Chapter Five
Kris yawned and stretched her arms. She rubbed her eyes and looked around the room. Good! I'm still here! She stayed in bed for a while and looked around her surroundings. Some newsies were sleeping on the floor, while some were sharing bunk beds. Kris had never seen the Lodging House this full. She turned to her left and saw Mush sleeping on his right side, quietly snoring. Aw! He looks so cute! Suddenly, she heard someone mumbling. She looked down on the floor and saw Race clutching his pillow like a baby. Ouch… the last time I slept on the floor was…Kris cleared away her thoughts and started patting Race on the shoulder.
"Race… Racetrack… wake up…" she whispered as she leaned down towards him.
"Huh? Wha?" His eyes were droopy and were hardly even open.
"You can take my bed for now… It must be hard sleeping on the floor…" she exclaimed as she started getting up and helped Race on her bed. Haha! It's like putting a little kid to bed!
"Thanks, Kris…" he whispered and covered himself with the blanket and started snoring.
Kris looked at Mush. At least he's not sharing beds with anyone… She climbed in on his bed and slowly laid down. The bed could only fit one person, so Kris changed her mind and sat up on the bed and leaned on the wall while Mush lay asleep. I can't help it… I gotta wake him up! First, she started poking him on the shoulder, which didn't seem to work. He just ended up batting her hand away. Ha! I know! My grandma always used to do this to me! She smiled to herself and started tickling Mush on his tummy.
"Stop it Kloppman…" he mumbled as he rubbed his eyes.
Kris laughed, "Do I look like Kloppman to you? Cause if I do…" she answered him teasingly.
Mush opened his eyes to see Kris sitting up on his bed. "Kris!"
"There you go! Me… I'm Kris," she said as she pointed to herself. Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming up the stairs and saw Kloppman's face come out of the door. "Him… that old guy right there… HE'S Kloppman."
Mush chuckled and answered, "I promise I won't get you two mixed up the next time!"
"The next time?" Kris raised her eyebrow and looked at Mush. But before Mush could answer, Kris heard a scream and a thud on the floor. It seemed like something covered in white fell down from a top bunk.
"Owie…" said Rachel as she pushed the blankets out of her face.
"Be careful there, girlie. Falling out of top bunks ain't fun." Kloppman said as he started waking the other newsies who were still asleep.
Kris laughed and walked over to Rachel, "Are you okay? It sounded like you fell pretty hard on the floor…"
Rachel groaned, "No, I'm perfectly fine." She rolled her eyes. "I just thought that I was still in my BIG COMFY BED!"
"Who fell?" asked Race who was already awake while Kris was helping Rachel up.
"Rachel fell from the top bunk," answered Mush laughing. He kissed Kris on the cheek and said, "I'll be right back... gotta go change."
~*~
"There! That's my last pape!" answered Race as he handed an elderly gentleman his last copy of The Tribune.
"Thank Gawd! I thought you were gonna take forever!" shouted Kris. She was sitting on a nearby bench watching Race, Mush, and Rachel sell their papes. She seemed to be getting better at selling papes. She meshed together the art of charming people into buying her papes and making funny headlines.
"I'm almost done…" mumbled Mush as he started shouting headlines.
"Hey, Kris! I got one more! You wanna do this together?" shouted Rachel as she started walking towards Kris.
Kris nodded and linked arms with Rachel. "Sure!"
Rachel and Kris walked off, keeping their distance from the boys, just to make sure that they wouldn't know they were together. Kris cleared her throat as she nodded at Rachel to see if was ready. Rachel nodded back and smirked. This is going to be fun!
"Hey! Didn't you hear? That missing little boy was finally found!" said Rachel as she tried to raise her voice for everyone to hear.
"What boy?" asked Kris as she scrunched up her face in confusion.
"Don't you remember?" shouted Rachel. "Its so sad! He was found walking in the streets somewhere, with bruises and scratches on his face!"
"Poor boy!" gasped Kris.
"I know! Lucky that someone recognized him!" said Rachel as she pointed at the newspaper in her hands. "SEE?"
