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Chapter 11
Jack was roused by a voice that hadn't woken him up in nearly a year. "Get up! Get up! The presses are rollin'! Sell the papes, sell the papes! C'mon Cowboy, ya gonna sleep yoah life away?" Jack sat up with a start.
"Kloppman?" The kindly older man chuckled at him and when on his way. Jack felt an icy hand of fear grip his heart. Why hadn't Becca woken him up? Even when she had briefly lived in the Newsgirls Lodging House, she had still got up early to come and get him up. Jack jumped out of his bunk and tore down the hallway to Becca's room, not even stopping to get dressed. Was she okay? Was she sick? Was she missing? Wouldn't Kloppman had said something if anything was wrong?
The eighteen-year-old felt a small weight lift from his shoulders when he saw his sister still in her bed. At least she was here, and safe. Yet, Jack was still extremely worried--was she sick? Becca was not the type of person to sleep in unless she really didn't feel well. Jack walked briskly over to the side of her bed and brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. She was still asleep. "Becky?" he nudged her gently. She sat up with a cry,
"David!" Jack hardly had time to react before Becca launched herself into his arms and began sobbing onto his shoulder. Shocked, Jack enveloped his sister in a hug and rocked her back and forth, soothing her.
"Shh, it's okay, let it out, it's okay, I'm heah." When Becca eventually calmed down, he put a finger under her chin and directed her eyes into his. "What about Dave?" Jack's voice hardened slightly. "He didn't hoit ya, did he?" Becca's face crumpled and she began crying again.
"Why--does--everyone--think--that?" she gasped between breaths. Jack pulled her closer.
"I'm sorry. I just wasn't shoah. Ise nevah seen ya so upset befoah. What's wrong?"
"He's leaving," whimpered Becca.
"Who's leavin'?"
"Dave, *sniff*, His parents are sending him to a *sniff* boarding school." Astonishment adorned Jack's features.
"When? Wheah? How long has he known? How long have you known? Why didn't he tell us befoah?"
"We both just found out. You'll see him today, he'll explain the rest, 'cause he's gotta tell everyone else." Jack held her a bit longer, then softly asked,
"Youse got today off 'cuz it's a Sunday. Do ya want ta stay heah, at least foah t'e mornin'?" Becca sniffed again, and nodded. "Okay. Do ya want me ta stay heah with ya?" Becca shook her head. "Ya shoah?" Nod. "Okay." Jack embraced her again, kissed her forehead, and left.
***
At lunchtime, Dave told the others what he had told Becca the night before (about being sent to boarding school). Though they took it slightly better than Becca, it was with a somber mood that the rest of lunch was eaten.
Hazel's eyes met Jack's. The communicated one thing: go to Becca. For the sixteen-year-old had not come down to Tibby's for lunch. Hazel nodded, and quietly excused herself from Tibby's.
Dave watched her go. He knew she was heading off to the Lodging House to comfort Becca. He wanted to run after Hazel, drop everything and go hold Becca, tell her that it was all going to be alright. It killed him that he was the source of such pain to Becca, and he wanted more than anything to go and comfort her. But logic, stoic logic, kept him at Tibby's. Becca needed at least a little time alone with Hazel. She needed to talk with someone else about the other thing (the sappy stuff) that had happened last night. So Davey stayed.
Finally, Racetrack became fed up. "Aw, C'mon guys, it ain't like Dave's dyin' oah nuttin' like t'at. And wese still gots a week till he leaves. And ya hoid what he said, his parents are lettin' him sell with us t'is week. So let's put t'e sad faces aside, and make shoah t'is is t'e best week Dave could evah have. At least foah now, let's not let t'is whole t'ing hang ovah our heads and prevent us from havin' any fun." The newsies approved of Race's speech with cheering, whistles, and applause. Still, Dave couldn't keep from staring out the window and down the street in the direction of the Lodging House.
***
Hazel knocked softly at Becca's bedroom door, even though it was already open. Kloppman had let her in--Jack had told him of Davey's leaving, and the Lodging House owner had immediately decreed that if Becca needed extra rest that day, then she needed extra rest that day. Kloppman informed Hazel that Becca hadn't left her room yet, although he had heard water running a few hours earlier. But then, Becca's room was adjoined to a bathroom.
"Come in," said a weary voice from the bed. Hazel did so, and had the situation been lighter, she would have been amused to see that the voice came from a lump of blankets on the bed.
"It's 90 degrees out," Hazel vocalized. "I don't think suffocatin' yourself under all those blankets is such a good idea." Progressively, Becca came out from under the mountain of blankets. Hazel noted with concern how red and puffy her eyes were. 'Like she's been crying for hours.' Hazel didn't say anything, just wrapped her arms around Becca. Becca let her do so for a couple minutes, then pulled away.
"Hugs are all I've been getting since I found out." She pushed hair out of her face in repugnance. "Look at me, I'm a basket case, this is pathetic. I haven't cried this much since Mama died, and I was ten years younger then. And this is the third day in a row that tears have found an excuse to spill down my face. It's disgusting, pitiful; you guys must think I'm so overly emotional and weak."
