Shout ins:



imaginelet: Thank you! Yes, the Barbie thing...I couldn't resist. Yes, I used your idea! Thank you forever for the suggestion! It helped me on another sub plot I'm thinking up in my stupid little head.



(gives newsies hugs for let)



Jack: Hey, yeah...ya know...t'anks.

Spot: Yeah, yeah, don't get all cutsie on me.

Blink: (hugs let back)

Mush: A goil hugged me! How 'bout dat? (Blink pats him on the back)

Boots: Wanna a mahble?

Skittery: (accepts hug, not looking at let) So what's dat get me, huh?

Racetrack: Say t'ank you, Glum and Dumb.

David: Thanks. (cute grin)

Racetrack: Stop floitin', Davey! She's mine.

David: I thought Tanya was yours.

Racetrack: Yeah, well...she's mine, too. All da goils ah mine!

Jack: (possessively) Except foah Sarah and Moira. And Bella.

Blink: And Ahtemis. She's mine.

Mush: And Ivy! I'se get Ivy!

David: Katherine and I are kind of...um...

Spot: You'se touch Raven and I will moidah ya, Racetrack. Ya heah me? MOIDAH!





Sureshot Higgins: Yeah, Race will be a good dad, I think. Uh, did I say WILL BE? Uh..heheh...in the distant future?



Racetrack: (laughing at a crestfallen Skittery) Told ya, pal. She's gaga ovah me. Don't bothah tryin'.(hugs Sureshot back) And what can I'se say? I love me women.



Thanks, punkin. Here's more! :) (and the return of our Kristen and Bumlets is at hand!)





Sapphy: Thanks. :)



Racetrack: (holds Barbie out by her bleached blond hair) She don't like right.

Jack: Yeah, what's wrong wid huh feet? Deah all pointed and stuff.

Spot: Look at da rest of huh...ya know...

Racetrack: (smack Spot) Ya gotta doity mind, Spot!

Spot: I'se can't help it if she ain't a lady! I mean, who shows deah belly button like dat?





Moonlight: Thank you, darling. I've really loved writing this so far. :)



Chicago: Yes, the Barbie thing was sweet. Thanks. :) Here's more.



NicNac: Thank you. Yeah, I like Jenny, too, in a sort of sisterly way. She is pretty annoying.



Racetrack: (rubs head) It ain't faiah. Legs, gimme yoah kitkat bah. I desoive it.

Legs: Oh, whatever, ya pansy.





feisty: This one should be mostly happy. :) Hope you like it. Thank you. Oh, and Jessica's in this chapter.





MethosMacLeod: Thanks. Here's more.



Blink: (waves again) Hi!

Legs: Okay, go away now. We don't need you anymore.

Blink: (tears up) O-o-k-kay...(walks away, crying)





Angelic One: Thank you, punkin! So glad you liked it! Hey, that's fine. You go jet and I'll just sit here and cry. (Sniffles) :)





Raven: Thank you. I'm sorry Spot and Raves weren't in the last chappy. They're in this one, though. :D Mwah. And don't worry, Spotty. David's hung up on Katherine still. Though we haven't seen much of them...hmmmmm...





dude: Thank you. I love time travel but I strongly dislike time travel that has no coherency or definite plot. Anyways, thank you, again. Um, hyper girls? Define hyper. Heheh. Some of Tanya's friends are introduced in this chapter but they're not all hyper. LaShonda's kind of annoying, I think. And she's my character! I don't how that happened. I just wrote an annoying character, I guess. Oh, well.





Phoenix: No, they missed the last chapter. But some of them are back. :D Thank you. Oh, and yes, the chivalry may earn Racetrack some stares. We'll see. :)





shingiami nanoda: Yeah, LaShonda's hyper. Race is hot. What can I say? Lol. Your story I rocks. I put in a little note about it near the disclaimer. I hope you don't mind. :) Thank you.





Kristan: Thank you. What IS Race going to do? I have several ideas for the future of this plot and ALL of them are absolutely nuts. You're all gonna review and go WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU MANIAC?????? lol. But it's gonna be cool, I hope. The party is here! And thanks for asking about Kate. I don't know if she'll come back or not. Kate Lawrence stopped reviewing this story and it's really been hard keeping up with all the characters I've written. Anyway, thank you. :)





snipah higgins: Racetrack in jeans...sigh...thank you for the review. :)





Bella: Yeah, maybe it would be "boys stupid in love." What do you think? We should start a company or something. We could call BSL for short. (Like DSL, get it? hahah..heheh...heh...um..heh.) Ok. I. Am. A. Dork. Yup.



