Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Newsies.

A/N: By the way, my dear reader who is...reading this, I really love you, because YOU put up with my sporadic, terrible updating habits and for that, you are the GREATEST! Also, to those who review and follow and favorite, you guys are my light. For me, it's always encouraging to look back at what people have said while writing. Thank you.

The rest of the week was absolute awkward torture for Jack. Every time he ran into Katherine (which was a lot, since he had made a promise to walk home from school with her every day and was also her next-door neighbor), he felt like crawling into a hole and dying. Did she like him or not? After all, she had kissed him...but on the cheek, like in a friendly manner, which boggled up the definite answer by a lot.

In his anxiety, he even asked Davey for advice, which turned out to be a not-so-great idea.

"Just ask her if she likes you," his friend advised, giving Jack a look that said isn't-that-so-obvious-gosh-you're-dense.

Jack responded, "Aghhh, you can't just walk up to a person and ask them if they like you!"

"Why not?"

"You wouldn't understand! And if the answer's so obvious, how come I don't see you with a girlfriend?!" Jack ranted.

"I don't need a girlfriend. I have my brother to take care of," Davey answered smugly. Jack groaned again.

And so, the whole situation remained unsolved to Jack.

Perhaps the worst part of it all was that Katherine remained totally oblivious to Jack's discomfort. When next he saw her, on the morning after their whatever it was over coffee, she was just extremely cheerful and it was as if nothing happened.

Now, it was Friday, and Jack was sitting in class during the last period of the day, musing over the last couple days. Maybe, since she was acting like nothing ever happened at all, that means she thinks nothing did happen, Jack thought to himself. Is that a sign?

Then, a tap on the shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Psst, Jack! Pay attention!" Davey scolded him, who was seated behind him, "You're over-thinking the whole thing, so forget it!"

Jack looked around to make sure the teacher's attention was not on them, then turned around to face his friend, "Hey, it's just troubling, okay? Right now, we're only friends, and I don't wanna ruin the relationship, and-"

"Stop it," Davey snapped, "You won't ruin your friendship."

Jack scoffed, "Don't try to reassure me, you couldn't know whether it would or not."
"Oh, but I would," Davey countered proudly, "I asked her myself."

There was a screeching halt in their conversation as Jack considered David's words. The tension seemed extremely palpable. They both stared at each other, not blinking. As the dismissal bell rang, they still sat there, staring.

Finally, "You what?!"

"Oh, whoops, I was planning on telling you later when you finally found the guts to just ask her."

"Why would you do that?!" Jack wailed in dismay, shoving his face into his palms and slumping down onto his desk.

Davey shrugged, "I don't know! We were just working together in class one day and then were were just talking and, I don't know, you came up and...yeah."

"Wh-what did she say?" asked Jack frantically.

"You need to find out by yourself, Jack."
"Davey, don't do this to me! Please."

Davey sighed, then got up from his seat, "Come on, let's go. I'm going to be late."
Jack reluctantly got up. Then, realization flickered in his eyes.

"Dang it!" he yelled in frustration, "I have to walk back with Katherine now! Look what you did, Davey!"

"Whoops."

Jack took in a deep breath as he walked toward Katherine. He ran a hand through his hair, put on his regular confident facade, and went to greet her.

"Hey, Katherine," he called with a somewhat forced smirk.

"You're smirking," the girl noted with a smile.

Jack frowned, "What about it?"

"I haven't seen you smirk since Tuesday," she replied, then laughed, "It was getting concerning. I was wondering if you were sick or something." So she did notice, Jack thought.

"No, I wasn't sick," he said, "Just...stressed...about school, you know?"

Katherine laughed again, blowing some loose strands of hair away from her face, "I know, right? Even with the weekend break, I'm not sure I'll be able to finish my homework until maybe Sunday night! I was talking to Davey about it, and he agreed." That's not the only you talked about with Davey, thought Jack in a disgruntled manner.

Abruptly, Katherine's animated expression turned into a frown, "What's wrong. You're all grumpy all of sudden."

"Oh, i-it's nothing," Jack answered hastily, shoving his hands into his pockets. As Katherine hesitantly continued her talk, with Jack only kind-of listening, Jack started to think about Davey's advice. Just ask her if she likes you. You won't ruin your friendship. Maybe...maybe he could just give it a try.

When they reached their apartment complex, Jack quickly composed himself, and turned to Katherine.

"Hey Katherine, I heard something from Davey that I want to ask you about…"

A/N. Whoops, short chapter. I could write the next part, but I have some more stories to update. I wanted to do this one first since it's been...gosh, it's been more than 3 months. Sorry about that. Anyway, I'll probably get them together soon, maybe even the next chapter. THANKS FOR READING!