Author's Note: I know, I know. I've been really really bad. Please forgive
me! My trip was excellent though, if anyone was wondering. And I hope this
chapter makes up for the long wait. I think you're going to like it.
Chapter 8:
A week passed, and the following Saturday night found Brooke, Blink and Race making their way to the racetrack. Calli had stayed at the Lodging House due to a severe head-ache.
Brooke shuffled along nervously, regretting her decision to join the boys. Her father could be anywhere.
"Awright, you two." Blink broke the silence. "Liven up! Dis can be fun even dough Charm ain't heah. Brooke, you got da keys from Johnson?"
Brooke raised her hand and jiggled the keys in response. He grinned, "Let's go den."
^~*^~*^~*~^*~^*~^
Calli sat on Blink's bunk in the boys' bunkroom and scowled at the ground. Just her luck that she had to get a headache just when things were starting to look up. And she had been going to spend some time at the racetrack just with Blink tonight too!
A sharp pain flashed through head and she growled, leaning back and resting her head on Blink's pillow. She breathed in deeply and buried her face into it, inhaling his scent. She was so glad she had decided to give Blink a second chance. It seemed more comfortable now since they had gotten to have some private time together. .
Her head ached again and she whimpered in pain. This was the largest headache she had ever had. She couldn't even focus properly and concentrating too long on anything hurt.
The downstairs door opened and slammed shut suddenly and Calli heard someone running up the steps in a rush. A door down the hall was opened- Calli assumed to the girls' bunkroom- and slammed shut. So was the next door. Whoever it was finally reached the boys' bunkroom and opened the door and then shut it again quickly. Then opened it a second time more slowly and ran over to Blink's bunk.
"Calli!"
Swifty was leaning over her, anxiety written across his face.
"What?" she asked testily, rolling over.
"Ya gotta get up! Da bulls are comin'."
"Huh?" she bolted upright, grabbing her shoes out of habit and lacing them up while Swifty tried to explain.
"A couple a da newsies were attacked down on da cornah a 44th street. Dey managed ta get away, but da guys who attacked 'em went ta da bulls an' told 'em dat da newsies were da attackahs. Well, da bulls for some reason believed 'em- which means it can't be any newsies who did it- and dey got an ordah ta arrest any newsies dey find. Dey're on deir way."
Calli grabbed her bag and followed Swifty outside, "Where are we going?"
"Brooklyn. Almost everyone's awready dere. Spot's in a generous mood."
^~*^~*^~*~^*~^*~^
Blink sank down onto the grass, panting heavily from running around the track. "Dat's hard work!"
Brooke looked at him wryly, "Dat's why women nevah pretend ta be horses."
Race reached them as well, gasping for air. "Let's..t'ink of somethin' else..ta do."
"How long have we been heah anyways?" "'bout an hour."
Kid Blink sat up, "An hour? Awready?"
Brooke nodded and Blink stood up, "I'm gonna go back ta da Lodgin' House an' check on Charm. I might be back latah."
"Yeah, sure ya will." Race teased, "We won't wait up."
Kid Blink waved his hand at him and walked away from the racetrack.
^~*^~*^~*~^*~^*~^
"Hey Swifty, Calli." Spot greeted them as they walked into the Brooklyn Lodging House. "Pokah games are goin' on all ovah if ya wanna join. Dere's some spare bunks for t'ree or four of you. Everyone else'll have ta sleep on da floor up dere or in da lobby. You got two hours. Lights out at half past ten."
Swifty nodded gratefully, crossing the room to the poker game. Calli hesitated, then headed up the stairs to the bunkroom. She entered the room and found several more groups in discussion or poker.
One of the Brooklyn newsies, Kix, walked over to her, "Hey, Charm. Whatcha doin'?"
"Um.have you seen Brooke, Race or Blink?"
Kix looked at her for a second, then down at the ground quickly, "Uh, nah. I don't t'ink dey know. Weren't dey goin' ta da races or sumt'in'?"
