Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it.

Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. I was super busy and didn't have time to write, but finally I got an extra long study hall and I didn't have any homework. Yay! So, I finished this chapter, enjoy:

Chapter 10

Waking Up

Nanners' Point of View

We were all gathered in the lodging house, it had been 2 days since the fight, and Dash still hadn't woken up. All the rest of us were okay for the most part, Hannah had a huge gash on her forehead, that wouldn't go away for awhile, and Skittery wasn't in much better condition. Thank God Race was alright, Folly was freaking out about Skitts and when he finally woke up she was practically bouncing off the walls from excitement, crazy girl, and Snipeshooter had a broken ankle and had to be on crutches for awhile, which had earned him the name "Crutchy the Second".

Dash was the one in the worst condition though; he had caught a fever and was still unconscious. Kloppman had called a doctor and Dash's arm was now in a cast and we had medication for his fever, but nothing else could be done for him until he finally regained consciousness, which didn't look like it would be anytime soon. He was just a little kid! How could someone do something so horrible to him?

The past two days hadn't been exactly what you would call fun. But despite that life went on, I mean, you gotta eat somehow, and selling papers was the only way we could, I wasn't about to go and steal anything, like some people I know, (cough) Hannah (cough).

Seagull was back; she had come back along with the Brooklyn newsies, and had elected to stay in Manhattan , though Spot came over every day to see her. Apparently the two of them had hit it off very nicely and Sea had completely forgotten that we could be pulled back home at any minute. That was a dilemma I had, I really liked Race, but I had no idea when I was going to be pulled back through my computer screen and find myself back home. I felt kinda bad about all the lies I had been telling him too. Of course it wasn't all entirely a lie. I have lived kinda near Chicago my entire life, and I do help at a stable near my home. I actually have my own horse, and we do hunter/jumper, but an orphan from Chicago wouldn't have her own horse, right? Of course right! I'm not exactly the greatest at history but I did know not to say that, though I did say that I helped at a stable with exercising the horses, which Racetrack found incredibly interesting.

" Nan ? You up for cards?" asked Race, interrupting my thoughts, he had taken to calling me Nan now and the name had stuck, though I considered it something Race and only Race could call me.

"What? Oh sure, whatever" I didn't really care, but I guess it was something to keep me occupied. I looked around the room. We were downstairs in the big room in front, because it was waaaaaaaaaaay too warm upstairs, well, all except Bumlets, he was upstairs watching Dash. July in New York City wasn't exactly the most comfortable month of the year, heat, humidity, and everything else that goes along with that were constant discomforts. Blink, Pippa, Katie, Specs, Avalanche, Celena, Hannah, Raven, and Paloosh were in a group talking. Seagull and Spot were, uh, occupied in a corner, Skittery was sprawled on the couch talking to Folly, and Mush and Trig were sitting on the steps outside. They were so cute together, but they hadn't done anything but talked and sold papers together. Trig had always said that Mush was her favorite newsie; at least I think she had. Well, at least they weren't acting like Spot and Seagull. Everyone else was waiting for Race to deal them some cards.

We had been playing for awhile when we heard someone on the steps, we looked up and saw Bumlets, and he had a huge grin on his face.

"Heya Bumlets" Jack greeted him, "aren't you supposed ta be watchin' Dash?"

Bumlets shrugged, grinning even more, "I was when he was unconscious; you never said anything about after he woke up."

The room erupted in to shouts, and several people started to make a beeline for the stairs, and it took Jack a while to calm everyone down.

"Ok you guys, and goils," he said nodding to us, "I'm sure Dash needs some quiet, I've woken up from bein' knocked out before, and all of you jumpin' for joy didn't help my head, at all. So everyone shut up, for my sake and the sake of the poor little kid upstairs, will ya?"

"Who said we was jumpin' for joy?" said Race sarcastically.

"Oh shut up," muttered Jack as he returned to the card game. Though I did notice Hannah sneak upstairs after awhile and after I had been beat out of all my money (which didn't take too long), I headed upstairs after her.

The bunkroom was similar to the one in the newsgirls lodging house, long and full of bunks. I looked around and spotted Hannah sitting on a bunk near a window. I went over and sat next to her.

"Hey Nanners" she said, then turned her attention back to Dash. He didn't look all that different, he had fallen back asleep, but it looked more peaceful and happy than when he had been unconscious earlier. Hannah had been especially worried about him, more than any of us, except perhaps Bumlets, he had been good friends with Dash for a long time.

"What's up?" I asked, attempting to start a conversation.

"The ceiling" muttered Hannah looking up.

I grinned, "that's true…so what's going on?"

She shrugged, "not much," she leaned over to pull up the blankets to cover Dash further.

"Glad he finally woke up?" I asked

"Of course, who wouldn't be?"

"Scab" I muttered

Hannah rolled her eyes, "knowin' them, they'd be celebratin' if he didn't"

I knew she was referring to her brother, and I did not want to get in an "awkward" conversation about that. I'd never had a close family member die, and I sure didn't want to talk about it now. We sat in silence for a few seconds…or were they minutes? Or maybe hours? Eh, who knows?

