-Opps. I named the first two chapters the same. The first chapter was supposed to be named something like 'Cockley.' That was that stupid word I made up.
-It is 11:30 pm so please don't get mad if I mess up.
-Disclaimer- I don't own. The four girls are mine.
"Ahhh!" I yelled as I fell out of my bed.
"Ahhh!" Amber yelled as I fell on her (we sleep in the bunk beds remember?)
"Oh, God! Sorry Amber." I apologized. We were both now on the floor. It was the morning. Early in the morning. Missy was in the shower and Jerrie was out paying the rent to Mrs. Kirchoff. It was the perfect time to tell her how I felt. I stopped. I couldn't hurt my best friend like this.
"No, no it is alright. I uh, needed to wake up anyway." She said getting up. She helped me up. We both laughed. Now! Now I will tell her.
"Amber," I began "um, how was last night?" I lost my nerve. I can't say this to my best friend.
"It was great! Spot was great! Jack was great! I am in a wonderful place right now."
"You know you are just going to turn into one of Spot's many girlfriends." I said but quickly regretted it.
"Well I guess, and I always have Jack to turn to." She sounded hurt. She started to make her bed as I picked out the days clothes. I didn't want to take a shower sense all we had was cold water and I was getting a cold. Jerrie came back.
"We'se officially poor again." She said always having to make a big entrance.
"Achoo!" I yelled.
"Gwen maybe you should go to the doctor." Missy suggested stepping out of the shower.
"Oh yeah, and use what name with what money." I snapped back referring to my to my 'run from the law' if you will. Jerrie and I were caught stealing. She can run faster than I and she got away. I was in the refuge for a while but persuaded the warden to let me go. Hey! I am not proud of the way I did it. But I got out. Back to the present we were already walking over to the D.O. We were dressed for winter.
"I think it could snow today." Missy exclaimed looking at the clouds. I hope it does. Snow is so romantic. I never noticed what a long walk it was from our apartment to the office. Maybe it was cause nobody was talking .
"So everybody have fun last night?" I asked striking up a conversation.
"Oh, I had a blast! Mush and I walked and talked all night. You looked board. I mean you don't have a guy." Ohh! She did it again. I wanted to trip her and see her pretty face on the ground. No! No I didn't mean that. What is wrong with me?
"Yes I did Jerrie." I said between clenched teeth. "And I could get any guy I want he is just taken." Everybody stopped talking. Opps! People tried to walk by so we ducked by the wall.
"What do you mean?" Missy asked. "Is it Race?"
"Mush?"
"It isn't Jack is it?"
"Never mind. Pretend I didn't say anything." I said rolling my eyes.
"Don't you roll your eyes at me Gwen." Missy shook her finger at me.
"Ow, now you are sounding like Amber's parents." I said rolling them again "Guys this shouldn't be a big deal. I mean how name you are thinking of something serious anyway?" I stumped everybody. I began to whisper as I saw some people I new across the street. "I mean Amber is cheating on Jack, Missy do you even know Race's last name?"
"Uh, Smith?" She stuttered.
"Of course you don't know you spend all of the time playing cops and robbers under the covers instead of talking."
"It is Higgens." Amber quietly said.
"Yeah and Jerrie you have not had a boyfriend more that 2 months. You know you are afraid of commitment. So my point is, who cares if I have a microscopic harmless crush on a guy. It will pass." I said going back to walking. I should be a lawyer. "Achoo." They followed me. Dammit. Now they are going to watch every move I make and see how I react with the guys.
We finally got there. We were first and there was no line so I got there first.
"50 papes my good man."He still glared at me in a weird way before giving me my papers. After a moment he gave them to me. The guys came up as we sat down and cheched out the days headlines.
"Hey Jeffery," Jack yelled "We got's a new kid today. And she is gonna take your spot today okay?" A girl!? We all looked stunned. We stood at once. What the hell is this?
"Uh, Cowboy. I- we thought goils aint allowed to sell here." I stammered.
"Oh, They aint. But Ashley's just got us all star struck. Aw! Speak of the angle!" He yelled as we saw this beautiful tall, tanned, brown haired girl waltz in as she hugged almost all of the guys in there.
"Why I don't believe I have met you boys before." She said in a sweet tone. I could tell she was going to be a bitch.
"I am Jeffery. This is Brett, Andy, and Steven." I said coldly.
"Well it is nice to meet you gentleman. I am Ashley Farnsworth."
"Farnsworth. Sounds like a rich bitch name." Jerrie said looking up and down her. Her and her stupid little white skirt. We could have been the girls here.
