Cameron looked up when she heard the thunder of feet on the stairs. At first she was scared the whole staircase would collapse, but figured with boys her age running around there was no need to worry. ON the other hand she should worry about John. John didn't look to happy as he looked from Cameron to Skittery and back at Cameron. Not even looking at the other people in the room John stormed over to where Cameron sat and yanked her to her feet. Cameron began to protest but John was giving her that 'shut-up' kind-a look and she stopped. John led her into the kitchen that was deserted.
"What do you think you're doing?!" He shouted, his anger exploding. Cameron glared at John.
"My job! Personally I wanna get home ASAP and it'd go faster if you helped some!"
"It's the first day! How much do you think we can get done in a few hours? And I am helping…but what you were doing I wouldn't call helping!" John sent Cameron a glare that almost made her shiver. He had no right to tell her how to do her job. She was one of the best and did just fine with other partners.
"What do you mean what I was doing?" Cameron exclaimed. "I was working and getting to know the girl! Do you even know her name?"
"No," John spat out the word. "And at the moment I don't care. I know what was going on. That Skittery guy has got it for you! You wanna ruin the entire mission?"
Cameron looked away from John. Did he really expect her to answer that? Of course she didn't want to ruin the mission. She didn't want to get fired. Cameron didn't really care about all the money she got paid, the reason she liked work so much was she could actually fit in there. Well…then again the whole point of the job was to blend in and then leave, but still…she loved work.
"Look, I didn't ask him to fall for me…hell I donno if he really did or not. He might just be using me as a front or whatever. I'm sorry…" Cameron's voice trailed off. What else could she say?
John sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He did that whenever he actually had to think about something (which happened much more than he enjoyed). "No…it's ok. I'll…I'll see what I can find out. Until we know weather or not he's really falling for you why don't you keep a friendly distance from him? I'll start working a bit more and hopefully we can get this all worked out."
Cameron looked up at John. This was a first. He was actually being nice to her. Ok, so maybe it wasn't a first. He hadn't made fun of her after the jump when she was emptying her stomach in the back of an alley. But, this was his job too. If this mission blew up it was just as much his fault as it was hers.
"Ok…and sorry…again," Cameron said. She then slowly made her way out of the kitchen and back upstairs. She collapsed onto her bed. (Blink had taken over for John after he had left.)
"Where'd Jumper go?" Race asked. Cameron closed her eyes, she needed sleep.
"Down stairs…he uhhh…had ta do somethin'."
The newsies all looked around at each other. They weren't stupid. They saw how fast Jumper had run out of the bunkroom after they had been talking about Skittery and Cricket. Jack finally decided to brave the front and ask Cricket the question that had been floating around in everyone's mind.
"So uhhh…you'se and Jumper…ummm…"
"Yeah?" Cricket asked as she opened her eyes and lifted her head enough so she could see Jack who sat on the floor.
"You'se two ain't together or nothin' are ya's?" Jack stumbled through the question and waited for a reaction. He didn't want to get the new kids upset. They were great and Skittery really seemed to like them. Which was good since Skittery had been distant for the past…well…for the past while.
Cameron burst out laughing. She fell back onto the bed and could stop her laughter for a long time. By the time she finally got her giggles under control tears had streamed down her face and her sides hurt.
"No…no we'se ain't together. We'd kill each other if we'se was like dat." Cameron wiped her eyes and cheeks. That had been the funniest thing she had ever heard in her entire life. Her and John together…oh yeah, there'd be bloodshed before anything romantic ever happened. "But now dat you'se mention it…why's do ya ask?"
"No reason," Jack said with a shrug. Then Race's face cracked into a huge grin.
"Read 'em weep boys…four aces." The other newsies groaned as Racetrack collected his winnings. Ahhh yes…he loved poker. A game created by God.
Note: Ok not the longest thing in the world but I'm tired and I've got school tomorrow. * scowls * But yeah! Anyway hope you like this chapter…I guess nothing really happened but that's ok! I'll try and add more soon! Please r/r!