---Chapter Two---

It was nightfall by the time Crutchy and Jack reached the Lodging House. They both headed up to the large, communal bedrooms and saw all their friends, chatting and sleeping, waiting for the next day of work. Rubbing his face, Jack blindly made his way to the communal bathroom where he saw her. And he couldn't help but stare.

This mystery girl was gorgeous and Jack hated to admit it, even to himself. She had a sort of natural beauty that sent good vibes to whoever happened to be in her presence. Although her hair was swept up in a knot on top of her head, he realized Crutchy had been dead on in his description. Her body was slightly curved under her pajamas and he noticed she had an athletic build; he also noticed the deep circles under her chocolate brown eyes and the slightly sallow look to her face, the kind that he saw in lots of his friends when they hadn't been eating enough.

"Are you gonna stand there watching me all night?" she said to him, turning off the faucet. "I kinda need to get through the door if I want to go to bed and you're sort of in my way."

"I wasn't watching you," Jack replied, feeling a sort of catch in his throat. "Something shiny caught my eye behind you. It was...uh...distracting." The girl turned around and saw nothing but dingy, albeit clean, towels.

"Sure, whatever you say," she replied, drying her face on her sleeve. She walked up to him and stuck out her hand. "I'm Maddy, by the way." He took her hand and immediately felt the calluses on her palm, something he hadn't expected. Despite the roughness, her hand did feel rather small in his own.

"Jack," he replied. "I'm Jack."

"The infamous Jack Kelly, I presume?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"People talk. They were telling me something about a strike you were in charge of about a year ago. Impressive," Maddy replied, letting her hair out of its knot. She ran a hand through its long length. "I also heard you're one of the best newsies in New York."

"Uh, yeah, that's right," Jack replied, staring at her hair. "I mean, not to brag or anything..."

"Of course not," Maddy agreed, staring up into his eyes. God, he was tall. "But I guess we'll see who's the best, won't we?" Jack stopped staring at her hair and looked into her eyes before he busted out laughing. "What's so funny?"

"You just got here and you're already claiming a title that I've worked at for so long?" he laughed, holding his sides. "You got another thing coming Ms. Maddy."

Maddy took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she let herself get angry. She checked him out from head to toe and thought about how she wanted to handle this. With disheveled brown hair, clear blue eyes, and tan skin, he certainly wasn't lacking in the looks department. However the overly-cocky grin and confident body image confirmed her thoughts; he wasn't going to let someone, let alone a girl, take away his glory.

"You know what? It's not even worth it to stand here and argue with you whether or not I'm qualified for this," Maddy told him, folding her arms. "I know what I can do and that's all that matters. If you want to pick a fight, we'll rumble another time." With that said she slinked past him and stalked off to the spare bedroom Kloppman scrounged up.

Jack sighed and walked over to an empty sink. She did look kind of cute when she was angry, he thought to himself and immediately began to wash his face so wouldn't have to think about her.

The next morning went pleasantly well compared to last night. Maddy managed to make it with little incident and was grateful for the boys that actually seemed to be interested in her. She was thankful for the attention, but she made it clear that she wanted to be friends and that this wasn't just some opportunity to "get to know" a lot of guys. Sure, she pissed some people off, but the nice ones stuck around and she was appreciative for what looked like the beginning of great friendships.

With Mush on one side and Skittery on the other, they walked with her to the Distribution Center and they both offered to help her find a selling spot. The three of them chatted along the way, with the boys sharing lots of stories they picked up once they became newsies.

When the reached the distribution place, they waited patiently for their turn in line. She noticed a tall guy wearing a black cowboy hat was up at the front of the line, talking with a guy she remembered from yesterday; she believed his name was David. It took her a minute to realize that the tall guy was Jack and she quickly turned away.

"So are you nervous?" Skittery asked, tuning Maddy back into the conversation.

"Well, now that you mention it, I am a little," Maddy admitted, feeling slight butterflies in her stomach. "But hey, it's not like there's a ton of pressure to do well or anything. Nah, just a couple of guys at the boarding house waiting to watch me screw up horribly."

"Don't worry about what they think," Mush said assuredly. "I'm sure you'll do fine. For a girl and all." He laughed as she hit his arm and then winced when she wasn't looking.

A loud clanging sound was heard as the window opened to reveal a chubby, middle-aged man and two skinny looking guys carrying a bunch of newspapers to sell to the newsies.

"Hey Weasel." Maddy heard Jack say with sarcastic tone. "Got any good headlines?"