"Well, um, it is my farther's name. You might know him. Greg Farnsworth. The accountant on wall street. He runs the firm. I am just doing this for fun. You guys obvisolly are not. I could be riding my horses." She said as she got in line for her papers. But the guys let her cut.
"Oh, here miss. You can have them for free." She got 50 free papers! I could if I wanted to. But we thought we wouldn't be allowed to sell.
"You know on second thought, you can sell with her Jeffery and when I get done I'll come help." Jack mentioned.
"Uh," Amber spoke up for me. "Jeffery ain't exactly the best person to have her learn from."
"You wan't her to sell with you then?" Jack asked.
"No, I, I think Slacker can do it." She said turning away.
"Ugg! Whatever. Let's go." I groaned grabbing her arm. At least the girls are not trying to figure out who I like anymore. "Come on Cowboy!" I yelled from around the corner.
~~~~~*~~~~~
"Boy you ain't the nicest person in the world are you?" She asked sitting down on a bench.
"No I am not." Not to tramps anyway. I said lighting up a cigaret, a nasty habit I picked up from the guys.
"So how do you do it?"
"Do what?" I asked coldly.
"Uh, sell newspapers simpleton." She said giving me a nasty look. I smiled at her. I wonder if Jack likes her.
"You read the headlines. People bye them. You thank them." I said. "Watch." I picked up a paper and held it in the air. "Huge lay offs at Baldacci factory!" Three people bought papers. She tried it.
"Mother gives birth to 2 pigs!" Five people bought papers. All saying how nice it is having a girl sell. Maybe I am just jealous. We could be great friends. My current best friend is sleeping the guy I am in love with.
"Here I'll tell you a newsies secret. You bend-" She stopped me right in the middle of my sentence.
"You know Jeffery, I don't think I need your help." Bitch! Ok I'll try to be nice again.
"So, how have you been doing?" I asked in a semi sweet voice.
"Great. I mean it is winter break is here and I don't have school in a couple weeks. I get all A's. You don't look like you go to school Jeffery."
"Well as a mater of factly I don't. I havn't sense I was 9. Thanks for asking."
"I didn't ask." Ok! Enough with pretending to be nice. This girl is gonna piss me off. She isn't even that pretty. "You know smoking makes you smell."
"Good for it." I said leaning against a wall. She threw it out of my mouth and on to the ground.
"You know if you never opened your mouth, were smarter, and had a good attitude, I might consider dating you." That is so grose! She is gay! Well she dosn't know that. I want so bad to pull off my hat and jokingly say 'kiss me toots!' Oh well I have learned to fight my urges. Most of them. Here comes Jack. He must be done selling.
"Hey boys. Oh sorry, and lady." He said kissing her hand.
"Hey Cowboy, don't you have a goil friend?" Ha! She was finally speechless.
"Hey Jeffery. You know about searching through the cards right?"
"Uh, yeah. Let's go." I said, and it began to sprinkle rain.
"Go where?" Ashley asked taking Jack's hand as we walked.
"Tibby's. We go there for lunch every day." Did I sound this stupid when I was new?
~~~~~*~~~~~~
We were at Tibby's. Me and the girls were at our table. Ashley was at the big table with almost all of the guys.
"I am prettier then that." Missy said taking a sip of her soda.
"We all are." I said. Okay, maybe I wasn't but you know the feeling. Ugg! Could my life get any worse?
"Hey remember this morning?" Race asked leaning on the edge of out table. (We still have the same order of me on the end Jerrie on the left and Missy and Amber on the right)
"Uh, yeah Race it was just this morning." I said think how stupid guys are. And buy the girls looks they thought it too.
"About what you said to Ashley. You sounded, well you ain't," He whispered even more quite at this point, "gay are you?"
"No!" I shouted causing everybody to look at me. After a moment they talked again.
"Anyway I told him to give me back my purse and he did." Ashley finished her story. They laughed.
"I didn't mean anything, I just- you know." He finished.
"Just," I thought quickly "Lay off me, a goil just broke up wit me and I on my was to beet up her new boyfriend. But I stopped for a hot dog. I lost track of time. I had a bad morning. And the goil I usually bang in da morning wasn't there." He left apparently accepting my remark.
"A little to cockly." Jerrie joked. We all laughed. It was a nice reminder of the first day a fem months ago. When my only problem was when my shoes were to small.
"I'll be right back." I am not sure what I am about to do is smart but, I excused myself from the table and walked over to Jack. "Jack can I see's ya for a moment?" He agreed and we met each other in the front of the joint.
"Hu, it stopped raining." He said looking at the sky.
