Title: Fiver's Follies
Author: Noodle
Contact: dino91284@aol.com
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Ehh… Read and learn.
Dedication: This is dedicated to Katie alias Fiver, because she told me to write her a story, and I am her bitch. (Joking) But I like the character of Fiver, and Katie is Fiver, so, there ya go.
Chapter One
Fiver stood defiantly in the middle of the sidewalk, making an unspoken challenge to New York to throw it's best at her. She was perfectly still until a lanky redhead came hurtling around the corner, and plowed into her. Suddenly, she was flat on her back. Was this New York answering her challenge?
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Fiver spat at the girl, as she stood back up and dusted herself off. The girl was very disoriented, and scratched her head shrugging. Her face was ghostly pale in the soft moonlight, and dappled with freckles.
Fiver growled. "Not talkin', huh?"
The girl looked at her and shrugged again.
"Can you talk at all?" she asked, less anger in her voice.
"Of course, I'm not stupid," the girl said, "I was waiting for you to calm down."
Fiver's face reddened with a mixture of rage and embarrassment. "But- What- Who- Err… what I mean to say, is just what do you think you're doing?" she repeated, sputtering. Her knuckles were turning white from how tightly she clenched her fists.
The girl gave her a long look, as if to make it obvious that she didn't respond to angry threats. The color returned to Fiver's knuckles, and her breathing became less erratic as she mellowed. "Thank you. To answer your question, I was running from some shady characters. And it won't be long until they find us here. So it'd be in our best interest if we went to my lodging house," the girl said.
Fiver looked the girl over. She was wearing dirty pants that were too short for her, and black suspenders over a shabby pinstriped shirt. Her hands were covered in newsprint, she wasn't wearing shoes, and her hair was pulled back in a loose bun. "You? Have a lodging house?" she asked, trying not to laugh.
The girl laughed at Fiver. "Don't be daft. I live in a building with a bunch of other newsies. So are you coming or not?" she said, the smile fading from her freckled face. She looked nervously down the alley to her left.
"Do I really have a choice?" Fiver replied.
Heavy footsteps and unintelligible shouting seemed to surround the two girls. The redhead grabbed Fiver's wrist and started running down the street. She obviously knew exactly where she was going, whereas Fiver did not.
"Where are you taking me?" Fiver said. Her voice was choppy from her rough footfalls.
"Home!" was the reply.
"Hey, what's your name?" she shouted.
"No time for formal introductions, call me Noodle," the redhead called back. "Let's get moving, we're not out of the woods yet."
*********
For this week, anyway, home happened to be a boathouse in Brooklyn. From the outside, it looked as sturdy as a house of cards in a hurricane, but on the inside, it was surprisingly cozy. It provided a safe place for the newsies to swim, in any kind of weather, if they felt so inclined to. The adjoining house, once a shelter for shipmates, now housed newsies of all kinds.
"-What- is that smell?" Fiver asked as they approached their destination.
"Smell?" asked Noodle, sniffing the air.
"Yeah. Smells like something… dead. Or worse," Fiver said, covering her nose with her shirt.
"Oh, that's the river. You'll get used to it." She shrugged, and advanced towards a doorway. The door was slightly ajar, and a cacophony of voices could be heard.
"I ain't cheatin! Tell 'im Dodger," a voice shouted above the din.
Noodle grinned mischievously. "Home sweet home," she said, pushing the door open. A bare light bulb hung from the low ceiling above a table. The table was surrounded by newsies sitting on everything from an overstuffed chair, to an apple crate. A roguishly handsome young man was holding back two younger newsies; apparently the accuser and the accusee.
"Looks… nice," said Fiver, unconvincingly.
"Hey Dodge, got a minute?" Noodle called. The attractive young man glanced at the two of them, then gave Noodle a discouraging look. He took the cards from the hands of the feuding newsies, and approached the girls.
"Noodle," he greeted her, smiling and nodding curtly.
"Dodger, this is… Say, what -is- your name?"
"Fiver," she supplied.
"Nice to meet you, Fiver, is it?" Dodger said. "Give us a minute, will ya?"
Fiver obliged, and took the seat that Dodger had just vacated, between the fighting newsies, who were currently staring daggers at one another through her. "Excuse me," she said to the one to her left.
He looked up, startled. "Whaddaya want?" he growled.
"I want you two to stop your petty fighting. It's bothersome. Yes. I'm bothered," Fiver snapped back at him.
"Bothered? That's an unusual name fa' dese parts," the newsie to her right said, laughing. Fiver rolled her eyes at him.
" My name is not 'Bothered'. My name is Fiver," she said. "And you are?" she added, as an afterthought.
"Scamp. Onna counna my impish charm," he said, kissing her hand.
