The Royal Flush

By: Racetrack's Goil

Author's Note: Well, this chappie picks up pace later on. It's an okay chapter, I guess. Alright, I'm not too fond of this one. Please tell me what you think though. Going through a bit of a hard time right now with school and such, so I might not be able to update soon.

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is not mine.

A dinner? An invitation to a dinner?

"Oh," I blurted out thoughtlessly.

David, to my surprise, gave me a full-on glare. "Yeah. But you don't understand."

Spot raised his eyebrows slightly and I thought for a second I caught a flicker of interest in those gray-blue eyes. "Alrigh'. So enlighten us."

David promptly answered, "A dowager invited us."

"A…what?" I asked and then winced. I must have sounded incredibly stupid. But Spot remained silent, so I think he didn't understand either. It must irk him as much as it irked me. Well, David was rather educated. He wasn't quite the typical newsie.

"A rich widow," David told me, carefully, so that not a hint of smugness showed in his tone. "Her name's Caroline White."

"Sounds posh," Spot remarked and narrowed his eyes, "Why did she invite us?"

David did bit his lip in the effort of remembering. "She said something along the lines of, 'I greatly long to meet you and your friends. Maybe you and the other leaders can come over and we can talk at my house?'"

"Nice memory," I said despite myself and he gave me a look I couldn't comprehend.

"Hmm," was all Spot said.

"Yeah. She wants the 'key figures' to come, so I suppose I'm to go too."

"So what you're sayin' is…"

"A rich Lady's invited us for a rich dinner," he said lamely and shrugged, giving me another look. "Jack wanted to keep it down," he said in form of an explanation, "He wanted to hear what you had to say about it first."

There was a tense silence.

"Spot!"

We all turned at the same time and saw Jack. He came jogging up and almost immediately, David started breathing again. Spot also seemed to relax. I just marveled at Jack's good timing. He looked slightly winded, as though he had been running the whole while. He reached us with a smile, and Spot looked abruptly very boyish when he returned it with a near grin.

"Long time no see, Jackie-boy," he drawled. Jack also grinned.

They were good friends, I knew. Despite the vast rift that had come between them during one particular time during the strike, they had forged it with some difficulty. I have to admit, I felt quite proud, because I had taken some part in that little forging. The two of them were back in good terms with each other and I was sure most of the newsies under their charge had given one big sigh of relief. I watched them spitshake and David gave me an uncomfortable glance. I tried to ignore him.

"So you've heard?" Jack asked to both Spot and me, gesturing to David in a manner of explanation.

"Yeah," Spot replied and sent David a sort of a curious look, "A dinner."

Jack nodded and smiled at me. "Interestin', ain't it?"

"Yeah," I then added, "When? I mean, when is the dinner?"

"Well, White is an old lady," he answered, which really wasn't an answer.

I frowned in confusion and Spot narrowed his eyes. "Meaning she can't make a decision?" he said acerbically, sarcasm lacing his tone. To my surprise, Jack nodded once again.

"Dat's not too far from da truth," he said and Spot cocked his head. For some reason, I glanced at David, who so far had been quiet. It was his turn to ignore me and somewhat sheepishly, I turned back to Jack. "She wanted me to choose da date," he was saying, "How 'bout Saturday?"

"Saturday night?" Spot shrugged, "Sure."

Saturday was five days from now. "Oh, can't it be any sooner?" I asked, a bit childishly. Five days seemed a long time and five more days of nothing happening made me feel awfully desperate. "Nothing's going on, is it?"

Jack bit his lip, "Well…dat's another bit we ain't told you yet."

Spot looked slightly impatient. "Den spit it all out, won't you?"

The taller boy shifted and tugged down his cowboy hat. "It's a big deal. Dis party/dinner/talk thing. White's one of da most popular hostesses now. She lives with her granddaughter an'-"

"Woah, woah, slow down," Spot cut him off, shaking his head. "How did you meet dis White anyhow? Rich old ladies don't exactly walk around da streets."

Jack smirked slightly. "No. I met her granddaughter."

Spot just stared. Then he slowly raised his eyebrows and his lips, with a rather cruel twist, curved upwards. He turned to David. "Well, David. Ain't you gonna defend your sister's honor?"

There was a bit of a silence and then Jack burst out laughing at David's indignant look. "Nah. Da granddaughter's a spoiled brat. She just liked me and…well, we talked…and-"

I gave Jack a mock-glare, "Okay, I think we understand," then I sighed in sympathy for Sarah, "Don't need to hear any more of your disloyalty, thank you very much."

