DISCALIMER: The MULAN quote in this chapter belongs to.MULAN! Woo hoo! And
yes, all of the newsies still belong to that all-powerful institution known
as DISNEY! So don't sue me, huh! Oh, but Salsa, Clue, and Phoenix belong to
me. So take that! HAHAHA!
A.N. Here's a shot-out to all the people who have reviewed so far..
Gypsy: I'm glad you like the story so much! I'll try to write as much as I can everyday!! Don't get crazy on me now, hee hee.
Snuggles: Thanks for reviewing! I don't even know what's going to happen to each couple yet, lol! I'm trying to figure out who Spot would be best with.
lange: Calm down, goil! LOL! Your review made me laugh so hard! Thanks so much! But promise you won't do anything harsh, okay? Muahaha!
Candi Kane: By the way, I like your name, lol. Yea, I thought I'd throw in that little bit about riding horses! Hahaha! Thanks for the reviews and I will update as fast as I can!
Gemini Kelly: Hey goil! When are you going to update that new fanfic of yours! It's soooo good! I can't wait to read more! Thanks so much for your reviews, I always enjoy reading them. Glad ya liked the fight scene, and please don't soak me for Crutchy; I'm writing as fast as my wee hands can type. Hee hee!
Sugar and Spice and A Little Bit of Vice
Phoenix looked at herself in the mirror of the girl's washroom of the Brooklyn lodging house as she held her hands under the hot water that was running from the sink faucet. Medda's party had been so fun, even if she could not be all over her favorite self-absorbed newsie. Ah well, she thought. Spot was busy teaching that bratty goil how tah behave in public. I hope he told her never tah mess wid me again. I swear, next time I'se gunna gouge that goil's eyes out wid me nails! Just then, someone knocked on the door of the washroom. Phoenix called out for them to enter and when the door opened, she saw Spot make his way through the doorway with a solemn face.
"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly, still in front of the sink. Just the other day Spot was all chirpy and now he looked as if he were going into a depression.
He ignored her question and instead asked one of his own. "What are youse doin?"
Phoenix rubbed her hands briskly under the water. "I'se tryin tah warm me hands." She looked at her reflection and then at Spot's. He had been leaning on a wall, but had now stepped up behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders and then smoothly slid them down the length of her arms until he reached her own hands under the water-which he turned off. He laced his fingers between hers and then wrapped both of their arms around the girl's waist. Phoenix was watching him the whole time through the mirror. She could not read his monotonous expression, but she could tell something was troubling him.
When she was about to conclude in her mind that it was a problem involving one of the girls in her competition, Spot started kissing her neck, gently nipping it with his lips. Too many emotions rushed through Phoenix's body in an instant. Here she was again, being one of the contestants in Spot's game of would-be love. This would eventually have to stop. She was not about to indulge herself in fun pleasures with Spot if he was not even sure of his feelings for her.
Spot suddenly stopped and smirked, though it was not one of his proud smirks that he would give when he just accomplished something; it was a bashful smirk. He turned away from the girl and pretended to be looking at a distant object while the blush in his cheeks faded. Then he looked back at her, kissed her on the cheek, and let her go.
"What was that fer?" Phoenix asked, her knees shaking and her face turning hot. She grabbed the sink behind her for support.
"I'se gotta have a reason?"
"Nah, not really," she replied. "But I'se tired of being the goil ya run tah whenever things aint goin too great wid Miss Beauty or the Shy Princess. Besides, ya shouldn't be doing things like that wid me before me date."
Spot crossed his arms and narrowed his green-blue eyes at her. "Yer what?"
"Me date, ya bum! I knows youse aint deaf! I happened tah have met a really cool guy at Medda's while youse were busy woikin the dance floor wid the brat. He invited me fer dinner tonight so I said I'd meet him at seven. He's a real charmer, almost as much as yer undecided behind. Youse aint jealous, are ya?" She tried to keep a straight face, but she was having so much fun doing to Spot what he was doing to her that she had to grin.
"Who, might I ask, is this 'really cool guy'?"
"Uhm, I thinks youse call him Race? Racetrack Higgins, he sells at the tracks, ya know? He's Italian, and adorable! Knows how tah treat a lady right." She blew hot breath onto her hands, still attempting to warm them.
"Race?! Are ya insane!" Spot threw his head back to laugh. This was unbelievable! He was losing a girl to Race?
Phoenix glared at him. "Yea, we'll sees how shoah youse are of yerself when I'se falls in love wid him!" She pushed Spot aside and proceeded to walk out of the room. As if forgetting something, she turned around and ran back to Spot, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "Love ya, sweety," she said over her shoulder as she left.
