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

OH. MY GOD. Before we start, I've got something incredibly amazing to share with you guys. There is going to be (ready for this?) ::Drumroll:: An actual Newsies Rally in New York City this summer. Newsies Fans from all over are going to meet in NYC, visit Irving Hall, yell off the Brooklyn Bridge, see the real Horrace Greenley statue, ect ect. The girl in charge of this trip sent me an e-mail last night! I'm not sure about this site's policy on links, so if you guys want the link to the site (where all the information about this is included) then tell me and I'll be more than happy to give you the website address. I'm getting all my newsie-freak friends together to go, and I'm absolutely thrilled! Alright. With that said, on with the story.

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Someone tripped over me and I awoke. "Woops. I seem to have tripped on dis huge lump lying in the middle of da floor —Oh, dear me. Would ya look at dat. It's Skittery and Shadow." Race said. He overly annunciated every one of the words to stress the fact that he was being sarcastic.

I opened my eyes and found I was still in Skittery's arms. Sunlight streamed through the windows, lighting up the lobby of the lodging house. I squinted to try and block out some of the brightness that was hurting my eyes.

When my eyes finally adjusted, I looked up to see Racetrack standing closest to us. His arms were crossed over his chest and a huge smirk was on his face. The rest of the newsies stood behind him, snickering and trying to stifle their laughter. "Oh god..." I muttered. I lifted up Skittery's arm and moved it so I could stand up.

In doing so I woke up Skittery. "Is...Kloppman's wakin'...? I didn't do it. Time to sell papes..." He mumbled, still keeping his eyes closed. "Not exactly, Skitt." Race said loudly. Skittery opened his eyes. At first he looked confused, but then his eyes went from the burnt out lantern, to the blanket under him, to me standing next to him. "What- What are you guys doin' heah!?" He asked, scrambling to his feet.

"We live heah, genius." Dutchy replied. "Yeah, well obviously I know dat..." Skittery said, nervously scratching the back of his neck. "But uh... I mean, when did ya get back?" He asked. "'Bout ten minutes ago. Da storm got real bad last night and we had to spend da night in Brooklyn. It was bout 9 AM when we walked back, so we missed da mornin' edition 'nd just decided to come back heah." Jack explained.

"Dat's when we saw you two..." Crutchy said, grinning. "We'se been debatin' whedda to wake ya up or not, because ya just looked so cute 'nd all."

The newsies laughed while both mine and Skittery's faces went beet red. "Shut up, guys..." He growled. "So dats why you wanted to stay home last night...Huh, Skitt?" Specs teased. "No, it ain't. I told you, I had a bad da-"

He was cut off by Snipeshooter. "I thought you was missin' out on da poker game, Skittery. But obviously da two of ya enjoyed yourselves too." The group burst out into laughter again.

Skittery narrowed his eyes at them, but it just made them laugh even harder. He muttered angrily under his breath and picked up his hat, which must have fallen off while he slept. Quickly putting it on his head, he trudged out of the lodging house.

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I waited a few hours, but Skittery didn't come back to the lodging house. Sometime after noon we left without him to go to the distribution office. Since we missed the morning edition, we would have to sell the afternoon.

I stood on the long line with Blink. He was the only one who wasn't teasing the crap out of me about that morning. "Hey, look... Dere he is..." I said, pointing towards the front of the line. Blink followed my gaze and saw Skittery standing a few people away from the desk.

Looking over his shoulder, Skittery's eyes met mine. He stared at me for a second, before looking the other way like he hadn't even noticed me at all. "What's his problem?" I asked Blink. He shrugged. "I dunno. Guess he's still pissed off 'bout all da comments from da guys."

"Yeah, but he doesn't have a right to be mad at me... I didn't say anythin'..." I replied. I watched Skittery quickly buy his papers and exit the gate. "Maybe he's tryin' to steer clear of ya, so da others leave him alone." Blink suggested.

We bought our papes and headed out into the streets. I sold with Blink again. None of the newsies really liked selling the afternoon addition. At least in the morning people were heading off to work. By the afternoon people had already heard the news of the day, and only few people bought papers.

