CHAPTER FIVE
"Where am I?" I muttered, looking around. I saw a bunch of empty bunks and rubbing my head, I swung my feet over the side of the bed. Walking down the stairs, I rested my hand on the doorknob but when I opened it, everyone sat staring at me before yelling at me for getting out of bed. "Would everyone shush for two seconds and just tell me-ahh-." Suddenly I found myself in someone's arms and was set on the couch but as he was about to walk away, I pulled Spot to sit next to me. I felt safe with him around. "What happened?"
"You passed out," Boots stated and I rolled my eyes, my head not feeling much better, so my patience level was down.
"Well obviously, but how and if you give me a stupid answer, I swear I'll-."
"Just calm down, Royal," this time it was Cowboy. "Stanley and his boys have been waiting to get you back. They were planning on hurting you real bad. If Spot hadn't of seen ya, you would've been off a lot worse off."
"Why," I croaked, coughing slightly. He gave me a soft smile, sympathy in his eyes but I pushed it aside. I wanted to know why people were after me, yet again.
"You embarrassed him," he told me gently. "And hit him and kicked him out of a Newsie's show."
"But he wouldn't leave and he was trying to start a fight," I grumbled annoyed.
"Don't matter," Cowboy shrugged.
"But it's so stupid," I sighed, leaning back. My shoulder brushed against Spot's but he shifted slightly, so we weren't touching.
"He also said something about a Henner," Racetrack put in slowly and I felt the air escape my lungs.
"Royal," Cowboy dragged out slowly. "What's a Henner?"
"It's not a what, it's a who." Oh wait, I'd held my breath.
"Who is he?" I pulled my knees up to my chest but he kneeled down, right in front of me. "Royal, who is he?"
"He's a guy," I muttered, not knowing where to begin. "I went to school with him and well, he was from New York. We never really saw eye-to-eye." I got up, biting my thumbnail as I started to pace. "We would always argue and one day, he took it too far, so I hit him. I don't know what made me do it, but I was quite cross. Long story short, he had to go see a doctor. It kind of got me this reputation and while most other boys wouldn't pick on me, his friends tried to . . . well they tried to get back at me. They took it so far, that my father had to send me here because they were afraid. When Henner got out, he tried to send me to the hospital but my brothers, Ty and Jamie, were there so he ended up going to the hospital because they were angry. It's an ongoing fight; I have no idea when it will end." When I was finished, I was pacing furiously. Tell the truth, I had always regretted hurting Henner the first time and I was quite afraid as to what he might do to me. The fact that he knew Stanley wasn't very soothing either. Suddenly, Cowboy stood up in front of me and I jumped back, completely surprised. He stared at me intently but then looked around the room.
"It isn't safe for her here anymore," he murmured quietly then his eyes landed on Spot, who nodded. I had a feeling there had been some sort of unspoken agreement between the two. I didn't like it.
"No, it's my problem and I have to deal with it," I told them. "I wont drag you into it."
"Royal, if everything you say is true, then Henner and Stanley are gonna try to do something to ya, something not too pleasant," Cowboy said, confirming my already prevalent fears. I felt my breath sucked in uncomfortably as my vision blurred but someone guided me to his lap as my breath became terribly uneven.
"I don't want to god," I whispered, playing with the buttons on his shirt.
"You have to, Royal," Spot assured me. "You wont get hurt. Not as long as you're in Brooklyn. They wont touch you."
Next Day
Finally deciding what to pack and after a tearful goodbye from Medda, I set off for Brooklyn with Spot. It was going to be interesting, I'd decided.
"You'll be fine," he whispered reassuringly into my ear but I shrugged him off, looking to the side.
"I know," I muttered, not knowing what to do with myself. I hoped I'd feel better when I was out of Manhattan.
"Then why're your hands shaking?" he smirked lightly, his finger tracing the 'L' of my fingers. He needed to stop touching me like that.
"Shut up." I was actually surprised when he didn't retort with a smart remark but dropped it and let him lead me towards the coach. We hopped on the back and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, probably to keep me from falling off but it also made me feel incredibly safe. Stupid boy.