"Yeah, I just thought.hey, how'd you know they were going to the track?"
"Oh, I just guessed," he said quickly, smiling nervously. "Well, I bettah get goin'. I wanna join blackjack downstairs."
Calli stared at him. "Kix, what's wrong?"
"Nothin'. I just wanna go play." he said, trying to walk away quickly.
Calli grabbed him by the back of his shirt. She was in no mood to deal with him. Her head hurt far too much for her to be nice. "Kix." she said warningly, looking him in the eye. "What happened?"
He sighed, then shrugged out of her grasp. "Ok. I was walkin' away from da tracks wit' a couple a da guys about an hour and a half ago. Just befoah da attack."
Calli nodded as if to say, 'And?'
Kix looked away for a second, then back at her with a serious look in his eyes. "I like you Charm, yer real nice.when you want ta be. If I were you, I'd forget 'bout Blink."
Calli stepped back surprised. "What are you talking about? Why?"
"Well, he was talkin' to Race an' Brooke an' dey didn't see us. I wasn't really payin' attention, but when I heard your name I tuned in. He said to dem, he said, 'Liven up! Dis will be fun now dat Charm ain't heah.' An' den he said somet'in' ta Brooke, but I couldn't hear it."
Calli stared, disbelieving him. "You're lying."
Kix looked down and muttered, "I gotta get goin'." He shuffled out of the room, leaving Calli standing by herself.
^~*^~*^~*~^*~^*~^
"Brooke? Remembah when we were talkin' in dat backroom at Irving Hall? When we got interrupted?" The two were lying on their backs with their heads next to each other, looking up at the stars. Brooke turned her head to look at his face. He didn't look at her, but stared up at the sky. "Yeah? What about it?"
"Um. Dere was somet'in' I wanted ta tell youse."
Brooke caught her breath, "Okay."
Racetrack sat up with his back to her. She sat up as well, looking at him curiously. Several minutes passed before he turned to face her, his big brown eyes serious as he studied her face intently, "You-you know how we've been friends for a really long time?"
Brooke nodded slowly and he continued anxiously. "An' I've always been dere for ya whenevah you really needed me?"
She whispered yes and he took a deep breath.
"Well, um, ovah da years I know we've had more den our fair share of fights-mostly my fault- about all sorts of t'ings. I've yelled at you an' ignored you an' put you in da back of mind for selfish reasons. We've even stopped talkin' ta each uddah at times."
Brooke nodded again, biting her lip.
"An'-an' I know dat I haven't given you da attention you deserve at times...dere's been goils in da past who have taken more of my time den dey should have."
She opened her eyes again, remembered pain clear in them.
"But um, ovah da past few weeks I've realized somethin'. I didn't wanna believe it at foist, cause yer my best friend, but I do now. An' I don't t'ink it's bad at all."
Brooke smiled encouragingly up at him. This was it. She had waited years for this moment, and it was finally happening.
"Brooke," he paused and took her hand. "Brooke, what I wanna tell you is dat I t'ink-I t'ink dat I'm.in love wit' ya."
^~*^~*^~*~^*~^*~^
Calli sank down onto one of the spare bunks and sighed. It couldn't be true; Blink wasn't like that. There was no way he could have said something like that...right?
Calli wondered if she was just being naive when she thought Blink had really cared for her. But everyone said that he liked her-it just didn't make sense. Would Kix lie though?
Spot and Bronny walked by the bunk she was sitting on, deep in conversation. "-ok, tell him ta get da spare ones from da closet. Is Manhattan all heah?"
Bronny nodded, "Jack says everyone's heah but t'ree. I just passed Blink near Medda's. He was talkin' ta a Bronx goil, but he should be on his way ta get da uddah two at da track now." "Fine. Can you..." The two continued on their way, while Calli sat frozen on the bed with wide eyes.
