"Newsies! Hit the streets!"

I shoved my pillow over my head and groaned loudly.

What time was it?

I heard the commotion around me as the boys all climbed down from their bunk beds and threw off what was left of their blankets.

I felt someone poke my cheek.

"Hey. Hey. Hey Freckles.  Freckles. Fre-"

"What do you want?" I asked, sitting up to face Race.

"Get yer bum up."

"I am up you nitwit!"

"Then yous better hurry n' get dressed or you'll be last in line for the bathroom!"

I groaned and flopped back on the bed, resting my arm over my eyes.

"Hey! That's my cigar!"

"Go steal another one later!" I heard Specs yell.

I stretched and slid down out of bed, landing on the floor.  I stood up and brushed the dust off of me before reaching under the bed and grabbing my small torn pillowcase of clothes.

I grabbed the only outfit in there before trudging to the bathroom and waiting outside the door, checking my watch on my wrist.  It was old and rusty; barely worked honestly but somehow it still told the time.

"Come on Romeo! Hurry up in there!" I yelled, banging on the door.

The door opened and I nearly ended up hitting Romeo in the face.

"All yours Freckles." He said.

"Why must everyone call me that?" I asked, "Jack gets to go by his name."

"Well, Kylie," He said, "Yous covered in freckles if yous haven't noticed yet.  Plus why wouldn't yous want a cute nickname?"

He booped my nose and I scowled, watching him walk off while fixing his newscap.

I walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

It wasn't necessarily the best bathroom.  It had a toilet (thank goodness) and a sink that only let out a small trickle of freezing water.  The wallpaper was old and peeling, showing most of the wall underneath.  If we wanted some kind of "bath" we'd have to use that sink.  Not that we even had soap though, that was way too expensive; even with how Jack was selling.

I began to undress, slipping on my pair of tights (with a bunch of holes in them.  I couldn't afford new ones though), a red skirt and a plaid dress shirt about two sizes too big.  I rolled up the sleeves so they didn't flop on my hands and braided my hair before slipping my newsboy cap over it.

"Freckles! Hurry it up!"

"I'm coming!" I yelled, opening the door and running out.

I threw my pillowcase back under my bed and dashed down the stairs to see all of the boys there putting on their shoes.

I sat down and began lacing my boots, tying the laces in bows.

I felt a hand on my shoulder followed by Jack's voice.

"Yous ready?"

I stood up and saluted, "Ready as I'll ever be."

"Ya did pretty good at sellin' last week.  Yous finally gettin' the hang of it."

I grinned with a quick thank you before we all headed outside.

The sun was barely peeking over the tall buildings and shining over us.  We walked down the sidewalk and towards the square that was only about a 5 minute walk from the Lodging House.

"Hey who's that?" I asked, tugging on Jack's sleeve and pointing to the girl walking down the street, arm and arm with a boy in a suit.

I saw Romeo walk up to her and start talking, to her annoyance.  Jack walked up and gently shoved Romeo out of the way.

"Outta the way Romeo," He said, "Care to buy a pape' miss?"

Jack gave her his most charming grin.  And he had a lot of them considering we've all seen him practice them in the mirror; though we'd never tell anyone that.

"The paper isn't out yet." The girl said skeptically, going to move past him.

"I'd be happy ta deliver the headline personally." Jack winked, blocking her path slightly.

I shook my head.  Why must he do this?

"I've got a headline for you." The girl said, standing up straight and taking a step closer to him confidently, "Cheeky Boy Gets Nothing for His Troubles."

Jack's face fell faster than his ego and every Newsie chorused with a loud "Oooooooh!" and words of "Yikes!" "Burn!" and "Nice try Jack!"

I couldn't help but laugh as the girl and boy walked by.  The girl caught my eye and smirked as I mouthed a quick good job to her.

"Guys come on! I think theys puttin' up a headline now!" Specs yelled, taking off into a sprint as we all followed to the locked gates.

"I can't see! I can't see!" I yelled, jumping behind them until I crawled under Race's elbow and grabbed ahold of the bars, ducking down so I could barely see the worker writing on the chalkboard.