"Thanks for being so, well, welcoming to me" Hannah broke the silence, "all of you have been great."

"Ha, I didn't do anything, I'm pretty new myself, only been here a little over a week," I answered.

"It's kinda hard ya know? Living' by yourself on the street," she paused, "of course you probably already know that from experience."

I shivered, here comes another lie, "yeah, mostly I've been in and out of orphanages though."

"Mmm" Was the only answer Hannah gave.

"So, where did ya live before you came to Manhattan ?" I asked, trying to start a conversation.

" Brooklyn "

"Really? Where Seagull was, right?"

She nodded

"So, what's it like in Brooklyn ? I mean, I've never been there before"

"Um, pretty much the same as it is here, 'cept a lot more homeless people, a ton more fights, and way more robberies and stuff like that" then she grinned, "It also smells a lot fishier"

That made me laugh, "Well, not sure what Sea finds so attractive about it then, except for that Spot Conlon obviously"

"Is she gonna be stayin' here?"

"I think so, but you never know…" my voice trailed off

Hannah snorted

"What?" I asked

"It's just that everyone considers Spot so wonderful. Especially the goils" she shook her head, "they don't seem to be able to see past his so called good looks."

"He does seem to have a little bit of an ego," I had only seen him a few times, but from what I had seen of him he was not one to be messed with, and he demanded respect, and lots of it.

Hannah rolled her eyes, "a little bit? That kid's ego is bigger than all the other newsies combined, trust me, I should know."

"What do you mean 'you should know'? I mean, have you known him a long time?"

"A very, very long time, much longer than I wish," she answered a little hint of anger in her voice.

"Well, I guess you probably have, bein' from Brooklyn and all"

"Yeah, bein' from Brooklyn , though I originally was from Queen's."

"Hmmm, I'm pretty new to New York ; I've never been out of Manhattan "

Hannah giggled, "Really? Not very well traveled are you?"

Actually you'd be surprised I thought, I've only been to 43 states, plus, China , Ireland , Italy , France , England , and Scotland , who's the well traveled one now?

Dash seemed to be waking up again; he rolled over, and opened his eyes.

" Nan ? Hannah?" he asked looking at us, Hannah shrieked and hugged him, I almost thought that she was crying, wow, she has really gotten attached to that little kid, or maybe they knew each other before Hannah became a newsie? Nah, impossible.

"How long have I been asleep?" he asked sitting up and trying to look out the window.

"Two days, almost three now," I said, "though Bumlets said that you had woken up earlier."

"I did?" He looked confused, "I don't remember that, oh well" he settled back into his bed, was quiet for a few minutes, then broke the silence. "I'm pretty hungry, is there any food or anythin' up here?"

Hannah shook her head, "I don't think so, but everyone else is downstairs, they might have somethin'"

"I'll go check," I volunteered, standing up. I hurried down the steps, "Any of ya have some food that a little kid who just woke up after sleeping for 3 days might enjoy?" I called out when I reached the bottom. They didn't have much, but Swifty had a dinner roll left over from when we had had dinner at Tibby's.

"It's not much, but it's better than nothin'" he said, handing it to me.

"Thanks, I'm sure he'll enjoy it" I said, as I hurried back up the stairs.

Hannah and I stayed upstairs probably another hour talking to Dash, until Kloppman came up and said that it was time for us to head back to the newsgirls lodging house.

"Night Dash," said Hannah, as we headed down the stairs.

"Night Hannah, and Nanners" he mumbled, almost asleep again.

We walked back to the lodging house with the rest of the girls, along with Blink, Spot, and Mush, who claimed that Jack had told them to "escort us" suuuuuuure.

Right before I was about to go into the lodging house Spot pulled me aside, "hey, uh, do ya think you could um, give this to Hannah?" he asked, holding out a piece of paper, "she'll know it was from me."

"Um, I guess so" I muttered taking the paper, "but why don't you just give it to her yourself?"

He shrugged, "just do this for me, please?"

Spot Conlon, actually asking someone to do something, rather than ordering them? Unthinkable!

I shrugged, "Sure, whatever, I guess I can"

He grinned, "Great, thanks so much!" With that he disappeared into the night. I looked at the folded piece of paper in my hands. What did it say? And why did Spot want me to give it to Hannah of all people? I don't get it. Maybe, I could look at it…just to see what was so important, you know? But, maybe it was meant for Hannah and Hannah alone, why did I need to be the mail carrier? Oh well, I shrugged and headed inside.

"Uh, Hannah? Spot wanted me to give you this" I said holding out the paper.

She came over, "what is it?"

I shrugged, "how should I know? It's not like I'm gonna read it or anything."

She nodded and took the paper, and unfolded it. When she read it her eyes got super big, then she crumpled it up, muttering angrily.

We got ready for bed, and within ten minutes all of us were asleep.

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