"Spot!" I heard someone yell as Spot pulled me off of the carriage. Sniffing slightly, I felt my head spin as I held onto his hand for balance. "What're ya doing back so soon?"
"Ran into a little trouble," Spot muttered. He had a firm grip on my hand by now and was pulling me to follow him, like a dog. Under normal circumstances, I would have gotten annoyed but I was so tired and sore. Honestly, I really couldn't be bothered to cause any trouble. It's what had gotten me here in the first place. Spot glanced back at me as I tripped over my foot and I detected slight sympathy in his eyes. "Careful, Royal." I mumbled something unintelligent and he, along with his friend, chuckled. Opening a door, suddenly a whole bunch of people started yelling incoherent phrases at me and I was pretty sure it was all about me too. People needed to stop doing that.
"Calm down, ya flee bags!" one roared, making everyone else silent, well somewhat. "God Spot, where'd you pick her up, a farm?"
"A farm?" I growled, not in the mood to deal with insults from anyone. "I've been on the back of a carriage for the past five hours, I barely got any sleep last night, I've had to leave my home twice, and I'm trying to stay away from a psycho who might be trying to kill me. Do you really want to pick on me, right now?" I stood, glaring up at him; inches from his face. He backed up into the group but it was probably more due to the fact that Spot was glowering at him as well. "Thought not."
"Where ya from, sweet cheeks," another asked; the tension simmered slightly, "cause with an accent like that, ya sure as hell ain't from New York."
"London," I stated, tiredly. Yawning slightly, I let Spot lead me to another door but barely made it up the stairs before he gestured into a room.
"You'll be staying in my room 'till we can figure something else out," he told me, opening a door.
"Thanks, Spot," I mumbled and he nodded, smiling slightly.
"See ya in the morning," he murmured before leaving. Changing into a long shirt that hung just above my knees and a pair of men's pajama pants that I had cut to just below my knees, I crawled into bed but I could have sworn I heard the door click. When I looked over, however, no one was there. Shrugging, I pulled the covers around me tightly and fell into a deep slumber, far from my worries of Stanly and Henner.
Next Day
"Get up ya lazy bunch of -," someone started to yell but was cut off and I heard a grunt of pain. Laughing to myself, I threw my feet over the side of the bed and took a long bath, changing into a dress. I went downstairs, entering a noisy room and discovered it to be a dining area.
"Royal." I turned to see Spot and he gestured for me to join his table, which I did. "Royal, I'd like ya to meet Bernie and Wex. Bernie here is my second." I smiled at the two boys, who regarded me in a suspicious manner but nodded in return. Glancing at Spot, I saw him shake his head, telling me not to pay any mind to it.
"So what's going on today?" I asked after a while, slightly nervous under Bernie and Wex's subtle-ish glares. What had I done?
"Considering the fact that we're Newsies, we're gonna sell papes," Bernie stated in an obvious tone and I scowled, about to tell him where exactly he could sell his papes. Stupid boy.
"You'll be staying here," Spot informed me, interrupting any retort I had in store for his rude 'second', whatever that was, as he shoveled a piece of bread into his mouth. Staring at him for a second, I decided he pulling my leg.
"Yeah, right," I rolled my eyes but he looked at me seriously; my eyes widened slightly. "No!"
"I told Jack I'd watch you-."
"How can you watch me when you're not here?" I challenged. His expression made it quite clear I was pushing a boundary of some sort, but could you really blame me? I didn't want to be left alone, knowing that someone might be trying to kill me. It wasn't a pleasant thought. Despite if I was being dramatic. Whatever Henley had in store, I couldn't even imagine the pain, just . . .
"Ya ain't coming with me," he told me annoyed.
"Well, I am not staying here!" I protested.
"Yes, you are."
"No. I'm really not."
"You're staying and that's final, so you might as well quit your arguing." Leaning closer, inches from his ear, I resisted the urge to smack him silly, only because I was sitting in a room full of boys who would more likely kill me if I did anything to harm their precious leader and, in turn, completely defeat the purpose of even going to Brooklyn. Boys were obtuse, why did I have to rely on them?