Trolley Strike Enters 3rd Week.

Every single one of us let out a groan in unison.

"That's the 3rd week we've done that article!" Henry whined.

We all watched the two most hated boys from Manhattan to Brooklyn walked over to us with a pair of keys for the gate.

"Hey! Make way! Step aside!"

Race snorted, "Well dear me, what is that unpleasant aroma? Could it be- the Delancey Brothers?"

"Ain't yo father one of the trolley strikers?" He then asked, stepping off the platform once the gate was opened and sizing Oscar up.

"Race don't!" I hissed through my teeth.

Oscar shoved Race back and he slammed into Henry.

"Lousy crip!" Morris yelled and grabbed the crutch out from under Crutchie's arm and shoved him down.

Every Newsie began yelling a chaos of profanities to the Delanceys as Henry and I helped Crutchie up.

"Aye! Aye!" Jack shouted, yanking the crutch out of Morris's hand, "Now dat ain't nice Morris."

"Yeah? And what's yo excuse?!"

"One unfortunate day you could have a bum leg of yo own! Then how'd you like us picking on you?!"

Jack turned to the rest of us, "Hey, maybe we should find out!"

He swung the crutch back at Morris and hit him square in the shins, knocking him to the ground before doing the same to Oscar.  Oscar jumped up and grabbed onto Jack, wrestling him for the crutch when Jack flung him off and he landed with a thud!

Henry picked up Crutchie and we all ran as fast as we could; Jack waving the crutch in the air triumphantly. 

We ran to the station to pick up the papers and flung our messenger bags on.

"Papes! Papes for da Newsies!" Weasel yelled loudly.

"Well good mornin' Weasel? Ya miss me?" Jack smirked.

"The name is Why-Zel!" Weasel pronounced his name loudly.

I rolled my eyes.  This was every morning.

"Ain't that what I said?" Jack asked innocently, putting his coins on the box, "I'll take da usual."

"Alright, fifty papes for the wise guy." Wiesel rolled his eyes as Oscar shoved the stack of papers at Jack.

"How's it goin' Weasel?" Romeo asked with a cheeky grin.

"At least call me Mr. Weasel?" The man grumbled.

"I'll call yous sweet'art if you spot me fifty pape's eh?"

"Drop the cash and move it along!" Weasel huffed.

Romeo slammed his coins on the counted with a frustrated sigh before throwing his hands up, "What ever happened to romance?"

"Alright next!"

"Good morning Mr. Weasel." Crutchie said, pronouncing the man's name correctly and putting his money on the box.

I swear this kid is too good for this world; especially New York. I thought.

"Fifty papes for Crutchie." Weasel said to Morris, who took the stack of papers and shoved it into Crutchie's arms.

"The usual please Weasel." I said, putting the coins on the box before walking to Morris to collect my papers and join Jack, Crutchie and Romeo.

"Aye have a look at this! A new kid!"

I turned around quickly to see two boys standing at the front of the line.  One was tall and wearing blue plaid and a look of what I would call fear and a little boy (most likely his brother) in a hat looking to be about 9 years old.

"I'm new too!" The little boy said, stepping up next to his brother, who instinctively put his hand in front of him.

"Don't worry kid, rubs right off!" Romeo yelled.

"I'll take twenty newspaper please." The older one said as the younger boy got a messenger bag from Oscar.

"Twenty papes for the new kid." Weasel called to Oscar, as the older boy began to walk over to him and grabbed a bag.

"Hey!" Weasel stopped him, "Can I see the dime?" He held out his hand waiting.

"I'll pay when I sell them."

"No.  Cash up front." Weasel said, walking over to the two boys.

"But what I don't sell you'll buy back, right?" The older boy asked nervously.

"Really?" Weasel laughed sarcastically, "Then every time you loose a tooth I put a penny under your pillow!" He turned back to Oscar, "This kid's a riot, I'm tellin' ya.  Cash now."

The older boy hesitantly dropped a dime in Weasel's hand before Oscar shoved papers in his hands while Weasel went back to sell to the other boys.

"You have a very interesting face." Race said, leaning against the wall, "Ever think about gettin' into the moving pictures?"

