---Chapter Three ­---

Maddy thought of herself as a quick learner. By listening to other newsies and by observing the crowd, she was able to sell nearly half her papers by lunch time. She figured that logically, the morning would be busier because people would want to know the news before they went off to work. They would want to feel important and up to world events by the time their morning meeting started. So after lunch, she had to get creative with her selling because now people were being down right ignorant.

She'd done everything from making up headlines, to betting, and making false promises. She'd run away from irate customers so often that her legs were starting to feel the burn. Maddy was proud that she'd been able to sell as many papers as she did. After all, with all the negativity floating around her, she'd been struggling to keep her self-confidence afloat. It didn't take long for her to realize that people didn't care who they were buying the paper from; they just cared that they were getting what they paid for, and then some.

Standing at a street corner, Maddy was keeping to herself, waiting for fresh bait to walk buy so she could start her sales pitch again. Unfortunately, instead of reeling in a fish, she got a crummy boot.

"Hey Maddy," Jack greeted her as he sauntered up to her corner. "How are you?"

"Don't you mean how am I selling?" Maddy asked, looking past his broad shoulders. "I'm fine, thanks. Yourself?"

"Some days are better than others," he replied. He looked at her stack of papers and was surprised to such a low quantity. He'd only expected her to sell maybe ten. Obviously, she'd done a lot better than that. "God, have you been giving away papes?"

"Yeah. The heaviness of the coins in my pocket was too much to bear, so I started giving away papers for free," Maddy said sarcastically. She thought she caught a glimpse of a smile from him, but obviously she was mistaken.

"Well, I'm impressed kid," Jack admitted. "Looks like you got what it takes. For a first timer." Maddy smiled sweetly, already feeling a sense of anger overcome her. She wasn't going to let it bother her this time, as she had decided during a long stretch that she was going to try to be nice to Jack; even if it meant biting her tongue.

"I guess so," Maddy agreed through her teeth. She waited a beat before she spoke again. "Is there a reason you're here or are you just going to pick on me? Because I can go find another selling spot if we're going to argue again."

"No, I don't want to fight with you."

"Well, I'm shocked."

"Excuse me, I'm not the one who's always picking the fights," Jack pointed out.

"Yeah, well it takes two to tango," Maddy bit back. "You push my buttons every bit as much as I push yours."

"You don't push my buttons."

"Yes I do."

"No you don't."

"Yes I do."

"No you don't!" Jack exclaimed in an exasperated tone. They looked at each other, emotions boiling. "God, we're doing it again. It's like I can't even talk to you!"

"Why do you want to talk to me so bad?" Maddy asked, sitting down on the dusty street curb.

"I don't know," Jack admitted as he sat down next to her. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "It bothered me that we argued, if you want to know the truth."

"Why?"

Jack looked at her and shook his head. He scanned the streets watching people as they went on with their day to day life as he thought of what to say.

"Look, everyone made such a big deal over a girl newsie being the lodging house. And it wasn't like I was nervous or anything about the competition," Jack added hastily. "It just felt like I couldn't get to know you without pissing you off."

Maddy took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. "I'm sorry about that, I guess. Just...you don't know what it's like. I'm pretty much on my own in the lodging house. Dutchy and some other guys have made it pretty clear that they don't want me there. Other guys have made it clear that they want me there, but for all the wrong reasons. I'm trying to find my place and it seems like I keep stepping on toes to get there. Then you came along..."

"And...?"

"And I just snapped. You had this overly cocky bravado and I can't stand that about people," Maddy admitted. "Plus, I'd had to deal with hard-asses all day. But this morning...I overreacted."

"Just a little," Jack conceded, resting his head on his palm.

"Yeah, a little," Maddy agreed, nodding her head. "But you came in and did what I wanted to do. I thought it would be easy. Who would have thought that the stupid Weasel guy would have turned down money? That was when you swooped in and saved the day and I was already upset with Weasel. It wasn't fair for you, and I'm sorry."

"You know, Dave said the same thing," Jack told her. "That I came in and did so easily what you wanted to do. I didn't think it would bother you that much. Honestly, I thought you'd be kind of relieved to get away from Weasel."

"I can take care of myself Jack," she told him, tucking her hair behind her ear. "As much as you were right in the sense that somebody else would've done it for me if you hadn't, I still don't think you should've done it."

"Well, I'm sorry for that, I guess," Jack agreed, stretching out his legs. "I was trying to be nice, but I guess we had a...what do you call it...excommunication?"

"Miscommunication," she gently corrected him, smiling slightly. He smiled back at her and then they both broke eye-contact.

"So are we all right?"

"I 'spose," Maddy replied, waiting a moment. "Maybe we'll be better friends than enemies."

