Hey guys..um, first off, I want reviews! lol or I will kill someone
important.like Spot or someone. I dunno. We can be creative though. I also
want you guys to suggest stuff..what do you want to see happen in the
story? With any of the characters, it doesn't matter. Be creative! Second,
I understand the bridge part is a bit (a lot) farfetched, but as with most
of the stuff Mani does, it's not really what it seems. wink wink (get it?)
don't ask me to explain lol. And yeah, I have this super wicked awesome
idea for another interactive story that I'll post tomorrow.so go check it
out. Adios amigos!
~~
Two newsies stared at each other. Two, completely different, opposite newsies from the other side of the river. One was powerful, capable, strong, respected mostly out of fear. The other lighthearted, bound down to her past yet still free, respected for the fact that she was like nobody anyone had ever seen before. One glared while the other bit her nails, picking at the food that was so carefully prepared for them.
"You know, you eh, you have a little something right there, in between your teeth," Maniac tapped her front teeth and blinked innocently at Spot. They hadn't spoken since the first, "Hi," at the door, when Spot had carefully looked Maniac over, as if appraising her while looking very unhappy indeed. She had rolled her eyes and told him to stop acting like she was a prize, and he had snapped back at her, and so it began.
"And you could stand ta gain a little weight," he retorted, brushing his tongue over his teeth.
"I could say the same to you," Maniac muttered under her breath.
"What?!" Spot snapped.
"I said--"
"Maniac!" Laces said from behind her, smiling at Spot falsely through gritted teeth. "Hey hun, can I talk to you?" without waiting for an answer, she yanked Maniac from her chair and dragged her across the room.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Maniac protested, jerking her burnt arm away from Laces. "What?!"
"Do you have any idea what you're doing?" Laces hissed, trying to keep her voice low.
"Eating dinner with a really dull and not understandably arrogant guy?" Maniac offered.
"No!" Laces snapped, hitting her arm again. Maniac held it close to her and scowled.
"That dull guy--" Laces jabbed a finger in Spot's direction, "happens to be the most powerful newsie in Brooklyn! You are supposed to be charming!" she said, aggravated.
Maniac rolled her eyes. "What is this about, Lace? The stupid 'peace treaty'? Wanna make sure the boys stay on our side no matter what?"
Laces sighed. "I like him, okay." she mumbled, barely audible.
"You like Spot?" Maniac pulled a face. "And you want ME to be charming?"
"No!" Laces protested. "I like Jack, alright? I mean, I really like him,"
"Oh!" Maniac understood, smiling. "You really really like him, yeah?"
"Look, Mani, I've been her for five years and I have not yet found any guy that I like as much as him. And Spot and him are like, best friends. If Spot doesn't have a good time, chances are I'm not going to see Jack again. So please just..." she sighed again. "Look, I'll let you off chores for two weeks if you're nice to him."
"It's a done deal." Maniac replied immediately, sticking out her hand. Laces smiled with relief and shook it, giving Maniac one last "You-better- do- this- right" look before joining Jack at a different table, where she immediately started flirting.
Maniac looked over at Spot, who was picking at his food sullenly, and sighed. She practiced smiling really quick and then walked back to him, sitting across from him.
"Isn't this food great?" she asked brightly.
He gave her a weird look and then shrugged. "It's fine."
"Yes well," Maniac said, still beyond cheerful. "I just love these...potato things,"
"I think I liked it better when you didn't talk," Spot replied.
Maniac gritted her teeth and kept quiet. The couples were disappearing together, going to exchange gifts, hang around the city, or for the ones who had really hit it off, to find some privacy.
"You wanna leave?" she asked suddenly.
"I would LOVE to leave," Spot replied, taking it as an invitation.
"Great. Too bad I have to come with you, right?"
Spot glared. "Yeah, too bad."
"Look, I don't want to do this any more than you want to but as soon as we leave the sooner we don't have to see eachother," she smiled oh-so-fake and they walked out of the room, barely hearing Jack and Laces talk about how great it was that they were getting along.
