Yeah the first chapter! Well I guess the prologue was the first but….yeah oh well. Special thanks to Eruanna Undomiel who was are first reviewer YOU ROCK!!! (man we're desperate….) You've all already read my disclaimer so we won't waste time on that so let's go!
1 Ch.
Jack Kelly and his newsies were laughing as they walked down the street towards Tibby's.
"So I says to him 'if you ain't gonna buy a pape, then you can take a hike' and the bum tells me 'well if you didn't lie through your teeth 'bout the headlines maybe I would' then he throws a punch at me and-"
The talking stopped abruptly when the boys entered Tibby's. Standing behind the counter was a girl with dark skin and straight black hair looking on at them with suspicious eyes.
"Can I help you?" She asked with a raised eye brow.
"Yeah toots," Jack answered with a cocky grin. "Me and my boys here need some food and we'd like it fast as possible."
"First of all my name is Tessa Elizabeth Abequa O'Keefe, and if you ever call me 'toots' again I will hit you over the head with this tray so hard that you're gonna be askin' to barrow his eye patch," she said pointing at Blink when she mentioned the eye patch thing. "Seconded, if you'll tell me what you want to eat I'll gladly bring it to you."
The newsies shared a slightly shocked look, and, some what quietly took their seats.
Once the boys had gotten their food they began to speak in hushed tones about all the Indian stories they'd heard, Jack of course knew the most.
"And then," Jack whispered lowly to Tumbler, Boots and Snipeshooter (for dramatic affect). "They'd take you by your hair and they'd-"
"That's not my tribe you know." Tessa interrupted.
"What?" Jack asked with a jump, he hadn't noticed that she was right behind him.
"The Shoshoni were the scalpers; I'm Seminole or half Seminole at least."
"Well what do the Seminoles do?" Snipeshooter asked, curiosity burning in his young eyes.
"They hid in the Everglades of Florida. Until the white men forced them out, now most of them live in Oklahoma."
"Is that were you're from?" Tumbler asked, wanting a good story like his friend.
"Yep."
"Then why are you here?" Snipe asked.
"Because New York is the best place on earth!" Boots answered for her.
"Not quite," Tessa said with a small shake of her head. "I came to live with my uncle after my parents died."
"Who's your uncle?" This question actually came from one of the older boys, the one who was missing an eye.
"Jacob O'Keefe or Tibby as you call him."
"You don't look much old man Tibby," Racetrack said skeptically.
"He's my father's brother." She answered, nonchalantly. "My mother was Indian, so I look more like her."
As soon as Tessa had said this, the clock on the wall chimed letting all the newsies know that it was time to sell the afternoon edition.
"Alright," Jack said loudly. "Story times over. Let's go!"
"All right Cowboy," was the main response around the table and when Tessa heard that she burst out laughing.
"And what is so funny?" Jack asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Well "Cowboy,"" she said, grinning widely. "Were I come from we'd call you Greenhorn." Once she said that she laughed some more then began to clear one of the tables.
"What is that suppose to mean?" He snapped back.
"I'll explain tomorrow, you come everyday, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well go on, sell your papers."
Jack glared as he left the building. 'This girl just wasn't right in the head,' he thought to himself. Jack knew deep down that this girl was totally different (in a truly irritating way) from any other girl he had ever met. She was strong and beautiful at the same time. Wait a Santa Fe second, beautiful? Where the hell did that come from?! Okay so admittedly she was pretty. Hell, if it wasn't for that attitude she'd be perfect. But the attitude was there and that, as they say, was that.
"Ain't worth the stress," he muttered to himself. "'Sides, she's too serious, she'd drive me crazy."
Back in Tibby's
Tessa grinned as this Jack "Cowboy" Kelly left the restaurant. Her parents always told her not to be spiteful but she couldn't help enjoying knocking that boy's ego down a couple pegs. Calling him a Greenhorn was most defiantly going to be the highlight of her day. 'That and the way he smiled,' she thought to herself. 'Wait…did that thought just come out of my head!? NO no no no not happing, not now not EVER!
"He sure is an arrogant one," she told her uncle with an irritated huff.
"He's not so bad, once you get to know him," her uncle defended one of his best, and happiest, patrons. "He was one of the leaders when the newsies went on strike. Took care of his boys real good he did."
"Well I suppose that's one good quality," she muttered in a some what defeated voice. "But I doubt that there are too many more."
"Well I guess you will just have to wait and see, won't you?"
"Yeah," she said, looking out the window as many of the newsies that had been in the restaurant cried out headlines. "I guess I will."
Later that night
Tessa was walking home after a long day of waitressing and all she wanted to do was climb in to the bed her uncle had promised and go to sleep but things hardly ever happen that easily in life. She had been walking for about ten minutes when she heard a voice from that afternoon.
"FLAME CONSUMES WHITE HOUSE, PRESIDENT NOW HOMELESS!!" The young boy cried out.
'Well that could be interesting,' she thought to herself.
"Hey, kid," she called. "I'll buy one."
"Thanks, lady," he said, smiling. "Hey, ain't you old man Tibby's niece or something?"
"Yeah, that's me," she said with a sigh. "Can I have my paper now, I want to go home and go to bed."
"You got it," he said, trading the pape for her penny. "See you tomorrow."
With a wave she continued her walk home. Only once she got there did she actually read the headline "Kitchen fire in the mayor home."
"Well I'll be damned," she said, smiling and shaking her head. "The kid short changed me."
TA-DA! Well, hate it? Love it? Want some gravy? All who review get free gravy! Remember to say hi to K.t.G in your review, she's helping me a lot!
Bravo Yankee Echo, Nori and Katrinka.