Yay!  Here is the next chapter for the Story of Uhm!  ;_;.. I get so nervous whenever I post a new chapter because I think it's going to be a huge disappointment to everyone.  So I hope you all like this chapter, though!  In the chapters to come, it gets really weird and Mary Sue-ish.  I guess my plan to make a situation that looks Mary Sue-ish but then is different slightly didn't work as well as I thought it would, haha!  Oh well, enjoy!

Geometrygal: Though your penname has a math term in it, I'll let it slide. ^_^  Hehe!  Thank you so much for the review!  I'm so happy that I managed to make a slash lover like my straight pairing story.  That means so much!  Thanks!

Kaylee: Here's the update as you ordered!  Yet again no Race/Kaylee scenes but I SWEAR we are getting to them! 

Bottles: Strange romance, hehe, yeah I guess.  I do sorta view romance in a weird way.. guess it shows through my writing. o_o… Thanks for the review!  Glad you're enjoying my story!

StardustDreamer: ~:~joins in on the dance!~:~ ^_^!  Here's the update!  I'm glad you liked my story!! Thanks a lot for the review, they mean a lot!

Kate: Here ya go!  An update for ya!

Broadway: Of course Denton was wearing his ultra-spiffy bow-tie!  How could he not be?!  Just for you, there's a lot of Denton in this chapter!  It's to make amends for how long it's going to take Spot and Selece to actually truthfully admit to each other and get together.  u.u;;..

New York City
Manhattan

Evening
1900

"You know what?" Selece spoke as she and Spot headed back to the Manhattan lodging house. They walked with hands entwined. But only as an act. Of course.

"What?" Spot replied, turning to look at her. She didn't return his gaze, which gave him a chance to stare at her a little longer then usual. She really was beautiful.  Her features were very plain but just knowing her personality made the girl beautiful to Spot.

"I followed you here one day. To Manhattan," she answered, still staring straight ahead.

"Stalker! I knew it!" Spot shouted. He was smiling though and still watching her. Finally, Selece felt his eyes on her and turned to glance at him. The girl offered him a quick smile before both swiftly turned away.

"Well, not just you. You and all the Brooklyn newsies. I wanted to see the strike in action, ya know."

"Ah, well, that's still stalking. And how come no one saw ya?"

"Because I was better at hiding then they were prepared for!" Selece proclaimed, gloating. Spot whacked her on the head, messing up her hair. "Hey!" she shouted in protest, causing the boy to laugh and drop his guard for just one second.

The two then walked into the lodging house. Many newsies were in the main room, waiting for dinner to be served. They glanced up at the two newcomers then returned to whatever it was they were doing. Spot leaned over; whispering in Selece's ears, "See? Now they don't bug ya." She nodded.

"Hey, goil," came a voice somewhere amidst the group of newsies. Selece strained her eyes to see which one it was. He had a cigar in his mouth. Racetrack. "You wanna play a game?"

"Sure!" Selece released Spot's hand and scurried over to the newsie. She took a deep breath, knowing she had to make friends. She had to make her mother proud.

"All right, da name of da game is.." Racetrack began but Spot stopped listening.

Spot glanced over to his friend Jack who was once again sitting atop the front counter. Did he ever move? Spot shrugged before walking over to the Manhattan newsie.

"Heya, Spot," Jack said cheerily. He felt quite cozy at that current moment. This was one of those nights where most of the newsies had decided to just hang around the lodging house. Jack loved to watch them all. They really were a family. The Cowboy blinked as suddenly he found his Brooklyn friend grabbing his collar and dragging him off the counter. "Whoa, somthing wrong?" Jack questioned as he found himself dragged out of the building.

"You got an empty bunk or something?" Spot asked, crossing his arms once they were completely outside.

"Why? You staying here?"

"Yeah."

"Because of Uhm?"

"Yeah."

"Spot, you neva acted dis weird ova a goil. Why now?" Jack questioned his friend earnestly.

"She's different. And she's got alotta courage, ya know."

"Courage? She can barely talk to anyone without stutterin'!"

Spot sent a murderous glare towards his friend. The newsie then growled out, "Is dere anudda empty bed?"

"No, yer gonna hafta sleep on da floor."

"No problem," Spot said, beginning to walk away. But Jack grabbed hold of his suspenders, pulling him back.

