Disclaimer: If I owned "Newsies," there would be three sequels and a successful television spin-off. Also, I don't own The Hives, Elton John, Nirvana, or Death Cab for Cutie. They're all good, though, so I recommend them.
A/N: Haha. Yeah, right. New chapter… "tomorrow". Well, at least I didn't just abandon the fic, right? I mean, it's a couple days late, but that's not so bad. I've decided, though, that this was a really stupid idea, and I'm kind of regretting writing this fic with so much excitement. Oh well – that's probably because I'm em0lykewhoa right now. Leave me peppy reviews to cheer me up!
A/N2: There is some Italian spoken in this chapter. Tony translates it, so understanding it shouldn't be a problem, but I just wanted to send a quick shout out to BoomerRang for pointing me in the right direction and "201 Italian Verbs" for conjugating 'to drink' for me. I know, I know, 'to drink' and 'to suck' aren't the same… but bear with me, okay? Okay! Ciao, bellazzas.
Part II.
Sean was in a foul mood the next morning, and greeted Tony, Micah and Kid with only a nod. He went into his first class still glaring, but he seemed to cheer up as the day went on. He was a little more talkative than he had been before. Tony soon learned that the mischievous smirk Sean sometimes wore usually meant that he was thinking of a bitingly sarcastic remark to make.
The very last class of the day was a free study period, and Tony was glad to note that all three of his friends were in the same block. They grouped around a table towards the back of the library, and took turns reading "The Human Comedy" aloud to one another. Micah was kind enough to "share" the answers to the short essay questions, and so they all finished their homework in record time.
They got let out of study block twenty minutes early, and the four students kicked around by Tony's locker, killing off their spare time. Nothing of interest happened until the incident that took place a few minutes before school let out for the day.
Jack Kelly, one of the school's biggest jocks, and most obnoxious seniors, brushed roughly past Micah, who tripped and stumbled backwards against the lockers.
"Hey," Kid said angrily, "watch where you're going, Kelly!"
Jack whipped around. "Oh, sorry, faggot. Didn't see you there." He smirked.
Kid made an angry noise and started forward, but Micah put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Kid, don't…"
"Yeah, Kid. Don't!" Kelly mimicked. "I'll kick your ass, and ain't it sore enough already?"
Kid grit his teeth, but allowed himself to be held back. Unfortunately, Sean was not so easily pacified. He stepped out from behind Tony and planted himself directly in front of Jack.
"What're you trying to pull, here?" he asked angrily.
Jack snorted. "Who the hell are you?"
Sean took another step forward. "I'm the kind of guy who doesn't like to see his friends get pushed around." Sean was at least six inches shorter than Jack was, but he took no noticed of that, and stared Kelly right in the eyes. "I'd like a sincere apology to the both of them. Now."
Jack rolled his eyes. "Fuck you, queer," he said, dismissively.
Kelly turned to go. "Hey," Sean said, "I'm not done with you." There was a challenging glimmer in his bright blue eyes.
Jack turned around.
Sean walked up to him quickly. He came so close that he stepped on the tip of Jack's toe. It was unexpected, and so Kelly gave a little start, and said "ow!" reflexively. At first, Tony thought that Sean's movement had been accidental, and his face reddened on Sean's behalf. But Sean gave a cold smile and pressed harder with his foot.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did that hurt?"
Jack tried to step back, but Sean was still pressing, and Jack found himself trapped. "Hey, fuck off, man. Get off my foot."
Sean leaned forward and put all his weight onto Jack's toe. There was a sickening crunch.
"Motherfucker!" Jack cried out. "You little bastard!" He pushed Sean backward, but Sean was prepared for it, and stepped back quickly. Jack fell forward a little.
Sean gave a quiet, sinister chuckle.
"Sean," Micah said nervously, "let's get out of here, okay? It's okay, I'm fine, Kid's fine, you can stop."