We finished around 7 and met up with Mush and Race around Central Park. Together, the four of us walked to Tibby's. When we walked through the door, Jack, David, Les, Snitch, and Specs were sitting at a table. Racetrack went to a booth behind them and slid in, greeting them. Mush followed him and sat next to him.

Blink and I slid in across from them. Picking up menus, we spend a few minutes deciding on what we wanted. A waitress came to take our orders and scribbled mine, Blink's, and Race's down in a notepad. When it was Mush's turn to order, he looked up at her and started tripping over his words.

"I'll have a... um... what am I gonna have again?" He asked, turning to Blink. "Didn't ya say you were gonna have a ham sandwich?" Blink replied.

"Oh... oh yeah. I'll have a ham sandwich please." Mush said, blushing and smiling shyly at her. She laughed. "Are you alright? You seem flustered..." She asked Mush, picking up the menus from the table. I looked up and really noticed her for the first time. She had long blonde hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. She looked about our age, if not a little older.

"No, no...I'm just..." Mush tried desperately to think of something to say, but he was way too nervous. "We'se never seen ya 'round heah before, 'nd we come all da time... Ya just start woikin' heah?" Race asked, changing the subject. Mush shot him a thankful look.

The waitress laughed. "I live in the same apartment building as the owner. He needed a few workers, so I told him I would help out for a while. Anything to get myself work outside of those dreadful factories." She replied, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

She tucked her notebook into her apron. "I have to get back to work now, but it was nice chatting with you. If you come here as often as you say, I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot of you. I'm Grace, by the way." She said, smiling. Before she left the table, she winked at Mush. Judging from the lack of color in his face, I'm pretty sure he was about to faint.

I heard the bell on the door ring and looked up to see Skittery. He saw me and moved his gaze to the far wall of the restaurant. "Hey, Skitt! Over-" Skittery walked right past our table. "Here..." David finished, scratching his head in confusion. "Alright, never mind then..." He muttered, completely lost since he wasn't at the lodging house that morning to witness what happened.

I watched Skittery sit down alone at a two person table. He was across the restaurant, far away from all of us. I sighed and turned back around.

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Mush dropped his half-eaten sandwich in his plate and rested his head in his hand. "What's wrong?" I asked, putting down my drink. Mush had an upset look on his face. Racetrack followed Mush's gaze across the room. "Looks like da waitress is already gettin' kinda friendly wit Skitt." Race commented.

I turned around and looked over. The waitress was sitting across from Skittery. He was drinking a coffee, and she was leaning forward onto the table with her hand under her chin. I couldn't see Skittery's face, but the waitress was beaming and giggling at whatever Skittery said.

I twisted forward in my seat again. A feeling of anger built up in the pit of my stomach. She really has some nerve... I mean, she JUST met him... I thought. Wait... am I... jealous?I shook the thought from my head. No way. I don't have any claim on Skittery or anything... It's not like we're a couple...

"Shadow, you okay?" Race asked. "Of course I am. Why do ya aks?" I said, trying to make myself sound calm. He shrugged. "Maybe it's dose french-fries dat you're murderin'." He said, pointing down to my plate.

I was subconsciously squashing my french-fries with my fork until they looked like mashed potatoes. Blink put his hand on my shoulder. "It's a'right if you're mad, Shadow. I mean, if ya like Skittery and she's flirtin' wit him 'nd all den that's gotta make ya feel real-"

"It doesn't. Gretchen can flirt with him as much as she wants for all I care." I responded, cutting Blink off. "Grace." Mush muttered. We all looked up at him, puzzled. "Her names Grace." He repeated in a small voice.

"Yeah, well... Whatever her name is. I don't care. And I definitely don't like Skittery." I told Blink. He opened his mouth to say something, but I stopped him before he could. "And don't say nuttin' bout dis mornin' neither. It just looked like more than it was. It was a mistake, because I don't like him." I said, louder than I had expected to. A few other people started to look over in our direction.

Blink shut his mouth again and none of us said another word.

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Uh oh... Looks like Shadow's got some competition, huh?

Thanks for reading, guys. Please review with all your comments and criticism. I'd love to hear them.

To the people who have been reviewing-- Thanks so much. I love you guys.

And don't forget to get the website for the 2007 Newsies Rally in NYC!!!