Jack: She loves me moah den all of you'se guys!

Mush: Ohhhh...(eyes fill up with tears)

Blink: Aww, dat's dumb.

David: That's alright.

Racetrack: She really loves me da most. She's jus' too weak ta admit it. So you go 'head and wallow in yoah own dillusions, Jackie boy.



Thank you for the encouragement, punkin. That always helps. And your reviews are some of my favorites, always. :)





Funkie chick: Thank you so much! :) I'm so happy you liked it!

Yeah, um, I don't write slash. (cough) So...I'm really flattered. :D Here's more. Oh, and have a brownie. Shorty brought them in.





Shorty Carter: Wow, yeah, Texas is hot. Jake said he misses you. He kinda mumbled but I'm pretty sure that's what he said. He likes brownies, too. :) Thank you, babe! Glad you're home. Here's more.





ChubbyCheeks: Thank you! :) Have some brownies. They're good.





Corky Higgins: Thank you, my faithful comrade! Yes, Jenny's interesting, isn't she? Yeah, she's like my little brother, kinda. Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :) Read the story carefully. I've inserted something JUST FOR YOU. :D



Blink: I'm fine! (Looks at shiny quarter) Hey, t'anks! (hugs Corky) I missed you!

Skittery: (grumbling) You'se can't make it up ta me.

Mush: Hey, wait...(whispers in Skittery's ear)

Skittery: (grins) Oh, yeah, actually...(cough) you CAN...(tilts his face and chin, taps cheek) How 'bout a kiss?



VINNIE, MY BABY! Okay, now you have to tell me what the surprise is!





Lil Rain Angel: Jenny's gonna be important in the future. Uh, no pun intended. Heh.

Thank you. :)





Artemis-chan: Mwah! So glad you caught this before you left again! (begins to sob hysterically) You're always leaving me!!!!!!!!

Yeah, Race the gentleman. Although, by 19th century standards, he really is kind of a hoodlum. Hoodlum. Isn't that a great word? Hoodlum. It's even cooler if you say it out loud. Hoodlum.



David: Hoodlum?

Jack: Hoodlum.

Racetrack: Hoodlum.

Mush: What's a hoodlum?



Oh, and here's Blink.



Blink: Sweetie, I sweahs I loves nobody but you! Look at imaginelet's shout in! I'se only want you.

Legs: Awww, isn't he sweet?

Blink: (holds out poker cards) Will you foahgive me? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaasssseeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





DISCLAIMER: Newsies I own not. Neither predict I the owning of them in the future. But hard to see the dark side is...mmmmm...yeeeeeehhhhhs...



I also do not own the song "Beautiful Disaster" sung by American Idol Kelly Clarkson on her album "Thankful." If you hadn't heard anything off that album, you have to.



Kristen is owned by Sureshot Higgins.



Raven is property of Raven.

Spot: No, she ain't. She's MY propahty, ya doity rotten scabbah! (Puts an arm around Raven's waist possessively) Alllllllll mine.

Legs: Sure, whatever, Spot. You just keep telling yourself that.

Spot: (whispering his new mantra as he clutches both Raven and key) All mine. All mine. Alllllllllllll mine.



Heather O'Leary belongs to Dreamer, as does her skateboard and many notebooks.



Britt Hunting is Angelic One's character.



Feisty owns Jessica and Jessica's electric guitar and amp.



Snipah Higgins has exclusive rights to Allesandra. Steal her...you die...



I own Tanya,

Greg-the party host,

LaShonda-the best friend,

and Jill-the salesgirl.

And my red Converse sneakers (not the company just my pair of shoes)...I own them, too.





And so on and so forth...





The phone's shrill ring startled Tanya from sleep. "Hello?" she asked groggily.

"Are you coming?"

"Huh?"

"It's this thing called school. Today happens to be the last day...any of this ringing a chime?"

"It's ringing a bell, Shonda, not a chime."

"Yeah, uh huh. So are you coming?"

"Shonda, it's five am."

"Wanted to catch you before you ran off with Mr. I'm-From-The-Past."

"I don't run anywhere at five in the morning."

"Answer my question!"

"Yeah, okay. I'll go."

"We can pick you up in an hour."

"M'k."



****

Bumlets felt the morning sun sketching its hot rays across his bare chest.

He sat up and Kristen's tousled red head flopped back onto her pillow. She snuggled farther under the covers, yanking the blankets sleepily up to her chin.