But it was too late for warnings. Jack spit on the ground, and swung a punch directly at Sean's nose. Sean ducked, and threw an underhanded punch to Jack's gut. Jack stumbled backwards. He paused for a moment and then let out a tremendous growl and lunged at Sean, who stepped quickly to the side.
Jack turned around, and came back at Sean, his fist landing on the smaller boy's shoulder. Sean grimaced and then used a left hook on Jack's cheek. Jack cried out and stared at Sean in surprise.
Sean laughed. "Ready to apologize yet?" He held his fists protectively close to his face, ready for anything Jack might bring back at him.
"Oh my god." Micah buried his nose into Kid's chest.
Students were starting to gather around the two fighters, and Tony could see Jack's usual posse heading up the hallway.
Jack put a tentative hand to his cheek. He winced, and then took another swing at Sean, who ducked it once again.
"You little fucker. You don't know what you're getting yourself into," Jack growled. He backed up a little to judge his next move, only to find that there was a crowd accumulating behind him.
"Really?" Sean said. "So far, I ain't gotten myself into nothing. In fact, I'm fucking bored, Kelly. Is this all you can do?" He gave a fake yawn.
Jack's group of thugs reached the fight, and started trying to push their way through the crowd. If Tony hadn't been worried before, he definitely was now.
Jack took another swing, and another, but Sean was faster, and while Jack recovered from his unchecked momentum, Sean got in two more solid hits. Jack yowled in pain as his nose started to drip blood.
Snoddy, one of Jack's gang, managed to shove his way through. "You little punk," he snarled. "You don't ever mess with Jack Kelly!" He lunged, and Sean stepped back quickly. The people in the circle that had formed around the fight pushed him back in, so Sean had no choice but to swing at Snoddy. Luckily, Snoddy hadn't expected such a quick return, and Sean's punch hit its target directly.
The fight continued, fierce and hard to follow, but it was obvious that Sean was winning. It didn't matter that both his opponents were taller, bigger, and stronger; it didn't matter that it was two against one; and it didn't matter that the crowd wasn't rooting for him. By the time the school's security guards stopped the fight, it was easy to tell who had the worse end of the deal. Along with what was probably a broken toe, Jack's nose was still bleeding, and his cheek had already begun to puff up. Snoddy had a black eye, a split lip, and he was clutching his wrist to his chest in pain as they led him away.
Sean didn't look too bad, all things considered. He looked flushed, and a little dizzy, and he had a scrape on one cheek. Other than that, he had come out on top – though it wasn't a situation that appeared to be lasting. Everyone agreed that Principal Seitz had never looked so furious in his entire career (he certainly said as much), and there was a lot of gossip as to what the penalty might be for the person accused of starting the fight.
Tony strolled as casually as possible into the front office. He nodded and winked at Candace, the receptionist, and then poked his head into the Xerox room. To his luck, the person he was looking for was there.
"Hey, Snitch! How's it going?"
Snitch looked up from the fliers he was copying. "Hey, Tony. What's new? Oh my gosh! Did you hear about the fight?"
Tony laughed. "Yeah, yeah, I was there. The new kid? He's a pal of mine."
"Oh my gosh! That's so exciting! Who started it, did you see?" Snitch shifted his weight from one foot to the other quickly, and bit his thumbnail.
Tony shrugged. "Yeah, but that's not important. What's important is what you heard."
Snitch smiled quickly, and then lowered his eyes in fake modesty. There was a reason all the kids called him Snitch. His real name was Danny, but the office assistant had served as a sort of double agent for all three years that he'd been a student of the school. Tony had been an office assistant for a few months too, the minor sentence he served for starting a poker game in the lunchroom, and he and Snitch had bonded over that time.
Now whenever Tony needed an "inside informant" he went to Danny. Getting by the receptionist wasn't a problem – Tony knew that she was an Elton John fan, so he'd made her a mix CD and given her a bouquet of daisies on her birthday. She had been putty in his hands since then – not that he abused his power very often. Just the occasional slipping out of detention and the like.