This time both Spot and Jack laughed, which rather caught me by surprise (the Spot part) because it really wasn't much of a joke. David seemed irritated again. "Look, can we get to the point?"

Spot cocked his head. Jack just half-grinned and patted David on the back. "Sure. Well, like I said, old White plans on inviting some of her friends over too. An'…well, it's a big deal. Dances and stuff," he saw the look on my face and smiled, "No. Not a ball. But a fancy, high society dinner. It's what da old lady's used to. An' I think she's forgotten dat we ain't exactly 'well-mannered.'"

It took a while for me to get what he was implying. "You mean-"

"Medda says she'll help."

I was horrified. "Help…with…" I trailed off weakly, helplessly looking at Jack.

"Manners," Spot finished for me, his frown deepening, "How to eat properly without offendin' dem hoity-toity ladies. And dancin', if dey have music," Spot looked incredibly disgusted. "What a load of-"

Hastily, Jack said, "Like I said, Medda's gonna help out. David and Sarah know a bit of it. And I'm sure Ace, you've grown up in an orphanage, right?"

They all looked at me. I blushed. "Well, not exactly grown up…I spent a few years there, yeah." I glanced at Jack. "And yes. They did try to teach me a few things about manners and whatnot."

Spot's disgusted expression faded and he looked at me with a crooked twist to his lips, "You? Polite?"

"Hey!" I slapped him on the arm, but I was grinning. "At least I'm not an uncivilized brute like Certain People!"

I thought I heard David mutter, "I wonder…" but I wasn't sure. So I ignored him again. Spot caught my hand and kissed it softly, and I blushed once again despite myself. "Ouch. You've pained me."

Jack adopted a look of pained dignity. "How could you. I? An uncivilized brute?" Then he became a mite serious. "Well, to keep da old lady and her friends from believin' dat," he wiggled his eyebrows, "We need to learn some stuff before Saturday."

Spot exhaled sharply, shaking his head again. "Why?" he asked stonily. "Why do have to care about what dey think of us?"

David spoke up, "Because Caroline White is popular and influential. If she takes a dislike to us…" He shrugged. "Not a good thing."

Jack nodded. "Gotta be done. But on da other hand, if she thinks us worth paying some attention to…well, if Joe tries to pull somethin' on us, she'd come in handy."

I scowled. "When do these lessons start?"

Spot sneered. "'Lessons.' What a joke."

"Medda says come tomorrow after we finish sellin'. Promised she'd go easy."

For a second, there was an uncomfortable, awkward silence among the four of us. Spot seemed rebellious and Jack and David were anxious to hear his assent. I could see now that it wasn't going to just be a 'la-di-dah' dinner with some rich folks. We were going to go and, well, represent the newsies to the high society. The thought of it made me feel all queasy inside. Us. Me. A representative. Ergh.

I casually shot a glance at Spot. He caught it and for a second a tiny flicker of humor entered his serious eyes. Then he turned to the Manhattaners and nodded. "We'll see ya den."

Jack's face split into a sharp grin. "Thanks, Spot. Thanks."

Then the two Manhattaners were very soon gone. I decided I had better say something to David the next time I meet him. I never could stay angry at someone for a long time. David was just too helpless a guy to keep being mad at. Then I considered. Hmm. Well, he did seem helpless, but maybe he really wasn't. Usually the seemingly harmless people were the ones who had the strongest character during a crisis. I remembered that time when Jack had seemingly turned traitor and how David had admirably held up. Randomly, I figured that he would probably help Medda tomorrow. He knew more about manners than I did.

Eurgh…I just couldn't believe it. When I heard the word 'dinner' I just thought that it'd be great, getting to eat nice food for a change. Now, I wasn't so sure. I probably wouldn't be able to enjoy the food properly when I had to worry about how I was acting. To have them uppity folks watching and judging you on how you talk, how you hold your stupid fork…

At that moment, I looked up at Spot, just in time to catch the end of one of those assessing glances. He then smiled instead of smirked. "Are you desolated?"

He was using one of my favorite words. "Yes. Can you imagine?"

He shrugged easily and his arm around me moved up to play with my hair. "Well," he said smoothly, "You're sure to do well. Probably catch on quick and then you'll have to teach me."

For a moment, I was speechless. What? I had expected him to shoot back a teasing remark or say something about David, both of which I would have gladly returned. He was being extraordinarily nice, flattering me like that. My face broke into a grin and I felt childishly pleased despite myself at Spot's compliment. "Thanks."

