Disclaimer: None of the Newsies characters belong to me. Hannah and Ace/Noah Gray DO belong to me. Thanks for reading!
Review Shout-outs:
TheAngryPrincess13: Thank you for reading! I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Btw: really like your screen name.
koodles4you: Aww...I'm so thrilled that you've been waiting for a story! Wish I had known sooner, it might have given me inspiration to write. Thank you for your compliments!
BlackWiltedRose: Thank you for your comments! I'm really glad you read my story. I had the main character named Grace at first....but Grace and Ace rhyming all the time...lol it didn't work. So I changed it to Hannah. I have a list of names I like...so I pull names for my stories from that list. Don't worry about Spot...he was in a super sour mood those couple of days. Maybe that'll change...
Buttons14: Yeah, the Delancy brothers are jerks...I didn't upload it in poetry format...the problem is that I've got a new system without microsoft word....so I write on Word Perfect...then I have to switch it to a text document and it messes up my formatting...deep sigh Maybe I'll figure it out one day. I'm a HUGE Les Mis fan. Love love LOVE Eponine. I don't know if the original was Korean or Asian. I do know that she spoke very little English (or so I've read) so she did a fantastic job.
I know with the first chapter it's hard to do, but if y'all have any predictions, suggestions, or things you'd like to have happen to the characters (or if you'd like someone you created make an appearance in my story) Let me know! I think it would make it more interesting and it would allow y'all (my wonderful readers! hugs) a chance to participate. (Not saying I'll automatically have your character marry Jack or something...cause that wouldn't go with my story...but if your idea fits in with my own...you never can tell...)
I apologize for the delay on this chapter. My brother was in town and I don't get to see him very often. He was at the top of my priority list.
It was near dusk by the time Ace and Hannah arrived on her street. "Finally...things look familiar to me." Hannah thought to herself. "Home sweet home." Hannah announced when they stepped up to the gate that opened to reveal the walkway to her front door.
"Well, hea we are. It was nice meetin ya Hannah. If ya eva decide ya wanna come back ta Brooklyn, ya betta stop by an see me." Ace turned away from Hannah and started to walk back to Brooklyn.
"But I want you to meet my family! You've brought me home safely....surely they'll be thankful for your help Noah." Ace really didn't want to go into Hannah's fine home. Maybe she had realized that the newsies weren't street rats....but unfortunately, most of New York's wealthy didn't like the newsies one bit. With much reluctance, Ace followed Hannah up the walkway to her front door. A butler opened the door and Hannah was swept into the front room.
"Hannah what happened to you? We were worried sick! Oh you poor dear, are you all right?" Hannah's mother began fussing over her the moment her eyes swept over Hannah's unkempt appearance. It was Hannah's father, however, that first noticed Ace. He cleared his throat loudly.
"And whom might this be?" His eyes narrowed at Ace, and his face clearly showed his disgust.
"Father, this is Noah, he helped me last night when I got lost. I'm afraid I wandered off too far and it was too late to make the trip all the way back home so..." Hannah was silenced when her father walked up to Ace. Try as he might, Ace couldn't even force himself to look Hannah's father in the eye. Instead, he looked down at his own scuffed shoes, horribly embarrassed about his appearance for the first time in many years.
"Well, thank you....Noah.....for bringing our daughter home. I trust that you require nothing more, so that you will be leaving shortly. I don't expect that we will meet again." Ace clutched his newsboy cap in both hands, trying to hold them steady.
"No sir....I don't expect we'll be seein each other anymores." He tried to cover up his thick New York accent, but a little bit of it slipped out, to the amusement of Hannah's father. Without another word to say, Hannah's father retreated to the parlor with her mother following close behind, leaving Hannah and Ace alone in the front room.
"I need ta go home now Hannah. Yer house is pretty." Ace rushed to the door and opened it quickly.
"Noah....Ace....wait! I don't understand. Please...just let me get my father....I don't know why he's reacted this way." Ace turned around to face Hannah, and she noticed the tears brimming in his eyes.
