Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters from the movie "Newsies."
Okay. So I was reading over this chapter while editing. It drives me crazy how unrealistic this is! It's so sappy and mushy (no pun intended) and if I was to rewrite this now, there'd be so many things that I'd change... Maybe I will rewrite it one day when I have the time. For now, I'll just post this.
This one is about the second or third-to-last chapter :O. I was aiming to get this whole thing posted in less than a week so I could post a different story, and it seems to be working out pretty well.
I might not be able to update a new chapter tomorrow. I'm going on a school trip (SIX FLAGS! WOOOO!!) and I probably won't be home until late. I'll try to post one when I get home, but I can't promise that it'll be before midnight. Sorry :(
--START--
The next few weeks, I spent a lot of time with Skittery. He really was a great guy. We got along really well. Most of the time, we would sell our papers together. We acted more like friends than anything else. For some reason, I thought it would feel wrong if I was with Skittery. I didn't understand why I felt like that, I just did.
Skittery wasn't the only one I was seeing more of, though. Katherine was with Mush a lot. At least twice a week she would come to the lodging house to see Mush.
I figured they were together now. They didn't show it while they were around or anything, but I could tell she was really interested in him.
I didn't talk to Mush much anymore. We kept our distance from one another. When he did talk to me, I noticed something. He began calling me Sketch more and more, until my real name disappeared completely.
The truth was, I missed him so much. His voice still made me go weak at the knees and his smile still gave me butterflies in my stomach. Still, I hid everything from everyone, especially him. He was happy now with Katherine.
The first time I saw Katherine kiss Mush was on the circulation line. It was early in the morning. We were all waiting for the desk to open, and Katherine came by. She was holding a basket with groceries in it, so I guessed she was running errands for her family.
Mush was at the back of the line, so she didn't have to fight through a crowd to get to him. I was too far away to hear what they were saying but they talked for a little while, until the desk opened. Slowly, the line began to move forward. She pointed behind her, indicating that she had to leave.
Mush nodded. She paused for a second and stared at Mush. She stood on her toes, gave him a quick peck on the lips, and backed away while blushing. Then she quickly walked off. As I stood watching them, jealousy shot through my entire body. I got a horribly empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. Mush had a completely vacant look on his face as he stared after her. She seemed so shy about kissing him. They had kissed before, haven't they? I thought.
Mush looked in my direction and I snapped out of that thought, realizing I was staring at him. Quickly, I turned my head to the front of the line. While I waited, I refused to let myself turn around and look at him again.
When I got to the desk I bought 50 papes. Skittery was waiting for me at the gate. "Ready?" I nodded. "Where do ya wanna sell today?" He asked. I shrugged. "Alright... We'll just look for a sellin' spot, then..." He said, giving me an odd look. I wasn't one of those people who never shut up, but I wasn't completely quiet either. Skittery noticed something was up, but he knew I wasn't in the mood to talk about it so he left it alone.
We walked through the streets, looking for people to sell to. Actually, Skittery was looking for people. I was sort of standing behind him, staying quiet.
The whole scene at the circulation office kept replaying in my head. I knew it was happening, but it still hurt to see it. I guess the thing that bothered me most was that could have been me if I hadn't managed to screw everything up. I didn't blame Skittery for this whole thing. It wasn't his fault. It was mine. For not telling Mush what happened right away, and for leaving before I could explain, and for lying about what actually happened just to try and make him jealous. I couldn't believe I had been that stupid.
I didn't shout out one headline the entire time. Actually, I hardly said a word. And still, I sold as many papers as Skittery. I think people thought I was deaf or couldn't speak so they felt bad for me and bought papers from me.
The headline wasn't particularly hot that day, so I only had about half my papes sold by dusk. There were still a few more people we could sell to, but I didn't want to be there. I called Skittery over. "She speaks..." He joked, walking over to me. I cracked a smile for the first time that day.
"Here..." I said, handing him my papes. "I'm gonna go back to the lodging house. You can take 'em." He shook his head. "No way, Sketch. These are yours." I shrugged. "I don't feel like sellin' anymore." I said.
