Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original newsies from the movie. Only Haze.

Hi again. Alright, so I might be a little slow with the updating within the next few days. My teachers are going a bit crazy with the homework lately since we're really close to finals. However, I'll try to get one out a day.

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Haze's Point of View

I looked dishearteningly at my stack of papers lying next to me. Over the course of the day, the stack had barely even gone down.

"You're startin' to burn." Itey said. "Huh?" I asked, turning my head to face him. "You're shoulder. It's getting' real red." He pointed out. I looked down. Sure enough, my shoulders were beginning to turn a bright shade of pink and it stung when I touched it. "Dammit..." I mumbled. "This sun is drivin' me crazy."

Itey and I were sitting against a building facing the street. It was an unbelievably hot day without a cloud in the sky, and there wasn't even a breeze to cool you down. The sidewalks were almost deserted, except for a few people heading for shade. Everyone was staying inside to escape the heat, leaving only when they had to.

Everyone except the newsies. If we didn't go out, we wouldn't sell our papes. That meant we wouldn't eat that night. Still, being out on a day like today didn't do much good. Not only was the heat too much to bear and we had no customers, the headline's were all slow, too.

Itey and I sat around waiting for people to pass. We were too hot to move. "Just hope dis passes. Imagine us havin' to scream out headlines 'bout a heat wave in New York City while we're tryin' to sell in it." He said. I let out a small laugh.

"A'right. I give up. Nobody's gonna walk by heah, so we might as well find us some shade." I said, standing up. I helped Itey to his feet and we started heading towards the lodging house.

"So what's up wit you and Racetrack?" he asked, walking next to me. I suddenly started to get nervous. "Nuttin'. Why would ya think anythin's wrong?" I asked. Itey shrugged. "Da two of you used to argue like crazy, just goin' back 'nd forth at one anotha'. And now ya just ignore da fact that da other person is alive."

Itey was completely right. Race and I barely exchanged more than two words since what happened at the docks. It had been almost a week, and we were still trying to avoid each other.

I shrugged. "Really? I didn't notice..." I said, trying to sound convincing. Itey sighed. "Da two of you have been actin' real different... Not just towards each otha', towards all of us. Ya know you can tell me if somethin's wrong, right? I ain't gonna tell da woild." He said.

"Yeah... I know. It's just that-" I stopped talking when someone placed their hands over my eyes. I tried to turn around, but they turned with me refusing to let me see who it was.

"Guess who?" I heard someone whisper into my ear. "Spot!" I said, recognizing his voice immediately. He laughed and I whirled around, giving him a quick hug. "What are ya doin' heah?" I asked.

"Jackie boy asked me to take care of somethin' for him..." Spot said. "Oh?" I asked. "What did he need?"

"It uh... It ain't important now. I'll talk to ya about it later." He said. I nodded and Spot turned to Itey. "Heya, Itey. How's it goin'?" He asked, spitting into his hand and holding it out. Itey did the same. "Ain't got nothin' to complain about 'cept dis heat." He replied.

"Yeah, slowin' stuff down a hell of a lot for us newsies." Spot said. The three of us turned when we heard voices coming closer to us. Jack, Mush, Racetrack, and Crutchy were coming down the street, talking.

Race was telling a joke to the guys, and when he finished they all laughed. He turned forward and his smile disappeared when he saw me standing there. I lowered my gaze to the ground and became quiet.

Eventually, Jack's group met up to mine and they began talking. "Hey, Spot." Jack said. "Haze, Itey..." he added, nodding to us. "We was just figurin' they're ain't no point to sellin' anymore today, since nobody's out. We'se headin' over to Tibby's. I told da rest of dem to meet up wit us when they was done. You'se comin' too, right?" he asked.

Itey, Spot, and I agreed, starting to walk towards the restaurant. The sun was finally starting to go down. The air began cooling off and making us feel a lot more comfortable. Everyone except for Race and I, at least. As the group talked and laughed, the two of us remained silent.

Someone pulled on my arm, holding me back from the rest of the guys. "Can I talk wit ya?" Spot said. I nodded. "Yeah, sure..." I replied, confused. Spot led me over to an alleyway and stepped in. "You know, we could just talk in the restaurant like normal people..." I said, laughing.

Spot smiled. "Yeah, I know. But I don't want anyone overhearin' us." He said. He leaned on his back against one of the walls. "Haze... member I was talkin' about how Jackie Boy wanted me to take care of somethin'? Spot asked. "Yeah?"

"Well, he says you been actin' real different lately. Says ya barely talk to any of da guys 'nd ya look noivous all da time. He's worried 'bout ya. So he aksed me to come heah and stay da night in Manhattan. Talk wit ya, since me 'nd you is close friends." He said.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I've just been tired lately..." I attempted. Spot raised his eyebrow. "I don't think dat's it, Haze." He replied. Sighing, I looked up at him. "Fine. Somethin' was botherin' me for a while, but... but it ain't anymore. I'm okay now." I said.

Spot stared at me for a while, like he was trying to see if I was lying or not. Finally, he nodded slowly. "I ain't gonna make ya tell me what was wrong, so long as you'se sure ya okay now." He said. "Ya promise whatever it was ain't botherin' you anymore?" He asked. "Yeah. I promise."

I lied. I just couldn't think straight since Race kissed me. At first I was shocked and confused, but when I felt his lips on mine it was one of the most amazing feelings in the world. After that whole thing I couldn't look at him without getting butterflies in my stomach. Never mind talk to him.