Snitch kept one eye on the copier machine and one eye on Tony as he reported the conversation he'd listened into. He hadn't heard much, but he knew that Sean had some incredible sweet-talking abilities. Sean's excuse was that he'd been provoked, he was still feeling insecure in his new environment, and his dog had died that morning. Obviously, Snitch couldn't be sure, but the way things were shaping up, it looked as though he was going to get off just about free.
Tony thanked Snitch, and hurried back to the school gates, where Micah and Kid were waiting for him.
"So," Micah asked as soon as Tony was within hearing distance, "any news?"
"Yeah. Sean's a top-notch bullshitter. And his dog died," Tony said.
Micah's face transformed into a heart-melting expression of sympathy. "Oh man, that's awful. Poor Sean… he must be heartbroken. I bet that's why he looked so upset this morning! That must be it. I wonder if I should make him a card, or something?"
Tony and Kid exchanged a knowing glance.
"I'm sure he'd love that, Micah," Kid said. He looked over his shoulder quickly, and then gave Micah a quick peck on the cheek. They both blushed.
Tony tried to keep the indulgent smile off his face, and turned his back to his friends under the pretext of looking to see if Joel had arrived with the car yet. The Rolls Royce was sitting on the curb, looking awkward, and Joel was leaning against it, brushing lint off his cap and looking equally uncomfortable. Tony glanced back at Kid and Micah, who were looking deep into one another's eyes and guiltily holding hands. He shook his head, and said goodbye. They broke out of their trance long enough to return the farewell, and Tony waited in the car until he saw them kiss chastely one more time and then go their separate ways.
When he got home, Tony holed up in his room as usual. He had Death Cab for Cutie blasting, and his calculus homework was sitting on his lap, looking tempting (Tony was a self-proclaimed math nerd), but he couldn't get the day's events out of his head. He desperately wanted Sean's side of the story. So help him, God, but Tony loved gossip.
He gave up, finally, and went to the phone to look for the school directory. Halfway through the C's he realized that his search was fruitless, since Sean had only joined the class two days before. He tried the city phone book next, without luck, until it occurred to him that Sean had just moved from Brooklyn, and his family wouldn't have had the chance yet to file any "change of address" paperwork. And Sean had a distinct Brooklyn accent, which presumably meant that he'd lived there for a while, and therefore was probably listed in that area.
Tony was extremely pleased with himself and his deductive skills as he pulled the Brooklyn phone book out from under the family's stack. He was less pleased when he found fourteen different Conlons listed, but luckily only one of them was a Sean. Tony thought it was odd that Sean would have his own number, but then he realized that it might be a family name, like Kid's was.
He prepared his charming voice as the phone rang. A tired-sounding woman picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hello! This is Anthony. Is Sean home?"
"Are you… a friend from school?"
Tony smiled. "Yes, I am." Mothers usually liked complete sentences.
"Oh. Okay. Hold on a minute." Tony heard her yell, "Sean! Phone for you!" There was a pause and he heard her walking somewhere. "Sean?" Music was playing in the background, and Tony recognized it as a Nirvana song. There was some mumbling he couldn't understand, and then Sean's voice came over the line.
"Hey."
"Hey," Tony said.
"What's up?" Sean asked.
"I was calling to ask if you knew what the 'Oh my God, are you expelled?' homework was."
Sean gave a quiet chuckle. "I think you kind of threw my mom off. She's not used to people calling for me."
"No kidding? Does widdle Seany-poo not have vewwy many fwends?" Tony grinned to himself.
"Hah! You're one to talk – you practically jumped me my first day. Fucking desperate, man."
Tony laughed. "Okay," he said, taking control of the conversation once again, "so? Did Seitz kill you? Maim you? Violate your ass with a splintered broomstick and videotape it?"
"Nah. He told me that I needed to spend more time reflecting on the consequences of my actions before I did something rash. And that I would have to write a letter of apology to both Kelly and Snoddy. I think that's it."
