Disclaimer: I (AM STILL LOOKING ON EBAY!) don't own Newsies. They belong to Disney (NOT FOR LONG).
I still cannot manage to write long chapters, but I can try. This is angsty and a TOTAL FILLER! I apologize, I just really needed some drama with Spot and added in Shrink...who will return.
Christopher Scott: Thanks for the reveiws!
Christina Conlon: My newsies sistah! Seize the Day! :) I feel really sorry for Skittery in BDHONS! Don't you? I will try and help to find your missing chapter for TFIC, but seeing as I don't know who you are or where you live, I can't help. *Sighs* Please update soon darling! I'll be waiting, and checking my favorite stories list regularily!
Austra: Here is Ace. Be afraid, be very afraid. I described her as the typical girl I thought R would like. Sorry if she doesn't look like you...can't wait for your *Spot On* entry! :)
RACE'S POV
Books and Jack were real cute together. I could tell he had genuine feelings for the smart, pretty girl. Watching Blink and Skittery go off with their girls, and Spot and Jack with theirs…it left me feeling a little lonely. Until one day, when I was at Sheepshead. I was betting on my favorite horse, Million Bucks, and I saw a small boy selling papes nearby. "Hey, youse know dis is my selling spot right?" I said, stepping closer.
"No I didn't," the boy sold a paper to a passing business man and came over to me. "Is dat a problem?"
"Yeah, it is," I said.
"Too bad, I was heah first," he said, he was new, I could tell by his half-and-half accent.
"Listen youse," I took a menacing step forward, no one messes with Racetrack Higgins' selling spot. The boy took a step back and tripped. He fell to the ground with an 'oof', his hat flew off his head. Instead of short to just-below-the-earlobe length hair, long black hair tumbled down his-her back. It was a girl!
"Ise real sorry," I said, removing my hat and helping her up. I then jogged over to retrieve her hat as well.
"You didn't know, anyhow, why should it matter?" she dusted herself off.
"Well, youse is a goil," I said, "Us Manhattan newsies have respect foah de female gendah. Unlike Bronx, Harlem, or Brooklyn. Wese pride ourselves in our respect foah our newsie goils."
"Dats real nice," she said, extending her hand, I looked down into her green eyes.
"Listen, if youse wanna be a real newsie, you do dis," I spit in my palm and extended it. She pulled hers back, spit into it like I did and we shook.
"Weird, but alright," she smiled, "My name's Ace."
"Racetrack," I said. She had lightly tanned skin and black ringlets that fell down her back. Her suspenders were a dirty gray color; her white shirt was in a state of unwash that would've made Firefly throw a fit. Her black pants were almost the same as mine. I smiled and handed her back her black cabby cap, she shoved her curls up into it. She would have passed as a very slim, slightly curvy boy…who am I kidding? I should have known she was a girl from the way she walked, like she owned the place, and every horse in it. I was drawn to her side once more.
"Youse got a place to stay?" I asked.
"Nope," she continued hawking her headline, turning several heads. "MAYOR SELLS CHILD TO GYPSIES! EXTRA EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!"
"Do you wanna stay in 'Hattan?" I asked. She sold another pape.
"Suah, you seem nice enough," she smiled, "Plus, that crate down in Queens was getting really uncomfortable!"
"Youse know any udda newsies?" I asked. She shook her head.
"Heard of a couple, I was told to avoid a Spot Conlon at all costs, and to never underestimate some kid named Jack Kelley. Other than that, I don't," she said.
"Spot? I know Spot, I'm friends wit his goil. She's real nice, and Jack Kelley is my best friend," I stated proudly, puffing out my chest a little. She gave me a wary sidelong glance. "Youse'll fit right into our merry band!"
"Thanks," she smiled at me. That's when I noticed we were the same height. The crowd cheered and I heard a woman say something that made me leap for joy.
"Million Bucks won his foist race, stupid colt," I let out a whoop and ran to the betting window to retrieve my winnings. I returned to Ace, handing her a few cents.
"Youse need to pay to stay at da Lodging House, but Kloppman loves us too much to make us pay the normal fee. During the strike, we'd stayed there for free for a few weeks.
