The New Newsie at the Square

At Least She Was Nice-Chapter 2

(TW: None)

It had probably been close to an hour and a half since the newsies had all gotten their papers and were out selling. 

Cora had given the guys, especially Finch, a good scolding for what they said about Grace before. 

Cora was out selling with Mike and Ike around the same area Grace had gone off to. Grace had gotten incredibly overwhelmed with all the people around her and sat in an alleyway by herself, reading one of the papers she hadn't sold. 

She looked up a little when she had started calming a little and spotted Cora, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief seeing a face she recognized at least a little. She would never go over to her on her own, especially with her being so overwhelmed still and her anxiety only on the rise.

Her cheeks were still red and just a bit tearstained, not having processed all the sudden attention earlier too well. Cora looked in her direction, more than likely not at Grace, but Grace still quickly looked back to the newspaper and tried to act like she was reading it again.

Cora eventually had noticed her, and upon remembering what the guys said and how she ran off she wanted to at least make sure she was okay.

"I'm gonna go make sure the new girls okay...I'll meet up with you's in a minute." Cora said, only briefly looking at the twins

Mike and Ike shared a nod and went off selling. Cora exhaled and looked back to Grace. She just hoped she wasn't like the other female newsies...It would be nice to have at least one other girl around that she gets along with.

She fidgets with her suspenders a little, but stopped when she got within view of Grace. Upon hearing her footsteps, Grace looked up from the paper. She hesitated a bit realizing the girl from earlier was coming towards her.

"What if she's coming to make fun of me for running off?! Why else would she come over to me of all people!?" Grace thought 

She stood up and brushed off her skirt. Both to get any dirt from the alley off it and the silky texture of her dress calmed her down a little. She took a breath and gave a small, shaky, but kind smile. Both girls seemed to avoiding looking one another in the eyes. 

"Hey...um...Red," Cora started, only calling her "Red" since she didn't know her name "I'm sorry about...the boys...and weasel...I told off the guys for you...um...I'm sorry about Weasel embarrassing ya..."

Grace breathed a silent sigh of relief Cora wasn't making fun of her. She couldn't have handled any more of that. Grace took a moment to fully process all of what Cora had said. She gave a slightly bigger smile once she had. She took a little longer to finally speak. She gripped her skirt a little as she spoke.

"Th-thank you..." She began, her voice barely louder than a whisper "I guess that...stuff just c-c-comes with being the new...kid around...right...?"

Cora gave a small nod. "i guess, they did the same to me...and Davey, my boyfriend..." 

She felt a little relieved, knowing she wasn't being targeted.

"I'm...I'm Grace..." she said after a few moments of hesitation

"I'm Cora.."

Cora was getting a little stressed holding the conversation and trying to think of things to respond so she thought it might be best if she ended the conversation.

"I probably should get back to...to selling, but its nice too meet you.."

Grace gave a small nod, and an even smaller smile. She watched Cora leave a little before her attention switched to her thoughts again. 

"luckily she seemed rather nice...Maybe I'll find a friend here..." Grace thought with a smile

She shook her head out of her thoughts, realizing she still had more than half of her papers left to sell. She eyes them a little and took a breath and looked out to the people walking by. She went to find a quieter spot to sell, so she might actually be able to sell all her papers.