Tony was appropriately stunned. He couldn't remember anyone having ever gotten off with such a light punishment. The one time Kid had actually fought back against Kelly's harassment, he had been suspended for three days, despite being obviously provoked and seriously injured.
"So, like, that's it? You're off free? You'll be in school tomorrow?"
"Yep. Hey, serious question: how do I graph x if it equals the square root of y?"
Tony answered the question as best he could, but his mind was still racing. Once Sean was clear on what a square root actually was, Tony brought up the fight again. "According to Snitch, one of your excuses was that your dog died. Is that true?"
"Who's Snitch?" Sean asked.
"A friend of mine," Tony replied. "See? I do have friends! And don't change the subject. Did your dog die?"
Sean paused. "Nah. I don't have a dog. I just thought it sounded, y'know, pitiful. I'm more of a cat person, honestly."
"Uh-oh," Tony said.
"What?"
"Um. Be prepared for Micah to smother you with affection tomorrow. He's a major animal enthusiast – I swear, he was a black Labrador in a previous life – and he still thinks that you started the fight because you were upset about your dog."
Sean laughed.
"Actually," Tony said, "you might not want to tell him you don't have a dog. Being smothered with affection by Micah usually means free food and lots of hugs. And flowers, sometimes."
"I'm allergic to most flowers," Sean said glumly.
"Oh, well. I'll call him and tell him ix-nay on the owers-flay."
"Ower-flays."
"Huh?"
"You said owers-flay. It's ower-flays," Sean corrected.
Tony burst out laughing. "Right. Um. Sorry." Tony's brother walked into the kitchen looking for a snack, and paused to give him a gentle noogie. "Ow! Bevi mio cazzo, sciocco!"
Giorgio laughed, and shoved Tony's shoulder. "Zitto, fata!"
"Figilo di puttana," Tony muttered. He flipped him the bird as Giorgio walked away, and then turned back the phone. "Sean? Still there?"
"Um. Yeah. Dude, what was that?"
"What was what?"
"What you just said…I mean, one second we're talking in Pig Latin, and then you're all like… I don't even know." Sean sounded impressed.
"Oh! Um. Yeah, we speak Italian around the house. My brother came in, and I told him to suck my cock, he called me a faggot, and I called him a son of a bitch. Which is technically insulting my own mother, but… y'know. Whatever. Brotherly love."
"That's awesome," Sean said. "I wish I spoke another language."
"You do!" Tony exclaimed. "You speak Pig Latin better than I do."
Sean laughed. "Yeah, you're right – oh, fuck."
"What?"
"Um. Nothing. Hold on a second, okay?"
"Yeah, sure." Tony was sitting on the kitchen counter now, and he rested his head against the cabinet, phone still pressed to his ear. He heard people talking on the other end, and strained to catch what they were saying.
"Mom, please, don't tell him."
"Baby, I have to. He's going to ask about school."
"Don't, he'll get angry, you don't have to give him the note. Please, it doesn't matter, right? Just… don't…"
Tony couldn't make anything out anymore, but Sean came back to the phone a few seconds later. He sounded depressed.
"Hey."
"Hey. Is everything okay?" Tony asked.
"Yeah. Whatever. Anyway…" Sean trailed off. Tony heard a door open and then slam shut, and more voices talking. Sean's breathing on the other end made the words unintelligible, but Tony heard the intensity of the voices increase until it sounded like a fight. "Aw, shit. Okay, I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Um, yeah, sure," Tony said.
"'Kay. Bye." Tony heard another door bang, and then the line went dead.
I have a show tomorrow and Sunday, so the new chapter might not be out for a little while. I'll see what I can swing though. Thanks to Mondie, antiIRONY, BoomerRang, Pixiedust5, The Second Batgirl, and... B. You guys make my day with your reveiws. I'll do individual shout-outs next chapter.
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