"Oh…" said Kris as she looked at the picture. "I… I'm not feeling well…" Kris playfully put her hand up to her forehead. "Rachel? Where are you?"
"Kris! I'm here!" Rachel was ready for what was coming next. Kris "fainted" and fell in Rachel's arms. Rachel was trying to act scared, while trying not to laugh at the same time. Numerous numbers of people came over to help Kris and Rachel, especially Kris, to see if she was alrite. Some people bought her newspapers out of pity, and the others did it just out of plain generosity. They felt sorry for the girls.
In less than a minute, they were done selling their papes and clutching their stomachs with laughter because of what just happened.
"I've never laughed so much before!" shouted Race, who seemed to be wiping tears from his eyes. "I'm about to cry!"
"I've never heard of a newsie crying before… but hey, I guess if it's from Manhattan, then it all makes sense."
Race turned around to face a tall boy with dark black hair, tanned skin, and hazel eyes. It was Kyle. He was standing in front of Race with a smirk on his face. His hat rested on his head to shield him from the sun.
"Do I know you?" asked Race.
"And forgetful too…" Manhattan newsies are such softies. He looked behind Race to see Rachel, Kris, and Mush. He ignored the others and his gaze fell on Kris. "Hi, Kris," he said as he waved towards her. Mush's eyes widened and he stood in front of Kris.
"What are you doing?" whispered Kris to Mush.
"I'm protecting you!" he whispered back as Kyle moved and tried to see a better view of Kris. But as he did that, Mush kept on blocking him.
"From what? From somebody saying hi to me?" she answered. Kyle's alright! I don't understand why he won't let me…
Finally, Kyle gave up and shrugged his shoulders. "Alright… well, I can tell when I'm not wanted. See ya around." He waved at Kris again and walked away.
"What was that all about?" said Race. "It's not like I did anything to him!"
"He was that Kyle guy I who was asking about Rachel… or… me, I guess," answered Kris. "Hey, who's that?" she pointed towards a girl standing a few feet away from them. She was waving frantically. Her blond hair was flying in the wind and her blue eyes were looking for something, or someone. She looked like the complete opposite of Kris.
"Um… I've… Let's go… she's probably one of those weird maniac girls that walk around New York," answered Mush. Kris noticed that Mush was acting unusual. She even saw Mush glance at Race and Race looked back at Mush as if they knew something that she didn't.
"What's going on? Do you know her? And why are we leaving so quickly?" asked Rachel as Mush pulled them away from were they were standing.
"I''m thirsty," Mush quickly answered. "Let's go get a drink."
Rachel looked at Kris and mouthed "What?" But all Kris could do was shrug and keep on walking. Is it just me or was she waving to Mush? Nah, I'm just imagining things… Kris pushed the thought out of her head as they walked up to a small restaurant she'd never seen before.
"So? Are we going in?" asked Kris. "Or are we gonna wait for the glasses to float out of the door and come here?" She was getting irritated. Mush was hiding something from her.
"Um… just wait here. I'll go inside and get it," said Mush as he walked in the door.
Rachel scrunched up her brow and looked at Race. "Race… what's going on? Why's Mush acting all weird?"
"I... uh… I… he… Mush…"
But before Race could finish what he was saying, Kris saw Blink run towards them. "Hey guys!" he said as he put his arm around Kris for a small hug. Blink looked at Race. "Didn't you see Jamie? She kept on bugging me if you guys were going to hi to her," said Blink as he pointed towards the same girl who waved at them before.
Kris and Rachel looked at Race. His eyes widened with fear as if to tell Blink something as he started shaking his head side to side frantically. But Blink didn't see what Race was doing, he was already pointing her out to the girls. "Oh, no…" muttered Blink.
Kris saw the same girl who was waving at them earlier walk towards them.
"Look what you did! Dumb!" said Race as he slapped Blink in the face.
The girl drew nearer. She had the same look in her eyes like before. She was looking for something. "Hey Blink! Race! Who's your friends?"
