"If we're going to be stuck again, then why couldn't we have just stuck on the Main Road? At least we'll get a view of the trolley strike there,"

To this whine, Edith made no comment, which didn't bother Sam at all. She was quite used to being ignored because of her snarky sarcastic remarks and she was just perfectly contented with talking to herself.

That itself was sarcasm, by the way.

But so far, Sam congratulated herself for not blowing up the automobile yet. She was still keeping her word, and although it wasn't at all satisfying to not brew up really harsh remarks to her sister's fiancé, she must do with what little privilege she had – the relatively small comments here and there to edge off the two human beings seated in front of her.

"I told you, others probably also had the same thought,"

"You moron, stop blaming and do something to actually move, will you?" Sam said disdainfully.

Edith now gave a groan this time, partially mixed with a sigh which conveyed neither annoyance nor nuisance.

"Oh, please, Sam," she shook her head sadly and even from the back, Sam could notice the strain in her sister's voice. A small lump of uneasiness got stuck in Sam's throat, and she shared an unsettled glance with her brother – trying not to feel guilty about her sister's mood but seemingly failing so.

Edith didn't say another word, because at this point she had given up any attempts to get her sister to actually like Tom in the acutest possible kind. Her heart pounded at an unusually fast pace, fidgety from the stress of the traffic as well as the stress of a sister.

Sam was lying to herself when she told herself she didn't know why her sister was being all so sobbing at once. She wanted to believe in her own lie though; she wanted to pretend it wasn't her behaviors that made her sister gloomy. But Samantha was everything else, except a good liar.

Why couldn't someone have taught me to lie well?

After what happened, Sam knew she could never feel the same way about her sister as before. Things were just so… different. And she didn't want to appear weak with nostalgia, and that was why, as soon as her sister announced her intent to get engaged, Samantha started giving a cold shoulder. It was not only Edith; to Sam, it seemed everyone but she was rejoicing in the engagement. And being left out was not so nice.

Being left out, pfft.

And now, when she wanted to apologize, say sorry and ask her sister to start all over again, Sam's pride held her back. She would never do that as long as Thomas Minder was in the picture. She thought, no, she knew that as long as he existed, her family would be torn between herself and the others.

Sam shot a deathly glare at the back of Tom's head, for no apparent reason at all but for his sole existence. She deeply exhaled, feeling the weight of guilt leave her chest now that she had found someone to channel her anger and blame at.

She raised her chin high up, with a dignified manner, and stared out the window. She'd ignore her sister's pain for the matter need not concern her. They all had brought it upon themselves…

Didn't they?

Deep down, a little voice was whispering at her. It was telling her all sorts of things that she didn't want to hear about: guilty… selfish….Mother.

"Hey Ralphie, look," She shut down her rubbish thoughts and directed them to the little Chihuahua on the car beside theirs. Ralphie scooted closer to her side to get a better view of what she was showing. "Give me some water," Sam turned to find the bottle as her mind planned out a chaotic prank for the poor animal.

No living organism ever escaped the prankster queen.

Except that lucky Chihuahua.

It was pure fate, a bit unfortunate. For, the moment Sam turned round to grab the water bottle from her bag, she got a glimpse of Tom holding and patting Edith's hand lovingly. Up till that point, Sam had never seen the engaged couple come into contact with each other and the sight was disastrous for a disapproving sister who already couldn't stand any caring words exchanged between her sister and a total stranger.

And Sam's silence snapped.

"Preposterous! What on earth are you doing?" she exclaimed in her loud natural voice with hardly suppressed shock.

At the sound of her voice, Tom jumped out of his skin.

"C-comforting her?" he stuttered. His timidity made him naturally meek, and in this case, even more extra mild his behavior was; his eyes casted down and not meeting the burning fire in the younger sister's eyes.

"Then for the sake of George Wash, go away somewhere and coochie-coo however you like!"

"F-for the s-sake of w-who?"

Ralphie snorted with restrained laughter at the poor guy. Sam, however, found little to laugh at in this situation. Her mind was busy whirling in a raging storm at the discovery and possibility that her sister was perhaps more intimate with her fiancé than what appeared to be.

