Author's Note: okay, I realize that this entire story is very fluffy, but,
I like fluffy *said in childish voice*, and I think this chapter is a
little more intune to reality. Enjoy, and plz review! : )
"Wow"
Mush was leading Laina through a vast ocean of newsies. All around was color, noise, and laughter. Friends joking, some of whom had an arm around a girl, presumably their dates.
He led her through a wide hall, then into the main auditorium, where she inwardly gasped yet again. He merely smiled, laughed softly and continued to enter the hall. Mush looked around, trying to find everyone else, and was almost immediately being called over by two newsies. Laina new one, Racetrack, and recognized the other to be the boy who had urged them to end their "moment" in the alley.
Mush sat down and pulled the chair Laina was sitting in closer to his. Caught off guard, she jumped slightly, but once she was aware of who was pulling her and where she was going, she relaxed, blushing slightly. At this, Blink threw his head back, looking as though he might break into a rampage of laughter yet again.
He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a single word out, Mush pointed his index finger in Blink's direction warningly, but with an amused smile on his face. "Don't even think about it." Now Race, looking completely lost, looked back and forth between Blink and Mush, then at Laina's blushing cheeks, and understood......sort of.
The boys chatted and joked for a while. Not really knowing who or what they were talking about, she allowed her mind to wander. She glanced around the magnificent room, slowly filling with more and more people, her eyes pausing on nothing in particular. In the depths of her daydream, the sound seemed to have been switched off. However, when Mush shook her arm, bringing her sharply back to reality, the noise met her ears full force.
Jack was standing in the middle of the stage, motioning with his hands for everyone to quiet down. Once the hall got quiet enough for Jack to speak and actually be heard, he yelled back at all the newsies, "Alright, the party'll get started in a minute. Now, you all know Medda," and thunderous applause rang out as a beautiful woman stepped on from somewhere backstage.
Once the cheering and whistling died down Jack continued, "But someone here doesn't know her, or many other of us. So," he now gestured to the people in charge of the lighting, "I'd like you all to meet a new but very special person," and he pointed directly at Laina, causing her face to turn a deep crimson. "Come on up here, Moonbeam."
Before she could get a word out, Race, Blink, and to her surprise, Mush, were all pushing her towards the stage to where Jack stood, a wide smile on his face. She slowly got up, took a few paces, the turned to look at Mush, who smiled and urged her on. She turned, and walked toward the stage.
Once more, the sound didn't seem to be working, and the stage appeared to not be getting any closer. She hated walking alone in front of crowds. Was she still moving? Or was she simply standing there gaping up at Jack like a complete idiot? This question was soon answered when she found herself at the foot of some steps. As if not knowing how she'd gotten there, she glanced down at them for a moment, and then climbed them.
When she reached the place where Jack was standing, she didn't know if she should look at him, or the crowd, or just look down at her feet. Her ears were working properly again, and were met with an outburst of whistles and cheers. Once quieted, Medda, having been a sort of 'aunt' to all the newsies, walked up to her, and gave her a small, welcoming hug and said, "We hope to be seeing you frequently." She kissed Jack on the cheek swiftly before resuming her previous place on the stage. Jack cleared his throat and called out, "Fellas, this is Moonbeam, and she'll be staying in Manhattan. So don't even think about it Spot!"
Heads turned in the direction of a handsome boy of about 18, who was sitting relaxed in a chair with his feet reclined on the table in front of him. "Yeah, alright Jackie Boy," and revealed a smug, confident smile. "Well, now that we's all introduced, let's party, boys!" Jack led Laina down the stairs while Medda's band struck up a song, and took her back to where she had been sitting. She sat down in her seat next to Mush, and gave him a 'did-you-know-that-was-gonna-happen?' look, which he returned by laughing and smiling broadly. She buried her face in her hands as she blushed intensely and punched him lightly on the arm before he pulled her out of her chair and on to his lap.
While almost everyone else danced around to the music, Mush, Jack, Race, Blink, and Laina stayed at their table, having their own little party. After a little while, Spot came over to join them, face a little pink from dancing. Jack look quickly between Spot and Laina and said, "Oh yeah, this is Spot, incase you didn't catch that before." Spot held out his hand to Laina, which she shook with a grin. Soon after he sat down, Spot echoed the question that Jack had asked while walking to the hall that afternoon. "How'd you's two meet?" Laina and Mush exchanged yet another embarrassed glance, and she stuttered to find the right words. "Uh...well, uh...well, y- ya see, uh...w-what happened was..." and she blurted it out before she had time to get her tongue around the syllables, "came off 'arbor an' 'ell," she blurted out in a rush.
