Christina

"So, you've really been locked up in this room for seven weeks?" I glanced at Quint before I let my gaze drop again. It was early morning, and I was still curled up in one of the beds. I barely slept at all. My rib was throbbing throughout the entire night.

Quint nodded his head and bit his lower lip. "I have the markings to prove it." He pointed to the wooden part of his bunk bed. It had tally marks that were etched into the dark aging wood.

I wondered how long I would have to stay here. "Hasn't it been pretty lonely?"

"Not really. I've learned how to entertain myself," He pulled out a short pocket knife and dug it into the wood to mark another day. "I should mark last night. I didn't have time to do that till now."

He's probably saying that 'cause he had to take care of me.

I sighed deeply. "Guess I can count this as my first day."

***

Jack

As I stood in line for papers, I could hardly keep my eyes open. I hadn't slept the night before, for I kept thinking about Chris.

Is she safe? Is she okay?

These questions ran over and over in my mind like a broken record, except, I couldn't turn this record off.

As if he could read my thoughts, Race laid a hand on my tense shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Jack. We will get her back." Despite the comforting tone of his voice and words, they didn't help me feel better.

"Next!" Mr. Wiesel yelled. The old man stared at me in the eye as I stepped up in line. He snickered. "How are ya, Cowboy?"

"Fine. Did ya miss me, Weasel?" I asked sarcastically, digging around in my pants' pocket for some change.

"Yes, I missed ya so much!" he returned the sarcasm back to me. He raised a finger in the air. "Oh yeah, I made sure that Oscar and Morris didn't hurt ya pal too badly, ya know, with her being a girl and all."

I could barely keep myself from wanting to strangle the man. I slapped my hands on the counter. "Don't ya ever touch her again, Weasel, or else--"

"Or else what?" he paused, waiting for me to reply back, but I instead kept my mouth shut. He raised his hands in surrender. He whispered, "We just needed to teach ya two a lesson."

"Dat's it," I growled. I launched myself over the counter and through the gate that protected him when I felt multiple pairs of hands grab me, yanking me back from the counter. I fought against their grips, but there was too many of them. I thrashed my body back in fourth. My clothing became a tangled mess on my body.

"Jack, stop!" I heard Mush plead.

I turned back to see Race, Mush, Blink, and Davey all pulling me back. I decided it wasn't worth trying to fight against them. I stopped struggling, and they finally took their hands off of me.

"Do you really have to attack him, Jack?" Davey stepped in between Wiesel and me. His voice was filled with such concern that it made me sick.

I shoved him backward. He flew back and ran right into the wall. "When a jerk soaks somebody ya care about, ya wanna soak 'em back!" I shouted, getting close to his face until we were only inches apart. Davey's baby blue eyes were full of hurt and his eyebrows furrowed together with worry. I ignored him and turned back to Wiesel. I furiously smacked the money on the counter. "Just give me fifty damn papes, Weasel." I spat the last word out like it was hot poison.

"Fifty papes for the Cowboy." He said, directing the request towards Morris, who was standing by his uncle's side. Within a couple seconds, freshly printed newspapers were sitting in front of me. I slipped them into my hands, trying to still contain myself.

"Bye, Jackie!" Morris gave a patronizing smirk towards me, along with a sarcastic wave.

"Go screw yourself, Morris," I said in the same mocking tone that he gave to me.

And with that last remark, I walked down the stairs of the distribution center and headed towards my selling spot.

***

After a difficult day of selling, I tiredly sat in a chair of the orphanage. All the other newsies were spread around me. They all kept their eyes glued to me like they were waiting for me to say something.

"Uh, guys..." I paused for a moment, brushing my fingers through my hair. "I just wanna say that I'm sorry for being an ass this mornin'. You guys didn't deserve to be lashed out at like that." I made eye-contact with all of my friends.

Blink was the first person to speak. "It's alright, Jack. We understand that ya are upset 'bout Chris." He laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"Thanks," I gave a small, weak grin at him. "Are you all still wantin' to help me break Chris out?" Most of the boys nodded their heads. "Good! I only need two people to help me. Who wants to go?" I scanned the boys for any eager faces.

"I'll go." Davey raised his hand slowly like he was unsure if he really wanted to pull this stunt with me.

"And I'll go." Race gave his signature, unforgettable smirk to me.