SMACK
"Ya din't haveta slap me…" he mumbled, defeated.
"I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often," she drawled.
"Fiver, huh? I'm Scout. Scamp an' me 're twins," the newsie to her left said.
Fiver looked at them both. They were the spitting image of each other. Each with a mop of dark hair gracing their heads, both with glinting brown eyes, button noses, and a smile tugging at the corners of their identical mouths. "So what's with the fighting?"
"He cheated," Scamp stated.
"Did not."
"Please, lets not start this. How did he cheat, Scamp?" she asked.
"He's got an ace up his sleeve!" exclaimed Scamp.
"I do not!" Scout said indignantly.
"Let's see then," Fiver said, nodding at Scout's sleeve.
Scout rolled his sleeve up, revealing an ace in every suit. He cowered in anticipation of his punishment.
"You know the punishment for cheating, Scout," a newsie that Fiver wasn't familiar with said, grinning maniacally. Scout sighed heavily, as the rest of the newsies broke out in peals of laughter.
"Do I hafta?" he whined piteously.
"Hafta what?" Fiver asked excitedly.
"The penalty fa' cheatin' in th' Boathouse is havin' t' sell th' next day wearin' a dress," Scamp said smugly.
"You do realize that since the two of you are identical twins, people won't know which of you is the one in the dress, don't you?" Fiver said, trying not to burst.
Scamp's face fell. "I din't… But, but I'll explain it to em!"
"Who's the time to listen, Scamp?" the as yet unnamed newsie said, with the same eerie grin on her sallow face.
Scamp pouted, and Scout started laughing. "Hey now, remember who gets to wear the pretty frock tomorrow," the nameless newsgirl said, taking immediate pleasure by how the look on Scout's face had changed. "I think I've just the dress. Lots of frills, a few bows, and it's pink. It'll be lovely on you. Although… you may be lacking in certain areas, if you catch my drift."
"I've some extra socks to fill him out a bit!" another newsie in the background called out.
"You'd better keep him away from the Delancey brothers," Dodger added, chuckling as he and Noodle returned to the group. "No accounting for tastes with those two…" Scout scowled at Dodger, and everyone else who was laughing at his joke.
"We all agreed that it was a suitable punishment for cheating. Even you. Of course, you're the first one to be caught," Noodle reprimanded. "Tsk, tsk, Scout."
"Now that we've got this cheating business out of the way, I'd like to introduce you to our newest member- Fiver."
Author: Noodle
Contact: dino91284@aol.com
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Ehh… Read and learn.
Dedication: This is dedicated to Katie alias Fiver, because she told me to write her a story, and I am her bitch. (Joking) But I like the character of Fiver, and Katie is Fiver, so, there ya go.
Chapter One
Fiver stood defiantly in the middle of the sidewalk, making an unspoken challenge to New York to throw it's best at her. She was perfectly still until a lanky redhead came hurtling around the corner, and plowed into her. Suddenly, she was flat on her back. Was this New York answering her challenge?
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Fiver spat at the girl, as she stood back up and dusted herself off. The girl was very disoriented, and scratched her head shrugging. Her face was ghostly pale in the soft moonlight, and dappled with freckles.
Fiver growled. "Not talkin', huh?"
The girl looked at her and shrugged again.
"Can you talk at all?" she asked, less anger in her voice.
"Of course, I'm not stupid," the girl said, "I was waiting for you to calm down."
Fiver's face reddened with a mixture of rage and embarrassment. "But- What- Who- Err… what I mean to say, is just what do you think you're doing?" she repeated, sputtering. Her knuckles were turning white from how tightly she clenched her fists.
The girl gave her a long look, as if to make it obvious that she didn't respond to angry threats. The color returned to Fiver's knuckles, and her breathing became less erratic as she mellowed. "Thank you. To answer your question, I was running from some shady characters. And it won't be long until they find us here. So it'd be in our best interest if we went to my lodging house," the girl said.
Fiver looked the girl over. She was wearing dirty pants that were too short for her, and black suspenders over a shabby pinstriped shirt. Her hands were covered in newsprint, she wasn't wearing shoes, and her hair was pulled back in a loose bun. "You? Have a lodging house?" she asked, trying not to laugh.
The girl laughed at Fiver. "Don't be daft. I live in a building with a bunch of other newsies. So are you coming or not?" she said, the smile fading from her freckled face. She looked nervously down the alley to her left.
"Do I really have a choice?" Fiver replied.
Heavy footsteps and unintelligible shouting seemed to surround the two girls. The redhead grabbed Fiver's wrist and started running down the street. She obviously knew exactly where she was going, whereas Fiver did not.
"Where are you taking me?" Fiver said. Her voice was choppy from her rough footfalls.
"Home!" was the reply.
"Hey, what's your name?" she shouted.