*The boys exchanged looks*
"Huh?" Spot said for everyone else who was thinking the same thing. Laina took a deep breath, and said, just as she had told Jack, eyes cast down at the floor, "Well, I was coming off of the harbor, and we just, kind of...met." Her head now hung limply in her embarrassment. Mush looked as though he might explode with laughter. She had no reason to be embarrassed, and he wanted her to know that.
The other boys were grinning slyly at the two of them. "So that's why you haven't been around lately," Race said, nudging Mush in the arm with his elbow. Mush smiled and nodded slowly, eyes closed, trying desperately to contain his laughter. All around the table, the boys began to laugh. Laina, a little unnerved, laughed shyly. Seeing this, Mush looked up at her and when she looked down at him from her perch on his lap, he smiled and tightened his arms around her waist. She sat there limply for a moment, then, realizing that this wasn't a big deal, wrapped her arms around his neck.
She loosened up considerably, and joined in on the joking. Before long, Race had gotten out a deck of cards, and was doing the thing that he loved more than anything in the world....gambling. He dealt everyone in for a rousing game of poker, and, to everyone's great astonishment, Laina was putting all the boys' best poker tricks to shame.
"She's gotta be cheatin'," Blink whispered to Jack behind his cards, in such an undertone, he was barely making any sound, and in combination with the loud noise of the packed hall, they jumped when Laina said, "I am not cheating, you all just can't play poker." Blink looked at her quizzically, and said, "How did ya-?" "I am extremely clean of hearing, so don't bother trying to whisper around me." Mush shot Blink a 'she's-got-a-point' look, and grinned softly at her. She never ceased to amaze him.
They continued to play for six more hands, having run out of betting money. Laina, however, sat with a large pile of money in front of her. They all sat, open-mouthed as she counted up all the money they'd lost to her. As she finished, she looked up at them, and, laughing to herself, said, "Oh alright," and began sliding money back towards them. "I wasn't gonna keep it all anyway."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ I hope you all liked this chapie, so plz, REVIEW!! I'll even take flames, jus lemme know ur out there and reading this!! I love you all : )
shasanixie: thank you soOo much for the review. It made my day! And, here ya go, I fixeded it! Hey, spread the word about this story....the lack of readers is really dampening my writing spirit(. Ttyl!
"Wow"
Mush was leading Laina through a vast ocean of newsies. All around was color, noise, and laughter. Friends joking, some of whom had an arm around a girl, presumably their dates.
He led her through a wide hall, then into the main auditorium, where she inwardly gasped yet again. He merely smiled, laughed softly and continued to enter the hall. Mush looked around, trying to find everyone else, and was almost immediately being called over by two newsies. Laina new one, Racetrack, and recognized the other to be the boy who had urged them to end their "moment" in the alley.
Mush sat down and pulled the chair Laina was sitting in closer to his. Caught off guard, she jumped slightly, but once she was aware of who was pulling her and where she was going, she relaxed, blushing slightly. At this, Blink threw his head back, looking as though he might break into a rampage of laughter yet again.
He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a single word out, Mush pointed his index finger in Blink's direction warningly, but with an amused smile on his face. "Don't even think about it." Now Race, looking completely lost, looked back and forth between Blink and Mush, then at Laina's blushing cheeks, and understood......sort of.
The boys chatted and joked for a while. Not really knowing who or what they were talking about, she allowed her mind to wander. She glanced around the magnificent room, slowly filling with more and more people, her eyes pausing on nothing in particular. In the depths of her daydream, the sound seemed to have been switched off. However, when Mush shook her arm, bringing her sharply back to reality, the noise met her ears full force.
Jack was standing in the middle of the stage, motioning with his hands for everyone to quiet down. Once the hall got quiet enough for Jack to speak and actually be heard, he yelled back at all the newsies, "Alright, the party'll get started in a minute. Now, you all know Medda," and thunderous applause rang out as a beautiful woman stepped on from somewhere backstage.
Once the cheering and whistling died down Jack continued, "But someone here doesn't know her, or many other of us. So," he now gestured to the people in charge of the lighting, "I'd like you all to meet a new but very special person," and he pointed directly at Laina, causing her face to turn a deep crimson. "Come on up here, Moonbeam."
Before she could get a word out, Race, Blink, and to her surprise, Mush, were all pushing her towards the stage to where Jack stood, a wide smile on his face. She slowly got up, took a few paces, the turned to look at Mush, who smiled and urged her on. She turned, and walked toward the stage.
