She's the King of New York

Chapter 1- Where Is That Impossible Boy?

She smiles gleefully at the page. A handsome group of boys stare back at her and she can't help but squeal a little bit at her success. Hugging the paper to her chest, she runs off to show them. Once she gets there, (after buying Albert a seltzer just because she could) Katherine shows the boys the paper. But the one face she wants to see isn't there. Where is he? He means the world to her and yet she would hate for him to find out. She wants to know so badly what he thinks of her and yet she's a little scared to find out. Her dad would kill for her to trick him into telling her everything and make him fall in love with her. The boys are distracted, so she takes another look at the group of boys. He still hasn't appeared. Her face droops slightly. Sweet Les runs up to her when he sees the disappointment on her face. She sees something in his eyes, but she can't tell what. Does he know? How could he know? Katherine shakes her head, disappointed with herself. How could she fall in love with a boy like him? Maybe the better question was, how couldn't she fall in love with a boy like him? Les shoots her a funny look.

"Katherine, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Les, I'm just thinking about something," she replies shaking her head again.

"You're thinking about Jack again, aren't you?" Les asks, "He'll be okay." Katherine just shakes her head and turns to watch the boys dance celebrate the strike victory. Her father's voice echoes loudly in her head.

"Mark my words, Katherine. I'll get that boy one way or another. Remember, I own the New York World. I don't need you to catch Kelly when I have the entire city scrambling at the snap of my finger." Katherine shivers as the words run through her head over and over. Then she almost cries at her response.

"But, Daddy, he's just a boy. Jack has a hard life and he's the soul protector of those boys. What happens to them if something happens to him?" Her father's next words cut her to the core.

"I don't care." After that, Katherine had run out of the office, to her room, and burst into tears. No one in her world could fix anything. Everything was going to fall apart and it wasn't her fault. She remembered thinking that she loved Jack that night. The boys were now cheering and that brought her back to reality. She tried to smile, but it was hard. Just last night, Jack had found her out on a walk on the street. She remembered what they had talked about.

"Ey, if it ain't me own poirsonal ace reporter," he had called across Central Park. Katherine had blushed profusely at the comment.

"Well thank you, but I don't do personal favors for anyone. Remember Kelly, I found you. You didn't find me."

"I found you on a day much like today cept I wasn't strikin den." He had walked closer to her. She had tried to walk away, but the one quality she wished Jack had less of shone through at that exact moment. Katherine walked a little bit faster hoping he would get the message. Unfortunately for her, Jack's persistence drove him to catch up with her.

"Goin so soon, Plumber?" He had asked flirtatiously, "The fun ain't even started yet." Katherine had rolled her eyes and kept walking. Jack laughed.

"You'se really funny. Ya know dat dontcha ya?" He had asked in between fits of snickering.

"You know that a girl would like some personal space and doesn't need a male everywhere with her where she goes?" Katherine had replied sassily. Jack smirked and Katherine rolled her eyes. Why couldn't he leave her alone? Somewhere inside of her something told her to give him a chance. She really did not care for him at all, but she was writing a story about him and the more she knew about him, the easier it would be to include him in the story. Forget the fact that she had kept the drawing from the vaudeville theatre, forget that she tried to get to know him personally. Those things were not important. It was all about the story on the outside, but on the inside, there was a young female reporter curious about the slightly, emphasis on the slightly, attractive newsboy standing beside her. "It won't hurt either way," she reasons in her mind.

"Alright, you win, I'm walking around the park if you want to join me." She said with a hint of irritation in her voice. Jack's smile had widened to a degree that she became more concerned for his face than his feelings.

"You'se different from any other girl that I've met. Da closest goil to someone like you dat I've met is a goil named Ties over in Brooklyn. She's real good at making connections with people. Dat goil gets around. Unfortunately for Mush and Skittery who she dated for a while, she gets around a little too well." Jack said shaking his head at the thought of his Brooklyn ally. Katherine had laughed at the thought. Brooklyn was a tough part of the city and she could never see herself living there. Jack had laughed too smiling genuinely at Katherine and she found herself smiling back. As soon as she did it, she mentally slapped herself. What on Earth was she thinking? Her father was going to kill her.

"I'se likes goils like you, Katherine." Jack had said. At that moment, she had felt his hand slide into hers. Katherine cringes at her reaction despite the fact that the Newsies are reveling in their success at being the front page story. It stills hurt for her to think about even though a lot has happened since that painful moment. She remembers it all too well. Jack had smiled contently as he slid his hand gently into hers and had looked to see her reaction. She had verbally gasped and yanked her hand out of his. Jack's expression had looked extremely crushed. Katherine had then run out of the park and all the way back to her father's house. But before she did, she had hidden behind a tree and peered to see what he did. Jack shrugged his shoulders and sighed. Dejected, he walked away. Katherine heard him mutter softly,

"I tried, but she don't want me." Katherine had felt a slight moment of satisfaction. Finally, she had gotten Jack Kelly to leave her alone. But back in the here and now, she regrets it. She feels a pang in her heart as she listens to the boys talk about what they could get by being famous and owning lots of money. Katherine briefly wonders what Jack would want. She quits thinking about that when she hears Race shout

"She da King of New Yoirk!"(Lyrics from Newsies's King of New York, Lyrics by Jack Feldman) Katherine smiles and jumps right into the boys' playful antics. Singing and dancing, they celebrate their success. The boys cheer her on as she tap dances until her feet hurt. Katherine watches with great pleasure as the boys dance away to their heart's content. Each boy does something new and exciting that Katherine has never seen before.  As soon their joyous song ends, Katherine pulls Davey and his little brother Les aside. She looks each boy seriously in the eyes and asks

"Where is Jack?"

AN:/ Sorry if this seems short. I didn't realize how short it would because I pre typed this on Word on my computer. If you have seen the musical, you know where Jack is. :) I hope you liked it. I do not own the title that is a lyric from King of New York from the musical. I also don't own the Newsies *sigh*(but if I did...).  The picture on the chapter is not mine, I found it on the Internet. From the looks of it, it is a picture from an Original Broadway Cast performance. Did you like the moments that you didn't recognize? The one scene you don't recognize takes place right before Watch What Happens. The other one happens somewhere in between Watch What Happens, Seize the Day and King of New York.  Once again, feel free to tell me what you think. See you on Friday or Saturday!

AK. :)