"Free at last," I murmured as I left school the next afternoon.

"Hey, Erin." I turned to see Jack trotting up the sidewalk. "Want to come to Tibby's with us?"

I frowned. "Can't. If I'm not home in ten minutes, my brother will send out a search party."

"You sure?" I nodded. "Alright then see you at the dance tomorrow."

"Bye." With a smile, I turned and headed for home.

I lay on my bed reading later that afternoon when Riona's voice rang happily through the house. "Hello! Anyone home?"

I set down my book and darted down the stairs. When I reached the foyer, Ma and Da were already fussing around her.

She snuck away from them and pulled me into a hug, whispering in my ear, "I need to talk to Ma and Da alone. Why don't you go for a little walk?"

When she pulled back, she motioned to the front window. I followed her glance until my eyes fell on a familiar hat and glasses. I smiled at my sister before announcing to my parents that I was leaving.

"Long time no see," I teased as I closed the front door closed behind me.

"Well," Specs began, taking a step closer to me, "Queeny said that you might have a little time on your hands, so." He leaned closer, placing a sweet kiss on my lips.

"Come on," I said when we parted, taking his hand. "Now I'll take you on my tour of the city."

As we walked around uptown Manhattan, I pointed out random sites. Ten minutes later, we were standing in front of McCaffery's Finishing School.

"This is where you go to school?" he asked in astonishment.

I rolled my eyes. "Unfortunately."

He grinned. "Finishing school, huh? So aren't you supposed to be refined?"

"I am," I defended in mock snobbery.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and leaned close. "Then what are you doing with a newsie."

Without responding, I let my lips find his, losing myself in the kiss.

"Hey street rat, what do you think that you are doing?"

I didn't even have to turn around to know who was taunting us: Whesley. Specs, who was facing him, turned beet red with frustration. He went to take a step in Whesley's direction, but I tightened my grip on his arm. "He's not worth it."

"Get out of here little newsie boy!"

Rolling my eyes, I spun around. Once I did, my jaw dropped. Standing there next to Whesley was none other than my brother.

"Did you hear me, street rat? Get yourself a date with one of your own kind."

Specs dropped my hand, taking a few steps in Whesley's direction. "You didn't seem to feel that way when you were after Queeny!"

Whesley's features hardened. "She wasn't really one of you, now was she?"

Before anyone could say anything, Donavon's eyebrows shot up. "The newsgirl you were talking about was my sister!?"

It had obviously taken my brother a long time to put the pieces together, once he had, Whesley's confident expression faded. A split second later, Donavon's fist shot up from his side and connected with his friend's jaw. The sound of his fist connecting with the bone made me cringe.

Whesley sulked away, holding his jaw in pain.

"I want to apologize for how I have acted the last few days. I had a bad influence." My brother pointed down the street toward Whesley. He then extended a shaky hand toward Specs. "I'm Donavon."

Specs shot me a nervous glance before shaking his hand. "Specs. Nice to meet ya."

They both smiles and the three of us headed back toward the house, chatting away. As we approached the front porch, Specs stopped walking. "Hey I got an idea. Donavon, you should come to a dance that we're havin tomorrow night. See what newsies are really like."

Donavon considered it for a moment. "Will there be girls?"

"Of course," Specs said, chuckling. "Wherever there's newsies, there's always plenty of pretty girls."

"Count me in," my brother replied.

As I rolled my eyes, Riona bounded out the door. "Oh, there you are! I was just on my way out. Come on Specs, Jack wanted us back at the lodging house to help almost ten minutes ago."

"Right." He kissed me on the cheek quickly and started back. "See you tomorrow."

"I really have to go," Riona said, hugging us each goodbye quickly before following Specs. "I'll see you in the morning, Erin!"

"What-" I started, but she had already turned the corner.

"What was that all about?" Donavon asked, staring after her.

I sighed. "I have no idea, but I doubt that I will enjoy it."

The next morning, I woke up to a vaguely familiar face standing over me.

"Morning sleepy head." I heard in a thick Brooklyn accent. "Thought that you might want to come sellin with me and Queeny today. See what its like to be a real newsie."

I was so tired that none of what he was saying was making any sense. "Huh?"

Just then, Riona materialized beside Spot. "Come on, Erin. Get dressed."

A few minutes later, I was appropriately dressed and walking down the street sluggishly behind the other two. When we reached the distribution center, I was amazed to see just how many newsies there really were in Manhattan. They poured into the square, clumping into smaller groups as they scanned through the papers.

Spot and Riona trotted over to Jack and a few of the newsies that I had me the previous day. When they got close enough, Spot spit in his hand and extended it to Jack, who did the same. "How's the headlines Jacky-boy?"

"Could be bettah." Jack then shifted his gaze to me. "Hello again. Your big sis showing you the ropes?"

"I guess," I said, still wiping the sleep from my eyes.

He grinned. "Well then, we'd better find you a newsie name. Seein as you're gonna be sellin and all."

"She's already got one, Cowboy," Dutchy called from a few feet away. "Specs calls her princess."

All the boys started laughing and I looked up to see a very red-faced Specs standing beside his friends. Before I had the chance to say so much as a hello to him, Jack called out to the group. "Let's get to sellin, boys!"

Riona nudged him.

"Sorry, Queeny." Jack smiled. "And girls."

She nodded in approval and we started into the streets. I spent all morning and part of the afternoon watching Riona and Spot as their stacks of papers shrank fro one hundred a piece to zero. By the time that Riona had finished selling her papers, it was nearly four o'clock.

While the boys headed back to the lodging house to make final preparations for the dance, Riona and I started uptown to make preparations of our own.

"I can't believe that this still fits," Riona remarked, buttoning the front of an emerald dress that she had found in her old trunk.

I glanced up at her from my seat in front of the vanity mirror. "Were you expecting it not to?"

"You never know." She shrugged, moving behind me to examine herself in the mirror.

I chuckled and reached for a pin to secure the bun in my hair. "I guess so."

"Leave it down," she said, running her fingers through my sandy brown hair. "You look beautiful."

"But, that's improper, Riona."

She scoffed. "Erin, it's only the newsies. They aren't exactly concerned with propriety."

I glanced up at my reflection, biting my lip. My hair hung in wavy curls past my shoulders. Before I could reconsider, I returned the pin to the surface of the vanity. "Why not?"

"Besides," she continued, "I know at least one newsie who won't mind."

I could feel the blush rising in my cheeks.

"Look how smitten you are," Riona said more seriously, taking a seat on the bed behind me.

I bit my lip and turned to face her. "I think that I love him, Riona."

Her eyes grew wide. "But you've only known him for two days!"

"So," I defended, "Look at Romeo and Juliet. They only spoke twice before they were married."

"Erin, they killed themselves at the end of the play," she pointed out.

I sighed. "Yes, but it is still considered the greatest love story of all time."

"Be careful, ok?" She gave me a quick hug. "I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"I'll be fine. I promise."

Just then, the bell rang out through the house.

"Ready?" Riona asked, checking her reflection once more.

"Let's go."

"Girls," Donavon called up the stairs, "Specs and Spot are here!"

"We're comin, keep your shirt on!" Riona retorted. I shot her a disapproving glance. "What? I've been living with newsies."

We burst into peals of laughter as we descended the stairs.