Bell's POV
We woke up early like we usually do. But today was different. Everything seemed different.
Once we got ready, we got our papers. I was about to leave when Skittery came towards me.
"Hey, Bell. Are ya 'right?" he asked me.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm okay." I told him looking at the ground. I faked a smile and looked back up at him.
"Do ya wanna sell papes wit me today?"
"I was going to sell my papers with Charlie and Rosie today because I haven't really gotten to hang out with them a lot if that's okay with you." I rambled.
"Of course dat's fine," he comes closer to me and gives me a small peck on my lips which only made me feel worse about keeping everything from him.
"I'll see ya lata." he told me and walked away. I was supposed to tell him, but every time I'm about to say something, I stop myself. I'm afraid of his reaction. I don't want this relationship to end, but I know if I wait too long, it will only hurt him more when I tell him. And I don't want to ever hurt him or be the cause of his pain. But I am now. I can't take this awful feeling yet I don't want to tell him. Maybe I should forget this ever happened. Maybe I should forget about that night. Maybe I should forget about Spot.
I walked up to Rosie and Charlie.
"Hey" I said grabbing their attention.
"Hey" they both replied.
"Aren't you selling with Skittery?" Rosie asks me.
"Not today. I wanted to hang out with you guys. Is that okay?"
"Of course. I just thought because you two have been spending so much time together." Rosie nudges me. She smiles at me knowing what's going on between Skittery and I.
"What?" I ask her not sure why she's acting like that.
"Well, when we came back from Brooklyn..."
"We saw you two getting really cosy together." Charlie finishes.
"Oh, about that..." I looked at the ground. "we are sorta together now..." I say in a quietly while playing with my hands. It's not that I'm ashamed of our relationship or anything it's just before we came here, we all had an agreement that we wouldn't get attached to anything or anyone.
"We know. And we are okay with it. We all sort of broke that agreement..."
....
The next day was the same routine. Get up, get dressed, sell papers, hang out, and then go to sleep. I didn't tell Skittery, either because I've decided to forget and move on. I'm not going to let Spot ruin everything. I learned from that mistake. I will keep my distance from Spot and everything will be okay. Everything has to be okay.
I woke up with optimism the next day. Everything seems to be going well and I tend to keep it that way.
After everyone sold their papers, we decided to go to Tibby's, a local restaurant, and have some drinks. Only when we walked in, I found out that we weren't the only ones there. The Brooklyn newsies were seated in the corner hanging out. And then there was Spot who was watching us enter from a far.
We made eye contact for a couple of seconds before I looked away. Of course. It's just my luck that he would be there.
I kept my distance from him for the majority of the time. Until he came over. Skittery and I were chatting with Race and Charlie when he pulled a chair over.
"Hey, Spot." Race welcomed him. I can tell Skittery and Spot aren't on best terms. Skittery tightened his grip on me as Spot came closer.
"Hey," Spot replied to Race. Everyone was silent. No one knew what to say. Skittery kept his gaze out the window making sure to avoid Spot.