And that only added more to Sam's jealous possessiveness of her once favorite family member.

"This is disgusting –"

"Okay, Sam, you've said enough," Edith seemed to have recover from the embarrassment – not which Tom had acted, but the one which Sam had brought upon by broadcasting it out loud – and although her face was hardly less colored yet, her eyes blazed with a nonchalant fury that seriously reprimanded her sister.

"Oh, right, yeah. This is his car, so I guess we'll just go," Sam retorted sarcastically, not wanting to be put out by her sister's look. She knew perfectly enough to use the pump of adrenalin rushing in her veins to its best advantage – be as sarcastic and rude as she wanted, she could always later blame it on the situation.

Besides, I'd rather walk miles than be stuck here with them.

She hopped off the automobile in a most unladylike manner, but could hardly care about it at this point. "Come on," she urged Ralphie who seemed reluctant to leave his haven of cushioned seat but was still loyal enough to follow his beloved sister.

Eyes from the other cars were drawn to the sight, curiously wondering what guardian would let a girl in school uniform behave such a way. Sam could feel the looks even without seeing. She also imagined the possible upcoming gossip of the city: Pulitzer's young daughter making a scene on the road.

Wouldn't that be a headline?

An image of her mom came up from memory lane, smiling hopefully that her daughter's small promise would be kept. No, Sam would not think of her mother – not just yet. Maybe because Sam had never really had empathy, but often without considering anyone else's feelings, she did what she felt was right for her – even if the truth was screaming right at her not to do so.

"You two, get back inside, or Father will hear about this," Edith warned, despair overtaking her rather than being angry at this act of impertinence.

Sam gave a genuine smile at her brother as he grabbed onto her shoulder to hop off. With a less smiling look, she mouthed "Bye-bye, losers," at Tom and Edith. For a fraction of a second, Sam felt something hold her back – perhaps love for her sister?

No, all feelings of that sort for her died long ago.

"Samantha!" Edith called out in a whisper at the back of a sister leaving, not wishing to bring any more attention to the scene than the few awkward glances at their direction from Sam's earlier outburst. "Samantha, get back here,"

Edith need not have asked twice. Sam and Ralphie were back at their seats inside the automobile in less than 5 seconds – they have not gone any further than a few yards.

It was neither the demands of her sister nor the disapproving glances of people in automobiles that brought Sam back to the car. The reason which caused the mind of Samantha Pulitzer to turn around in no time at all was speaking big as Sam often liked to take pride in herself for being utterly stubborn.

It was no other than her worst nightmare compilation, taking the form of a newsie.

"Bye-bye, losers,"

A smirk accompanied her remark as she took hold of her brother's puffy little hands. "Isn't this great?" she tried cheering her brother who was probably still mourning for his comfortable seat. "You're a big boy now, Ralph, how fast you've grown!"

It was obvious Sam was trying so hard to make her brother feel better about the situation; and she knew how to click her brother's buttons easily. He was only 10-years-old and most of that time had been spent under the 'care' of Sam.

"It's alright, Sam," Ralphie's voice came out as they scooted in and out between the cars stopped. "This is fun," He gave a small scallywag smirk as if to say I know what you're feeling, and you don't have to.

Sam's face brightened immensely at this response, delighted over the moon that her brother understood her. "Yep," she couldn't find any other word for her chest was swelling with happiness that her brother would be with her till the end of the line; not because she'd drag him but because of his own will.

She wrapped her arm around his shoulder, pulling him closer to her affectionately. But everything stopped in a moment: her smile, her step, her heart, and time itself. For there but a few yards in front of her was her worst nightmare compilation.

"Extra! Extra! Giant tornado in New Richmon' kill several and damage hundreds!"

"Oh my goodness –"

Sam's voice came out in a coarse whisper as soon as she heard the familiar accent – it was ringing loud and clear in her ear and her mind panicked uncontrollably.

"In the name of George Wash, what is he doing here?"

