Hi guys! I don't know about you, but I am really loving this story. A lot of new characters were added to this chapter. Some you know, other came from my brain and those of my friends. But I digress. Here's chapter three!
If it were up to Katherine, she would go to the hospital and talk to Jack every afternoon after school. Not because she didn't have anything better to do than go hang out with Jack, but she had a feeling that if she didn't go talk to him, no one was going to. But, much to her annoyance, Pulitzer had made his disapprovement very clear.
"You have to keep your grades up," He reminded her for the third time that Monday morning when she got in her car. "Stanford needs you."
Right now, I think Jack needs me more than some college. She wanted to say, but instead just rolled her eyes and closed the car door.
School had been absolutely abysmal. Usually, Katherine was the most energetic learner in all seven of her periods, but today, her mind kept going back to Jack lying in a hospital bed, and IV hooked to his arm and the constant beep of a heart monitor. Her thoughts kept floating back to the boy she saw crying uncontrollably.
"Katherine," Darcy tapped on her shoulder. "Where are you today?
"Oh, sorry," She replied, taking her laptop out of its magenta sleeve. "My mind is like a million miles away."
"May I ask why?" Bill asked, pulling up next to Darcy behind Katherine's shoulder.
"One of my friends is in the hospital," She confided in them.
"Who?" Darcy slid into the chair next to her, resting his head in his hand.
"Uh… Jack Kelly," A look of confusion washed over the two boys' faces. "You probably don't know him." Katherine added quickly.
"I've heard plenty about him," Darcy looked nervous. "He was in the papers a few years ago. Arrested for running from his foster family and attacking an officer."
Katherine stared at Darcy in utter shock, "J-Jack was arrested?"
Darcy nodded seriously. "Kath, how do you know him?"
"He lives a few floors down from me."
Bill paled. "You mean you live in the same building as a criminal?"
"Jack isn't a criminal!" Katherine protested. "You don't know anything about him!"
"My dad owns the newspaper that the story was printed in, Katherine," Bill reminded her. "You think they would embellish something like that?"
"Haven't you heard of yellow journalism?" Katherine retorted, shooting daggers at her so called friends.
The bell rang loudly, signaling the day was over. Katherine picked up her bag without looking back.
She slammed her locker shut, feeling pent up rage bubbling up inside her. As she went to leave the school, Katherine overheard a conversation that made her want to burst.
"He deserved what he got, the bastard," A voice behind her sneered.
"If only Snyder had just killed him; he would have done the entire world a favor."
Katherine wheeled around. Two boys she knew from gym class were behind her, and she knew exactly who they were talking about.
"You don't get to talk about Jack like that!" She pointed her finger at the taller of the two boys. "You have no idea what happened to him! He could have died, and you should just shut your mouth before someone slams a fist into it!"
"And who is gonna do that?" The smaller boy smirked. "You?"
"No, me," Another voice caught Katherine's attention.
Three girls stood behind the two boys. They were a mismatched group, all different heights and hair colors. The girl on the left, with braided caramel hair and key around her neck, stared at the boys with flashing green eyes. The girl on the right, whose mousy brown hair was in a semi tangled mess falling just past her shoulder, had an eyebrow raised behind black eyeglasses. The shortest girl, with a shiny star pendant and unruly black bob tamed by a slouchy gray beanie, was frowning, hands shoved on her hips. With a controlled snap of her fingers, the short dark-haired girl snarled at the boys,
"Hey, Delanceys? Why not keep ya' hands to yourself." And then, she lunged to them, and they scrambled backwards.
"You little-" The two boys were cut off by the girls on the right and left stepping toward them, raising their fists as if to punch them. The boys squealed like they were about to die and ran out of the school. Katherine watched them go, and the girls relaxed their tensed frames, laughing.
Katherine quirked an eyebrow, "Who are you?"
The dark haired one raised a hand, "Stars,"
"Scout," The glasses girl spoke.
Snapping back into reality, the girl with braided hair giggled, "And Keys!" Stars playfully slapped Keys in the arm.
"Um… I'm Katherine," Katherine said awkwardly.
"Oh, we know!" Scout said quickly. "Jack talks about you a lot."
Katherine was surprised. "You three know Jack?"
"Course," Stars said, fiddling with her star. "All of us know the famous Jack Kelly."
"All of who?"
Keys chuckled quietly. Katherine could tell she loved to laugh, and Stars quickly shut her up with a "Keys!" And a sharp jab to her hip.
