((blows kisses)) Yay! I love you all! All that fretting over angry reviewers with pitchforks was so unnecessary! You guys are angels, hear me? Angels. Alrighty, shout outs!
Knots: Yay, I'm glad you reviewed! ((pouts)) Stupid computers, acting up. I'm glad you enjoyed the second chapter. It was pretty easy, since the entire scene is just the song. Aha! Look, another brilliant chapter, already coming your way!
Dreamless-Mermaid: ((hands over button)) Well done! ((presses buzzer)) Sorry, but your other answer was incorrect. The real RHPS quote was "Yesterday, she was just plain old Colleen Dupont and now...now she's Colleen Dupont, Racetrack Higgin's steady." Sorry ya missed that. Sorry I got you confused with the redheads thing. I know it wasn't like the movie or anything, but....it sounded funny at the time. GO FORTH AND RENT ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW NOW!!! Unless you have a problem with men in drag, in which case, don't. I was so unbelievably upset that I missed it. My friend told me and I was like "WHAT?!?!?!?!" I'm gonna go hunting on the Internet and see if I can find pictures or a clip or something. Apparently he has a lot of facial hair now. ((giggles at thought of David with facial hair)) Review again, s'il te plait!
TheAngryPrincess13: ((hands over the button)) Well done! Ah, Rocky Horror. That is seriously, on my list of favourite movies, right up there with Newsies. My friends work at our school's "Snack Shack" and they have a CD player they so I put Newsies in. The hall was kind of empty, so I sang....and danced. And then at the part of Santa Fe where Jack leans back on the horse, I flung out my arms and started spinning and then I kinda fell over. Enjoy this chapter!
XbeLLaViTaX: Aw, yay for my story inducing screaming!....or...whatever. I'm glad that your glad to oblige. ((hits forehead)) Sorry. Mixed up the names. Anyway, I used the handy dandy export feature and fixed it as soon as I got your review. So thank you! Again, very sorry about that. ((alarm goes off)) Congratulations! You got both references! ((hands over button and poster)) Enjoy! Wait...someone who gets all my references....((falls on knees)) THANK YOU LORD!!! ((makes wild arm gestures)) Our brains are one!!! No, just kidding. Sharing a brain would be weird. I agree, a green chick and a sweet transvestite like Tim(who is, by the way, my God), was isn't to love? Wait.....((pulls on sparkly platforms)) Hit it! I'M JUST A SWEET TRANSVESTITE!!!! FROM TRANSEXUAL TRANSYVA- ((is hit by shoe)) MUSH! I'M TAKING ALL YOUR SHOES, PUTTING THEM IN A GARBAGE BAG AND BEATING YOU OVER THE HEAD WITH IT!!! ((realizes she still has a review to respond to)) Oops. Sorry. Mush likes to throw shoes at people, especially me when I burst into song. So yeah, so glad you liked it, hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
Oxymoronic Alliteration: Hey! I did update! Look at that, will ya? Sorry, I haven't been that sarcastic today and I'm just looking for an outlet. I accept your grant of full freedom to do whatever I wish with you character. Since she's Kim, she'll be like Kim in the movie and I won't make her, like, a crazed ax murderer or something like that. Aw, I'm glad people aren't hunting me down with pointy sticks because I made Mush Harvey. I personally quite enjoy Mush as Harvey and I'm glad you do as well. ((hands over button)) Ah, RHPS. What a great film. ((wipes reminiscent tear from eye)) Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!
LegallyRed: MY ELPHIE!!! ((hugs)) How are you, my dearest, darlingest, Elphie-kins? ((hands over button)) Well, of course you'd get the Wicked reference. I mean, it's you. I have a feeling you wouldn't like RHPS. Unless you don't have a problem with gay men in drag, in which case, by all means, rent it! Sorry, you can't have a poster. I mean, you got Yero, what more do you want?! Sheez... well, maybe I'll give some more out this chapter. Oh, I really hope you do rent. I haven't seen the movie, but I was in the play and it rocks. The songs are so catchy and, I must admit, Ann Magaret rocks. The unfortunate thing is, the movie version of Lot of Livin' is just with Conrad and Kim, whereas the play version includes all the teenagers. And in our version, we did this whole dance sequence and me and Kaity got to dance with Elliott. And it was jive dancing, which meant I got to hold his hand and he spun us in and.....((drools)) Oops, sorry about that, a bit lost in my own fantasy there. Anyway, glad you liked it, hope you enjoy this one too!