She asked herself desparingly, even though she didn't need an answer. Ralphie followed her dreadful eyes' gaze to a tall boy with a stack of newspapers in his arm.

"Who's he?" he questioned, looking up at his sister and tugging her hand. She put on a façade – trying to continue the smile which vanished so quickly earlier, and although she shrugged lightly, as mentioned before, Sam never was a good liar.

"Come on, let's go back –"

Without saying anything more, she dragged her brother back to their automobile which was not as far away as Sam would have liked to think her walking was, and immediately lifting the kid up into the Daimler and herself following in a millisecond.

Edith raised an eyebrow of confusion at the innocent-eyed boy and the drenched-with-panic girl, who both stared back at her – each with a different expression. The elder sister knew it couldn't be her threats that had brought Sam back in an instant. But she also could not figure out what was.

"What?" Sam broke the silence irritatingly as her sister didn't stray an eye from them for quite a considerably long time.

The older girl merely shook her head, and turned back to the front although her eyes lingered on for some more.

Not a minute passed after that when the car line slowly began to move again, and to Sam's relief, for sure. She kept an eye out far ahead to look out for any sign of Jack Kelly, craning her neck almost painfully to make sure … of what, she herself did not know.

"So," Edith who knew something fishy was going on, "what happened to your walking plan?"

Sam startled, both from being shaken of her inner chaotic thoughts as well as the fact that her sister was speaking to her again… Sam pursed her lips tightly, not wanting any snarky response to get out, because she really wanted to make up but did not have the guts to actually apologize.

Bah, there's no need for apologies.

"Erm… never been a fan of walking, you know," she made it short and simple, not trusting her mouth to carry on lest it revealed the true reason.

"Yes, I do."

"Hey, good thing we came back though," Ralphie intervened the 'cold' and reserved atmosphere with a little bit of his positivity which rooted from that age of being a child. "Or else we would have been stuck between cars trying to move!"

"How lucky you are, then!" Tom joined in with a genuine positivity of his own, still carrying out his long-term mission to at least get the younger boy to like him.

"It wasn't luck," Sam scowled. She just couldn't see Tom as anything but an annoying pest to her family; and there was no luck in a prospect of her mind ever changing that. But for now, she put up a meek smile for her siblings, at least, and continued good-naturedly, "I knew they were going to move, that's why I brought you back,"

"Oh…" Ralphie nodded in realization, "so that was why you got panicked and returned in a hurry?"

The boy's question was meant to be of innocence, but to a person who was hiding something, the question was a hard hit. Sam winced, before convincing herself that Ralphie probably had not intended any sarcasm.

"Yeah," she replied, "I have a sixth sense." She pointed at her temple light-heartedly, and Ralphie let out a snort at his sister's humor. Even Tom smiled a little, and Sam didn't say anything to it. Because she had only just realized how their car moving forward meant they'd meet Jack Kelly at some point.

Oh why, oh why, must he be here?

Ralphie was saying something but she couldn't hear anymore – Sam was feeling like sobbing by now; if Jack Kelly saw her, what would happen? She didn't know, but she sure wasn't looking forward to it either.

Just when I felt like we should never meet again.

They were moving closer to where he was… and with this pace of the automobile moving so slow like a snail, there was no doubt he would recognize her.

"Right, all this sixth sensing is making me tired, I need to nap," she announced, cutting off Ralphie's talk about the upcoming Story-Telling Contest at his school. She gestured her little brother to raise his arms up, and she laid her head down on his lap, covering her face with 10th Grade Pure Mathematics.

"Samantha!" her older sister's whispered reprimand came not long after. "Get up, Samantha, you mustn't do that. You mustn't show your legs in public like that."

"Shut up," Sam groaned. Her skirt was a long one that went way below her knee, but apparently it was all a big deal to even be showing any small area of skin between your knee and ankle where Sam's socks ended.

Wait, maybe she's right.

