Disclaimer: I still don't own Newsies.
A/N: And the winner is...K KELLY! The question of the last chapter was who's birthday is it going to be on February 16th, and K Kelly correctly answered Kara Lindsay! YAY! So, sorry I'm updating as Valentine's Day is coming to a close; I had stuff to do. Also, I will NOT be writing about the art convention thing. I do doodle, but I'm not an artist, and I don't know the first thing about conventions or high school. Sorry. Let's go!
Katherine decided if the torture ever ended, she would never, ever try to like someone ever again. It was a painful thing. The whole day, all she could think about was Jack. When she was doing her homework, she thought about Jack. When she was having dinner, she thought about Jack. When her parents were saying that she was probably thinking of Jack at dinner, she was thinking of Jack. Finally, when she was supposed to be sleeping, she instead gazed at the ceiling. And thought about Jack. She really wanted to just kill someone (including Jack) now. She didn't even want to think about the boy she had only met just two days ago. It annoyed the heck out of her. She didn't want to fall in love. She wanted it to stop. Like, now.
However, Katherine was a mostly nice girl, and she while she wasn't the kind of girl to be wooed with a few sugary words, she also wasn't the kind of girl to ditch a kind of sort of friend after a couple days.
Oh, the dilemma.
Most of the thinking about Jack was contemplating her feelings about him. Did she like him? Probably. Would she want to pursue a relationship? Yes. Would she pursue a relationship with him? Uh, I don't think so. For all she knew, he could already have somebody to love. She tried not to think about that.
"Too much thinking," she groaned as she flopped back onto her bed. Sadly, it was the weekend, and with nothing to do, she had too much spare time to think about J-no, she wasn't even going to think his name. Not this time!
But of course she thought about it, and the cycle started over again.
I wonder if he misses me, she mused, tapping her chin with a pencil. I miss him. I need someone to talk to. Then, she thought, NO! Stop thinking! It's dangerous!
So, to distract her thoughts, she opened up a notebook and began weaving a story. Journalism may be Katherine's thing, but occasionally, she had to take a break and write some enjoyable fiction.
For about two hours, she was doing fine. The story flowed from her pencil to the page as the plot and the characters began to build. Good job, Katherine, she mentally praised herself, This here is some good writing. Ideas were popping into her head one after another: a clever way to word this, and a plot twist over there, and maybe a new character! She added all of these, but once she added the new character, things started to go wrong.
Deep in the back of her mind, Katherine must have still been thinking about a certain boy subconsciously, because as she began to introduce this character, he didn't end up being the person Katherine had planned. The character was written like Jack.
In realization at what she had done, Katherine flung her pencil across the room.
"Dang."
Needless to say, everyone was extremely impressed with Jack's artwork. There were even a couple critics from universities and stuff, and even they complimented Jack on his art. Naturally, Jack was ecstatic. Maybe he could, like, get a scholarship or something into a fine college, and make his parents proud. Especially his mom. His mom would love that.
"I can't wait to tell Kath-" he told himself before pausing. There was that name again. Katherine. Since yesterday, that single name had been plaguing his mind. Katherine Plumber. Even his parents seemed to pick up on his Katherine-centered behavior.
"My, my," his mom had said, "Someone has a crush on Miss Plumber, hmm? It's been 'Katherine' this and 'Katherine' that all day, Jack!" Jack realized she was right.
Meanwhile, he also thought about what Davey had said when Jack called him yesterday. He said that Jack usually fell for a girl every week, give or take. And, fine, Jack would admit Davey was also correct. But he never recalled being this hung up on a girl after just meeting her. He was the Jack Kelly! He was never supposed to fall this hard.
He was sure of one thing: he did like Katherine Plumber. Whether she like him or not, he had no clue. And only time could tell how long the feelings would last…
Jack hit his head against the wall. All this stress over one girl didn't seem like it was worth it. But yet, all he could think about was her. He thought about where she was, or if she wanted to talk to him as much as he wanted to talk to her.
Oh, don't be a sap, Jack snapped at himself angrily. I just need something to draw.
He whipped out his sketchbook and slammed it down onto his desk, and immediately began to work, sketching lines with his pencil vigorously. He drew all through the night.
It was about midnight, and Mrs. Harrison (In case you forgot, Mrs. Harrison is Jack's mother. She has a different last name because Jack's parents are adoptive) saw that her son Jack's bedroom light was still on. Quietly, she crept up to his room, where the door was ajar. She peeked her head in.
"Sweetie, are you-?" she paused when she saw Jack.
The boy lay sleeping on his desk, having passed out there. His head rested on his arms, and in his hand was a pencil. Under his arms was his sketchbook. He must have been drawing something, Mrs. Harrison realized. Unable to resist her curiosity, she carefully removed the sketchbook.
The drawing was of a beautiful girl with curly brown hair. It was titled, "Katherine."
A/N: I FINISHED! Geez, this writing gig is hard. Reviews are totally optional but totally appreciated. Reviews show me that you believe in me, and according to what we learned from Something to Believe In, I will believe in you, and I will believe in you believing in me, and we will all believe in each other, and I will believe in myself, which equals me updating sooner. Don't ask me how that works. THANK YOU!