Standard disclaimers apply. I'm so happy this is getting such a good response! Thanks! I'll take all your suggestions into consideration, for sure.

"All right, next question!" shouted Davey. "Jack's turn...he answers last, so the rest of you don't just copy his answer!"

"Hey, how about you, Davey? You never answered your own question!" Someone called.

Davey reddened slightly. "I don't think that's-"

"Too bad." Jack crossed his arms. "I refuse to ask my question until you answer your own."

"Fine, fine...okay then...I want to grow up."

The answer was so unexpected that the room was silent for a moment. Then there was an explosion of protests.

"No way!"

"You were just saying we couldn't all answer the same way!"

"Not fair!"

"You hypocrite!" This was Les, using a word Davey himself has taught him. The other boys immediately took it up as their battle cry.

"Hypocrite! Hypocrite!"

"I had chosen that answer before Jack ever did!" Davey shouted.

It took nearly ten minutes for everyone, including Davey, to stop shouting at each other. By the time they were all back in their places around the circle, tempers were high, and the newsies were in a completely different order than they had started in. Jack was still beside Davey, however, and he asked his question.

"Okay. Where would you go if you had the money to go anywhere? And Davey, don't worry about them stealin' my answer, they all know what it is already and I doubt anyone's coming there with me."

The boys all grinned. "Santa Fe," they all chorused in unison.

"That's right. All right..." He turned to the boy next to him. "Crutchie? Where you going if you get the money?"

Crutchie looked thoughtful. "Well...it may be news to you, Jackie, but...that Santa Fe has grown on me." He had not forgotten those early mornings on the rooftop. "I'm coming with you."

"Crutchie!" Davey exclaimed. "No copying!"

"It's my real answer!" Crutchie said with a frown. "And I bet Elmer gives a different answer!" He turned expectantly to Elmer.

"Yeah, I'm not going out west!" Elmer said defiantly. "I'd go to Boston."

"What?"

"That's stupid."

"Just another big city."

The newsies weren't very supportive. Elmer shrugged it off and added "I dunno why, I just always wanted to see there."

"Elmer's opinion!" Davey reminded everyone. "Next is Mush."

"I'm staying right here," Mush said, prompting another burst of shouts.

"No way!"

"He has to say a different place!"

"That's gotta be against the rules!"

"That ain't answering the question!"

Davey shook his head as well, when the others turned to him. "They're kind of right, Mush. Choose a different place."

Mush looked angry. "I don't want to!"

"We ain't making you go there," Jack said, rolling his eyes. "Just say someplace besides here."

Mush grunted. "Ugh. Fine. I'd go to Brooklyn."

Before any major accusations could be made, Davey decided to head off the shouts, otherwise they would escalate too high. "Shut up!" he roared into the din. "Mush, that's...well, whatever. I ain't gonna start another argument. Next!"

Romeo's answer of "the beach" didn't bring about much discussion. Neither did Albert's "Philadelphia". They argued a little about the realistic-ness of Les's "North Pole," but the real problem was when Specs said he wanted to go to Africa.

"That place ain't even real!" Race shouted.

"That's what you said about the North Pole, and Davey proved it was real," Les said passionately, his eyes still wet from the argument over his own chosen destination.

"Not really," Race said. "And Africa ain't any more real than the North Pole."

Davey sighed. "Race, it's on the map. People live there."

"Have you ever been there?"

"Well, no, but I've read stories about-"

"There's stories about the North Pole, too!" Race said triumphantly, and chaos broke out. Les and Specs flew across the room to pound Race. The others around them threw themselves into the fight, and it was hard to tell who was on whose side. Davey leapt to his feet and ran to pull the newsies off each other, but wasn't having much luck.

"Jack! A little help here!" Davey yelled.

Jack was still sitting down, laughing a little at Davey's attempts to stop the fight. He finally stood, strode across the room, and observed the fight for a moment with a practiced eye. Then he reached in and pulled out the key player in the argument, knowing from experience that choosing the right person to remove would break everyone else up. He grabbed Specs by the collar and tugged him a few feet away from the pile of boys. Specs was red in the face, and his glasses sat lopsided on his nose. "I'm gonna pound him! Let me at him!" he screamed.

"Okay, Specsie, settle down," Jack said. "No need for any of that."

The boys slowly climbed off each other and stumbled back to their places in the circle. Jack stood with the still-struggling Specs in the center of the room. Everyone looked a little nervous, because usually Specs was nice and easy-going.

"Specs, what's the deal?" Race asked quietly, looking a little guilty for having caused Specs's anger.

"It's real!" Specs spat, then sniffed, seeming to realize how childish he sounded. He shoved Jack away and went to sit back down. There was silence. Specs looked at his feet. "I got a friend who came from there," he said loudly. "His folks is still there. He misses them a lot..." He swiped at his eyes, but when he looked up his cheeks were dry. "I just thought I could help him."

"Sorry, kid," Race said, and suddenly there was another pile of boys, but instead of fighting this time they were hugging.

After everyone had taken their seats again, they kept moving the question along. Race was sitting by Specs now, and they seemed to be on speaking terms. Race said he wanted to go to the Capital, but didn't elaborate. No one knew what Capital he was talking about, and no one asked. The rest of the answers were fairly predictable...until the question reached Finch. "Australia," he announced.

"Where's that?" Les asked into the confused silence.

"You know...Australia. With the kangaroos." Davey was the only one who seemed to recognize the place. "Come on, you must of heard of Australia before!" Finch exclaimed.

"Nope," Jack said. "But if Davey says it exists it probably does."

"It does!" Finch said nervously, clearly not wanting another brawl.

"Okay then," said Jack.

There was a moment of quiet. Then Davey said, "Well, guess it's my turn." He looked around at the rest of them. "I know I said we couldn't copy answers...and I'm not...not really..."

"Spit it out," Jack said.

"Fine." Davey stared his friend down. "I want to go with you to Santa Fe."

"Are you crazy?" Jack said, laughing a little.

"No. I've done some research on it. It's a fascinating, historic town."

"Oh, it's just some smart-person thing." Jack thumped him on the back.

"I think it's interesting," Davey said. "That's all. Thanks for introducing it to me, Jack."

Jack looked astonished. "You'se thanking me? What'd I do?"

"You shared your dream with all of us," Davey explained simply.

"Oh, don't go all mushy on me, Davey," Jack chuckled. "But I'm glad you don't think it's a dumb dream anymore. Even though, as you all know, I've moved on now. Got better dreams."

"That's okay, Jack," Les said. "Old dreams are always a part of you."

As the boys drank in the profound advice, Race stood up. "My turn to ask a question!" he declared, and the spell of thoughtfulness was broken. Everyone turned to him attentively, and he grinned. "Ready?"

Well, that got a little emotional. Hope you liked it, and don't forget to review!

-Sis21K