NOTE: I really don't think anyone is reading this. Or can even read this at all. But I feel stupid just posting the first chapter. So I'll continue to post the chapters. *shrug* Oh, and, PLEASE review if you are reading. thank you!

Chapter 2: Dawn

Snoddy came into my room at dawn. He was carrying a large pile of clothes, just like he said he would.

"Here you go," Snoddy said. "I got clothes from some of the smaller boys. And Jack even offered up his rope belt. And, Racetrack offered up Mush's old hat."

I nodded. "Tell them all I said thank you." Snoddy nodded and left so I could get dressed.

I put on a pair of pants that were kinda big on me. I tried to put the belt on put didn't know how to knot it. I threw on an undershirt I found somewhere in the pile. It was big too. And threw an over shirt and vest over it. The vest was plaid and I figured it was one of Race's. I quickly braided my long hair into two French braids.

I walked down into the lobby where a bunch of sleepy boys were rubbing their eyes. They looked at me walking down the stairs and laughed. My jaw dropped open playfully. "I didn't think I looked THAT bad," I exclaimed.

Snoddy made his way over to me with a smile. "You look like a newsie," he told me.

Jack walked over to me. "Need help with the belt," he asked.

I nodded. "I couldn't figure out how to knot it."

Cowboy took the rope from my hand. He pulled it around my waist and pulled my close to knot it. He was half way done with the knot, when I felt someone walk past me quickly and knock me in the shoulder, throwing me into Jack. I pulled myself up and looked over to see that it was Kid-Blink who had run into me. Jack finished the knot quickly.

"Thanks, Cowboy!" I exclaimed with a smile.

"You're welcome." He said.

I looked over at Kid-Blink and then at Jack. "He doesn't like me very much. Does he?"

Jack didn't say anything, but put a gentle arm around my shoulders. We walked out of the lodge together. I let Jack lead me to the circulation office. About half way there, Snoddy caught up with us. "I thought she was my girl," he told Jack.

"She's yours?" Jack and Kid-Blink asked. I hadn't noticed that Blink was with Snoddy when he caught up with us.

All three of them looked at me. "What?" I said.

"Whose are you?" Kid asked impatiently.

"Wait, guys!" Snoddy insisted. "I didn't mean it like that! I just meant, that I thought I was taking care of her."

"But, whose is she?" Blink insisted.

"Well, I'm obviously not yours," I told him. He looked confused. "You've been so rude to me. Totally giving me the cold shoulder! Running into me!"

Kid-Blink took off. He just ran away. I was talking to him one second and watching him leave the next. I pulled myself out of Jack's grip and walked after him. I had no motivation to catch him, but I figured he was going to the circulation office.

I made it to the circulation office and sat in front of the gates. I pulled my knees up to my chin and sighed. Stupid boys. Snoddy walked over to me and put out his hand. I took it and he helped me up. "I'm sorry," he said. I didn't say anything, waiting for him to go on. "We aren't always like that," he added. I waited for him to continue. "And," he said. "If we're gonna act like that, then you shouldn't be any of ours."

I smiled finally, letting him know he was forgiven and everything was okay. He smiled and led me over to the front desk of the office. "I'll get your papes," he told me before he went to get our papers. I stood a couple of feet behind him.

I felt someone's hands on my shoulders and I turned around. It was Cowboy. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

I nodded. "Thanks. But it's not your fault. I blame Blink." I paused and chewed on my lip. "Could you…" I trailed off. I wanted to tell Jack to keep that jackass out of my sight, but at the same time, I wanted to know why Blink was so rude to me.

"Talk to Blinky-Boy for you?" Jack asked.

I smiled. That was the perfect substation for what I wanted done. "Yes please." I said.

"Okay," Jack said.

Snoddy walked over to us and nodded at Jack. I sighed in relief; everything was fine with them too. Snoddy handed me about 30 papers and led me out of the way. "These are your papes for the day," he informed me, as if I didn't even know.

"Who do I sell with?" I asked.

He smiled. "ME!"

I nodded with a wide grin. "Good." Kid-Blink walked right by us and didn't say a thing. He was the only one of the three boys who had not apologized for his behavior. He was such a bum.

I tried to get him off my mind, as I turned back to face Snoddy. "So," I said. "How do I sell these?"

He smiled. "Follow my lead." We walked out into the busy street and Snoddy automatically started to yell, "Extry! Extry! Wildfire in Brooklyn! Read all about it!"

I watched him before I decided to look through the headlines and skim the articles. That helped a lot. "Wildfire in Brooklyn! Cause is a mystery! Read all about it! Extry! Extry!"

An older lady came up to me. "I'll buy one of your papes, little lady," she said.

I smiled and traded her a paper in exchange for a penny. "Thank you," I said. Snoddy came over to me. "I sold my first paper," I told him.

He smiled. "That was fast!"

I smiled smugly. "I'm just getting starting!" I took a step forward and yelled, "Fire in Brooklyn spreads even farther! Get your World papes right here!" I sold two more papes in about three minutes.

"You're good!" Snoddy said.

"This is hard!" I said.

"That's because you're telling the truth!" Snoddy informed me.

"Am I supposed to lie?" I asked.

"No, no!" He said. "Just improve the truth."

I nodded slowly. "Okay, I can try." Snoddy nodded and I turned back to the crowd. "Fire in Brooklyn takes out tallest skyscraper! Read more!" That seemed to do the trick; several ladies and a couple of men walked over to buy papers from me.

I sold about a dozen papes before I really had to start yelling again. "Fire in Brooklyn! Does it danger city's rep!" I sold 5 more papes.

Snoddy walked over to me. "Wow!" He said. "You're more than half way done!"

"This is hard work!" I exclaimed.

"Life as a newsboy…I mean, life as a newsie ain't easy." He told me.

