Chapter Eight: He's Legal, Girls!
One week later, and just five days before Christmas, Ellie awoke with a sense of happiness she only felt around certain people – mainly Camden and Jack. She wondered, for a moment, why she felt so good. And then it hit her.
It was Jack's birthday.
She happily scurried (or fell, depending on how you would like to phrase it) out of bed, and didn't even bother to change, or throw on her robe, before rushing down the hall and into the bunkroom.
Ignoring sleepy mumbles from the boys who were asleep, and angry shouts from those who managed to drag themselves out of bed any earlier then they needed to be, Ellie ran up to Jack's bed, narrowly missing Racetrack as she used his mattress to push herself onto Jack's legs.
"Hey, Jackie." The brunette grinned at the bleary-eyed young man, sitting Indian-style at the foot of his bed.
"Is dere a reason you'd be wakin' me up early taday?" Jack asked, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes.
"Jack…" Ellie rolled her eyes. "It's your birthday, moron! You're eighteen! You're legal, honey!"
"Oh, yeah…" He slipped back down in bed. "Den let me sleep late."
"I just can't let you do that, Jack." Ellie shook her head and slapped him lightly on both cheeks repeatedly. "Jackie… Judgment Day has come… news flash: you're not going with us…" She sighed and sat back at the end of the bed when he swatted her away. "Hey, Race?" She leaned over the side of the bed.
"Yeah?" the Italian boy blinked up at her wearily.
"How do I wake Jack up?"
Racetrack blinked a couple of times, and suddenly realized that Ellie was sitting on Jack's bed. With Jack in it… Had she been there all night?
"Race…" Ellie called in a high, fairy-like voice. "How do I wake up the lord of the manor?"
"Grab his ear…" Race murmured, slipping back under the covers and deciding not to think about what he had just seen. It caused too much mental stress, and he needed his brain for the next, oh… sixty years, or so.
"That's it?" she asked no one in particular, staring at the young man in front of her. He looked so peaceful, and she could just sit and stare at his cute face forever. She was feeling a little tired herself…
She hiccupped quietly, breaking herself out of her reverie. She decided to leave him alone for a while, but she didn't feel like doing anything, including getting off the bed. Medda had given her the day off, after all, so she could spend the day with Jack… why not stick with him as much as possible? Not like he would care much, anyway.
So she settled down on the other end of the bed, pulling her body into the smallest form possible, and slowly drifted off to sleep again…
-x-x-
Jack woke up to find the sleeping form of a young, barely-dressed girl in his bed. For a moment, he forgot who she was and why she was there, which seemed to happen often in the morning. He briefly wondered if she had snuck in during the night. Then it all came back suddenly.
That led to the question of why she was in his bed. Obviously by choice, and she looked very tired, but he didn't remember her ever getting into bed with him the night before… Wait! Had they done something last night that he didn't remember?
"You finally decided to wake up…" Ellie glanced at him groggily and sat up. "And yet you still look dazed and confused. That expression seems to have a tendency to show up on your face…" She sighed and shrugged with one shoulder. "Oh well."
Oh, yes. He remembered now. She had tried to wake him up earlier this morning, but he had ignored her. He looked around, and was glad to see that it was not so late that everyone had left. Much unlike the day he had been sick, when the sun had been shining brightly (signifying that it was late in the day) and no one had been left.
"So how does it feel to be eighteen?" Ellie asked, radiating the aura of a professional newspaper reporter doing the next of her masses of interviews. "Any different?"
"Not much…" Jack grinned sheepishly, making Ellie's insides do several aerobatic maneuvers she would never have been able to master with the rest of her body. "Can I'se get dressed now?"
"Oh, yeah, sure…" Ellie slid off the bed in a very unladylike manner. She enjoyed the feeling of the cold wooden floorboards under her feet and the cold air surrounding her as she placidly walked down the hall into her room. "Now, what should I wear?" she asked no one in particular.
Deciding on one of her nicest dresses – a pure miracle, for her, since she rarely ever wore dresses for more than a few hours at a time – she slipped it on. She paused for a moment to stare at her worn, comfortable boots, and the nicer, more proper girl's shoes.
