Thanks again to all who reviewed, I'm not online so I don't remember everyone… Also, it appears that ff.net is selectively italicizing for me… So some things that are supposed to be italicized aren't. I'll try to start marking them better… Hey, just cause I'm curious… does anyone know (or have an idea) of where this story is going? (Other than Belle, cause I already talked to her about it.) You'll have a better idea after this chapter, if you don't have any ideas yet… but write them when you review just so I can see what people think about where I'm headed…

Disclaimer: This is my last disclaimer. Anything nobody recognizes is mine. Any recognized people, places, events, bands, etc belong to whoever owns them and not me.  So don't sue me. You'd get my cut up jeans that I'm making a bag out of and my scissors.

Twists of Life – Chapter Three

Claire looked out the window to the clouds beneath the airplane. They were pure white and looked thick enough to land on. Suddenly, the plane dipped down, going through the clouds and scattering the illusion as the seat belt sign came on. Claire nudged Star and Travis awake and they buckled their seat belts and put their stuff away. "We will be landing at the New York International Airport in approximately 5 minutes. Please stay seated and keep your seat belts fastened." The voice of the pilot came over the intercom and more passengers started gathering their things and fastening seatbelts.

As the plane landed and taxied to the boarding ramp, Star and Claire could barely keep from shouting for joy. They were finally in New York! No parents, no restrictions, just them and Travis and lots of places to see. They waited impatiently as the plane came to a stop and the door opened and immediately scooted past Travis and as far down the aisle as possible, until they were stopped by and old woman who was slowly making her way to the front of the plane. Finally, they reached the front and ignoring the pilot, scooted past the old woman and ran up the ramp. Claire remembered that they had to wait for Travis and grabbed Star by her backpack, almost causing Star to fall over backwards. She ignored Star's protests and pushed her into a chair, sitting down beside her to wait.

After what seemed like a million years, Travis appeared at the top of the ramp and the two girls ran over to him, each taking him by an arm and dragging him towards the baggage claim. They got their bags and went outside to hail a cab. They got to the hotel and went in to the front desk to get the keys for their rooms.

Claire's eyes widened as she stepped into the room her and Star would be sharing and put down her suitcase. It was huge. There were two beds, both king size and a big screen TV. A table and two chairs were in front of a window and there was another chair in front of an oak desk. The bathroom had a separate shower and bathtub, with huge fluffy towels on a rack. There was also a glass door leading to a balcony. She stepped over to the door that went to the room Travis was in and opened it to see he'd already done the same and was putting his clothes in an armoire. Claire went back to where her suitcase sat and dragged it to the dresser. Star dropped her suitcase on her bed and flopped down next to it, picking up the remote from a small table.

Travis walked into the room and sat on Claire's bed. "Do you guys just want to go somewhere for dinner or just order room service?" Claire put the last shirt into a drawer and shut it, putting her suitcase on a rack behind the door. "Room service. I'm too tired to go anywhere right now." Star nodded in agreement. "Yeah, me too. Order me a cheeseburger or something." Travis picked up the phone and placed their orders and then walked back to his room. "I'm going to take a shower. The food should be here in about 20 minutes." He closed the door.

After dinner, the three friends watched TV for a little while and then decided to go to bed early. Star was asleep as soon as the light went off, but Claire lay there for a bit, staring into the darkness and thinking about all they would do tomorrow. Maybe we'll even meet someone from Newsies. She thought as she drifted off to sleep.

~Dream~

Moth stared at the note in her hands, reading it over and over again. He was going to England? Looking over to his bunk she saw it was stripped and the only things under it belonged to Snitch. He was gone. Moth felt her eyes well up and she sat down on her bed slowly, clutching the note and staring at the bunk that had been Mush's. She half expected him to burst through the door, laughing and dragging the box that held his possessions behind him. Only after several minutes did she fully realize that Mush, her beautiful Mush, was gone. She buried her head into her pillow and wept.

