[Disclaimer] I don't own Newsies...*sigh* must you keep rubbing this OBVIOUS
fact in my face?? Oh, I also don't own Squid...that one's ALL Sancti.
[A/N] Oo, would ya looky there? I got reviews!! *happy dance* Guess that means I gotta write more, huh? Umm...just so you know, I can't get my italics to work *grumbles*. So this could get a little confusing. If anybody knows how to get 'em to work, please let me know!! Also, thank you soo much Dakki for spending your time and putting effort into beta reading for me. It's greatly appreciated!!
[Review Responses]
¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬
Sapphy ~ Haha! Hey, that's okay...I like that song *evil grin*. Ohh, you had better have meant that in a loving way...Skitts might get MAD. Not that he's ever not mad, or grumpy, or whatever characteristic you currently wanna attribute to him. Hope ya like this chapter too º¿ô. Okay...that was my sad attempt at a wink...
¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬
et-spiritus-sancti ~ I swear, you are soo impatient. And stop calling me grasshopper, ya lil rugrat!! Hehe, anyways...as you can see, I've now posted the next chapter. Hopefully it'll meet your specs :-P.
¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬
Dakki ~ Hehehe, poor lil Skitts...got Dakki jumpin' on him. *pats Skittery's shoulder* Just give it a few chapters...you'll like it more then. Glad ya liked the whole dumbstruck Skittery thing. *grins* Cornflakes?? Did those exist back then?? OMG, newsies in a can! We could make a fortune!!! By the by, !!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAKKI!!! *smirks* I think I should buy ya JACK model newsie...haha, did you ever read that story??
¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬
Leila3 ~ Thank you! Hehe, you shoulda seen me when I got your review...I was dancing, squealing, freaking people out in general... On second thought, maybe it's good that you DIDN'T see me then. Hope ya like this chapter too!
¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬
Dan ~ Hey, ya liked it, SWEET! *grins* I feel soo special...a guy reviewed!! Glad ya like the names...took me a while to think up Mockery's. Hope ya like this chapter too...ya know, not too girly or anything.
¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬
Now that my severe case of randomness and babbling are over...onto the story!!
*=*=*
New York, 1900
A cold breeze flew through the bunkroom of the Duane Street lodging house, which was very much akin to the cold month of November that they were entering. No one seemed disturbed by this sudden shiver in the room though. No one but Skittery, that is. The teenaged boy shot out of his bunk like a skittish cat that's just been snuck up on. It took him a few minutes to realize what had startled him so badly, and upon discovering the source, he quickly walked to the washroom, running his hand tensely through his hair. Once there, he leaned his elbows on the counter and examined himself in the mirror.
"Why was I dreaming about Mockery again?" he wondered to himself. It'd been a while since Mockery had... "No, I'm not going to think about that," he resolutely decided. As if confirming to himself that he was not going to let his brain travel down that thought path, he walked back to his bunk and fell asleep once more. And as he slept, his mind returned to the much missed past, which he could now only visit in his dreams.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Hurry up ya slowpoke!" The rapidly growing Skittery hollered to his selling partner for the day, Mockery, as he sprinted down the street. Being a 13-year-old boy, his limbs were shooting out at a painfully fast rate, and at most times he hated this recent development. He didn't hate it when he was effortlessly running through the city though. He grinned as he noticed that Mockery was still a good two blocks behind him. Returning to her side, he impishly asked, "Do ya want me to carry ya?"
Looking up from her current stance of being hunched over, attempting to catch her breath, she quickly retorted, "Better watch it, beanpole. I might take ya up on it." She immediately realized what a mistake she'd made, for Skittery circled around her, as if judging whether he could lift her or not, and swiftly lifted her off the ground and began to make his way back to the lodging house. As they neared the front of the building, the newsies that had already returned heard screams and rushed to investigate.
"Put me down NOW! Or so help me, I'll make sure ya NEVER get ta enjoy your manhood!" Mockery screamed from over Skittery's shoulder, her brown hair, having long lost any semblance of the ponytail that once contained her thick mop, spilled onto her face.
Upon seeing this sight, a blonde boy with a patch over one of his blue-gray eyes nearly keeled over with laughter. The other boy, a short dark-haired youth with a deck of cards in his hands, cringed and made a motion to protect his own "manhood". The third of the party, a small Italian girl whom they called Squid, immediately rushed to the aid of her only female ally. Skittery, seeing that he about to be assailed by yet another girl, and also somewhat afraid of Mockery's threat, he promptly dropped her to the ground.
"Ow!" Mockery yelped at being so suddenly acquainted with the hard ground that should have been far below her. Picking herself off the ground she narrowed her eyes at the three boys that found the incident so amusing. "I'll thank ya all ta kindly shut your pie holes!" She was angry and she didn't care who knew it. At noticing her friend's mood, Squid promptly pulled her away from the boys, but not before shooting them all death glares.
