Disclaimer: I don't own, nor claim ownership over, any of the original characters from the movie "Newsies."
Hi guys. Alright, so I got a lot of writing done this weekend. Maybe I'll be able to get the next few chapters out fairly fast.
Quick thanks to everyone who has been reviewing. Especially those who review normally-- Your comments are so unbelievably helpful.
.-:-.-:-.
I rested most of the day, and by late afternoon the pain in my leg started to recede. I left the building for a while and was able to sell about 2 dozen papers with Ghost before it got dark.
By 10 at night, Spot still wasn't back yet. Since he wasn't yelling orders at me like usual, I spent most of my time with Ghost. He taught me a few basic card games and before long I was playing with the rest of the guys.
"I'll raise ya two." Gizmo said.
The last four players, including myself, threw in 2 coins. "I'll raise everyone 1 more." Wafers said, tossing in another penny. "Don't do it... You'se way close to 21." Haggle whispered to me. He had already gotten out a few rounds ago. I ignored him and tossed in the extra penny anyway.
"A'right. Dealing." Jinxey announced. Jinxey put his card down and smirked. "I'm stayin'." He said.
I already had a score of 18. "Hit me." I said. Jinxey dealt me a four and I got one point over 21. "Dammit." I muttered, backing out of the game. "Told ya to drop out, Chaos." Haggle teased. "Ah, shut it." I muttered.
We all looked up when the door opened. Spot trudged into the bunk room. "Heya Spot." The guys greeted him. He nodded in their direction and everyone else went back to our game. However, I kept my eyes on Spot. Instead of going into his room like he usually did, he quietly slid open the window and climbed out onto the roof.
I nudged Ghost, who was sitting next to me, and motioned towards the window. Ghost shrugged. "Somethin's probably buggin' him. He goes out dere when he's got stuff on his mind." He explained. "Oh... Shouldn't someone go see if he's a'right?" I asked. A smirk spread across his face and he raised his eyebrow at me.
"No? Haven't ya loined not to mess with Spot when he's in a bad mood?" Ghost said. "Besides... Since when do you care anyways?" I shrugged and stood up, leaving the dice game forgotten. "Chaos, where ya goin'?" Ghost asked, grabbing my wrist.
"To talk to him." I replied, trying to pull away. However, he kept a firm hold on me. "Chaos, listen to me, a'right? C'mere." He said, signifying that he didn't want the rest of the room to hear what he had to tell me.
I rolled my eyes and knelt down next to him. "What?" I asked. "Spot ain't gonna talk to ya. Believe me, I know him." Ghost said, keeping his voice down. "Spot used to be me best friend. Before he was leader 'nd all. But den da old leader took off, 'nd Spot took his place. Now he don't got any friends. All he's got is followers, so you'se wastin' your time."
"Still worth a shot, I guess." I replied, standing up again. Ghost shook his head and sighed as I slid the window open and stepped outside.
.-:-.-:-.
The roof was only about 6 feet from the window to the edge. It had a slight tilt to it, but for the most part it was almost level. Spot was sitting towards the edge with his arms folded over both his knees. When Spot heard me close the window, he looked over his shoulder.
Judging by the look he gave me, I assumed he would tell me to leave or begin shooting insults at me. But after a few seconds, his facial expression got softer. "Hey." Spot mumbled, turning around again to face the city.
"Hey yourself." I replied, walking over to sit next to him. I thought I could see a smile pulling at the side of his mouth, but then it was gone and he showed no emotion again.
I glanced sideways at him. He had the same mellow look in his eyes that he had the day before when he was sitting on the dock. I waited for him to say something, but he didn't. His eyes just searched the scenery in front of us.
I followed his gaze onto the city. A few lights were on in the windows of buildings, but the rows of streets were completely dark. In one direction were the skyscrapers, and in the other direction was the Brooklyn Bridge. The river below it was black and still, like a layer of tar had been poured across it.
"A'right... It's been roughly 60 seconds 'nd you haven't even tried to push me off dis roof yet..." I pointed out. Spot actually smiled. Not a smirk, for once. A real smile. Then it faded as quickly as it had come. "Spot... What's da matter?" I asked.
He looked up and stared back at me. I expected his reply to be 'None of your business...', but it wasn't. "Guess I got a lot of stuff on me mind." He answered. I could tell in his icy-blue eyes, for that split second, he was being honest. For once Spot had gotten rid of the wall he put up against everyone else.
"Anythin' I can help wit?" I asked. He quickly shut me out again, turning away and shaking his head. "No... I think I'se jus' gonna get some sleep." He muttered, standing up and walking to the window.
I waited until he was back inside before I let myself sigh. I wanted to help him more than anything, but I couldn't understand why. We hated each other...
And that's when I began to question myself. Hate is such a powerful word... Did I really hate him? The two of us just had a civil conversation, without fighting back and forth. Maybe I don't hate him... I finally decided.
As I got up to go inside, I found myself wondering what I actually felt for him.
.-:-.-:-.
Okay. So this chapter was a bit on the short side. (Sorry about that.) But I wanted to get two out today, so this one had to be short.
I hope everyone likes this story so far, and thanks for reading. Reviews would be great :)