~End Dream~

Claire woke up with tears streaming down her face and feeling just as tired as when she had gone to sleep. A quick glance at the clock by her bed showed that the alarm would ring in 5 minutes. She groaned and got out of bed, making her way to the bathroom. As she passed the mirror, she caught sight of her face, which was tearstained and blotchy. She had huge bags under her eyes and there was something else that she couldn't put her finger on, a look to her eyes that hadn't been there the night before. She splashed water on her face and patted it dry with a towel. Picking up her brush, she began pulling it through her hair as she wandered to the dresser and pulled out her favorite newsie-type clothes.

When they had all gotten up and dressed, the trio went down to the hotel's restaurant to have breakfast and plan their day. They decided to go to the Horace Greeley statue first and then decide from there. They obtained a map from the front desk and started out the door, two newsie teenagers and an amused 21 year old.

When they had the statue in sight, they noticed two guys standing in front of it. As they drew closer, Claire saw that the guys were dancing and then realized she knew the dance. Running up to them, she and Star joined in on "We need an earthquake or a war." Travis started laughing so hard at the mere coincidence of it all that he had to sit down on a nearby bench. As the dance ended, the two guys noticed Claire and Star. Claire turned to the one nearest her. "Hey, my name's Claire." She looked into his eyes and froze. His deep brown eyes stared back at her, just as startled as she was. "Mush?" Claire blurted out, raising a hand to his face. She realized what she was doing and abruptly dropped her hand, flushing a deep shade of red. "Sorry." She mumbled.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Aaron studied the girl who had just called him Mush. Normally, anyone calling him Mush would be a screaming fan trying to rip his clothes off, but this girl had looked like she expected him to actually be Mush. And she looked so familiar. He took her hand to shake it, but drew back at the tingling sensation which traveled up his arm at the contact. She looked up at him from those violet eyes, tucking her long purple-streaked whitish blonde hair behind her ears. "M... Moth?" It was his turn to blush as she blinked a few times. "Sorry, I don't know where that came from." He grinned at her and when she grinned back, everything seemed okay again. "My name's Aaron." He supplied, holding out his hand. "Aaron Lohr." She took his hand and the tingling sensation came back, only this time neither of them pulled away. "I'm Claire Masterson."

Aaron turned to the other guy who'd been dancing, who was now talking to Star. "This is Gabe Damon. Gabe, this is Claire." Gabe stuck out his hand, which Claire shook and then turned back to Star. Claire and Aaron looked at each other, uncertain of what to say. "So… I take it you're a Newsies fan." He started, indicating her clothing. She laughed a little. "Yeah, I'm a huge fan. I'm an extremely obsessed fan, at that." She glanced up at him questioningly. "How come you and Gabe were dancing just then?"

Aaron shrugged. "I have no idea. We just all of a sudden started. It was really weird because neither of us were even thinking about it before." Claire nodded and dragged him over to where a slightly older guy was sitting. "Travis, this is Aaron. He played Mush in Newsies." Travis stood up and stuck out his hand. "It's nice to finally meet one of the people Claire and Star talk about constantly." He laughed as Claire blushed. "Every day it's Mush this, Spot that, blah, blah, blah Aaron Gabe, blah, blah." Claire hit his arm. "We're not that bad!"

"Yes you are." Travis rolled his eyes. "Mostly worse though." Aaron chuckled. "Are you guys all siblings?" Travis widened his eyes in mock-horror. "God, no! I would have probably killed them both by now!" He ducked as Claire swung for his head. "we're all just good friends." He sat back down on the bench and whistled, causing Star to look over and then walk towards them with Gabe in tow. "Gabe this is Travis. He and Claire here are my best friends. Travis, this is Gabe Damon, who played Spot." Travis and Spot shook hands and then the five looked at each other. Travis, sensing that he would be a fifth wheel, spoke up. "Why don't you guys walk around and I'll go back to the hotel. I'm kind of tired anyway. Just make sure to be back by 6:30." He turned and walked off through the crowd.

"We can show you two around." Aaron spoke up. "I'm guessing you guys want to see the newsie places?" Star and Claire nodded and so the four were off, unaware that all their lives had just changed drastically.

Well, there we go… Anyone have an idea of where I'm going with this yet? Write it in your review if you do! I'm curious… And now, it's that time again. The time when you're supposed to press that button and tell me what you thought of this chapter… Have fun!!