Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters from the Disney movie "Newsies." The only characters I claim ownership over are Chaos, Cricket, and the Brooklyn Newsies that were not from the movie.
Hiya, everyone :)
So at my school we've got this crazy thing called "Spirit Week". Every day has a different theme, and tomorrow is career day-- Which means, pretty much dress up like a doctor or baseball player or something like that. Annndd being the dork that I am, I'm going as a newsie. Right down to the suspenders. I wonder if I'll have any friends left when I get home from school tomorrow.
On that note, this chapter is a little longer than the last couple ones I've posted. Not much longer, but hey, at least I tried :) Enjoy.
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I kept a couple paces behind Spot as he walked quickly down the blocks. I struggled to keep up with his fast strides. "Hey, would ya slow down!?" I yelled. Without slowing his pace, Spot looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow at me. Then a smirk spread across his face and he doubled his speed.
I groaned and abandoned the idea of walking, starting to jog to catch up with him. "You, Spot Conlon, are a huge pain in my ass." I called. He didn't answer me.
After walking about another block, he stopped short and turned around. Just as I caught up with him, he grabbed my wrist and sharply pulled me through a door of a building. It had a sign above the door, written in cursive, which read "Damico's Diner."
I stumbled over my feet as he continued to drag me to the back of the small diner. With me in tow, Spot weaved in and out of the tables of newsies that had already arrived. The two of us finally reached a small booth at the very back.
Someone was already sitting there with their head pointed down, reading the menu. All I could see was the dark-colored cowboy hat that shaded his face from view. Jack. I assumed.
"Sorry we'se late, Jackie Boy." Spot shoved me forcefully into the seat across from Jack. "Dis one insisted on gettin' her papes before we came heah." Spot sat down next to me, enclosing me in the booth.
I tugged my arm away from Spot's grip and placed my papers on the table, off to the side. "I see a week's passed and you'se still gotta tug her 'round to get her to listen to ya." Jack commented.
"Shut it." I muttered. He put up his hands in defense. "'nd I can see she's still a ray of sunshine." Jack added sarcastically. The three of us looked up when the waiter came over, handing me and Spot menus.
I took this opportunity to take in the details of the diner. It was narrow, but long. The front entrance only had enough space for a door and a rectangular window since it was squished between two other stores on either side. It looked even smaller with all the Brooklyn newsies piled inside, buzzing with chatter at their tables.
"Anyway, I got some good news for da two of ya." Jack stated, bringing my attention back. "From what I'se gathered, da police have jus' about forgotten 'bout da fight by now. I'm guessin, Chaos, dey's stopped lookin' for ya. So I suppose ya can come back to Manhattan."
"Really?" I asked, looking over at Jack. I should have been happy to leave. No more horrible early wake-up calls, or selling all day until dusk, or having to bunk with a bunch of guys, and especially--no more having to deal with "The fearless King of Brooklyn". Still, something made my heart sink when Jack nodded, indicating that I could go back.
"What a shame, Chaos. I dunno what you'se gonna do wit yourself, missin' me so bad." Spot said, shooting me his usual smirk. But something about his eyes wasn't usual. They had no triumphant gleam in them.
"In yer dreams, Conlon. I ain't gonna miss you any more den you'se gonna miss me." I replied, sneering at him. "Well, I guess you ain't gonna miss me, den, because I coitainly ain't gonna miss you." Spot said. "I guess not then!" I rolled my eyes. "Fine!" Spot turned his shoulder to me and picked up a menu, attempting to ignore me.
Jack sighed and shook his head, dropping his chin into his hand. "Da two of you fight like little kids." He pointed out.
I picked up a menu, too, and tried to scan through the drinks, but I couldn't concentrate. I could feel Jack's gaze on me before he shifted over to Spot. He returned his gaze to me again, then to Spot. Me, Spot. "Now dat I think about it, guys..."
I looked up and saw a gleam in Jack's eye and a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He had an idea. "It's only been a week since Chaos has been heah, right?" Jack asked. "Yeah, so?" Spot responded, shrugging.
"So who knows? A week ain't a very long time... Maybe everythin' 'bout da fight ain't forgotten yet. I think we should play it safe, keep her heah a few more days."
My eyes went wide. "You gotta be kiddin' me, Jack." I muttered. He shrugged, but didn't say anything else. I didn't know what to say, either. I do want to get out of here... Don't I? I asked myself
I heard Spot take a deep breath. "Look, as much as it completely 'nd utterly pains me to say dis... Maybe Jackie-Boy's right." Spot said slowly. My jaw dropped open as I stared at him. "Ya go back now, ya could end up in da refuge... Maybe we betta' give it a couple more days."
"Yeah yeah, whatever ya say, Conlon." I muttered mockingly, waving his opinion away as I thought about whether I wanted to stay or not. "Yeah! It is whatever I say!" he shot back.
"Woah! Da two of ya, cut it out!" Jack said, breaking it up before the argument escalated. "Chaos... You gonna stay or what? It's yer choice, but I suggest Brooklyn's da best option for ya right now..." He advised, trying to read my facial expression. I shrugged, attempting not to seem too eager.