Race was still in a state of shock and stood to the spot. Blink seemed to not know what to do. He looked from Kris to the girl. Finally, he said, "This is Kris and Rachel." Kris and Rachel said their "hi's" and "hello's" while all Jamie did was smile. There was silence in the air until Kris heard the door to the restaurant open. It was Mush, holding two glasses of water. "Sorry, there wasn't enough…" his eyes widened as he saw what was in front of him.
Jamie ran over to Mush and hugged him quickly. "Mushy!" she screamed. "I haven't seen you for so long! Where'd you go?" she asked as Mush tried his best not to spill the glasses of water.
Mush's face turned into a color of deep red as Jamie moved away from him. "I… I… uh…"
"He's been busy selling papes!" shouted Race. Rachel nudged Race as if to say "NOW you talk!"
Jamie shrugged off what Race had just said and turned to Mush. "But you were never busy when we were going out!" she said as she pouted in front of him and the others.
"Excuse me?" said Kris as she made her way towards Jamie and Mush. She practically pushed Blink out of the way. "What did you just say?" This can't be right! Did she just say they went out together?!
"Are you deaf?" said Jamie sarcastically towards Kris. "Ooh, water!" She took one of the glasses of water from Mush's hands and drank all of it.
"Hey! That's supposed to be mine!" shouted Kris.
"Gimme one of those!" shouted Race as he ran over to Mush and took the other drink for him. "This is just too much drama!"
Jamie shrugged and looked back at the shocked Mush. "So… wanna meet up again? I got nothing going on tonight!"
"NO! I—he—mush we--her-you—ring—what—NO!!!!" shouted Kris as she stared at Mush with anger.
"But…I…" started Mush as he walked towards Kris.
Kris inhaled another breath of air, took a step back, and looked at Mush. She looked at him with anger in her eyes and thought of putting knives down his throat. She wanted to shout and rant at him much more but only one word came out of her mouth. "No," she said as calmly as she could. She felt her eyes water and tears roll down her cheeks. She turned around and started walking away.
"Kris! Wait!" shouted Rachel as she started running towards Kris.
Jamie looked at Mush, Race, Blink, then towards Kris and Rachel who were walking away quickly. "What is it something I said?"
"I… I'm going after them. They don't know where they're going…" said Race as he started running towards them. He turned around and looked at Mush. "Mush? Are you coming?"
But all Mush did was stand there and watch Kris walk away.
~*~
Rachel kept running after Kris as far as her legs could take her. For a few minutes, Kris ran striaight towards the crowd, but after a while, she turned and ran towards an alleyway. "Kris wait up! Come on! You know I can't run fast in the morning!" shouted Rachel as she ran. She turned towards the same corner that Kris did, but instead of seeing Kris, all she could see was an empty alley. She leaned against the wall and sat down. She was breathing heavily and sweat was pouring from her forehead. Suddenly, she saw Race standing in front of her. He was also out of breath.
"You… you girls… you girls run fast!" he said as he tried to take a breath of air.
Rachel shrugged. "We ran a lot at our school… and anyways, I don't run fast."
"Where'd Kris go?" asked Race. He was looking around the alley to figure out where she went.
"I dunno… when I ran in, I couldn't find her." Rachel stood up and started dusting her dress. "She was really upset…"
"Yeah… news that like that isn't easy to take. How about we give her some time? I'm sure she'll be fine…" said Race as he took Rachel by the hand.
"No! But New York is such a big place and I'm worried about her!" shouted Rachel. She looked at Race and pleaded. "She's my best friend!"
"You're not the only who cares about her! Don't worry, I'll let the other newsies know about it. There's a big chance of finding her since there's Manhattan and Brooklyn newsies around." Race explained as he hugged Rachel.
~*~
The way she hugged him! I can't believe it! After all those things we went through and he replaces me with the first bimbo he sees?! Kris was running as far as her feet could take her. She didn't care about where she was gonna end. She just needed to be alone. Suddenly, she bumped into somebody and she fell on the ground. She looked down on the ground and sat against the wall. She felt a huge shadow upon her.
