Ch. 10

Scatter and Spot walked out of his room laughing only to run right into Tornado who smiled when she saw Spot. Her smile faded when she realized that Spot and Scatter had just come from his room and were standing really close together. She looked from Spot to Scatter and her eyes narrowed as she balled up her fists and took a step toward Scatter. Spot stepped in front of Scatter, confirming Tornado's suspicions. Tornado glared at Spot and he glared back, but then, to her surprise, Spot sighed and told her they needed to talk. They headed into Spot's room and Tornado sat on his bed. Spot paced back and forth as he collected his thoughts.

"Things aren't going well between us," he said as he finally stopped pacing and looked at her. She looked up at him ready to deny it until she saw the look in his eyes. She nodded as she sniffled and started crying. She sat there crying for a few minutes before speaking.

"It's over, isn't it? You like Scatter now."

He hated himself for hurting her like this but she deserved someone a lot better for her than he was. He didn't want to confirm it, but they both knew that things hadn't been good for awhile. He spoke softly, his voice barely more than a whisper as if he was afraid to move on from her.

"Yes."

The word hung in the air as they finally looked at each other and smiled sadly. She stood up and hugged him then walked out the door. Spot watched her leave then he laid down on his bed thinking. He laid there for about an hour until someone knocked on his door. Spot opened it and saw Scatter standing there looking nervous. He smiled and let her in. She went and sat on his bed and he sat down next to her. She sighed deeply, then finally just blurted out what she was dying to know.

"What's going on, Spot? Do you like me or are you still with Tornado?"

Spot ran a hand through his hair as he thought about what he wanted the most.

" I like you Scatter, but me and Tornado just broke up. I think we should take it slow for now. I already hurt Tornado as much as I can stand for right now and she's still one of my newsies. Is that okay for now?"

Scatter looked at him as she realized that Spot had two sides. One was the arrogant, tough, streetwise Spot. The other was the sweet, thoughtful, sensitive Spot that had probably only ever been seen by Tornado. She shook her head as she realized she was staring before she noticed that Spot was expecting an answer. He looked upset and got up to walk out the door. She gasped and ran after him pleading with him to stay. She turned him toward her and smiled.

"Whatever you want to do is fine with me Spot. I just want to be with you."

He smiled down at her, relieved and squeezed her hand. They walked down to the main floor of the lodging house holding hands.