"I... I guess a couple more days can't hoit." I sighed. Instantly, the tension around the table suddenly disappeared. I looked through the menu, actually able to comprehend what it said this time.
A few minutes passed and the three of us slipped into a conversation. While Spot was in mid sentence, describing his role in the 1899 Newsboys' Strike in vivid detail, two girls walked through the door. Being the only empty table, they slid into a booth next to us. Their whispering and giggling caught Spot's attention as they stole glances at him.
Spot smirked and casually rested his elbows on the back of the seat. "'mornin', ladies." He said, tipping his hat towards them. This caused them to giggle even more. I rolled my eyes at their obnoxiousness. Jeez... Why does every single girl gotta fall over him like he's something great?
Because he is. My mind answered for me. I quickly shoved the thought away, standing up and grabbing my papes. "Move." I instructed to Spot so I could get out of the booth seat. "Oh? Where ya goin'?" He asked.
"I don't wanna be heah any more den you want me to be heah. I'se gonna go over to Cricket's table." I said. Spot didn't budge. He just looked up at me as if to say "make me." He grinned even wider at my aggravation. "Move!" I yelled, shoving him right off the bench. He caught his footing right before he fell to the floor.
"Watch it, Chaos..." Spot growled. I pushed passed him, purposely knocking into his shoulder with mine on the way. I walked across the diner and plopped myself down next to Cricket, who was at a table with Dynamite and Ghost. "Hey Chaos... What's a'matter?" Cricket asked, making me realize that I was still carrying around a scowl on my face. He casually slipped his arm around my shoulders.
"Nuttin'... Conlon jus' ticks me off, is all." I mumbled. "Ah, whadder ya gonna do... He ticks us all off sometimes. But what can I say, da guy's a born leader." Dynamite commented.
"So ya order yet?" Ghost asked me, handing me a menu from across the table. I shook my head and put my hand up, indicating that I didn't want it. "No thanks... I ain't very hungry. Think I'm jus' gonna go sell. Maybe I'll head back to da lodgin' house as soon as I'se done 'nd catch some more sleep." I replied, pushing the chair back and getting to my feet again.
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I guess I figured the "Thanks for reviewing you guys are cool" comments aren't going to cut it for much longer. So I decided I'm gonna reply to the most recent reviews you guys have sent, just to prove how much I appreciate it :D
Pippa Kelly: Thanks so much for reviewing almost every chapter. You've got no idea how helpful it is. I'm glad you like the story so far, and I'm really glad that you've stuck with reading them for so long... If I'm not mistaken, I think you were one of the firsts to comment on one of the first stories I put up here. Anyway, the whole "Love or hate, liking hating" thing is what I'm aiming for :)
ktkakes: You're another one of the people who've been reading since the beginning. I'm happy you like Chaos, because I know a lot of readers kind of tend to hate the girl characters haha. Your reviews are so much fun to read, you seem like one of those people who's always happy, what with all the "yays" and stuff... Kind of a "blink" or "race" figure, to put it in newsie terms.
peculiarjuliar: Yet ANOTHER one who has been reading early on. Thanks so much for reviewing all the time. Don't worry, the whole "missed a chapter" thing, I do that all the time too :) And as for the "Back to reality, folks"-- Who wants to live in reality!? There's no newsies in reality! Hmm... Is there a line between 'obsessed' and 'too obsessed?' Because I think I crossed that line long ago...
jess: Thanks for reviewing, and I'm happy that you like it. Don't worry-- It's getting closer to the end, so you'll see what happens.
st.elmo-lover: I'm glad you got the time to read it and you like it. I'll work on making the chapters a little longer if I can... Especially since there's a four day weekend coming up for me, I'll be writing the whole time. :D
Sirenn: Thanks for reviewing! Yeah, I've got this idea in my head that dialogue is one of the most important things... Like ever seen the movie "Clerks?" It's one of my favorite movies, and if you don't catch the dialogue it's not funny, but if you do it's genius. Sorry--- Rambling a bit, haha. Anyway, thanks.
Rambles: The whole "like a guy but can't stand him," yeah, it's not just you lol. I've been in the situation loads of times, and it's just plain frustrating. I was trying to shy away from the 'girl and guy get in one simple fight and then they fall in love' scenario, because that's never how it happens in real life. Anyways, I'm glad you like it.
Trignifty: Thank you very much :) I'm currently working on the showing two sides of Spot, and I wasn't sure how well it was coming across so thanks for the review. Helped so much.
Facetiouslymischievious: Choir geek, band geek, same difference. I guess we'll just go under the category of 'Music Geeks' haha. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing all the time. And love your sign off thingy, "Obsessed and Proud" lol.
Cutemy: Thanks for the review! I'm happy that you like it and I'll try to update as often as possible.
NarniaRulz: Dimensions to characters is another thing I'm trying to work on... I can't stand when you read a fanfic and the characters are just about as dry and flat as a saltine cracker, you know? Woah, bit of a strange simile there. Anyway, your reviews honestly help a lot, because I wasn't sure if I was doing alright with that or not :) thanks.
Everyone else-- Thanks for reading, and I'll have a new one out soon!