"Great. It's all settled. We'll leave soon." I said as I stood up from the chair.

***

I needed to find Chris. I had already tried at least fifteen rooms before this and nobody knew a single thing about her. It was already late into the night and I was beginning to get more and more impatient. Davey and Race were on either side of me, and they seemed to be getting more impatient as well.

"Let's try dis one," I said, stopping in front of another room.

I knocked on the window. There wasn't a response for a little while. But then, a boy opened the window and said, "Who are you?" he rubbed his eyes like he had been sleeping before I knocked.

"I'm Jack Kelly. Do you know of a girl named Chris?"

The boy gave me a slightly curious look. "Yeah. What about her?" he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm here to break her out. Do you know where she is?" I raised my eyebrows.

"I have her here in my room."

I nearly jumped with joy. Somebody finally can get her for me! "Go get her, will you?" I tried to contain my happiness.

"Sure." The boy walked back into the dark room. I heard some whispers that I couldn't decipher. Before I knew it, the one and only Chris was standing in front of me.

"Chris!" I smiled the biggest smile I ever have. It was such a relief to see her in person. It was as though a weight was lifted from my chest.

"Jack!" she returned the smile. "How...how did ya get here?" she seemed to be extremely surprised.

I smirked. "It took some foolish nuns and my buddies Davey and Race."

She gasped. "Race? Davey? Is that you?"

"Sh!" they both simultaneously shushed the girl. She only chuckled in surprise.

Man, how I love this girl!

"C'mon. Let's get you out of here." I said.

She looked back at the boy. "Can Quint come too?" she pleaded.

"Yeah, okay, but we gotta go quick. Come here, Quint." I helped the boy out of the window and on his feet.

"Ah! The freedom, how I've missed it!" he got on his hands and knees and kissed the filthy street.

"Now, Chris," I began to help her. I grabbed her side, and she squealed. "What? What's wrong?" I frantically let go of her.

"Oscar and Morris beat me up real bad, Jack. Quint and I both think my rib is broken from when Oscar punched me in the stomach." She raised her shirt. She was right, over her rib cage, there was a huge wound.

I wanted to scream. Chris didn't deserve this. Nobody deserved this. "Don't ya worry 'bout it, Chris, 'cause I'm gonna soak those Delancey bruddahs real good soon." I resumed helping her out of the window. I made sure to keep far away from her wound.

"Thanks." She said as soon as her feet touched the ground.

I noticed dried blood on the shirt I gave her. "Why do ya have blood on you?" I pointed out some of the spots.

She peered up at me. "Well, I wasn't going to go down without a fight, was I?"

I ruffled her hair. "That's my girl."

Chris's room was relatively close to the entrance of the Refuge, and I was nervous that a Bull was going to see us trying to escape. I felt somebody grab the back of my vest that I was wearing.

"What do you think you're doing, kid?" the person twisted me around. Sure enough, it was a Bull. Another one was standing next to him.

Perfect timin'!

"Dammit." I heard somebody mutter.

The first Bull touched me with his baton. "What is your name?" he started to get closer to me and I continued to back up. He paused, furrowing his thick gray eyebrows. "Hey... You're Jack Kelly!"

"Run," I whispered to my friends.

"What?"

"Run!" I hollered. Before I could take off, one Bull grabbed for my vest. He yanked me backward with such force that caused me to gag. I threw my arms out of the armholes and kept running. He still held onto my vest stupidly. No matter how much I wanted to deny it to myself, I was terrified. Adrenaline pumped through my blood and I could feel my insides boiling like soup.

"Come back! All of you!" he screamed after us. I managed to catch up to Davey. We ran together, our arms pumping back and forth in harmony.

"I knew we shouldn't have done this!" he managed to say despite his huffing and puffing.

"Shaddup!" I pushed him ahead. Chris was a little ahead of me. Her face was scrunched up in pain as she kept a hand on her rib cage.

In the distance, I saw an open alleyway. "Up there!" I yelled to my friends. I pointed to the opening, and they acknowledged me. The wind whistled viciously in my ears. One by one, each kid slipped into the dark alley. I was the last one. The two Bulls ran past the alley, still thinking that they were chasing after us.

There were a few moments of panting and grunting before Davey spoke, saying, "That was close,"

"Too close."

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