No sooner had Hail said that than the crowd around them began to cheer and applaud. Medda had returned. In one swift movement, blink released Hail's waist and dashed towards the stage, no doubt to get as close as he possibly could to the singer. Hail was left to force her way through the throng of boys, back to her table. Once there though she discovered that the older boys from the Lodging House had claimed all the seats. Melody appeared at her shoulder, along with Spot, and noticed the same thing.
"So are you just gonna leave us standing here all night?" Melody blurted out.
"What? There's plenty of room for both of yous," the one Hail recognized as Snoddy patted his lap, causing the other boys at the table to snicker. Spot, however, was not amused.
"It's rude to sit in the presence of ladies. I don't take kindly to rudeness," Spot glared. The others took the hint and leapt from the chairs as though they'd been sitting on hot coals. Laughing, the girls settled into the seat s that had been so graciously cleared for them.
"Catch ya later toots," Spot winked at Melody and nodded to Hail. "My boys always get outta here early from these things; we've got a bit of a walk back to Brooklyn. As he said this, several burly Brooklyn boys sauntered over to their table to follow Spot out. Melody was silent as she watched them go, a dreamy grin playing about her lips. Hail smiled and shook her head; maybe Mel should have gotten off in Brooklyn after all.
The show wrapped up not too long after Spot's departure, and the Manhattan newsies quickly congregated before heading out into the night. Rather than looking worn out, as Hail now felt, the boys appeared to be at the peak of their energy and broke into a rowdy rendition of Medda's closing number "High Times, Hard Times" as they walked down the street. Every so often a resident of the houses they passed would yell out their windows at them to shut up, but this only caused them to sing louder. Bumlets offered his jacket to Hail as she shivered against the breeze that whipped across the cobblestones and she hastily accepted. Slipping it across her shoulders, Hail noticed that Melody had already managed to sweet talk her way into Mush's coat. She didn't know her well enough, but Hail got the impression that Mel could probably sweet talk her way into any article of any man's clothes.
"I had a tough time following you out there on the dance floor," Bumlets grinned. "Where's you learn to dance like that?"
Hail's pulse quickened a bit; how was she going to explain that one away? Ballroom dancing generally wasn't a pastime for kids from impoverished families.
"Oh, that wasn't anything," she tried to just brush it off, but he persisted.
"No, you were great! It was like you'd done it for years," he went on.
"Well, I um-" but Hail's stammering was cut off as Skittery and Kid Blink tumbled into them, falling to the ground. Hail tried to regain her balance, but her skirt had become twisted sending her down as well, right on top of Blink.
"Well isn't this a cozy little predicament?" Kid Blink flashed his annoying smile up at her. Bumlets hoisted her back to her feet and she dusted herself off, glowering at Blink. It seemed that he and Skittery had abandoned singing and were, instead, waltzing around the pavement where Hail was unfortunately standing.
"Looks like someone isn't speaking to me again," Kid Blink chuckled as Skittery grabbed his arm to whisk him around the street again. Hail rolled her eyes and continued walking with Bumlets.
"He really isn't a bad guy, Kid. A little scatterbrained, but he doesn't mean any of it," he started to reassure her, but Hail was grinning. It was hard not to laugh at the moron and even harder to be mad at him.
A/N: I apologize for the long gaps between updates, but thanks for reading! And major thanks to all my lovely reviewers (especially Greenberry Hair Bonner!) you guys are awesome :D