Disclaimer: All of the original newsies belong to Disney, and the chapter quotes are from the poem "If---" which belongs to Rudyard Kipling and was copied out of Read-Aloud Poems for Young People. I own Leprechaun, Sweetheart, Sketch, Demon, Refugee, Pepper, Jungle, Trickster, Newsprint, Sparrow, Switchblade, James McLaws, and Benjamin "Bricks" Saunders. Ruby and Ketchy's is an actual diner near Morgantown, West Virginia.
To Sureshot Higgins:
Here are the answers (in order) to the questions in you review:
1. You'll find out in this chapter.
2. You won't find out for a few more chapters.
3. See the answer to question number one.
4. Probably.
Thanks for the reviews!
A/N: Sorry it took so long to update! School gets out for me on June 3, updates should be much more frequent after that. Read and review, please!
"If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,"
Racetrack watched as Kid Blink, Leprechaun, and Jack began the walk toward Brooklyn. He had been harsh to Leprechaun yesterday, but secretly he still wanted her back. He just had to make sure that everything she'd said was true, that there was nothing going on between Leprechaun and Spot. And there was only one way to find out for sure.
As Blink, Lep, and Jack turned a corner, Racetrack crept from his hiding place behind a building. He followed the threesome to the Brooklyn docks where Spot's newsies were returning after selling the evening edition. Spot, as always, was on his perch.
When he saw Leprechaun, Spot glared. "So you finally came back," he said. "After you ran away, lied, and acted like a childish coward."
"Spot," Leprechaun began timidly, staring at her shoes, "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you, I shouldn't have run away, and I shouldn't have lied to the other newsies."
"Yeah, that's right," Spot agreed. "You shouldn't have done any of that crap. And you definitely should have found a better way to get your message across to Race."
From his hiding place, Racetrack grinned. Here was the part he had been waiting for. Now Spot would start shouting at Leprechaun and Leprechaun would run away crying, right into Racetrack's waiting arms, and she and Racetrack would finally be together again.
So it came as a real shock to Racetrack when Spot said, "But I still wouldn't have given that kiss up for anything. You're a pretty good kisser, Lep." Leprechaun blushed as Jack, Kid Blink, Spot, and various Brooklyn newsies began to chuckle.
"So, no hard feelings, Spot?" Jack asked, trying to control his laughter at Leprechaun's obvious embarrassment.
"No hard feelings, Jacky-boy," Spot agreed. He spit in his hand, held it out to Jack, and they shook.
"Same here, Spot," Kid Blink added, and they also shook. Their conversation turned toward the day's headlines and the new show at Medda's.
Racetrack watched the scene in horror. This wasn't supposed to happen! They weren't supposed to forgive Leprechaun, and Spot was definitely NOT supposed to call Lep a good kisser! Racetrack turned away and began to run toward Manhattan---he had to tell the newsies that what Leprechaun had said yesterday wasn't true. There was definitely something going on between her and Spot.
Oblivious to Racetrack, Leprechaun left Spot to find Demon, and Jack and Kid Blink decided to return to Manhattan.
* Back at the Manhattan Newsboys Lodging House. *
"I'm telling you, it's the truth!" Racetrack proclaimed to a group of newsies. "Spot said that she was a GOOD KISSER. Now how could you tell that from just one kiss?"
"Uh, maybe he was just joking, Race," Mush suggested meekly.
"Yeah, that's what Blink and Jack thought, too," Race said angrily. "But I know what I'm saying. Lep probably has it all planned out. First, she'll apologize to keep all the Manhattan newsies fooled, then she'll become friends with Spot again, and then they can kiss all they want!"
"Race!" Jack exclaimed, walking into the bunkroom with Kid Blink. "How the heck did you know what Spot said to Leprechaun?"
Racetrack looked a little surprised that Jack and Blink had returned so soon, but he managed to reply, "Because I followed you! I knew Lep was lying, and I wanted proof. And now I have it!"
"Race, it was just a joke," Jack said, trying to calm him down. "Nothing else. We believe that, most of these other newsies believe that, why can't you?"
"Because I dated her!" Race shouted. "And I know what a two-faced, childish, scummy---"
"What?" Leprechaun shouted, appearing in the bunkroom with Demon behind her. "What else am I, Race? I apologized to you; I apologized to all of you. Race is the liar here. HE was the one that followed us to Brooklyn tonight to eavesdrop. HE'S the one telling you stupid stories just so that you'll like him instead of me. And if you believe him, you are the most stupid, idiotic newsies in New York!" The newsies, including Racetrack, could only stare at Leprechaun's outburst. "Come on, Demon," Leprechaun said. "Let's just go to the girls' lodge. I don't want to be any where near all these scabs."