"Yeah, but if ya don't get your profit from these then you're gonna have to eat the loss. Look, you go back to the lodging house. I'll sell 'em for ya and give you the profit, okay?" He said. I shook my head. "No... Take them and sell what you can. You sold the papes, so you keep the money." I walked off before he could start arguing again.
-----
When I got to the lodging house, there were a few newsies in the lobby. I sat down on the couch and watched guy after guy come back from their routes. When Mush came back, I tried to avoid his gaze as he talked with the rest of them.
Although Mush and I were in the same conversation with Race, Blink, Jack, and Bumlets neither of us talked much. Especially to each other. Skittery was one of the last ones to come in.
He sat down next to me. Taking my hand, he held it so it was open and my palm was facing up. With the other hand, he reached into his pocket. He dropped some money in my hand and closed it. "Here, I couldn't sell all of them because it was getting late and no one was out, but I sold most of them." He said.
"No! Skittery, I'm not taking it. You sold them." I replied, pushing my hand towards him again. "Yeah, but they were your papes!" He said. Then he lowered his voice so only I could hear. "Sketch... I'm tryin' to help. I dunno what's botherin' ya, but it kills to see you upset like this...I care about you a lot, okay?"
I looked at him and he stared back. I smiled and said, "Skittery... Thanks. I appreciate this a lot, but don't worry about it. I'll make up for it tomorrow. I was just a little out of it today." I put the money back into his pocket. He sighed. "You're stubborn, you know that?" He said.
I laughed. "I know." It was quiet between us as we sat facing each other, but I could hear the rest of the newsies' conversations. It was loud in the room now because everyone was back.
Skittery picked up my hand again and held it. He moved closer to me until we were about a foot apart. As he leaned in slowly, I didn't move. His lips barely brushed mine, and my first instinct was to pull back. As soon as his lips touched mine, I thought about Mush.
And then it snapped. Mush and I were over. Completely finished. I had killed every chance I had ever had with him. So I didn't pull back, but for some reason I didn't move towards him, either.
"Skittery!" someone said. Skittery pulled back quickly and looked towards the group of guys, dropping my hand. No one seemed to be paying any attention to what happened, except for Mush. "Kloppman says he wants to see you." Mush said.
"Oh... Okay?" Skittery replied, shooting me a confused look. I shrugged and he got up to go into Kloppman's office.
After a while, Mush told the guys he was tired and went upstairs to the bunk room. I sat waiting for Skittery for a long time. When he finally came back, he sat down next to me again. "What was that about?" I asked.
Skittery scratched his head in confusion. "He told me how paper was made." He said. "He called you into his office to talk about how paper was made?" I asked. Skittery shook his head. "No, he didn't call me into his office at all. Or, that's what he said, at least. But you know how Kloppman likes to talk and stuff, so as I was about to leave he looks down at a pile of papers on his desk. Then he starts explaining how paper was made." Skittery saw my confused look and shrugged.
"So... You're saying Mush made it up?" I asked. "I dunno, maybe. Or maybe Kloppman forgot that he wanted to talk to me. You never know with that man." Skittery said, laughing. "I'll be right back, okay?" I said, getting up. Skittery nodded and I went upstairs.
Mush was lying on his back in his bed, staring at the bunk above him. He looked over when I came in, and then looked up again. I walked over and sat down one of the beds close to him. "What?" He asked. He had a bit of an attitude in his voice, so I was surprised. The only other time I had seen him angry like this was the day I went to Brooklyn.
"Get a kick out of makin' stuff up?" I asked. "I dunno what you're talking about." He said. I sighed. "Its obvious Kloppman didn't really need to see Skittery."
He rolled over on his side, turning his back to me. "So what if I made it up. What's it madda." I walked around to the other side of the bed, so I could see his face again. "It doesn't matter, actually. I'm just wondering why." I asked. "I dunno, if he's stupid enough to believe something, then..."
"What's your problem!?" I interrupted, starting to raise my voice. Mush sat up and stared at me. "MY problem!? I'm not the one making out in the lobby for everyone to see!" He yelled.
