Hidden Romances

Chapter 7

On Saturday, Mush decided to introduce me to the newsies. He walked me to the lodging house and stopped me before entering.

"Okay, before I let you in an' introduce you to the guys, I should tell you something. This really isn't your kind of scene. I mean, it's really crowded, and loud, and kinda dirty. And some of them smoke. I just don't--" I cut him off.

"I'll be fine. Don't freak out," I laughed. He sighed.

"Okay, don't say I didn't warn ya," he said. We went inside and the smell of smoke immediately washed over me. All eyes turned to Mush and I the minute we walked in. "Guys, dis is Ellie," he introduced, "Ellie, this is Kid Blink," he pointed to a boy that looked a bit older than me with an eyepatch.

"Hi," I held my hand out for him to shake. It looked like he was going to spit in his hand, but stopped himself short and took my hand.

"And this is Crutchy, Skittery, Boots, Race, Les, and Davey," Mush pointed to all of the boys as he introduced them. I noticed the boy with the curly dark hair and stunning blue eyes, it was Davey. He went to the same school as me up until a couple of days ago.

"Wait a minute, Davey? What are you doing here?" I asked. Davey was really intellegent and was the last person I would ever expect to drop out of school.

"Um, can we talk for a second?" he asked. Mush looked at me with a confused look on his face. I nodded at him and went outside with Davey.

"Davey, you are so smart! Why would you drop out of school?" I didn't understand why anybody that smart would drop out of school.

"My dad got hurt in a factory incident. They fired him 'cause he couldn't help them, so my younger brother, Les and I have to sell papers to support my family. So go and tell all of your little rich friends that I'm a newsie," he said the last part a bit rude. I pulled him into a hug.

"I'm not going to tell any of my friends, I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't have any friends," I pulled away before continuing, "and besides, I'm hanging out with newsies, so we're on the same boat," I laughed. He flashed a smile and went back inside. I followed shortly behind him. We joined the rest of the boys and I sat down next to Mush while Davey sat back where he was.

"How do ya guys know each otha'?" Mush whispered.

"We went to school together," I replied. I remembered the time when Davey and I were best friends. It wasn't even a long time ago. I think it was up to eighth grade, we're in tenth now. I don't know why we stopped hanging out, and even though I didn't know why, I missed him.

"Hey, Davey, why don't ya and Ellie sell a couple of papes tagedda?" Mush suggested. My head snapped to him with a confused look on my face.

"Yeah, why not? Ellie wanna sell a couple with Les and I tomorrow?" Davey asked.

"Sure" I smiled. Tomorrow was Sunday, anyway. Plus, I would love to catch up with Davey.

****

"Hey, Davey," I greeted. I met Mush at the lodging house early that morning, telling my mom that I was getting some stuff from the farmer's market. "Hi, Les," I smiled.

"Hi, Ellie," Davey said. He already had his papers in hand. Another boy wearing all grey with a red bandana and dirty blonde hair walked up.

"Who's dis?" He asked.

"Uh, Jack, this is Ellie, she goes to my school. Ellie, this is our friend, and selling partner, Jack Kelly," he introduced.

"Hi," I said. We shook hands.

"Jack, Ellie's gonna tag along with us today," Davey said. I nodded.

"Really? Is she gonna help us?" Jack asked.