Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters from the Disney movie "Newsies." The only character I claim ownership over in this story is Shadow.
Hey guys. I know, I know... I've sorta been slowing down a little with getting the chapters out. But! I promise I'm not disowning you guys haha. My last day of classes was yesterday (score.) and now all I've got is finals. I'm kind of stuck on the newsie fanfic that I'm writing at the moment, so I actually started writing something other than a fanfic. It's really weird, because I haven't written anything real like that in almost a year :O
Anyway, enough mindless babbling crap. Here goes the story.
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Even though the skies stayed overcast, the rain stopped for about 20 minutes during the day. Blink and I were able to sell a portion of our papers before the rain started again. Exhausted and waterlogged, we returned to the lodging house around 6:00.
Most of the newsies were already in the lodging house when we got there. Few of them had bothered to change because they had already used their only other dry clothes the day before. Blink and I collapsed on some chairs near the windows. "How'd ya foist day go, Shadow?" Jake asked. I shrugged. "Not bad. Jus' tiring." I replied.
I looked around the room for Skittery. When I found him he was sitting across the room on a couch. I tried to catch his eye so I could tell him to come over. As soon as we made eye contact, though, he looked away. Guess he's still in a bad mood... I thought.
When just about all the newsies returned, Cowboy stood up. "A'right, so the rain still hasn't stopped. Which means I'm guessin' no one's up for poker tonight at Conlon's." Jack announced. Racetrack looked like he was about to protest, but Jack stopped him. "'Scuse me, lemme rephrase dat. No one but Racetrack is up for poker tonight at Conlon's," Race sighed and rolled his eyes.
"What's he talkin' 'bout?" I asked Blink. "Usually we all go to da Brooklyn lodgin' house about once a month to play poker wit Conlon and his newsies. We had it planned for tonight, but I don't think we'se goin' 'cause of da storm..." Blink explained.
"Dat ain't true, Jack. I'se still willin' to go." Itey said. "Yeah, me too..." Swifty agreed. However, Jack looked hesitant. "I dunno, fellas. Da storm out dere is pretty bad." He said.
"Aw, come on, Jack! It's just a lil bit of rain!" Crutchy begged. "Yeah, 'nd we'se already soaked as it is, so we might as well go." Snoddy added. "It ain't too long of a walk. Who knows, maybe it'll clear up soon, too. It can't rain forever, right? Whadda ya say, Jack?" Boots asked.
"A'right, a'right! But if da storm gets real bad 'nd we'se gotta spend da night in Brooklyn, don't blame me." Cowboy replied. I saw Racetrack shudder and Jack smirked at him. "Still wanna go?" He asked, teasingly. Race sneered sarcastically at him. "Cowboy, look at who we'se talking 'bout heah. When was da last time Racetrack Higgins let anythin' stop him from a poker game?"
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"We'se leavin' in about 10 minutes. Ain't ya gonna get ready to go?" Cowboy asked, as the others made their way up to the bunkroom. I shook my head and stayed right where I was. "I think I'se gonna stay here tonight, Jack."
"Aw, how come?" He asked. "Well, for one I dunno how to play poker." I replied. "So we'll teach ya. It ain't hard." Cowboy offered. I shrugged. "Ain't just dat. I'm drained, too. Foist day was kind of tirin' for me 'nd I ain't looking forward to goin' out in that rain again." I responded. I also wasn't too excited to see Spot Conlon again. Especially after the run in we had at Tibby's. I didn't tell Jack that, though.
Jack smiled and nodded. "A'right, Shadow. You'se can just come next time." He said, going upstairs. The lobby was half empty now that almost everyone was in the bunk room getting ready to leave. A chill went through my body caused by my wet clothes and damp hair on my back.
Now that it was vacant, I moved over to the couch by the fire and sat down, pulling my legs up to my chest. I immediately felt better as soon as the warmth crept through my body. I wanted to go upstairs and change, but I was comfortable on the couch. Putting my head down on top of my folded arms, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
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When I woke up, I assumed I would be alone in the lobby. All the newsies had left already so it was quiet. I didn't even hear Kloppman walking around the lodging house, but he couldn't have been out. I knew he wouldn't leave any of the newsies alone while he wasn't there.
It was dark in the room except for the dull light from the fire, but it was almost out. I sat with my eyes closed for a while, listening to the soft crackling noise the smoldering wood made. I could still hear the rain and wind outside, too. Every so often there would be thunder and lightning. The storm hadn't gotten any better. I hope the guys got to Brooklyn okay... I thought. Someone turned on the light, surprising me.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Skittery at the bottom of the stairs. "Oh... were you sleepin'? I didn't mean to wake ya..." He said. I shook my head. "Nah, I was awake... What are ya doin' heah? Why didn't ya go wit da guys?" I asked.
He shrugged and took a seat across the room. "Didn't feel like goin'. Poker ain't really my thing. 'nd I wasn't really in da mood to go to Brooklyn, anyway. Didn't have much of a good day." He replied. "Yeah, ya looked kinda stressed today when ya passed me on da street..." I said.