*A Bronx goil?! What?* She looked around wildly, for what she didn't know. She just wanted to get away from everyone. Her whole world had collapsed in one night. It couldn't be possible-yet Kix and Bronny? Neither of them were known to lie about serious matters. And Bronny would never stretch the truth in a report to Spot, not if he valued his life.
Calli stood up, knocking the bag off her lap. She hurried to the window and climbed outside, crawling to the corner of the roof and sitting down. All she needed was a little air, in the morning she would wake up and this would all have been a bad dream. It didn't seem possible that so many things had gone wrong in one night.
Suddenly she sensed someone behind her and almost screamed out loud when a hand touched her shoulder. She whipped around to find Spinz settling himself next to her comfortably.
Spinz spoke softly as she breathed a sigh of relief. "You okay?"
Calli nodded, looking out at Brooklyn.
"Wanna talk about it?"
Calli didn't respond and he took that as a no.
"Listen, Calli, dere's been somethin' I've been meanin' ta talk ta youse about."
Calli tensed, dreading the inevitable. *Oh no. Not now.*
He seemed oblivious though, "Yeah, well, I know you probably don't feel da same, but-"
Calli looked over at him and caught his eyes. She groaned looking at him. He was someone she could easily fall for. The wind ruffled his blonde hair and he smiled affectionately at her. His blue eyes held hers for a moment, then turned to look out again.
"I like you-alot. I've liked you since da time you stayed in Brooklyn when youse foist got heah. I knew you liked Blink dough, so I nevah said anythin'. But now, wit' dis new goil an' Blink actin' like a joik, I t'ought."
Calli felt her heart beginning to pound, her panic rising as it grew closer to the moment when she'd have to tell him that she and Blink were..Calli frowned suddenly. What were they? They weren't boyfriend and girlfriend definitely. And his recent actions were what brought her out here in the first place, right? Much as she disliked admitting it, Blink had shown tonight that he didn't care for her at all. He said something about her behind her back and then went off with a Bronx girl. But still...Calli did love him despite everything.
"Calli?"
She turned quickly, "Hm? What was that?"
He smiled nervously and she felt the conflicting emotions rise even more. She had to make a choice now. Wait for Blink? Go out with Spinz? Spinz was the second-in-command of BROOKLYN.and nice.and handsome.and she would be envied by other girls. But on the other hand, Blink was sweet.and cute.and funny.and.and.not in love with her. Calli lowered her eyes at the realization. It was true.
Spinz put his hand under her chin and lifted her head to look at him. "Calli listen, I know you like Blink, but considerin' everythin' dat's happened recently.'
Calli stared into his eyes, seeing the honestly and the love for her in the blue depths. His face moved towards her an inch.
"For now.couldn't we just give it a go?"
Calli watched his face coming closer and her last sliver of resistance died. She gave a weak little nod and his mouth covered hers. She responded to the kiss and slid her arms around his neck, the thrill of the moment getting the best of her.
^~*^~*^~*~^*~^*~^
Brooke caught her breath and felt tears well up in her eyes. She didn't say anything and Race continued anxiously, "Now I know dat-"
Brooke grinned at him and leaned forward until her face was merely inches from his. "Shaddup," she whispered. "I love ya too."
That was all Racetrack needed to know. He cupped her face with his hands and kissed her gently, hesitant at first. Brooke kissed him back eagerly, and the stress of the past several weeks disappeared.
TO BE CONTINUED
A.N.- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'VE BEEN WANTING TO WRITE THAT?????!!!!! I'VE HAD THE CALLI/SPINZ KISS WRITTEN FOR OVER A YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!! That was so fun! two in one! (hey, that rhymed) REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!!!
Will Calli stay with Spinz? What happened to Blink? Who was the Bronx girl? Will Brooke and Race have an easy relationship now? Who was attacked? Will the newsies be able to go back to Manhattan???
All these questions and many more will be answered in the chapter to come.