PeliculaJane: Oh, The Telephone Hour indeed. That song is just so darn catchy. Aw, now I miss Adam. Sorry, insane, reminiscent ramblings. Anyway, being a goin'-steady-Conrad-Birdie teenager was so much fun. Dude! I always wondered what happened to Charity Garfein! Thank you SO much for updating KONY again. You'd better be sooner next time. Kidding, although I hope you do. ((bops)) What's the story, morning glory? What's the word, humming bird? Have you heard about Hugo and Kim?
Ccatt: ((wipes forehead)) Whoo. I'm so glad that you don't mind being someone else. And that you're still reading it. Thanks darling! ((points to update)) Lookie! Review again!
Dimonah Tralon: ((wipes forehead)) I'm happy that you're okay with being Nancy and that you're not offended by my Mormon joke. And, of course, I'm glad you reviewed. ((high fives)) I felt like that was a random high five moment. Review again, please!
((parties)) I'm in such a good mood! I have two days of school before I'm off for over a week for exams and then a whole new bunch of classes(no math until next year! ((parties harder))) and I'm updating! This is such a fun story to write, mostly because I don't have to think up the plot. It's all right there in front of me. ((thanks the Lord that she didn't hand in her script after the play was over)) Anyway, as any of you diehard fans will notice, pretty much all the dialogue is directly out of the script. I felt that it got the point across nicely. I did add a few things, including a nice little history of how Medda Larkson became Margaret Dupont. You'll have to read it, but I think it brings everything together nicely. Oh, speaking of that, it talks a lot in that part about Medda being sort of a drunk, so if anyone has a problem with me writing about the large amounts of vodka she drinks(it's not descriptive), then...don't read it. And one other thing. I've already written the bulk of chapter four and it'll be within two days, max, but I'm not posting it until next Sunday, just to give people time to review this chapter and everything. So, I guess that's all for now. Read on, fair maidens!
Disclaimer: Don't own Newsies, don't own Bye Bye Birdie, don't own Colleen, Rose, Kathleen, Ashleigh, Catherine, Raelyn, Alison, Danielle or Skylar. Do own Moseph, since that's me, although maybe my parents own me....oh well. So, basically, I own me and nothing else. Happy now?
"Colleen Dupont, what do you mean you're resigning from the Fan Club?!" Rose Hamilton shrieked in the phone. "I mean, just because Racetrack Higgins gave you his pin, doesn't mean you have to retire from all social life! Going steady is very important, but there are some things more important than very important and the Jack Kelly Fan Club is one of them. I mean, after all, where else can we girls gather together to worship that wonderful creature? I mean, do you realize what you'd be giving up, Colleen?"
"I'm sorry, Rose, but my mind is made up," Colleen said apologetically. "Of course, I'll still play his records, but things like the Pledge and the Jack Kelly Scream are past me now." Rose gasped like she'd just been mortally wounded.
"You're giving up the scream? You mean when Jack Kelly sings on television, you're not going to go," and here Rose let out a scream that Jack Kelly himself probably heard all the way from New York City. Her parents downstairs shrieked in surprise and dogs across the street started howling, but Colleen merely sat and listened to her friend prattle on. She was used to it by now; as a Jack Kelly fan, she couldn't be sensitive to loud, high-pitched noises.
"Colleen, dear, would you please get off the phone? I've got some calls to make," Mrs. Dupont called from the kitchen.
"All right, Mother!" Colleen called back. "Sorry, Rose, I've got to hang up. You'll explain everything to the other girls, won't you?" Rose sighed dramatically.
