Selling with Skittery was quite the relief.

The fact that I was blind, mute, and just randomly fell through time and into 1899, only to be oh-so-conveniently found by Dutchy, therefore getting board at the Lodging House meant a night of chatter.

Weirdly dressed blind and mute girls don't just randomly hang out in alleyways.

Since I was new, a lot of people would randomly talk to me, asking me yes-or-no questions. I would nod, or shake my head in answer, but the questions never ceased, and, since I'm mute, I couldn't snap at them and tell them to shut the hell up.

Of course, that could be a good thing, since I'm sure my sarcastic mouth wouldn't be too well appreciated.

Then there were people who talked to me because they felt sorry for me, and didn't want to make me feel ignored, even though I made for bad company because I can't talk. But, of course, I wouldn't talk anyways, but that's beside the point.

Yes, I am an introvert, so, as I said before, selling with Skittery was a relief. We managed to sell about half of our--well, really, they're his--papers by lunchtime, and he promised to give me half, since I had a lot to do with his success.

I groaned, inwardly, as we headed for Tibby's.

Tibby's. I wasn't exactly enthralled at the prospect of switching between Twenty Questions and Try-And-Fail-To-Ignore-The-Firey-Glares-You-Can-Friggin-Feel-Are-Being-Sent-Your-Way-Every-Time-Kid-Blink-Talks-To-You, which seems to be the favorite game of Boomerang.

But, what was I to do? I wasn't exactly in the position to go wandering around New York on my own.

On my own, pretending he's beside me...All alone, I walk with him till morning...Without him, I feel his arms around me. And when I lose my way I close my eyes and he has found me.

Ah...I wasn't kidding when I said I was a major Mizzy.

But I know it's only in my mind...That I'm talking to myself and not to him...And although I know that he is blind, still I say there's a way for us. I love him, but everyday I'm learning all my life, I've only been pretending!

"Hey, Skittery!" called a few voices.

What, are we there already?

"You want something to eat?" Skittery asked, leading me over to a table. I shook my head. I wasn't the least bit hungry. I rarely am. I don't live off a great amount of food normally, so that, at least won't be a problem.

"Heya', Two-Bits. How was selling today?" Kid Blink asked, from the other side of me. I winced, and felt Boomer's eyes burning into mine. I shrugged, as if to say, 'Not as great as you think,' and at the same time convey to him that maybe he should shut up so his girlfriend would stop glaring frggin' swords at me.

That's right, ladies and gentlemen.

Whilst most people "glare daggers," as the phrase goes, Boomerang was glaring swords. Thank God that looks can't kill.

Maybe she has the Evil Eye...

I read about that, once. It's in my book, The Sorcerer's Companion. Yes, I am also a Harry Potter nut. A Pothead, if you will. Anyways, this book is all the stuff in the Harry Potter books that J. K. Rowling didn't make up off the top of her head. People who possess the Evil Eye can pretty much kill you as soon as look at you. Apparently, children and animals are especially susceptible to the Evil Eye, and since I'm practically a child, anyways (though my mom says I'm way more mature than my friends), and since I don't have an Eye of Horus amulet handy, I'm feelin' the hate.

Then again, my friends all act like five-year-olds...

No, before you go there, I do not have ADD. However, my sister and my mom do, so...

It's rather unfair, really, but Kid is a total flirt. If I were dating him, I wouldn't exactly trust him, either. But still, that doesn't mean I have to hate me.

"You sure you don't want anything to eat?" Skittery asked me. I nodded. And then, of course, my stomach growls.

"I think she's lying," Kid laughed. "Get a sandwich or somethin'," Kid insisted. I shook my head. I didn't want a sandwich. I was hungry, but I didn't want to eat. Hard to explain.

"I'll pay for it," Kid offered.

NO! The last thing I need is to owe some other guys money, AND be in debt to the overly flirtatious guy who's got a jealous girlfriend.

"Maybe she's anorexic!" Specs said, suddenly. I looked in his direction, but, obviously, I couldn't see him. "That's really bad! If she is, we have to make her eat! Anorexia can be deadly!" Specs said, sounding all-knowing, just as I expected he would. I rolled my eyes.

"You could get an apple. They're only two cents." I sighed, then nodded. If it'll make you bloomin' happy...Anorexia. Psh. I love too many different kinds of food to be anorexic.