My mouth dropped open. I couldn't believe him. "First off, we hardly even kissed. And you're aloud to kiss Katherine, but I'm not aloud to kiss who I want!?" I said.
"Yeah, and now you're the one making stuff up! I never kissed Katherine!" Mush said quickly. "What do you call this morning at the circulation office?!" I asked, narrowing my eyes. "She kissed me!" He yelled. I rolled my eyes and scoffed. "So you mean to tell me that you never ONCE kissed her!?"
Mush's expression softened and he shook his head. It took him a few seconds to say something. "You just don't get it, do you?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. I was completely confused. Sometimes I just didn't get him.
I heard footsteps on the stairs, but neither of us moved. We both stood a few feet apart staring at one another. The door opened, and one by one they stopped talking when they saw us, feeling the tension in the room. "Uhh... This a bad time, Mush? We can go back downstairs..." Kid Blink said.
Mush looked at me for a few more seconds, before turning his face to the other newsies. "Nah, Blink. It's fine." He said, starting to move back to his bed that he had wandered away from during the fight. The other newsies shrugged it off and came into the bunk room.
Skittery sat down on his bunk, which was a few away from mine. He started untying his shoes. He said something without looking up, but I knew it was directed towards me. "Still feel somethin' for him, huh?" He asked. His voice didn't sound demanding or angry... He sounded sympathetic.
"What makes you say that?" I asked, trying to avoid the question. "You didn't kiss back." He said, looking directly at me this time. I tried to avoid his gaze. "So?" I questioned.
"So... it's not just that, Sketch. The way you look at him and everything..." He replied. I sighed. "I... I dunno, Skittery." I lied. I knew exactly what I felt.
He stood up. "You do, Sketch. And he feels the same." Skittery moved towards the sinks to wash his face. "You're wrong." I yelled after him. He didn't turn around, but he stopped and looked over his shoulder. "No, you're just stubborn." He said, giving me a half smile.
I shook my head and put my legs up on my bed. Propping myself up against the headboard, I closed my eyes. I stayed like that for a few minutes, until I felt something hit the side of my head. "Ow..." I muttered, opening one of my eyes.
There was a crinkled up piece of paper lying next to me on the bed. Immediately, I looked up at Mush and he turned away. Then he just got up and left the bunk room.
Oh my God, is he going to be THAT immature? I thought, but a second glace at the piece of paper made me realize it had writing on it. I picked it up and smoothed it out.
i "Meet me at The Square in ten minutes" /i
------
For the first time that summer, I could feel a hint of autumn. There was a chill in the air that was only noticeable after the sun went down.
I was glad none of the guys questioned me about where I was going. I think they all knew not to mention anything. I stepped out of the lodging house and a small shiver went through me. The cool air gave me goose bumps on my arms.
It was really dark out, and if it weren't for the nearby lit buildings and the clear sky I wouldn't have known where I was going. My heart was beating faster than usual, and I had a certain feeling in the pit of my stomach. I didn't quite know why I was so nervous, but I was.
I took my time getting to the square. Part of me was hoping that he wouldn't even be there when I got there. I'm just not one of those people who like to face my problems.
I even thought of turning back, but I didn't know if I could bear to fight with Mush again. It made me really uncomfortable to see him when he wasn't his self. Carefree and happy. It would be better to just clear everything up as soon as I could.
I didn't see Mush right away when I got to the square. At first I thought he left, but I heard some movement coming from behind the statue. As I moved around it, I saw him. He was sitting with his back against it. He had his arms folded over his knees and his head buried in his arms.
When he heard my footsteps on the cobblestone, he looked up. He stared at me for a while without saying anything. I could hear a few crickets and once in a while the wind would ruffle the trees, but other than that it was quiet.
Finally, he broke the silence. "Wasn't really sure if you were gonna come." He said in a low voice. "To be honest, neither was I." I replied. He shrugged and stood up. "I wouldn't blame you."
He lifted himself onto the base of the statue as I sat down on the ground, under him but to the side so his legs dangled next to me. I brought my knees close to my body and rested my chin on them.
