I don't know what to say here, so just enjoy!

Chapter 4- Smalls

Wednesday, September 15, 1999, 7:40 a.m.

"Mornin', Smalls," Specs greeted.

"Hi Smalls," Elmer and Henry chorused, before carrying on with their conversation.

"I see you's got some new guys," Smalls remarked, studying the two people she didn't recognize. She focused on the taller of the two, a blonde boy with bright green eyes. She took note of his crutches. "You must be Charlie."

The boy beamed, his smile lighting up his whole face. Looking at that grin cheered up Smalls, who wasn't in a bad mood to begin with. "You know me?"

"Course I do. Jack hasn't shut up about ya since ya arrived. Crutchie this, Crutchie that." Smalls paused. "Is it okay if I calls ya Crutchie?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Great. I'm Smalls."

"And I'm Romeo," stated the other boy, even though Smalls hadn't asked yet. He smoothed back his relatively long hair with one hand, while he held out the other to be shaken. "Lovely ta meet ya, beautiful."

"That's... nice." Smalls hesitated awkwardly for a moment. "But I'd prefer a Juliet."

"Oh," Romeo's cocky personality deflated a little as he understood and dropped his hands to his sides. "Sorry 'bout that."

"Don't sweat it, kid." Smalls surveyed the group. To Specs, she asked, "Racer an' Albert run off already?"

"Yeah, they're both..." Specs scanned the sidewalk ahead of him. "Prob'ly at school already or somethin'. To be honest, I have no idea where they are."

Smalls searched the crowd that filled the sidewalk, trying to pick out Race's familiar voice or Albert's telltale ginger hair. "We could check Jacobi's if ya think dey got lost."

"Nah, they'll turn up. S'long as Race don't end up passed out in an alley somewhere."

Smalls laughed. "Couldn't keep him away from the coffee?"

"Nope," Specs shook his head. "He's gonna be a complete mess at school."

"Ain't he always?"

"Fair point. A half-asleep mess, then."

The call of a turtledove, clearly made by a human but still convincing enough to fool someone who hadn't heard it before, sounded from somewhere above the group. Smalls, Specs, Henry, and Elmer all quickly covered their heads and avoided looking in the direction of the sound. Crutchie and Romeo, however, didn't know any better. They looked up.

Splat! Splat! Two wads of wet paper came flying down from the sky, each one hitting a new boy. Crutchie got hit squarely in the face, while Romeo, being so short- even compared to Crutchie- took a paper wad to the head.

"Ow!" Crutchie squeaked.

Romeo yelled, "My hair!" and frantically batted his hands across the top of his dark locks.

"Oh..." sighed Specs, surveying the damage. "C'mere Romeo, lemme help you wit that." Romeo complied, raising himself up on his toes so Specs could reach his head more easily. Aided by Elmer and Henry, though really they just hovered next to him, Crutchie scraped the wet paper off of his face.

While the other three tended to the casualties, Smalls turned her head upwards the tiniest bit, taking a look at the balcony above Wah's Laundromat, while also making sure she didn't get hit. She heard a burst of laughter from said balcony, but it quickly faded away as the culprits disappeared inside.

"You okay?" Smalls asked the two newbies, watching Crutchie rub the red mark on his cheek left by the paper wad.

Romeo muttered something negative, while Crutchie nodded affirmatively, before asking, "What the heck was that?"

"A sneak attack."

"Huh?"

"You'll see in a minute."

Right on cue, two teenagers about a year older and a foot taller than Smalls came out of the laundromat, cackling. They were both holding slingshots. Smalls' eyes immediately fixated on the girl, as if she hadn't seen her in months. In reality, she had seen her the previous day, after finishing work at Jacobi's Deli, but it felt like a lifetime. It always did. How could it not, when Smalls was hopelessly in love with the tall, black-haired girl and her beautiful dark eyes? She could get lost in those rich brown eyes forever.

So, apparently, could the somewhat pale boy standing beside the girl who held Smalls' attention. He was currently giving Smalls a look that said What are you staring at? Smalls had noticed that lately he couldn't take his eyes off his best friend, especially since she'd grown out her hair. This also meant that he didn't take very kindly to other people staring at his friend, as if he was the only one allowed to have feelings for her. It was pretty cliche of him to fall for that girl after there had been no indication of his feelings for her in previous years. At least, that was Smalls' opinion. There was no explaining the way boys acted around girls.

Clap. Clap. Clap. "Wonderful prank," said Henry, applauding sarcastically. "'Snot like ya do it every damn year."

