I really have no idea what I'm doing for this chapter. I, in fact, was going to start on a different story all together but for some reason I just started typing this one so we'll see how it turns out now won't we. It's so weird to be writing again after a week of school work. Plus my fingers are killing me because I just started practising guitar again after a month and a half. Anyway, I hope this turns out ok.

Fresh Picked Georgia Peach by Randomness

Stacey was walking around on her first day in New York. She knew deep down that she should find somewhere to stay for the night but she just couldn't help walking around and exploring. She was having a great time in Central Park. "Wow, it's so beautiful here. Of course, Georgia is better." she muttered to herself.
"That's kinda a matter of opinion" came a voice from behind her.
She turned around to see a boy, little older then her. He had a pile of papers under one arm and a crutch under the other. "Who might you be?" she asked politely.
"The name's Crutchy. I'm a newsie. Wanna buy a pape?" he asked
"How much is it?" she asked, digging through her pockets for money.
"Penny a pape, miss." he said, pulling a paper out for her.
Stacey paid him and looked around the park. "It's beautiful here." she said quietly.
"My favourite spot in all of Manhattan." Crutchy added to her statement.
"Maybe you could help me..." she said, turning back to look at him
"Always willing to help a lady." he said kindly
"I need to find a place called the um....." she dug through her stuff and found the 'secrets' box. She pulled out the letter and found the place she was looking for. "The house of refuge."
Crutchy's jaw dropped. "Why do yah wanna go there?" He asked in surprise.
"I need to see someone about something and I was told that they could be found there." she said, folding the letter and replacing it in the box.
"A lot of people can be found there. That's where they send kids who have a bit of a record with the law." Crutchy answered almost shuddering.
"I take it that you've been there?" she asked quietly.
"Too many times for my lifetime." he answered.
"Well, maybe you could help me with something else." she said. "I'm new here-"
"That was a little obvious" he cut off with a sweet smile.
Stacey smiled and continued. "I need somewhere to stay and I was wondering if you could maybe suggest somewhere? I have a bit of money to pay for it...." she said while clutching her box.
"I might know a place, but I have to check with my friend Jack first, Secrets."
"Secrets?" she asked, confused.
"You ain't told me your name, so I just called you by what was on the box." Crutchy explained. "Everyone where I come from has a nickname, mine's Crutchy....for obvious reasons."
"I think Secrets is a lovely name." Stacey said quickly. "When can we see your friend?"
"I need to sell my last 20 papes and then we can go."
"Why don't you give me half and I'll sell a little further away, you'd be done quicker that way."
"Alright" He said passing her half his papes.
Stacey walked to a different path and quickly glanced through the Paper. Finding a good Headline, she started yelling. "Explicit photo of Mayor in the arms of a Minor"
In less then five minutes all her papers were sold and she walked back to crutchy giving him 10 cents.
"I'm done."
"Explicit of the Mayor in the arms of a Minor?" Crutchy asked looking through the paper.
"He's dancing with his daughter at a dinner party." Stacey said with a shrug.
"Wow, you're good at this. Very good for a beginner."
"I know someone who tended to twist facts to make it more interesting. We were close so I learned it from her." she answered. "You done too?"
"Yeah, I'm done. Let's go to see if we can track down Cowboy."
They took literally until nightfall to find Jack, they checked Tibby's, asked at Medda's and even checked with the Brooklyn spies. They finally just went to the lodging house and Stacey checked in without Jack's permission.
"Alright, miss.....Secrets." Kloppman said. "The first night is free and after that it's a penny a night."
"Thank you, Mister Kloppman. I was so worried that I wouldn't find a place to stay." Stacey said excitedly.
"That's alright Secrets. It's what I'm here for. You do understand that currently we only have one bunk room so you'll be in a room with about 30 boys." he asked carefully, he didn't want her to be surprised when she got up there.
"Crutchy explained that to me, and there's no need to worry because I won't be here too long, just until I find my family, I'm sure everything will be great." Stacey was actually bubbly. It was amazing, she hadn't been bubbly since her mother died.
"As long as your sure. Also, there is an early wake up call because the boys have to get to the distribution office at 6."
"Ok, I'll wake up then too. Thank you very much Mr. Kloppman." Stacey answered smiling.
Kloppman picked up one of her bags. "Crutchy, let's show our new charge to her bed." he said, heading upstairs.
The other two followed; one with excitement and a bounce in her step, the other with slight nervousness that he couldn't expel.