"Aw, I dunno what you're so sore about Mock'! I was just doin' what ya asked!" Skittery hollered to the two distancing figures. As they continued to walk inside, Skittery inwardly scolded himself. "How could I do that to her? Now she'll hate me! Stupid Michael. Really STUPID!" He remained staring at them until the card-handling boy that stood next to him ripped him from his thoughts.
"Don't worry 'bout her Skitts, she'll get ova it in no time!" Racetrack tried to reassure his friend. He knew that Mockery wasn't all that mad, but Skittery didn't think so. He was head over heels for that one. Silently, he wondered what would become of his two friends. As Skittery, Racetrack, and Kid Blink stood around for no apparent reason other than not wanting to face the wrath of Squid, they were approached by another one of the newsies; a tall brawny boy that appeared to be a few years their senior strode over to them.
Blink being the first one to notice him said, "Heya Snaps!" A sly grin spread across the elder boy's face as he grabbed a cigarette from behind Race's ear. After lighting the smoke and taking a long drag, which he blew out directly in Skitts' face, he finally spoke.
"Heya Blink. Look, Skitts, you think I don't see you hangin' around me goil, but I do. So ya best be leavin' Mockery alone. Got it?"
"I don't see why I should," Skittery replied, anger welling up inside of him.
"Just making a suggestion, ya might say." Then as swiftly as he had came, Snaps left, leaving the boys to their own thoughts.
As Race mumbled something in Italian about his cigarette, the boys made their way inside the lodging house. They had no sooner entered the building, than a smiling Squid approached them. "Mock and I have agreed to forgive you boys, va bene? But you must eat my new creazione."
Grumbles were heard all around, but in the end, the boys didn't want either of the two resident girls mad at them. As Skittery sat down to eat the "meal" he glanced at Mockery to see if he could tell whether she was back to her normal self yet. Upon seeing the grin on her face, he knew she was.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Skittery! Wake up!"
"Wha...?" Skittery soon realized that it was time to get up and go out to sell the papes. As he creeped to the washroom, he thought about the second dream he'd had about Mockery that night. He just couldn't get over her, no matter how hard he tried. If he closed his eyes, he could see her. Her long brown hair, her matching brown eyes, her soft curves that were so well hidden beneath her typical loosely hanging pants and shirt. He could see her selling her papes on the corner, sitting at a booth in Tibby's. He saw her everywhere.
Seeing Skittery zoning out in the middle of the busy washroom, the already dressed leader of the Manhattan newsies pulled him back into the bunkroom. "Thinkin' about Mockery again?" Jack asked with a sympathetic look on his tired face.
"Always am." Skittery replied with a weak smile.
Nodding Jack put his arm around Skittery as they made their way down the stairs. "Well if ya ever wanna talk 'bout it..." Jack then pulled his cowboy hat up onto his head and walked out the door. Realizing that he was now downstairs, and not dressed, Skittery embarrassedly ran back upstairs and quickly accomplished the task.
*=*=*
{Okay, now bear with me here...this is an ALTERNATE ending...if ya don't wanna read it don't, but it's my own LITTLE salute to Dakki's sweet 16}
"Skittery! Wake up!"
"Wha...?" Skittery soon realized that it was time to get up and go out to sell the papes. As he crept to the washroom, he thought about the second dream he'd had about Mockery that night. He just couldn't get over her, no matter how hard he tried. If he closed his eyes, he could see her. Her long brown hair, her matching brown eyes, her soft curves that were so well hidden beneath her typical loosely hanging pants and shirt. He could see her selling her papes on the corner, sitting at a booth in Tibby's. He saw her everywhere.
Seeing Skittery zoning out in the middle of the busy washroom, the half- dressed leader of the Manhattan newsies pulled him back into the bunkroom. "Thinkin' about Mockery again?" Jack asked with a sympathetic look on his tired face.
"Always am." Skittery replied with a weak smile.
Nodding Jack put his arm around Skittery as they made their way down the stairs. "Well if ya ever wanna talk 'bout it..." Jack then pulled his cowboy hat up onto his head and walked toward the door.
Suddenly noticing that Jack was only half-dressed, Skittery called out to him. "Hey Jack!"
"Yeah Skitts?"
"How come ya ain't wearin' a shirt?" A thoroughly bewildered Skittery asked.
"Well, Dakki dared me to go shirtless for a day, and seein' as it's her birthday...I'm goin' shirtless!" Jack replied grinning, and as he walked out the door he called over his shoulder. "Besides, look who's talkin'!"
At noticing that he too was not exactly dressed, Skittery embarrassedly ran back upstairs to quickly accomplish the task.
*=*=*
[A/N] Well?? Whatcha think?? Does it suck fully? Haha, I'm just a little bit insecure here :-P. Anyways, R & R PLEASE!!!
