Chapter 7

"Eppie dear, over here" She twisted around the crowd, straining to see who called her name. So many people, so many faces and voices, it was hard to track the person who called to her. But trailing by the entrance on her way back from the restroom, Eppie figured that it was Anna, arriving fashionably late with Spot and the rest of Brooklyn. But turning in a full circle it was a horrible shock to see who waved to her.

She clenched her fists full of her skirt before taking a deep breath and walking towards Louisa. The girl was seated by the bar, a few other St. Mary girls fanned around her along with the ever present cloud of young men just itching for a glance from Louisa herself. At this moment she seemed to be entertaining a gentleman, or at least allowing him to purchase whatever he wished for her. He seemed slightly out of place among the working class crowd, his fine clothes setting him apart. Although, Louisa had hopped from the same boat and Eppie figured that this was just one of her tricks she liked to play.

She nodded to the man after Louisa introduced him before tapping her foot impatiently. Louisa took a long sip of her drink, "Eppie, what a lovely party don't you agree?"
Eppie noticed Louisa's friends freeze momentarily before turning their dart-like stare on her response. She forced a smile. "Yes, so lively."

"Great music for dancing" Louisa offered, but Eppie didn't fall for her false smile. She replied with another quick nod, feeling the upper hand for once in her testy acquaintance with Louisa. She had initiated the conversation and Eppie felt no need to make small talk. If there was a point to the conversation she made it obvious that it should be explained quickly. "Yes, well, these shoes are new you see" she revealed a delicate ankle, rolling it from side to side in show of her lavish boot. "not really appropriate for dancing. Twist an ankle in these things and you're through. But you and Jack," she turned towards the boy at her side, "she's with Jack Kelly, that boy I was telling you about," Eppie clicked her teeth to avoid saying anything in anger, "you and Jack have been dancing up the floor."

"Yes, and in fact I promised him" Louisa interrupted effortlessly and Eppie cursed her parents for teaching her an ounce of manners. She wanted to sock his girl in the face and for the first time since arriving to St. Mary's, had the courage to do it.

"Oh, you and Jack. It's wonderful to see how you two made everything work. I mean," she flitted her hand as she searched for the right words, "from such different worlds you two. And yet," another fake smile that Eppie wanted to rip at the edges, "such a perfect couple."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Her voice mimicked the superficiality that dripped from Louisa's, surprising all those listening to the conversation.

Louisa appeared to not be dissuaded, smiling again as she clarified. "Well, Jack with his less than steady relationships and you, well, dear, you were a bit of a book worm. What ever do you two talk about?"

"You'd be surprised," Eppie replied, scooping the fresh drink Louisa had ordered, "Jack is quite different once you get to know him."

Louisa shifted noticeably from the jab, pursing her lips in distaste as one of her followers snickered behind a glove-covered hand. "What I mean" she explained, narrowing her eyes in a challenge, "was that I thought for sure his little bet would create ariff, so to speak. I mean, it certainly would make me question his motives"

Eppie choked slightly on the drink, recovering gracefully and handing the drink off to whoever was passing at the moment. "Bet?" She asked, confused and threatened by the fact that Louisa knew something she didn't.

"Why yes, the betthe bet Jack made to court you in the first place" Eppie shook her head in disbelief, shrinking back slightly as Louisa's smile curled in evil pleasure. She ignored Eppie's obvious distress, beckoning to a passing Kid Blink. "Blink darling," he was pulled in by her charm and smile, wobbling slightly because of all the liquor he'd had that evening, "tell Eppie dear about that hilarious little bet you and your friends made with Jack."

Blink, in a straighter state of consciousness, would have been disgusted by Louisa's condescending tone, but the liquor had loosened him up to believe that every female present worshipped him to no end. He leaned heavily on the uncomfortable man at Louisa's side and slapped Louisa roughly on the shoulder. "You're not supposed to tell," he giggled."

"Oh, but just this once" Louisa played along, batting her eyelashes in his direction.