Stacey couldn't believe how easy it had been to find a place to stay. Every free moment on the train ride up she had envisioned her first night in New York to involve sleeping in a cardboard box in an alley somewhere, but here she was, heading towards a nice warm bed. She completely lucked out.
Kloppman paused in front of the door and said. "Wait out here a second, I'll introduce you." Kloppman walked in and shouted something. Some words were exchanged and he gestured for her to enter.
She stepped in the door and all stopped.

Kloppman knew this was the first girl to be brought into the Lodging house with this particular group of boys. He was already making plans to fix up the girls bunk room though. He left her in the hallway and walked in. "Boys! I got somethin' ta say!!" He yelled.
Everyone groaned and looked at him. "Can you hurry up, I got a game to finish!" Racetrack complained.
Kloppman looked around and made sure he had everyone's complete attention. "Alright, there is a newbie that's going to be staying a few days, maybe longer. I want you all to be courteous and nice."
Kid Blink looked surprised. "Jack didn't say anything about anyone new arriving."
"That's because Jack doesn't know yet, Crutchy couldn't find him to ask him about it."
Everyone raised an eyebrow at him. Jack was not going to like this. However, he would like them to make the new kid feel as welcome as possible.
"Alright Kloppman, bring him in. We'll be extra courteous" Racetrack said sarcastically.
Kloppman took a deep breath then gestured for the new kid to enter. Then this girl walked in.
Everything dropped. Racetrack even dropped his cards, showing everyone his flush.
Kloppman would have laughed at the expressions on everyone's faces had this not been such an iffy issue. He had to admire Secrets courage because while everyone was staring at her, she held her head high and smiled even if it was a nervous smile.
"...hi" she said, giving a little wave.
You could have honestly heard a pin drop in that room. As everyone stood paralysed at this oddity that shouldn't have been in their bunk room, at this.....girl.
Crutchy hobbled in and led her over to his bunk. "The top bunk is free right now but you can have the bottom if you want."
Stacey smiled and said. "The top is perfect, I always wanted to sleep on the top bunk of bunk beds."
Crutchy threw her bag on the top bunk smiling too.
"Boys, this is Secrets. She just got to New York and she needed a place to stay, remember, be nice." Kloppman warned as he brought over her other bag and then with a reassuring pat on Secrets' shoulder, he left the room.

It was way past lights out when Jack finally came home. He had been over at the Jacobs' home with Sarah, David and Les considering their parents weren't home. He completely lost track of time and so now he was sneaking in hoping that Mr. Kloppman didn't catch him. He made it up to the bunk room pretty easily, until he remembered that his bed was covered in stuff. He was planning on tidying up right before bed. He couldn't do it now though, not with everyone asleep.
"Oh well, I'll just use the spare bunk tonight and clean up tomorrow." He muttered to himself as he walked over to the top bunk of Crutchy's bed. He jumped up and suddenly a blood curdling scream filled the air and Jack fell off of the bed.
Within moments everyone was out of bed and Kloppman was in the bunk room flicking on the light. "Well Jack, it was nice of you to join us eventually." Kloppman said as he gave Jack a hand getting up. "I see you've met our new boarder, Secrets"
"But she's a girl!" Jack exclaimed, brushing the dust off of him.
"Jack, we allow girls in the Lodging house. We've always allowed girls in the Lodging house." Kloppman started saying. "A while back, the leader of the Manhattan Newsies was a girl named Peach. Had hair kinda like secrets over there. As you can see, there is no reason for secrets not to stay."
"No one asked me." Jack stated, stubbornly.
"I couldn't find yah Jack, I looked everywhere. Medda's, Tibby's, Brooklyn. I couldn't find you and it was getting late so I just brought her here." Crutchy said while standing in front of Stacey as if to protect her.
"This is ridiculous. We'll be the laughing stalk of New York if we have a girl Newsie." Jack exclaimed.
"I'm not a Newsie. I'm just staying here until I can find my family." Stacey piped up at that point.
"If she ain't a Newsie, she can't stay." Jack commanded at that point.
Kloppman stared at Jack for a moment. "Jack, may I speak to you in the hallway?" He asked politely though he looked ready to blow up. He walked out of the room pulling Jack along before Jack could answer and slammed the door.
"What was that For?!" Jack yelled.
Kloppman took a breath to calm himself. "Jack, I rarely ever interfere with your leadership simply because you're a good leader. However, in this case, A. You are wrong and B You have no authority over who I let into the lodging house. Secrets signed in, and agreed to follow the rules so she gets to stay. We're all tired so let's go to bed and maybe in the morning after you've thought this through you'll realize that if your girlfriend was thrown out of her house you'd want her to stay here and you'd never bring up this many objections."
"She's Dave's sister, that makes her a semi-newsie." Jack said sulkingly.
"If she wasn't would you make her sleep on the streets?"
Jack said nothing.
"See. Secrets deserves the same rights as you would give Sarah. Treat her like you would a sister and the time she spends here will be calm and non confrontational. Alright Jack?"
"Yes Mister Kloppman." Jack turned to go back into the room but then paused. "Kloppman, thanks for not yelling at me in front of the boys."
"No problem Jack. Like I said, you're a good leader and I would never do anything to damage your authority. Now go to bed." Kloppman said kindly, then he got a stern look on his face. "And next time clean off your bed in the morning instead of waiting til two AM."
Jack smiled and went in to the bunk room to get some sleep.

