Chapter Two
Disclaimer: The newsies belong to Disney, the original characters belong to their creators, and the plot belongs to me.
AN: This fic doesn't accurately portray the actual production of Newsies. The real movie was directed by Kenny Ortega, and quite a few of the actors were already in their twenties when it was produced. Also, not all the actors in the movie acted like their characters in real life, but in this fic they do. And, of course, Kenny Ortega did not ask a local dance team to teach the newsies how to dance. Finally, as you'll see from the Seabiscuit references in this chapter, I've set the fic in 2003 instead of the early 1990's, mainly because I wasn't even in school when the movie was actually produced, so I have no clue about the pop culture of that era.
By the time Daniel had talked to each group individually and escorted them to their rooms, it was almost 5:00 in the evening. They were supposed to be in the cafeteria for supper by 5:30, and until then they could unpack their belongings and get to know their roommates. Their rooms were actually suites in a modified dormitory on the outskirts of UCLA, but, unfortunately, Daniel had forbidden them from leaving the building.
The first matter of discussion in room A was the bunk assignments. "Can I have a top bunk?" Les pleaded. "Please?"
"Will you roll off?" David asked.
"No, 'cause there's a railing," Les answered.
"Will you move around and make lots of noise?"
"No, 'cause there's not enough room to roll around. It's not a very big bed."
"Will you get scared in the middle of the night and want to change bunks?"
"David, he's almost ten! I'm sure he doesn't get nightmares any more," Jack interrupted. "Besides, if he wants a top bunk, then I'll sleep below him. You won't have to worry about a thing."
"Then I'm bunking with David," Spot said without much enthusiasm.
"You can have the top," David offered.
"Why?" Spot teased. "You roll off beds? Scared of heights? Still have nightmares?"
"No," David said firmly. "But younger children always seem to want the top bunk. And since you're younger---or at least shorter---" here, David stared down at Spot's five foot, one inch frame, "I thought you might appreciate it."
"Who cares if I'm shorter?" Spot asked. "What matters is that I'm stronger."
"Oh, yeah?"
Jack stepped between them, sensing that this confrontation was getting a little out of hand. "Just for the record, guys, I'm taller, older, and stronger than both of you. And, besides, does it really matter?"
David stepped down automatically, but Spot glared at Jack for a minute.
"How do you know how old I am?" he wondered suspiciously.
"I guessed," Jack admitted.
"How old are you?" Les asked innocently, the older boys' conflict going right over his head.
"I'm fourteen," Spot said.
"Fifteen," David countered.
"Sixteen," Jack said firmly. "Come on, Les, let's start unpacking."
***
In room B, the residents were not competing about who had the best fighting ability. Instead, they were discussing who had the worst nickname.
"Racetrack isn't that bad," Mush conceded, lounging on one of the bottom bunks. "It makes you sound like a runner or something."
"You're legs are too short for you to be a runner," Kid Blink laughed, as did Mush. Racetrack only rolled his eyes.
"Nah, but you could be a jockey or something," Crutchy suggested. "Aren't they supposed to be short and kinda skinny?"
"The one in Seabiscuit was," Mush commented.
"You went to see Seabiscuit, too?" Racetrack asked. "That was an awesome movie."
"I went with my girlfriend. She has thing for horses."
"You have a girlfriend?"
"Uh…not anymore."
"She dumped you?" Kid Blink guessed.
"Yeah," Mush admitted reluctantly. "When she found out I was going to be gone for five months, she got a little upset."
"Too bad," Crutchy said. "Maybe you can find a girlfriend around here."
"Doubt it," Mush said. "The only girl close to our age in the script is Sarah. And she'll probably end up dating Jack or something."
"Yeah, wonder if she'll be hot," Kid Blink mused.
"Hope so, for Jack's sake," Racetrack joked. "He has to kiss her."
***
"Hey, maybe they'll serve pie for dinner tonight," Snipeshooter joshed. "Huh, Pie?"
"Sure, Snipeshooter," Pie said, obviously unamused.
