The Story of a News Girl

Innocent Promises

May 1895

The sky was washed in a sea of pinks and oranges while the sun set in the distance as two little newsies walked home from a long day's work of hawking the headlines. People were rushing up and down the sidewalks while the streets were busy with wagons. But soon enough the two newsies came to a clearing in a somewhat quieter part of the city, and before they knew it, they got back to the Lodging House. But instead of going inside, they sat on the front steps to enjoy the nice day.

"Hey Feisty," Mush said after a few quiet moments.

"Yeah Mush for brains?" Feister asked while looking at her best friend.

"Can ya promise me somethin'?" he replied with a small, quiet tone.

"Depends on what it is," the younger girl replied with a skeptical look in her eyes.

"Ya can't fall in love with me," Mush said in a serious tone.

Which made Feister suddenly stand up in front of him and say, "Ew! Like I'd ever fall in love with you." she stuttered at the fact of falling in love with her best friend. It actually made her sick to her stomach to think that if that happened, she'd have to kiss him. Feister felt like throwing up at that thought. Let's not forget all the hand holding and all that icky lovey dovey stuff couples do. And then Feister just had to wonder just what went on in this boy's mind! What made him think that she'd ever fall in love. With him of all people! "Not ta mention ya got a mug so ugly that a mudda couldn't love."

"Then we's on the same page then," Mush replied happily. "Sides, you'se no ray of sunshine," he teased back with a somewhat satisfied look in his eyes. There were two reasons why Mush had said about that Feister couldn't fall in love with him. One being that it would be weird, but the second, most important reason was because he loved getting her mad for no reason. Though it's playing with fire (literally) it was the one thing he got a kick out of. Which meant the other newsies questioned Mush's sanity for getting an actual bomb ready to explode. But to Mush, there was just something about getting on Feister's very last nerve. In fact, Mush would even go as far to say that Feister actually looked cute when she got mad.

"HA! I's take that as a compliment!" the little eleven year old girl yelled as she crossed her arms with a proud smile.

"You would," Mush mumbled.

"Sides ya don't hafta worry bout nothin', it's you'se I's worried bout," Feister replied with the smallest smirk.

"HA! I's feel sorry for the poor bummer who falls in love with you," Mush replied in a slightly amused tone. "Yer such a handful an' yell a lot, not ta mention you'se gotta good right hook."

"Who says you'se won't be the sorry bummer who falls in love with me?" Feister asked with a smug look smeared on her face as she leaned closer to Mush.

Mush's eyes went wide at that fact, not only was it weird, but also gross. Why would he fall in love with Feister for? She was just an extremely annoying little sister he's stuck with 24/7. "In yer dreams Feisty," Mush replied while standing up.

"So it looks like we's got ourselves a deal here," Feister said firmly as she stood up on her toes so she can look Mush dead in the eyes. "You'se don't fall in love with me, an' I's won't fall in love with you," she added in a simple tone before spitting in her hand and held it out.

"Ya got yourself a deal little goil," Mush replied as he repeated Feister's action. They shook on it while keeping eye contact before letting go. An awkward silence soon filled the air as the two newsies looked away from each other. Mush started to rub the back of his neck while Feister kicked up a rock.

"Hey Mushy," Feister mumbled as she stuffed her hands into her pockets.

"Yeah?" Mush asked as he looked at the younger girl.

"Promise me that no matter what happens, we'll still be friends no matter what," Feister said quietly.

"Now that's somethin' I's can do," Mush replied with a smile.

"Shake on it?" Feister asked before she spat into her hand once more and held it out to Mush again.

Mush smiled. But instead of spitting into his own hand, he took Feister's and pulled her into a tight hug. Feister was a bit shocked at first, but nevertheless she smiled to herself as laid her head onto his chest and closed her eyes. They stayed like that for what seemed like forever when a few voices sung, "Mush and Feisty sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Mushy with a baby carriage!"

"Shut up!" Mush and Feister yelled as they pulled apart from the hug to see some of the boys had returned from selling. They were all laughing and saying the same old stuff about how they're both in love and how they're gonna get married and such.

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Author's note

...If you think about it they both technically did break a promise, which I think in this case it's alright that happened. If you couldn't already tell, I believe this was one of the few 3 A.M. ideas that made it in this book. Somehow, it used to be a high ranking favorite during the early draft days. Of course that got lost in the mix of things as time went by. Moral of the story, little kids end up making stupid promises that can never be kept when they're older. Some good, some bad, life throws a curve ball and nothing ends up going as originally planned. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, I'll see you next time!