Disclaimer: I do not own Newsies, Skittery, Jack Kelly, or Racetrack. However, the ideas expressed are my own, as is Noise.

Chapter 4 - Must Have A Hat

Skittery's dream was horrid. He was reliving that moment that he was trying so hard to forget about. Only, it wasn't a tall, thin man that captured Eloise. It was him. He took her. He killed her. He destroyed his entire life. It wasn't another person at all. No board to the face. Nothing, but him and the weapon that he killed her with. Skittery wasn't just the cause of the accident; he was the accident. The scared little girl in his dream opened her tiny mouth as if to plead for her safety and release, but her voice wasn't right at all. And Skittery wondered if he was remembering her wrong.

"Heya Skittery!" Eloise said, her voice surprisingly masculine. And loud, definitely loud. Eloise never called me Skittery either... She knew me as Skylar, Skittery thought. He began wondering what had happened to Eloise. "Time to raise an' shine, ya know?" Eloise never, and I mean never, finished a statement with a question... Skittery decided and opened his eyes.

"What?" he cired. Noise's gray eyes were right in Skittery's face. He jumped straight off his bed and landed with a Thump! "Ow..." Skittery muttered rubbing his spine. What a way to wake up... he thought and wondered if it was going to be like this everyday. He'd have to get some kind of pad for the floor if it was. Well, at least he had a friend. Noise was the only friend that Skittery had anymore. When was the last time I even had friends? he wondered to himself. It was probably before Eloise had been taken. After that, he just stored himself away at home and work. The carriage shop boys weren't even his friends; they were bullies that enjoyed picking on him...

"Hey Skittry, are ya all right?" Noise asked, leaning over Skittery's bunk to look down at him. Skittery was about to reply, when Noise spoke. Again. "Good, glad ya fine. Didn't know what I'se says if ya hoit yaself, ya know?" Skittery just looked at the chatter box. He hadn't even had the opportunity to say that he was find. He was, but still... "Come on, ya know? We need to sell the papes, like now, ya know?" Skittery stood and stared at the busy room in awe.

The large room was a bustle of activity. Like a beehive, Skittery thought numbly. Boys everywhere were racing about doing various things to get ready like: brushing hair, shaving, taking showers or baths, washing faces, greasing hair, getting dressed, and even putting on newsboys caps. I haven't got any of these things... Skittery thought with dismay. As usual he'd be the odd man out. All he had to his name were the black night pants that were far too big for him and his white undershirt that he'd been wearing while he followed him mom, and he had the pink long johns. Can't hurt... Skittery thought. He slid off the black cotton pants and the undershirt. Under normal circumstances, Skittery would have felt abnormal changing in front of some many people, but these weren't normal circumstances. It appeared to be acceptable here.

Wearing his pink single-pieced long johns, Skittery started to head to the sink, when Noise intercepted him. "Whatcha weain'? Ya know, ya ain't gonna sell in that, ya know?" he said loudly. "Impolite, ya know?" With that, Noise hopped away quickly before Skittery could reply. What's wrong with what I'm wearing? Skittery wondered. When Noise reappeared, he handed Skittery a pair of light brown slacks, dark blue suspenders, and a cream once white, over shirt. As quickly as possible, Skittery dawned his new clad. The slacks were a little short for his long legs, and the shirt was a little big, but Skittery was grateful. Noise looked thoughtfully at him for a moment. "Ya know what? Ya needs yaself a vest, ya know? And a hat. Ya can't be a Newsie wit'out a hat, ya know?

Skittery only shrugged in response. He didn't actually know that a hat was apart of his job description. Of course, Noise was on it again. That's a true friend, Skittery thought happily. Just as he was about to smile finally, an icy grip eased across his palm, and freezing him all the way to his core. Eloise. Skittery looked up as Noise returned with another Newsie. Skittery tried to shake the clutching around his palm. There was nothing that he would do... I'll never make any friends if I can never be my happy self... he thought with a new dismal outlook on his life. The cool wraith relinquished her grip on him then. If I'm sad, the ghost is happy, he thought. I can do that, no problem. The new Newsie, Skittery knew he'd met the previous night, but he couldn't remember his name for anything... The other boy was a little shorter then Skittery, but they were about the same age. "Skittery? I know ya remember Cowboy right? Of course ya do, ya know? Anyway, he's gots a vest he says ya can have, ya know? It's great, ya know?" With that, Noise hurried away again, presumably to finish getting ready.

"Hi, uh, Cowboy," Skittery said. He was about to think about his next words, when his brain put his mouth on auto-pilot. "Cowboy is a strange name. Why on Earth would they call you that?" Skittery said, sliding his arms though the vest and had a single thought. That was a foolish thing to say... He's probably proud of his name... Skittery if his vow of talk first, think later was going to bite him in the butt on more then one occasion.

"Well, what kind of name is Skittery?" Cowboy said. His brown eyes seemed mildly angry as Skittery did up the buttons. "Anyway, m' name's Kelly, Jack Kelly." Jack held out his hand and Skittery shook it apologetically. Jack walked away toward the sink and Skittery figured that he was ready to get ready. He walked to an open sink and turned on the water to wash his face. The water was cold, ridiculously cold. Skittery flinched at it, but scrubbed the dirt from his face carefully. When he was done, he ran his fingers through his curly hair and started to leave the cluttered sink area.

"Skittery, ya wanna use m' comb?" a voice called. Skittery looked up and found himself looking at a short boy, maybe a little older then he. "Hiya, the name's Racetrack." The boy, Racetrack, sounded a little different then everyone else. Skittery then became aware that they all had ways of speaking that were far different then his own. Skittery was proper in his speech and they spoke slang. I'm going to have to start picking up that slang, or I'll be far too different... Skittery thought and ran the comb through his curls, straightening them out as he went. Skittery pulled his hair back like he saw the other boys doing. It may have been for a hat, but he did the motion. It seemed like the right thing to do anyway...

"Thanks," Skittery said to Racetrack, before walking away from the sink to give others space to prepare themselves. Skittery went and started to make the old sheet on his bed, when Noise's tanned face suddenly appeared on the other side of it. "Dear Lord!" Skittery shouted in surprise. Noise only laughed and tapped a cap onto his head. Skittery pulled the brown cap off his head and looked at it. It didn't seem special. He didn't see why he had to wear it, but he put it back on his head while Noise chattered endlessly about selling newspapers. Suddenly, Noise turned and walked away, gesturing for Skittery to follow. Skittery shrugged and went after him. This was the start of his first day of work with Noise, and quite possibly his last.