"Oh sure, all these papers have magical interesting headlines," the Weasel man said in a sneering tone. "All you have to do is just stand there and soon you'll be richer than Pulitzer. C'mon Cowboy, how many papes?"

"100 papes, as usual," Jack replied in a bored tone. Maddy's eyes widened at the number. 100 papers? And that was usual?

After Jack got his papers, the line moved along rather nicely until Maddy got up to the window.

"Can I help you miss?" Weasel asked condescendingly. Maddy raised her eye brows and realized that this man seemed to have a permanent sneer to his voice.

"100 papers, please," she asked calmly. Mush and Skittery both seemed kind of shocked.

"Are you sure Maddy? That's an awful lot of papes," Skittery informed her as a look of disgust formed on Weasel's face.

"Yeah. Wouldn't a little girl like you rather go play with dollies and jump rope?" Weasel laughed as his own, pathetic joke.

"Wouldn't a grown man like you rather earn a real living at a real job rather than put up with kids that look ten times smarter than you?" Maddy snapped back, feeling frustrated from all the talking down she'd been dealing with. The snickers and gasps she heard were only slightly gratifying. "Look, I just want my papers and I'm practically throwing you money to give them to me!"

"I ain't selling no girl "World" newspapers," Weasel stated matter of fact. "It would be a waste of newspapers and Mr. Pulitzer wouldn't be too happy with that."

"Look you slobbering, pathetic, son of a..." Maddy began fuming before she was rudely interrupted.

"50 papers, Weasel," Jack said, cutting in line and plunking down money. Newspapers were immediately handed to him from Weasel's lackeys as Maddy's mouth dropped open. Before she could say anything, Jack grabbed her arm and dragged her away.

"Now wait just a damn minute, I want my papers!" Maddy fumed, getting even more upset. What right did he have to pull her out of line?

"Here they are," Jack said, handing her the papers he just bought. "You're welcome."

"I don't remember saying thank you."

"What's your problem? I just saved your ass!"

"That's the problem Jack! It's my own ass and I'll decide who I let save it or not," she replied hotly. "Who are you to just start buying papes just because I seemed to be in a little trouble?"

"Listen, if I hadn't done it, somebody else would've," Jack replied, getting angry. "Why are you getting so angry? I did you a favor!"

"So what? You're saying I should bend down on one knee and pledge my eternal gratefulness for you?" Maddy asked. "Sorry kid, that ain't the way I work. Go find a lackey to bother. I'm on my time now."

"I was just thinking we could be friends!" Jack called out after her as she started stalking off. Maddy turned when she heard him say that, an incredulous expression on her face. "I felt kinda bad at how I laughed at you last night and I was going to apologize. I figured the perfect opportunity came up when I saw you struggling' up there. But obviously, you can handle yourself by that fine display you gave Weasel up there."

"You want to be friends after you laugh at me and insult me?" Maddy asked skeptically. "If I were you, I'd work on my people skills. Anyways, you upset me too much. You're too cocky and too confident and I get the feeling I would always be put down in your presence. Thanks but no thanks. I'm going to go sell papers now and I will do a damn good job of it, even with the lousy fifty you bought me. Watch out Kelly."

Maddy flounced off, leaving Jack and whoever else had heard her in the dust. She clutched her papers tightly and wondered how she was going to approach this.

Meanwhile, Jack sighed and ran a hand through his long hair. David and Racetrack came up beside him, looking for conversation.

"Dammit, why does she always get the last word?" Jack asked, mostly too himself.

"You guys both seem to rub each other the wrong way," David agreed. "I don't get it; she was perfectly nice to the rest of us."

"Yeah, what the hell is wrong with you?" Racetrack asked, eliciting a frown from Jack.

"It's not me – this is all her fault," Jack replied. "I was doing a perfectly nice thing and she totally blew up at me."

"Jack, don't you think that she's been treated pretty rough this past couple of days?" Kid Blink asked, joining the conversation. "She's just trying to prove that she can do this and then you come swooping in and do so easily what she wanted to do for herself."

"How do you figure that?"

"I talked to her last night. We all did," Kid Blink admitted. "While you were still at Tibby's. She seems all right. Once you get over the fact that she's a whole different gender, she ain't that bad."

"You all feel this way?" Jack asked. The other two guys nodded.

"She's really nice," David added. "She reminds me of Sarah sort of, but with more of an attitude."

"We played cards and she held her own," Racetrack admitted. "What can I say? I'm a sucker for a girl who knows what cards look like, let alone know how to play them right."

Jack sighed again and re-adjusted his worn cowboy hat. "Listen, why don't we just sell our papes and get on with, all right?"