-At Sheepshead Bay-

Racetrack led Ella to Sheepshead Bay, which was pretty far away, considering the fact that they had to walk. The whole way there, Race couldn't shut up about the horse races. Ella patiently let him shoot off his face about the bets and the odds and blah blah blah, but mostly she zoned out.

"So what do you know about horse races?" Race asked her, as they neared the racing grounds.

"Uh, well, good question." Ella started. She knew nothing. "I know for a fact that the tiny people who ride the horses are called jockeys, and the animals they ride are called horses. So, yeah, there you go."

Race stared at her blankly. "Very good."

Ella shrugged. "I went to school."

Race shook his head. "Did you listen to a word I said earlier?"

Ella shook her head. "With all due respect, no."

Race laughed lightly. "I like you, kid."

Ella smirked. "Most people do,"

They walked over to the stands where a bunch of well-dressed men were betting on horses. "Now normally I would bet too, but since I'm a nice guy, I'll help you sell papers." Race said, looking around the stands.

Ella raised her eyebrows. "I'm flattered." She said, dryly.

"Naturally." Race smirked. "Okay, now. Look for an innocent person that we can pity manipulate into buying a paper with a fake headline which really contains bad news."

Ella looked at him.

Race frowned. "That sounded a lot better inside my head."

Ella nodded. "Ooh! How about that lady, she looks pretty defenseless." She said, pointing to an elderly lady with a cane. She picked up a newspaper. "Prepare to be amazed." she said to Race, who crossed his arms.

Ella walked over to the lady. "Hey, lady. Would you like to buy a paper? It's only a penny."

The old lady swatted her cane at Ella, who flinched. Ella looked furious. "What the hell? Why are you so grumpy, you-" Racetrack clamped a hand around her mouth.

"Sorry, miss. I apologize for, well, her." he said, as he dragged Ella away.

Once they were a safe distance away, Race let her go. He was laughing slightly. "Just out of curiosity, what was supposed to happen?"

Ella rolled her eyes. "Fine, we'll do it your way." She stormed up to a random guy, Racetrack behind her. "Excuse me, sir. Would you like to buy a stupid piece of newspaper that has no good information in it what so ever and the ink will leave a stain on your hands? You wouldn't, would you. And I can't say I'd blame ya." She said, as the man walked away. She turned to Race. "See, your way doesn't work either." She said, as Race face palmed.

-In Uptown-

Avery and Jack navigated through the quite streets of uptown Manhattan.

"We need to use strategy." Jack said, as they walked along the sidewalk.

"Um, yeah, sure. What kind of strategy?" Avery asked.

Jack thought, and studied her a moment. Then he grinned. "Pity."

Avery looked confused. "Pity? What the?"

Jack explained. "We need to find someone who looks gullible, and then we use our secret weapon."

Avery smiled. "What's our secret weapon?"

"You." Jack said, looking around.

Avery frowned. "Now wait a minute, Jack. I'm not going to get into trouble, right?"

Jack laughed. "God, no. I'se got your back."

Avery nodded slowly. "Uh-huh."

Jack smiled. "Don't worry. Okay, we need to find you a dress."

-2 minutes later-

"Jack, are you sure this'll work?" Avery asked.

"Um, yeah." Then more to himself. "I think."

Avery looked down at the pink sun dress she had on over her rolled up jeans and shirt. A white bonnet covered her hair, and her hair hung long down her shoulders.

Jack nodded. "Alright, now go knock on that door. Don't let them know you're a newsie, cause people don't take kindly to girls being newsies. Just pretend your only hope is to exchange this paper for some money to buy food." He pointed to a large Victorian home.

Avery looked confused. "Isn't that what newsies do anyway?"

Jack shrugged. "More or less."

Avery turned to go.

"Wait!" Jack said, pulling her arm.

Avery hoped he had changed his mind. "Yeah?" She asked.

"Avery, remember... don't forget to smile."

