We went back to the Newsies Square & saw that the boys have gathered there, making signboards that say "Strike!" It looks that this has gone serious. Hallie gave a weird jig as soon as she saw the signboards. Ever the history buff, Hallie is.
"Oh my God, this is, like, so cool!" She said, a big grin on her lips spreading up to her ears.
"What's so cool about this?" Dawn said, looking completely reluctant to be here seeing this.
"Well, this is history. And I can't believe we're going to be a part of it! I never even dreamed that this would happen to us! This is simply extraordinary!" Hallie said excitedly.
"Oh, me neither. Except for the fact that I never liked History & I hate being here." Dawn said with a tone of complete disgust at the subject that is called History.
"Oh please. You're no fun! Come on, Lee. Let's go find Jack. I think they're still here." Hallie said, grabbing my hand. Dawn was left behind. She walked towards the square. Probably towards Dutchy. I've noticed that she has been trying to get his attention. I just don't know if he plays along with it. We asked the others if Jack, Davey, Les, Boots & Gail are still here. They said that they're in Tibby's, along with a middle-aged man. A man? We don't know anyone like that. Or if I'm correct, maybe it was that man Davey was talking to earlier? We opened the door of the restaurant & walked inside. We saw them right away, talking to that man & eating lunch. The man probably bought it. Those guys don't have any money on their pockets, especially that they're now on strike against Pulitzer because he charged the newsies more for their papers. They can't even complete three meals a day, & now he's made their lives harder for them. I felt a surge of anger coursing through me. Now I know someone who's more selfish than Dawn. Joseph Pulitzer.
"Hey, the twins are heah!" Jack said, catching a sight at us.
"Oh, hey guys! Want a hotdog?" Gail said, her mouth full of food. I refused. She was sitting beside Les, who was also eating hotdog. Gail was munching on her food, when she saw a man trip on his feet outside the restaurant that made her & Les laugh out loud, spraying Davey with bits of food.
"Hey! That's disgusting, you two! Food is meant to be swallowed, not sprayed on me!" Davey said, his face covered with hotdog bits. But catching the sight of him made Gail & Les laugh even harder, spraying more bits of food at him.
"Eww gross! Gail, swallow that already!" Hallie said, wiping Davey's face with a napkin.
"Oooh, touchy-touchy!" Gail said, clicking her tongue at her. Jack was laughing along with them when he stopped when he remembered about the man sitting with them.
Oh, goils, this is Bryan Denton. He's a reporter from da New York Sun."
The man, Mr. Denton, seems to be a very nice man, quite handsome, & reminds me a lot of Dad. Oh…darn it. I miss home already. I'm feeling a bit homesick now. Wonder if they're back from their trip?
"Hello." He said. We smiled back at him.
"Do you want to eat? Don't worry about it, I'll pay." He said, taking out his wallet. I was about to refuse, when Hallie cut me off & accepted his offer. Oh well, I'm starving anyway. Wait a minute…since when did Hallie learn to be like that? She would always be the first one to refuse. Well, probably because of hunger. We are almost out of money ourselves. But how are we going to have money, now that we're involved in the strike? How are we going to work for our money? How are they going to work for their lives? Mr. Denton smiled at us. We smiled back & ordered two glasses of cold beverage & two hotdogs on a bun. We sat & ate our lunch, along with Jack, Les, Davey, Gail & Mr. Denton.
"So, this real snooty mug says to me, 'You can't see Mr. Pulitzer, no one sees Mr. Pulitzer.' Real hoity-toity, ya know da type." Jack said, making rude remarks of the World employee that forced them out of the building.
"Real hoity-toity." Les said. He looks up to Jack & sees him as his role model. I can't blame him, though. Jack's leadership qualities & tough attitude is reason enough for Les to admire him.
"So dat's when I says ta him, 'Listen, I ain't in da habit of transactin' no business with office boys. Just tell 'im Jack Kelly's heah to see him now!'" Oh, how cocky. And that's okay with me. It's actually cute.
"That's when he threw us out." Les suddenly blurted out. David, Hallie & Gail laughed when they heard that. Well, actually, I did, too.
Denton smiled, then put on a serious face.
"Does he scare you?"
I looked at him when he said that, then to Jack. Jack looked serious for a second, but a wicked smile curved on his lips.