"Medda only agreed to send me here because you promised I would be safe. I won't be safe alone in a boarding house," I hissed before glaring into his stormy, blue eyes, which was quite hard considering the fact they were quite intimidating and the silent room wasn't exactly helping the matter either. You probably would have been able to hear a pin drop.
"Fine," he eventually growled, scowling right back, probably because he'd lost the argument, before grabbing my lower arm and dragging me out of the house. We got his papers and he started selling, ignoring me. It was wonderful.
"God you're annoying," I muttered, kicking a rock and watching it skid along the road but was pulled out of the street and on the sidewalk.
"Look where you're going," he grumbled, as a carriage hurtled by, before returning to selling his papers. I rolled my eyes, looking straight again but it was too late. A ball had rolled out in front of me and I fell forward, over it. "Watch where ya throw that!"
"No, its fine," I smiled at the little boy, who looked like he was about to burst out in tears but I didn't exactly blame him. Spot looked pretty peeved, again, quite intimidating. "I wasn't paying attention, here ya go."
"Thank ya, miss," he mumbled before running back to his game, ball in hand.
"He's just a kid, Spot, no need to-."
"Watch out!" he interrupted, irritated, pulling me out of the way of a bicycle.
"Jeez, it's much busier than Manhattan and London," I muttered, watching the bicycle ride off. He smiled, shaking his head and I grinned, pointing at him slightly. "Ah-ha, see I thought you had forgotten how to smile."
"Nope," he chuckled, thrusting the paper into the air. "Dog Saves Family!"
"Wait, what?" I asked, taking another paper as he accepted money from an elderly woman. After the customer left, he leaned closer to me, brushing my hand.
"I hafta make money; improving the truth, that's all it is," he told me quietly.
"Liar," I whispered right into his ear before hitting him playfully with the paper. He grinned, shrugging, and I laughed slightly. We walked about for a bit but then I realized that he was actually taking me somewhere. A pier? Why were we at a pier? With newsies . . . really cute newsies. Really cute Brooklyn newsies. Scary-ish looking cute Brooklyn newsies . . . oh god. I vaguely saw him turn around and glanced from him to the scene behind him.
"It's where we spend out time when we're not sellin' papes," he explained. I felt a little better but then there were the really tall, ripped, young men right behind him to twist my stomach again. They could squish me! Okay not literally but still, it's quite intimidating . . . I sound like my mother . . . oh god. His laugh pulled me out of my thoughts and I looked at him once more. Frustrated, I brushed past him, towards the pier, but as I neared the wood, I stopped, causing Spot to walk into me. After a few seconds of staring out, I turned my head, only to see him smirking.
"You're a jerk." He shook his head, rolling his eyes but placed his hand on my lower back, pushing me forward. At first, I didn't move, but after a couple more seconds, I let him guide me where he wanted to go, disregarding one of my mother's rules about boys. 'Don't go where you don't want to, especially when a boy is leading you there.' Yes, I know, not always smart but I'm pretty sure that we've established that we aren't compatible. Right? Before I knew it, I was in the doorway to a bar-ish type place and a lot of the people in the room were staring at me. Seems like that happened a lot, huh? I turned around to leave but Spot was blocking my path.
"What's the matter, ya never seen a girl afore?" he yelled annoyed. Whether it was because I made him stop or they were, well, scaring me, I didn't know. But I was pretty sure it was the former. He looked back at me and I felt about two inches tall or the biggest baby in the world. Either way, I felt pretty stupid. He nodded to something behind me and I saw a door, so I went through it. It led to the roof. God, when had I started trusting him?
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A/N: la la la...haha did you like it :-) thanks to GDgirl1993 and Mids-all-the-way for reviewing! Reviews are love! Oh and I won't be able to post for the next week due to not having internet or my computer :-( I'm sorry! But I'll post TWO chapters when I get back, remind me if I forget...bye!