Her husband grinned and shook his dark head.



****

Raven yawned into the sunlight as she pulled herself from the back doorway she had slept in and stepped into the street. Pushing her grubby fingers through her auburn hair, stopping before a store front only long enough to wipe some of the grime from her face with the corner of her dress.



****

Tanya straightened her plaid skirt and let Race help her shrug into the school blazer. Thank goodness the school issued more than one.

The bell rang.

Jenny opened the door.

LaShonda did a double-take at the sight of Racetrack beside Tanya.

"Thanks for taking care of Jen-Jen," Tanya murmured, hugging the newsboy.

"You'se owe me," he said, pointing a finger in her face. "'Eh?"

She kissed his cheek, "Yup. Bye."



****

Spot sauntered drowsily up the steps to the distribution office but at the sound of a light Brooklyn accent pronounced in girlish tones somewhere behind him, his blue eyes snapped awake.



****



"He's STAYING with you?" LaShonda asked, gum snapping.

"Yeah."

"Do you still think he's from 1900?"her friend asked, a motherly look coming into her eyes.

"He IS!"

"Uh huh, sure. Just so we've got it covered, how are you gonna explain two days absence to the school office?"

Tanya shrugged, "It's the end of the year. I'll just tell 'em the truth."

LaShonda's eyes bugged.



****

"Be careful," Kristen told him, pouring black coffee into a chipped cup.

"Yeah, I will." Bumlets started for the door, then turning, planted a kiss on his wife's mouth, "Don't you'se go walkin' wid no oddah newsies, ya heah?"

It was their tradition now and like always, Kristen would blush and scoff and say, "Go on to the mill with you, Mister Ridiculous!"

Neither quite remembered where that nickname had come from and, yet, it stood.

"Mister Ridiculous" would wink and close the door behind him.



****

Racetrack let the door fall shut behind Jenny and a bemused Mrs. Hannedy. Turning, he eyed the apartment. The microwave in the kitchen blinked at him while the clock on the wall ticked sharply into the stillness. The tv loomed large, dark, and silent. And suddenly, the silence seemed to overwhelm and suffocate him.

He reached for the remote, the only thing he still had control of.



****

"So you've been sick?" the secretary asked over her desk.

Tanya coughed and nodded. That much was true.

"We tried to call your home but we couldn't get a hold of your mother."

"Uh...business trip."

"I see."



****

After half an hour studying the VCR manual, Racetrack finally managed to push the video tape into the machine. He pushed play, quite proud of himself.



****

Kristen watched until Bumlets was out of sight of her window and then sighing, picked up her knitting. What she wouldn't do for a rowdy theater with a drunk audience...she rubbed her middle, thoughtfully.



****

"So after a year of talking about this, we can all combine chemical equations using math and our knowledge of molecular structure, correct?"

"Sure, whatever," LaShonda muttered, tapping her Lisa Frank pencil against her desk.

"For example: NaSo + BaCl = BaSo + 2NaCl..."

Tanya thought she would pass out from boredom until the bell rang. Oh, relief. She grabbed her books and made a flying dash for the classroom door. One final assembly, sign a couple yearbooks, and she could go home...to Racetrack. The thought made her tingly as she stepped quickly through the hallways.



****

"Moahnin', Raves!" one newsboy cried.

Various cat-calls began as she wove in and out of the line of rag-tag newsies.

"Hey, goily! What's cookin'?" one boy grinned suggestively.

""Ey, sweethawt, 'ow's it rollin'? another winked.

"Yoah lookin' mighty pretty dis moahnin', Miss," a polite one tipped his cap.

And the ever-popular, "Sweetie, if you'se was a pape, I'd buy a t'ousand!"

"Aw, get lost, ya sorry bums!" she retorted. "I ain't got time ta play mahbles, if dat's what ya askin'!"

The good-natured laughter that followed showed the newsies as what many of them still were...mere boys thrust into a man's world.

Raven watched the sandy head turn towards her.

"Conlon," she grinned and spitting in her hand, held it out for a shake.

Spitting on his own, he grabbed her hand and tugging her forward, kissed her dark lips swiftly.

A series of whoops started and Spot did nothing to dissuade it. Surveying his "subjects" from the platform, he nodded his head proudly.



****

Racetrack had gotten through the entire Star Wars trilogy and was just about to start Indiana Jones when the commercial for detergent ended. A shirtless woman threw herself off a stage into a crowd of people chanting "Jerry, Jerry, Jerry..." dementedly.