"You really think so?" Weasel asked, slightly impressed.

"Sure! Buy a ticket.  They'll let anyone in!" Race laughed, slapping down the coins and grabbing his papers as Weasel just grumbled a string of profanities at the him.

"Um, sorry, excuse me!" We all turned to the new boy, "I-I paid for twenty but you gave me nine-teen."

Well, he's dead already, ain't he?  I shook my head.

Jack grabbed the papers and began sifting through them, counting to himself.

"Ya know I be nice to the new kid, and what do I get for-" Weasel started.

"I just want what I paid for!"

"Yeah well he said beat it!" Oscar yelled.

"Weasel, the new kids right.  You gave him nine-teen." Jack interrupted, looking back at them, "I-I'm sure it's an honest mistake on account that Oscar can't count to twenty with his shoes on."

Every Newsie yelled some chaotic form between surprise and laughter.

Oscar lunged at Jack and Weasel yanked him back.

I sat on the stack of papers by the wagon, watching the scene go down.

"Here." Weasel shoved a pape at the older kid, "Now take a hike!"

Jack walked up and placed more coins on the counter, "Here, give the him fifty more papes."

"I don't want more papers." The boy said, walking over to Jack.

Jack chuckled, "What kind o' newsie don't want more papes?"

"I'm not a charity case!" The boy shouted, "I don't even know you." He trailed off, walking away before the little boy piped up, "His name  is Jack!"

"Yeah, this 'ere is the famous Jack Kelly!" Crutchie piped up, hoisting himself up with his crutch from where he had sat beside me, "He once escaped jail on the back of Teddy Roosevelt's carriage."

"Aye, how old are you kid?" Jack asked the little boy who'd now climbed ontop of one of the newspaper stacks.

"I'm ten!" He said proudly before his smile faltered, "Almost. . ."

"Well, if anybody asks, you're seven.  See, younger sells mo' papes.  And if we're gonna be partners-"

"Who said we want to be partners?" The older boy cut in.

"Well sellin' wit' Jack is the chance of a lifetime!" Crutchie exclaimed, "You learn from him, you learn from the best.".

"Sure is a good chance kid.  We've been sellin' with him for as long as we can all remember." I chimed in.

"If he's the best, what's he need with me?"

"Uh, cause yous got a little brudda." Jack said, pointing to the small kid, "And I don't.  With this kid we could easily sell a thousand pape's a week.  Watch." Jack nodded towards the smaller one, "Look sad kid."

The little boy stuck out his bottom lip, trembling it slightly and hunched his shoulders over in a gloomy state.

"We're gonna make millions." Jack said.

"This is my brother David.  And I'm Les." The little boy gestured to his brother and back to himself triumphantly.

"Nice ta' meet ya Davey!" Jack said, "Now money-wise we'll split everything seventy/thirty."

"Fifty/Fifty!" Les said, making Jack stop in his tracks and turn back around, "Yous wouldn't try to pull a fast one on a little  kid!"

Jack walked back over to Les, sizing the small boy up before pointing to him, "Sixty/Forty, that's my final  offer."

Les crossed his arms, thinking hard, "Deal."

Jack held out his hand and spit in it as Les did the same.  They looked each other square in the eye and shook hands.

"That's disgusting." Davey said.

"That's just business." Jack replied.

I looked back up at Davey from where I sat, "You kinda get used to it." I shrugged.

I could almost see a small smile on his face before he turned back to Jack and Les.

"Alright," Jack said, climbing up onto the tallest stack of paper, "Newsies! Hit the streets!"

Hello! Yes, so I am Davey Jacobs trash and love him to death so I made this because I have a huge crush on Davey Jacobs/Ben Fankhauser oops.  Also I can't promise the accuracy of the lines.  I couldn't find an actual script of the musical online (if any of you know one feel free to link it to me on my homepage) so I had to watch and rewind one of the few bootlegs that are left out there and try to listen for the lines.  Most of them I get confused with who is saying what so I tend to take a guess so sorry for anything inaccurate! Also I hope you enjoy this and I dunno maybe ship it a little? ;)