Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters from the Disney movie "Newsies." The only character that I claim ownership over is Shadow.

Ahh, I'm way sorry you guys :( I wanted to have this chapter out earlier, but I was sort of running a little late. Right after school, I had this end-of-the-year boat trip thing for my grade. It was around Manhattan, and when we went under the Brooklyn Bridge, I think I kinda freaked everyone out... I got real excited and kept screaming "OH MY GOD IT'S SPOT CONLON'S TERRITORY." Woops, I'm a dork. Anyway, by the time I got back to my school it was 10 and then my brother (who was supposed to be picking me up), his car broke down. So that delayed me about another 45 minutes. What was the point of that long and useless story, you ask? The moral: Maria's a dork.

So here's chapter three.

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"Where is she?" I mumbled, letting my head drop backwards against the chimney. The noise from downstairs had died down, so I assumed the newsies went to bed. That had to mean it was pretty late.

Just as I was about to get up and accept the fact that she wasn't coming, I heard some movement across the roof. When I picked up my head, she was standing with her hands in her pockets and her head down. "I was startin' to think ya wasn't gonna come." I said, smiling at her.

She shrugged and sat down against the opposite ledge, keeping her distance from me. "So who are ya, anyway?" I asked. She didn't answer I sighed. "Fair enough. Guess I'll just keep callin' ya Shadow... So ya ever gonna have a real conversation with me?"

"I ain't much of a talker." She muttered. "Yeah, I'se can see that..." I replied. Still, I was determined to get her to speak to me. I began talking. At first about nothing unparticular, but then I got into selling papes and the newsies. She didn't say much, mostly just nodded, but she listened intently and it seemed like she was paying attention to every word I said.

After about an hour I had finally run out of things to say. We were both silent for a while. I watched her out of the corner of my eye. She pulled her legs in close to her body and shivered slightly. Although it had been a warm day out, it was chilly up on the roof because of the wind and the late time. Her clothes were thin and worn out, not providing much warmth for her.

I slid my arms out of my vest and stood up. "Heah, you'se can put dis over ya." I said, walking towards her. I held out the vest for her to take, but she scooted back as far as she could against the ledge. I sighed. "Look, I ain't gonna bite ya or nuttin', okay? Just gimme a chance..." I said, inching my way towards her. She looked nervous as hell, but she didn't move away. She cautiously took the vest and placed it over her so it acted like a blanket.

"Not very warm, but it should help a little." I said, using this distraction to move closer to her. "Thanks..." she replied slowly. I sat down next to her, leaving a few feet distance between us. She turned her head towards me. For the first time since I saw her, she looked me directly in the eyes.

"Why ya so terrified of people?" I asked, practically whispering now. "I ain't." she said, turning away now. I reached out and lightly touched her shoulder. As soon as I did, she jumped and clutched her hand over the shoulder I just made contact with.

"See?" I said, raising my eyebrow. "I don't like when people come near me is all..." she replied. "Why not?" I asked. I had to keep asking questions or she might realize what she was doing. She was unaware that she was letting her guard down and finally talking to me.

"'Cause... I dunno, cause I'se always scared dey're gonna hoit me or somethin'..." She responded. She immediately looked down at her shoes as if she thought her answer was stupid or something.

"So lemme prove dat I ain't gonna hoit ya..." I said. She looked at me questioningly, but didn't say anything. "Hold out ya hand." I said, putting out my own. She looked down at my outstretched hand, up to my eyes, and down to my hand again. "Hold out ya hand..." I repeated. She hesitated for what seemed like forever, but she finally put her hand out.

I lightly touched her hand. "What are ya doin'?!" She asked, pulling it back quickly. "Just trust me, will ya?" I replied. Shadow gradually put her hand out again. I touched it again, this time keeping my hand on hers for a longer period of time.

I moved my hand up to her shoulder. She flinched but she didn't make any effort to break the contact. I slowly lifted my arm and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes with my fingers. Then I placed my hand softly on the side of her face. "See? That didn't hoit, did it?" I whispered.

I didn't know anything about this girl. She hadn't said more than 10 whole sentences to me and I didn't even know her real name... but for some reason she gave me this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach...

I inched closer to her so we were sitting side by side. She bit her bottom lip and the anxiousness came back into her eyes. She placed her hand on top of mine and lightly brought it away from her face. "I have to go..." She said, standing up.