"Still rememberin' the last time we got ya, Henry?" The tall girl, Sniper, asked, crossing her arms and playfully shoving the shoulder of her partner in crime. "Think he deserves an apology, Pat?"

"No way," said Finch, adjusting the baseball cap that almost entirely concealed his curly dark hair. "An' it ain't our fault y'all keep fallin' for the same ol' trick," he replied to Henry's annoyed remark.

"We do not keep falling for it!" Elmer objected, placing his tan hands on his hips.

Sniper picked up a pebble and chucked it at him, hitting Elmer right between the eyes. She never missed a shot. Elmer stood there, stunned, brown eyes wide. Finch lost it, doubling over in laughter. Sniper did the same, exclaiming, "It's too easy!" as she braced herself on a nearby railing. Smalls had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from giggling too, so contagious was Sniper's laughter.

"You two are makin' such a good impression on the new kids," Specs reprimanded, having finished defending Romeo's hair against the foreign contaminant.

Finch looked up, noticing Crutchie and Romeo for the first time. Smalls saw his eyes hover on the fair-skinned blonde boy, who still had a red mark on his cheek from the attack. "Hey, it's Jack's boyf-"

"Patrick!" Sniper cuffed him on the ear.

"Ow!"

"Shut up, wouldja?"

A pink flush crept onto Crutchie's cheeks, though he looked utterly confused. "I'm not- Uh, I'm Crutchie. Charlie, if ya want."

"Tha's nice," grumbled Finch, rubbing his ear.

"Not that ya asked, but I'm Romeo," introduced Romeo. "Thanks for destroyin' my hair, ya jerks."

Sniper rubbed her neck. "Um, yeah, sorry 'bout that. Bad habit."

Specs gave her a look that said, That's the best you could do?

Smalls jumped to her friend's defense. "These two do that ta everyone. After all, we don' call her-" she nodded at the other girl- "'Sniper' fer nothin'." Sniper half-smiled in gratitude, making her eyes wrinkle up a little as her cheeks moved upwards. "Finch, on da other hand," she added, "you's right, Romeo. He's just a jerk."

That got Finch's attention. "That's fu-" Sniper kicked him in the shin, cutting him off in the middle of the curse word. He backtracked and used a different word. "Factual. That's a very factual statement. I'm a jerk. Sorry, or whatever."

"It's fine," assured Crutchie, while Specs rolled his eyes at the half-assed apology.

"I pity your girlfriend," said Romeo, looking at Sniper. "Never fight with him, his apologies are sh-"

"Settle down, Romeo," warned Henry. "That attack wasn't anythin' personal."

"When you mess up a man's hair, it becomes personal."

Finch sniggered. "I'll be sure ta remember that."

"As we've got that sorted out," announced Specs, waving his cellphone, which he had flipped open to display the time. 7:50 a.m. "We should be gettin' ta school."

"Yes, Mom," Elmer and Henry teased in unison.

"FInch, ya good?" Sniper asked her friend, who looked unnaturally shocked. "Aw, ya forgot, didn't ya?"

"My brain ain't ready ta go back," he whined, laying his head on Sniper's shoulder, which was somewhat difficult because they were the same height.

Sniper looked directly at Smalls, pointed at Finch's head, and mouthed This idiot.

Ya mean your "boyfriend"? mouthed Smalls, making air quotes.

Her friend didn't have a response to that.

"You two talkin' 'bout me?" Finch lifted his head.

"Not at all," lied Sniper.

"Guys," ordered Specs, waving his phone again.

"Yeah, yeah, we know," Sniper shoved Finch away from her. "Your brain'll catch up. An' speakin' of," she gave Smalls a challenging grin. "Bet ya can't catch me!" She took off running down the sidewalk.

"Snipes, wait up!" Finch yelled, chasing after her. Henry and Elmer followed suit, excited to join in. Smalls looked to Specs, who shrugged. That was as much permission as she needed to join the race.

"Could everyone please stop runnin'?" exclaimed Crutchie, and that was the last thing Smalls heard before she left the other guys in the dust.

Smalls and Sniper! I'm obsessed with these two characters. Finch is cool too, I suppose.

I wrote the first draft of this chapter at 2:00 a.m., and though I have tweaked it since then, I didn't change it much. So please, applaud my brain for coming up with my favorite chapter at 2 in the morning.

I know it was a little bit romance-y, but hopefully you people liked that.

Please review!