"Love ya, babe."
* * * * *
When she was finished selling her papers, Salsa walked into the Manhattan lodging house with a frown. She had wanted to accept Spot's rose, had wanted to take it from him with a girlish giggle or squeal. Had she done just that, she would be smelling the flower's sweet fragrance right this moment, letting its priceless perfume take her into another world. But no, she had to reject him carelessly because of her excessive pride. She shrugged and opened the door to the girl's bunkroom. She had not even taken one step into the room when all eyes fell upon her.
"Ooo, Salsa's gots a secret admirer!" A girl called Princess had exclaimed that.
Salsa arched an eyebrow in confusion. "Whaddya talking about?"
All of the girls present burst out into giggles and pointed to Salsa's bed, and that explained it all. Her bed was swamped with ten dozen roses, sprawled all over the mattress in a careful formation with some of the red petals decorating the hard wood floor. Salsa's jaw dropped open and she ran over to the bed where she found a note on her pillow. Picking it up, she grinned as she read it.
*Is this enough roses for youse?* -Brooklyn
Princess was reading the note over Salsa's shoulder. "Who's it from? Who's it from? What idiot from Brooklyn have youse seduced?"
"None of yer business!" Princess hissed like a cat at the rude answer but Salsa was too deep in thought to notice. She felt incredibly warm inside, as if her heart had been engulfed with utter happiness. She felt like doing something special for someone other than herself. She counted the number of girls around her; there were only nine. She took a knapsack from under her bed and threw all the roses into the bag, save for a dozen. Then she distributed a single rose to each of the newsgirls with a bright smile. "Have a nice day!"
She skipped out of the bunkroom with the knapsack about her shoulders, holding the three left over roses in her hand. On her way out of the lodging house, she bumped into a younger girl. "I'se sorry," she said, as she tried to steady the girl who was about to fall. "Oh, heya Sunny! How's it rollin?"
Sunny was one of the reclusive girls Salsa was always teasing. She was not as pretty as the others were, but she was not unattractive either.
"These are fer youse!" Salsa put the three roses into Sunny's hand and then gave the girl a hug. "The flower that blooms in adversity is the most beautiful of them all!"
Sunny laughed and scratched her head. "Ya know what, Salsa? Yer alright."
"I aim tah please!" Salsa let out a loud exclamation of joy. This felt so great! She wanted to be a better person every hour of the day. She bid farewell to Sunny and headed to Tibby's to grab a bite to eat. She had wanted to speak with Jack about something but seeing how he was not at the lodging house, she figured he was having lunch.
"What's wrong wid youse?" she asked herself a few minutes later as she dropped yet another rose on the doorstep of someone's small house. "Ya thinking of openin up some kinda charity?" So far, she had presented roses to six beggars, four newsies, three vendors, eight doorsteps, one mail carrier, two restaurant owners, and five businessmen on their way to work. She grinned. And seven good-looking boys at a nearby factory. But she still had six dozen roses in her possession that she did not know what to do with.
"This is crazy! Spots turnin ya into some kinda angel. This aint no good, goil. Yer gunna turn into one of those do-gooders. How repulsive!" She stopped to lean against the wall of a building. "What am I gunna do? A part of me wants tah fall fer Spot while another part wants tah destroy his life. Those two motives don't exactly go together too well. I'se gunna have tah decide on one."
She crossed her arms and sighed. "Going fer Spot will mean givin up the only life I'se ever known-a life of manipulatin people." She watched a flock of pigeons as they nibbled food from off the dirty sidewalks. "Aw shit, why didn't I think of that? I'll go talk tah Crow!"
* * * * *
That night, Jack sat on the rooftop of the Manhattan lodging house alone as he stared at the cluster of stars above him. What was it about Spot that attracted girls to him? Was he some kind of magnet that used his shallow charm to pull girls to him? The Manhattan leader groaned and felt like strangling himself with his bandana.
"Damn Conlon," he muttered. "If he wasn't me best friend, I'd kill the scab!" He thought about how Salsa had come up to him during the evening asking about Spot. 'How long have youse known him?' she had asked, and 'What kinda goils does he usually go fer?' It almost made Jack want to vomit. All people cared about these days was Spot, Spot, and Spot. He turned his head swiftly when he heard someone climbing the side of the roof.