I nodded. I still had ten papers to sell. But, since the morning going-to-work crowd had thinned out, I knew it would be harder. I tried to get some more sales on the fire, but everyone was ignoring the fire story. I searched through the paper to find another story. The second page had a story on an unpopular bank being broken into. I knew most of the costumers probably didn't use that bank, but I could work with this story anyways.

"Popular bank broken into! Read all about it!" Three more people bought papers. 7 more to sell.

"Bank broken into! Ridiculous amount stolen! Extry! Extry!" Two more men bought papers. 5 more to sell.

"Who broke into the bank? Look out for this crook! Read more!" I didn't even know if they know who broke into the bank, but this lie worked. I sold 2 more papes. 3 left.

I looked for another story. "Can I buy a paper?" I heard somebody asked. I looked up to see a boy my age. He looked pretty proper and I figured he was on his way to school.

"Sure," I said. I handed him a paper and he handed me a dime.

"Thanks," he said as he began to walk away.

"Wait!" I called after him. "You forgot your change!"

He turned around. "Keep it," he said. He winked at me. And I gave him a big grin.

2 more left to sell.

I began to look for another story. I finally found something. "Stock markets down! Gold is worth even less!"

One more man bought a paper. "Thank you," I said as we traded a paper for a nickel. I began to fidget with the money in my pocket to get his change.

"Keep it," he said. He glanced at my stomach. "You look like you could use a decent meal."

"Thank you, sir!" I said with a huge smile. 1 more left to sell…and the street was deserted. I sat down on the curb. Where was Snoddy? I looked around, I didn't see him. Where was he? I hadn't been without him in so long! I stood up, starting to panic.

"Hey, Alley," I heard Snoddy say from behind me.

I turned around, so relieved to see him. "Snoddy," I breathed.

"Yeah?" He asked innocently.

"Where were you?" I asked.

"Right behind you," he answered, looking at the single paper in my hand. I noticed he still almost a dozen papes in his hands. "You sold…all of them!" he exclaimed.

I held my last one up. "Except this one!"

He smiled. "Good job." He paused. "You ready to go to Tibby's?"

"Tibby's?" I asked.

"The restaurant," Snoddy said. "For lunch. All the newsboys will be there. And, you need to eat."

I nodded. "Okay."

Snoddy began to lead me in the directions that I figured Tibby's was in. "What do we do after this," I asked.

"We go back to the lodging house, unless there's another edition of the paper. But, it's Wednesday, so there might not be." Snoddy answered.

"What do you mean 'another edition'?" I asked.

"If something big happens," Snoddy said. I gave him a confused look. "If something happens the papers put out another edition. More editions- more money."

"Is that good for the newsboys?" I asked.

Snoddy shrugged. "It takes a lot more work. But, it is good."

I nodded. "How many editions can there be?"

"Anywhere from 1 to 5," Snoddy answered.

"5?" I exclaimed.

"Yeah," he said. "But that's very rare."

I nodded. "You were right, this is hard."

He smiled. "But do you like it?"

I smiled and bit my lip, "Yeah!" We had made it to Tibby's. I could tell by the big sign on the door.

"Can I buy your last pape?" A man who was standing near the exit asked.

"Sure." I said with a smile, trading him a penny for my last paper. "Thanks," I said. He nodded in reply.

Snoddy opened the door for me. I suddenly heard a load of newsies great us. "Snoddy-Boy!" (Specs) "Alley!" (Mush) "Look at this, boys! Snoddy brought Alley!" (Boots) "Hey you, Snoddy!" (Jack)

I shook my head and sat next to Mush and Snoddy sat next to me. The waitress came to our table. "Two hot dogs. And two cups of coffee."

"How much is that gonna cost me?" I asked Snoddy. I was still worried about money.

"Don't worry about it," Snoddy said. "I'll pay."

"Snoddy-" I started to argue, but he shot me a look that could kill and I stopped. "Sorry," I muttered. He grabbed my hand under the table.

The hot dogs and coffees came a couple of minutes later. I ate my hot dog extremely fast. I noticed Snoddy was looking at me strangely. "What?" I asked defensively. "I haven't eaten in a long time."

Snoddy nodded. "Okay." I drank the black coffee as I waited for Snoddy to finish.

"Who's ready to go sell the next edition?" Race asked, as he sat next to Mush.

"There's another edition?" I said.

"Yep," he answered. "Hot of the press."

I groaned. "We selling that one too, huh, Snoddy?"

Snoddy nodded. "More money."

I sighed. "I could use some of that." He nodded sadly and took my hand under the table again. "But, I don't want to sell a full thirty this time."

Snoddy nodded and Mush said, "You bought her thirty papes?" Snoddy and I nodded. "How many did she sell," he asked.

"The full thirty," I said.

"By yourself?" Mush asked.

"Snoddy didn't help me, if that's what you're asking," I told him.

He nodded. Snoddy paid the bill and we walked out together. "Thanks, Snoddy." I said.

"You're welcome," he said. We walked in silence for a while. "Can I be completely honest with you," he asked suddenly. I nodded. He paused, searching for the right words. "Are you gonna run away?"

"Why would you think that?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted.

"I'm not running away," I said. "Not any time soon." He shot me a serious look. He wasn't joking. I touched his shoulder lightly. "I was only kidding. I'm not running away."

He smiled and nodded. He had gotten the answer he wanted.

We walked up to the circulation window. "I'll buy my papers," I said with a smile.

"No," Snoddy said. I gave him a look. "I told you that I would buy your papes for a couple of days. And that's what I intend to do."

I smiled sweetly. He was so stubborn. "Okay," I whispered. A couple of minutes he walked over to me and handed me some papers.

"How many?" I asked.

"20," he answered.

I nodded. "Thanks."