To Sureshot Higgins:
Here are the answers (in order) to the questions in you review:
1. You'll find out in this chapter.
2. You won't find out for a few more chapters.
3. See the answer to question number one.
4. Probably.
Thanks for the reviews!
A/N: Sorry it took so long to update! School gets out for me on June 3, updates should be much more frequent after that. Read and review, please!
"If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,"
Racetrack watched as Kid Blink, Leprechaun, and Jack began the walk toward Brooklyn. He had been harsh to Leprechaun yesterday, but secretly he still wanted her back. He just had to make sure that everything she'd said was true, that there was nothing going on between Leprechaun and Spot. And there was only one way to find out for sure.
As Blink, Lep, and Jack turned a corner, Racetrack crept from his hiding place behind a building. He followed the threesome to the Brooklyn docks where Spot's newsies were returning after selling the evening edition. Spot, as always, was on his perch.
When he saw Leprechaun, Spot glared. "So you finally came back," he said. "After you ran away, lied, and acted like a childish coward."
"Spot," Leprechaun began timidly, staring at her shoes, "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you, I shouldn't have run away, and I shouldn't have lied to the other newsies."
"Yeah, that's right," Spot agreed. "You shouldn't have done any of that crap. And you definitely should have found a better way to get your message across to Race."
From his hiding place, Racetrack grinned. Here was the part he had been waiting for. Now Spot would start shouting at Leprechaun and Leprechaun would run away crying, right into Racetrack's waiting arms, and she and Racetrack would finally be together again.
So it came as a real shock to Racetrack when Spot said, "But I still wouldn't have given that kiss up for anything. You're a pretty good kisser, Lep." Leprechaun blushed as Jack, Kid Blink, Spot, and various Brooklyn newsies began to chuckle.
"So, no hard feelings, Spot?" Jack asked, trying to control his laughter at Leprechaun's obvious embarrassment.
"No hard feelings, Jacky-boy," Spot agreed. He spit in his hand, held it out to Jack, and they shook.
"Same here, Spot," Kid Blink added, and they also shook. Their conversation turned toward the day's headlines and the new show at Medda's.
Racetrack watched the scene in horror. This wasn't supposed to happen! They weren't supposed to forgive Leprechaun, and Spot was definitely NOT supposed to call Lep a good kisser! Racetrack turned away and began to run toward Manhattan---he had to tell the newsies that what Leprechaun had said yesterday wasn't true. There was definitely something going on between her and Spot.
Oblivious to Racetrack, Leprechaun left Spot to find Demon, and Jack and Kid Blink decided to return to Manhattan.
* Back at the Manhattan Newsboys Lodging House. *
"I'm telling you, it's the truth!" Racetrack proclaimed to a group of newsies. "Spot said that she was a GOOD KISSER. Now how could you tell that from just one kiss?"
"Uh, maybe he was just joking, Race," Mush suggested meekly.
"Yeah, that's what Blink and Jack thought, too," Race said angrily. "But I know what I'm saying. Lep probably has it all planned out. First, she'll apologize to keep all the Manhattan newsies fooled, then she'll become friends with Spot again, and then they can kiss all they want!"
"Race!" Jack exclaimed, walking into the bunkroom with Kid Blink. "How the heck did you know what Spot said to Leprechaun?"
Racetrack looked a little surprised that Jack and Blink had returned so soon, but he managed to reply, "Because I followed you! I knew Lep was lying, and I wanted proof. And now I have it!"
"Race, it was just a joke," Jack said, trying to calm him down. "Nothing else. We believe that, most of these other newsies believe that, why can't you?"
"Because I dated her!" Race shouted. "And I know what a two-faced, childish, scummy---"
"What?" Leprechaun shouted, appearing in the bunkroom with Demon behind her. "What else am I, Race? I apologized to you; I apologized to all of you. Race is the liar here. HE was the one that followed us to Brooklyn tonight to eavesdrop. HE'S the one telling you stupid stories just so that you'll like him instead of me. And if you believe him, you are the most stupid, idiotic newsies in New York!" The newsies, including Racetrack, could only stare at Leprechaun's outburst. "Come on, Demon," Leprechaun said. "Let's just go to the girls' lodge. I don't want to be any where near all these scabs."