Sam didn't exactly also want her leg to go unguarded that way – her mom would strongly disapprove of her conduct. And the guy she was dealing with was no ordinary guy – being an ego-maniac flirt he was, Sam was sure it was best to do something about her legs in case …

What am I even thinking?! Why am I even thinking?! What is wrong with you, Samantha? Oh, George Wash, help me, what is wrong with me today? Why did I even have to see him again? Calm down, Samantha, he probably doesn't even remember you. What if he does? I don't know!

And so her thoughts revolved, but one thing was for sure: she hated what this guy was doing to her confidence – even if it was done unknowingly.

Finally, she resolved to curl her legs up close to her chest, so that everything was covered by her skirt. Or maybe not everything was. One could never be sure of how one looked, not when a big fat book of Pure Math's was weighed down on the face.

"Find out more 'bout it on page 3 in today's papes!"

The interesting accent reached her ears which meant he must now be close-by. And something in her mind clicked. Maybe it was the way he sounded his 'o'. Maybe it was the memories of what happened yesterday night. Or maybe it was just her own frantic mind all along. But something clicked. Something, as in, she herself couldn't put her finger down on what exactly.

Her heart was pounding, her blood rushing so fast through her veins, when she heard Tom's voice say, "One paper," and "Keep the change."

"Here 'tis, Mista',"

And just when Sam thought they'd move on past him, Ralphie, of all things, had to cry out excitedly, "Oh boy, a cowboy! A real cowboy!" A little too much enthusiasm for Sam's liking.

She heard Jack laugh out heartily as well, "O' course, little mista'." But it sounded more distant now, which must mean they had gone past.

Sam had to pinch the boy's knee to prevent him from carrying on the conversation any further, but that was probably one of the rare mistakes Samantha Pulitzer had ever done. Rare as in more than fifty, but, oh well.

Ralphie cried out loud in insistently, "Hey!"

There were no further incidents anymore along their route, as the traffic had been dispersed, and the nightmare was behind. Except… Ralphie wanted an explanation.

"Sorry, Ralph, it was just annoying when you were shrieking all about a cowboy and I was trying to take a nap,"

"Excuse me, I was not shrieking,"

"Yes you were,"

"No I wasn't!"

"Was too."

"Was not!"

"You just did it again."

Fatefully, it was as if an invisible wedge was barred between her and Ralphie now. The fact that he liked Jack Kelly, Cowboy or not, was something Sam wouldn't like. She knew this selfishness of hers would be her downfall someday, but it wasn't selfishness if she was only being possessive of her siblings… right?

"His name's Jack Kelly," Tom said, out of the blue, making Sam frown in disdain as to why he would bring up that subject she most certainly did not want to hear. "He's one of your father's newsies, you've never met him?"

"No," Ralphie replied with a smile, "but he looks really handsome with that hat. Like a real cowboy!"

Sam gave a roll of her eyes, and a wrinkle of her nose to display her thoughts on the subject.

"Ralphie, calm down, you sound like you're in love or something," Sam received a rather violent elbow nudge from her brother for that statement, but once she'd gone down the lane, it was hard to go back. She let out an exaggerated gasp of shock, "My, you're not really, are you?"

Her brother scoffed, rolling his eyes equally as his sister, while the latter kept on giggling in her newfound devilish delight. But she could not be blamed entirely for Ralphie's humiliation on this matter; both Edith and Tom were heartily joining in the laughter, which uplifted the spirits that had gone down the dumps earlier. It was a merry moment – indeed! – until Tom decided to help out his soon-to-be brother.

"Well, not many people can help liking Jack Kelly. He's a decent kid, or so I've heard,"

Sam's merriness stopped – she cleared her throat moodily, and stared out the window with no more words. She should have known - Tom was always to ruin every happiness.

"Shut up about Jack Kelly, and just get us to school on time,"

A/N : Hi there again! I hope y'all are doing well! Thanks for sticking with Sam – honestly it means so much to me and frankly speaking, I'm impressed you've made it this far with her! Thank you so much for the reviews as well, I admit, they are one of the sole reasons I keep going on with this story. Hopefully in the future I'll get to update once every week! And that's a promise ;)