Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters from the Disney movie, "Newsies." The only characters in this story that I claim ownership over are Ella, Silver, and Mrs. VanWyck.

Wow. I'm really sorry about the wait. For a few days before the rally, I literally had no time for anything but planning. My best friend and I spent days sorting out how much it was going to cost and how much time it would take to get down to the city on time and blah blah blah. BUT! It was really a blast. Game did a great job planning everything, and everyone was so incredibly nice. For those of you who couldn't make it, there should be pictures on the website pretty soon, so check them out :D

Then after I got home, my mother decided that I should clean out and organize my entire room because we have to paint it soon. Now, I'm sure you guys can imagine how completely and utterly thrilled I was to do nothing other than cleaning for the past three days (That's sarcasm). So it pretty much comes down to this: I haven't had any time to write until today. So I rushed to get this out, and I don't particularly like it. But whatever I do, I can't seem to get it the way I want. Oh well. Hopefully the next chapter will come out better. Sorry, guys. Here goes.

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"Hah. You weren't kiddin' when you said it was hard woik..." I muttered, having barely enough energy to open my mouth and talk clearly. Silver shrugged, walking contently towards the lodging house. I lagged behind slightly, dragging my feet.

It was near dusk by the time we finished selling. Well, actually, Silver had gotten rid of all her papes by the time it was 3 in the afternoon, but she stuck with me until I sold all of mine. Which was around 7:30. Quite pathetic, since I had started with less than half the amount she did.

"You'll get betta'." My best friend assured me. "Foist day's one of da hardest. But you'll get da improvin' technique down soon enough..." I smiled, remembering the incident that occurred that afternoon. "Well, if some guy's gonna chase me every time he realizes dat it's not da real headline, I don't think I wanna get da improvin' technique down..." I replied.

Silver laughed. "And what're you gonna do den? Woik strictly off what's in da paper? I hate to burst yer bubble, El, but da real headlines in dose newspapers could put jus' about anyone to sleep. Come to think of it, I dunno how da headline writers do it witout fallin' asleep in deir ink..." She said. I laughed halfheartedly as I climbed the steps to the lodging house and opened the door.

I walked blindly across the lobby floor, barely noticing a thing as I followed Silver. I was too tired to pay attention. Silver sat down on a chair and I collapsed into the one next to her, letting my head drop back against the backrest.

I closed my eyes and, for once, the noise in the lobby didn't seem to phase me. A long while passed, and I was nearly asleep when Silver nudged me. Barely even conscious, I shook her off and turned my head away. She nudged me harder.

"Ow! What?" I exclaimed, rubbing the spot on my upper arm where she had elbowed me. Silver immediately hunched forward towards me. "Look over dere..." She whispered. I glanced over Silver's shoulder. The couch that had been filled with newsies only about a half an hour ago was now empty. Only one of them was left.

"Go talk to him!" Silver urged. I shook my head quickly and leaned back against the chair again. "No way. He's readin'..." I pointed out, desperate for an excuse. "Exactly!" Silver exclaimed in a whisper. "Ya love to read. You can go aks him what he's readin'... It's poifect!"

"No, it ain't. What if it's just a repeat of dis mornin'?" I asked. Silver shrugged a shoulder. "Come on, El. You'se never gonna know unless ya try."

Looking for another excuse, I glanced around the lodging house. Kloppman was seated behind his desk, rubbing his temples and looking quite frustrated about some paperwork. Besides Silver, Dutchy, and myself, there were only two other newsies in the room. Snoddy and Pie Eater were sitting over by the unlit fireplace, playing a game of dice. Everyone else had gone upstairs to the bunkroom.

I sighed. I was one of those people who just accepted defeat in an argument. But Silver wasn't. I knew she'd keep going until she got me to get off my chair and start a conversation with Dutchy. "Fine..." I mumbled, pulling myself to my feet and wandering over.

Dutchy didn't seem to notice my presence until I sat down on the opposite side of the couch. He glanced up from his book for a second, but then, just as quickly, pointed his eyes downward again. I cleared my throat softly and forced myself to look over at him. "What're ya readin'?" I asked.

"Oliver Twist." Dutchy stated, holding the book up (but not tearing his gaze away from the text) so I could read the cover. I nodded slowly and looked down again, desperate for something to say.

This wasn't working. I looked over my shoulder and begged Silver with my eyes, but she just gave me a stern look and gestured for me to keep going. I sighed inwardly and turned back to the boy. "It's a good book." I managed. This time, Dutchy looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"You'se read it?" He asked. I nodded. "Few years ago. I used to go to da library all da time 'nd jus' take out books." I said. For the first time in the conversation, Dutchy brought the open book down to his lap. "I got dis at da library, too." His tone of voice was a little more receptive now.