"Okay okay. But I thought it was funny!" Keys flipped a braid off her shoulder.
"A bunch of Jack's friends live over at the lodging house," Scout explained, pushing her slipping glasses back up the bridge of her nose. "That's what they call it anyway."
"Who?" Katherine repeated.
"C'mon, we'll show ya'," Stars said, adjusting the strap of her grungy messenger bag. "The boys love havin' guests."
"I don't know…" Katherine tucked a stray piece of hair behind her hair. "My father wants me home ASAP…"
"Ya' don't seem like someone who always obeys your father," Stars observed, grinning at Katherine. She smiled back.
"I'll just say I was at journalism club," She said, walking out with the other three girls.
"Isn't Anna gonna notice that we're gone?" Keys asked, looking worried. Stars rolled her eyes at her friend.
"If ya' wanna go home, ya' can. But I think Finch'll wanna see ya'." Stars winked at Keys, who blushed furiously.
"C'mon, love," Scout said, taking Keys' hand.
"We can take my car," Katherine offered. "If you tell me where to go."
"You have your own car?" Keys squealed. "Stars. She has her own car!"
Stars rolled her dark eyes, and nodded to Katherine, "We'll tell ya'. Just start drivin', doll."
After many wrong turns, Scout began to quietly whisper the right turns to Katherine, who hid a grin. These girls were the funniest group she'd ever met. They were all so different, yet they worked together seamlessly.
"Here we are," Stars pointed to a brick building, with a faded green door. It looked like a friendly enough place when it was at its prime. Probably in the early 1900s, Katherine thought to herself.
In the front yard, there was a group of boys playing football, and two sitting off to the side, one chewing gum loudly, the other silently surveying the pack. A happy looking woman was sitting in a rocking chair, playing vaudeville style music from her cell phone, while singing along.
When the girls hopped out of Katherine's car, the gum boy came over and hugged Stars.
"Hey, cutie," He booped her nose, and she gave him a withering look.
"Call me cutie and you die." The boy just laughed, and kissed her forehead. "This idiot is Race, and that's Finch." Stars pointed to the sandy haired boy who kissed her, and next to a Filipino boy who was leaning against a tree, flirting shyly with Keys.
Katherine stared at the crowd, watching the boys interact happily, as if they were brothers. One short boy sidled up to her and winked.
"Hi there, Miss." The boy wiggled his eyebrows.
Smirking, Katherine tilted her head, "Get lost, Romeo."
"She knows my name!" He whispered fiercely to his friends. They just shook their heads, play fighting and joking around easily. She felt a smile grace her face, and Katherine saw the woman stand, and walk over to her.
"Hello there, darling." The woman squeezed Katherine tightly, "Who might you be, coming with the troublesome trio?"
Stars scrunched up her nose, "That's what we are to you, Miss Medda? 'The troublesome trio'? How rude!"
This 'Miss Medda' smiled widely, her dark skin shining in the sunlight, "Well, you do have a reputation to be of the rambunctious sort."
Keys walked over, with Finch dragged behind her, "Miss Medda, am I rambunctious too?"
Medda rolled her eyes and patted Keys on the head, "Yes, my darling. Now, you and your sweet lil boyfriend have my permission to go get the boys some lemonade. It's in the fridge."
The girl bounced back to the house, braids flying behind her. Stars sighed, watching Katherine giggle, "That's Keys for ya'. She's a nervous Nelly, and not the sharpest crayon in the box. But we love her anyways."
"Hey, Stars," Scout said, crossing to the front door, "I'm gonna go catch up on some stuff, 'kay?"
"'Kay, love," Stars winked at her friend, "Tell Crutchie I say hi."
Scout's laugh became really high pitched, "What…! I'm not- That's not why I was- Whaddaya' talkin- I'll tell him ya' say hi…"
The dark haired girl leaned up against Katherine's silver Prius, running a hand through her hair. "So, Katherine, howdya' like the Lodging house?"
Stars followed Scout inside. She turned back and called to Katherine over her shoulder, "Feel free to look around. Imma go hang with the resident idiot here."
"I heard that!" A voice yelled from inside the house.
"Love ya' too!" Stars laughed, closing the door behind her.
Katherine turned to Medda, "Well, I think it's awesome. The boys seem like a handful though."
Medda chortled heartily and wiped fake sweat off her brow, "Whew, they are, lemme tell you. When Jojo had his birthday, Henry baked a cake, and Buttons got into the sugar… That took a week to clean up."
