Notes: Yeah, I passed my Driver's Test. I got two 95's! I get my permit. I'll get my license a little later. We went to Olive Garden to celebrate Thursday. Yes, on a school night! I didn't have to study for anything because I'm exempt from all tests.
Today was a half-day for me. It's the end of the trimester, so I only had 3 of the 5 periods. So, I got home around 1. That also means new schedule on Monday though. Oh well, I still have theatre at least. My junior year is almost over!
Shout-Outs:
Scamley Elliot – Hey, I'm glad you like it and that it made you excited. Thanks for the review!
GeometryGal – Yeah, she gets to sing. It's hard in front of an audience though.
Wisecracker88 – Glad you like your character. And I won't forget the super glue. I'm don't like it that much myself.
You Don't Hear a Sound
"Let's go over it one more time," Snow said, "We've almost got it." I sighed and looked over to where Medda was watching us. It was obvious that I wasn't going anywhere for a while.
"Can we slow it down some," I asked, somewhat reluctantly, "I'm not that good at this." Snow nodded in agreement and we went over the moves one more time. This is much harder than it looks. On stage, everyone makes it look so easy.
"That looks good girls," Medda told us as we started going over it and adding the words to the song. I didn't respond, I was trying to remember what was next. To my surprise, I found that it was getting easier as we continued.
When we finished, I turned to Snow, "How do you do that every week," I asked.
"You get used to it after a while," she answered.
"Girls, come on," Swoosh appeared at the door, Jaws right behind her, "The guys invited us over for a poker game. And since you don't have to perform tonight…"
"Let's go," Snow said, pulling me along behind her. Swoosh and Jaws laughed, obviously they had heard about Blink asking her to be his girlfriend.
"The guys are waiting," Jaws said, "Come on, Dreamer's waiting outside for us." When we stepped out, I saw that the sky had grown dark within the last hour. Not familiar with how to get to the lodging house from here, I followed everyone else.
"I hate super glue," Swoosh said randomly.
I gave her a strange look, "Why?"
"It makes putting up backgrounds harder," she answered, turning her green eyes towards me, "And it does this." She successfully pulled two of her fingers apart after some effort, "And it's happened more than once."
I stepped into the brick building after them, turning away from Kloppman so he wouldn't have a chance at recognizing me. They lead me up a set of stairs and to a room that was full of the noise of over twenty newsies.
"You made it," Blink said, walking over to us. Snow followed him over to a game taking place in the middle of the floor. I recognized Race playing in full concentration, wanting to win. I watched intently to see what would happen next. That's when I realized that Race was the one I had seen celebrating when I was watching through the window. I almost laughed in remembering the look of pure joy on his face by winning a simple game of poker.
I must have laughed out loud because Swoosh turned to me, "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," I said, stopping suddenly, "I was just thinking." She gave me a confused look, but returned her gaze to the game.
"I'm glad you could make it," a new, but familiar voice greeted me. I turned to face Mush, who was about a foot in front of me. I immediately returned to my quiet self, not knowing what to say to him, "Want to join us?" I fingered the twenty cents Medda had given me for my first day's work, figuring that I could spare a little. I knew how to play poker.
"Sure," I replied, letting him lead me to a smaller group. Jaws followed us over. I hesitated a second, "Why aren't you playing with the others?"
He grinned at me in response, "We know better than to play against Race," he answered, "Although we do every once in a while." I almost mentioned that I knew, but decided against it immediately. That would just be admitting that I'd been here before.
We sat down and everyone reintroduced themselves. There was Snoddy, Itey, Jake, and Specs. Jaws sat down beside me.
After a few rounds, I decided to sit out. I had won about two games and hadn't had any luck since. Besides, I wanted to keep hold of at least some of the money. There was one thing I noticed though. Jaws kept on glancing over at Snoddy during the game. She saw me watching her and gave me a look that clearly said not to tell him and smiled a little shyly at being caught. I understood exactly what she was going through.
While waiting for everyone to finish, I sat down on Mush's bunk. He had shown me where it was and said that I could watch the games up there. Plus, I didn't want to take someone else's bunk if I didn't know them. I glanced around at the various games going on. A few groans came from Race's group. I guess he was winning.
Getting a little bored, I looked over the edge of the bed to look around. I stopped when I caught a faint shine coming from one of the small dressers between the beds. Curious, I leaned farther over until I could see what it was. The shape came into view. It was my locket! I caught myself before I fell off the bunk. He was the one who found it?
Taking a quick glance around, I noticed that no one was watching me. I reached down slowly and grabbed hold of the chain. I mean, it was mine. I could take it if I wanted. I wasn't stealing anything, it belonged to me. Besides, who would miss it? I bet it's been there since they found it. Who would even notice that it was gone?
After taking one more glance around the room, I pulled the object up and placed it inside my pocket. I sat back up and turned my attention back to the poker games going on. One hand remained in my pocket, feeling the smooth metal between my fingers, making sure that it was really there. It was nice to know that it was back. That locket meant everything to me. I reluctantly pulled my hand out when Mush turned to see what I was doing. I smiled shyly down at him and he returned the gesture before going back to his game.
No one will notice it's gone, I told myself. They would never find out about it. I only hoped that I was right.
