Disclaimer: I don't own newsies. Damn it all.

A/N: From here on it's the POV of the new girl, who's one of my characters. Oh, and I also want to say that I'm a lying bitch and I'm taking pretty much anyone who wants to be in it. Woo. Until the 18th. Cause then I'm going on vacay and I'll be writing a lot, and I won't be able to check e- mail for any bios. Oh, yeah and this fic was inspired by Piano Man and one of Lois Duncan's books. I shall not tell because it will give away my doozy. Hehehe doozy.

Ravy, I'm not an idiot.okay maybe I am a little! I could have sworn I uploaded this chapter before, though!

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I had been warned when I started this job that it may take my new co- workers a little while to warm up to me. I had also been told that they would be a little surprised when I walked in.

That taught me that authority figures often scale events down so they become something that could be thought of as- oh what is it again? Oh yeah. A blatant lie.

When I walked through the door of MacKenna's Brewery, the entire establishment fell silent. They all sat wearing their strange turn-of-the century clothes, frozen while playing cards, drinking or delivering drinks. One girl even dropped her tray, barely even noticing the shattered glass and alcohol that was now strewn across the floor- making quite a beautiful design, I may add.

So now I stand here, at least thirty pairs of eyes either glaring at me like I bring the plague or staring as if I had sprouted three heads and proceeded to do the Macarena. And all I could do was squeak a small "Hi."

I didn't get a reply, so I continued. "Uh...um... I'm supposed to be working here?" I said, my tone making it a question.

A dark-haired girl behind the bar spoke up. "You'd have to talk to our floor manager."

I waited for a second, but she didn't say anything else. "Well, uh, who's the floor manager?" I asked, shooting a nervous glance at a short, brown haired girl on my left who was eyeing me in a way that gave me the feeling she was mentally taking measurements for my coffin.

The bartender sighed. "Lute!" she shouted towards the back. "Lute, get up here!"

"What do you want, Raven?" A rather stocky girl with short brown hair walks out the back. Her perfect posture makes me shift my weight from my usual slouch.

"Person." Raven replied, practically glaring at me through black eyes.

"Calm down, kid." Lute says, slapping the bar counter as she walks by. "Everybody, get back to what you were doing. It's just a human. "

A red haired girl rolls her eyes, and grabs a tray of drinks. At her movement everyone else goes back to what they were doing, minus that psycho girl who's STILL glaring at me.

"Shamrock, clean up that mess you made." Lute ordered as she stopped in front of me. She looked at me for a moment, calculating, then extended her hand. "I'm Lute McDonaghey."

"Watch out, Lute. You don't know where that's been."

Ah, psycho girl finally speaks.

"Oracle, be nice."

The girl glared at me and Lute in turn, then muttered "I'm always nice."

Lute just shook her head as Oracle walked away. "She's probably the worst one you'll have to deal with here. She's not good around new people."

"Yeah. I figured."

"So who are you, anyway?" Lute asks me, walking around the bar, grabbing a jar of whisky and pouring herself a shot.

"Kyle Burke." I say, my name pronounced Kay-lee.

Lute frowns. "How do you spell that?"

"K-y-l-e."

"Isn't that a boy's name?"

"Only if you want on my bad side." I growl. She ignores the threat in my answer.

"Anyway, kid, what are you doing here?"

I blinked at her. "Uh...I've been hired for a job."

"Yeah. So you've told me." She says, slightly annoyed. "But what is your job?"

"She was probably hired to show us what freaks we really are." Raven grumbles from where she was pouring a glass of bourbon for an Asian guy sitting at the bar.

"We're not freaks." he said. "Well, at least I'm not. Can't say that about you, Raven." he grinned as Raven muttered obscene comments under her breath and turned her attention to another customer.

"Sure." A blonde said, shooting me a look as she grabbed a martini. "Enjoy your delusions, boy."

Lute nodded towards them. "Swifty and Jackal." she said. "Jackal's best friends with your new buddy Oracle, and Swifty...well, he knows her well, too."

Swifty grinned at this as Lute shook her head slowly.

"So you gonna answer my question, kid, or do I have to guess?" Lute asked, drinking down her second shot.

"I'm serving tables." I responded quickly.

Lute cocked an eyebrow. "We already have enough girls serving tables." she gestured around the room towards about seven other girls. "And that's not even all of them."

"I'm telling you, Lute, she's another one of Pultizer's lessons." Swifty said. "Your boss has a twisted sense of humor."

Lute ignored him. "Girls! Come here!" she bellowed out to the room. The waitresses all filed over. "Where'd Oracle go?" she asked after surveying the small crowd.

"She went in the back with Snoddy or Pie or someone like that." Jackal said non-chalantly.

Lute shook her head. "Don't know what we're gonna do with that girl." she muttered.

"Anyway," she said loudly. "Girls, this here is Kyle Burke." She pointed to a girl with short blonde hair and glasses. "That's Books Stelzerrn." Next was a tall brown-haired girl with blue eyes and a necklace with a clover or something on it. I failed my horticulture class last year, I might add. "She's Shamrock." Lute nodded towards a girl with curly blonde hair that was even shorter than Oracle. "Wild Card Baglee" And finally there was a tan girl with brown hair, who was introduced as Demon. The only demons I know, though, are my neighbor's tabby cat and Sociopath Oracle and I'm not too sure on the latter. She may just be a nutcase. Her friend, Jackal, stood with us too, and I shifted my weight as she gave me a look.

"Wait. Where's Enchanted?"

Books sighed. "She's off. Her shift ended about." She checked the clock on the wall, squinting to read it in the near darkness. "Forty seconds ago."

Lute sighed. "That's the only thing the girl's on time for."