"Wow. You do such a great job with them," Katherine grinned, "Would you mind-?" She gestured to the staircase.
"Be my guest, sugar pie."
Katherine walked up the stairs, and slipped into the largest room. It was filled with bunk beds of all sizes, and clothes were littered across the floor in a manner only known to boys. There were baseballs and books alike, haphazardly scattered on the beds. She turned right back around though, because Scout and a boy with a crutch were talking, and it looked serious. She caught a few fragments as she left.
"... Hospital… She stayed with… Do ya' think…?"
Opening the door to another room, she smelled sweet flowery perfume. The walls were covered in loud pink paint, with posters of old movies. The bed looked large and cushiony. This must be Miss Medda's room. She thought, It certainly has her flair and style. There were beads and strings of fake pearls lying everywhere. To Katherine, it looked like the aftermath of a Mardi Gras party.
Not wanting to pry, Katherine walked out, and slowly went into the last room. It had two bunk beds, and had a few piles of sketchbooks. Opening one, she noticed the drawings inside were of the boys.
There was one of Race blowing a bubble, looking very cross-eyed, and another of the boy with the crutch. He was sleeping peacefully, and he seemed to be breathing through the picture.
One other picture was of the three girls. Stars was standing in the middle, hands on her hips, giving the artist a sassy look. Scout was on the left, pushing her glasses up on her nose, sweet smile playing on her mouth, and Keys was twirling a braid in her fingers, staring off into space. They looked so life-like, Katherine was almost surprised when they didn't start talking to her.
"This is Crutchie's room." Medda's voice made Katherine drop the book, "He shares it with Albert and Mush, but Jack stayed here for a bit. Crutchie couldn't bear to clear his stuff out."
She nodded, "I can see why. They must've been such good friends."
"Oh they were! Crutchie kept Jack outta trouble, I'll tell you that. Jack… he looked out for Crutchie the way no one else did. Only one to every coax him out of his shell. Now, Crutchie's one of the happiest kids here."
Katherine sat on the cool wood floor, and listened to Medda's soothing voice. "Miss Medda, how do you know Jack Kelly?"
Medda's cheerful demeanor faltered, "There's not very much anyone seems to know about Jack. He didn't stay here for very long."
"Was he really arrested?"
Medda nodded seriously, "He was. Pretty much every boy here was, for all the wrong reasons."
"What reasons?"
"They ran away from their foster homes. It's like running away from prison. Once you're in foster care, you belong to the state."
"Then why are all the boys here and not in juvie?"
"The boys around here," Miss Medda gestured to the boys that were laughing just outside the door, "These are the ones that the state knows wouldn't survive there. They send 'em to me instead."
"Why did Jack have to leave?"
Medda sighed, "The man Jack was staying with seemed determined to keep him. He pulled some strings and got him back. I haven't seen him in years."
"He's in the hospital, Miss Medda," Katherine said softly. Medda looked at her with wide eyes. "That man, Snyder… he almost killed him."
Snyder came closer and closer to me, the kitchen knife in his hand seeming a whole lot scarier than it usually did.
"I-I didn't do anythin'!" I tried to protest. He grabbed my wrist and shoved me against the wall. "Please! I didn't do nothin', I-"
"What did I tell you about running away?" Snyder spat in my face, sliding the wide side of the knife slowly down my cheek. He hadn't cut me yet, but I knew he was going to.
"I-I'm sorry, sir," I stuttered, tears falling down my cheeks. He slashed the knife across my forearm.
I screamed.
"Real men don't cry," He said, letting go of my wrist. I collapsed on the floor, cupping the cut on my arm gently. He raised the knife higher.
"No!" I screamed, shielding my face, "Please! No!"
"Jack! Please, wake up! Jack!" Someone was shaking Jack gently. His eyes flew open, terrified. His vision was fuzzy, and although he couldn't see who was talking to him, the voice was clear in his mind.
"Davey?"
And there we go! I added Stars and some other OCs into the story just for the heck of it, and I thought it might be able to make it work. I hope it did...
Thanks to CassieKeys and NewsieGirlScout for letting me use Keys and Scout in this! I hope I did you're newsgirls justice. I also realize that I sort of created the "Schuyler Newsies," but c'mon, that sounds freaking awesome!
Anyways, please review! I'm on spring break right now, so I'll hopefully be able to update quickly. Till next time, my dears! :)
Newsies forever, second to none!