"Heya Jacky!" It was Dreamer and she was carrying a book in her hands. Why did she always show up when he was in a bad mood? She walked over to Jack and then plopped down beside him. "I'se came into me room this afternoon and found this lying on me bed!" she held up the book to show him that it was actually a journal. "I know Spot got it for me, but I also know youse probably told him I'se into writin, so I wanted tah say thanks. Yer really sweet, Jacky."
Jack did his best to not let his anger take hold. Spot buying Clue a journal? Yeah right! Sure, he had gotten Salsa all those roses, but only because the girl who operated the flower cart was obsessed with him. But this journal had taken plenty of saving in order to be purchased-purchased by Jack, that is! It was Jack who had wanted to buy a present for Clue and so had bought something she could record her ideas in. Spot had absolutely nothing to do with it! Yet how could he tell her that her crush had no involvement with the whole surprise? It would break her heart. "No problem, goil. Do ya like it?"
"Of coise I do!" she laughed. "I especially like the Shakespeare quote on the inside cover. 'Be true to thine own self'. I wonder if Spot knew I had wanted tah change fer him."
I wouldn't bet on it, Jack commented mentally. Spot never noticed when girls went to the extremes to please him. However, Jack knew how willing Clue had been to change for the Brooklyn leader, and he thought the quote would fit well. He had spent an hour in the gift shop looking through books of famous sayings until he had come upon that one. Geez, all that woik fer nuthin. I can't believe she thinks Spot is behind it all!
"Anyways," the girl continued, "I came up heah because I have writer's block! Imagine that! I finally gots sumthin tah write in and now I can't even think!"
"Is there gunna be any entries in there havin tah do wid me?"
Clue gave him a big smile and blushed when she looked into his sparkling grey eyes. They were so mystifying. Where Spot's eyes conveyed his intense moods, Jack's kept you guessing about what it was he was hiding. "Youse is gunna be in me foist page, cowboy. I'se gunna talk about how youse were so nice tah me when I became a newsie and how we'se eventually became best friends!"
"Good," Jack said with a light laugh. "If I aint in yer heart, at least I'se in yer diary." The second part came out as a grumble, and he hoped she hadn't heard it clearly.
"What'd ya say?"
"Ah, nuthin important." He draped his arm around her shoulders and they gazed up at the stars together for the better part of the night.
More to come. Heya Kids!! It's..REVIEWING TIME!!! Who wants to play in this round! C'mon, I see the eager looks on your faces! Let's submit those comments. Happy readers=Happy writers! *hint hint* Please Review! I need those goshdarn reviews! I'm an addict, I know. Love ya all! Muahahaha!
A.N. Here's a shot-out to all the people who have reviewed so far..
Gypsy: I'm glad you like the story so much! I'll try to write as much as I can everyday!! Don't get crazy on me now, hee hee.
Snuggles: Thanks for reviewing! I don't even know what's going to happen to each couple yet, lol! I'm trying to figure out who Spot would be best with.
lange: Calm down, goil! LOL! Your review made me laugh so hard! Thanks so much! But promise you won't do anything harsh, okay? Muahaha!
Candi Kane: By the way, I like your name, lol. Yea, I thought I'd throw in that little bit about riding horses! Hahaha! Thanks for the reviews and I will update as fast as I can!
Gemini Kelly: Hey goil! When are you going to update that new fanfic of yours! It's soooo good! I can't wait to read more! Thanks so much for your reviews, I always enjoy reading them. Glad ya liked the fight scene, and please don't soak me for Crutchy; I'm writing as fast as my wee hands can type. Hee hee!
Sugar and Spice and A Little Bit of Vice
Phoenix looked at herself in the mirror of the girl's washroom of the Brooklyn lodging house as she held her hands under the hot water that was running from the sink faucet. Medda's party had been so fun, even if she could not be all over her favorite self-absorbed newsie. Ah well, she thought. Spot was busy teaching that bratty goil how tah behave in public. I hope he told her never tah mess wid me again. I swear, next time I'se gunna gouge that goil's eyes out wid me nails! Just then, someone knocked on the door of the washroom. Phoenix called out for them to enter and when the door opened, she saw Spot make his way through the doorway with a solemn face.
"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly, still in front of the sink. Just the other day Spot was all chirpy and now he looked as if he were going into a depression.
He ignored her question and instead asked one of his own. "What are youse doin?"
Phoenix rubbed her hands briskly under the water. "I'se tryin tah warm me hands." She looked at her reflection and then at Spot's. He had been leaning on a wall, but had now stepped up behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders and then smoothly slid them down the length of her arms until he reached her own hands under the water-which he turned off. He laced his fingers between hers and then wrapped both of their arms around the girl's waist. Phoenix was watching him the whole time through the mirror. She could not read his monotonous expression, but she could tell something was troubling him.
