hand and pulled me along to where he was walking.
"Gotta do everythin' 'round here don't I," he mumbled. We walked to a more closed off section of the dock area; a section where none of the boys were. It was completely void of people.
"There, now ya can swim without da boys knowin' what's under dese clothes," he joked. To be straight up honest, I was shocked that he would do something like this. Spot was Spot; he wasn't always the caring kind of person. Ask anyone and they'll say that he's the meanest around, that he didn't care about anyone. Well, except for the girls he frequently slept with.
"Ya but youse is here," I mumbled under my breath. Why am I becoming so shy all of a sudden? I chided to myself.
"What, youse don't want comp'ny?" I turned to look back at the oh so inviting water. I really did want to swim and get the sweat off me. When I turned back around I saw that he was undressing himself.
"What are youse doin'?" I quickly asked feeling the heat rush to my cheeks for fear I would see something I had never seen. I was fast to turn my back to him.
"Relax," he casually stated as he took off his shirt and under shirt. "I'm hot…thought I'd go for a swim."
"Spot," I said as I started to turn. As soon as I did he pulled down his trousers, making sure he still had his underwear on, before running by me and jumping into the water. "Spot!" I called as I went close to the edge of the dock. He emerged, wet strands of hair in his face, with his grin and bright blue eyes.
"Da wata's great," he said as he moved a hand through his hair pushing it back. "Ah, Lucks, best decision I've made all day, the wata's coolin' me down…feels great" now he was just rubbing it in. I gave him a determined glare before moving back to where his clothes were and snappishly took my outer layer of clothing off. I made sure to make sure nothing was going to be flashed before I took a running start into the water. He was right. It felt like twenty degrees instantly vanished as soon as I hit the water. I let out a sigh of relief as I came up to the surface.
"What'd I say?" Spot said as he swam towards me. I rolled my eyes and splashed him, which was a mistake on my end. Of all the people to challenge, Spot was the worst because he wouldn't stop until he won. We ended up splashing and laughing at each other until we noticed how wrinkly our fingers were.
"Let's head ta tha ladda," he motioned. I followed him the short distance only to stop as he sat on one of the steps. "What'd I say?" he grinned. I sighed and went to playfully hit him when he grabbed my hand bringing me in close. "Well?" I could feel his warm breath hit my face as my nerves kicked into overdrive. I didn't know why I was getting so flustered around him. While I didn't grow up with him, we did spend a lot of time together. I looked at him like I looked at Danny…sometimes…the times when I wasn't thinking about how his lips would feel on mine…or how his hands would feel on my waist…or what it would be like if he leaned in for a kiss…Wait…that's what he's doing now. Snap out of it Lyssa, this is your moment! I ferociously thought as my cheeks turned as red as a tomato. Spot was really going to do this, kiss me right here in our undergarments, on the ladder at the docks in the water. Or, he was going to…until he got so rudely interrupted.
"Well, well, well…Knuckles, Dagger, look who we's found."
A/N: I told you they would be older haha. It is rated M for a reason. So yeah, now Spot and Lucks are roughly around the ages of 18 (spot) and 17 (lucks). I'm gonna put an early warning now and remind you guys that this is rated M! The good stuff is coming and I'll put in the story when it's happening so if any of you feel uncomfortable reading it you can go right ahead and skip!
Also, just wanted to thank anyone who is following the story and who favorited it! And shoutout to 101 and more ways to fangirl for leaving my first review for this story! Don't worry, more is coming!
SORRY TO LEAVE YOU WITH A CLIFFHANGER! I hate those lol but let me know what you guys think!
New Chapter Next Week!