"I suppose I'll have to. Bye, Colleen," she said and started to hang up. At the last minute, she pulled the phone back to her ear and said hurriedly, "Colleen, are you sure? I mean, after all! I mean, really Colleen, are you absolutely sure?"
"Positive," Colleen said. "After all, I'm fifteen years old and it's time I settled down." Colleen said goodbye once more to a frantic Rose and hung up the phone. She got up from the floor, where she'd been sitting on her knees and put the telephone back on her dresser. Colleen examined herself in the mirror. Burgundy red hair neatly combed, held back by a hair band. Black rimmed glasses placed on her turned up nose. Hazel eyes accented with a light touch of blue eyeshadow. She observed her prim blue cardigan and pristine white circle skirt with a small frown and decided to chance out of her school clothes and into something slightly comfier: her father's baggy, navy blue college sweater, loose blue jeans, thick woollen socks and a plain black baseball cap.
"Colleen, there's a call for you. The operator said she's been trying to get through for nearly three-quarters of an hour," her mother called from the kitchen.
"Thank you, Margaret, I'll take it down there," she called back and started her descent down the stairs. Her mother stood at the bottom of the stairs, telephone receiver in hand, confused look on her face.
"She said it was long distance, I can't imagine who..." she trailed off as she processed her daughter's words. "What did you say?"
"I said, thank you Margaret," Colleen said, taking the receiver from her hand. Mrs. Dupont stood, hands on hips, looking shocked at Colleen.
As a young woman, Margaret Dupont, or Medda Larkson as she was known on the stage, had been a fiery, talented stage performer in New York City. She lived a rough, bohemian lifestyle offstage, spending most of her paycheck on glittery costumes and vodka and scrimping for grocery money. On the stage, she sparkled. She sang, she danced, she acted. She entranced men, but picked only those who treated her, or paid her, best. This continued until she turned 29, when she met hot shot reporter Bryan Denton. He was a writer for the New York Sun, doing a piece on young, off-Broadway performers. They fell tragically and hopelessly in love and, after a few whirlwind months of romance and way too much alcohol consumption, they ran off to get married. They spent a year in New York, living off vodka and cigarettes, when Margaret became pregnant. Bryan managed to convince her to take his real name, Dupont(he used Denton as protection from the scathing editorials he often wrote) and move to suburbs of Ohio with him. Margaret reluctantly agreed, gave up her promising stage career and somehow ended up a house mom with two kids in Ohio. Not quite how she'd imagined her life.
Margaret still had her fiery red hair and a thin figure, but now she wore her hair in a neat bun rather than elaborate hairstyles and she'd traded in her flashy, revealing costumes long ago for dresses, pearls and an apron. She still loved Bryan and didn't regret her decision to marry him. She loved her children dearly and she found herself with far fewer hangovers. But every once in a while, she pined for her days as a performer. It was her true passion and she wished she could have gone out with a bang, instead of a mess of rumours and speculations.
And now, here she stood, staring down her teenage daughter, who'd inherited her red hair and her father's knack for attracting trouble. "Did you just call me Margaret?" she asked, incredulous. Colleen nodded, with a smile.
"Or Medda, if you'd prefer it," Colleen said. Of course, Colleen had heard the story of her parents' love affair many a time(minus the copious amounts of alcohol) and found it all to be tragically romantic. She liked her friends and Sweet Apple was a nice town, but it certainly lacked excitement. She wondered what her life might be like if her parents had stayed in New York and her mother had become a world famous stage actress. Perhaps Colleen herself might have pursued a stage career and she wouldn't be stuck with her annoying little brother, Les. Her mother still looked as if she need some explanation. "There's no need to look so upset. It's modern to call your mother by her first name. It makes the mother and daughter more like pals," she continued.
"And your father?" Mrs. Dupont asked.
"I'll call him Bryan, naturally," Colleen replied. Mr. Dupont, who'd been listening silently to this entire conversation, simply glared at his daughter's back. Colleen took no notice.
"By the way, I think Bryan took the news about Racetrack and I awfully well, don't you, Margaret?" Colleen said pleasantly. Mrs. Dupont looked up, gave a "God help me" look and sat down at the kitchen table. Colleen turned her attention back to the caller. "Yes, this is she. Yes, I'll wait."
