Sorry it's taken me so long to update! I've been pretty busy these last few weeks, but schools ending soo, so I will have more time… hopefully… anyway, I finished another chapter, and this one is a longer one, so I hope you like!
--------------------------------------
Morning came too quickly for the newsies, and despite their hopes of the streets being too flooded, Kloppman came to wake everyone up to sell. As he walked into the bunkroom, he could hear the light tapping of rain on the roof. One by one, the old man shook everyone awake, in return getting either cursed at or hit by pillows. He didn't mind this, though. The lighthearted lodge owner was so used to it that he laughed it off.
"Wake up! Wake up! The presses are rollin!" Kloppman yelled to all the tired newsies. Slowly, they began to sit up in their beds.
"You kiddin me? We ain't gonna sell nottin' in dis weatha!" Racetrack called out as he turned over in his bed, tightly wrapping his blanket around his shoulders.
"The rains letting up. Plenty'a people'll be out later." Kloppman said as he started to descend back down the stairs.
"Crazy old man" Race mumbled as he closed his eyes. Most of the others decided to get up, though.
"He's right, it is lettin' up." Marauder said with a yawn, looking out the window. She pushed her strawberry blonde hair behind her ears and then turned to Race, who was her current boyfriend.
"I don't care, I aint sellin taday!" Race grumbled back to her. She then walked over to him and stole his pillow from underneath his head.
"You don't sell, you don't eat!" she said with a smirk as she hit him in the face with it. Race flinched and then grabbed his pillow from her.
"Fine, den ise won't eat" he said hugging his pillow. Marauder gave a laugh and walked into the washroom, leaving Race to sleep.
Jack slowly got down from his bed and rubbed his eyes. Looking out the window next to his bunk, he yawned. As he gazed out, he started to replay the events of the previous night in his head.
Did Lark see that it was a ticket? Did she read what was on it? Did she tell anyone?
Jack started to drift into thought, but was quickly shaken back to reality when a pillow hit the back of his head and fell to the ground. He quickly turned around.
"Cowboy, zonin' out?" Boots asked with a smirk. Jack sighed and gave a laugh and picked up the pillow from the ground. He then walked over to Boots.
"A little" he said as he smacked Boots in the head with the pillow. He laughed and then walked into the washroom with the others, squeezing between Action and Kid Blink.
Each of the newsies crowded in the washroom around the sinks, getting ready for the day. Many of the male newsies (Jack in particular) were shaving, even though most of them had nothing to shave off.
"So Jack, whea you be headin off ta las night?" Action asked as he slicked back his black hair. Startled by the question, Jack's hand jerked, causing his raiser to slip and slightly cut his cheek.
"Ah, shit!" he said, quickly putting down the raiser and grabbing a nearby cloth to wipe his face with. Action raised an eyebrow as he finished up with his hair.
"You a'right der, Cowboy?" he asked. Jack nodded.
"Yea, jus a scratch." he said as he walked away. Kid Blink and Action watched him walk away, both with the same skeptical look plastered to their faces.
Jack walked over to a mirror to look at his cheek. It wasn't a deep cut, but it was a cut nonetheless. Looking in the mirror, Jack caught a glimpse of the others talking behind him. He knew that he was topic of their conversation by the way they kept glancing over at him. He rolled his eyes and walked out of the washroom and over to his bunk to get his cowboy hat off of his bedpost, and to get some money from a tin can next to his bunk.
Jack left the lodge before any of the others. The rain had finally stopped, but the streets were still pretty empty. He took a deep breath and started off to the circulation office. Along the way, he thought. He knew that he was acting rather strange in front of the others, but he knew he couldn't help it. He was hiding something from them, something big, and he didn't want anyone to find out what it was.
When he arrived at the circulation office, the gates were still closed. He put his hands on the bars of the gate as he looked inside, seeing the workers stacking papers. He knew that they would not open the gates for a while, so he decided to go off for a walk. He ended up walking over to Newsie Square. There was a big puddle at the base of the statue that was in the middle. Jack decided to sit on a bench and wait awhile until he could go and get his papers. He walked over to the bench, brushed off some water, and sat down. A cool breeze blew his hair in front of his face. He pushed his hair back and looked up at the sun in the sky. He smiled and then closed his eyes…
"Papa's so proud of you and David. You should hear him talking about 'Jack Kelly, the strike leader' who occasionally takes his meals with us"
"Well this is one strike leada whose gonna be very happy when its all ova, and I can get outta hea an' go ta Santa Fe. I mean, there's nothing fa me ta stay fer, is there? Ya know, you should see Santa Fe. Everythin's different there. Its all bigger. Ya know, da desert, and the sky, and the sun…"
"It's the same sun as here."
"Yea, it jus looks different."
Reality came back to Jack as he felt someone run up behind him and take his cowboy hat from around his neck. He quickly opened his eyes and turned around. He then smirked when he saw a small boy with his hat on, and another boy coming up behind him.
"Heya Cowboy! What ya doin out here by yaself?" asked Les as he walked to the front of the bench and sat next to Jack. He smiled up at him. Jack grinned and hit the hat over Les's eyes.
"Eh, I dunno. Jus getting some fresh air." Jack said. Les pushed the hat back up and smiled back at Jack.
"Fresh air in New York? Funny, Jack" David said sarcastically with a laugh as he reached the two on the bench.
"Heya Davey." Jack said. "So, why you guys out so early? Usually yous are da last ta come an get ya papes."
"Well, Papa woke up real early ta go ta work, and we woke up with him. Oh, did I tell ya that he got another job?" David said. Jack shook his head.
"Naw ya didn't, but hey, dats great! So, dis mean yous both gotta go back ta school?" Jack asked. David shook his head.
"Naw. Papa's new job doesn't pay as much as his last one, so we all still gotta work so we can make the rent. He's hopin' that he can still get his job back at the factory, though, because he thinks me an Les ought ta go back ta school."
"But we aint goin back, dats fer sure!" Les said, putting his 2 cents into the conversation. He then looked up at Jack's cheek. "What happened ta ya face?"
"Oh, dat? Jus cut meself shavin."Jack said. "Look, ise getting kinda hungry. Didn't eat dinna las' night cuz I couldn't sell in da rain. How bout wes go get sumtin from da nuns?" he asked as he stood up. Les stood immediately after.
"Alright" David said. The three then walked over to the wagon where the nuns were handing out bread and giving some newsies coffee. They met up with a few of the others as they got their bread.
"Hey Jack, why ya leave so early dis mornin?" Emerald asked as she took her cigar out of her mouth to take a sip of her coffee. Jack shrugged.
"I dunno. I jus finished earlier den the othas so I left."
"Oh" Emerald said as she put her cigar back in her mouth. She then put her newsie hat over her Black wavy hair and blew a cloud of smoke from the corner of her mouth.
The newsies heard the sound of a bell and turned to the circulation office. The gates were just opening and a few other newsies were just walking in.
"Comin' down da shoots!" Les said. The newsies then slowly made their way over to the distribution center and walked through the gates. They all lined up and got their papers from Mr. Muller, the old man that took over the office after Weasel was sent away after the newsies won the strike. Jack and David got their 100 papers, and Les got his 40, and the three then set off to sell.
------------------------------------------
Ok, there we go. Hope you liked it. R&R please! And Casting Call is still open to anyone who hasn't already put in a character. Oh yea, and im working on getting everyone's , yes EVERYONE'S character in the story, so if your character isn't in it yet, keep reading, they will be soon!