A/N: Here you go! Thanks so much to all my reviewers!

"Okay," Blink said. "She'll be here in ten minutes." He was more nervous than Mush, and that was saying something. Mush sat on a chair in the front hall. Blink had banished the other newsies from that hall, and was busy making sure that Mush didn't breathe too hard and wrinkle his shirt. He was pacing back and forth, peeking out the front door every few seconds, wiping sweaty hands on his thighs.

"How can you stand this?" he asked, nearly wringing his hands. "Aren't you nervous?"

"Not as nervous as you are, by the looks of you," Mush grinned. "Calm down." He laughed and started to stand when someone knocked on the door.

Blink hadn't heard the knock and gasped. "Sit!" he cried, as if commanding a naughty puppy. "You'll wrinkle that shirt! That took me twenty minutes to iron, you know, and we made Snipes shine your shoes…" he trailed on, nearly hysterical with fright.

"Blink," Mush said, but his friend continued to lecture. "Blink. Blink, she's here!" he finally cried.

Blink went pale. "You're kidding! She's-" he looked at his watch "-right on time. Oh. Well, let her in! Don't make her stand there!"

"Blink," Mush said, putting his hands on his friend's shoulders. "Relax. I'll be back in a few hours." He turned just before he reached the door, and waved jokingly. "Bye! Don't sit up." He laughed, knowing Blink wouldn't sleep until he was satisfied he had heard every detail.

Mush opened the door to find the most beautiful girl he had ever seen standing there. Right then, he knew the night was going to be a disaster. She was beautiful and regal, and he had no idea where Jack had ever met her. Though nearly a foot shorter, she managed to look down her shapely nose at everyone around her. He took a deep breath and tried to think positive thoughts.

"You must be…" Mush paused. He thought hard, but couldn't remember her name. Regina? Betty? Delores? It was nothing he heard much. He couldn't remember…

"Alice," she said. Whoops. It was perfectly ordinary. But she sure wasn't.

"And you are?" Alice asked.

"Mush," he said, bowing slightly. She raised one eyebrow.

"What have you planned for us tonight… Mush?" she asked.

"Well, I thought we'd, you know, have dinner, maybe go for a walk. The Bridge is pretty this time of day."

She looked shocked. "Never would I frequent such a place! Why, I could be robbed… beaten up… all manner of terrible things could happen. No, I think I will instruct Frederick to take us elsewhere." She turned and swept to the carriage that waited.

In a last ditch attempt to be chivalrous, Mush hurried ahead of her and helped her into the carriage. He earned his first approving look of the evening.

"Frederick!" She called. "Oh, Frederick!"

Frederick swung to the side of the carriage. "Yes, miss?"

"Frederick, would you be so good as to take us somewhere… respectable?"

"Yes, Miss," Frederick replied. He swung back to the top of the carriage and clucked to the horses. Mush wished desperately to be up there with him, anywhere but in this over-upholstered, overstuffed, pink carriage with this girl.

"So…" he said, scrambling to come up with a decent topic of conversation.

"What do you do all day?" Alice interrupted.

"I- I sell papes, that is, papers," he stammered. Mush stopped and took a deep breath. It would all be over in a few hours, now to get through them without sounding like an idiot. "I sell the World, near Bottle Alley, sometimes down at the Harbor, wherever there's a free spot."

"Bottle Alley? Isn't that terribly dangerous?"

"Sometimes," he admitted, trying to sound nonchalant, "But I don't have too many problems. Get beat up, once in a while, but you know, all in a day's work." He shrugged.

"My goodness!"

"What do you do?" he asked. It was only fair that the questions would go both ways.

"I?" she said, surprised. "Why, I have lessons with my governess; learn to play the piano, dance, and the finer things I'll need to know when I'm married."

Mush felt this was moving things a little quickly. He was trying to think how to say that without offending her when the carriage stopped.

Mush stepped out of the carriage, offering his hand to the girl. He didn't have to like this, but he certainly had to be polite. It was expected of him.

"Ohhh, Frederick!" Alice squealed. "The Opera! Oh, thank you!"

Mush felt himself blushing. "I…" he swallowed. "I don't have any money for that. Selling papes doesn't exactly pay real well…"

"Oh, that," she said, disdainfully. "Frederick will take care of the finances. Won't you Frederick?" she turned to him, pleading.

"Of course," said Frederick, bowing politely. He shot Mush a pained look as Alice gathered her skirts and swept into the theatre.

Mush had never felt so uncomfortable in his life. Not only did he not understand a word of the Italian that the Opera was sung in, he hated the voices. To top it all off, he was the only one not dressed to the nines in beautiful clothes. He was grateful when it was all over.

"Where did you meet her?" Mush asked Jack, when he was finally back in the comfort of the Lodging house. It was the second thing he did when he got home. The first was to take the shirt off and wrinkle it, making sure Blink noticed. Jack shrugged.

"Friend of the family," he offered. He was trying to go to sleep and annoyed at being woken up. "Cousin's friend. No idea how they know each other."

"All I can say is," Mush began, "Tomorrow night's gotta be better."

Blink grinned. "Come on, look on the bright side. That's one more girl you know you don't wanna date."

Mush just threw a pillow at his smartass friend's head.

To Be Continued…