Skittery ordered an apple for me, and I felt it over. it was smooth, and only had one little mushy spot. Heh heh...Mushy spot...Mush...Spot...MushSpot! Hey, I don't think I've read one of those...Maybe I'll have to write one...

No slash! Bad girl, bad. Down inner slasher!

...down, OUTER slasher!

Hey! No slashin', 'cause it ain't the way!

Sigh. As much as I love The Clash, I have to disagree on that one.

Anyway, there weren't any holes or anything, (don't wanna be eating worms!) so I took a bite. Thank God I got those damn braces off. I would've had to freaking strangle somebody if I wound up in 1899 with braces. Not to mention they'd be hard to explain. Do they even have braces in 1899?

Doubt it, but I don't have a clue.

I ate my apple and listened to Kid babble about the weather, or something like that, before he and Boomer headed off to finish selling. And who should take his seat but none other than the incredibly sexy Italian, Sir Racetrack Higgins.

Somebody pinch me.

OW!

Somebody pinched me! I snapped my head in the direction of the...erm...pinch...and heard Race chuckle, oh-so-sexily.

"Sorry, but you were zoning out," he laughed. "How do you like being a newsie?" I shrugged. "Was that a It's brilliant, I love it shrug, or was that a It bites shrug?"

It was a, It's positively wonderful, because I'm surrounded by gorgeous babes, even though I am constantly in fear of running into a brick wall if somebody doesn't steer me out of the way, and I can't even SEE the gorgeous babes, not to mention the jealous newsgirl who possesses the Evil Eye and uses it frequently on me, shrug, but, obviously, I can't tell him that, and even if I could, I wouldn't. I may be dim at times, but I'm not THAT stupid.

I held up two fingers. Selling really does suck. Facts of life. It's not easy to be a newsie.

"Ah, well, you'll get used to it. Selling was pretty hard for me my first time." Oh, I'm sure, considering you're a sexy Italian boy who can melt the heart of anyone with just one lopsided grin that I am so longing to see, and yet I am deprived of that privilege.

Damn time traveling.

They day continued rather uneventfully, and after a while, Skittery was leading me home. They gave me a bunk in the corner, which I shared with Tumbler, because he's the only one small enough to share a bed with. Well, save for Itey and Snitch.

Don't go there...Don't go there...

ANYWAYS, I'm sharing with him, because the bunks are full up, and I'm not about to hop into bed with Mush.

Although that does sound promising.

...Definitely didn't just think that...

Yeah, anyways, Tumbler fell asleep almost instantly, but I stayed up. I am an insomniac, and the fact that I had been thrown through time into a word I'd only ever dreamed of visiting doesn't exactly help my cause. Last night, I'd been too tired to think things over, but tonight was different. I'd had my rest. Now it was time to think.

I skipped the question of how I got here. Time travel is just way too complicated to get my mouth around--

...get your bloomin' head out of the bloody GUTTER!

--so I decided it was just an act of God, and that God wanted me to learn something from this experience. Instead, I went straight to question that was really burning me.

Why was I blind and mute? Hey, speakings not even a sense…Ah, well…I suppose my voicebox died or something…

I thought back to yesterday, when I'd landed in the alley. I replayed the scene in my head. I knew there was something I was overlooking, but I couldn't--

AHA!

Yesterday, when I was blacking out, I lost all my senses. The fact had slipped my mind because of the day's antics. But that didn't explain why I was still blind and mute.

I came to the conclusion that time traveling messes up your senses, but you regain them. I had lost all five senses, but the less complex--hearing, tasting, touching, smelling--they came back almost immediately. Seeing and speaking, however, were much more complicated. I could only hope that my theory was right, and that my last two senses would come back soon enough.

Preferably sight, if you catch my drift.

Wow...I'm on a roll, ain't I? Okay, from now on, I solemnly swear that as I write chapters, the INSTANT I finish them, I willpost them. Promise. Cross my heart and hope to never watch newsies again.

Shoutout!

koodles4you: Well, it's funny...Heh heh...I have British moments all the time. i'll randomly start talking (or even thinking) in a British accent. It's great. My mum (there I go again!) gets irritated when I go around saying "bloody" and crap like that.