Once more, the sound didn't seem to be working, and the stage appeared to not be getting any closer. She hated walking alone in front of crowds. Was she still moving? Or was she simply standing there gaping up at Jack like a complete idiot? This question was soon answered when she found herself at the foot of some steps. As if not knowing how she'd gotten there, she glanced down at them for a moment, and then climbed them.
When she reached the place where Jack was standing, she didn't know if she should look at him, or the crowd, or just look down at her feet. Her ears were working properly again, and were met with an outburst of whistles and cheers. Once quieted, Medda, having been a sort of 'aunt' to all the newsies, walked up to her, and gave her a small, welcoming hug and said, "We hope to be seeing you frequently." She kissed Jack on the cheek swiftly before resuming her previous place on the stage. Jack cleared his throat and called out, "Fellas, this is Moonbeam, and she'll be staying in Manhattan. So don't even think about it Spot!"
Heads turned in the direction of a handsome boy of about 18, who was sitting relaxed in a chair with his feet reclined on the table in front of him. "Yeah, alright Jackie Boy," and revealed a smug, confident smile. "Well, now that we's all introduced, let's party, boys!" Jack led Laina down the stairs while Medda's band struck up a song, and took her back to where she had been sitting. She sat down in her seat next to Mush, and gave him a 'did-you-know-that-was-gonna-happen?' look, which he returned by laughing and smiling broadly. She buried her face in her hands as she blushed intensely and punched him lightly on the arm before he pulled her out of her chair and on to his lap.
While almost everyone else danced around to the music, Mush, Jack, Race, Blink, and Laina stayed at their table, having their own little party. After a little while, Spot came over to join them, face a little pink from dancing. Jack look quickly between Spot and Laina and said, "Oh yeah, this is Spot, incase you didn't catch that before." Spot held out his hand to Laina, which she shook with a grin. Soon after he sat down, Spot echoed the question that Jack had asked while walking to the hall that afternoon. "How'd you's two meet?" Laina and Mush exchanged yet another embarrassed glance, and she stuttered to find the right words. "Uh...well, uh...well, y- ya see, uh...w-what happened was..." and she blurted it out before she had time to get her tongue around the syllables, "came off 'arbor an' 'ell," she blurted out in a rush.
*The boys exchanged looks*
"Huh?" Spot said for everyone else who was thinking the same thing. Laina took a deep breath, and said, just as she had told Jack, eyes cast down at the floor, "Well, I was coming off of the harbor, and we just, kind of...met." Her head now hung limply in her embarrassment. Mush looked as though he might explode with laughter. She had no reason to be embarrassed, and he wanted her to know that.
The other boys were grinning slyly at the two of them. "So that's why you haven't been around lately," Race said, nudging Mush in the arm with his elbow. Mush smiled and nodded slowly, eyes closed, trying desperately to contain his laughter. All around the table, the boys began to laugh. Laina, a little unnerved, laughed shyly. Seeing this, Mush looked up at her and when she looked down at him from her perch on his lap, he smiled and tightened his arms around her waist. She sat there limply for a moment, then, realizing that this wasn't a big deal, wrapped her arms around his neck.
She loosened up considerably, and joined in on the joking. Before long, Race had gotten out a deck of cards, and was doing the thing that he loved more than anything in the world....gambling. He dealt everyone in for a rousing game of poker, and, to everyone's great astonishment, Laina was putting all the boys' best poker tricks to shame.
"She's gotta be cheatin'," Blink whispered to Jack behind his cards, in such an undertone, he was barely making any sound, and in combination with the loud noise of the packed hall, they jumped when Laina said, "I am not cheating, you all just can't play poker." Blink looked at her quizzically, and said, "How did ya-?" "I am extremely clean of hearing, so don't bother trying to whisper around me." Mush shot Blink a 'she's-got-a-point' look, and grinned softly at her. She never ceased to amaze him.
They continued to play for six more hands, having run out of betting money. Laina, however, sat with a large pile of money in front of her. They all sat, open-mouthed as she counted up all the money they'd lost to her. As she finished, she looked up at them, and, laughing to herself, said, "Oh alright," and began sliding money back towards them. "I wasn't gonna keep it all anyway."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ I hope you all liked this chapie, so plz, REVIEW!! I'll even take flames, jus lemme know ur out there and reading this!! I love you all : )
shasanixie: thank you soOo much for the review. It made my day! And, here ya go, I fixeded it! Hey, spread the word about this story....the lack of readers is really dampening my writing spirit(. Ttyl!