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well we cant all have a great day like you did." Skittery replied. "What are ya talkin' about?" I asked, arching an eyebrow at him. "Nuttin'." He mumbled. He turned halfway around in his chair so he wasn't facing me anymore.
"What gave ya dat idea? If anything my day was sorta difficult..." I said, refusing to let him drop it that easily. "Really? 'Cause you and Blink sure looked like you was havin' a lot of fun." He growled under his breath.
"So? Whadda you care if I'm friends wit Blink..." I said, standing up from the couch. He stood up too and took a step towards me. "I thought you hated talkin' to people. I also thought it bothered you when people touched ya. 'nd you'se known Blink for two days and all of a sudden you trust him like he's your best friend?" Skittery said.
"I never said he's my best friend... All I did was spend one day sellin' wit him. Why's dat botherin' you so much?" I asked, taking another step towards him. He did the same. Skittery tripped over his words. "It... it just is, okay?" he replied, dropping his gaze down to the floor.
"If you was so against me sellin' wit another person, maybe ya shoulda asked me to sell wit ya before Blink did." I replied. Skittery sighed out of frustration. "First off, I was goin' to... but dat's not even da point."
"Then what is the point!?" I asked, getting impatient. Why was he acting like this? Skittery opened his mouth like he was going to answer back, but then he closed it again. He took a deep breath and sighed.
He slowly took the last few steps towards me until he was standing right in front of me. "Ya just don't get it, do ya?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. I searched his eyes, hoping to get an answer but he stayed quiet.
He slowly picked up his hand and placed it on my cheek. Skittery moved even closer to me until there was barely any room between us. I was sure that would make me feel uncomfortable, but for some reason it didn't. My uneasiness was replaced with a feeling of security. He brought his face closer to mine. Even when we were inches apart, though, he still didn't break eye contact.
A bright stream of lightning filled the room, followed by a deafening clap of thunder. Both of us jumped back and the room went pitch dark.
"Shadow, you'se okay?" his voice came from a few feet away. "Yeah, I'm fine..." I replied. "What happened?"
"Guess da lightning blew da electricity out... I'll go get Kloppman." Skittery said. "Stay dere. You probably don't know your way 'round da lodgin' house well enough yet to walk 'round in da dark." He added.
I heard footsteps and a door creek from across the room. I waited for about a minute until Skittery came out of Kloppman's office. "He's asleep..." he said. "Ya don't think we should wake him, right?" I asked.
"Nah, I don't think so... It ain't an emergency or nuttin'. Besides, I think I know where Kloppman keeps some old lanterns."
"Where are you?" I asked, putting my arms out in front of me. "Over heah..." He said. "Over where?" I replied, almost tripping over one of the chairs. I felt his hand clasp around mine. "Follow me, okay?"
He led me over to the staircase and started to climb, still holding on to me. "Watch da stairs..." he warned. When we got to the bunk room, we found it was even darker than the lobby. He let go of my hand. "I can't see anythin'..." Skittery said, feeling along the wall. "There's a door heah somewhere..." he muttered.
"Ah, found it." I heard the handle turn and the creaking of the door. "I think he keeps lanterns in dis closet..." Another bright light filled the room from the storm outside. For that split second, I was able to see some boxes and an old wooden dresser in the closet. On top of it, among other junk, were two or three old lanterns.
Skittery picked one of them up. He held the lantern in one hand, and grabbed my hand with the other. We made our way down to the lobby again, trying not to trip down the stairs.
Using the last of the dying fire, we were able to light the lantern. Skittery placed it in the middle of the room on the floor. It didn't give off much light. Just enough to produce a dim glow in a circle surrounding it.
Skittery grabbed the old blanket off the couch and spread it out over the floor. He took a seat on it and I did the same.
Neither of us talked for about 15 minutes. I was lost in thought as I watched the moving shapes and patterns the lantern shown on the wall. I heard Skittery shifting around so he was lying down on his side. Using his elbow for support, he rested his head in his hand.
He didn't realize, but I stared at him out of the corner of my eye. His eyes were fixed on the lantern and the flame reflected its light on his face. His brown hair was just barely long enough to hang over his eyes.
I don't know what possessed me to do it, but without thinking about it I crawled over to him. I lied down next to him and moved so close that my forehead was against his chest.
Taken by surprise, he didn't move for a few seconds. Then his arm slowly wrapped around my waist and pulled me closer to him. I fell asleep in his arms, listening to his steady breathing and the sound of the rain on the roof.
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So, Like it? hate it? comments? Constructive criticism? Please review :D And thanks for reading.
Kutestar94: Thanks :) glad you like it.
ImaSupernaturalCSI: I love reading your reviews. They're always so enthusiastic, haha. Thanks for sending them, and I like your newsie accent in the last one.
-BeeVee-THEEAmazing: Another one of the enthusiastic reviewers lol. Thanks for the comments, they were all really nice!
Joker is Poker with a J: Don't worry about it. I appreciate that you review at all lol, a lot of readers don't even bother. Thanks.