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by:Soaker

rating: PG, fine family entertainment

disclaimer: I don't own newsies. All the characters from the movie belong to the Disney company. All the other characters belong to themselves. 

Chapter One: Solitude

            "I'm so bored!" I thought to myself, while staring out the window. I wasn't allowed to have friends and I wasn't even allowed to have people know about me, so watching the people who walked past my house became a daily ritual. Well…I was allowed to have one friend, a girl named Elizabeth, whom I had always called "Bitsy". Her father was my daddy's partner. She was the only person my age that knew I existed.

            Elizabeth and I never really got along, but since she was the only person who would talk to me, I had spent most of my youth with her. The year before, she had been extra pushy, and one day I just snapped. I hit her hard right across the back of her head, and she hadn't talked to me since. I smiled at the memory, and continued to stare out my window, at the short, female newsie selling papers on the corner. She had brown hair, and looked no taller than me. In fact, we looked a lot a like, same color hair, and same stature. I wished that I could be out there with her, instead of being locked in my house, as usual, waiting for my dad to come home from work, so that I could have some kind of company in the house.

            My father had some sort of job for the government; I wasn't allowed to know any details. He'd get paranoid over it though, so I wasn't allowed to go to school, or have a tutor. We didn't even have a housekeeper or butler. We were the only people on the street without either. I'd learned that watching my neighbor's houses through my window. I didn't know anyone's name though. Sometimes I'd make up names when I was bored. My eyes wandered back to the newsie on the corner.

            I watched her sell papers for the next hour before getting bored with it. I walked into our library, and picked up my favorite book Pride and Prejudice. I was only a couple pages into the story when there was a knock on the door. Unsure of what to do, I cautiously walked down the hall to the front door, and looked out the window. It was the newsgirl!! Slowly, I opened the door.

            "I'm sorry to bug you, miss, but I saw you watching me this morning. I was wondering if you needed something," she said hesitantly. I noticed that she had finished selling.

            "No, I, um, just had nothing else to do with my day," I answered, just as unsure as she seemed to be.

            "That's so sad!" she exclaimed, not seeming hesitant anymore. "What's your name?"

            "Daphne. What's yours?" She hesitated a second before answering.

            "My name is Dawn."

            "Well, my dad should be here soon. I'll see you later," I said, looking around, making sure he wasn't already coming. She nodded an "ok", and I shut the door as she walked down the front steps.

            No more than ten minutes later, Daddy came home. With him was his partner, Jonathan. They automatically walked into Daddy's office in the back of our giant house. I went back to the library, and continued reading Pride and Prejudice until it was time for me to start making dinner. After dinner, I went to bed. Thus ending my daily routine. The only thing that had ever changed in it was Dawn coming to the door.

            Over the next couple months, Dawn continued to visit me daily. We'd talk about everything; her crushes, and escapades as a newsie. We talked about the "days out" that daddy would let me have once a month. When I told her about slapping Elizabeth, she started calling me "Soaker", but I didn't know what she meant by that. She told me about the strike she'd participated in the month before, about the rally that she went to, and the speeches that were given there.

            Dawn was quickly becoming my only friend, besides Elizabeth, but I guess she never really counted as a friend. I loved being able to talk to her, but wasn't used to it. One day, she asked me about my family. I told her that all I had was a daddy. I'd never known my mother, and daddy was too busy for me. In return, she told me about how she became a newsie.

            That day, after Dawn left, Jonathan came to the house without my daddy. He led me down to Daddy's office. He then sat me down on a chair. I looked around, having never been allowed in the office. Jonathan looked uncomfortable.

            "Daphne. Your father was killed today at work, and I'm willing to take you in. Your father left a will, so you'll get his money when you turn eighteen." He paused, taking a piece of paper out of his bag. "I know that it is a lot to think about. Here's something that he left for you. I'll give you until tonight to think about it."