The Manhattan newsie leaned down, whispering into Spots ear, "She really yer goil, Spot?"

"Yeah."

Jack rolled his eyes, knowing when his friend was lying. He decided to reword his question, "Does she know she's yer goil?"

"No."

"Dat's what I thought. Spot, yer pathetic," Jack laughed, snapping the younger newsies suspenders back. "And what eva happened to dat Suga goil?"

"She's mad at me now," Spot said.

"Why?!"

"I punched her."

"Why?!"

"Long story."

"Spot, you left Brooklyn while someone was mad'atcha? Bad move," Jack informed his friend.

"Nah, Snorks is watchin' 'er. She ain't gonna try nothing," Spot said with a grin. He playfully punched his friend in the shoulder then walked inside. Jack shook his head; beginning to worry about his friend then followed him inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      "All right, Uhm, here's da deal. Goils are supposed to sleep in a separate room. Dat may not be what you do in Brooklyn but we in Manhattan have dignity," Skittery began. He turned just in time to duck away from a near collision with a gold-tipped cane. "I'm just kiddin', Spot! Gimme a br-," he ducked again. "Geez, fine!  Brooklyn gots dignity!" Skittery breathed a sigh of relief as Spot grinned then went back to washing up for sleep. "As I was sayin'. But we got no other goils, dey all wanted to go ta Brooklyn to try to hit da sack with Spot," he checked to make sure Spot hadn't heard that.

"Hey, Spot! Skittery's talkin' 'bout yer," Racetrack began. But Snipeshooter, knowing how Spot never could take jokes well, lunged at the Irish boy. He snatched the gambling newsies cigar right out of his mouth. Then immediately ran. "Get back 'ere, ya lousy bum!" screamed Race as he began to 'race' (Ha.. ha.. get it?) around the room after Snipeshooter. Every newsie present except for Spot, Skittery, Uhm and Jack got in on the brawl, each choosing sides.

"Anyways," Skittery began for the third time. He ignored what was going on around him. "So, we neva set up da goil room. You gotta sleep in here or sleep on da floor in the goil's room.  Last night ya slept in here since it was so late and all but you got a choice tonight!"

"Uhm, hm, well, I gu-," Selece began. She stopped talking for a second as a loud bang was heard. Selece glanced over to where the sound had come from. She figured some form of furniture had fallen over but she couldn't tell. The mob of males was too thick to see through. She shrugged then turned back to Skittery, "I guess I'll sleep here."

"All right, wonder why," Skittery replied, a perverted grin appearing on his face.

Selece blushed furiously, wishing she knew how to control blushing. Skittery slugged her, sending a rare smile her way. "Bumlets catches liars, I catch feelin's." Selece cracked a smile. She tried to pretend she didn't understand what Skittery was saying. But when she glanced to Spot, splashing Jack Kelley and laughing his head off, she understood completely. But it was just an act.. just an act so the newsies wouldn't bug them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ugh," Selece flopped around on the bed she was lying on. It was one of those nights where she couldn't get to sleep. This time, though, it wasn't because of nightmares. It was because she was feeling guilty.

Her eyes kept on being drawn to where Spot was sleeping on the floor. She grumbled. He had purposely slept right next to her bed, just to drive her insane. And the bed she occupied just happened to be by the window so the moonlight let Selece watch the poor boy. He didn't even have a blanket and October was chilly in New York.

Selece sighed then listened carefully to the sounds around her. Snores, even breathing, and one loud thumb sucker. Selece grimaced, wondering whom the thumb sucker was. She then sat up on her bed, forgetting to duck and whacking her head against the bottom of the top bunk. The girl bit her tongue to keep from shouting out then slithered from her bed.

The girl newsie knelt besides Spot, pulling her blanket and pillow from the bed. She then hopped over him so he was closet to the bed. Slowly, Selece lifted up his head. She tried to be careful but decided it wouldn't matter as she remembered how heavy a sleeper he was from the bathtub experience. So, she slid the pillow under his head then just let his head drop onto it.

THUD.

Selece nearly gasped then had to contain her laughter. The pillows at the lodging house weren't too fluffy so Spot's head must have hit the floor with just a little bit of pillow to cover his fall. A wicked smile came across her lips as she pulled his head back up. And let it back down. She ended her fun quickly though for fear someone would wake up. Selece then covered Spot up in the thin sheet. Taking a deep breath for reassurance, Selece then covered herself up with the remaining half of the sheet.

