There's a Story Behind the Story || Newsies

Chapter 45 - "Loud and Clear, Mary's Here."

- Chapter 45 - Borough Mess Ups and Practice -
Warnings: mentions of betrayal and the scene from Livesies that we all hate lol
Third Person POV

"Look what we've done!" Rowan exclaimed, gesturing to everyone on the stage. "We've got Newsies from every pape and neighborhood here tonight." Rowan smiled in accomplishment. "Tonight, you're making history," he told them.

Cheers erupted from all sides of the stage.

"Tonight," Rowan started, determined, "we declare that we're just as much a part of the newspaper as any reporter or editor," he said as he looked around at everyone. "We're done being treated like kids."

Josh smiled as he watched from his group of Newsies on the stage.

"From now on," Rowan started. He grinned to himself, "they will treat us as equals." He nodded.

More cheers erupted from the crowd.

"You wanna be talked to like an adult? Then, start acting like one." Jesse walked out on the stage, looking annoyed. "Don't just run your mouth." He glared at Rowan. "Make some sense."

A look of relief crossed Rowan's face as he grinned. "And here's Jack!" he exclaimed, gesturing to Jack.

The cast members started cheering again.

Rowan's grin faltered a bit when he saw the annoyed look on Jesse's face. He looked over at Emilio.

Emilio was standing next to Grayson, leaning against what they were using in place of the scaffolding for the moment. He was watching Jesse.

Jesse seemed to be getting frustrated. "Alright! Alright!" His voice rose, quieting everyone down. Jesse closed his eyes, sighing softly. "Pulitzer raised the price of papes without so much as a word to us and that was a lousy thing to do," he started, his voice back to the volume it normally was.

Shouts of agreement came from some of the cast members on the stage.

Jesse swallowed hard. "So we go on and strike. Then, what happens?" he questioned. "Pulitzer lowers the prices so we go back to work," he answered.

Rowan's eyebrows furrowed.

"And a few weeks later, he hikes the price is back up," Jesse told them. "And don't think that he won't, so what do we do then?" he questioned, looking around at all of the people on the stage. "And what do we do if he raised his prices again after that?"

"What are you doing, Jack?" Emilio whispered, pushing off of the scaffolding and standing there. His eyes were fixated on Jesse.

Mr. Miller and Mr. Johnson exchanged a look.

"I like that," Mr. Johnson whispered to the younger man.

Agreeing, Mr. Miller nodded, writing something down on his clipboard.

"Fellas, we gotta be realistic." Jesse sighed. "We don't work, we don't get paid," he reminded them, a blank look on his face. "How many days can you go without getting paid?" he asked, looking at one of the boys.

Nathan shrugged. "A while," he answered, his arms crossed.

"However long, believe me, Pulitzer can go longer," Jesse continued, not having heard Nathan.