"No time for formal introductions, call me Noodle," the redhead called back. "Let's get moving, we're not out of the woods yet."
*********
For this week, anyway, home happened to be a boathouse in Brooklyn. From the outside, it looked as sturdy as a house of cards in a hurricane, but on the inside, it was surprisingly cozy. It provided a safe place for the newsies to swim, in any kind of weather, if they felt so inclined to. The adjoining house, once a shelter for shipmates, now housed newsies of all kinds.
"-What- is that smell?" Fiver asked as they approached their destination.
"Smell?" asked Noodle, sniffing the air.
"Yeah. Smells like something… dead. Or worse," Fiver said, covering her nose with her shirt.
"Oh, that's the river. You'll get used to it." She shrugged, and advanced towards a doorway. The door was slightly ajar, and a cacophony of voices could be heard.
"I ain't cheatin! Tell 'im Dodger," a voice shouted above the din.
Noodle grinned mischievously. "Home sweet home," she said, pushing the door open. A bare light bulb hung from the low ceiling above a table. The table was surrounded by newsies sitting on everything from an overstuffed chair, to an apple crate. A roguishly handsome young man was holding back two younger newsies; apparently the accuser and the accusee.
"Looks… nice," said Fiver, unconvincingly.
"Hey Dodge, got a minute?" Noodle called. The attractive young man glanced at the two of them, then gave Noodle a discouraging look. He took the cards from the hands of the feuding newsies, and approached the girls.
"Noodle," he greeted her, smiling and nodding curtly.
"Dodger, this is… Say, what -is- your name?"
"Fiver," she supplied.
"Nice to meet you, Fiver, is it?" Dodger said. "Give us a minute, will ya?"
Fiver obliged, and took the seat that Dodger had just vacated, between the fighting newsies, who were currently staring daggers at one another through her. "Excuse me," she said to the one to her left.
He looked up, startled. "Whaddaya want?" he growled.
"I want you two to stop your petty fighting. It's bothersome. Yes. I'm bothered," Fiver snapped back at him.
"Bothered? That's an unusual name fa' dese parts," the newsie to her right said, laughing. Fiver rolled her eyes at him.
" My name is not 'Bothered'. My name is Fiver," she said. "And you are?" she added, as an afterthought.
"Scamp. Onna counna my impish charm," he said, kissing her hand.
SMACK
"Ya din't haveta slap me…" he mumbled, defeated.
"I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often," she drawled.
"Fiver, huh? I'm Scout. Scamp an' me 're twins," the newsie to her left said.
Fiver looked at them both. They were the spitting image of each other. Each with a mop of dark hair gracing their heads, both with glinting brown eyes, button noses, and a smile tugging at the corners of their identical mouths. "So what's with the fighting?"
"He cheated," Scamp stated.
"Did not."
"Please, lets not start this. How did he cheat, Scamp?" she asked.
"He's got an ace up his sleeve!" exclaimed Scamp.
"I do not!" Scout said indignantly.
"Let's see then," Fiver said, nodding at Scout's sleeve.
Scout rolled his sleeve up, revealing an ace in every suit. He cowered in anticipation of his punishment.
"You know the punishment for cheating, Scout," a newsie that Fiver wasn't familiar with said, grinning maniacally. Scout sighed heavily, as the rest of the newsies broke out in peals of laughter.
"Do I hafta?" he whined piteously.
"Hafta what?" Fiver asked excitedly.
"The penalty fa' cheatin' in th' Boathouse is havin' t' sell th' next day wearin' a dress," Scamp said smugly.
"You do realize that since the two of you are identical twins, people won't know which of you is the one in the dress, don't you?" Fiver said, trying not to burst.
Scamp's face fell. "I din't… But, but I'll explain it to em!"
"Who's the time to listen, Scamp?" the as yet unnamed newsie said, with the same eerie grin on her sallow face.
Scamp pouted, and Scout started laughing. "Hey now, remember who gets to wear the pretty frock tomorrow," the nameless newsgirl said, taking immediate pleasure by how the look on Scout's face had changed. "I think I've just the dress. Lots of frills, a few bows, and it's pink. It'll be lovely on you. Although… you may be lacking in certain areas, if you catch my drift."
"I've some extra socks to fill him out a bit!" another newsie in the background called out.
"You'd better keep him away from the Delancey brothers," Dodger added, chuckling as he and Noodle returned to the group. "No accounting for tastes with those two…" Scout scowled at Dodger, and everyone else who was laughing at his joke.
"We all agreed that it was a suitable punishment for cheating. Even you. Of course, you're the first one to be caught," Noodle reprimanded. "Tsk, tsk, Scout."
"Now that we've got this cheating business out of the way, I'd like to introduce you to our newest member- Fiver."