The girl remained as far away from Spot as the sheet could allow. For a little while at least. And then she could hear her mother, whispering in the night, telling her not to be so shy. Selece giggled before moving closer to Spot. She then pulled the pillow out from under his head just enough for her to place her own head on it. The girl then snuggled close to him, drinking him in. Slowly, the girl's eyelids fell calmly down and she drifted away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New York City

Manhattan

October 12th

1900


"Get up! Sell da papes!" bellowed Kloppman. As usual, he screamed and screamed at the newsies until every single one of them was up. But today, two remained asleep.

Jack stumbled around the room, eyes still half closed. He opened them just in time to avoid stepping on Selece's hair. The Manhattan newsie growled, noticing the girl had moved to the floor. He walked over to Spot, ramming the heel of his foot into the Brooklyn boys back. Spot woke up, with a painful yelp.

"Spot, get up," growled Jack as he grabbed the collar of the boys street clothes. "You can borrow some of my street clothes seein' as how you didn't bring extras."

Spot mumbled some incoherent words, eyes still closed as he stumbled around. Jack smacked him sharply across the cheek, causing the boys eyes to fling open. The first thing Spot saw was Selece sleeping on the floor. His face lit up with a smile as he put together what must have happened. Jack saw the giddy smile on his friends face and growled, shoving him towards the bathroom area.

Jack then bent down, grabbing Selece's arm and pulling her to her feet. The girl's eyes creaked open. In a hazy, half-sleep mode the girl couldn't remember who this boy was so she just simply smiled then began to fall back asleep while standing. Jack rolled his eyes, "Wake up!" he bellowed in her ear.

"Yessir," she mumbled. Cowboy let go of her and the girl stumbled around until she reached the bathroom. She rubbed her eyes, getting the sleepiness out of them. Then her jaw fell open.

"Mudda Mary!" cried Blink as he ducked behind Snoddy. He had been planning on taking a bath, forgetting they had a female in their midst now. Snoddy burst out laughing which caused him to be hit by Blink who was well hidden behind the other boy.

"Uhm, I'm really sorry," Selece began, backing out of the bathroom. The room was silent, all eyes on her. "I'll, uhm, I'll ju.. just be downstairs!" Selece said, trying hard not to stare at the boys, half of whom were in their underwear.

"Where ya goin', Uhm?" came a mocking voice from behind her. Selece's eyes went wide as two arms wrapped themselves around her. "It's nothing you haven't seen!  Although much much smaller."

"Spot!" Selece nearly screamed, craning her neck to look behind. She sent a murderous glare at the boy who was having too much fun watching her squirm.

"Kid, you can take a bath. She ain't gonna watch," at Spot's words, the aforementioned newsie poked his head out over Snoddy's shoulder. "Everyone, go back to like you was. Just pretend she's a guy wit' breasts!" Selece's face turned crimson and she wanted so terribly to hit the Brooklyn newsie but his arms had her in a vise like hold.

"I think if I pretend dat, I'll turn gay!" came Race's voice. His smartass remarks made the silent newsies burst into laughter and then continue on with what they had been doing. Kid Blink even decided to take the quick bath!

Spot slipped one hand over Selece's eyes, "I knew you was watching him," he snickered, still holding the girl with one arm. He slowly released her, sliding his hand from her eyes. Selece whirled on her heels, eyes blazing.

"I hate you, Spot Conlon!" she hissed out, eyes narrowed.

Spot grinned dangerously as he wrapped his arm round her waist and pulled her closer to him, "I know dat's not possible," he said smugly. "You can't hate me."

"Oh yeah?" Selece growled out, causing Spot to laugh. He had never seen her this angry. "And how do you know that?"

"'Cos I'm Spot Conlon," he gloated as though that were supposed to mean something to the girl. "And plus, I saw where you ended up dis morning. On da floor wit' me!"

Kid Blink sat watching the two while Crutchy pumped water on him. It had been about a week since he had bathed. Crutchy knew where his friend was looking and grinned, "Dey a real cute couple, doncha think, Blink?"

"Yeah," Blink nodded, rubbing the cold water up and down his arms. He was really thanking God right now for letting him off with just a punch (even though the bruise still hurt). "But you think he really likes her? Neva seen da tough Spot Conlon wit' a goil."