He felt dull from staring at the screen so long and wondered how long school lasted in the future.



****

"Tanya! Tanya, where are going?" LaShonda called as her friend ran from the building.

"I'm goin' home!"

"See ya tonight?"

"Yeah!"

****

A sudden knock made her drop her work and run for the door.

"Brought you these..." flowers were held out to her, "From the window garden, you know."

"Katherine!"



****

Racetrack was pacing back and forth when he heard the key turning in the door and saw Tanya's flushed face appear.

"I'm here," she panted.

"What? Ya ran all da way home, den, huh?" his brown eyes seemed cooler then she remembered but somehow exactly the same.

"Did you miss me?" she asked, her voice suddenly soft and shy.

"Miss you? You was hawdly gone! Didn't have time," he said, lying a little.

Tanya fought to keep her face from falling. She had expected him to miss her...just a teensy-weensy bit.

He snickered and put a knuckle under her chin, bringing her large eyes to meet his. She thought he was gonna say something but he just looked at her.



****

Ruin heaved a sigh. Could the day get any longer? She didn't think so. Giving up her crazy, ambitious sellers, she shouted, "Great headline! Come and get it!"

A chuckle behind her made her start, "Runnin' out a ideas, Ruin?"

"Dutchy, I sweah, one a dese days will be yoah last."

"Long sent'nce, Ru. Good job."

"Yeah, yeah. Shut ya gob and help me sell dese."

Dutchy laughed again and obligingly, took ten off her stack.



****



"Um, Race? What are you doing NOW?"

Racetrack adjusted the vest and raised his Italian eyebrows at her, "Wha's it LOOK like I'm doin, huh?" He tapped her shoulder with his cigar, "Ya gotta loin ta be moah obsoivant, ya know?"

"That vest does NOT go with your jeans."

"It's my favorite vest!"

"Racetrack, only geeks wear vests with jeans."

"What's a geek?" Race asked Jenny.

"Someone who has no friends," the eight-year-old explained.

"I'se got friends!" the boy protested. "Jack an' Mush an' Blink an' Davey an' Skittery an' Bumlets an' Boots an' Snitch an' Crutchy an'..."

"I know but...but none of them are..." Tanya looked at her sister "Are HERE," her eyes glared meaningfully at him.

Racetrack's face fell, "Yeah, I know." He unbuttoned the vest and yanked the hat from his curly head.

"Wait!" Tanya caught the cap in mid-air, "You have to keep your hat."

He stared at the cap for a second and then shook his head, "Nah. How 'bout tonight I'm from two-t'ousand t'ree?" He flashed her a confident grin.



****



"This kit gets heavier every gig," Allesandra complained, shifting the load onto her other hip. "Why can't Britt carry her own drums?"

"I'm carrying Jess's guitar."

"And Jessica's...what? Handicapped?"

Jessica held up a bass guitar.

"Where's Heather?"

"She's coming with Tanya."



****



"Have fun, Jen-Jen."

"Yeah, bye," her sister said, not looking back as she followed Amanda Smith down the hall.

LaShonda was still fussing with her hair when Heather came out of the kitchen.

"Hey, Tanya," she nodded and then her blue eyes landed on Racetrack.

"Oh, Heather, this is my boyfriend, Anthony." Tanya's peripheral vision caught the newsie's scrunched up face, "But everybody calls him Racetrack."

"Owah, Race," the newsie stuck out his hand.

"Interesting nickname. Where'd it come from?"

"I like ta go ta races, ya know?"

"It's nice to meet you, Race."



****

Jessica grunted as she set a crate of soda on the counter.

"Now I know why you invite us to all your parties, Greg. You just want people to do your dirty work," Allesandra pulled herself up onto the counter top.

He smiled and threw a dish towel at her, "That's right Allie. You're just here to be my slave."

"I knew it," she groaned.



****

"Oh, Katherine! I'm so glad you came! Come in!"

Katherine giggled, "You sound all house-wifely now."

"I do not."

"You do."

Kristen let her hand fall subconsciously to her stomach, "Don't be silly." There was a twinge of sadness in the catch of her voice. Oh, how gloriously painful to grow up!



****

"Greg has the coolest house ever," LaShonda gushed.

"What's so cool about it?" Tanya asked, pushing the doorbell.

"He has a pool and a rec room and a tennis court and a..." the door opened, "GREG!"

Jessica blinked, "I HOPE not."

Race grinned, "I like 'uh, already."

"Oh. I thought you were.."

"Greg," Jess finished.