"Yeah right," Maniac muttered under her breath.
"What?" Spot asked.
"Nothing!" She replied. "I didn't say anything."
"Yeah you did!"
"No I didn't! You're hearing things,"
They stepped out into the freezing cold, both shivering. Without a word, they walked down the street and towards Brooklyn.
"What's you name, anyway?" Spot suddenly asked, sounding annoyed.
"Maniac," she replied slowly. "Like you didn't know,"
"Where did you get stuck with such an ugly name?" he asked nastily.
"Ha, where'd ya get stuck with such an ugly face?" she shot back sarcastically.
"Let's just get this whole present thing over with." Spot grumbled. "What did you get me?"
Maniac suddenly went very pale, although it was hard to tell in the dark of the night. She opened her mouth to speak, but luckily she was saved by Hands and her guy, Kid Blink, running up to them, laughing and almost slipping on the ice.
"Mani!" Hands cried, holding onto Blink. "Hey, the Bridge is totally frozen over. We've got a 10 to 1 bet you won't do it,"
"10 to 1? Those odds are terrible! Someone's gonna loose a lot of money," Maniac said with a smile.
"You're gonna do it! Great!" Hands squealed, jumping up and down. Even Blink looked excited.
"Do what?" Spot asked finally out of curiosity. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing you would care about," Maniac said with a wave of her hand. "Look, you can leave, It's fine. I'll send over your gift tomorrow."
"No, no, I think I want to see this," Spot smirked, just going to annoy her.
"Fine. But don't pee your pants, it gets a little intense," she made a face and started walking with Hands and Blink. Her promise to Laces had been completely forgotten with the thrill of doing something daring and stupid.
"You know, even for a girl, you're pretty half-witted," Spot said, catching up with them. Blink gave him a disapproving look but Maniac didn't look bothered at all. She opened her mouth to speak but Hands cut her off, afraid of what would happen if she did retort to Spot.
"So I hear you're from Jersey, Spot," she said, smiling friendly.
"Yeah, Jersey," he confirmed, looking at her smile and wishing he had gotten someone who looked as nice as her, instead of the psycho he was stuck with.
"Maniac's from Maine," she said, trying to find some common ground the two could start from. "Isn't that near Jersey?"
"No I'm not," Maniac replied suddenly, turning to face Hands. "Where'd you get that idea?"
"You're not from Maine?" Hands replied, confused. "I mean, that's what everybody says."
"Oh, well gee. If that's what everyone says." She shrugged, not saying anything else.
Spot gave her a sideways glance. He could tell there was something she wasn't telling them, and if it was anybody else that he could stand he might have bothered to find out.
And come to think of it, if it was anybody else he might have been able to find out. But there was something different about this Maniac girl; she seemed so...cold. Like somebody had just come and sucked out all the affection from her. She was there and she was smiling, but she didn't really care.
He was lost in thought until they reached the bridge, where he was surprised to see just about all the newsies who were at dinner waiting. They cheered when they saw Mani, and she grinned brightly.
"Well I've never done this while it's frozen over, so if I die I expect you all to take your bet money and at least give me a good funeral,"
There was a muffled laugh from her audience, mostly from the girls. The guys were still kind of shocked that anybody, none the less a girl would go through with what they were saying she would.
"And without further adieu," she muttered, hoisting herself onto the railing of the bridge.
"Oh my god, what is she doing?" Spot asked Hands.
"Watch." she replied with a smirk.
And he did, along with the rest of the group.
Slowly she sat on the railing and untied a small rope, about a foot long that was covered in frost and cracked in her hands. She grasped it tightly and then put it around the cable running up the bridge. She took a deep breath and then pushed off with her legs, hanging there off the bridge, with just a small rope to hold her.
"What is she DOING?!" Spot shouted again, taking a step forward. "Get back here! You're going to die!"