[A/N] Oo, would ya looky there? I got reviews!! *happy dance* Guess that means I gotta write more, huh? Umm...just so you know, I can't get my italics to work *grumbles*. So this could get a little confusing. If anybody knows how to get 'em to work, please let me know!! Also, thank you soo much Dakki for spending your time and putting effort into beta reading for me. It's greatly appreciated!!
[Review Responses]
¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬
Sapphy ~ Haha! Hey, that's okay...I like that song *evil grin*. Ohh, you had better have meant that in a loving way...Skitts might get MAD. Not that he's ever not mad, or grumpy, or whatever characteristic you currently wanna attribute to him. Hope ya like this chapter too º¿ô. Okay...that was my sad attempt at a wink...
¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬
et-spiritus-sancti ~ I swear, you are soo impatient. And stop calling me grasshopper, ya lil rugrat!! Hehe, anyways...as you can see, I've now posted the next chapter. Hopefully it'll meet your specs :-P.
¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬
Dakki ~ Hehehe, poor lil Skitts...got Dakki jumpin' on him. *pats Skittery's shoulder* Just give it a few chapters...you'll like it more then. Glad ya liked the whole dumbstruck Skittery thing. *grins* Cornflakes?? Did those exist back then?? OMG, newsies in a can! We could make a fortune!!! By the by, !!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAKKI!!! *smirks* I think I should buy ya JACK model newsie...haha, did you ever read that story??
¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬
Leila3 ~ Thank you! Hehe, you shoulda seen me when I got your review...I was dancing, squealing, freaking people out in general... On second thought, maybe it's good that you DIDN'T see me then. Hope ya like this chapter too!
¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬
Dan ~ Hey, ya liked it, SWEET! *grins* I feel soo special...a guy reviewed!! Glad ya like the names...took me a while to think up Mockery's. Hope ya like this chapter too...ya know, not too girly or anything.
¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬ ô¿ô ¬¿¬
Now that my severe case of randomness and babbling are over...onto the story!!
*=*=*
New York, 1900
A cold breeze flew through the bunkroom of the Duane Street lodging house, which was very much akin to the cold month of November that they were entering. No one seemed disturbed by this sudden shiver in the room though. No one but Skittery, that is. The teenaged boy shot out of his bunk like a skittish cat that's just been snuck up on. It took him a few minutes to realize what had startled him so badly, and upon discovering the source, he quickly walked to the washroom, running his hand tensely through his hair. Once there, he leaned his elbows on the counter and examined himself in the mirror.
"Why was I dreaming about Mockery again?" he wondered to himself. It'd been a while since Mockery had... "No, I'm not going to think about that," he resolutely decided. As if confirming to himself that he was not going to let his brain travel down that thought path, he walked back to his bunk and fell asleep once more. And as he slept, his mind returned to the much missed past, which he could now only visit in his dreams.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Hurry up ya slowpoke!" The rapidly growing Skittery hollered to his selling partner for the day, Mockery, as he sprinted down the street. Being a 13-year-old boy, his limbs were shooting out at a painfully fast rate, and at most times he hated this recent development. He didn't hate it when he was effortlessly running through the city though. He grinned as he noticed that Mockery was still a good two blocks behind him. Returning to her side, he impishly asked, "Do ya want me to carry ya?"
Looking up from her current stance of being hunched over, attempting to catch her breath, she quickly retorted, "Better watch it, beanpole. I might take ya up on it." She immediately realized what a mistake she'd made, for Skittery circled around her, as if judging whether he could lift her or not, and swiftly lifted her off the ground and began to make his way back to the lodging house. As they neared the front of the building, the newsies that had already returned heard screams and rushed to investigate.
"Put me down NOW! Or so help me, I'll make sure ya NEVER get ta enjoy your manhood!" Mockery screamed from over Skittery's shoulder, her brown hair, having long lost any semblance of the ponytail that once contained her thick mop, spilled onto her face.
Upon seeing this sight, a blonde boy with a patch over one of his blue-gray eyes nearly keeled over with laughter. The other boy, a short dark-haired youth with a deck of cards in his hands, cringed and made a motion to protect his own "manhood". The third of the party, a small Italian girl whom they called Squid, immediately rushed to the aid of her only female ally. Skittery, seeing that he about to be assailed by yet another girl, and also somewhat afraid of Mockery's threat, he promptly dropped her to the ground.
"Ow!" Mockery yelped at being so suddenly acquainted with the hard ground that should have been far below her. Picking herself off the ground she narrowed her eyes at the three boys that found the incident so amusing. "I'll thank ya all ta kindly shut your pie holes!" She was angry and she didn't care who knew it. At noticing her friend's mood, Squid promptly pulled her away from the boys, but not before shooting them all death glares.