"Uh, yeah..."

"Sorry I let you down. Heather, it's about time..."

"Couldn't help it," Heather thrust a handful of papers towards Jessica as the group stepped inside.

Her friend groaned, "Please say you did not rewrite the lyrics AGAIN."

"They didn't sound right. It's gotta flow, gotta feel right," her friend said, tapping her fingers against her jeans. "You know that."

Tanya noticed the confused look on Racetrack's face, "Heather and Jessica are in a band."

"A..a what?" his eyes narrowed.

"Like...a group of people that play musical instruments and sing..." she could feel her friends' stares ramming into her back.

"He doesn't know what a band is?" Jessica eyed the newsie skeptically.

A dangerous spark came into Racetrack's muddy brown eyes. "Of COHSE I'se know what a band is!" he snapped and then snorted at her "stupid" question.

"So who do you listen to?"

"Listen to?"

"What kind of music do you like?"

He thought for a moment, then shrugged, "Violin."

"Violin?" Heather didn't look impressed.

Jessica was interested, "Really? Do you play the violin?"

A shadow ran across his features but he answered steadily, "Yeah, I play."

This was news to Tanya. She stared at him in awe, "You play the violin? You didn't tell me that!"

He winced involuntarily not looking at her but kept his tone nonchalant, "It's not impoahtant."

"We better start setting up," Jessica announced through the sudden tension.



****

"How is David?"

"Why, how should I know?" Katherine tried to sound modest.

"Don't be a ninny. Tell me!" Kristen demanded, wolfing down her third tiny sandwich.



"Busy. He's eager to finish his schooling and apply to work at the paper."

"And?"

"And that's all," Katherine sighed.

Kristen ran a hand across her stomach, her green eyes full of sympathy.

****

"Race, this is Greg and Allesandra."

"Whaddya know, whaddya say?" Racetrack asked, spitting in his palm and holding his hand out to Greg.

"Uh...it's nice to meet you," Greg said, shaking the newsie's left hand that remained free of saliva.

"I'm gonna go warm up with the girls," Allesandra announced, slipping past them into the growing crowd of teenagers.

"Yeah, you're just tryin' to get outta doing dishes!"

"You know it!"

"You're Tanya's boyfriend, right?"

As funny as the term still sounded to him, Racetrack thought the guy's voice had a jealous edge to it. He nodded, puffing out his chest a little the way males do in territorial defense, "Yeah, dat's right."



****

"Allie, gimme a low G, would ya?"

The note on the keyboard sounded.

Jess matched it on her guitar, "Thanks."

"Nice night for a party," Britt remarked, readjusting her stool behind the drums.

"So, Heather, what do ya wanna start with?"



****

The party din was interrupted by a squeal from one of the microphones.

Jessica winced, "Hey, sorry 'bout that, guys. So...you all ready to party?"

The random shouting, whistling, and applause were drowned out by her words again, "Alright, then. This is for Corky, since it's her birthday..."

The noise picked up again...



"He drowns in his dreams

An exquisite extreme I know..."



Tanya looked around for Racetrack. "Greg!" she shouted over the music, "Have you seen Race?"

He nodded and shouted back, "Yeah, he's over there!"

"Thank you!"



"And more heaven than a heart could hold

And if I try to save him

My whole world could cave in

It just ain't right..."



****

Racetrack had been startled by the strange melody issuing through the black boxes. on the make-shift stage. Boxes that seemed to vibrate with his pulse. A girl asked him to dance but he just tugged on the cap that was no longer there and stepped through the crowd to find Tanya.



"Oh when I don't know

I don't know what's he after..."



****

Tanya smiled as she watched the newsboy studying the speakers at the edge of the platform



"But he's so beautiful

Such a beautiful disaster..."



Racetrack...her beautiful disaster...this was so crazy. How could something like this be allowed to happen? Two people from different centuries falling in love...and it was no movie with a time machine to turn off or bridge to jump off of.



"And if I could hold on

Through the tears and the laughter..."



The newsie turned and caught her eye.



"Would it be beautiful?

Or just a beautiful disaster?"



As though he understood every word she hadn't said, he looked thoughtfully down at the ground.

Tanya started to laugh. How absolutely nuts the world was!

And across the lawn, Racetrack started to laugh, too.



"If I could hold on

Through the tears and the laughter

Would it be beautiful?

Or just a beautiful disaster?"



****



a/n: There. Finally. Sheesh, it took me way too long to get that much done! What is WRONG with me? Oh, well. Love you guys!