"Oh yeah, look at me. I'm tremblin'!" He said, with sarcasm & mischievous mockery on the way he said those words. And I couldn't help but like him even more. It's that bravery & possibly, charisma that attracts me to him. For me, he's not my reminiscence of Frank anymore. He's a different person. They are different from each other. I know that I might never get over Frank, but a new ray of hope shone for me. Maybe I'm not looking for answers anymore, like what I've thought I was. Whatever it is, it might be already here.
"Alright, keep me informed. I want to know everything that's going on." Mr. Denton said.
"Are we really an important story?" Davey asked. Hallie turned at Mr. Denton's direction, smiling very widely again.
"Well, what's important? Last year I covered the war in Cuba. Charged up San Juan Hill with Col. Teddy Roosevelt." Denton told us. That's quite interesting to hear. I can see Hallie looking so excited. When it comes to History, she becomes like this. It even seems that any second now, she would whip out a pen & a small notebook & start writing about this. I admit I don't like History very much. It's kinda dull & boring. But if I'm currently in one of the pages of History, well, I don't think it's boring anymore.
"That was an important story. So, is the Newsies' Strike important? That all depends on you." Denton said. Then, he rose from his chair. He has finished eating his own lunch & is going to pay for all of it, including ours.
"So my name's really gonna be in da papers?" Jack asked him.
"Any objections?" Denton said.
"Not as long as ya get it right." Jack said. "It's Kelly. Jack Kelly."
Denton smiled & was almost at the door when Jack called him back.
"Oh, & Denton? No pictures." Right there, in that moment, I felt something weird. I wonder why he asked Denton not to take pictures? Is he hiding from someone? But that's not what was bothering me. I haven't felt this in a while now. This feeling…it's just like when I was in Frank's house…
"Excuse me, you guys, but I have to leave." I said. I stood up & bolted for the door, just passing Denton & not saying goodbye.
"Haylie! Where are you going?" My twin asked. Like what I did before, I ignored her. This feeling is stronger than before. So strong that it blocks off all my emotions. My feet is dragging me on to somewhere, but I feel like I'm still in control. Then, I broke off into a run. I kept running, running towards somewhere I don't know, but still it feels that I know where I'm going. What's happening to me? This emotion…this feeling makes me haywire like a robot! My left becomes right…insane kind of sane…It's making me mad! I kept on running, forward, left, right…unsure where I'm going. Then finally, I stopped. I looked around. This place…it seems familiar. In our world, this would be where I first met Frank…except that it was a playground on my world…
The whole place was deserted. No one is around. Just myself…and a little boy leaning on a tree. I looked at him. He was facing the other way. It seems like he's waiting for someone. I walked towards the boy. As I got closer, I spoke to him.
"Hey, are you alone? Are you waiting for someone?"
He didn't respond. It's like he didn't hear me at all. I spoke again.
"Hey, can't you hear me? Hey." I said, reaching for his shoulder. But what happened next startled me. My hand just when through him! Is he…a ghost?!?
"Francis!"
A voice of a little girl spoke behind me. The little boy turned around. I couldn't see his face; it was blurred. I looked at the little girl. My eyes widened when I saw her. It was-
"Selene!"
The boy ran towards her, running through me. I was left there, mouth open wide, eyes bulging. They ran, hands locked to each other. Then, the little girl suddenly looked at me. She was smiling at me, which made my insides lurch. After what I found out today, I couldn't think straight anymore. Everything has two meanings. Everything seems to be so confusing that I don't know what to believe anymore.
"Why is this happening to me?"
I keep asking myself that question. And would keep asking it again & again. It'll never end, not until I find out the reasons why. It is not enough, what we have found out today. Just who is this Selene? And how…why is it that we might be her possible reincarnations? Just how long will this go on? And…is there a possibility that there is connection between Selene, Jack, Frank & this Francis Sullivan? That's another mystery that's getting into me. Who is Francis Sullivan? Well, Snyder called Jack 'Sullivan' before. Is it possible that he…no, it's still unclear. There are too many flaws in this, too many holes uncovered. I don't want to jump into any conclusions.
"What are you doing here?!?"
Suddenly, a voice spoke behind me, startling me. My heart's beating too fast that it's painful. I slowly turned around to face whoever this person is.