I wasn't looking at him, but I could hear him take a deep breath. "I didn't know what to think, Sketch... I still don't." He mumbled. "What do you mean?" I asked.
"I've heard so many versions of what happened, and I don't know what to believe." I stayed silent, so he continued. "Blink... told me what he saw. And I still don't know what really happened. All I know is that you left, and Skittery told me he was the one who kissed you."
Mush paused again. He slid off the base of the statue and sat next to me. He faced me, but I kept my gaze forward. "I went to find you in Brooklyn... I looked for you for hours and I finally found you soaked against that building with a high fever. Then you told me that you were the one who kissed Skittery... and I just... gave up..." His voice faded out. He took another deep breath. "I still don't know what happened." He repeated.
My eyes filled with tears but I continued to look forward. I pushed myself off from the statue and walked away from him. He sighed. "No. Hannah." He stood up. "I'm not gonna make that mistake again- I'm not letting you run away again."
The fact that he used my real name made me stop walking. Slowly, turned to him. He was about 10 feet away from me, but neither of us moved. I finally blinked, releasing the tears from my eyes. I shook my head. "I lied... what I said, it's not true... About Skittery... I never wanted to lose you, but I messed up, Mush... I messed everything up..." My voice shook and the tears were streaming down my face now.
He walked to me and held me at away from him at arms length, putting his hands on my shoulders. "No, Hannah... No, you didn't." I tried to turn away but he put his hand up to my cheek and forced me to look at him. "No..." He wiped a tear off my face with his thumb.
I nodded, looking down. "I lost my chance." I whispered. "Hannah, you never lost your chance...I never kissed Katherine, because I would wait for you forever. You know why I made that thing up tonight? Because it killed me to see you with someone else. You mean the whole world to me, and I'm not gonna give you up without a fight."
I looked up and my eyes met his. I saw a mix of so many things in his eyes... confidence, certainty, but there was also compassion and honesty.
"I've loved you since you first spoke to me, and I still do." I opened my mouth to respond, but he had already wound his arm around my back and pulled me closer to him. He wrapped his other arm around my waist and practically lifted me up, making his lips meet mine. He kissed me harder than he ever had before.
It happened so fast that I wasn't aware of anything. So many emotions flooded through me at once. Everything around seemed to disappear except him. It felt like all the oxygen was taken out of my lungs and my stomach did a somersault.
When he broke the kiss, he didn't back away. He pressed his forehead against mine and put his hands on either side of my face.
I had gone from relying on no one but myself, to trusting someone completely with all my thoughts, feelings, and emotions. I didn't have much at all. But it didn't matter if I had the world at my feet. Because if I didn't have love, no matter what else I had, it would never be enough.
-------
When we got back to the lodging house, the guys were still sitting around the bunk room talking. As we got to the top of the stairs, Mush grabbed my hand and led me through the door.
The others looked up and were quiet for a second. A smile spread across Mush's face, and they all began cheering. "I knew they was gettin' back togedda." Racetrack said. "Oh, didn't bet any money on it this time, Race?" I asked. Everyone laughed. I looked towards Skittery. He wasn't yelling and laughing like the rest of them, but he didn't look angry either.
He was sitting away from the other newsies on his bunk. He caught my eye contact and smiled. Mush was talking to a few guys who had crowded around us, now. I quietly excused myself and walked over to Skittery.
"I won't say it." He said. I tilted my head to the side. "Say what?" I asked. "That I told you so. See? Now you made me say it." He said and I laughed, sitting down next to him. It was quiet for a few seconds, and then Skittery sighed. "Mush's lucky to have you..." He said. "You guys look good together. I'm happy for ya."
"Thanks, Skittery." I said, smiling to him. "I won't mess stuff up this time." He smiled back. "You didn't mess anything up... It was my fault." I said.
"We can still hang out, right? Sell papes together and stuff?" he asked. I nodded. "Of course." I replied. Skittery hugged me and I got up, walking back over to the rest of the newsies.