When she was about to conclude in her mind that it was a problem involving one of the girls in her competition, Spot started kissing her neck, gently nipping it with his lips. Too many emotions rushed through Phoenix's body in an instant. Here she was again, being one of the contestants in Spot's game of would-be love. This would eventually have to stop. She was not about to indulge herself in fun pleasures with Spot if he was not even sure of his feelings for her.
Spot suddenly stopped and smirked, though it was not one of his proud smirks that he would give when he just accomplished something; it was a bashful smirk. He turned away from the girl and pretended to be looking at a distant object while the blush in his cheeks faded. Then he looked back at her, kissed her on the cheek, and let her go.
"What was that fer?" Phoenix asked, her knees shaking and her face turning hot. She grabbed the sink behind her for support.
"I'se gotta have a reason?"
"Nah, not really," she replied. "But I'se tired of being the goil ya run tah whenever things aint goin too great wid Miss Beauty or the Shy Princess. Besides, ya shouldn't be doing things like that wid me before me date."
Spot crossed his arms and narrowed his green-blue eyes at her. "Yer what?"
"Me date, ya bum! I knows youse aint deaf! I happened tah have met a really cool guy at Medda's while youse were busy woikin the dance floor wid the brat. He invited me fer dinner tonight so I said I'd meet him at seven. He's a real charmer, almost as much as yer undecided behind. Youse aint jealous, are ya?" She tried to keep a straight face, but she was having so much fun doing to Spot what he was doing to her that she had to grin.
"Who, might I ask, is this 'really cool guy'?"
"Uhm, I thinks youse call him Race? Racetrack Higgins, he sells at the tracks, ya know? He's Italian, and adorable! Knows how tah treat a lady right." She blew hot breath onto her hands, still attempting to warm them.
"Race?! Are ya insane!" Spot threw his head back to laugh. This was unbelievable! He was losing a girl to Race?
Phoenix glared at him. "Yea, we'll sees how shoah youse are of yerself when I'se falls in love wid him!" She pushed Spot aside and proceeded to walk out of the room. As if forgetting something, she turned around and ran back to Spot, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "Love ya, sweety," she said over her shoulder as she left.
"Love ya, babe."
* * * * *
When she was finished selling her papers, Salsa walked into the Manhattan lodging house with a frown. She had wanted to accept Spot's rose, had wanted to take it from him with a girlish giggle or squeal. Had she done just that, she would be smelling the flower's sweet fragrance right this moment, letting its priceless perfume take her into another world. But no, she had to reject him carelessly because of her excessive pride. She shrugged and opened the door to the girl's bunkroom. She had not even taken one step into the room when all eyes fell upon her.
"Ooo, Salsa's gots a secret admirer!" A girl called Princess had exclaimed that.
Salsa arched an eyebrow in confusion. "Whaddya talking about?"
All of the girls present burst out into giggles and pointed to Salsa's bed, and that explained it all. Her bed was swamped with ten dozen roses, sprawled all over the mattress in a careful formation with some of the red petals decorating the hard wood floor. Salsa's jaw dropped open and she ran over to the bed where she found a note on her pillow. Picking it up, she grinned as she read it.
*Is this enough roses for youse?* -Brooklyn
Princess was reading the note over Salsa's shoulder. "Who's it from? Who's it from? What idiot from Brooklyn have youse seduced?"
"None of yer business!" Princess hissed like a cat at the rude answer but Salsa was too deep in thought to notice. She felt incredibly warm inside, as if her heart had been engulfed with utter happiness. She felt like doing something special for someone other than herself. She counted the number of girls around her; there were only nine. She took a knapsack from under her bed and threw all the roses into the bag, save for a dozen. Then she distributed a single rose to each of the newsgirls with a bright smile. "Have a nice day!"
She skipped out of the bunkroom with the knapsack about her shoulders, holding the three left over roses in her hand. On her way out of the lodging house, she bumped into a younger girl. "I'se sorry," she said, as she tried to steady the girl who was about to fall. "Oh, heya Sunny! How's it rollin?"
Sunny was one of the reclusive girls Salsa was always teasing. She was not as pretty as the others were, but she was not unattractive either.
"These are fer youse!" Salsa put the three roses into Sunny's hand and then gave the girl a hug. "The flower that blooms in adversity is the most beautiful of them all!"
Sunny laughed and scratched her head. "Ya know what, Salsa? Yer alright."