Avery rolled her eyes, and plastered on a fake smile. Through her teeth, she mumbled, "Why do I gotta wear this dress?"

Jack smiled. "'Cause it makes you look so pretty."

Avery hesitantly knocked on the door. The huge door opened, and a woman dressed in an elegant dress appeared.

Avery gulped. "Um, why hello miss."

The woman looked surprised. "Hello, child." She bent slightly down to Avery's level. "My word, what are you doing out in this cold weather?"

Avery shrugged. "Just taking a walk."

The woman looked shocked. "Goodness! Well, what can I do for you?"

Avery looked to Jack, who gave a thumbs up. She rolled her eyes. "Well, I was hoping to trade in this newspaper I bought for some money to buy food."

"Oh, no." The woman shook her head, pitifully. "Well you'd best come on in then. Come in, come in."

Avery hesitantly stepped in the warm house. The woman led her into a parlor. "That's a pretty dress. A girl across the street has a print just like it."

Avery scratched her neck nervously. "Um, it's a popular print."

"Well, you look wonderful in it, dear."

While the woman had her back turned, Avery put two coins from a nearby table into her pocket.

The woman turned. "So, what's your name?"

Avery decided not to tell her her newsie name. "Um, my name... is Selena... Gomez." Then to herself. "Selena Gomez, I can remember that."

The woman smiled. Then she started to talk and talk about random crap until Avery wanted to kill her. So, she decided to 'take advantage' of the situation and grab any loose change she saw and stuff it in her pockets, so if the lady didn't buy a paper, it wouldn't be a total loss. Pretty soon, the lady started to talk about the newsies.

"I was pretty sure you were one of those newsies who try to manipulate people into buying their papers by using pity when I answered the door."

Avery laughed nervously. "Well, that's definitely not me. Nope, no way."

The lady nodded. "I can see that. Those newsies don't make a lot selling their papers, you know, and they'll try anything."

Avery shrugged. "Well, that's sad. Cause I heard newsboys were very sweet."

The lady scrunched up her eyebrows. "That isn't what I heard."

Avery frowned and got back to collecting change while the lady wasn't looking. "So what do you know about them?"

The lady shrugged. "Warden Snyder of the Children's Refuge seems to think one of his wards escaped and is now a newsie. Jack something."

Avery looked up. "Jack?!" She shouted. The lady looked at her funny. "I mean, Jack?"

Avery saw that it was time to leave. "Well, uh, I best be heading back on the streets now."

The lady plopped Avery down on the sofa. "Uh, not until you've had some rest. What was your last name, child?"

Avery thought. Had she said Gomez or Olsen? "Um, Montana. Hannah Montana."

The lady looked sternly at her. "Funny. Before you had said Selena Gomez."

"Did I? I meant Gomez. I thought you wanted to know my favorite state. Which is Montana. And my aunt Hanna lives in Montana, but she sometimes visits the city. It's the best of both worlds." She face palmed.

The lady looked suspiciously at her. "Did you say you wanted a penny?"

Avery nodded.

The lady pulled one from her purse. "Open up your hands."

Avery did as she said, a little confused. The lady was about to place the penny in, when she stopped.

"Your hands are very ink stained." The lady said.

Avery looked at her hands. Oops. She had forgotten. "Um, I happen to have a very severe case of ink-stained-itous?" She tried.

The lady frowned, and her face boiled with anger. "You are a newsie!"

Avery stood up and backed up towards the door. "How you do tease a simple city girl so."

The woman grabbed her by her shoulders and began to shake her. "If you were a factory girl or something else, your hands wouldn't be stained with ink! Now you tell me, are there more of you! Who are you?!" She shook Avery so violently, that the coins fell out of her pockets. The woman looked at the fallen money. She slapped Avery hard. "You little thief! You tell me who are you?!"

Avery did the only thing she could think of. She spit in the woman's face and ran like hell out the door. When Jack saw her running, he grabbed her. "What happened?" He asked, slightly laughing.

Avery glared at him. "You're turn, sweetie."