Chapter 3

Spot took Rebecca's hand again as he opened the door. They walked into a large room with a desk next to the door. There was an old man behind the desk and boys of many ages scattered all over the room. The old man greeted Spot as they came threw the door and upon hearing his name the room got quiet.

"Hello Spot, how are ya doing today?"

"Pretty good, Kloppman. Where's Jacky-Boy?"

"Right here Spot." A boy came threw the crowd who looked kind of familiar to Rebecca but she couldn't put her finger on it. But why would she recognize a newsies? Maybe she had bought a newspaper from him once.

"Hey there Jacky-Boy, I'd like ya to meet someone. Rebecca, this is Jack, he's the leader of the Manhattan newsies and one of my best friends. Jacky-Boy this is-."

"You don't have to introduce us, we met already." He interrupted Spot and smirked. Spot was confused. Had he beaten Spot to a girl? How was that possible? Spot always gets a girl first. Rebecca must have met the boy before if he remembered her. She thought hard but nothing was coming to her. Jack just stood there and smiled.

"We met this morning, ya ran into me then when I apologized ya blew up in my face." She blushed, remembering now, and feeling bad for yelling at one of Spot's friends. She mumbled a soft 'sorry' and looked down. "Don't feel bad, I should have been looking where I was going. I rather get caught by the bulls than knock a girl, like you, over. A face like yours is unforgettable."

This made her blush more and played with a ribbon on her dress trying to distract herself. It wasn't working. A few boys entered the lodging house right after. One had an eye patch over his eye, another was short, shorter than Spot, and was wearing a rather nice vest for a newsies, and the other had a dark complexion and short curly hair. They said hello to Spot and cheered and wondered why he was here.

"Hiya Spot, whatcha doing in Manhattan? Here to play a few games and lose all your money?" the short boy asked chuckling lightly. When he noticed Rebecca he gave a whistle. "Who's this lovely lady?"

"I'm Rebecca Dashwood." She said with a smile and a tint of red on her cheeks. He gently took her hand and kissed it, like Spot had done on a couple occasions. Her face got hot and he let go of her hand.

"Well I'm Racetrack Higgins, but you can just call me Race. This is Mush and Kid Blink." He stated pointing to the other two boys beside him. They both said hello and smiled. She smiled back, feeling her face getting red with all the attention she was getting.

"Hey Spot, there's gunna be a party tomorrow at Medda's. You going?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, sure, why not."

"You can bring the brood, too." Rebecca made a face. Why couldn't they just call her by her name?

"Would you like to come to a party at Irving Hall with me?"

"I don't see why not." 'What is wrong with me!?' she scolded herself. She keeps making plans with this boy. Who knows what trouble he can be. Especially after what happened in the restaurant. She sighed and just forgot about it.

"Well it's getting kinda late, I think I'm gunna bring Rebecca home." She was ready to go home now and was going to nod and agree but one of the boys thought up a great idea.

"Hey Spot why don't you stay and play a few games over poker. I'm feeling lucky today. My horse at the tracks won and I have a lot of money and I'm looking for more." Racetrack laughed along with all the other boys and lit a cigar. Spot turned to Rebecca wanting to stay but know he can't. Rebecca couldn't say no, and maybe she could talk to the other newsies and find out more about Spot.

"Spot you can stay, maybe I'll play myself." Rebecca had no idea how to play poker. However, when she was young she would watch her father's games. She thought that was good enough. They all sat down at a small, marked up table and dealt out cards. Racetrack really was having a good day. He won the first couple games, then Spot won a few. After a few more games Rebecca gave up not wanting to waste all her money. She moved away from the table and sat next to Mush on the couch who gave up on the game before her.

"Giving up?"

"Yes, I'm not very good. I don't even know how to play."

"Didn't think a girl like you would know how."

"A girl like me? Now what is that supposed to mean?"

"It's just you're a little rich girl, you usually have tea parties. Poker is more of a man's game." She didn't argue because it was somewhat true. Women were not meant to play games like that. They would gossip and drink tea as the gentlemen would play their card games and talk about their businesses.