He bowed extravagantly. "Well, where to, princess? Ray's for a spot of lunch? I am yours to command."

I played along, laughing because he simply looked ridiculous, bowing like that. Either he was in a good mood, or he was up to something. I really didn't care. "Sure, Ray's then. I'm hungry."

"You always are," he said, his old Spot-like manner returning.

We reached Ray's in about five minutes and the room was crowded as usual. I saw most of the Brooklynites there, with the exception of Cat. We sat down in the nearest table, where Milkshake and Pike were eating. I caught Pike and Spot exchanging glances, which confused me, but I decided to ignore it. "Hey," Milkshake greeted and gestured to the food. "New cook. Better taste."

I grinned. "Awesome."

Pike and Spot looked at me. At the same time.

Er.

They did that about two more times while we were eating. Milkshake, oblivious to Pike and Spot's sudden weird behavior, chattered on about what she did today, about a funny customer who had asked her what day, month, and year it was, how she absolutely loved the food now, and how she must speak to the new chef and give him her compliments. I listened with half an ear and shot a glance at Spot.

Now Spot had different smiles, all reserved for different occasions. This time he gave me a captivating, alluring smile which would have immediately turned any girl's hearts into mushy goo. And mushy goo I promptly became.

"So what'd you do today?" Milkshake finally asked, leaning back in her chair with a satisfied air around her.

I blinked, snapping out of mushy goo state. "Me?'

Spot cut in. "We received an invitation to a dinner."

Immediately, Pike and Milkshake perked up. "Yeah?" Pike prodded, looking extremely interested.

"Mmhm," was all Spot would give him.

Milkshake asked me, "Who invited you?"

I thought for a minute and, to my dismay, realized I actually forgot the old lady's name. "Something…White. Erm, I forgot. No good with names."

"Caroline White," Spot provided and started explaining. While he talked, all of a sudden, I felt nervous.

In my mind's eye, I saw a tall, elegant old lady, with a stately, regal bearing. She had arched eyebrows, an aristocratic nose, and thin lips. She had gray hair, arranged beautifully upon her head, and a frosty smile. "Your name, young lady?" she would ask sternly, waving an elegant hand loaded with rings and rings and rings.

I would stammer and stumble and would finally squeak, "Ashley Benette," for surely I couldn't say Ace.

"Ash-lee Ben-et?" she would repeat and the faceless little ladies behind her would titter. She would then say, "My, what a funny name."

I would drop my fork and it'll echo loudly in the huge room. Silence…then, all of a sudden, she would snap out of character and scream at me, "How dare you! How dare you drop my silver fork!"

Tittering little ladies would make disapproving noises. Caroline White would then say, "Now leave! Leave this very instant! Get out of here and never come back!"

Ace, disgraced and ashamed, would scuttle out of the room in tears.

"Hey, Ace. Earth to Ace. Earth to Ace."

I blinked again and saw Spot, Pike, and Milkshake looking at me. "What's up with you?" Milkshake asked curiously. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

I mumbled, "I'm fine. Just fine." Then I looked at Spot, "Caroline White is going to be horrid. She's going to be terrible. I know."

Spot's eyes shot up in amusement. "Oh really?"

"Yes," I shuddered. "She's awful."

"How can you know, Ace," Milkshake said reprovingly, "She might be a kind, nice lady."

Pike scowled. "At least you get to go. We'll be stuck here, being bored."

Spot smirked. I just shook my head. "I need a walk. Clear my thoughts and all that."

He played with his cane. "Well, you better clear dem before Saturday. Put on a good show for Brooklyn."

"I know…"

Spot flicked a look at me and smiled again. "Brace up. Won't be too bad. We have five more days."

I smiled back and waved goodbye at the rest. "See ya later."

Out I went, gratefully taking in a deep breath of the crisp autumn air. Ray's never failed to be stuffy, even if the food had improved. I paused to pick a direction and, just for fun, decided to walk through the back alleys. So far I hadn't had the chance to explore them. They were dangerous to travel through alone, but usually only at night. It was broad daylight now. Anyway, it's always good to know how to use the alleys. You never know when you have to use them.

Telling myself not to wander too far as to get lost, I slipped into an alley. Taking a right, I strode through the narrow street, rather enjoying myself. I always loved exploring. I could go wherever I wanted and usually find the most interesting things. I headed deeper and deeper into Brooklyn, avoiding the streets that seemed suspicious. Yes. They just looked suspicious. Trashy-looking people, bars, whatnot.