He swallowed before slowly rolling his head to face Eppie. "We bet Jack" his explanation was interrupted by giddy laughter, "that he, oh, this is too funny" he slapped his knee heartily, "that he couldn't get you to be his goil by da time of da city's big" he waved his hands around to mimic the fireworks before dissolving into another round of laughter.

Eppie hid her shock behind a blank mask, listening to Blink's story and connecting the pieces in her mind. But seeing Louisa's smug smile cracked her wholly. She looked through the crowd to where Jack was sitting, waiting for her to return. He was laughing at something Race seemed to be explaining, turning at the same moment she did so that their eyes met. He stopped, no doubt in concern upon seeing her emotional expression, and strained to see why she was waiting by the bar. She could tell he spotted Louisa as soon as he jumped up from his seat, knocking the chair behind him to the floor.

That was all the confirmation she needed and she began to back away slowly, searching frantically for some sort of escape.

"Oh dear, you didn't know" Louisa tsked and pouted her lips before laughing herself, the girls behind her breaking into teasing laughter also.

Feeling as if she were in her worst nightmare, Eppie spun away from Louisa, pushing Blink out of the way and searching for the exit. She bumped into Anna and Spot on the way but was too quick for them to understand anything she muttered. They only caught her tears and the frantic muttering of 'a bet!' before the door to outside slammed behind her.

Jack was the next to run into the duo, ignoring Louisa's malicious invitation to join her for a round of drinks, "in cheers for your return to the single world." Spot caught his shoulders while Anna bounced in worry for her friend. "She knows," he said quickly, trying to push past them for fear she'd had too much of a lead already. He wanted to catch her and explain and Spot was slowing him down.

"She knows what?" Anna asked, "What is this about a bet? Jackwho was betting?" The boys ignored Anna's frantic questioning, challenging each other with their eyes. They hadn't spoken since their fight, much to the girl's questioning, and this apparently wasn't the time to reconcile. Finally, it was Spot who broke, noticing an uneasiness within Jack that he hadn't seen before. And so, with Jack racing out the door after Eppie, he was left to explain everything to Anna as best he could, risking as much of his relationship as Jack was.


Her mind was so cluttered with thoughts that she didn't notice the pain in her legs that stemmed from running in heels on cobblestone. She must have been a sight, face smeared and breathing erratic, running like a madwoman through the dwindling crowd on late night pedestrians. But she couldn't stop running, she wouldn't stop running, until she saw her front door.

Unfortunately she didn't get that far before she had to stop and catch her breath. In this pause she allowed her mind to succumb to the chaos inside. She had been right all along, she realized with bitterness. Jack's interest in her, the soul motivation for their relationship, had no basis anymore. How could she have been so deceived? She asked herself, wishing that the building she leaned against would just swallow her whole. Her disbelief had morphed into pity and sadness, never a good combination for a fragile mind. Quickly those emotions changed again into hate. She hated Jack for using her in such a way. She hated herself more though, for behaving so foolishly. Remembering all the personal things she'd told him refueled her energy and she set off again, stalking down the sidewalk as if on a mission to kill.

"Well, looky who da world turned away" She turned at the new voice, the low light from a street lamp enough for her to recognize his features.

Any other night and his smile would have frightened her. But at that moment, to his bad luck and given the circumstances, it made her spread her own. "Nary," she spat, crossing her arms across her chest, "what do you want?"

He chuckled to himself, shuffling towards her slightly. "Where's you Jacky-boy now, eh? Allowing his women to roam proves no good for 'im now.' He cracked his knuckles hungrily, "Or did he finally let you loose?"

The anger from that night's events lulled Eppie into a silent calm that Nary found oddly frightening. Before he could react, she stepped forward heavily on his foot, crushing her heel into his thin shoe before knocking him to the ground with her fist. "See that's where you're wrong," she hissed, picking him up by the collar of his shirt. He stumbled into the middle of the sidewalk as she pushed him to his knees. "Be sure you tell him, after he's picked up your sorry ass," She kicked his hard in the face, watching as she crumbled to the ground, "that I ran away."


AN: Nothing this time, besides a Disclaimer: I do not own newsies, get that into your head! My extra long note in the last chapter yielded a less than favorable result: NOTHING!