"Eh, who cares?"
She grabbed the boots off of the floor and pulled them on quickly, only stopping to check herself in the mirror one last time.
"Okay, you're good…" She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "It's just one day with him… alone. You'll be fine. Just try not to give away the surprise…" She smoothed the front of her dress as Jack appeared in her doorway.
"Is dere a reason ya decided ta wear a dress taday, Ellie?" he asked, trying to cover up his delight at how good she looked in a dress with an amused-looking smirk. It must have worked, because she blushed – something she didn't do very often – and a shy smile spread over her face.
"It's a special occasion, Jack!" the girl exclaimed, giving him a small, one-armed (very non-forward-feeling) hug. "You turning eighteen is a special occasion for me, whether you like it or not." She thought she noticed a pinkish tint creep into his cheeks.
"Am I goin' ta work taday?" he asked, staring at her.
Ellie rolled her eyes. "What am I now, your day planner? I don't make your decisions for you, I just pressure you to make the decisions I want you to make." She grinned. "There is a difference, you know." She gave him a matter-of-fact look as they descended the stairs together.
"Do ya want me ta go ta woik?"
Ellie slipped slightly on the last step, which Jack, luckily, didn't seem to catch the slight trip. Kloppman, on the other hand, who had been watching the entire scene unfold (actually, he had been watching the scene unfold for three months, but we're talking short-term, here) did notice. He managed to hide his grin by turning around to sweep some more behind his desk.
"Wh-what do you mean, Jack?" the brunette asked jerkily, shifting uncomfortably and fiddling with the hem of her sleeve. "I want you to do whatever you want to do; it's your birthday."
"But dat's not what I asked ya," he returned, giving her a look that said "It's fun to make you feel uncomfortable". "I asked ya if youse wanted me ta go ta woik."
"Well, um, er… no." Two circles of crimson erupted of her cheeks, like bright red fireworks bursting on a dark night. "I was kind of hoping that, well… I could spend the day with you."
"'Course ya did!" Jack exclaimed brightly, grinning. "An' I can' tink of a bettah way at spend my birthday den witcha, Mouth."
"Oh, Jack, you're too kind," Ellie replied dramatically. "Please, no applause, just money…" She grinned. "That's what I always say after a performance. Medda seems to think I'm weird because I do that." She pulled on a mock look of curiosity. "Can't imagine why she'd think I'm odd…"
"I can," Jack stated, giving her a cheeky grin as she glared at him with mock anger.
-x-x-
"Que hora es?"
"Huh?" Jack asked, staring at Ellie like she was speaking gibberish.
"Que hora es?" she asked again, this time slower and more clearly. When she only received more confused looks from Jack, she rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "It's Spanish! What time is it?"
"Oh, uh…" He glance dup at the clock tower. "Six-tirty." Jack looked back at her.
"Ah. Son las seis y media."
"Why? Ya got a hot date tanight, er somethin'?"
"Something akin to a hot date," Ellie replied cryptically, grabbing his wrist and setting off for the lodging house. "And you're coming with me. I just have to pick something up, and then we can go."
"Oh, yay. I'se so happy."
-x-x-
"Bring your coat. We're going to be outside!"
"Why ya bein' so bossy taday, Mouth?" Jack asked, pulling on his coat as she opened her mouth to reply. "More bossy dan usual?"
"Because we really need to get out of here!" she exclaimed, grabbing his arm and nearly tearing it off in her attempt to herd her one-man flock out the door.
"You're slower than an old lady on Sunday, you know that?" she asked, when they were finally out on the street. The street lamps were being lit, casting a slightly romantic glow on everything.
"Are ya gonna tell me where we's goin' now?' he asked impatiently, taking one step for every two of her fast-paced strides.
"Nope." She shook her head and grinned. "Don't you just hate me when I do that?"
"I hate ya all da time, Mouth. Ya just talk so much dat ya never notice." Jack laughed, but, when he realized Ellie looked hurt after the joke, he stopped. "Eh, ya know I don' hate ya, Ells. I love ya!" he exclaimed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her towards him.
