Chapter 18
I woke up the next morning with a huge smile on my face. Things were going to be okay after all. After having Jack's plan explained to me, all the strange events made sense. And I had a date to Medda's, although I had explained to him that I would be late because I was helping backstage for the concert. I told him I would meet him there. Us five girls pretended to sleep late in order to fool the guys. It wasn't hard because we had all had big days the day before. Nothing makes you more tired than almost being killed. We ended up at Medda's around 10 in the morning.
Ellyn had our costumes ready. She had offered to do our ballgowns and we had taken her up on the offer, but she wasn't quite finished with those. She laid out our costumes on the table. She first pointed to a red two piece outfit, it was a halter top that comes to a point at ones belly button with a pair of matching shorts, and matching mid-calf boots. It came with a pair of gloves with the fingers cut out. "This one is for Sniffles." OOHs and AHHs all around.
The next was a pale yellow fitted dress where the straps would hang just off the shoulders with a belt made of rings sitting low on the hips, with strappy sandals and regular kid gloves. "This one is for Lily. And this one is for Curly." It was a lavender empire waist top with spaghetti straps that criss-crossed in the back over matching capris and matching gloves that started up at her elbows ended in a v-shape at her hand and a pair of clunky, but cute matching sandals.
Ellyn gestured to the next outfit in line. "Melanie's" was all she said. It was a royal blue top with a faux corset front with thin straps and a matching short skirt with slits up the sides (You could see shorts underneath for modesty purposes, you know being the early 19th century and all) and matching knee high clunky boots that lace up on the sides. Added in were some spectacular long royal blue gloves that ended above the elbows.
My outfit was last on the table and totally in black. "You're gonna be hot on stage with that color, so the material is fairly lightweight, the lightest I could find."
"I know and thank you," I replied extremely happy with what I saw lying there. I had a long skirt with slits up to my thighs so I could move in and dance in it. My top was a modified muscle shirt dyed black and the straps made thinner than normal. I had a pair of Medda's old dance shoes, also dyed and polished for me to wear over fishnet stockings.
"Alright," said Ellyn, "You'd better be happy with them because I worked hard on them and that's what you're wearing, ok?" there was a chorus of "thank you Ellyn!!!"s from everyone. "Well I think you guys should practice a few times in your costumes. Oh and by the way, there are matching chokers for each of you too."
"Is there a place where we can put these on?" Melanie asked.
"Yes, follow me," Ellyn responded.
We followed Ellyn to the dressing rooms and put on our outfits. They all seemed to fit nicely. We went back out to the stage and practiced in them for a bit.
While Mel was going over a few steps with Amanda, and the rest of us were taking a break, there was a knock at the backstage door. Ellyn answered it. "Hello, may I help you?"
It was Jack. "Bumlets mentioned that Curly and the girls were helping Medda today; I was wondering if she was here."
"Yes she is," Ellyn responded.
"Could I talk to her for a moment?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because you're a dork," and with that she shut the door in his face. Ellyn had been informed of his sutpidity and could call him that. Just then Medda walked by wondering, "Was that Jack? What was he doing here?"
"No no no no, it was definitely a dork," Ellyn answered.
Medda gave her a puzzled look, started to say something, and walked away.
At this point it was time for lunch, so we joined up with all of the newsies at Tibby's. They were all excitedly chatting about the party for that evening. We just smiled and played along with their excitement.
Lily looked around desperately for Dave, but to no avail. "Jack, where's Dave? He said he'd be back today."
"His train doesn't arrive until two, but don't worry, he'll be there at the party. I'll make sure of it," Jack responded with a wink.
That made Lily feel better and she returned to her meal.
Jack, then, got up from his seat and walked over to Amanda. "Could I talk to you for a second?" Then he added, "in private," gesturing us to go away. We reluctantly obeyed. I made sure I sat in earshot of their conversation and that Mel was as far away as possible. I had a feeling Jack was going to explain everything to Amanda, plan and all. That is exactly what he did. When he finished, he looked at Amanda expectantly for a response.
She hesitated at first and took a deep breath. "I forgive you and I just hope you can forgive me for the way I've been acting."
"On one condition."
"What's that?" Amanda looked at him suspiciously.
"That you be my girl and my date to the party at Medda's tonight."
"I'd love to!" she responded. "But," Jack's face fell, "I'll have to meet you there because I have to help backstage."
Jack just smiled and leaned in to kiss Amanda, and she received it gladly. Hoots and hollers came from all around.
After lunch, it was time for us to get ready. Melanie's hair all done up in curlers was a pretty funny sight and Amanda straightening her hair AGAIN was too much. Lily was twisting her hair around into all sorts of things trying to figure out what to do with it. Sniffles was sitting in front of the mirror with Mel standing behind her making the ends of her short hair curl under. I wasn't sure yet what I wanted to do with my hair, but worst of all the room reeked of hairspray.
Medda came in later to help us with our makeup so we wouldn't look washed out on stage.
"I feel like a clown!" Amanda complained making faces at herself in the mirror. We just laughed.
