He slowly crept around the corner towards the place the voice had been. He had to see her. He had to see the face; the lips that had sung those beautiful words; the spirit behind that voice. He closed his eyes, the sound of it still a ghost in his memory.

Jack opened his eyes once more as he heard her footsteps on the cobblestone street no longer. He looked up and saw her, suitcases at her sides, staring at the night sky.

"Let me sleep, God!" She yelled at the stars with a haunting glee to her tone. She threw her arms out, extending her head to the sky, slowly spinning in circles as she spoke. "If this is just a dream, let me live it!" She laughed. Her voice was sweet, even when being thrown up into the nothingness of the sky, so loud it could wake the dead.

Jack looked her up and down. He couldn't see her face as her back was again turned towards him. She was not what he had imagined; not the hair, not the clothes. She was different. But it struck him as the most beautiful thing his life had seen in its entirety.

He knitted his brow and studied the girl. Her clothing was nothing he had seen before. It was of a different fashion than he had ever known. She was wearing a form-fitting black shirt that accentuated her every feminine curve; but in place of sleeves or a neckline were two thin straps, snugly at rest over her shoulders. Her skirt fell just below her knees; it was made of a dark, olive green that shimmered slightly underneath the dim city light. She was wearing no shoes; "how strange," he thought. "All dressed up like dat an' no shoes."

He then studied her body: oddly short, playfully messed hair; dark, golden skin; her long, thin but toned limbs, especially those legs. "Will ya look at dem legs," Jack muttered underneath his breath.

Suddenly the girl whipped around, apparently catching his presence. He stopped short, in awe at what he was seeing. She looked nothing like what he had imagined. Although her appearance was odd she was more beautiful than anyone could ever imagine.

Her large, black eyes penetrated through his gaze as she casually strode up to him. For once, Jack Kelly stood, unable to move; unable to speak; not quite knowing how to react to what was in front of him.

He looked at her small mouth as her pretty lips turned upwards into a brilliant, beautiful smile as she laughed out loud at Jack's reaction. He blinked. Once. Twice.

"So do you talk? Move?" The girl mused, proud of what she had done to Jack.

Jack stared at her blankly. "I.uh.I hoid ya singin' eoiliah.I jis'."

"It's okay, I was kidding." The girl smiled again. "I'm Piper."

"I'm.uh."

"Jack Kelly?" She finished for him.

"Y.yeah, how'd ya know?"

"Your name's been tossed around here and there, ya know.you are the most famous newsie in Manhattan." Piper shrugged.

Jack smirked, more quickly regaining his senses by the second. "Is dat true?"

"I'm sure it is."

"So, uh.what'a ya doin' out here in da middle a'da night like dis? You could get hoit. Ya ain't even wearin' shoes." Jack said, sneering inwardly.

"I was going to ask you the same thing." Piper said, smirking as if she had seen Jack's, and then smiling. "Besides, I don't have a place to stay anyway."

"I can stick up f'myself. You're a goil." Jack said, without thinking.

"I can drop anybody who comes near me to the ground." A smug Piper said smartly, her eyes giving a defensive flash that told Jack she wasn't just making that up.

He stuck his hands up in defeat. "Okay, okay, I didn't mean nuthin' by it."

She smiled gleefully, her eyes now bright. "I know, I was just giving you a hard time."

Jack laughed.

Piper laughed too, then suddenly became serious. "Jack, being that you just met me, do you get the impression that I'm too outgoing?"

He replied without hesitation. "Naw, not any more dan me. B'sides, it makes me feel like I known ya fer yeahs."

"Thanks, Jack."

"Hey.you ain't got nowhere ta stay?"

"Nuh-uh." Piper shrugged. "It's not a big deal, though. It's a nice night."

"You ain't gonna spend any nights out'eah if I got anyt'in ta do wid it." Jack said, an edge of concern in his voice. "Even fer a tough goil like you, it's real dangerous."

"Thanks, Jack. But what can be done about it at one in the morning?"

"Plenty." He boasted, a smile spreading across his face. "I knows a place wheah you can stay, at least for tonight and tamorrow."

"Let me guess.the lodging house?" Piper smiled.

"Well.yeah, If dat's okay wid you." Jack replied, glancing over at Piper, who was now on her way to pick up her bags. He instantly realized that she could have been staying somewhere a lot better than a lodging house and he became somewhat ashamed that he couldn't give her nicer accommodations.

Nevertheless, she smiled broadly at him in thanks. "It's better than the streets, if that's what you mean. Thank you. I really appreciate it.I'm sure I'll love it there."

"It ain't no big deal," Jack said, smiling. "Ya want me ta help ya?"

"Um, sure. If you really want to." She threw a large suitcase at Jack, and as he caught it from her hands he stumbled backwards, surprised at the weight.

"Whaddaya got in dis thing?" he muttered.

"Enough clothes for a month." Piper replied, smiling. "I was on my way to Europe, but somehow I got landed here."

"What's a pretty goil like you goin' ta Europe all by her lonesome?" Jack laughed as Piper shot him a glare.

"Actually, I was with an orchestra, and we were supposed to tour around Europe.apparently that won't be happening." She was rather disappointed that she couldn't go to Europe, since she had been waiting for the trip since seven months before. But strangely enough, she couldn't help but feel more than at home here, as they walked into the lodging house. She felt more at home than she did at her own home, with her family.

Ugh, her family. Her father, and her stuck-up older sister. Her father was a stockbroker, made "enough in a week to feed the West Indies," and never let anyone walk away from him without being reminded of that. Her sister, who went to Yale, but came home to visit her "Daddy" frequently, acted like she had a bowling ball up her ass and was getting to be just like her father more and more as each day passed. Piper, on the other hand, was and always would be exactly like her mother. Happy with whatever it was that she had, content to live in her own dream world. Her father had been trying to get her back to reality ever since her mother had left him without a word and finally she was free to live again. She looked around the place and prayed to God that she could stay here for the rest of her life and just be happy. Not filthy rich, not bitched around by her prissy sister, not thrown back into reality by her father, not living in a fake world.

"Pip." Jack said, touching her arm gently. "You okay? You'ah a bit spacey."

Piper shook her head. Had he just called her 'Pip?' No one had called her that since her mother left. "No, I'm fine. Just a little tired."

Jack took notice to how she reacted when he had nicknamed her. "Ey, you okay wid me callin' ya dat? I's jis' less formal dan Piper an' I ain't much inta formalities."

"Yeah, I like it better too, it's just."

"What?" He looked down on her curiously.

"No one's called me that since my mother left us. She used to read Dickens to me every night, and nicknamed me 'Pip' after Thomas Pippin, the character in the 'Great Expectations'." Piper's voice wavered a bit as she recollected the times her mother had been around for her.

"Oh." Jack said, dropping the subject that was obviously a little painful for her.

He stopped and looked at her. "So how did ya get here, anyway?" He asked.

Piper put a finger to his lips and replied, "Shh.just don't ask. Better left unsaid."