The Story of a News Girl

The Greatest Bet Yet

"Alright fellas, is everyone here?" Race asked as he looked around the bunk room as he counted off each newsie in his head.

"Only Mush and Feisty are missin'," Crutchie pointed out. "Want me ta go see if they's back yet?"

"Nah it's fine. We's don't need 'em, an' we's definitely don't need Wolf or Jumps findin' out bout this," Race stated in a sure tone. He then stood up in one of the chairs and clapped his hands. "As a lot of ya may of noticed Mush an' Feisty seem...a lot closer nowadays, wouldn't ya say? Maybe a little too close, perhaps?" there was a pause for dramatic effect. "Close enough ta become somethin' more than friends....fall in love some time in the near future...."

Quickly catching on what the blonde boy was saying, Jack quickly pulled Race off of the chair and said, "Are ya outta yer mind!? They's just friends ya idiot!" for good measure Jack smacked Race upside the head to get his brain cells working again. Sadly, Jack knew that no matter what he did, Race's brain cells would stay the way they've always been.

"Or are they?" Race asked with a mischievous smirk. "C'mon Cowboy! Don't deny the fact they's look at each other in some special way! Which is why I's suggest we's start a bettin' pool on when the lovebirds are finally gonna get together! Yeah, they's young now, but it ain't called young love for nothin'!"

Now, there were some good points to that. There always seemed to be something a little more between the two of them. Call it having a strong bond or a deep understanding for one another to the next level, but there always seemed to be a hidden secret that everyone seemed to see. Except for them. Of course, there was the matter of age that came into play. Say they were to find out there were something more, no way they'd jump into that right away. They were both too young to fully understand the concept of love. All the boys were in fact. All they knew was the dating, kissing, eventually getting married and having a baby. The knowledge didn't go any deeper than that.

"Do ya hear yourself Racer?!" Jack exclaimed. "Feisty would soak Mush if he tried makin' a move on 'er. Which he ain't cause it's Mush we's tawkin' bout here." he really couldn't believe Race had let such a thought even cross his mind! Then again, this is Race. so it wouldn't be that big of a surprise. Yet, here we are.

"Everyone in favor of the bettin' pool say I!" Race yelled out.

Almost immediately both Albert and Romeo agreed to the betting pool. With Albert loving a good bet and Romeo being the flirt of the newsies, it was no surprise they were the first to jump onto the bandwagon. Kid Blink was the next to stand up. Mostly because of all the times he's caught Mush blushing something fierce the times Feister would quickly kiss him on the cheek. Crutchie and Henry were all iffy on the idea since it felt like an unlikely thing to happen between the two newsies. Yes, they also tease them about being in love, but it was said in a joking manner rather than something serious. Some of the boys agreed to the idea, while others were more in the middle. After all, it seemed like it would take a couple of years for them to actually make things official, so why do a betting pool now? Or at least wait until they were both in their teen years. Then having a betting pool would make more sense. Right now seemed odd.

"Whenever they's look at each other they's do stare for a long time..." Finch admitted with a shrug as he plucked the band of his slingshot. "An' Mush does jump at the sound of Feisty's name. Whether he's aware of it or not. An' Feisty always has a...hidden smile whenever she's around 'im...."

"See! Finch gets it!" Race exclaimed as he gestured to said newsie. "Those two are so close they's bound ta realize it sooner or later. So whaddya say fellas? Start puttin' our guesses now an' see where it goes?" though, he knew the boys could never resist a good bet. Especially one that involved something that was easy enough to win. It was going to happen at some point, Race had a good gut feeling about it.