----
A few days later, I was going back to the lodging house after my route. It was starting to get dark as I walked down the sidewalk. I ran into Race, who was walking the opposite way. "Hey, Sketch." He said, stopping to talk to me. "Hiya, Race. You're not goin' back to the lodging house?" I asked. "Nah," he replied. "I'm gonna head ova' to Sheepshead Bay for a while."
I smiled. "What a surprise." I said sarcastically. He punched me lightly on the arm. "Shuddup." He said, starting to walk again. "Bye, Racetrack." I called over my shoulder.
When I walked in the guys said hello and I greeted them back. I sat down on the couch next to Mush. He gave me a peck on the cheek and put his arm around my shoulders. "Hey, Hannah. How was ya day?" he asked.
"Pretty good." I replied. He was so cute. "Headline wasn't so hot today." Mush nodded. "Yeah, it wasn't. Did ya have to eat any of 'em?" He asked.
Before I could answer, the door to the lodging house burst open. Dutchy stumbled in, out of breath. His entire left arm was covered in dirt and he had a huge scratch under his eye that was still bleeding. I stood up from the couch and so did Mush. A few of the guys ran over to him.
"Dutchy!"
"What happened?!"
"What's wrong with him?"
"He's too outta breath... Dutchy! C'mon, talk!"
"Someone sit him down..."
Dutchy shook his head furiously when they tried to bring him over to the couch. "We have to go..." he said, in between gasps for air. "Go where?" everyone asked. "Race... and the Delancey brothers..." He said. "Spit it out, Dutchy! What happened!" they yelled.
"Me and Itey tried to help, but more scabs showed up, so I got away I came to get help... we gotta hurry... They was in bad shape."
Jack pushed through the crowd of newsies and grabbed Dutchy by the shoulders. He shook him, saying "Where are they?" "A few blocks south of the Square..." he replied. We all ran out of the lodging house, heading towards The Square.
------
It was worse than I had expected when I got there. There were tons of scabbers, including the two Delancey brothers. Race was sprawled out on the ground on his side. There had to be at least more than a dozen of them. Morris was kicking Race in the gut, as another scabber just stood over him watching. "This'll teach you to be a smartass to me..." Morris said, kicking Race even harder.
Racetrack's head jerked forward slightly every time he was kicked, but the air was being knocked out of his lungs so fast that he didn't have the energy to get up or say anything.
Itey was pushed up against the wall of a building by another scab, and he took a punch to the face. Then another. The rest of the scabs who weren't beating Itey and Race were standing against the wall, laughing and shouting things at them.
When they saw us approaching, they tensed up. "Look! There's more of 'em... the one who got away must have gotten his friends..." One of them yelled. The scabbers moved away from the wall and came closer to us. Luckily, none of them had any weapons.
I tried to think fast. What are our chances of getting out of this alive? There's got to be at least 14 of them. 10 of us... two who are already beaten up... that's 8, oh god...
Specs sprinted over to Race and tried to hit Morris, but the other scab who was standing nearby punched Specs, knocking off his glasses and sending him flying to the ground.
"Soak 'em!!" Blink yelled. We all ran in and joined the fight.
-------
It was complete confusion. Punches were being thrown left and right. I ran up behind the scab who was holding Itey up against the wall. I tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around.
When he saw I was a newsie, he whirled around to soak me but I tripped him. He let go of Itey and fell forward. Itey slid down the wall and fell to the ground, beaten up with two black eyes.
One of the scabbers picked up Race and smashed his head into the bricks. He also fell to the ground, out cold. Skittery and Mush were back to back, trying to fight off 4 scabs. Specs was punched in the face again, but returned it with a punch to the gut.
Kid Blink was being cornered in by 3 scabs. He backed up until he hit the wall. He was able to punch one of them, and when another jabbed at him he moved out of the way so their fist cracked on the bricks. He didn't get away from the third one, though. The third scab kneed Blink in the stomach and he fell over in pain.
A flash of light blinded my eyes for a second. At first I thought it was lightning, but it was a pretty clear night out. The thought was pushed out of my head and my attention was brought back to the fight when I was punched across the face.
Snipeshooter
was clinging onto Oscar's back, throwing as many punches as he could.
