Derek pulled his money out of his pocket as he went into the kitchen. He saw his father sitting at the table with a cup of coffee. "Here Dad." He placed the money on the table and turned to go back into his room.
"Derek, did you sell all of your newspapers?" George asked.
He shrugged. "Yeah."
"Thirty?" Derek nodded. "Where's the rest of the money?"
"I had to eat."
"There should still be more money here."
"He bought lunch for a girl." Casey said as she came into the room.
"Derek, you know money is tight here." George pointed out. "Try to keep your hormones in check."
"Casey, why don't you tell them about the random guy you were with today?" Derek rolled his eyes as he went into the living area to sit with Edwin.
"He's a nice guy." Casey spat. "And, his name is Davey." She said dreamily. She placed her money on the table and went to her room.
"Derek, I met the most gorgeous girl today." Edwin told his big brother.
"That's nice, Ed." Derek sat in his favorite chair. "I met a bunch of gorgeous girls today. I think I'm going to like this new job." He reclined the chair and smiled.
"Smerek! I missed you!" Marti came running into the room.
"Well, come sit on my lap and I can tell you a story." He waved for his little sister to join him in the chair.
"Is it about a princess?" Marti asked as she climbed into her big brother's lap.
"If that's what you want, Smarti." He nodded.
"Ok!"
Derek went on to tell his sister about a beautiful princess. Before he had even finished the story, she was asleep in his lap. Scooping her up, he took her to her room and placed her in bed. Eventually, everyone else went to bed as well. Derek dreamed of all the beautiful newsgirls. Casey dreamed of Davey. Edwin dreamed of Blush.
Pyro woke up on the docks. "I have to stop falling asleep just anywhere." She rubbed her eyes and stood up. It was still early. Putting her cap on, she walked towards the Brooklyn Lodging House to get some fresh clothes and wash up.
Climbing up the stairs to the bunk room, she remembered what had happened the night before. She was kissed by two different guys. Sure, one only kissed her on the cheek but she had just met him. And, the other guy was Spot. She was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of two voices coming from the bunk room. One belonged to Blade, a tall, not so smart guy and the other belonged to Spot. She pressed her ear to the door and listened.
"So you kissed her?" Blade asked.
"Yeah but it was only to make her listen to me." Spot replied. "I only wanted her to believe what I was saying and that was the best way to get the point across."
"You don't have feelings for her?" The other guy asked.
"Not like that." He shrugged.
"You are such a playboy, Conlon." Blade shook his head.
Pyro felt her heart sink at that moment but then she realized that her decision was made a whole lot easier. If this had happened before she met Derek, she probably would have marched in there and slugged Spot right in the face. Instead, she quietly opened the door and snuck past the other newsies to her bed. Grabbing some clean clothes and a bar of soap, she headed for the washroom.
After cleaning up and getting dressed, Pyro decided that she did not feel like selling papes. Instead, she was going to surprise Derek by meeting him early. As she stepped out of the washroom, she was face to face with Spot. "I didn't know you were here." He said.
"Well, now you do, Conlon." She pushed her way past him. "But, I'm going to be heading over to Manhattan now to meet up with my new friend, Derek."
"So, you're still going to hang out with him even after what happened last night?" Spot questioned.
"What can I say, I'm just stubborn." Pyro left the room.
"Yeah, well, don't come crying to me when he hurts you!" Spot called after her.
As Pyro reached Manhattan, she smiled to herself. The thought of spending another day with Derek made her happy. Her mind was made up, Spot Conlon was a jerk and there was no getting around that. Derek was handsome, sweet, funny, and smart and he had nice hands. Pyro had a thing for guys with nice hands.
Strolling up to the gates, Pyro noticed Derek was there already. And, he was talking to Sweets. She watched them. She figured he was just being friendly or trying to get a few selling tips since she had helped him yesterday. Then, her heart sank for the second time in one day. In horror, she watched as Derek took Sweets hand and they walked off together.
All of the newsies started to clear out to go sell their newspapers. Pyro sunk down on the curb and lit a cigarette. On the inside, she was cursing herself for even thinking that two guys would be interested in her. Derek and Spot were just as bad as one another. And, Spot was right about Derek. She was well aware of Spot's reputation but she thought Derek was genuine. Putting her head in her hands, she took a long drag from the cigarette.
"I believe you owe me one of those." Someone said from beside her. "You did steal one of mine yesterday."
Looking up, Pyro stared at the face of Oscar Delancey. "Yeah, whatever you say." She took a cigarette out of her pocket and handed it to him.
Oscar gave her a look. This was not the Pyro that he and everyone else knew.