I woke up the next morning with a huge smile on my face. Things were going to be okay after all. After having Jack's plan explained to me, all the strange events made sense. And I had a date to Medda's, although I had explained to him that I would be late because I was helping backstage for the concert. I told him I would meet him there. Us five girls pretended to sleep late in order to fool the guys. It wasn't hard because we had all had big days the day before. Nothing makes you more tired than almost being killed. We ended up at Medda's around 10 in the morning.
Ellyn had our costumes ready. She had offered to do our ballgowns and we had taken her up on the offer, but she wasn't quite finished with those. She laid out our costumes on the table. She first pointed to a red two piece outfit, it was a halter top that comes to a point at ones belly button with a pair of matching shorts, and matching mid-calf boots. It came with a pair of gloves with the fingers cut out. "This one is for Sniffles." OOHs and AHHs all around.
The next was a pale yellow fitted dress where the straps would hang just off the shoulders with a belt made of rings sitting low on the hips, with strappy sandals and regular kid gloves. "This one is for Lily. And this one is for Curly." It was a lavender empire waist top with spaghetti straps that criss-crossed in the back over matching capris and matching gloves that started up at her elbows ended in a v-shape at her hand and a pair of clunky, but cute matching sandals.
Ellyn gestured to the next outfit in line. "Melanie's" was all she said. It was a royal blue top with a faux corset front with thin straps and a matching short skirt with slits up the sides (You could see shorts underneath for modesty purposes, you know being the early 19th century and all) and matching knee high clunky boots that lace up on the sides. Added in were some spectacular long royal blue gloves that ended above the elbows.
My outfit was last on the table and totally in black. "You're gonna be hot on stage with that color, so the material is fairly lightweight, the lightest I could find."
"I know and thank you," I replied extremely happy with what I saw lying there. I had a long skirt with slits up to my thighs so I could move in and dance in it. My top was a modified muscle shirt dyed black and the straps made thinner than normal. I had a pair of Medda's old dance shoes, also dyed and polished for me to wear over fishnet stockings.
"Alright," said Ellyn, "You'd better be happy with them because I worked hard on them and that's what you're wearing, ok?" there was a chorus of "thank you Ellyn!!!"s from everyone. "Well I think you guys should practice a few times in your costumes. Oh and by the way, there are matching chokers for each of you too."
"Is there a place where we can put these on?" Melanie asked.
"Yes, follow me," Ellyn responded.
We followed Ellyn to the dressing rooms and put on our outfits. They all seemed to fit nicely. We went back out to the stage and practiced in them for a bit.
While Mel was going over a few steps with Amanda, and the rest of us were taking a break, there was a knock at the backstage door. Ellyn answered it. "Hello, may I help you?"
It was Jack. "Bumlets mentioned that Curly and the girls were helping Medda today; I was wondering if she was here."
"Yes she is," Ellyn responded.
"Could I talk to her for a moment?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because you're a dork," and with that she shut the door in his face. Ellyn had been informed of his sutpidity and could call him that. Just then Medda walked by wondering, "Was that Jack? What was he doing here?"
"No no no no, it was definitely a dork," Ellyn answered.
Medda gave her a puzzled look, started to say something, and walked away.
At this point it was time for lunch, so we joined up with all of the newsies at Tibby's. They were all excitedly chatting about the party for that evening. We just smiled and played along with their excitement.
Lily looked around desperately for Dave, but to no avail. "Jack, where's Dave? He said he'd be back today."
"His train doesn't arrive until two, but don't worry, he'll be there at the party. I'll make sure of it," Jack responded with a wink.
That made Lily feel better and she returned to her meal.
Jack, then, got up from his seat and walked over to Amanda. "Could I talk to you for a second?" Then he added, "in private," gesturing us to go away. We reluctantly obeyed. I made sure I sat in earshot of their conversation and that Mel was as far away as possible. I had a feeling Jack was going to explain everything to Amanda, plan and all. That is exactly what he did. When he finished, he looked at Amanda expectantly for a response.
She hesitated at first and took a deep breath. "I forgive you and I just hope you can forgive me for the way I've been acting."
"On one condition."
"What's that?" Amanda looked at him suspiciously.
"That you be my girl and my date to the party at Medda's tonight."
"I'd love to!" she responded. "But," Jack's face fell, "I'll have to meet you there because I have to help backstage."
Jack just smiled and leaned in to kiss Amanda, and she received it gladly. Hoots and hollers came from all around.
After lunch, it was time for us to get ready. Melanie's hair all done up in curlers was a pretty funny sight and Amanda straightening her hair AGAIN was too much. Lily was twisting her hair around into all sorts of things trying to figure out what to do with it. Sniffles was sitting in front of the mirror with Mel standing behind her making the ends of her short hair curl under. I wasn't sure yet what I wanted to do with my hair, but worst of all the room reeked of hairspray.
Medda came in later to help us with our makeup so we wouldn't look washed out on stage.
"I feel like a clown!" Amanda complained making faces at herself in the mirror. We just laughed.