"So, how's Spot treating ya?"

"He is treating me just fine. He has some good manners. He could almost pass as a gentleman." Mush started to laugh at that comment. He knew Spot better than Rebecca and she obviously had no idea who Spot Conlon, the leader of the Brooklyn newsies, really was.

"May I ask what is so funny?" a little annoyed that he was laughing at her.

"You think Spot Conlon is a gentleman?! Damn girl, he can barely keep a girl for more than a week. It's when he gets what he wants from a girl he looks for a new one. Sorry princess, but your Spot isn't who you thin he is. He's a player and uses girls for only one thing. He's notorious for his ways, girls are either in love with him, or they hate him. Sorry to be the one to break the news to ya, but you deserve better." He smiled and took her hand. She pulled her hand away, disgusted. Spot was being nice to her just so he could have his way with her. She looked over at Spot who had just won another game. She started rubbing her hand feeling sick that she ever let him touch her. He was street trash, a paper boy, and a filthy bastard. She got up and brushed her dress off.

"Spot I am ready to go now. I no longer want to be here." Spot looked up at her. Why did she want to leave? Did she feel neglected? He felt bad for having stayed in the first place. He put his cards down and when he went to grab her hand she pulled away and crossed her arms over her chest then stormed out of the building. A couple of the boys snickered and whistled like a bomb coming down from the sky. Spot was confused and angry. Then, he remembered that she had been with Mush.

"What the hell did you say to her?!" he yelled at Mush.

"I told her the truth. She seems like a nice girl. She doesn't deserve to be used and left alone like you do to every other girl!" he answered back, loudly.

"You had no right to tell her anything. You just want her for yourself."

"Well she would be better off." Mush stood up and got close to Spot, challenging him.

"You should watch your mouth." Spot shoved him and he fell back onto the couch. He didn't get up to fight back. He knew better than to fight him. Spot ran out the door and slammed it behind him.

"Rebecca?!" he yelled. She was out of sight. She had walked away from him. 'No one, especially no girl, walks away from me.' He ran off in the direction of Brooklyn, hoping she was okay, and if she was she wouldn't be when he got to her. He was furious with Mush and himself. 'Why do I have to have such a bad reputation?!' he looked down alleyways and all over. Where did she go?

Rebecca had tears coming down her eyes as she sat on the Brooklyn Bridge, hugging her knees. She was appalled. How could she have let herself follow that boy? Then she stomped her foot for considering him a nice man. She heard feet hitting the bridge at what seemed like a running pace. She didn't look up. Spot stopped when he saw a blue, shaking, lump huddled down to the ground. He sighed, relieved to find her safe, but not okay. He slowly walked over to her and sat next to her.

"Rebecca I'm sorry." He didn't really know what he was sorry for but an apology seemed like the right thing for that moment. She didn't look up, just sniffled. Spot was at a loss of words.

"How could you?" Spot heard a soft whisper that startled him. He turned and looked down at Rebecca.

"Look, I wasn't gunna try and do that to you. You're different." It was true. She was different, but he did plan on using her like he usually did with girls. He just stood up; know that she would probably never want to see him again. He couldn't live with that though.

"Lemme take you home before it gets dark." He held his hand out. She finally looked up at him with tear stains down her cheeks. She looked so helpless. Something with her wasn't right. Something was going on inside her that he didn't know about. He wanted to help this girl. He was going to help this girl.

She wiped her eyes and pulled herself up, ignoring Spot's hand. He let out the extra air in his lungs, feeling sorry for his pathetic, sorry ass. She started walking away from him and he followed her. They reached the gate to her estate just as the sun was setting. The colors in the sky made her face glow, even though she still looked flush and sad. Spot pulled the gate open for her to fit through and she walked to the door opening it closing it behind her, never looking back at him. He felt like such a jerk. He mentally beat himself up for treating her so badly. It wasn't that he did anything, he, on some level, tricked her into think he was something he wasn't. He closed the gate and analyzed the large home. He knew he wasn't done with her, and would figure out what was really making her life so miserable.

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