"Kris… is that you? Are you alright?"
Kris looked up and saw Kyle. There was a gray hat on his forehead and he was wearing a white, or used to be white, blouse with brown pants. He bent over and tried to help her up. Kris shook her head as he tried to usher her up. "No… I wanna stay here…"
"But this isn't safe… if I didn't come, somebody would've probably…" Kyle stopped before he could finish what he could say.
"Only for a while okay?" She looked up at Kyle and begged him to stay. Kyle finally saw Kris' face. Her eyes were red, and tears streamed down her face. She didn't look upbeat and happy the way she did last night. He nodded and sat down next to her.
"Did something bad happen? Did anybody hurt you?" he asked as he pulled her towards him and hugged her. She laid her head down on his shoulder and nodded. They sat there for a few minutes while Kris relaxed in Kyle's arms and tried to clear her head while Kyle sat there, moving his hand up and down her shoulder to give her comfort. Kris sniffed and looked up at Kyle. "Thanks…"
"No problem… anything to make your day. So… you ready to walk around? Or do you still wanna stay here on the ground and rot 'till you die?" he asked teasingly.
Kris nodded as Kyle helped her stand up. "You wanna go anyplace in particular?"
Kris chuckled, "I wouldn't know. Its not like I've lived here all my life." Oh yah… he doesn't know I'm from the future.
"Alright, well… I wouldn't know either. I'm not familiar with Manhattan," he answered. They were back walking out on the streets again and Kris tried her best to look presentable.
"Hmmm… I know! Do you know Medda? Irving Hall?" asked Kris. What I need is some music… When I'm feeling mad or anything, music helps me…
Kyle beamed. "I know where that is! Follow me."
After a few minutes, they were finally in front of Irving Hall. Kris looked around to see where she could enter. "Do you think that Medda would let us in? It looks like the place is closed…"
Kyle knocked on the door and peered in through the window. "Anybody there?"
Right when Kris was about to give up, she saw David walking through the crowded streets. An idea flashed in her head. She threw up her arms and waved at David. "David! Hey! Davey!" she shouted.
David looked around for a while to see who was shouting his name, and when he finally saw her, his face was full of shock. "Kris?! Is that you?" He walked towards her and hugged her. He looked at her face and his face suddenly grew full of concern. "Are you alright? Were you crying?" he asked as he pulled away.
"Don't worry… just forget that. Um… do you have any idea how to get inside? I wanna talk to Medda…" she said as she pointed towards Irving Hall.
"Course! Follow me!" he said as he led them towards a door that seemed to lead backstage. "This is where Jack brought me when the bulls were chasing us. It's a good place to hide out."
"Thanks, Dave." Kris smiled and looked around the room.
"So… who's your friend? And where's Mush?" asked David.
Kris blushed and looked down on the ground. "Um… This is Kyle and Mush… he's…" but before Kris could answer, she saw Medda walking towards them. "David! What are you doing here? It's been a while!" she exclaimed as she hugged David.
"It's cause of school… Father's making me go but that doesn't mean I won't be stopping by once in a while!" he said. Then he saw Medda look at Kris and Kyle. "Um… this is Kris. Remember that dance she did with the other girl? That was her… um… around 6 months ago, I think."
Medda nodded while David talked. "I remember… you have a beautiful voice! But don't do that dance around here again…" she said cautiously.
"Sorry about that. It's just… we were just having fun," answered Kris. "Um… do you mind if we stay here for a while?"
"Course not! Good timing too, since I've finished rehearsing so you have the stage to yourselves. There's a piano out there if you need it," said Medda as she started walking away. "I have other business to do… bye!"
Kris, David, and Kyle waved at her. "Thanks!" shouted Kris. "And thanks David! I really needed to get in here."
"No problem… I gotta go see Jack about something. Bye Kris! And… Kyle!" he said as he walked out the door.
"So… here we are…" Kyle said as he looked around the place.
Kris nodded. "Let's go out on the stage!" She ran towards the stage while Kyle trailed behind her.