Oscar flung him off and Snipeshooter was thrown a few feet against
some garbage cans. Boots was on the ground being kicked by 2
scabbers. Every time he tried to get up, they would kick him down
again.
I tried to run to Boots, but I got punched in the face
again. I attempted to move to one side of the scab, but he moved with
me. Suddenly, I kneed him between the legs. One of the upsides of
being a girl was that I didn't have to worry about being hit there.
The scabber curled up on the cobblestone in pain and I jumped over him. When I reached Boots, a second blinding light flashed. The scabbers who were beating up Boots were stunned for a second. Mush came up from behind them and smashed their heads together.
"You okay?" he asked, out of breath. "Yeah." I replied, nodding. "Mush! Watch it!" I yelled. Morris came from behind him and wrapped his arm around Mush's neck, strangling him. With his other arm, he punched Mush right in the eye.
Mush struggled, but he couldn't get out of Morris's hold. Trying to think quickly, I kicked Morris in the shin as hard as I could. His grip on Mush loosened and Mush was able to jerk his head backwards. The back of his head collided with Morris's nose. Morris stumbled back, clutching his face. When he took his hands away, his nose was completely bloody.
We heard whistles being blown from farther away. As they started getting louder, almost everyone stopped fighting. "It's the bulls!" Specs yelled.
"Let's get outta hear! C'mon!" The scabbers yelled, as they all scattered off. "Someone called the cops! We gotta get back to the lodgin' house!" Skittery yelled over everyone. Mush quickly picked up Racetrack, who was still out cold. He threw him over his shoulder and we ran back to the lodging house.
------
The door shut behind us and we all stumbled in, out of breath. I counted out 10 just to make sure everyone made it back. Mush took Race off his shoulder and put him on the couch, while Dutchy went to get him a wet rag for his head. Aside from Race, we were all alright. A few of us, like Specs, Itey, and Boots, were in pretty bad shape, though.
Kloppman came into the room from his office. "What's all da commotion?" He asked. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw us all blooded up. His eyes wandered to Race on the couch, old cold and bleeding like crazy. "What happened?" He asked.
Cowboy stood up and went over to Kloppman. "The Delancey Brudda's, and their scabber friends... Race was on his way to Sheepshead Bay, see? So they found him I guess he was mouthin' off to them. They start throwin' punches. So Dutchy and Itey came across da fight and tried to help, but they was outnumbered. Dutchy got away and came to get help from us, and we-"
Jack was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. We all quieted down and exchanged glances. Kloppman, looking overwhelmed with confusion, went to answer the door.
"Shh! Shh!"
"Shut up!
"I can't hear what he's sayin...!"
"Put a lid on it!"
Finally, everyone shut up and we could hear Kloppman's shaky voice. "Oh, Hello Officer." Our eyes widened. "Da bulls are here..." Whispers echoed throughout the room, but we quickly quieted down again so we could hear the cop's response.
No luck. He was mumbling too softly to distinguish any words. "Oh, a fight?" Kloppman replied. More mumbling. "Well, it depends what you mean by 'knowing anything about it.'" Kloppman tried to stall, but it didn't work. The cop pushed past Kloppman and came into the lobby.
He saw us all bruised, bloody, and beaten up. "This is just about all the evidence I need." He said. When he saw Race on the couch he gave us an annoyed look and sighed. "You started the fight, I presume?" He asked. All of us started yelling angrily at once. "Silence!" The cop screamed, but we became even more riled up.
Specs stood up and finally got us to quiet down. "Officer, it was completely self defense. The scabbers started a fight with us, and we was only tryin' to defend ourselves." He explained. All the newsies nodded and agreed, starting to mumble again.
The cop gave us all a skeptical look. "I'll be back to look into this more. You kids aren't off the hook yet..." He mumbled. With that, he turned and left the lodging house.
-----
Uh-oh! da newsies is in trouble wit da bulls!!
Man... I wish I actually talked like that. How cool would it be if I did? Pffft... I totally got gypped out of my New York accent D:
Anywho, please review if you can.
Thank you thank you thank you for reading!