Review and tell me whether you think Calli should choose Blink or Spinz in the end. (I'm pretty much sure who it's gonna be, but I still need input)
Chapter 8:
A week passed, and the following Saturday night found Brooke, Blink and Race making their way to the racetrack. Calli had stayed at the Lodging House due to a severe head-ache.
Brooke shuffled along nervously, regretting her decision to join the boys. Her father could be anywhere.
"Awright, you two." Blink broke the silence. "Liven up! Dis can be fun even dough Charm ain't heah. Brooke, you got da keys from Johnson?"
Brooke raised her hand and jiggled the keys in response. He grinned, "Let's go den."
^~*^~*^~*~^*~^*~^
Calli sat on Blink's bunk in the boys' bunkroom and scowled at the ground. Just her luck that she had to get a headache just when things were starting to look up. And she had been going to spend some time at the racetrack just with Blink tonight too!
A sharp pain flashed through head and she growled, leaning back and resting her head on Blink's pillow. She breathed in deeply and buried her face into it, inhaling his scent. She was so glad she had decided to give Blink a second chance. It seemed more comfortable now since they had gotten to have some private time together. .
Her head ached again and she whimpered in pain. This was the largest headache she had ever had. She couldn't even focus properly and concentrating too long on anything hurt.
The downstairs door opened and slammed shut suddenly and Calli heard someone running up the steps in a rush. A door down the hall was opened- Calli assumed to the girls' bunkroom- and slammed shut. So was the next door. Whoever it was finally reached the boys' bunkroom and opened the door and then shut it again quickly. Then opened it a second time more slowly and ran over to Blink's bunk.
"Calli!"
Swifty was leaning over her, anxiety written across his face.
"What?" she asked testily, rolling over.
"Ya gotta get up! Da bulls are comin'."
"Huh?" she bolted upright, grabbing her shoes out of habit and lacing them up while Swifty tried to explain.
"A couple a da newsies were attacked down on da cornah a 44th street. Dey managed ta get away, but da guys who attacked 'em went ta da bulls an' told 'em dat da newsies were da attackahs. Well, da bulls for some reason believed 'em- which means it can't be any newsies who did it- and dey got an ordah ta arrest any newsies dey find. Dey're on deir way."
Calli grabbed her bag and followed Swifty outside, "Where are we going?"
"Brooklyn. Almost everyone's awready dere. Spot's in a generous mood."
^~*^~*^~*~^*~^*~^
Blink sank down onto the grass, panting heavily from running around the track. "Dat's hard work!"
Brooke looked at him wryly, "Dat's why women nevah pretend ta be horses."
Race reached them as well, gasping for air. "Let's..t'ink of somethin' else..ta do."
"How long have we been heah anyways?" "'bout an hour."
Kid Blink sat up, "An hour? Awready?"
Brooke nodded and Blink stood up, "I'm gonna go back ta da Lodgin' House an' check on Charm. I might be back latah."
"Yeah, sure ya will." Race teased, "We won't wait up."
Kid Blink waved his hand at him and walked away from the racetrack.
^~*^~*^~*~^*~^*~^
"Hey Swifty, Calli." Spot greeted them as they walked into the Brooklyn Lodging House. "Pokah games are goin' on all ovah if ya wanna join. Dere's some spare bunks for t'ree or four of you. Everyone else'll have ta sleep on da floor up dere or in da lobby. You got two hours. Lights out at half past ten."
Swifty nodded gratefully, crossing the room to the poker game. Calli hesitated, then headed up the stairs to the bunkroom. She entered the room and found several more groups in discussion or poker.
One of the Brooklyn newsies, Kix, walked over to her, "Hey, Charm. Whatcha doin'?"
"Um.have you seen Brooke, Race or Blink?"
Kix looked at her for a second, then down at the ground quickly, "Uh, nah. I don't t'ink dey know. Weren't dey goin' ta da races or sumt'in'?"
"Yeah, I just thought.hey, how'd you know they were going to the track?"