Maniac didn't even flinch. She slowly worked her way down the cables a few feet, until she could easily reach the stone archway. She put her feet on it and started to climb down. Everyone was quiet, most clinging onto each other as they watched her.
Finally, she was below the bridge and everyone crowded around to watch. She released her feet and then swung dangerously, once...twice...
And she let go.
The boys gasped, but the girls just smirked and started handing money to each other.
"What the hell?!" Spot shouted at Hands. "What did she just do?!"
"Don't yell at me," Hands rolled her eyes and took a few coins from Legend. "She's underneath the bridge. Two years ago for a dare she climbed underneath, and she does it every now and then to rake in a few bucks. She'll be up in a second,"
Spot stood there, stunned. Never in his life had he seen anybody attempt to do what she did. Finally, there was a shuffle of noise from the side and Maniac reappeared, climbing over the railing.
"How much did I get?" she asked, ignoring the stunned looks the boys were giving her.
"Not enough. You're crazy!" Racetrack piped in, looking impressed.
"Thank you dear," she said, pleased. "Seven?"
"Close to ten dollars. You've gotta start doin' this where there's more crowds," Lucky Seven replied, fidgeting with the money and finally handing it over to Maniac, looking wistful.
Maniac laughed and rubbed her hands against the front of her shirt. They were sore with the blisters from the rope.
"That was...impressive," Spot commented to her. She gave him a sideways glance and shrugged. "How did you do that?"
"Let's call it a night, yeah?" she said in reply. Spot scowled in return.
"Fine. Here's your damn gift," he grabbed a small box from his pocket and tossed it at her, not sticking around to even make sure she caught or opened it.
"I'll send yours over tomorrow," Maniac shouted after him, as he strutted down the ice path.
She looked down at the small box in her hand and put it in her pocket. She'd look at it later. *
Next chapter, affectionately called "Disenchanted" will be posted tomorrow (Tuesday the 17th) After that, "The Dreame" will be up..um, probably Sunday or Monday. I'm on Vacay with the fam until then. Then, "Never you mind," Will be up probably the Wednesday after that.if I get enough reviews. If not, its death to Spot! (haha that rhymed) After that, Im not quite sure, Ive got it written but it needs to be edited and such. Hey..anybody wanna be my beta reader blinks quite innocently eh, just review. Just do it, you heard me! (im serious about the reader thing, email me)
~~
Two newsies stared at each other. Two, completely different, opposite newsies from the other side of the river. One was powerful, capable, strong, respected mostly out of fear. The other lighthearted, bound down to her past yet still free, respected for the fact that she was like nobody anyone had ever seen before. One glared while the other bit her nails, picking at the food that was so carefully prepared for them.
"You know, you eh, you have a little something right there, in between your teeth," Maniac tapped her front teeth and blinked innocently at Spot. They hadn't spoken since the first, "Hi," at the door, when Spot had carefully looked Maniac over, as if appraising her while looking very unhappy indeed. She had rolled her eyes and told him to stop acting like she was a prize, and he had snapped back at her, and so it began.
"And you could stand ta gain a little weight," he retorted, brushing his tongue over his teeth.
"I could say the same to you," Maniac muttered under her breath.
"What?!" Spot snapped.
"I said--"
"Maniac!" Laces said from behind her, smiling at Spot falsely through gritted teeth. "Hey hun, can I talk to you?" without waiting for an answer, she yanked Maniac from her chair and dragged her across the room.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Maniac protested, jerking her burnt arm away from Laces. "What?!"
"Do you have any idea what you're doing?" Laces hissed, trying to keep her voice low.
"Eating dinner with a really dull and not understandably arrogant guy?" Maniac offered.
"No!" Laces snapped, hitting her arm again. Maniac held it close to her and scowled.
"That dull guy--" Laces jabbed a finger in Spot's direction, "happens to be the most powerful newsie in Brooklyn! You are supposed to be charming!" she said, aggravated.
Maniac rolled her eyes. "What is this about, Lace? The stupid 'peace treaty'? Wanna make sure the boys stay on our side no matter what?"