"Aw, I dunno what you're so sore about Mock'! I was just doin' what ya asked!" Skittery hollered to the two distancing figures. As they continued to walk inside, Skittery inwardly scolded himself. "How could I do that to her? Now she'll hate me! Stupid Michael. Really STUPID!" He remained staring at them until the card-handling boy that stood next to him ripped him from his thoughts.
"Don't worry 'bout her Skitts, she'll get ova it in no time!" Racetrack tried to reassure his friend. He knew that Mockery wasn't all that mad, but Skittery didn't think so. He was head over heels for that one. Silently, he wondered what would become of his two friends. As Skittery, Racetrack, and Kid Blink stood around for no apparent reason other than not wanting to face the wrath of Squid, they were approached by another one of the newsies; a tall brawny boy that appeared to be a few years their senior strode over to them.
Blink being the first one to notice him said, "Heya Snaps!" A sly grin spread across the elder boy's face as he grabbed a cigarette from behind Race's ear. After lighting the smoke and taking a long drag, which he blew out directly in Skitts' face, he finally spoke.
"Heya Blink. Look, Skitts, you think I don't see you hangin' around me goil, but I do. So ya best be leavin' Mockery alone. Got it?"
"I don't see why I should," Skittery replied, anger welling up inside of him.
"Just making a suggestion, ya might say." Then as swiftly as he had came, Snaps left, leaving the boys to their own thoughts.
As Race mumbled something in Italian about his cigarette, the boys made their way inside the lodging house. They had no sooner entered the building, than a smiling Squid approached them. "Mock and I have agreed to forgive you boys, va bene? But you must eat my new creazione."
Grumbles were heard all around, but in the end, the boys didn't want either of the two resident girls mad at them. As Skittery sat down to eat the "meal" he glanced at Mockery to see if he could tell whether she was back to her normal self yet. Upon seeing the grin on her face, he knew she was.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Skittery! Wake up!"
"Wha...?" Skittery soon realized that it was time to get up and go out to sell the papes. As he creeped to the washroom, he thought about the second dream he'd had about Mockery that night. He just couldn't get over her, no matter how hard he tried. If he closed his eyes, he could see her. Her long brown hair, her matching brown eyes, her soft curves that were so well hidden beneath her typical loosely hanging pants and shirt. He could see her selling her papes on the corner, sitting at a booth in Tibby's. He saw her everywhere.
Seeing Skittery zoning out in the middle of the busy washroom, the already dressed leader of the Manhattan newsies pulled him back into the bunkroom. "Thinkin' about Mockery again?" Jack asked with a sympathetic look on his tired face.
"Always am." Skittery replied with a weak smile.
Nodding Jack put his arm around Skittery as they made their way down the stairs. "Well if ya ever wanna talk 'bout it..." Jack then pulled his cowboy hat up onto his head and walked out the door. Realizing that he was now downstairs, and not dressed, Skittery embarrassedly ran back upstairs and quickly accomplished the task.
*=*=*
{Okay, now bear with me here...this is an ALTERNATE ending...if ya don't wanna read it don't, but it's my own LITTLE salute to Dakki's sweet 16}
"Skittery! Wake up!"
"Wha...?" Skittery soon realized that it was time to get up and go out to sell the papes. As he crept to the washroom, he thought about the second dream he'd had about Mockery that night. He just couldn't get over her, no matter how hard he tried. If he closed his eyes, he could see her. Her long brown hair, her matching brown eyes, her soft curves that were so well hidden beneath her typical loosely hanging pants and shirt. He could see her selling her papes on the corner, sitting at a booth in Tibby's. He saw her everywhere.
Seeing Skittery zoning out in the middle of the busy washroom, the half- dressed leader of the Manhattan newsies pulled him back into the bunkroom. "Thinkin' about Mockery again?" Jack asked with a sympathetic look on his tired face.
"Always am." Skittery replied with a weak smile.
Nodding Jack put his arm around Skittery as they made their way down the stairs. "Well if ya ever wanna talk 'bout it..." Jack then pulled his cowboy hat up onto his head and walked toward the door.
Suddenly noticing that Jack was only half-dressed, Skittery called out to him. "Hey Jack!"
"Yeah Skitts?"
"How come ya ain't wearin' a shirt?" A thoroughly bewildered Skittery asked.
"Well, Dakki dared me to go shirtless for a day, and seein' as it's her birthday...I'm goin' shirtless!" Jack replied grinning, and as he walked out the door he called over his shoulder. "Besides, look who's talkin'!"
At noticing that he too was not exactly dressed, Skittery embarrassedly ran back upstairs to quickly accomplish the task.
*=*=*
[A/N] Well?? Whatcha think?? Does it suck fully? Haha, I'm just a little bit insecure here :-P. Anyways, R & R PLEASE!!!