I took a deep breath and tried to get rid of the fluttery feeling in my stomach. She handed me my vest but kept her eyes down at the floor.

"Could... could ya come tomorrow again? Same time?" I asked hopefully. She looked nervously in the other direction. "I dunno, Skittery." She replied. I was surprised. I didn't think she actually remembered my name. After all, I only mentioned it once to her.

"Please?" I asked softly. She sighed. "I ain't promisin' nuttin'." She said again, turning to climb down the ladder.

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All day while I was selling, I couldn't stop thinking about her. She wasn't like anyone I had ever met before. Not even close. But I still couldn't figure out if that was a good thing or a bad thing. I was hoping to maybe run into her while I was on my route, but I didn't.
When I got back to the lodging house, I hung around with the other newsies in the lobby for a few hours. We played a few card games, losing most of our money to Race. I don't know why we even bothered playing anymore.

"Hey Racetrack, ya got da time?" I asked. "Yeah. It's, uhh..." He took out a pocket watch from inside his pants pocket. "11:55." He said. "Oh, crap! I shoulda been up on da roof a while ago..." I muttered, dropping my cards and standing up.

I began to climb the stairs to the bunk room. "What's a'matta, Skitt? Ya got a date or somethin'?" Cowboy asked, smirking. The other newsies laughed. "Course not... I'm uhh, late for me nighttime smoke." I lied,

"I thought ya quit smokin'...?" Crutchy replied. "Yeah, well um... I started again." I said, lying again and opening the door at the top of the stairs.

I climbed onto the fire escape and up the ladder, hoping she hadn't already dropped by. I sat down in my usual spot on the roof and waited. Even though she said she wasn't promising anything, I had a feeling she would come that night.

It was really dark up on the roof. The moon or stars provided no light because a thick layer of clouds covered over them. After waiting 15 or 20 minutes, it began to drizzle. I decided to give up and go inside. I doubted she was going to come in the rain, anyway.

As I was climbing down the ladder, I slipped on one of the wet rungs. I fell down the rest of the way to the fire escape, which thankfully wasn't a large distance away. "Ow..." I mumbled, using the railing to pick myself up.

Before I could get to the window I heard a high pitched scream. It echoed off the buildings in the city. Although it sounded far away, it still made me get goose bumps on my neck and arms. I stayed as still as I could, trying to hear anything above the sound of the rain hitting the metal fire escape.

I heard a few sets of footsteps running fast on the cobblestone. They echoed off the buildings as well, coming closer. Three shaded figures appeared around one of the corners. I watched them from above as they scrambled into the alleyway between the lodging house and another building. "That outta teach her..." one of them sneered. The rest stifled their laughter to keep quiet and kept running.

Something fell out of one of their pockets. It made a loud clatter sound when it hit the ground. The metal on it reflected the little bit of light being shown into the alleyway. It was a knife.

He turned around to pick it up, but the other one grabbed him by the sleeve. "No time, leave it there..." he whispered. "The cops'll be after us soon as they find her..." He said. They ran off and disappeared into darkness.

The worst ran through my head. They couldn't be talkin' bout Shadow... no way. People get beat up in dis city all the time... The chances of it being Shadow are slim to nuttin'... I told myself. Still, my mind wandered back to the thought. Maybe that's why she didn't show up tonight...

Instead of heading for the window, I jumped down the stairs of the fire escape. Sprinting away from the lodging house, I tried to remember where the scream came from. I didn't have time to think. I just ran in one direction, hoping I was right.

I took a quick glance in all the alleyways I passed, hoping I wasn't overlooking her. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a still body lying on the side of the road. The streetlamp she was under dimly reflected off her face.

Rushing over to her, I saw her clothes were splattered in blood. Her shirt was slit on her upper arm, which was where the source of all the blood seemed to be coming from.

"Oh god..." I mumbled. I dragged her to her knees and tried to get her to wake up, but her head just fell forward onto my chest. "C'mon, Shadow... Get up..." I whispered, lightly tapping her cheek. Still, she stayed lifeless with her eyes closed.

I picked her up and headed for the lodging house, moving as quickly as I could while carrying her.

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Oh dear / What happened to Shadow!? What are the other guys gonna think!? Why does Skittery wear pink long-johns!?

Thanks for reading, you guys. Please review if you can. I'd love to hear what you think of it so far.