Hey guys! I know I forgot to post last night, so I'm pulling double duty today. My brother's at a friend's house so I have control of the computer. I'm posting this chapter and the next chapter of Ripped Apart should be up later tonight. I'm just kinda stuck on that one. Don't worry. I have a few more chapter ideas, I just need to get them from my head onto the computer. That's my main problem. I have the scenes in my head… just not on paper.

Anyways enjoy! And don't forget to send in request for any stories you'd like to see!

"God," Katherine groaned when Jack and Specs returned with arms full of the snacks for everyone, "Did you guys raid my kitchen or something?"

"It's big enough." Specs shrugged. Jack elbowed him for that but still cracked a smile. "Okay. Who wanted the chips?"

"Right here." Spot called, raising a hand. Specs handed him the bag of chips.

"We got pretzels and a sprite for Romeo." Jack listed off, handing the snacks to Romeo. He nodded his thanks and ripped open the bag. "And we got apple slices for the ever so healthy Crutchie and Davey."

Crutchie and Davey each grabbed a bag as the boys snickered. "Hey, don't go mocking." Davey scolded, "We're doin' something good for our bodies."

The boys laughed a little more. "And we have Chex mix and a Red Bull for Race." He handed Racer the can and bag and sat back next to Spot with his soda.

"Woah." Katherine stopped them. "You can't drink that. That's my dad's special supply of those." She started to stand up to reach for the can, but Jack stopped her.

"Relax, Ace." He calmed as he sat next to her, "Your daddy's not gonna notice one missin' Red Bull."

"And these things are like heaven in a can." Racer argued.

Katherine bit her lip. Jack took it as a sign he knew too well. He pulled out a bottle of Dr. Pepper and a bag of pretzel M&M's. Katherine's face broke into a smile as she snatched the items out of his hands. Jack laughed and draped an arm over her shoulders. "Better?" He whispered in her ear. She sighed again and nodded. "That's what I like to hear." He popped his can of Coke and took a swig.

"Okay. Now that the snacks are here," Crutchie spoke, "Can we get back to the stories?"

"Hells yeah!" Romeo cheered. The rest of the group agreed. "Read the other one by that Music Angel girl. The one she was stuck on."

Crutchie clicked the bio of the author and scrolled down to her stories. "God she is a total fansie." He muttered, "There's a ton of stories about us she's favorited or written. Especially any about you two." He looked at the couple. "You got yourselves a number one fan." The boys all cheered. Katherine rolled her eyes and popped an M&M in her mouth as she locked hands with Jack on her shoulder. Jack sealed the deal with a kiss to the temple. "Enough with the cutesy stuff. The story she was talking about is called Selected."

"Summary?" Romeo prompted.

"It's got three chapters so far. Apparently it's still in progress." Crutchie explained, "It says 'Jack Kelly gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he gets selected to compete for princess Katherine Pulitzer's heart in the Selection, even though he believes she's just a spoiled princess. But when he travels to the castle will he discover there's more to this princess than jewels and fashion?'"

"Oooh." Katherine said excitedly. "That actually sounds really good. Read it!"

Jack laughed a little. "Are you actually gettin' into this fanfiction thing, Ace?"

She shot him a look. "Maybe I am." She snapped and smirked at him, "Problem?"

"Nope." Jack answered, sneaking an M&M off of her. "You're just cute when you fangirl." Katherine faked a gasp and lightly smacked him in the chest. "Okay. You heard the lady, Crutch. Read it."

The boys laughed a little. Crutchie clicked to open the story. "Okay. She always starts with an author's note so it says that she was getting a great response for her other story Ripped Apart so she decided to write this story. It's based off the Selection Trilogy books and she wanted to mash up her two favorite things in the world."

"Hey, it's not just Jackrine." Davey interrupted, "She's all of ours biggest fan!"

The boys cheered. "We's famous boys!" Racer shouted. The boys let out another cheer.

"Okay. Okay!" Katherine quieted. The boys settled down. "I wanna hear this story. Keep reading, Crutchie."

"Ready for the first chapter?" He asked. He was met with a chorus of agreements. "Okay. Here we go."

Chapter 1

"'Your middle name's Michael?' Les piped up" Crutchie read.

"Okay. That's creepy." Jack interrupted, "How'd she know my middle name?" The boys all shrugged at him.

"Oooh. You gots a stalker, Jackie." Spot laughed. The boys laughed with him. Jack shrugged off the line as Crutchie continued.

"He would never have to wake up at the crack of dawn, hoping the headline was good enough to sell. He and the newsies would never go hungry again. Maybe this selection thing wasn't so stupid after all." Crutchie read.

"Aww!" Katherine cooed. "Even in fanfiction, you still are the sweetest guy I've ever met!" She leaned up and kissed him softly. He reached his free hand up and cupped her cheek, deepening the kiss. Suddenly, the couple was ambushed with raining chips and pretzels. "Fine. Fine" The couple raised their hands in surrender, "We'll stop. Continue, Crutchie."

Crutchie nodded and started again. A few moments later, he read, "Manhattan providence would be at the very bottom but at the very top read, Brooklyn – Spot Conlon."