"Thanks," she said, flashing me two rows of straight white teeth. She had dimples, and rosy cheeks. I just about fell over. What was a beautiful girl like this doing at Sheepshead Bay?
"What're youse doing heah anyhow?" I asked.
"I love horse races, and I needed to make a living," she said, shrugging.
"You-you like the horse races? You a gambler?" I gasped.
"Best female poker player to grace da street's a New York," she puffed out her chest this time.
"Ise da best boy, plus, comin heah is how I got my name," I said.
"I'll show you how I got my name," I was pretty sure I already knew. After selling our papes to the crowd, we headed back to the Lodging House.
"Hey, guys," I stepped inside, seeing them around the poker table waiting was just perfect.
"Hey Race, who's da new guy?" they turned to Ace.
"New girl," she said, pulling off her hat. Instantly, Mush, Jack, and Blink were on their feet, hats off. "Wow Race, you were right about the whole respect thing."
"Come on, make room foah two new players," I sat down, motioning Ace down next to me. Four hours, and several hands later, Ace and I sat with all the money divided between us. "Wanna play again?" I asked, the rest just shook their heads 'no' and stood to leave.
"Heah, I'll introduce you to Books and the other girls," I said. Ace followed me up the rickety stairs and to the girl's room. "Heya Books, dis heah is Ace…make her feel welcome would ya?" and I left Ace to be swallowed up in hugs and laundered by the girls of Manhattan. I went to talk to Jack, who said Spot was coming over on Friday to play poker and talk about the local newspaper economy. Books was rubbing off on all of us, with her big words and strange quotes from some lady called 'Jane Austen'. When I asked how she knew da lady, Books just laughed and patted me on the back like I was to be pitied. Strange things, these girls.
FIREFLY'S POV
Spot was out of bed, and back to selling papes in only a couple of days. One nice Friday afternoon we were walking by the docks after selling, and a strange girl was waiting on Spot's throne. She looked down at us, "Spotty dear! You've come back! Wait," she saw me, "Who's dis?"
"Er, uh, dis is me friend, Firefly," Spot looked uneasily up at the slim brunette.
"But Spotty," the stranger whined, "I wanna be alone wit youse."
"You ain't been my goil foah a long time, Shrink, youse gotta quit following me," Spot complained, scaling to the tower with me following behind. I was wearing my boy's clothes. "Ise got a new goil." Spot signaled for me to remain silent.
"Spot, youse can't just dissapeah and not tell me wheah youse went, youse had me all in a tizzy tryin to find you," Shrink pouted, ignoring his comment about a new girl.
"You ain't me goil no moah, so leave," Spot said. I walked up beside him. "She's me goil." At this, I pulled off Spot's hat that I had been wearing. My long blond hair tumbled in a cascade of knots down to mid-back. Shrink stared.
"Dis ugly, puny ting is yoah goil?" Shrink sniffed in a haughty fashion.
"Well, Spot must like puny, ugly things. If he was with you at one point," I made the pointed comment as rude as possible; she was getting on my nerves. "At least I'm not helpless, whingy, and stupid," I said. Spot took a step back, like he was waiting for one of us to turn and eat him alive. (Whingy: win-gee: Irish slang for 'whiney')
"Spotty," she whined again in that nails-on-a-chalkboard voice of hers. "Make her go away, I missed you!"
"Listen, and listen good," my new accent kicked in. I was TICKED, "Youse betta stay away from me boy, cause if youse don't…you can expect ta wake up on a boat dat's heading foah Michigan!" I took three steps towards her and jabbed my pointer finger at the base of her throat. "Scram." I said the word in a low, dangerous voice and I laughed as I watched her scamper off.
"Good job, how'd you do dat?" Spot asked, running his fingers through his hair and stepping closer to me.
"It takes skill, and I stared into her piggy little eyes like dis," I reenacted my stare for Spot. He back up a couple steps, "See how it woiks?" I asked.
"Yoah accent is coming along real nice Firefly!" he said, proudly. I felt his ego swell.
"Hey, uh, Spot. Can you swim?" I asked, once we were back down on the docks.
"Yeah, why?" he looked over at me curiously.