"Jack can, uh, can you take Ashley for the afternoon? Achoo! I have uh, stuff to do."
"Sure!" he said smiling.
"And no funny stuff!" I pointed at him warningly.
"Hey us guys gotta look out for one another. I ain't gonna muss wit your goil!"
"What! No, no! She ain't my goil!" This is just weird! I am a girl! I am a girl Jack and I love you! Let's run away together! I have said it over and over in my mind I just want to say it out loud. I sighed. "Jack I have something to tell you."
"Yeah what is it.?" He said lighting up a cigaret. He offered me one and I accepted.
"You promise you won't be mad?" I asked. I looked at him deeply for a moment. He laughed at me.
"Ever sense I have known you Slacker you ain't never had anything to say that was that important."
"Yeah well this is." I snapped a little angry for him not taking me for real. "Maybe I have not had anything important to say cause I ain't been completely honest wit you." He glared at me. Oh my God! I was going to tell him. Well I was going to tell him if right then all of the guys rushed out of the door including Ashley.
"Wait up Ashley I am selling wit you now." Jack said not taking his eyes off me.
"Come on silly. We sill miss the selling time." She said grabbing his arm and pulling him out of sight. I was close. So close. And I lost it again.
"Wait Jeffery," He yelled before he was entirely gone. "Meet me in front of the LH at 6:00 tonight!" And he was gone. I went inside, picked up my papers off the empty chair and started down the awful lonely unfair road to my old selling spot.
~~~~~*~~~~
"Extra extra mother died when giving birth to triplets." I sighed slouching on the park bench. "Somebody please buy a paper?" I asked. "Please! The guy I am in love with is with my best friend." An old lady stopped by.
"I am sorry to hear that little girl." She said looking sorry for me.
"That isn't the worst of it," I began "I have to pretend to be a boy to work with them. It was my idea to see them as girls and," I said the whole story. And by the time I finished at least 10 people were there. "So I was going to tell him when Ashley took him away to sell wit her. And now I am meeting with him in a half hour. I don't know if I should tell him the truth."
"I think you should." The same old lady said to me.
"Well if she does that," A father who came in at the part when I was talking about the word 'cockly' contradicted her "She might be shunned out of his life."
They got in a huge argument. Other people joined. At least I got about 2 bucks sympathy money.
"Hey hey hey!" I yelled stopping the yelling! "Stop! I have to go!" I finally got up from the bench and ran to an ally.
I looked up. 5:55. I got up. I walked toward the LH. I got there and say Jack facing the other way. Great! Everybody else was there to . Just talking and stuff.
"Where is Ashley?" I asked. I hope it wasn't to clear I had been crying.
"She left." He said.
"Jack Kelly," I said stalling. I wanted something to happen, anything to happen. A fire, a flood, an earthquake anything. "I uh, I have been holding this in for a while."
"What is it Jeffery, it looks like it could rain?" I shivered and looked at the cloud covered sky.
"Do you know how it feels to keep secrets?" I asked not wanting to look him in the face.
"No." He said it to quickly.
"Everybody has secrets."
"Not me." He said "Listen is there a point to all this?" He asked looking away.
"Yes there is. I am getting to it." Nobody else was listening. There were busy with there own shit.
"Den get to it would ya? I got a date wit Ashley in an hour."
"I thought you was going out wit Amber?"
"I was, You gotta search through the cards. I've already told ya that." Amber looked up. She was about to run away but Jerrie and Missy kept her there. They finally got the just of what I was going. Amber nodded but Jerrie and Missy shook their heads. That was the last straw. I know Amber has kind of hurt him. He can hurt me but not my friend.
"Jack," One bye one everybody faced us. One by one snowflakes started to fall. A big circle was around us. It was cold. "Jack you don't know, as a matter of fact I don't think you can even comprehend how much pain you have caused me. You have made my life complicated and I think I am about to make your'se a lot more complicated too. You can hurt me all you like but when you start doing it to my friends," I started to cry "I can't take you anymore. Sometimes I want you to drop dead. But I look into your eyes and I just want to melt into your arms and hold you forever." Just then the wind picked up and I watched my hat fall to the ground letting my hair fall over my neck. I looked up into his eyes. His cute confused eyes. The circle widened around us leaving Amber, Missy, Jerrie in it to. They one by one took off their hats. "I am so sorry Amber."
"You," Jack said coldly at me. I searched his face for emotion but all I could find was pain and betrayal.
"Jack Let me explain," I pleaded.
"You have said enough." He said. The only thing colder than the snow was his face. He hit me. A girl. I fell to the ground. I didn't want to get up. I just let the cold show engulf me. I want to die.