I watched Oracle side up to the small crowd, taking a spot next to Jackal. Lute's eyes narrowed in on her.

"What?" She asked, an innocent expression on her face. "I was here the entire time!"

"Right." Lute said at the same time Jackal asked "Who was it?"

"Huh?"

Jackal rolled her eyes at her friend. "You know. Who was it?"

A small smile broke out on Oracle's face. "Snoddy."

Jackal let out a whoop of mirth. "Pay up, Demon", she said, holding out her palm. Demon sighed and slapped a pile of bills into the blonde's hand.

Oracle frowned. "You bettin' on me?"

"Yup." The two girls said simultaneously.

"I feel violated." Oracle quipped. A couple girls chuckled at the apparent (to them) irony of the statement, but when I joined them, Oracle's gray eyes narrowed in on me like a sniper's.

"You're still here."

"I work here."

"Since when?" Damn, would that girl ever stop glaring at me?

"Since today."

"I don't like you."

I shrugged. "Frankly, missy, I don't give a damn."

Oracle cocked an eyebrow. "Fair enou-" she stopped when notes came from the piano. We all turned towards the sound, to where a tall, dark-haired young man sat at the piano. There were some intro chords, then he began to sing.

"Trapped in time; lose your faith,

Don't bother to find what fate misplaced

Stolen life; erased dreams

Immortality ain't all it seems

Cursed gifts

Twist of fate

Gold fades to iron

Treasured no more

Luck falls-

Death's lost-"

Lute's attention swerved away from Snoddy's one man show. She waved her hand, motioning for me to follow her. She led me to the back of the building, opening a door to reveal a staircase. I trudged up the narrow stairs, and when we reached the landing at the top, she began to talk again.

"Kyle, your room's at the end of the hall." She said, walking down and opening said door. "Smartass, get the hell up, your shift started two minutes ago."

I walked in, and my eyes widened as I beheld a room with oak floors, oak furniture and velvet canopy beds.

"Lemme alone." , something that appears to be a pile of light brown hair grumbles.

Lute walks over and hits her with a pillow. "Avani Matterazzo, get the hell out of bed."

"Fine, mother." The girl sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Smartass, this is your new roommate, Kyle."

"Huh?"

"Kyle. K-y-l-e."

"Isn't that a boy's name?"

"Yes." I said dryly. "Yes, it's a boy's name and I'm a drag queen but shush, don't tell anyone 'cause it's a secret."

Smartass glared at me. "No need to get fresh, it was an innocent question."

Lute snorted, and Smartass grinned.

"Well, I-"

She was interrupted by a loud bag coming from the hallway. Smartass's grin widened. "It's probably Oracle again."

"Pervert!" Oracle's voice came from outside.

Lute shook her head and opened the door, revealing Oracle and Jackal attempting to drag an unconscious boy down the hall.

Oracle was bent over his head, examining a bruise forming on his forehead. "I think you broke him."

"I didn't break him! And it was your fault!"

"No it wasn't! It was your fault! You dropped him!"

Lute crossed her arms. "What the hell did you two do to Spot?"

"We didn't do anything to him! He got drunk and passed out." Jackal protested.

Oracle shook her head slowly, looking at Spot fondly. "Stupid boy can't take care of himself."

Lute stared down at them. "So you're dragging an unconscious Spot Conlon down the hall to your bedroom?"

Oracle shrugged. "You put it that way and it sounds dirty."

Lute shook her head. "Come on, kid, we're going back downstairs. Snoddy's done, right?" she said, addressing the last part back to Oracle and Jackal.

"Yup." Jackal said.

"Fun." Oracle agreed, grunting as she lifted Spot's shoulders. "Grab his legs, Jackal."

She stood and came eye- to-eye with me as I crept out the bedroom door.

"You livin' here, too?"

Lute butted into the conversation before I could respond. "Everyone lives here, Oracle."

"But she isn't one of us." Oracle growled, glaring at me.

I glared back. "Why would I want to be one of you? Especially with yourself as a prime example?"

Oracle frowned, her face drawn blank. "Huh?"

Lute snorted. "You can't use big words while insulting Oracle. It doesn't work. Especially if she's drunk."

Lute ushered me down the stairs before Oracle could say anything else.

"Get one of the trays on the bar and bring it to whatever table it belongs to. The tables are numbered, and there should be a matching number on the tray."

I stood in the middle of the floor, eyes wide.

"Well?" Lute snapped. "What are you waiting for, kiddo, go serve drinks. That's what your paid to do."

I swallowed and grabbed a tray.

"Here I go." I muttered. God, I hope no one kills me.

These people are psycho.

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Wheee.Couldn't end the story so I just threw that on.makes me angry but I got ideas for the next chappie. Woo. Anyways, here I go. Klover owns Shamrock, Thumbsucker Snitch owns Lute, uh Demon owns Demon, Wild Card owns Wild Card, Raven owns Raven, Jackal owns Jackal, Artimis-chan owns Books, Katie owns Enchanted, SmartassLeprechaun owns Smartass. Hmm I'm pretty sure that's it so far but if I missed anyone I'm sorry and I'll say ya next chapter. Woo.

If I did your character wrong, just talk to me about it and I'll fix it, Okie day? Okie day.WOO I'm hyper. WHEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeee. *dances around*

Okie Dokie I gotta do some shoutouts caue I have no life and I'm putting off cleaning my room cause I think something dies in there O.o

DemonBlood: Thankies. I like the title too, fun fun. It comes more into play later.woooooOOooo.

Raven: I'm just gonna shake my head and sigh. *shakes head* *sighs*

Polecat: Wheee yeah I'm all out of Gobestoppers, and it makes me REALLY REALLY sad. Really sad. Maybe I'll just bribe you to read more by tempting you with the 'stoppers.