"Just asking," I said innocently. I pulled off my shoes and pants, throwing my faded pink suspenders in a pile. (I was wearing a used pair of Spot's)
I jumped into the water in my long knee-length underwear and Spot's dirty, faded, green shirt. It was cold at first, like all water, but after a while I was used to it. Spot jumped in after me, I had to keep myself from staring at him. Wow he's hot, my fan girl squealed inside me as we played and splashed around. What I didn't see was the angry girl standing nearby, watching from her hiding place and planning her revenge. No one steals Spot Conlon, not from Shrink O'Malley!
THAT NIGHT, IN MANHATTAN
I walked in on Spot's arm, all the newsies clapped and whistled, and I blushed. "Youse toin red an awful lot doll," Race said, coming over to receive his hug. I gave Blink and Mush pats on the back, and, like always, lightly slapped Skittery across the face. It obviously didn't hurt, I was just teasing him about the first time I met him.
"Yeah, and whose dis?" I asked, in my new accent, leaning towards an unfamiliar black haired newsie.
"Dis is Ace," Race introduced her. I walked over and enveloped the girl in a hug, her hair was up in a hat, and she looked confused.
"How'd you know I was a goil?" she asked.
"Well, I'm one; I'd hope I could recognize another one! I looked down at my boy's clothes, "I sure hope you could recognize me!"
"I could," she smiled in a friendly manner, "Besides, Race has told me all about you, the 'Amazing Firefly, Spot Conlon's goil, don't mess wit her'," she imitated Racetrack so well I just couldn't help but burst into giggles. She did too, and Books came downstairs to see what was going on.
"Jane!" she cried, running to embrace me.
"Hey Lizzy. How are these ruffians treating you down here in this dismal inner-city borough?" I talked like Spot, much to the King's amusement.
"Great, so, I see you've met Race's girl," she smiled over at a now blushing Ace.
"Good catch," I smiled. Everyone but an embarrassed, red faced Racetrack burst into laughter. I patted him on the shoulder, "Are we playin poker or what?" I called, and the boys scrambled to sit down.
SPOT'S POV
I heard someone call my name from upstairs. I hadn't even had a thing to drink. "Spot, I need ta talk ta youse," the voice sounded like Books' so I walked upstairs. I listened and it called me from the washroom, she probably wanted to check in on Firefly without the Queen finding out. Yes, Firefly was now the official Queen of Brooklyn.
"Hiya Books," I stepped into the bathroom as the door was shut behind me. I whirled to see who it was, Shrink stood there, smirking evilly.
"Youse is mine Spot," she almost snarled.
"No I ain't, youse know dat. Youse ain't my goil no moah," I backed up, hitting the wall. Shoot! This is not good, I thought.
"I is, and youse gonna kiss me right now!" she lunged at me. I was pinned to the wall in shock and slight anger as she kissed me against my will. I tried to push her off of me, but she was not having that, she just shoved me back again and resumed her angry kiss. I heard a feminine voice singing softly as it entered the washroom. FIREFLY! She stood, staring at us, shocked. "Spot, how could you?" Shrink pulled away, acting rather scared. She acted all innocent, and even from Firefly's previous meeting with the little witch, she was too caring to see Shrink's lie. I didn't know Shrink had moved into Manhattan. This really could have been avoided, wait…what's up with Firefly? She stood there, staring in horror at me. She ran to Shrink's side.
"Are you all right?" she asked Shrink, who was sniffling.
"Yeah, I came in here because I heard someone calling my name," she was crying now, "And then Spot just attacked me, and kissed me. It was terrible," she lied. Firefly looked up at me, fear and hate slowly filling her gaze. She walked up to me, tears obscuring the sapphire blue of her eyes.
"How dare you? Lie to me earlier about being over her, you (she said some words I'm not going to repeat)," then she slapped me across the face and stormed out, dragging the simpering Shrink behind her. Before she was dragged fully out of the room, Shrink turned to me and winked, fluttering her fingers in farewell. How am I supposed to explain what just happened to Firefly? If I could soak girls, this would be so much easier! I ran down the stairs, the boys all looked at me funny when I finally jogged over to the table.