"Is your Nickname Jack?" Stacey asked out of the blue as she walked with Jack to the Jacobs the next morning. It was decided that Stacey and Sarah could do something together until the boys were done selling. Jack was then nominated to walk her there while Crutchy got Jack's papers for him.
"Uh..." Jack said, dumbfounded, he didn't know how to answer. This was so different from the barrage of 'Are we there yet?' that he had gotten the whole trip so far.
"It's a simple question. Was Jack the name you were born with or a nick name?" Stacey asked again.
"Uh...I was born under a different name but Jack Kelly isn't exactly my nickname. Cowboy is my nickname." Jack said dumbly. She had completely caught him off guard.
"So no one knows your real name?" She asked with a curious smile.
"Not really" Jack answering. "You know, you have a pretty smile."
"Are you trying to change the subject?" Stacey asked, grinning now.
Jack shrugged and answered "Yes"
"Well it's not going to work." Stacey stated. "So if I wanted I could say my name was something even if it wasn't?"
"Yeah, but it's not often that people do that. We have nicknames. I just wanted to be known under a different name because someone is looking for me still to this day and I'd rather not be caught by him again."
"I think I'll go by Georgia Peach until I decide to reveal my real name." Stacey said triumphantly.
"Why Georgia Peach?" Jack asked confused.
"I found all these love letters when I was younger from my dad to my mom and he always called her peach in them, or something to that extent and since I'm from Georgia that seemed like a great first name in my opinion."
"It works for you Secrets, or should I call you Georgia now?" Jack said in an amused tone.
"Call me whatever you like but never call me late for dinner." She answered. "Are we there yet?" She asked for the 20th time
Jack sighed in exasperation then yelled. "Yes, we are finally here. Are you content now? Does this fill some kind of empty void inside the depth of your soul!?"
"Yes, actually" Stacey answered while climbing the fire escape.
Jack groaned in frustration and then followed her up.

