Hello! Review and Read On!

- Emily

The next morning the siblings walked to the Paper Distribution together. Well, actually Andrew just dropped her off. He had to go to Brooklyn.

"Bye Andrew!" She called. He waved behind him as he jogged down the street.

"Whoa! Was that a Brooklyn newsie, Flame? How'd ya know 'im?" Specs asked, walking up behind her.

"Oh, um, he is my neighbor." She said, plainly.

"Cool. But, why doesn't he sell with us? Why walk all the way to Brooklyn?"

"I don't know. None of my business." Specs shrugged and motioned for her to follow him. They found Race sitting on a stack of newspapers and joined him.

"Hey, Flame! Was that a Brooklyn newsie?" Race asked.

"Geez! Does information travel that fast!" She threw her hands up in the air and groaned. The boys laughed.

"Get used to it, Flame!" Just then, Jack walked onto a large stack of papers. Behind him, was David.

"Yo! Newsies! Listen up! Today, we start our protest! We is strikin' now! Every scabba we see, what do we do?"

"Soak 'em!" I shouted.

"That's right, Flame! We soak 'em!" The boys cheered. Never, in a million years, had Maya seen such excitement! David jumped up beside Jack.

"Boys, we have to seize the day! We have to make the most of every minute! We must arise, seize the day! We can't go beat kids up in the street!" He said. Maia rolled her eyes.

"Soak 'em!" She yelled, fist in the air. The others followed her example, and she laughed at Davids flabbergasted face.

"Seize the day! Seize the day! Soak the Scabba's! Seize the day!" They chanted, running around the distribution, ripping the papers to shreds. Maia followed Specs and Race around, laughing and shouting along with them. The trio crumbled the shreds into balls and had a 'newspaper ball fight'. The fun seemed to end to quickly, however, when the Delancey Brothers stepped in.

"Well, what is going on here?" Morris asked. Maia pushed to the front, standing by Jack.

"It's a strike, muttonhead. Can't ya see? Or are ya' blind?" A few newsies laughed, but Specs and race pulled her into the middle of the group to prevent being pumbled.

"You think your so tough, don't ya' new guy?" Morris asked. In response, she picked up one of the paper balls and threw it at his head, frowning.

"Shut up, would ya'? Your borin' me, Delancey!" She said. Jack launched forward and punched Morris in the gut. That's when all heck broke loose.

Boys were everywhere, fighting. Unfortunately, the Newsies were getting the beating of their life. Jack was busy fighting two scabs at once, Specs was trying to get his glasses back, and Race was getting punched in the face. The odds did not look good.

Maia, on the other hand, had attracted the attention of Morris. They had a pretty good fight going on. She punched him in the nose, and he kicked her in the side. Neither were planning of giving up, though. Finally, after what seemed like hours of fighting, the police arrived.

"About time! We are gettin' killed out 'ere!" Race said, running up to the police. The police slapped Race across the face.

"Ow!" He shouted, holding his cheek. Maia ran up to him.

"What was that for! Oh, wait." She said, coming to realization that they weren't here to fight for them, but against them. Letting out a light laugh, she walked back into the crowd. The police charged, chucks and sticks raised, hitting every person in sight.

Morris struck her cheek, making her hat shift. Panick rose in her face and she tried to adjust it. Morris, however, didn't seem to notice and took advantage of her pause. He grabbed her throat in a choke hold, and she crumbled to her knees. her hands flew to his, trying to pry them open. It was no use, the grasp was too strong. She felt her lungs on fire, and black dots danced in her vision.

So, this is what dying is?" She thought. Her vision blurred, and the last thing she saw was a bunch of boys with sling shots burst into view, and Morris get punched until he released her and collapsed.

"Flame. Flame, wake up. Come on, please!" Her eyes fluttered open and she realized she was no longer at the paper distribution. She was lying in a bed, surrounded by the newsies. At her side was Specs, Race, and Andrew.

"W-what happened? I-I'm not dead?" She asked.

"Flame, knock it off with the voice." Race said.

"Voice? This is my-" Then she looked down and saw her hair over her shoulders. She reached up for her hat, but it was gone.

"Dang!" She whispered.

"Maia, why don't you tell everyone. The truth is out, anyway." Andrew said. She sighed and tried to sit up, but a burst of pain shot to her head. Specs put his hands on her shoulders and lied her back down.

"No, don't sit up." He said.

"Fine. Look, my name isn't Micheal, it's Maia. Andrew is my brother. My dad is very firm on believing that only boys should work and provide for the family, until I convinced him to let me help our neighbor out with chores. She helped me disguise myself as a newsie and I have been going behind his back sellin' papes." She explained.

"Why is sellin' papes so important to ya'?" Jack asked.

"We has no food. Andrew here doesn't even have a bed, or any other furniture! We's needed money." She said.

"Well, it's nice to see the real you, Flame." Specs said.

"Wait, so I'm still one of you guys?" She asked.

"Heck yeah! Why wouldn't you be? Bein' a goil shouldn't determine if ya' sell or not!" Jack said. She smiled.

"Well, we better go. Dad will flip if we are late." Andrew said. He picked Maya up like a baby and started to walk.

"I can walk." She protested.

"No, you can't. You nearly died. Let someone take care of ya' for once!" Andrew laughed. She stuck her tongue out. Then, a thought hit her,

How can I hide this from Dad?

Well, there it is! I couldn't fall asleep, and I think I'm going crazy. I was roleplaying by myself. No, really, I was all like:

Me: SPECS SHUT UP AND GO TO SLEEP!

"Specs": Scoop, why are you so mad?

Me: We have been sellin' papes all day and it is midnight! Go to bed!

I'm crazy...and so due to my craziness I give you CHAPTER 6! *cue thunder* lol

- Emily