"Oh, I just guessed," he said quickly, smiling nervously. "Well, I bettah get goin'. I wanna join blackjack downstairs."
Calli stared at him. "Kix, what's wrong?"
"Nothin'. I just wanna go play." he said, trying to walk away quickly.
Calli grabbed him by the back of his shirt. She was in no mood to deal with him. Her head hurt far too much for her to be nice. "Kix." she said warningly, looking him in the eye. "What happened?"
He sighed, then shrugged out of her grasp. "Ok. I was walkin' away from da tracks wit' a couple a da guys about an hour and a half ago. Just befoah da attack."
Calli nodded as if to say, 'And?'
Kix looked away for a second, then back at her with a serious look in his eyes. "I like you Charm, yer real nice.when you want ta be. If I were you, I'd forget 'bout Blink."
Calli stepped back surprised. "What are you talking about? Why?"
"Well, he was talkin' to Race an' Brooke an' dey didn't see us. I wasn't really payin' attention, but when I heard your name I tuned in. He said to dem, he said, 'Liven up! Dis will be fun now dat Charm ain't heah.' An' den he said somet'in' ta Brooke, but I couldn't hear it."
Calli stared, disbelieving him. "You're lying."
Kix looked down and muttered, "I gotta get goin'." He shuffled out of the room, leaving Calli standing by herself.
^~*^~*^~*~^*~^*~^
"Brooke? Remembah when we were talkin' in dat backroom at Irving Hall? When we got interrupted?" The two were lying on their backs with their heads next to each other, looking up at the stars. Brooke turned her head to look at his face. He didn't look at her, but stared up at the sky. "Yeah? What about it?"
"Um. Dere was somet'in' I wanted ta tell youse."
Brooke caught her breath, "Okay."
Racetrack sat up with his back to her. She sat up as well, looking at him curiously. Several minutes passed before he turned to face her, his big brown eyes serious as he studied her face intently, "You-you know how we've been friends for a really long time?"
Brooke nodded slowly and he continued anxiously. "An' I've always been dere for ya whenevah you really needed me?"
She whispered yes and he took a deep breath.
"Well, um, ovah da years I know we've had more den our fair share of fights-mostly my fault- about all sorts of t'ings. I've yelled at you an' ignored you an' put you in da back of mind for selfish reasons. We've even stopped talkin' ta each uddah at times."
Brooke nodded again, biting her lip.
"An'-an' I know dat I haven't given you da attention you deserve at times...dere's been goils in da past who have taken more of my time den dey should have."
She opened her eyes again, remembered pain clear in them.
"But um, ovah da past few weeks I've realized somethin'. I didn't wanna believe it at foist, cause yer my best friend, but I do now. An' I don't t'ink it's bad at all."
Brooke smiled encouragingly up at him. This was it. She had waited years for this moment, and it was finally happening.
"Brooke," he paused and took her hand. "Brooke, what I wanna tell you is dat I t'ink-I t'ink dat I'm.in love wit' ya."
^~*^~*^~*~^*~^*~^
Calli sank down onto one of the spare bunks and sighed. It couldn't be true; Blink wasn't like that. There was no way he could have said something like that...right?
Calli wondered if she was just being naive when she thought Blink had really cared for her. But everyone said that he liked her-it just didn't make sense. Would Kix lie though?
Spot and Bronny walked by the bunk she was sitting on, deep in conversation. "-ok, tell him ta get da spare ones from da closet. Is Manhattan all heah?"
Bronny nodded, "Jack says everyone's heah but t'ree. I just passed Blink near Medda's. He was talkin' ta a Bronx goil, but he should be on his way ta get da uddah two at da track now." "Fine. Can you..." The two continued on their way, while Calli sat frozen on the bed with wide eyes.