"David, Jack will be here any minute. How do I look?" Sarah asked in a rush.
David paused for a moment then looked at her, sizing her up so to speak. He looked in her eye and said, with a complete straight face. "Do you want the honest answer or the humour you answer?"
"You're no help at all!" Sarah screamed at him before running back in her room to redo her hair.
"Sarah, what does it matter, it's not like you guys are going out, he's just coming over to pick up Les and me" David called through her door.
"I know, but I still want to look nice." She yelled back.
"If it means that much to you, you looked nice, you looked very nice. You looked nicer than any girl in all of New York!" He yelled back with a little more than a hint of sarcasm before going to find Les.
Just then, Jack knocked on the window.
David walked over and let Jack in. He was more then mildly surprised when a girl followed Jack into the apartment. "Who might this be?" He asked cautiously.
"This is Georgia Peach, aka Secrets." Jack said off-handedly as he looked around the apartment. "Is Sarah around?"
David tried to hold back a grin. "She'll be out in a second. She's still doing what she's been doing for the last two hours. Making herself look like she hasn't been getting ready to see you." He finished that sentences just in time to be hit in the head by a pillow that came from the direction of Sarah's room.
Sarah walked out as calm as a cat. "Good Morning Jack" She said smiling. She walked up and gave him a light kiss.
"Hi Sarah, how are you this morning?" He asked holding her close, stroking her arms.
Sarah blushed a bit. "I'm fine, thanks for asking."
Just then they heard Stacey making gagging noises. They both looked over at her confused.
"Jeez, can you two be any less disgustingly sweet? I think I'm getting a cavity" She grumbled.
Sarah backed away from Jack and waited to be introduced to this girl.
"This is Georgia Peach, she goes by the nickname Secrets. I was wondering, since you said you didn't have anything to do today, if maybe you could spend some time with her well me and the guys are selling. Keep her out of trouble so to speak." Jack said, keeping his eyes glued to his shoes.
"Alright, why is she with you though?" Sarah asked looking at the girl again.
"Kloppman decided to let her stay at the Lodging house for the time being until she can find her family."
Sarah walked over to Stacey and held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you"
Stacey grinned and took her hand. "You too"
"Jack, I found Les, now we have to go" David said, almost pulling Les behind him.
"Alright, bye Sarah" He said giving her a hug. He turned to Stacey. "Don't get into trouble." was all he said before disappearing out the fire escape.
"Have you had breakfast yet?" Sarah asked. "I'm Sarah Jacobs, by the way."
"Nope, haven't eaten yet, and I kinda assumed you were Sarah, the Jacobs thing is new though." Stacey answered.
"We're just going to have to get some breakfast into you then, won't we?" Sarah said heading for the kitchen.
"That would be great." Stacey answered, following.
Sarah put some of the porridge she made for David and Les into a bowl and gave it to Stacey, who started to devour it. "So tell me about yourself" Sarah said, trying to start a conversation.
Between mouthfuls Stacey answered. "I'm from Georgia......My mother died......My only Family is in New York......I have to get to the House of Refuge."
Sarah blinked at the last statement. "Why would you want to go there?"
"That's where my Grand-Father is. I need to go there but none of the Newsies will go near the place." Stacey said desperately before taking another mouthful of porridge.
"I suppose we could go there today, we just can't stay there too long." Sarah said after a moment of consideration. "Jack hates that place more then anything so I advise you not bring it up with him."
"Crutchy hates it too." Stacey answered, finishing off the porridge. "If you want I could do the dishes and then we can go."
Sarah was extremely surprised by the offer and took a moment to compose herself again. "Why don't you wash and I'll dry then we'll be done a lot quicker."
"Sounds good to me."

Back at the Lodging House. Kloppman had found a Hammer and started pulling boards off of an old door that people rarely every noticed. It was across from the Bunk Room but it had been boarded off so most people assumed it was just a poorly made wall. As soon as he pulled down the last board he saw an inscription that he had completely forgotten about. Carved on the door were the words. 'Girls Only! Boys: Enter N Die.' Kloppman touched the letters and almost heard the giggles that used to emanate from this room.
"It's about time we got some girls in here again" He said as his eyes got a little misty, remembering what happened to the girls that used to fill the room and nearly outnumber the guys.