They continued along their trip in this manner. A few people, older women, mostly, Ellie noticed, pointed and muttered to their friends, "Oh, they make such a sweet couple, don't they?" She got the impression that Jack didn't hear them, but she knew her cheeks were hot enough to fry an egg (or two) by the time they arrived at the skating rink.
Jack, of course, didn't recognize where they were, because he had never come by this area before, and the lights were so dim that it was hard to see what lay beyond the gap between the two high wooden walls, which had been erected to close in the rink.
"Surprise!"
Jack jumped slightly as they crowd in front of him cheered, and Ellie suddenly became aware that he still had his arm around her shoulders. She pulled away quickly, at which Jack frowned, but said nothing. Instead, he pulled on a grin and laughed.
"Tanks, guys," he thanked them happily, shaking hands everywhere. After they had been separated by a wall of at least four people, Camden rushed up to Ellie.
"What was that all about?" the redhead asked, staring at her. "Did you guys get together right before you came, or something?"
"Wha… oh. Right." Ellie shook her head. "No, we didn't." She shook her head. "He was just being funny."
"Well, did you-?"
Camden was cut off by Jack approaching them.
"I heah most a dis was yer idea, Ells," he stated, smiling down at her. "Is dat true?"
If Ellie's cheeks had been any darker, they would have been black.
"Well… yeah, pretty much." She stared down at the snow.
"Are ya gonna teach me how ta skate, den?" Jack asked, holding up two pairs of skates. Ellie realized one was in her size.
"Oh, yeah!" she exclaimed, grabbing her pair and slipping them on. She tested her feet on the ice and slipped out precariously, as she had not been ice skating for a year, at least. After gliding around for a few seconds, she turned to Jack, who was having trouble with his lace.
"Here…" She skated off the rink and knelt down, deftly tying his laces. "There." She grinned up at him for a few seconds, before being brought sharply back to earth by Camden shouting at her.
"Look, Ells! I skated for a whole minute without falling!" the redhead exclaimed, and, in that second, fell to the ice with a slight hiss from her skates. Ellie had the distinct feeling that her friend had only done this to ruin her moment with Jack, and not to show off her talent.
"Moron…" Ellie rolled her eyes and was helped to her feet by Jack. "Ready?"
"Uh…." Jack was eyeing the ice warily. "Maybe we's should get somethin' ta eat first…"
"Don't be a pansy, Jack!" Ellie cried, grabbing his hand and dragging him onto the ice. He proceeded to slip immediately, and grabbed Ellie around the waist. found himself staring at something he'd never really looked at very closely: her backside.
"Um… could you stop staring at my-?" She cleared her throat loudly. "Please?" He stood up, at she held both his hand and faced him. "I'm not very good at skating backwards, so you'll have use me as leverage and push me." He was staring at her with a somewhat vacant expression on his face. "Okay, Jack?" she asked loudly.
"What?… Oh, yeah. Sure."
-x-x-
Although Jack had started out very poorly, he progressed well in an hour. He even got to the point where he could skate forward on his own.
He had also opened his presents, all of which he had been very happy – mostly money, as he was very hard to shop for. That was mainly because the only three things he ever showed remote interest for were money, Santa Fe, and Ellie. And you could hardly buy the two latter.
Suddenly, he grabbed Ellie by the waist and pushed her gently forward. Racetrack and Camden, who had been skating beside them and were officially "an item", both awww-ed at the same time, making both Jack and Ellie throw glares at their friends.
Jack wrapped his arms around her waist and continued skating.
"Dis is my favorite boithday evah," he whispered, sending shivers down her spine. They glided along in silence for a while, listening to the hiss of skates on the ice, and the happy chatter of people skating around them, until they slowed down, and Ellie turned to Jack.
"Do you want to open your present now?" she asked quietly.
"I already opened all my presents," Jack replied blankly, staring at her like she was insane.
"Not from me," she replied, shaking her head.
Camden watched from the corner of her eye as the two untied their skates. "Hey, Race…" She nudged him in the side. "What's up with those two?" They watched as Ellie led Jack down the path that circled the frozen pond. "Wanna go?" Camden grinned mischievously, grabbed Racetrack's hand, and, without waiting for his reply, began dragging him down the path at a safe distance.