"Uh, Snipeshooter, why don't you go down to the cafeteria early? Maybe the cooks will tell you what they're serving," Swifty suggested.
"Okay," Snipeshooter said eagerly. "You want to come, Boots?"
Boots shrugged. "Sure. Why not?" Together, the two younger boys headed out of their room and toward the cafeteria.
Pie Eater sighed in relief. "Thanks," he said gratefully. "I was getting really tired of the pie thing."
"So was I," Swifty replied. "I vote we bunk together. Snipes and Boots can have the other beds."
***
In room D, Skittery was stretched out on a bed, making a noise that sounded halfway between growling and moaning.
"What's the matter, Skitts?" Snitch queried, his wide blue eyes staring curiously at the rather depressed-looking boy.
"Skitts?" Itey wondered.
"I dunno. Skittery seemed kind of long. Skitts was easier to say."
"It's fine with me," Skittery replied.
"You never answered my question, Skitts," Snitch persisted. "What's the matter?"
"I'm bored, okay," Skittery muttered. "There's nothing to do. We're stuck here in the dorms till supper. After that we have some orientation with Daniel. When do we get free time?"
"I dunno," Snoddy said. "Ask Daniel during the orientation. Maybe he'll let us go out to a movie or something."
"Hope so."
***
In the last room, the conversation was less about normal teenage male topics and more about a passion that all four of the residents shared: dance.
"Do you think any of the other guys can dance?" Dutchy wondered.
"Probably some," Bumlets speculated. "I mean, it's a musical, right? Isn't dance supposed to be one of the main things?"
"But how would they find twenty teenage guys who can act, sing, and dance?" Specs pointed out. "Twenty girls, yeah. But twenty guys? Half the guys at my dance school wouldn't even try out for the movie because they were too embarrassed to dance on camera."
"Yeah, but look at all the guys who are training for ballet companies," Jake said. "They dance in front of audiences all the time."
"And if they're serious about professional ballet, they're going to be way to busy to make a movie," Dutchy pointed out. "They'll spend their summer at an intensive training program at one of the big dance schools."
"I was going to do that," Bumlets muttered.
"Are you serious?" Specs asked. "Why didn't you?"
"'Cause I thought this would be fun. I spend so much time dancing that I don't get to sing or act much. Or just hang out with people."
"Well, I was going to be stuck in summer school, since my English teacher's convinced that I should learn to spell before I graduate high school. This is going to be way better than that," Dutchy said.
"Definitely," Specs agreed.
A loud knock sounded on the door.
"Come on in. It's open," Jake, who was sitting closest to the door, called.
Snipeshooter stuck his head in, grinning eagerly. "Daniel just sent me up to tell you that it's time for supper," he announced. "And guess what? We're having lemon meringue pie for dessert!"
***
After supper, the boys gathered in the lobby of the dormitory.
"Well, did you all enjoy supper?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah," Snipeshooter shouted. "Especially the PIE. It was great. Wasn't it, PIE?"
"Uh, sure," Pie Eater said staring fixedly at the ground and gritting his teeth.
Unfazed by Snipeshooter's comment, Daniel continued. "Tomorrow, you start your training."
"Training?" Kid Blink wondered. "Training for what?"
"For the musical. You'll have singing and dancing classes, rehearsals, and, of course, you'll continue your normal academic classes with tutors."
At this announcement Dutchy groaned (because he'd still have summer school), and so did David (for a different reason). "We have to dance?" he exclaimed, as a few of the veteran dancers chuckled.
"It is a musical," Daniel pointed out.
"But I promise, we'll try to make it as painless as possible," a petite, brown-haired woman said as she walked through the double doors of the dormitory and into the lobby.
"Hey, Nikki," Daniel said, waving the newcomer to his side. "Everybody, this is Nicole"---the woman glared---"I mean Nikki Saunders. She's a teacher at the California Academy of Dance here in Los Angeles. Her main job is coaching Adrenaline, which is CAD's competitive dance team."