"Why Spot? Why'd you go an' do dat? She was a good goil, den you stabbed her in da back," Race shook his head, disbelieving. "She went home," he answered my unasked question of Firefly's whereabouts.
"Listen, dat two-faced moron, Shrink, she lied to Fiahfly about me. Said I had trapped her, in fact, it was quite the other way around! I swear, you guys know I love Firefly moah dan I love anyting else. I would give up Brooklyn foah her, I would die," my last phrase made every newsie in the room go stock still.
"Well, if youse is tellin da truth, I suppose we could help youse prove to Firefly that you're innocent. If youse is lyin, and she gets hoit, I will personally kill youse wit me bare hands," Race said protectively. Ace and Race were hand-in-hand; Ace looked at me with her piercing green gaze.
"I believe him, I know true love when I see it," Ace stepped forward, turning to face her companions and placing a delicate hand on my shoulder.
"Well, I'll trust me goil, now tell us everyting dat happened," Race said. I sat down and explained everything, from the beginning of Shrink and I's relationship to this afternoon at the docks. Ace took everything in.
"I know what to do." She said. She explained her plan to us. She would get Firefly to meet her at a street corner at night, tomorrow. Then I would be waiting nearby, but out of sight, then someone would send Shrink a message saying that she was supposed to meet me there. Firefly would see if Shrink attacked me again (which was likely) and all would be well between us.
It was rather far-fetched and depended on a few people agreeing to things, but eventually it was worked out.
FIREFLY'S POV
How dare he? He claimed that he loved me! Loved; key points there are the ed at the end of the word. He couldn't love me, if he just did that to Shrink. Of course, Shrink was being all flirty back at the docks, and Spot was being all bashful. How did I let myself believe the lying little twit! Firefly, next time, think before you act! Shrink was obviously trying to manipulate you, and you fell for it, you are no better than a lousy little Harlem girl! I ran out of the room where I had been brooding, straight into Ace. "Oh, hey Ace!" I chirped. She looked confused.
"Umm, why are you so happy?" she asked.
"Because Spot loves me!" I just about floated ten feet off the ground when I realized that was true.
"I thought you were fighting! I mean you're totally right, but what happened?" she was kind of shocked.
"Shrink is a lousy, lying, pitiful, ugly, etc. girl. I should have trusted Spot in the first place! It was really stupid of me, and I have to go find him now!" I bounced off in the direction of Manhattan. Ace, who was in some sort of shock, followed at a walking pace. I met Spot halfway across the bridge; he was moping, and looking really apologetic. I rushed up to him, crushing his already bruised ribs. "I love you Broghan Conlon," I smiled up at his shocked face.
"I love you too Jane Bently," he looked down at me.
"I know what happened, I was just too shocked to think straight. I'm really really sorry," he just looked into my eyes, and leaned down to smother my apology with his lips. Spot is the most amazing boy to walk this planet, and I'm lucky he's all mine!
"So, that was real fast," Spot chuckled, plastering his smirk back into it's place.
"I'm still ticked at Shrink!" I said, angry at the wiry brunette for almost making my week the worst one in history. "Lemme see, wanna push her off da dock?" I asked, my eyes glinting evilly.
"Naw, to easy, lets see," Spot pondered for a while, we walked back to Brooklyn's Lodging House. Ace had headed back to her home (And a certain Mr. Higgins).
"Let's just ignore her, she doesn't deserve the attention," I said finally. Spot looked at me in respectful awe.
"Alright," he shrugged. I banished Shrink to the back of my mind, glad to just be with Spot.
*SPOT ON* CONTEST. WRITE A SHORT STORY ABOUT SPOT CONLON, NO SLASH, ROMANCE. INCLUDE YOURSELF AS A CHARACTER: PRIZE: YOU CAN BE IN MY NEXT NEWSIE STORY (COMING SOON TO THEATERS NEAR YOU :))
R&R! -Firefly Conlon
OMG! I found a metal Key-shaped bead in my basement, and I put it on a chain around my neck! (Whilst I look for some black string) I also have red suspenders and a gray cabby cap! JOY OF JOYS! I'm officially obsessed. Check out my website at: ilovespot(dot)webs(dot)com!