Laces sighed. "I like him, okay." she mumbled, barely audible.
"You like Spot?" Maniac pulled a face. "And you want ME to be charming?"
"No!" Laces protested. "I like Jack, alright? I mean, I really like him,"
"Oh!" Maniac understood, smiling. "You really really like him, yeah?"
"Look, Mani, I've been her for five years and I have not yet found any guy that I like as much as him. And Spot and him are like, best friends. If Spot doesn't have a good time, chances are I'm not going to see Jack again. So please just..." she sighed again. "Look, I'll let you off chores for two weeks if you're nice to him."
"It's a done deal." Maniac replied immediately, sticking out her hand. Laces smiled with relief and shook it, giving Maniac one last "You-better- do- this- right" look before joining Jack at a different table, where she immediately started flirting.
Maniac looked over at Spot, who was picking at his food sullenly, and sighed. She practiced smiling really quick and then walked back to him, sitting across from him.
"Isn't this food great?" she asked brightly.
He gave her a weird look and then shrugged. "It's fine."
"Yes well," Maniac said, still beyond cheerful. "I just love these...potato things,"
"I think I liked it better when you didn't talk," Spot replied.
Maniac gritted her teeth and kept quiet. The couples were disappearing together, going to exchange gifts, hang around the city, or for the ones who had really hit it off, to find some privacy.
"You wanna leave?" she asked suddenly.
"I would LOVE to leave," Spot replied, taking it as an invitation.
"Great. Too bad I have to come with you, right?"
Spot glared. "Yeah, too bad."
"Look, I don't want to do this any more than you want to but as soon as we leave the sooner we don't have to see eachother," she smiled oh-so-fake and they walked out of the room, barely hearing Jack and Laces talk about how great it was that they were getting along.
"Yeah right," Maniac muttered under her breath.
"What?" Spot asked.
"Nothing!" She replied. "I didn't say anything."
"Yeah you did!"
"No I didn't! You're hearing things,"
They stepped out into the freezing cold, both shivering. Without a word, they walked down the street and towards Brooklyn.
"What's you name, anyway?" Spot suddenly asked, sounding annoyed.
"Maniac," she replied slowly. "Like you didn't know,"
"Where did you get stuck with such an ugly name?" he asked nastily.
"Ha, where'd ya get stuck with such an ugly face?" she shot back sarcastically.
"Let's just get this whole present thing over with." Spot grumbled. "What did you get me?"
Maniac suddenly went very pale, although it was hard to tell in the dark of the night. She opened her mouth to speak, but luckily she was saved by Hands and her guy, Kid Blink, running up to them, laughing and almost slipping on the ice.
"Mani!" Hands cried, holding onto Blink. "Hey, the Bridge is totally frozen over. We've got a 10 to 1 bet you won't do it,"
"10 to 1? Those odds are terrible! Someone's gonna loose a lot of money," Maniac said with a smile.
"You're gonna do it! Great!" Hands squealed, jumping up and down. Even Blink looked excited.
"Do what?" Spot asked finally out of curiosity. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing you would care about," Maniac said with a wave of her hand. "Look, you can leave, It's fine. I'll send over your gift tomorrow."
"No, no, I think I want to see this," Spot smirked, just going to annoy her.
"Fine. But don't pee your pants, it gets a little intense," she made a face and started walking with Hands and Blink. Her promise to Laces had been completely forgotten with the thrill of doing something daring and stupid.
"You know, even for a girl, you're pretty half-witted," Spot said, catching up with them. Blink gave him a disapproving look but Maniac didn't look bothered at all. She opened her mouth to speak but Hands cut her off, afraid of what would happen if she did retort to Spot.
"So I hear you're from Jersey, Spot," she said, smiling friendly.
"Yeah, Jersey," he confirmed, looking at her smile and wishing he had gotten someone who looked as nice as her, instead of the psycho he was stuck with.
"Maniac's from Maine," she said, trying to find some common ground the two could start from. "Isn't that near Jersey?"