"Nah," came Jack's voice as he walked past the two, overhearing their conversation. Both Crutchy and Blink 'blinked' (Haha! Too funny!) at the unexpected comment. They turned to stare at Jack who was looking quite angry. "But if he keeps dis up," Jack didn't finish his sentence. He just shook his head then walked off. Probably to steal the shaving cream from Race.

"Mebbe you got a chance den, Blink!" Crutchy said, sounding as though that really did make him happy.

"Ha!" Blink snorted, standing up from the bathtub and hurriedly grabbing a towel before Spot stopped having Selece's attention.

Selece blinked, having completely forgotten she had slept on the floor that night. Slowly a blush crept across her face but she denied it by growling out again, "I hate you!"

"Nah, you don't."

"Yes, I do!"

"Naah," the fact that Spot was so sure of this. And gloating too was driving Selece insane. Selece grumbled to herself, jerking herself away from his hold. She then stormed away to go wash up, ignoring the other newsies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, Blink! Wait up!"

"Holy.. shiet," Kid Blink gasped out as he glanced behind him. The girl of the toughest newsie ever was chasing after him. He could see the tombstone now 'Killed by Jealous Brooklyn Leader'. He sent a quick prayer to God before flashing his usual smile, "Yeah, Uhm? Whacha need?"

"Aren't we going to sell together?"

Blink paled. "Oh, I thought you was gonna sell wit' Spot, since yer his goil."

Selece waved his worries off, skipping up to him. "Nah, I want to sell with you!" She linked her arm with his, face bright, "Where shall we sell today?"

"Uh, well," Blink stammered as the girl began leading him away from the distribution center. He glanced around to catch a glance of Spot. And he was successful. The boy gulped, taking note of the angry expression on the Brooklyn newsies face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You can sell with us, Spot," came a voice from behind him. Spot turned to come face to face with David Jacobs. David smiled at him.

"I'll just tag along. I dun sell in Manhattan," Spot said firmly. Dave nodded, being abnormally quiet. "So, Dave how's da family?"

Dave blinked. "Well, pretty good. My pops still looking for a job and things like that. No big deal."

Back to being the Mouth. Spot smirked, slugging Dave in the arm. He then glanced around for Jack and his shadow. He didn't have to look far for the Cowboy and Les were just heading over to him and Dave. All four waved to one another.

"So, Spot, yer goil ditch ya?" Jack said, laughter hidden deep in his voice.

"Shaddup," Spot grumbled. He then glared down at Les who was fighting the air with his wooden sword. Les froze then sheepishly put down the sword. Spot smirked; he still got it!

"Gettin' ditched by a shy goil, real tough," Jack said, his voice returning to seriousness. All four had begun to walk with Dave and Les in the front, proclaiming the headlines while Jack and Spot lagged behind. "I'm worryin', Spot. Havin' a goil might be bad fer ya."

Spot stared at his friend like he had grown an extra head, "Why? All me boys got goils, I just took awhile longa."

"Yeah but dere goils are either one-night stands or tough. Uhm seems to be neither. It's bad fer ya, Spot. How ya gonna be tough when yer kissin' and teasin' a goil who stammers? Especially since, from what I've heard she ain't very popular in Brooklyn."

"Aw, shaddup, you dun know what yer talkin' 'bout," grumbled Spot. But he could see his friends point. All the other boy's girls could always fight for themselves so they supported the tough image every boy had. But Selece, Selece was strong but in ways other then everyone else. Jack had succeeded in planting a seed of doubt in Spots mind. Now the boy wasn't so sure if he really should have feelings for the girl.

Jack smiled, seeing the torment blatantly expressed on his friends face. He knew it was going to be a pain but it would be better in the end. If Spot didn't get rid of this baby, he'd be more susceptible to people challenging him. Jack then began to proclaim the headlines, leaving his friend to sort everything out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Selling in front of the Tribune office? Is that really such a good idea, Blink?" Selece questioned, eyeing the building they were standing in front of nervously. All she could think about was that article the newsies had been laughing about. The one about the murder. And all she could think about was how that article might have been about her mother. She gulped, almost smelling the decay of her mother. Selece felt sick all of a sudden.