The streets seemed to grow darker and dirtier, as I had expected. Nasty-looking guys gave me threatening looks and even nastier-looking girls sneered at me. I ignored them and delved in further, marking the streets in my mind for future reference. I brushed back my hair and looked around. It was becoming more and more like a maze now, which I didn't really mind. Like all mazes, I knew that if I continued to pick the same direction every time, I would eventually end up somewhere. So I always picked the left side whenever the streets branched out.

Quite suddenly, I found myself in the middle of a clear, broad street. I felt as though I had stepped out of a jungle to find myself in civilization again. I took a deep breath and walked down the street, looking around. It wasn't a very clean street, but it was a large one. Lots of buildings lined them and a couple of people passed by me. I kept walking, wondering where I was.

It was only when the street broadened into a large marketplace when I caught my breath sharply, feeling stab of worry. I watched the people passing to and fro, unconsciously tugging at my cloak. Somehow this place seemed strangely familiar. A memory tugged at my mind and I frowned in the effort of trying to remember. Nothing came to me as I continued walking, growing more and more uneasy.

At length, I realized this wasn't Brooklyn. The atmosphere was too light, the people too…I dunno, too slow. They reminded me of sheep. Weird, huh? But it was true. In Brooklyn everyone's alert and on their toes. Here they all seemed dull and bored, like they were just going through another day of their pathetic lives. And again, I noticed that the streets were large, much larger than they are in Brooklyn.

Had I actually managed to wander into another borough? If so, where?

Either way, I wasn't sticking around to find out. I knew what happened to newsies who went into other newsies' boroughs without permission. Spot hated other newsies wandering into Brooklyn.

I hastily whirled around and quickly began walking back. I felt edgy, as though I had bordered someone's privacy. I knew it didn't make sense, really, that New York was New York and boroughs shouldn't really make borders like this. But still, I tensed up as I looked for that alley I came out.

Then, naturally, I realized I couldn't find it.

Okay. Calm down. Take deep breaths. Once. Twice. Thrice.

I looked around again, carefully this time.

I was lost! I swore aloud, disgusted with myself. Why, oh why hadn't I just returned instead of looking around this strange new borough? Why hadn't I just turned right around and headed for Brooklyn again? I had thought I was pretty streetwise and street-smart. Well, here I was, standing in the middle of an unfamiliar street without a single sense of direction. Then panic came, swift and strong, and I started half-running, looking desperately for a way back.

Then, my neck prickled with a sudden warning. I glanced over my shoulder, feeling as though someone was watching me. No one was there, at least, no one visible. Shaking off my worries, I started retracing my steps as fast as I could. Surely I would come across that alley. It had to be on my right…somewhere…because I had turned left back then…

All of a sudden, I knew someone was watching me. Someone was there, in the wide, cobbled street. I spun around and narrowed my eyes. I couldn't see anyone. "Weird," I muttered and turned back around again…

…only to crash into something very solid.

With a sharp cry, I stumbled backwards and fell down into a clumsy heap on the ground. I peered up into a pair of very suspicious, light-green eyes. Next to the guy stood a taller boy, a thin, lanky sort.

"Who are you," barked the guy I had crashed into. He stood over me with a growing frown on his face, making no move to help me up. He was a little on the short side, but very stocky and he looked rather formidable. I rubbed my nose and glowered at him, rather embarassed.

"Were you spying on me?" I asked, climbing painfully up to my feet.

"Smart girlie," smirked the thin boy sarcastically, even though he had to be not much older than I was.

"Look, I'm lost," I said, hoping against hope that they would help me. But somehow, I already knew someone who'd call me 'girlie' wouldn't have the brains to understand the word 'help.'

"Answer da question," snarled the stocky guy, grabbing my arm and shaking me.

I did not like being shaken.

"My name is Ace," I snapped, uselessly trying to pull away, "Now let me go."

"You're trespassin'," he informed me angrily. "Now where you from? Which borough?"

"Brooklyn," I said and tried to twist away. He looked angrier than ever and his grip on my arm tightened.

"You?" he sneered.

I slammed my foot hard upon his. It was like stepping on a rock. He swore and hastily moved his feet to a safer position.

"Why don't you Brooklynites evah leave us alone?" said the thin guy, shaking a finger in my face. I wanted to bite it clean off.