"S'ok Hannah. I'se understands plenty. We's jist from two different woilds. Yer folks will neva understand the newsies. I sure am glad I got to meet ya though. You be careful around the city from now on, ya hear?" With those final words, Ace turned away from Hannah and began the trip back to Brooklyn. A light snow had begun to fall as. It would have been so beautiful....if only Hannah had been able to see it through her own tears.
Hannah dried her tears with a handkerchief she had in her dress pocket. She re-entered her house, only to be ushered upstairs by one of the maids. She bathed in her porcelain tub....the water would have been warm and comforting on any other occasion, but tonight it burned her skin and she wanted her bath to be over with quickly. She dressed in a clean dress and put her hair up after it had been brushed. Hannah stared out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Ace coming back to her house. She didn't want that to be her last time seeing him. One of the maids entered her room.
"Miss Hannah? Your father and mother request that you join them in the parlor for tea." Hannah left her room and walked down the stairs, entering the parlor within minutes. She stood in the doorway a moment before sitting beside her mother on the sofa. Her father sat in his chair, studying her quietly. He did not look pleased with her.
"Hannah, your actions this evening have made it quite clear that your mother and I have not done our part in raising you properly." Her father began. Hannah knew better than to protest, she merely listened. "We had assumed, incorrectly, that we brought you up to be a proper young lady. However, there is still hope. You are young, and so we may just be able to undo any damage that has been done. Your mother and I are sending you to finishing classes at a wonderful establishment. We have heard praises of the headmistress for quite some time. By bringing that...that boy in here this evening, well, that just makes us all the more sure that we must send you to this school. For your own sake. The maids are packing your clothes for you. You may go upstairs now to assist them. Tell them which items you wish to bring along with your clothes. I've already given them orders to pack a journal for you to record your days in, as well as paper so that you may write letters to your mother. Although I'm certain the school will also have these items readily available. That is all."
Hannah glanced at her mother slowly. When she realized that her mother could do nothing, or perhaps she didn't wish to do anything, Hannah left the parlor and went up the stairs to her room. Once she got there, she found most of her belongings packed into a large steamer trunk and a small tote bag. Most of the items packed were clothes. Then there was Hannah's brush and comb, some hair ribbons....things like that. She didn't have much jewelry, so that didn't take up a lot of room. The journal and paper, as her father had said, were packed away neatly in the steamer trunk on top of her skirts and blouses.
The next morning Hannah bid her goodbyes to her father and mother. Hannah felt sorry for her mother....she had begun to cry silently. Hannah silently obeyed her parents however, and climbed into the carriage that would bring her to the school...a place she would call home for quite some time.
Brooklyn
"Ace...if I have ta drag you outta this lodgin house I will. Ya need ta get outta Brooklyn. Come with me ta Manhattan. One of the otha guys can be in charge. We've got a great poka game going on...you know how Race loves ta bet all his money." Spot had been trying desperately for weeks. All Ace did was mope around the lodgin house. He wouldn't sell any papes and he hardly ate any food. "I knew that dumb goil was trouble the moment I saw her." Spot mumbled under his breath.
Ace was up in an instant, pushing the Brooklyn leader against the wall....something that simply is NOT done. Spot had struck a chord, and he knew it. That was the only reason he did nothing to Ace for his unruly behavior. Ace's anger faded almost instantly, a sadness sweeping over his face.
"Ace...the guys are worried about ya. Jist come...fer an hour or two. Even if ya jist sit in the corna the entire time." Ace finally agreed...probably because Spot didn't even make a threat towards Ace when he had nearly crossed the line big time. Spot picked his cane up from it's usual space and walked out the lodgin house, with Ace following close behind.
The Manhattan newsies were surprised to see Ace that night, Jack in particular. He pulled Spot to the side once they had arrived. Ace was talking to Mush and Blink.
"How's he doin?" Jack asked, looking over at Ace. Spot shrugged his shoulders helplessly.
"This is the foist time I've gotten him ta even go outside in weeks. It's like he lost his best friend....and he barely even knew the goil." Race began dealing the cards and the poker game began. Ace sat near the window, just watching the others play poker. Once he was sure that the guys were too wrapped up in the game, he snuck out the window onto the fire escape and climbed to the roof. It was cold and the wind blew hard, but he just stuffed his hands deep into his pockets and stared off into the night sky.