"Yeah, no one likes da Tribune so it dun really matta if we sell in front of it or even in it!" Blink laughed. He then noticed the pale, scared look on Selece's face. The kid suddenly remembered how she had been so upset about the article Denton had written. "Hey, my friend dat paid our bill dat one time, works for da Tribune," Blink smirked. The man had quit the Sun after he had helped them print out the "Newsies Banner" and the Tribune quickly hired him. "He even wrote dat article 'bout the murda in Brooklyn. You wanna go see if we can snatch a copy?" Blink looked at Selece, waiting for some sort of reaction.

Selece stood still for a minute. There was always that chance it had been about her mother. And maybe there was news about the murderer. Maybe he had been caught. But then again, what if it was about her mother? And what if it made fun of her? "Street Whore Gets What She was Paid For!" Selece winced but slowly nodded to Blink. The male newsie smiled, draping his arm around her for support as they began to walk up the steps to the Tribune.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Knock...

Knock...

Knock...

Denton looked up from his desk. He groaned, hating to be interrupted on his morning break. Grumbling, he called for the knocker to come in, straightening up in his chair. The journalist was surprised when a large, burly man came busting in. Tears were brimming in the big mans eyes. Denton stood up, blinking a few times.

"Good morning, sir," Denton said, holding out his hand. "Is there something I can do for you?" Denton winced as the mans hand grasped his and shook, nearly pulling Denton's arm from his socket.

"Yes, my name is Raymon, I'm a worker in a Brooklyn factory. Uhm," the man rubbed his eyes with his large fingers. "Uhm, I was wonderin' if you got any information on the daughter of the murdered womyn you did an article for."

Denton blinked, shuffling through his papers nervously. "You mean the article 'Gruesome Death in Building: Unknown or Uncared?'" Denton remembered that article well. He was assigned to it and had to travel to Brooklyn and actually look at the womyn's beaten body. He also remembered how the police were unable to find the body a few hours after he had left.

"Y-yes," whispered Raymon, staring down. He continually mashed his hat together, tears beginning to trickle down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry, sir but I didn't even know that womyn had a daughter," Denton murmured sympathetically.

"Are you sure? She had run away from me when she found out. I checked out the newsie places in Brooklyn. They said they saw her but that she ran to Manhattan," Raymon looked earnestly in Denton's eyes. "Are you sure you have nothing about her? She's my daughter and.. I.. I.. miss her terribly."

Something clicked in Denton's mind.

~~~~~"So, Uhm, I heard from Skittery you got Spot Conlon angry at ya and had ta run away from Brooklyn. Whacha do?"
"I called him ugly," Selece replied, shrugging. ~~~~~

           He could hear Kid Blink and that strange new girl talking. She had just arrived that day. Just one day after he had done the article. And he remembered how familiar she had looked. It all came together! That girl, the new newsie must be the daughter of that murderer womyn! In fact, now that Denton thought about it enough, the two had looked almost exactly alike.

"Mr. Raymon, I actually think I do know something about your daughter. But, please, don't get your hopes up. I may be wrong," Denton grabbed his coat. "Come with me, sir."

"HEY! DENTON!" Blink flung the door open, nearly hitting the aforementioned reporter. He didn't care about creating a ruckus in the office. It was only the lousy Tribune after all and most, if not all, reporters were out on early morning breaks. The lazy bums! Selece twiddled her thumbs, standing hidden behind Blink, not wanting Denton to get angry.

"Blink!" Denton gasped out, he looked back to the weeping man he had just been talking too. How embarrassing. "Blink, Blink, can we please talk later? I'm trying to help this man," he motioned to Raymon. Kid Blink smiled at the man, not caring that he was crying.

"Yeah, sure, me and me friend are just gonna grab a copy of Monday's pape," Blink said, pulling Selece out from behind him. Selece smiled sheepishly then waved to Denton.

"SELECE!"

All three people froze, turning to stare at the once tearful man. He had screamed so suddenly and so loudly. Selece's eyes went wide and in an instant she whirled around on her heels. The girl dashed from the room so suddenly Blink just stood there staring for a few seconds.

"Get her! That.. that's my daughter!" cried Raymon.

Is Selece really Raymon's daughter?!

Does the Tribune really suck as bad as Blink says?!

And who the hell gets 'early morning breaks'?!

Find out next time in..

THE..

STORY..

OF..

UHM!!!!!!!