"Hold up a minute!" Spot interjected, "I'm in this selection thing?"

"Apparently." Crutchie laughed. The boys and Katherine laughed. He continued. After a few moments he read, "At the very bottom of the paper, it read, Manhattan – Jack Kelly." No one reacted with shock, and Crutchie was the first to speak up, "Can we all agree we saw that coming with the summary?" A unanimous agreement followed. "Okay. That's how the first chapter ends. Now, chapter 2."

Chapter 2

"Another author's note." Crutchie noted, "She was nervous about posting it. She doesn't usually like AU's but she really loves these books. Then she didn't post over the weekend because she had a dance competition where she won first place and she's really lazy."

"That's my kind of girl." Romeo called out, "A dancer body but still lazy like me. I like her already!"

"I'm sure she'll be glad to hear that." Crutchie retorted. The boys laughed and he started the chapter. "Jack's head spun as he shouted the headline."

"Okay. So it's the Selected, then the Elite and then the prince?" Katherine questioned. The boys nodded. "God. I have a long selection process."

The boys laughed and Crutchie continued. As soon as he finished the goodbye ceremony, the room filled with awes. "Aw." Davey said, patting Jack on the leg. "We love you too, buddy." Jack shoved him away and laughed a little bit, but Katherine was close enough to see the slight pink tint to his cheeks. He gave her a look that said 'You say anything, we're over.' Katherine simply kissed him on the cheek and rested her head on his shoulder, taking a swig of her soda.

Crutchie read on, coming to the part where Jack started his panic attack and got restrained by the guards. "Ah, come on!" Jack objected, "I could take castle guards on any day. I take on the Delancies, don't I?" The boys all nodded in agreement.

"Just wait a minute." Crutchie told them, "You're gonna love this next part." The group turned their full attention on him. "The guards started dragging him to the staircase when a new voice called out, 'Let him go.' The guards immediately stopped in their tracks and released their hold on Jack. Even through his lungs burning, Jack managed to look up to see who his savior was. When he set eyes on her though, he couldn't believe his eyes. Standing in front of him in a simple day gown made of lavender satin, auburn hair curled perfectly with a beauty that took Jack's breath away was none other than… princess Katherine Pulitzer."

"Ooooh!" Katherine squealed, "A twist. I like this girl. A princess coming to a future prince's rescue."

"How do you know he's gonna be the prince?" Spot questioned, sounding defensive, "What if I end up bein' the prince?"

"Cause MusicAngel98 claims to be the ultimate Jackrine shipper." Katherine explained, "Key word, Jackrine. Jack and Katherine. How could he not end up being my prince?"

"Point taken." Spot conceded.

Chapter 3

"So," Crutchie started, pulling up the third and final chapter, "she starts by explaining that the whole Fives, Sixes, etc stuff is a caste system based on wealth. The newsies are all Sixes but the lowest is Eight. So, they're not dirt poor but they're not rich." The group nodded in understanding. Crutchie continued. A few moments later, "Katherine sighed. She wasn't getting anywhere with this boy. She decided he needed his space. Removing her hand, she walked back to the door to the castle. 'Mr. Kelly is allowed to use this space whenever he requires it. Even if I'm not with him.' She told the guards. 'Don't try to stop him from going out there or you'll be the newest Eight.'"

"Wait," Specs sputtered, "Why would she permit Jack to do that? Didn't it say that it was a rule or somethin'?"

"Apparently that's what Jack thought too." Crutchie scanned the screen. He read how Jack was confused that the princess he barely knew had done that. "Aw. You already think of her as an angel." The boys awed and Katherine noticed the pink tint was back in his cheeks. She grasped his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. The boys awed again as Crutchie continued to read. "Katherine returned but without the boys. She didn't say a word about it to Jack but just smiled at him and started her breakfast. The boys were released for the day and the six boys were nowhere to be seen. Finally, Jack connected the dots. Katherine had made her first eliminations. The competition was now down to 19 boys."

The boys and Katherine all gave a dramatic "Ooooh."

Crutchie clicked a button but didn't continue. "Well," Katherine pressed, "Get on to the next chapter! I wanna know what happens!"

"Kath, I told you. It's still in progress and only has three chapters. I just read the third." Crutchie explained.

"What?" Katherine practically shouted, "That's how it ends? I just get rid of six boys and it ends just like that?"

"Apparently," Crutchie sighed.

"God that girl loves to torture her readers, doesn't she?" Katherine sighed and leaned into Jack who gave her a reassuring kiss to the top of her head. "What's the next story?"

"I wanna read that other one she talked about!" Specs suggested, "What was it called."

Crutchie clicked back to the first chapter. "Uh… Ripped Apart." He answered.

"Read that one." Spot said, "It sounds interesting just from the title." The group agreed and Crutchie clicked on the bio once more.

Yeah. I know. Weird ending right? Truth be told, I didn't know how to end this chapter. So, you're all gonna have to deal with it. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed and please leave any story suggestions and I will try to get the author's permission. Don't be afraid, I'm not scared to try something once.

R&R please!

Quote of the Day: Originality is nothing but judicious imagination –Voltaire

Song Suggestion: My Kind of Perfect –David Archuleta