"Why is we's doin' dis?" Racetrack asked, eyeing the two teenagers walking slowly in front of them.
"Because we're going to spy on them!" Camden hissed, slowing down slightly, so that it didn't look like they were following them. They got to a point, halfway around the pond, where the path disappeared into a little clearing, surrounded by tall trees. As Ellie glanced to both sides, Camden quickly pulled Racetrack to her and pretended to kiss him, all the while glancing in Ellie's direction.
When the two disappeared into the clearing, Camden pulled Racetrack forward, and they found a place in the trees where the branches weren't as thick, and looked through. There were circular benches going around the entire circumference of the clearing, except where the path led in and out. Ellie was sitting on a bench next to Jack, looking extremely uncomfortable, but pleased with herself, to be where she was.
"So whaddya get me foi my boithday?" Jack asked eagerly. His back was to them, so they couldn't see his face, but Ellie's was illuminated in the moonlight; eager and happy, but shining slightly from the sweat of getting hot from skating, and being bundled up.
"This…" The brunette produced a small, wrapped package from her coat. Camden furrowed her eyebrows; it was smaller than a book. Much smaller. She briefly wondered why Ellie hadn't done what she said she would, but Racetrack interrupted her train of thought.
"What's dat?" he asked quietly, staring at the package.
"His present," Camden explained exasperatedly. "Now shut up! They're gonna hear us!"
Jack unwrapped it and opened the box; something small and iridescent shone in the moonlight. Camden strained her neck to see what it was, but all she could see was its round outline.
"It was my grandfather's watch," Camden heard Ellie explain. "He gave it to me, when I took care of him when he was sick." The girl smiled sadly. "And you took care of me, so I'm giving it to you."
"But, Ellie, didn' your grandfathah…?"
"Yeah, he died, Jack, I know," Ellie cut in a little more frostily than she had meant to. "But you were such a big help for me when I got here, getting me a place to stay, and a job, and just being a really great friend… I really want you to have it."
Jack held it up to the moonlight. Camden had only seen the pocket watch once, but immediately recognized it. Ellie had shown her grandfather's watch to her before, and it was very pretty. The casing was made of real gold, with a crystal face plate, and the hands gleamed silver. When Jack spoke again, it sounded like he was near tears.
"Ellie, I don' know how ta thank ya," he stated slowly, leaning forward.
"Kiss her…" Camden hissed, pushing more branches aside for a better view of two. Racetrack groan slightly beside her from the amount of force she was putting into squeezing his hand.
Jack leaned slowly closer and closer, and Camden continued to as well… she had a good view now, she could see Ellie's eyes clearly; they were large and round and hopeful…
With a slight shriek, she tumbled forward into the circle of trees. She had held on so hard to Racetrack's hand that he fell with her, landing on top of his girlfriend heavily.
Jack and Ellie turned their heads in the direction the commotion was coming from, and, seeing their two friends lying on the snowy ground, stood up quickly and tried to maintain as much distance from one another without looking like they were.
"Heya, guys…" Racetrack tried to grin happily as he pulled himself to his feet. "How's it goin'?"
Camden frowned beside him. "Ellie, I can explain…"
All eyes turned to Ellie. Yet again, she had the look that suggested she was going to murder the entire population of Manhattan, given the chance, but there was something more to it, this time. Fallen hope.
"No, you can't." Without another word, she turned quickly and stomped out of the courtyard, stopping only once to pull her foot out of a particularly frozen snowdrift.
-x-x-
"Ellie, c'mon, we need to talk," Camden exclaimed, standing outside her friend's door and banging on it loudly.
"I don't want to talk to you!" Ellie shouted from somewhere behind the door. It was evident that she had been crying since she left the skating rink nearly an hour ago. Camden had followed her back to the Lodging House and spent the larger part of that hour trying to talk to her. Camden sighed as the rest of the newsies appeared at the top of the stairs and rushed into the bank room. Racetrack paused to giver her a big hug and tell her it would be alright, and then he was gone, too. Only Jack remained at the opposite end of the hall. She had been wondering when he'd get there.