*A Bronx goil?! What?* She looked around wildly, for what she didn't know. She just wanted to get away from everyone. Her whole world had collapsed in one night. It couldn't be possible-yet Kix and Bronny? Neither of them were known to lie about serious matters. And Bronny would never stretch the truth in a report to Spot, not if he valued his life.
Calli stood up, knocking the bag off her lap. She hurried to the window and climbed outside, crawling to the corner of the roof and sitting down. All she needed was a little air, in the morning she would wake up and this would all have been a bad dream. It didn't seem possible that so many things had gone wrong in one night.
Suddenly she sensed someone behind her and almost screamed out loud when a hand touched her shoulder. She whipped around to find Spinz settling himself next to her comfortably.
Spinz spoke softly as she breathed a sigh of relief. "You okay?"
Calli nodded, looking out at Brooklyn.
"Wanna talk about it?"
Calli didn't respond and he took that as a no.
"Listen, Calli, dere's been somethin' I've been meanin' ta talk ta youse about."
Calli tensed, dreading the inevitable. *Oh no. Not now.*
He seemed oblivious though, "Yeah, well, I know you probably don't feel da same, but-"
Calli looked over at him and caught his eyes. She groaned looking at him. He was someone she could easily fall for. The wind ruffled his blonde hair and he smiled affectionately at her. His blue eyes held hers for a moment, then turned to look out again.
"I like you-alot. I've liked you since da time you stayed in Brooklyn when youse foist got heah. I knew you liked Blink dough, so I nevah said anythin'. But now, wit' dis new goil an' Blink actin' like a joik, I t'ought."
Calli felt her heart beginning to pound, her panic rising as it grew closer to the moment when she'd have to tell him that she and Blink were..Calli frowned suddenly. What were they? They weren't boyfriend and girlfriend definitely. And his recent actions were what brought her out here in the first place, right? Much as she disliked admitting it, Blink had shown tonight that he didn't care for her at all. He said something about her behind her back and then went off with a Bronx girl. But still...Calli did love him despite everything.
"Calli?"
She turned quickly, "Hm? What was that?"
He smiled nervously and she felt the conflicting emotions rise even more. She had to make a choice now. Wait for Blink? Go out with Spinz? Spinz was the second-in-command of BROOKLYN.and nice.and handsome.and she would be envied by other girls. But on the other hand, Blink was sweet.and cute.and funny.and.and.not in love with her. Calli lowered her eyes at the realization. It was true.
Spinz put his hand under her chin and lifted her head to look at him. "Calli listen, I know you like Blink, but considerin' everythin' dat's happened recently.'
Calli stared into his eyes, seeing the honestly and the love for her in the blue depths. His face moved towards her an inch.
"For now.couldn't we just give it a go?"
Calli watched his face coming closer and her last sliver of resistance died. She gave a weak little nod and his mouth covered hers. She responded to the kiss and slid her arms around his neck, the thrill of the moment getting the best of her.
^~*^~*^~*~^*~^*~^
Brooke caught her breath and felt tears well up in her eyes. She didn't say anything and Race continued anxiously, "Now I know dat-"
Brooke grinned at him and leaned forward until her face was merely inches from his. "Shaddup," she whispered. "I love ya too."
That was all Racetrack needed to know. He cupped her face with his hands and kissed her gently, hesitant at first. Brooke kissed him back eagerly, and the stress of the past several weeks disappeared.
TO BE CONTINUED
A.N.- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'VE BEEN WANTING TO WRITE THAT?????!!!!! I'VE HAD THE CALLI/SPINZ KISS WRITTEN FOR OVER A YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!! That was so fun! two in one! (hey, that rhymed) REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!!!
Will Calli stay with Spinz? What happened to Blink? Who was the Bronx girl? Will Brooke and Race have an easy relationship now? Who was attacked? Will the newsies be able to go back to Manhattan???
All these questions and many more will be answered in the chapter to come.
Review and tell me whether you think Calli should choose Blink or Spinz in the end. (I'm pretty much sure who it's gonna be, but I still need input)
