𝚁𝚄𝙽𝙰𝚆𝙰𝚈 ° racetrack higgins

The Invite

I woke up this morning before any of the boys, which allowed me to get ready without making anyone late. Quickly and quietly, I made my way into the bathroom, being sure to close and lock the door on the way in. After washing up, I walked over to a box that Jack said was filled with old clothes the boys no longer wore. A few minutes went by and I was able to find dark-ish tan pants, a light cream colored shirt with ruffles similar to the ones the boys wear, and a light grey vest.

I changed into the clothes and opened the bathroom door, going back into the bedroom. The boys were still asleep, a few of them snoring softly. I rolled my eyes and walked back over to mine and Jack's bunk. Grabbing my light brown boots from under the bed, I sat on the floor and slipped them on. Just as I was tying the laces, I heard the familiar sound of the stairs creaking; someone was coming up.

As I looked over, Mr. Kloppman appeared on the landing. He gave me a kind smile before he started shouting at the boys. "Up and at em, boys! Get up! Get up! Get up! Time to start a new day!"

The newboys slowly started waking up, getting up from their beds and stretching. As they did so, they started heading to the bathroom to get ready. Kloppman went around and shook the boys that refused to get up before they finally obliged.

Just as I finished lacing up my shoes, I seen someone's outstretched hand come into the line of sight. Looking up, I gave the boy a smile when I saw who it was. I put my hand in the boy's and let him help me up. "Thanks."

"Aren't yous up oily today?" Racetrack said as he ruffled my hair. "What's da occasion?"

"Just figures it'd be better for me to wake up earlier so I can get ready instead of holding you guys back." I told him, shrugging.

"Oh, well dat makes sense." He glanced around him before looking back at me. "You should probably wait downstairs. Da fellas aren't used to yous bein here yet."

I was confused until I saw Jack over Race's shoulder, taking his shirt off as he was changing. I instantly got what he was getting at. Nodding, I turned and went downstairs to the lobby.

It was about twenty minutes later when all the boys came rushing down the stairs, heading out the door. Kloppman counted them as they appeared, making sure everyone was there. I waited by the counter until I saw Racetrack, who gave me a smile and nodded towards the door, gesturing me to follow.

As soon as we were outside, Race snatched my hat and took off again. Sighing, I ran after him. "This is not becoming a regular thing, Racetrack!" I yelled after him, but he ignored me and kept running. This time, however, we were in the middle of all the newsies, so we had to duck and swerve around all of them, along with the other things that littered the streets.

Before I knew it, we both skidded to a stop in front of the gates to the distribution center. We were in the front of the line and all the other newsies started lining up behind us.

I quickly grabbed my hat back from Race, punching him lightly in the arm after I adjusted it on my head. "Not cool."

The boy just laughed. "Hey, so Ise was thinkin. Maybe you'd like ta come sellin wit me taday. Ise get good enough business down dere, so sellin won't be a problem."

I thought about it for a moment before shurgging. "Why not? I mean, it's not like Jack needs any help."

Race laughed again. "Cool cool. Well, when wes get our papes, we can head down dere. It's a little bit of a walk, but nutin too bad."

Smiling, I nodded my understanding to the boy. I could tell that me and Race would be close, and this was a chance to get to know him better, seeing as we haven't really got to talk much since I got here.

Word Clarification
Oily = early
Dere = there
Ta = to
Taday = today
Da = the
Dat = that

Word Count: 711