"Why don' I try?" he asked, pushing Camden out of the way. She took this as a sign to get out of there and raced down the stairs, barreling past Kloppman into the frosty December air.
"Ellie…" Jack called, knocking quietly on her door. "Ellie, why don't you come out here?"
"I don't want to talk to you, either!" she yelled. "Why do you always have to ruin my life! Can't you just leave me alone and let me live a life without the stresses of having to deal with guys who don't understand how I feel!"
Jack hesitated. What was that supposed to mean? He understood how she felt about him, she had told him on the bench… so why was she talking like this? It was frustrating!
"What's dat supposed ta mean?" he exclaimed. "Ya not makin' any sense!"
"Well, I wouldn't, to you, now would I?" she retorted. "Go away!"
"Look, I didn' have ta do all dat stuff foi ya, I don' get why ya actin' like dis!" he shouted, feeling the anger rise in him. "Ya not bein' da nicest poison righ' now, ya know dat?"
"Go shove it!" Ellie exclaimed, but she immediately regretted it; she should be nice to him on his birthday.
"Yeah? Well, so's yer old lady!" And he felt sorry for saying that right away; he didn't know whether her mother was even alive. There was silence, and he guessed he had touched a nerve. Kloppman appeared at the end of the hall.
"What's all this shoutin' for?" he asked, striding over to Jack.
Jack rolled his eyes and slammed his fist down on the door one last time. "Ellie's mad. I can' really tell why, all I'se know's dat she's mad."
"Why don't you let me talk to her?" Kloppman asked, producing a set of keys from his pocket and knocking quietly on her door. When no answer came, he unlocked the door and stepped in, closing the door so Jack couldn't spy on them.
Ellie was sitting on her bed, head buried in her pillow, sobbing quietly.
"Hey, General," she greeted the old man quietly, trying to give him a smile.
"Ellie, why are you so mad at Jack?" he asked, sitting down next to her on the bed.
"I'm not really mad at Jack, I'm more mad at Camden, and frustrated…" She sighed.
"About what?"
"Well, stuff happened tonight, stuff Camden did, that ruined my plans…"
"Why don't you tell me what happened at the skating rink?"
The girl looked up a him appreciatively and proceeded to tell him the entire story, about how she had gotten Jack the perfect present, and found that nice little hidden spot. She even told him how she felt about Jack, which felt good, after keeping it pent up for months, and not really having anyone to tell but Camden. It was nice to admit this kind of thing to an adult without being judged.
"Well, it sounds to me like you might be trying too hard… you're constantly getting yourself into situations where this kind of thing can happen, and you do it on purpose." He smiled as Ellie began to blush. "Why don't you just let it happen? If it's supposed to, it will."
Suddenly, Ellie leaned forward and hugged the old man. He was shocked at first, but quickly recovered and patted her on the back. He got up and began to open he door.
"Thanks, General." She grinned appreciatively and saluted him. "I will not forget this conversation, sir." Kloppman rolled his eyes and exited the room, only to find Jack sitting across the hall, resting his head in his hands. When he heard the door close, he scrambled to his feet.
"Well? What did she say?" he asked, crossing his arms.
"I think I straightened her out…" Kloppman grinned at him secretively and strolled down the hallway. "It sure feels good to know I still got it…"
Original (August 22nd) Author's Note of the Chapter: Yeah, I know, it's, like, a week later then I said it would be… but I have a good reason! Did you hear about that hurricane in Florida? Yeah, the eye of the storm went right through the town I live in. We didn't get our power until the 16th of August (the day before my birthday), and, as I write this (August 22nd, 4:22 PM), we still don't have Internet on my computer. But hopefully my dad can fix it by tonight (he working at it right now) so I'll have it up by tonight. I hope. BTW: Quieren espanol?
Redone (August 23rd) Author's Note of the Chapter: Yeah, that's right, it's a day later… kill me now! My dad got the router last night and finished at, like midnight, but we're back in business! Yayness! Count on lots more being updated periodically.