****Flash Back, About 18 years Before****

Everything was calm. It was a night Like any other Saturday. The boys were out having their weekly poker Game and the girls were in their room having their traditional sleep over where they divulged secrets that no male Newsie was ever allowed to hear.
Peach had invited him in to have cookies and milk with them like they did every night so he knew somewhat about what happened at these little get togethers. They were all sitting in a circle eating. Jewel, Masquerade and Ambrosia all were covered in water, Salem had makeup smeared on her face. Lilac was blushing as red as a tomato and Peach just looked Mildly amused at her Newsies. Others were smirking, giggling or trying to avoid doing either of those things and a few were just trying to sleep but those were a small minority of the girls.
"Hey Kloppman, aren't you glad you have us girls here to keep those boys out of trouble?" Peach said with a wide smirk.
"It wouldn't be the same without you guys- er....Girls here. I would really miss you." Kloppman had answered, looking around in awe, once again, at the walls of the Bunk room. They were covered in murals and slogans such as 'Newsies=Guys club? I think NOT!' and 'Girls rule, boys drool' and so on. Peach had said that a lot of girls feel intimidated by the fact that the majority of Newsies were boys and so they had to decorate their Bunk room to inspire girls to greatness. Those were her exact words. That's how she convinced Kloppman to let them paint the walls.
"Don't worry Kloppman, as long as there are girls in the Lodging House, you have nothing to worry about" Peach said jokingly, trying to lighten the dark mood that had somehow settled over them. "It's my birthday today, turned 18. Wanna see what the girls gave me?"
"I didn't know it was your birthday, I would have gotten you something." Kloppman said. Out of all the Newsies, he liked Peach the best. She was almost like a daughter to him and unlike the other Newsies, she tried to include him into their lives instead of treating him like some kind of outsider.
"I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. The girls gave me this" She said as she handed him a well carved and polished wooden heart. It had NY engraved in it. "Cause I love New York." She had said.
Kloppman laughed. "How about I get you something and give it to you later as a surprise."
"I'd love that, but you don't have to."
"Sure, It's no problem. You'll get it, I promise." He gave her a hug and just then the bulls ran in.
They surrounded the girls who didn't even have the slightest chance of getting away and all Kloppman could do was sit and watch, because two bulls had forced him into a chair and were holding him there.
Snyder himself had come, he watched as bulls struggled with girls who were fighting as if there was no tomorrow, with this amused grin. He walked through the chaos and approached Peach who was struggling against two bulls. Snyder grabbed her by the chin and looked her in the eye with an almost evil grin on his face. "Hello Darling. Happy Birthday" He said meanly before ordering all the Newsies taken to the refuge.
That was all it took, then one by one they were gone. Crab-Apple, Ambrosia, Jewel, Masquerade, Tictac, Mirage and Mirror (The twins), Stained-glass, Ink, Orchid, Salem, Miracle, Magic, Ice, Princess, Queen, Dream and Sleeper. They even look little Lilac who was barely five years old. Last but not least however, they took Peach, who had fought with all her strength but couldn't beat that many bulls at once. She was torn away from her home with Snyder following, that same evil grin caressed his lips the whole time.
It happened so suddenly that Kloppman was just in a state of shock over it. He had lost his Newsies, his girls.

****End Flashback****

Kloppman had boarded off this room shortly after the court convicted him of being a little too friendly with the female Newsies so to speak, since they caught him hugging peach they said that no girls were allowed to live at the Lodging house for 5 years. He didn't want any boys to move in there so he assumed it was better to board it off for now. When the sentence was up, no girls ever came, the boys didn't want girls to invade their turf. So the room just stayed boarded until today.
Kloppman opened the door, that opened remarkably smoothly all things considered and turned on the lights. It was like walking into an ancient tomb. As if nothing had been touched for centuries, clothes were still flung around the room, books were pilled everywhere. Make-up, fake jewellery, everything was exactly as it had been left. The Murals that were once bright and beautiful were faded slightly but still proclaimed their message loudly.
With tears in his eyes, Kloppman started, for the first time, picking up after the ones he still thought of as 'his girls'.

"Here we are, the house of refuge." Sarah said with forced happiness.
"Thanks for bringing me. You don't have to stay if you don't want to." Stacey said nervously.
"I couldn't just leave you alone. Jack would kill me. We'll go in together and we'll leave together ok?" Sarah said as she reassuringly squeezed Stacey's shoulder.
"Alright." Stacey answered, a little reassured. Still she looked up at the gates in fear, suddenly wondering if this was a good idea after all.

A/N: Wow, that took me longer then usual to write. I was busy this weekend however. I went to my friend Natalie's Birthday Party, she turned 18. I also got my guitar this weekend. I'm currently in the middle of eating dinner and my cat is getting half of it. Hope you like the chapter and I beg you to give me a review. Ps: This one is for you Scarlet.