"Sounds good to me," Jack grinned and he stood up, stretching his long legs. "C'mon, I'll take ya out to dinner." He held out his callused hand, which she took willingly.

"What for?"

"It seemed like it took guts for you to admit you were wrong," Jack answered as they began walking down the dirt road. "I admire that."

"I guess I'll stand by my convictions more often if it results in free meals," Maddy replied, smiling.

"No one said anything about it being free," Jack replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Smart-ass."

They walked off side by side as twilight fell over the city. While the sky was turning gorgeous shades of pink, purple, and orange, Jack and Maddy began to talk; telling each other bits and pieces about themselves, how their day had been. By the time they had reached Tibby's Diner, the pair felt at least a little more comfortable with each other. A friendship was forming, despite the petty arguments. And right now, it felt like they both needed it.

"So, tell me about this strike of yours," Maddy said after the two of them had ordered their dinner. "I like hearing tales of how the mouse conquered the lion. It makes me think that there's hope somewhere in the world."

"I couldn't have done it without the other guys," Jack told her modestly. "Especially Dave; it was pretty much his idea in a sort of unintentional kind of way."

"How so?"

"Well, it all started about two years ago," Jack began, leaning back in his chair, folding his hands behind his head. "Papes were selling for about fifty cents; most of us were just barely able to afford that. Pulitzer, being the greedy bastard he is, raised it a tenth of a cent. Now, that might not seem a lot, but the way he thought of it, the money would add up and he would soon be richer than Hearst."

"How did you guys deal with that?" Maddy asked, taking a sip of her water.

"A lot of guys didn't want to do nothing. They figured we were just a lousy bunch of kids who couldn't do anything about anything," Jack said, remembering it well. "But there were so many of us who would've gone back on the streets or worse, the Refuge..." He noticed her shudder. "You were in the Refuge?"

"At one point or another," Maddy replied. "It's nothing to cry over. Continue with your story, it's getting interesting."

"Wait, what the hell were you doing in there?" Jack asked, more interested in her tale. Although he knew looks could be deceiving (especially hers), he couldn't possibly fathom a reason for why she would be in the Refuge.

"My uncle put me there," Maddy said simply, just as the waiter came out. "Ooh, look, our food's here!" Digging happily into her pasta, she noticed that Jack was sitting there, not touching his burger. With a full mouth she asked, "What's the matter?"

Jack smiled at her un-lady-likeness, but was still shocked at her statement. "Why would your uncle put you in the Refuge?"

"That was his way of dealing with problems," Maddy answered, swallowing her pasta. "Unfortunately, it wasn't always the right way. C'mon, finish your story."

Jack shook his head and began to eat his burger, finishing his story of how the newsies were able to convince Pulitzer to bring the price back down to where it was before, despite Pulitzer's unwillingness. Before Maddy could comment on the story, David, a young woman, and young man that Maddy had never met walked in through the door and walked over to the table.

"Hey guys," David greeted them, a smile on his face. "It's interesting to see you two here. No blood-shed?"

"Not yet anyway," Maddy replied. "How's it going Dave?"

"Fine, fine."

While David and Maddy talked to each other about their day, Jack made eye contact with the young woman that had come in with David.

"Hi Sarah."

She smiled, her dimples showing. "Hi Jack. How are you?"

"Great. Never felt better in my life," Jack said confidently, swiping a hand through his hair. "You look good."

"Thank you, same to you," she replied, folding her arms at her chest. Jack remembered it being a move she made whenever she was nervous. He still remembered a lot of things about her, despite the fact he didn't want to.

"Who's your friend?" Jack asked, nodding to the skinny man next to her.

"Robert Green," the young man said with no expression as he stuck out his hand in front of Jack. The two men shook hands as they eyed each other up and down.

"Jack, this is my fiancée," Sarah said, choosing to ignore the tentative tone in her voice. However, she did not ignore the fact that his eyes went wide as he sat back in his seat. "Didn't David tell you?"

"No, I guess I just forgot," David chimed in as he and Maddy had finished up their conversation. He noticed the look on Jack's face and realized he better salvage the situation. "Well, we better get going. I'll see you two tomorrow." He grabbed his sister's hand and dragged the two of them away from Maddy and Jack.

"What was that about?" Maddy asked, a little confused at the situation. "Is she a skeleton in your closet or something?"

"Something like that," Jack replied in a distracted tone. He focused his attention back on Maddy and his dinner and tried not to give Sarah and...Robert another thought.

Maddy sensed he was tense about something, but decided against bringing it up. She was enjoying the conversation she was having with Jack and he seemed to relax after awhile with the two of them laughing at each other's jokes. She figured whatever it was Jack would tell her if he needed to. If not, well, she could always ask David.