"So what exactly are we going to do?" asked Kyle as he walked out on the stage behind Kris.
Kris shook her head. "No… its not we, it's me… You sit down and just watch." She walked towards the piano and sat on the stool. She started tapping a few notes here and there until she was finally comfortable with the piano.
"Come on! When are you going to start?" asked Kyle impatiently.
Kris shot him an angry look and replied, "Geez! Just wait!" I don't even know why I brought him here… "Alright… here goes…" She laid her fingers on the piano and started playing and at the same time, she started singing. "There will never come a day… when you will hear me say… that I want or need to be without you…" Kris sang as much as she could. She let all her feelings out through the songs she was singing. A few hours later, she was lost in her own world. "… then I realize all I need is you in my life… cause I never felt this way about loving…"
"Wow…" said Kyle as he stood up and walked towards Kris. "No wonder you needed to come here so badly…"
Kris shrugged. "Music's my thing… and I express my feelings towards it. It's just something I always do."
"Or maybe more. You know, you can turn this into a profession," said Medda as she walked towards Kris.
"You were listening? The whole time?" Kris' eyes widened. She was used to having audiences, but it just seemed odd to her that people came out of nowhere just to listen to her.
"Dear, I couldn't help it! I heard you from my office… and you just hypnotized me!" chuckled Medda. "Why don't you come here a few times for practice and maybe you could perform here sometime?"
"Wow… um… that's a lot! Sure! I'd love that!" said Kris. A big grin replaced her frown and she was floating in air. She impressed somebody!
"Um… we better get going… we've been here a long time," said Kyle. Kris nodded and looked at Medda. "Thanks again!" she waved and followed Kyle to the door. When they stepped out, it was already night and the moon was high in the sky.
"Can you believe that? WOW!" Kris kept on thinking about what had happened with her and Medda. They finally reached the Lodging House and saw Race and Rachel standing near the doorway.
"KRIS!!!" shouted Rachel as she ran towards her and hugged her. "Where'd you go?! We were looking for you and you got us all worried! We thought you were lost or something!"
Suddenly, Kris remembered what had just happened this morning. Kris… Mush… Jamie… Blink. Her face fell, but she tried to keep a smile on her face. "I'm fine. I just went to Medda's to cool off. Don't worry," she said as she pulled away from Rachel.
"You gave us a scare there, Kris!" he said as he put his arm around her shoulder.
"Well, I guess you won't be needing me… g'night Kris…" said Kyle as he waved at her and walked up the stairs.
Rachel and Race looked at each other to confirm what they just saw. "You were with HIM? Did I just see THAT?" asked Rachel. Kris nodded while Rachel and Race looked at her flabbergasted.
Kris shrugged, "He helped me… but forget that. If it wasn't for him, I would've probably been lost."
Race nodded, "She's got a point."
"But…" started Rachel.
"No, let's just leave it at that. I'm tired… from all that running," Kris chuckled. "I'm going to sleep…" she said as she walked up the stairs, leaving Race and Rachel. Why'd I have go alone? I'm going to have to see Mush again! She braced herself for what was about to happen. She was finally on the top floor. The newsies were milling around just as usual. She looked around for Mush and saw him sitting up on his bed. Carefully, she walked towards her bunk bed in effort not to talk to Mush.
"KRISSIE!" shouted Jack. In the corners of her eyes, Kris saw Mush jump out of his bed. Jack walked towards her with a big grin on his face and hugged her.
DAMMIT JACK! Kris smiled and looked at Jack. "Hey Jack. Sorry, but I don't feel like talking right now… I'm going to sleep… I'll just talk to you tomorrow alright?" Please don't put up a fight!
Jack nodded. "Sure, I understand… nighty-night," he walked Kris towards her bunk bed and walked away. She lay down on the bed and tried to get comfortable. She looked over to her left to see Mush looking at her.
"Kris… I…" he started and sat down at the edge of her bed. She saw her ring was hanging from his neck. He took her hand and opened his mouth for an explanation.
No… the last thing on my mind will be what happened with Medda today…"No… tomorrow…" she said as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.