When I was in the same room with him it felt like a million things were flowing through my mind at once. It made it unbelievably hard to concentrate on one thing. So I just wouldn't say anything, afraid that my words would come out as jumbled up as my thoughts were.

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When we got to Tibby's the guys were already seated at a few tables in a corner of the restaurant. More had showed up, and there were a few empty seats. Spot took a seat at the same table as Jack, Skittery, David, Les, and Race. He motioned for me to come sit down next to him.

The guys greeted us and I saw Jack give Spot a certain look. Spot just nodded, as if saying he took care of it. I tried to be as talkative as I could so Conlon would believe what I told him back in the alleyway.

"Heya guys." Blink said, walking in with Boots. The two of them began walking over to the corner of the restaurant we were in. "Between da bad headlines and da heat I'm way behind for today. Can anyone spot me a few bits?" Blink said. Jack tossed him a dime and Blink caught it, walking past him. "Thanks, Cowboy. I'll pay ya back tomorrow." He said, sitting down in an empty chair at our table.

A few minutes later, Dave stood up from the table. "Hey Race..." he said. Racetrack looked up from the glass of soda he had been absentmindedly stirring with a straw. "huh?" He asked. "Can you watch Les for a few minutes? I'll be right back." Dave said. Race nodded and Dave began weaving in and out of the chairs to get to the door.

"Davey, where ya goin'?" Jack asked. "I'm gonna run back to my house to get some money. I didn't think Les would be coming so I didn't bring that much." He explained. Jack reached into his pocket and took out a quarter. "Here," He said, flicking it to David. "You can pay me back tomorrow at the circulation desk 'nd save yourself da trip home."

"You sure?" Dave asked, sitting back down. Jack nodded. "Man, Cowboy. Where ya gettin' all dis money from if da headlines are so bad!?" Boots joked, laughing. Jack smirked and sat back in his chair. "Oh god... I know dat look. What'd ya do, Jack?" Mush said, a smile spreading across his face.

Cowboy grabbed a piece of paper off the table and held it over his head, pretending it was a newspaper. Imitating the way he would usually sell his papes, he yelled "Extra, Extra! Heat wave anticipated to be da end of New Yawk City!"

All of us burst out laughing. "And people actually believed dat!? We ain't even sure if it's a heat wave yet! It's only been one day!" Specs said. Cowboy shrugged. "Guess dey believed it. I sold all 100 papes, didn't I?"

I stole a glance at Race, He was completely zoned out, staring down at a particular area of the tablecloth. He looked so out of place. While everyone else was smiling and laughing, he seemed to be in deep thought.

"You'se alright, Haze?" Spot said, making me realize I was watching Racetrack. "Yeah." I said, looking away and faking a smile. Spot put his arm around my shoulders. "A'right, good." He said.

Racetrack's Point of View

I was planning on talking to Haze that night. Saying something that would make it a little less awkward between us. I wasn't sure what I was going to say, but at that point I would have done anything just to have a conversation with her again.

My heart sunk when I walked down the street and saw her standing with Itey and Spot. Itey really didn't worry me. They were just selling partners and good friends. Spot, however, was a different story.

On the way to Tibby's, Spot pulled her to the back of the group. They went off to talk in an alleyway. God knows about what, but I would have bet all my gambling money that it wasn't a good thing for me.

When they got to the restaurant, she sat down next to him. I was surprised she sat at my table at all, since she had been trying to avoid me for almost a week now. I assumed she decided to forget what happened between us, thinking it didn't mean anything. For me, it was the exact opposite. It meant almost everything to me.

When Conlon slipped his arm around her shoulders halfway through dinner, I got the worst feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was ready to soak him, but I stopped myself. Instead I forced myself to just try and block everything out.
Anyone could imagine how utterly thrilled I was to find out that Spot was going to be staying the night in Manhattan. That was sarcasm. They sat on her bed for a while, talking. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I decided that was best. I wasn't in the mood to hear anything that would have ticked me off more than I already was.

Since Spot Conlon was basically attached to her at the hip the entire night, I never got a chance to talk to her. Feeling crushed and defeated, I tried to get some sleep.

Haze's Point of View

After we finished dinner, we headed back to the lodging house. Since everyone was all worn out from the heat, we were ready to fall asleep by 11. Spot sat on my bunk for a while, talking to me. When everyone started to turn in he went to one of the extra beds across the room.

I lied on my back for a while, staring up at the bottom of Skittery's bunk. Despite my exhaustion, I had way too much on my mind to fall asleep. After what seemed like hours, I eventually slipped into a restless sleep.

coughing uncontrollably, the heavy smoke weighing down my lungs... Barely on the edge of consciousness, hoping my family had gotten out alive. The burning pain on my shoulder from the collapsing ceiling felt so real. Suddenly, I was sitting in the middle of my kitchen. Trapped, flames surrounding me all around. I whipped my head around, looking for a way out of the circle of fire that was inching closer to me by the second. My little sister screamed my name. It echoed through the house, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from. I knew I was dreaming. I tried to force myself to wake up from the nightmare I had so many times before, but I couldn't. Finally, I forced my eyes open.

The dark lodging house was in front of me. My pillow was wet from tears and my heart beat fast. Trying to clear my mind of the nightmare, I closed my eyes. I couldn't get the images out of my mind, so I just tried to imagine pure blackness.

Eventually, I started to sink back to into sleep. Barely even awake, I felt someone kiss me lightly on the cheek. "Night, Haze..." They whispered. The voice was too low to tell who it was. Before their footsteps even reached their bed, I was asleep again.

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