"Cool," Bumlets commented, and the other newsies turned to stare at him. "I do a lot of competitive dancing," he explained. "I've heard of Adrenaline before."
"Great," Nikki said, gracing Bumlets with a wide smile. "With Daniel and the casting directors' help, I've separated you into three groups: those who've done lots of dancing, those who've done some dancing, and those who have never had any formal dance training."
"And I have that list with me," Daniel continued, pulling it out of his pocket. "Now, in room A…oops, sorry, wrong list." He extracted a different sheet of paper, unfolded it, and began to read.
"In the experienced dancers' group, I have Specs, Bumlets, Dutchy, Jake, Snitch, Pie Eater, and Swifty. You will have the most difficult choreography, so you'll mostly be working on that.
"In the intermediate group are Itey, Skittery, Snoddy, Mush, and Kid Blink. You're going to refine your dance abilities and eventually work with the advanced dancers on learning the choreography.
"And, finally, the beginners: Jack, David, Spot, Les, Racetrack, Crutchy, Boots, and Snipeshooter. Basically, you're going to learn how to dance."
"Who's going to teach us all this?" Racetrack wondered. "You have three groups, but there's only two of you."
"I'm so glad you asked," Nikki said, her grin growing even wider. "Like Daniel said, I mostly work with Adrenaline, which is a sixteen-member high school-aged dance team. This summer, instead of going to dance camps or doing extra competitions, they'll be helping you."
"You mean a bunch of high school kids are gonna teach us how to dance?" Spot wondered.
"A bunch of high school girls?" Jack added.
"Fifteen girls, one boy," Nikki said.
"Wow," Jack murmured, leaning back in his chair and smiling blissfully. "Maybe learning to dance won't be so bad after all."
AN: The casting call is now CLOSED. A huge thanks goes out to all who applied---your characters were great, and I wish I could have accepted all of them. I'll try to update again around Christmas Day, but that may not work out. I guarantee that you'll get another chapter before New Year's Day, though. Also, Nikki Saunders is based on the actual choreographer of Newsies, Peggy Holmes. Nikki is named in honor of my first grade dance teacher.
(Really, really short) Shout-outs:
*my dog ate my penname – Thanks for the review!
*quietviolence – Thanks for the review! Here's your update.
*Checkmate – Reviews NEVER bore me. I'm always happy to receive them. Thanks for giving me one!
*Shakes – Here's the next chapter! Thanks for the review!
*Cheese-Doodles-Are-Yummy – Thanks for the review!
*Thistle – I have a cool fic---awesome. Thanks for the review!
*Colleen – Thanks for the review!
*klover – Thanks for the review! I need all the luck I can get!
*Ireland – Well, you're in! Thanks for the review!
*Clips – Thanks for the review!
*Angelfish7 – Thanks for the review!
*TheLoneReed – Thanks for the review!
*Cerridwen4 – Thanks for the review!
*Soaker – Thanks for the review!
*Frogger No Baka – I definitely will try to develop individual personalities for the less well-known newsies. Thanks for the review!
*T-R-Us – Yeah, I really wanted to use the crew's real names (Kenny Ortega, Peggy Holmes, etc.), but FF.net is pretty strict about writing fics about fictional characters, not actual people. Thanks for the review!
*ershey – I always thought the newsie names were kind of weird (Spot? For a ferocious leader? Sounds more like a puppy.), so I decided to make fun of them a little. Thanks for the review!
*shinigami nanoda – Thanks for the review! Luvsies to you, too!
*Sapphy – Yeah, I did put most of the traditional slash couples in the same rooms---Specs and Dutchy, Snitch and Skitts, Mush and Blink. I don't think there will actually be slash in the story, though…but you can imagine it if you want. (I know I'm going to.) And I love Les, too. He's so adorable. Thanks for the review! (And for explaining glomping, Soffes, etc.)
I'd also like to thank everyone who e-mailed me reviews along with their CC applications. Happy holidays, everybody!