"No I'm not," Maniac replied suddenly, turning to face Hands. "Where'd you get that idea?"
"You're not from Maine?" Hands replied, confused. "I mean, that's what everybody says."
"Oh, well gee. If that's what everyone says." She shrugged, not saying anything else.
Spot gave her a sideways glance. He could tell there was something she wasn't telling them, and if it was anybody else that he could stand he might have bothered to find out.
And come to think of it, if it was anybody else he might have been able to find out. But there was something different about this Maniac girl; she seemed so...cold. Like somebody had just come and sucked out all the affection from her. She was there and she was smiling, but she didn't really care.
He was lost in thought until they reached the bridge, where he was surprised to see just about all the newsies who were at dinner waiting. They cheered when they saw Mani, and she grinned brightly.
"Well I've never done this while it's frozen over, so if I die I expect you all to take your bet money and at least give me a good funeral,"
There was a muffled laugh from her audience, mostly from the girls. The guys were still kind of shocked that anybody, none the less a girl would go through with what they were saying she would.
"And without further adieu," she muttered, hoisting herself onto the railing of the bridge.
"Oh my god, what is she doing?" Spot asked Hands.
"Watch." she replied with a smirk.
And he did, along with the rest of the group.
Slowly she sat on the railing and untied a small rope, about a foot long that was covered in frost and cracked in her hands. She grasped it tightly and then put it around the cable running up the bridge. She took a deep breath and then pushed off with her legs, hanging there off the bridge, with just a small rope to hold her.
"What is she DOING?!" Spot shouted again, taking a step forward. "Get back here! You're going to die!"
Maniac didn't even flinch. She slowly worked her way down the cables a few feet, until she could easily reach the stone archway. She put her feet on it and started to climb down. Everyone was quiet, most clinging onto each other as they watched her.
Finally, she was below the bridge and everyone crowded around to watch. She released her feet and then swung dangerously, once...twice...
And she let go.
The boys gasped, but the girls just smirked and started handing money to each other.
"What the hell?!" Spot shouted at Hands. "What did she just do?!"
"Don't yell at me," Hands rolled her eyes and took a few coins from Legend. "She's underneath the bridge. Two years ago for a dare she climbed underneath, and she does it every now and then to rake in a few bucks. She'll be up in a second,"
Spot stood there, stunned. Never in his life had he seen anybody attempt to do what she did. Finally, there was a shuffle of noise from the side and Maniac reappeared, climbing over the railing.
"How much did I get?" she asked, ignoring the stunned looks the boys were giving her.
"Not enough. You're crazy!" Racetrack piped in, looking impressed.
"Thank you dear," she said, pleased. "Seven?"
"Close to ten dollars. You've gotta start doin' this where there's more crowds," Lucky Seven replied, fidgeting with the money and finally handing it over to Maniac, looking wistful.
Maniac laughed and rubbed her hands against the front of her shirt. They were sore with the blisters from the rope.
"That was...impressive," Spot commented to her. She gave him a sideways glance and shrugged. "How did you do that?"
"Let's call it a night, yeah?" she said in reply. Spot scowled in return.
"Fine. Here's your damn gift," he grabbed a small box from his pocket and tossed it at her, not sticking around to even make sure she caught or opened it.
"I'll send yours over tomorrow," Maniac shouted after him, as he strutted down the ice path.
She looked down at the small box in her hand and put it in her pocket. She'd look at it later. *
Next chapter, affectionately called "Disenchanted" will be posted tomorrow (Tuesday the 17th) After that, "The Dreame" will be up..um, probably Sunday or Monday. I'm on Vacay with the fam until then. Then, "Never you mind," Will be up probably the Wednesday after that.if I get enough reviews. If not, its death to Spot! (haha that rhymed) After that, Im not quite sure, Ive got it written but it needs to be edited and such. Hey..anybody wanna be my beta reader blinks quite innocently eh, just review. Just do it, you heard me! (im serious about the reader thing, email me)