I scooted a little closer to Dutchy. "C-can I see dat for a second?" I asked, extending my hand towards Oliver Twist. Dutchy nodded and handed it to me. I put my finger on the page he left off at, careful not to lose it. With my other hand I flipped towards the beginning, finding a small sheet of paper wedged between the cover and title page.

At the top of the paper, "New York City Public Library" was scribbled in neat, cursive handwriting. Below that was a list of people who had taken the book out. I dragged my pointer finger down the page and I found my name to be the fifth or sixth on the list. Tilting the book towards him so he could see, I showed it to Dutchy.

He broke out into a slight smile. When his eyes drifted up to meet mine for about a second, I couldn't help but smile back. I handed his book back and turned away before he saw me blush, but I didn't want to let the conversation drop that easily. "So ya like to read, huh?" I asked. After the words left my mouth, I inwardly scolded myself for asking such a stupid question. Of course he likes to read...Why else would he have a book in his hand half the time I see him?

Luckily, Dutchy shrugged and answered it just the same. "Yeah, I love it. I ain't very good at it, but I manage, ya know?" He looked back down at his book and I expected that to be the end of the conversation, but then he began talking while keeping his eyes on the words. "Actually, when I got heah I didn't know how to read. Dat was back about 5 years... But between Kloppman, Cowboy, 'nd Specs all teachin' me I finally got da hang of it."

I nodded, trying to think of something else to say to keep the conversation going. Before anything came to my mind, there was an urgent knock on the door that forced me out of my thoughts. Kloppman yelled from his desk for the person to come in, and the door opened.

A well-dressed man, roughly in his thirties, walked into the lobby and approached Kloppman's desk. He wore a black tail suit with a beige waistcoat underneath. His dark mustache matched the color of his slicked-back hair, which was slightly visible from beneath a top hat.

The room grew quiet as we all turned to stare at the man. "Mr. Kloppman, I presume?" he asked. The newsies' gazes switched over to Kloppman, waiting for his reply. His eyes grew nervous and we could just about hear him gulp. Something was wrong.

Kloppman blinked a few times and cleared his throat, finding his voice. "Um, yes." He said. Then he turned to us. "Boys, 'nd uh... goils. Go upstairs to da bunk rooms, a'right?" Even though everyone was curious as to what was going on, we all stood up and shuffled towards the staircase.

Silver caught up to me and I raised an eyebrow at her, silently asking if she knew anything. She shrugged, but didn't look too nervous. "Don't worry. Kloppman will sort everythin' out. Always does." She assured me.

As we climbed the staircase, she tapped me on the shoulder and motioned to Dutchy with her eyes, who was walking in front of us. "How'd it go?" She whispered. I shrugged a shoulder but couldn't help the smile on my face.

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A few of the newsies were sleeping when we reached the bunk room, so everyone else was fairly quiet. Snoddy and Pie eater went over to the other boys who were still awake. They began talking in hurried whispers about what had just happened downstairs. I wanted to believe what Silver told me, though. I wanted to believe that nothing was wrong, so simply ignored the worried conversations and went into the washroom to get ready for bed.

I took my time with washing my face and brushing my teeth, since I wasn't exactly looking forward to another sleepless night on my top bunk. I thought about asking Silver to switch with me, but that wouldn't be fair. Even though I knew she would switch for my sake, her bunk was below Kid Blink's. From what I understood, it had taken a lot of time to get Racetrack to agree to change his bunk with Silver so she could sleep underneath Blink. As for everyone else, I wasn't on good enough terms with them yet to ask them for a favor. I finally decided that I'd have to get used to sleeping 6 feet above the floor, no matter how terrified I was.

Things seemed to have calmed down by the time I reentered the bunk room. Silver was sitting on top of her bed with Blink next to her. She leaned her head against his chest as the two talked softly. Most of the conversations had ended, as the majority of the newsies were preparing to sleep. But the conversations that were still going on were about lighter subjects now.

Dutchy was, once again, reading when I climbed up to my bunk. Like the night before, I positioned in the very center of the mattress, staring at the ceiling because I was too afraid to look down.

Soon enough, Kloppman came into the bunk room. He was bombarded with questions from the newsies who were still awake and had heard about the man downstairs. But Kloppman simply waved away the questions, telling us that it was nothing to worry about and he would take care of it. "Now get to sleep, all a'yas. Carryin' da banner, bright 'nd early." He shut off the lights and soon all the noise in the bunk room faded to nothing.

For hours I lied there with my eyes open, afraid that if I fell asleep I would roll off the mattress without realizing I was doing so. Sometime around 2:30 in the morning, too exhausted to fight it anymore, I drifted into a light sleep.

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Thanks so much for reading, and to my reviewers from last chapter: I love you guys. Thank you for your comments. They're really appreciated. I'd list all of you, but I've really got to get this chapter out.

I'll post more as soon as I can.