Notes: Sorry it took me so long to update. It's been crazy lately with finals almost here and of course, it'll be pretty busy for me this week because of Thanksgiving. Ahhh! I have two Thanksgivings to go to…my boyfriend's on Thursday and with my family (brother's coming over) on Friday.

Okay, like I promised…the list of boys' names to their nicknames.

Mush – Nick, Specs – Nathan, Skittery – Zachary, Bumlets – Miguel, Race – Vince, Blink – Blake, Dutchy – Ivan, Snitch – Matthew, Swifty – Daryl, Itey - Daniel, Spot – Michael, Snoddy – Lucas, Pie Eater – Steven, Crutchy – Jacob, Boots – William

The newsies that aren't mentioned don't have nicknames: David, Jake, Jack

There's the entire list of the newsies, only because I'll be introducing them by their first names. CC's will be introduced separately, so you should be able to tell them apart. Most guy CCs will be introduced this chapter, so there aren't as many newsies in this one. Oh…and Tiger is the only CC boy off limits…my boyfriend sent it in.

This is another chapter with the guys. I will be having a lot more girls introduced in the next chapter, which will be the meeting at the gym. All the CC guys should be introduced this chapter.

Disclaimer: I only own Woody (nickname) in this chapter. I needed one more boy for one of the rooms.

Building Excitement

It was hard to tell whether the guys were excited about the dance or not. While the thought of girls was inviting and encouraging, the thought of having to possibly wear tuxes was more torturous. That's why they dreaded the upcoming meeting that afternoon. The one who probably dreaded it the most though was more than likely William Caswell or Boots to his close friends. He was the youngest of the group at 15 and girls still brought to mind images of cooties. Having been away from girls for years, except for the occasional visit home, the thought of ever dating them or even dancing with them was disgusting.

His roommate was anything but pessimistic about the whole thing though. Jacob Edwards, or Crutchy as he was commonly known, was looking forward to the evening. The nickname was a result of the time when he had sprained his ankle while showing off some dance moves at an annual event the Boys' School put together. He was on crutches for about three weeks. He answered to the name proudly though, knowing that it was a joke. He was one of few guys at the school who could dance.

"Do you have to do that now," Boots yelled, turning to Crutchy, who was blasting dance music in order to practice.

"The dance is in a month," Crutchy replied, finding no problem communicating over the sounds, "We have to get ready."

Boots sighed. He was one of the guys who couldn't dance…hence his name. He danced as if he had two heavy boots on his feet, stumbling and with no coordination. It was a joke, but he never did find it too funny. Luckily, his friends did not call him that often.

Boots turned back to his drawing. Even if his feet refused to work, his hands definitely did not. He had no idea what he was drawing, but it would eventually be a masterpiece, he hoped.

"Blast that a little louder, why don't you," Anthony Woodard, or Woody remarked, walking into the room. He had dark brown hair and green eyes, which were narrowed slightly in Crutchy's direction.

"He's been practicing for the last half hour," Boots complained.

"Come on, aren't you guys excited about the dance," Crutchy asked. Boots shook his head vehemently and Woody shrugged.

"It's just a dance," he remarked.

"Girls can be so immature sometimes," a new voice said. Peter Baxter sat on the nearest chair, "I hope they're nothing like my younger sister." He had curly blond-brown hair that reached to about his ears and green eyes. He stood at 5 foot 11 and was thin for his age of 17.

"She annoying," Woody asked and Peter nodded without hesitation.

"Well, let's hope that this first meeting with them tomorrow goes well," Peter said, then paused a second in thought. His eyes clearly said 'what the heck was I going to say?' The other boys waited patiently for him to finish his thought. He looked up suddenly in remembrance, "I was going to join Tiger and the other guys in the game room. Do you guys want to come?"

"Nothing else to do," Boots agreed. The other two boys shrugged, bored anyway and silently stood to their feet.

Peter led them down to a room where about ten guys were sitting before televisions, controllers in hand. A group of four nearby caught their attention.

Two of the boys were in a heated competition through the street fighting game they were playing. One of the guys, who had spiked raven black hair, looked up to quickly acknowledge their existence before turning his deep black eyes back to the screen. His fingers flew as he tried to avoid any oncoming attacks.

Another, his black hair covered by a baseball hat with a tiger on it didn't even remove his dark brown eyes from the television. A few buttons were pushed and the figure on the right hand side of the screen sent a flying kick at his opponent, who didn't move after falling. The boy with the cap went into a victory chant, arms up in the air, not too subtly boasting about his win.

"Shut up Tiger," the first boy growled, "It wasn't that close of a win."

"You're just jealous Diablo," Tiger replied, grinning widely, "Okay, who wants to play me next?" Peter quickly grabbed a controller, before reaching forward to select a different game. He scanned through the titles before selecting one…his personal favorite. Tiger groaned a bit at seeing the snowboarding game in Peter's hand, but made no other complaint. Peter placed the game into the system.

Peter looked around quickly for a moment before glancing down at his hands. He sighed to himself, mindful of his forgetful nature. The controller was still gripped in his left hand.

Once the game started, Peter's fingers seemed to fly to the buttons, pushing one and immediately moving to another. It was easy to see that this was one game that Tiger couldn't win. Peter knew all the tricks of the game.

Tiger scowled himself as Peter's character was declared the victor. However, the scowl soon transformed into a grin as he congratulated his friend. Tiger honestly didn't mind losing and was quite used to Peter's victories on this particular game.

A few of the other boys challenged Peter and for a few more moments, the only sounds were of the video game and the occasional shouts of victory and groans of disappointment.

When the announcement came on that informed the boys to report to the gym, several groans echoed throughout the room. The two boys playing a video game rushed to finish their game before leaving.

Once all the boys had assembled in the gym, the boring process of talking about the dance began. All the basic information was repeated almost nonstop into their heads, as if they were incapable of remembering even the simplest instruction.

The second that questions were allowed about twenty hands went up. The speaker looked over the group with a small grin on his face.

"You don't have to wear tuxes," the man, Mr. Redman said, "Just try to look nice." More than half of the hands went down.

Jonathan Roald Conte III, whose hand was the first in the air, sighed in relief, having too many of the black and white suits at home. His black hair stopped just above his ears, a single strand happening to land in front of his blue eyes. He shifted his 6 foot 3 frame in the small space allowed him on the bleachers. His questions were answered as far as he was concerned.

"How many girls go there exactly," Eric Thorne asked, his green-gray eyes narrowing as his mouth curled into a smirk. A few of the guys nodded and grinned in agreement.

"I'm sure there will be plenty of girls that everyone will get a date," Mr. Redman told them, shaking his head at the question.

"So, we're meeting them tomorrow," Boots asked.

"That's right," Mr. Redman said, "Be here at the gym at ten tomorrow morning. Take the time to talk to them and consider who you would like to ask. For this purpose we are allowing you to exchange phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Remember that those are usually privileges for family members only, so you can only call and e-mail at certain times. We're opening the computer room from two to five during the week so use the time when you can."

The boys were dismissed and they quickly exited. Several went back to the activity they had been interrupted in the middle of and others simply wondered about the following day and the events to come.