"I aim tah please!" Salsa let out a loud exclamation of joy. This felt so great! She wanted to be a better person every hour of the day. She bid farewell to Sunny and headed to Tibby's to grab a bite to eat. She had wanted to speak with Jack about something but seeing how he was not at the lodging house, she figured he was having lunch.
"What's wrong wid youse?" she asked herself a few minutes later as she dropped yet another rose on the doorstep of someone's small house. "Ya thinking of openin up some kinda charity?" So far, she had presented roses to six beggars, four newsies, three vendors, eight doorsteps, one mail carrier, two restaurant owners, and five businessmen on their way to work. She grinned. And seven good-looking boys at a nearby factory. But she still had six dozen roses in her possession that she did not know what to do with.
"This is crazy! Spots turnin ya into some kinda angel. This aint no good, goil. Yer gunna turn into one of those do-gooders. How repulsive!" She stopped to lean against the wall of a building. "What am I gunna do? A part of me wants tah fall fer Spot while another part wants tah destroy his life. Those two motives don't exactly go together too well. I'se gunna have tah decide on one."
She crossed her arms and sighed. "Going fer Spot will mean givin up the only life I'se ever known-a life of manipulatin people." She watched a flock of pigeons as they nibbled food from off the dirty sidewalks. "Aw shit, why didn't I think of that? I'll go talk tah Crow!"
* * * * *
That night, Jack sat on the rooftop of the Manhattan lodging house alone as he stared at the cluster of stars above him. What was it about Spot that attracted girls to him? Was he some kind of magnet that used his shallow charm to pull girls to him? The Manhattan leader groaned and felt like strangling himself with his bandana.
"Damn Conlon," he muttered. "If he wasn't me best friend, I'd kill the scab!" He thought about how Salsa had come up to him during the evening asking about Spot. 'How long have youse known him?' she had asked, and 'What kinda goils does he usually go fer?' It almost made Jack want to vomit. All people cared about these days was Spot, Spot, and Spot. He turned his head swiftly when he heard someone climbing the side of the roof.
"Heya Jacky!" It was Dreamer and she was carrying a book in her hands. Why did she always show up when he was in a bad mood? She walked over to Jack and then plopped down beside him. "I'se came into me room this afternoon and found this lying on me bed!" she held up the book to show him that it was actually a journal. "I know Spot got it for me, but I also know youse probably told him I'se into writin, so I wanted tah say thanks. Yer really sweet, Jacky."
Jack did his best to not let his anger take hold. Spot buying Clue a journal? Yeah right! Sure, he had gotten Salsa all those roses, but only because the girl who operated the flower cart was obsessed with him. But this journal had taken plenty of saving in order to be purchased-purchased by Jack, that is! It was Jack who had wanted to buy a present for Clue and so had bought something she could record her ideas in. Spot had absolutely nothing to do with it! Yet how could he tell her that her crush had no involvement with the whole surprise? It would break her heart. "No problem, goil. Do ya like it?"
"Of coise I do!" she laughed. "I especially like the Shakespeare quote on the inside cover. 'Be true to thine own self'. I wonder if Spot knew I had wanted tah change fer him."
I wouldn't bet on it, Jack commented mentally. Spot never noticed when girls went to the extremes to please him. However, Jack knew how willing Clue had been to change for the Brooklyn leader, and he thought the quote would fit well. He had spent an hour in the gift shop looking through books of famous sayings until he had come upon that one. Geez, all that woik fer nuthin. I can't believe she thinks Spot is behind it all!
"Anyways," the girl continued, "I came up heah because I have writer's block! Imagine that! I finally gots sumthin tah write in and now I can't even think!"
"Is there gunna be any entries in there havin tah do wid me?"
Clue gave him a big smile and blushed when she looked into his sparkling grey eyes. They were so mystifying. Where Spot's eyes conveyed his intense moods, Jack's kept you guessing about what it was he was hiding. "Youse is gunna be in me foist page, cowboy. I'se gunna talk about how youse were so nice tah me when I became a newsie and how we'se eventually became best friends!"
"Good," Jack said with a light laugh. "If I aint in yer heart, at least I'se in yer diary." The second part came out as a grumble, and he hoped she hadn't heard it clearly.
"What'd ya say?"
"Ah, nuthin important." He draped his arm around her shoulders and they gazed up at the stars together for the better part of the night.
More to come. Heya Kids!! It's..REVIEWING TIME!!! Who wants to play in this round! C'mon, I see the eager looks on your faces! Let's submit those comments. Happy readers=Happy writers! *hint hint* Please Review! I need those goshdarn reviews! I'm an addict, I know. Love ya all! Muahahaha!