"I don't know. Yesterday I was a mother. Today I'm a pal," Mrs. Dupont said, dazed still by her daughter's actions. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to call me Mom? That's modern."
"I'm sorry, but times are changing and you've got to go along with them or be left behind with the old folks," Colleen said, still smiling pleasantly. "By the way, Margaret, have you got a cigarette? I seem to have run out." Mrs. Dupont rolled her eyes at her daughter and left the kitchen, followed by the still-glaring Mr. Dupont. Colleen stood by the phone, doodling absent mindedly on the pad of paper nearby. She was considering hanging up when a voice clicked in.
"Is this Colleen Dupont?" a female voice asked, crackling on the other end.
"Yes, it is. And who is this?" Colleen said pleasantly, trying to sound like an adult.
"This is Michelle Newman, secretary to David Jacobs, Jack Kelly's manager," the woman said. Colleen paused. A woman who worked, however indirectly, for Jack Kelly.
"Oh?" Colleen said, trying to sound indifferent. "And what is this in reference to?"
"Um, well," Michelle began, sounding confused. "Jack Kelly is going into the army, but before he goes, he's going to sing his song One Last Kiss on television and give that one last kiss to one lucky fan." Colleen nodded and waited for this woman to continue. Michelle expected Colleen to catch on.
"Er, how...nice," Colleen said finally, to fill the silence. "So, what would you like me to do?"
"Um, you're the fan," Michelle said simply. Colleen was about to ask her what she meant before something in her brain clicked.
"Wait a minute...you mean?" Colleen gasped.
"That's right. Jack Kelly is coming there to kiss you," Michelle answered, sounding relieved.
"Jack Kelly...is coming here...to kiss me?" Colleen said breathlessly. She forgot her well-taught manners and slowly put the receiver back on the base of the phone, cutting off the secretary on the other end. "Margaret?" she called weakly. Nothing. "Mother?!" she tried again. Still nothing. "MOMMY!" she screamed. At the sound of this, Margaret came bolting into the kitchen faster than she'd ever run in her life and, in a matter of milliseconds, had Colleen sitting at the table, her arms wrapped around her.
"Darling, what is it?! What's wrong?!" she cried frantically.
"It's Jack Kelly, Mommy! He's going to kiss me!" Colleen shouted excitedly.
"Oh, that's nice, dear. Now you just stay here while I get you a nice warm cup of hot chocolate and a Kleenex," Mrs. Dupont said soothingly, heading towards the stove.
"You don't understand!" Colleen said, too excited to be annoyed by her mother. "Jack Kelly is coming here to Sweet Apple to kiss me goodbye! Oh, Mommy, Mommy!" Colleen started bouncing in her chair like an excited toddler and Mrs. Dupont put an arm around her.
"I never thought I'd say it," she said to no one in particular, "but God Bless Jack Kelly!"
Does anyone find it weird to talk to another Newsies fan who's obsessed with a different newsie, or is that just me? Like, I don't have a problem with it, it's kind of weird though. Because there are certain newsies I couldn't even imagine being infatuated with, but I'm sure there are folks that feel that way about David and I love him. It's quite odd.
So, by this time, everyone who applied has been introduced. All that's left is dear, darling little Les, Mrs. Jacobs(also known as David's mother) and Jack Kelly himself! The next chapter is coming along pretty good, but there's a lot more tweeking. It doesn't follow the script as closely as this one. I hope everyone enjoyed Medda's little history. Bet you never would have thought of Medda and Denton together, huh?
Oh, geez, I have nothing to give posters away for this time. ((looks a box filled with posters)) Well, I guess I'll just have to think of some other reason to give them out. ((thinks)) I GOT IT!!! Anyone who can tell me the role Peter Gallagher(from The OC, one of the best tv shows ever) played in Guys and Dolls and who played the other lead male role gets a signed, Jack Kelly poster! Good luck, ladies! Use your resources on this one! Bye, y'all!
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