"No, no, we don't," Hazel rubbed Becca's back. "For ten years ya held in emotion every time ya got hurt. Eventually, all that emotion is going to burst loose and come forth in a flood. The littlest thing can set it off, that's what's happening here, although some of the things that have happened ta ya recently aren't little. And it's not like you're always this way. Everyone understands. You're one of th' most cheeful people we know. You're also tough--not in a cold way or a street way, but in an enduring, independent way." Becca gave Hazel a watery smile,
"Thank you."
"No problem, that's what best friends are for, right?" When Becca heard 'best friends', her chin began to tremble involuntarily. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean ta--"
"No," Becca took a deep breath and released it. "That's okay. So…how's it going at Tibby's? I'm assuming he's told everyone by now?"
"Yeah, he did. It's not going that bad. I mean, everyone's real upset, but--"
"But no one's blubbering like me, right?"
"I didn't say that." Seeing Becca's small grin, Hazel let out a little giggle. "Oh. Yeah, we don't have any blubbering down there, at least. Now, you have to tell me, how'd you find out so fast?" Becca hesitated, then related all of the events from the night before.
"So what do I do? If he was going to be around, there'd be no question. But I don't want to get involved in something that's just going to end in pain." Hazel waited patiently for Becca to finish, then offered her advice.
"I think it depends."
"Depends?"
"Depends on how th' two of ya feel. Ya said it yourself, that you'd start something no question if Dave wasn't gonna be leaving. I know ya--you're not th' type ta just jump headfirst into a relationship. Dave ain't either. If both of you genuinely care for one another, then it won't matter if he's here or in China. Sure, you're gonna miss him terribly, but you're gonna miss him terribly whether or not ya start somethin'. If you start a relationship and it doesn't work out, it won't be because of th' distance. It wouldn't have worked out in the end, anyway. That's one of th' things about starting this sort of a relationship with a best friend--a care for one another is already there.
"If it doesn't work out, it wouldn't have worked out no matter where either of th' two of ya were. Sure, th' distance may cause it to end faster, but it would have ended eventually anyway. Whether or not that's a good or bad thing--that depends on the person and their own point of view. I'm not saying this advice works for all long-distance relationships, but it does apply in this case." Becca nodded, and Hazel was silent, allowing Becca to mull over what she had said.
***
Finally, Dave couldn't stand it anymore. The newsies were done eating and preparing to go sell the afternoon edition. Hazel didn't have to be with them, but Davey knew he needed to go see how Becca was doing. He wasn't expecting her to have made a decision, he just wanted to see her, make sure she was alright. "Hey Les," his brother ran over to him when beckoned. "You wanna sell with Jack again today?"
"Yeah!"
"Jack!" Davey called. Jack walked over to the Jacobs brothers.
"Yeah, Dave?"
"Can Les sell with you again this afternoon?"
"Shoah. Where ya goin'?"
"I want to go check on Becca." Jack was uncertain.
"Hazel's already ovah t'ere. And Becky wasn't feelin' too good t'is mornin'. I ain't shoah…" Jack trailed off when he saw Davey's pleading look. He knew it was tearing Dave apart to know that he was the source of so much pain in Becca, especially when there was little he could do about it. "Alright, go ahead."
"Thanks!" Dave clapped Jack on the back and ran out of Tibby's. In the back of the restaurant, Clover and Ebony shook their heads and exchanged knowing glances.
***
At last, Becca sighed. "Thanks."
"Ya know what you're going to do?"
"I want to make sure of something first, and then I will." Hazel started to get up.
"Is there anythin' else I can do?" she asked. At that same moment, a panting Dave appeared in the doorway. Becca flashed him a tiny smile, and turned back to Hazel.
"No, thank you."
"Alright." Hazel gave Becca a final hug, and left. Dave came over and sat down next to Becca.
"Hey."
"Hey."
"How are you holding up?"
"Okay. What about you? Gosh, I'm so sorry, I never stopped to think how bad this must be hurting you."
"It's fine," Dave assured her. "I'm okay too. A lot better now that I know you're okay." Becca nudged Dave in a friendly way,
"You're so sweet." Dave blushed.
"Thanks." Things were quiet for awhile as they both didn't want to say something and make the other uncomfortable. All of a sudden, Becca turned to the curly-haired newsie sitting beside her.
"David?" Dave looked at her.
"Yes?" Becca gazed into his eyes, and found what she was searching for. Dave couldn't help but gaze back. Becca took Dave's hand and placed it on her cheek, the same way it had been the night before. Gradually, Dave leaned over and kissed Becca gently. Without hesitation, she returned the kiss. Before long, they broke apart and leaned their foreheads against one another's so that their noses were touching. In that moment, Dave found all the answer he'd ever need.
In case you're wondering what happens next: they're gonna behave themselves and have this big long discussion on Dave's leaving, what they're going to do till then, how this is going to affect their relationship, that sort of thing. Since I've already had a couple big, long discussions between Dave and Becca in this fic, I'm going to skip that part and just tell you that it takes place, because I think that in a relationship such as Becca and Davey's (actually, in mostly all relationships), in this sort of situation, there is a lot of discussing that needs to go on but I'm not going to make you sit here and read it 'cause I know it gets redundant.