The stocky guy growled, "Spot Conlon thinks he's so mighty he can let his newsies walk 'round all of New York at ease, huh? Well, dat ain't da truth and it's time he knows it."

This surprised me. I thought that maybe by knowing I was a Brooklynite, he would let me go. The Delanceys had. "But I was just about to leave!"

"Oh, sure. C'mon," the guy efficiently spun me around and my arm twisted up behind my back, making my breath woosh out ridiculously. "You're comin' with us."

I ground my heel into the dirt, ignoring the pain in my arm. "No, I'm not. I'm leavin' for Brooklyn."

He chuckled, a nasty sound. "Well, you ain't in da position to argue, are ya? Now get on. Get movin'."

I gritted my teeth and lashed out with my feet again. "No," I said, though I knew it was useless. "No, no, no."

He glared at me. "Start walkin'."

Between the two of them, they managed to lift me right off my feet and half-drag me. It was quite a bit of a fight, I should say. I'm sure I gave them plenty of bruises, and since they were newsies (obviously), they wouldn't dare hit me because I was a girl. I took full advantage of this and kicked their legs and jabbed with my elbow, scratching, swearing, and shouting at them.

Deep down, I knew I was in serious, serious trouble. These newsies obviously loathed Brooklyn. They might use my intruding as a means to pick a fight. Spot would not be happy. I had to find a way out of this. I'm sure these two were going to take me to their leader, the leader of this borough. Perhaps I could convince him I meant no harm. Maybe he'd listen.

"Where am I, anyhow?" I asked during a 'lull', in which all three of us were worn out. "This ever so sacred place where visitors such as meager old me can't set foot upon without being ambushed?"

They refused to answer me, thinking I was acting stupid on purpose. They also didn't appreciate my sarcasm. "As if you didn't know!" scoffed Stocky Guy.

"I don't!"

"Sure." Then he and Skinny Guy began insulting Brooklyn and Brooklynites, so I took it upon myself to tell them they were uncultured, ignorant buffoons. Skinny Guy told me shut my trap. I told him he could go shut his oral cavity as well. He very nearly exploded at that, but restrained himself admirably.

Before long, they forced me to enter a building which I realized was another LH. By this time, I was so tired that I was more or less complying. I glanced around, noting how it was slightly cleaner than ours. There were quite a lot of boys inside and they all peered at me. I saw no girls and realized that this was one of those places that didn't allow girls as newsies.

"Hey, Pebs, who's da girl?"

Pebs?

Stocky Guy muttered, "Brooklyn."

Immediately, the atmosphere turned frosty and once again, I wondered which one of the boroughs this was. I thought Brooklyn was respected, not hated. What borough disliked Brooklyn so much? I inwardly flinched as everyone glared at me with openly displayed hatred. Skinny Guy pushed me on, so I kept walking, trying to ignore the taunts and jeers and feeling like some weird martyr. This was just unreal. How had I ended up into this mess?

Oh yeah. I had wanted to explore.

All of a sudden, Skinny pushed me into a room. Caught off guard, I lost my balance and tripped over an unseen object. I went sprawling and skidding face first and I banged my chin sharply on the wooden floor, biting my tongue in the process. I was aware of Skinny and Stocky (Pebs?) talking to someone and that someone making some sort of remark, but I was too much in pain to really care. I ran a tongue over my teeth and spat out blood, wincing.

I hazily noticed that same someone's feet move nearer to my face and that he had a pair of fairly clean boots. Seeing how the situation had been turning out so far, I half-expected that person to kick my face in out of pure spite. I managed to move back and struggled up to my feet, hating the idea of being on my knees to some stupid leader. I straightened, wiping my mouth and shooting my nastiest look at Skinny. Then I turned back to look at the person with the nice boots.

My eyes widened, my jaw dropped, and I stared in surprise.

"Well, well," Philip said, smiling, "Haven't seen you around for some time, Ace."

Author's Note: And that is The End of this chapter. :D So did you catch everything? If you didn't understand, go ahead and ask me. The next chapter's gonna be quite fun to write. Thanks to those who reviewed, though somehow there was quite a lack of reviews for the second chappie. Oh well. hint hint

Btw, I have a random question. When you read about Philip, whose face do you 'see'? I mean, what kind of a person do you think he looks like? Go ahead and name an actor or some sort of celebrity. Or is it just me who 'sees' faces when I read about characters? Hmm. Well, will be awaiting your opinions. :D

Hope you enjoyed this chappie; do review!