CHAPTER 10:

Alyssa slept for the whole day, and far into the night. She slept surprisingly well. She was barely awake to hear the boys come in every now and then and check on her. Mostly Jack and Mush. It made her happy to know people cared about her. She had no dreams, mostly because she knew if she did they would be nightmares about what was going to happen to her when she eventually tried to return to Brooklyn. But for now, everything was peaceful.

But nothing that peaceful can last.

The next few days, she sold around Manhattan. It was a fun time, they were all so nice to her, and Kid Blink always flirted with her and treated her like she was his girl. She was very relaxed and happy, but a bad feeling remained in the pit of her stomach.

One morning, she got up with all the boys, ready to sell as usual.

"Good morning, miss. Did you sleep well?" Jack said, lifting her chin a bit.

She returned this with a big smile and a playful punch at him. Laughing and horsing around, she jumped down the stairs with all the boys, skipping through them all until she was in front of the pack. She was having a great time, with so much energy and feeling carefree. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she was facing the boys coming down who were high fiving her, tickling her, winking at her. But when they got to where she was standing, they all froze.

Alyssa was confused at first. They just suddenly stopped and stared at something behind her. She waited, impatiently, for a moment for them to move, but they all just stood there. Finally, she turned around to see what made them all stop. When she did, her stomach did a strange twist, and her heart dropped.

She was standing face to face with Handsome.

He looked tired, like he had walked to Manhattan very early that morning. His hair was rumpled, his face serious. He looked back and forth between Alyssa and the boys.

The silence held up for what felt like forever, until Handsome finally said, weakly,

"Uh, if you fellas don't mind, I'd need to talk to Alyssa for a little while."

With that, Jack yelled,

"Alright, boys, let's go carry the banner!" All the guys ran out behind him, leaving Handsome still looking at Alyssa, who was completely puzzled.

What is he doing her? I hope Spot didn't hurt him again.

He waited a second then grabber her hand and pulled her into the next room. They stood there in the middle of the floor, him staring at the floor, but soon he looked up and said, in a whisper,

"I was worried about you. You scared me half to death, you know."

"I know. I'm sorry. How's you stomach?" She replied, quietly.

"It's better, thanks."

More silence.

"I didn't come here to talk about me though." He said suddenly.

She didn't know what to say to this, so she waited for him to continue.

"It's…it's Spot."

Spot? What about Spot? This can't be good…

She looked at him, confused.

"I think you really scared him." He paused. "Well, not scared. Spot doesn't get scared. You shook him up." He thought for a minute. "Like as much as he was shaken up when he went to Manhattan a few days ago."

"Was he mad that I left? Who found the letter? What did the guys say? Did he hurt you?"

"Hey, hey slow down. That's a lotta questions. Relax. I'll tell yah."

"Sorry, I feel really bad for leaving now. If you had to come all the way here to talk to me, I must have made a big mistake."

"Well, personally, I think you did a good thing. Yah did what yah had to do to get away for a while, even though I was worried about yah. But on my way here, I sorta realized that yah made a smart move. Anyway, about your questions: I found the letter. I didn't want to say anything to Spot right away, because I was afraid he'd think I was in on it. So I told him he should probably wake you up, and I left the note for him to find."

"And he found it?"

"Oh he found it, alright. I hid by the door to watch him read it. He didn't know I was there. When he read it, he crumpled up the paper and threw it across your room. He turned a bit, and his face was furious, like on fire. But it changed really fast. Then, he sat on your bed and put his face in his hands and sighed a lot. He kept saying, 'DeCardo'. He looked more disappointed than sad or angry. I'm telling yah, Alyssa, I think the guy feels something for yah. I'm almost sure of it now."

Alyssa couldn't believe this. It didn't sound like Spot at all.

"What happened after that?" she asked.

"Well, he found me and told me that I wouldn't have to worry about that lousy pain in the neck, DeCardo anymore. She was gone. But he didn't say it with a lot of his usual coldness. He was honestly upset. After that, we didn't see much of him for the next few days. I heard a couple boys around the city saying, 'Now that chick is gone, the normal Spot can come back.' But that's not what happened."

"What do you mean?"

"He still hasn't had any girls in his room, he doesn't talk much. He drinks a little more now. He lashes out a lot more than usual, too. Not on me though. One time, though, I though I heard him go into yah room. I think he just went to sit there for a little. Yea, he's been acting weird lately. I think behind it all, he misses yah."

The silence came back, as she took all this in.

Does he really like me? He has a funny way of showing it to me. If he really did like me, he would have been nice to me like he was to those girls at Medda's. He wouldn't have treated me so bad, right? Unless, of course he really likes me, and doesn't know how to show it…

Finally, she said,

"Well, thanks for coming all the way here to talk to me, Handsome."

She pulled him into a hug. He winced a bit, since his stomach still stung a little, but he held her tight anyway.

"I really missed you." She said.

"I missed you too," he said, blushing. "Yah think you're gonna come back? I know a lot of the guys miss yah. I don't think Spot would even mind. Maybe you could just go talk to him. I think when you left, he changed a lot. I think he would listen to yah a bit more now. But hey, what do I know?" He smiled.

"I don't know, Handsome. I still gotta lot to think about. A change like this in him won't last. I'm sure of it. If I stay away, he'll go back to the same old Spot. And if I come back, he'll just think he won. I don't know what to do."

Silence.

"Can I still visit you?" Handsome said, after a minute.

"Of course! We'll find time to see each other, I'll make sure of it." She said, hugging him again.

"Good. Well, I gotta get back to Brooklyn. Spot's gonna be pissed if I'm gone too long. I better not say that I saw you. Hell knows what he'd do to me, then." He shrugged and gave her one more hug before stepping out of the door and going back to Brooklyn.

The rest of the day was like a blur. No one asked about Handsome's visit. She sold papers, but headed in early. For about an hour in the afternoon, she just sat on a bed upstairs in the lodging house, thinking about everything.

Maybe I should talk to him. Just to see if he's changed. Does he really like me? No, he can't. He's Spot. But what if he does? Do I like him? Ugh, I can't. He'd treat me like dirt. If the boy can't even call me anything but DeCardo, than how the hell could he ever love me?

But still, I'll never know if I don't go see him. Maybe, just for a little bit tonight. I guess it couldn't hurt.

And for the second time in a week, she left a note that would worry a lot of people. This one said:

Boys: I went to Brooklyn to see how things are doing there. I don't know if I'll be back, but I might be. Don't worry. I just need to see where I should be staying at. Thank you for everything. And Blink, don't worry, I'll make sure I see you soon. –Alyssa.

She put it on her bed and flew down the stairs, running toward Brooklyn.

There could be a boy who truly loved her there!

But maybe her hopes were too high. She wasn't ready for any type of disappointment. If there was going to be any…

Okay, sorry it took so long. I had a tough week in school

I'm going to try to finish the story soon, I think you'll all like it, but it may take a drastic change suddenly, so watch out ;]

Keep reviewing guys, I love it!!

-Spunkyy7