A Girl Newsie

What?

It had been a week since Jack took over as leader with Race at his side, and things were slowly going back to normal. All the newsies missed Wolf and Jumps, but they had other things to do, like selling the papers, and trying to make it on the streets.

It was another night in the bunk room and things were well...the same, as per usual. While the boys were doing their thing, Feister had been digging through some boxes that were in her room to find what she was looking for. After awhile she found it.

Dusting off the old board and finding the darts in a small wooden box she went into the bunk room and hopped up to her old bunk and waited for Mush to come back since he had to do something quickly and would be back later. She didn't have to wait long because Mush soon made his way up and over to his bunk which was right next to hers.

"Hey Mush," she said while jumping down from her bunk and took a step closer to him. "Wanna play darts? We never finished the game from last week, an' if I's remember correctly I's was about ta kick yer butt. So, whaddya say? Are ya ready ta lose ta a goil?"

"Sounds great, but I can't, I'm kinda busy," Mush quickly replied before grabbing what he needed and going over to the sink. Feister glanced over at Kid Blink, who shrugged. If Blink didn't know anything then something was up.

After all besides herself, Blink is Mush's other best friend and the two of them combined can usually figure out what's going on with Mush. But now? They were both confused since Mush would always tell them everything.

After a quick moment Feister ran over and stood on the opposite side of the sink just as Mush applied a bunch of shaving cream and brought out his razor. She raised an eyebrow and asked, "Since when do ya shave?" but Mush didn't answer, so she then said, "What? Got a hot date, or did ya finally start growing hairs on yer ugly mug," she joked since none of the boys started growing hairs; they did go on dates, but Mush was never one to go out on dates.

Most of the time when the boys are out doing who knows what he would usually be in the bunk room with her. They would be messing around with each other or setting up a prank for one of the boys and stuff like that.

"The first one," Mush quickly replied before going back to his bunk to change his shirt. Feister was shocked. she wasn't sure what to think.

Did Mush really say he had a..a date? It took awhile for her brain to process what her ears heard. After what felt like forever was only a few moments. She shook her head, then ran after him and asked, "Since when do ya have a date?"

"Met this goil bout a week ago," Mush explained as if it was something that happened everyday. He took off his shirt and threw it on the ground and grabbed a somewhat nicer one.

"Wait, so yer tellin' me that you'se been seein' a goil for a week, an' now yer goin' on a date an' ya didn't tell me?! I'm yer best friend for Pete sake! An' ya didn't have the guts ta tell me till now?!" with each sentence she got more angrier, and more hurt.

Was he really just going to leave for the night and not tell her? Was it not important enough for her to know? Or did he think she wouldn't care? Either way she couldn't believe it.

Feister wasn't sure what to think or say. The number one thing in friendship is trust, and she felt like Mush didn't trust her enough to tell her something like that.

So, without saying another word she ran into her room; slammed and locked the door before pushing her back to the door, falling to the floor and hugged her knees to her chest.

There was a few quiet moments that felt like a lifetime. Then she her footsteps walk by. They paused by her door for a few seconds before slowly walking down the stairs. Feister let her head fall onto her knees.

She didn't know why she felt this angry or this hurt. She didn't know why her heart dropped into a million pieces. And, she didn't know why she couldn't look him in the eyes without feeling her heart shatter into more pieces than before. She just did. And she didn't like the feeling. She hated feeling that way. She felt hurt and...broken? No, not broken. Not yet anyways.

After few minutes she pulled herself up and went over to her bed. As she laid in her bed she thought that she may have overreacted. But then again he is her best friend and he didn't tell her something that's kind of important. Then she started to wonder if they were really friends; because friends tell each other stuff.

Why in the heck would Mush keep something like this from her? Did he not trust her or something? While she trusted him with everything. Feister started to second guess everything about their friendship. She started to wonder if seven years was nothing to him, but it is something to her. But now, she isn't sure. Maybe she's overreacting, or maybe she isn't.

It was already bad enough when Wolf and Jumps left. Now? Now she has to deal with losing her best friend to a random girl. It was too much to take in at the moment. Wolf and Jumps only left a week ago and she was still really sad, and now with the dumb stunt Mush pulled is well...she didn't know. All she knew was that things were changing and she didn't like it. Not one little bit.

───── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─────

It was well past midnight and Mush knew he was in for it, but was too tired, and maybe still dazed to care. So he went up into his bunk, careful not to wake Jojo. Luckily Jojo was probably the heaviest sleeper in the Lodge and Mush made it in bed without waking a soul.

"Yer back late," A quiet voice said. Mush was startled by the sudden sound, but then looked to his right and saw Finch sitting up, with one of those 'happy you're back' smiles and 'you're so dead' looks on his face. But luckily for him Finch was more of a lover and not a fighter. "Bout time ya got back, we's was gettin' worried," Finch whispered

"There's nothin' ta worry about," Mush replied quietly as he went under the covers.

"It's past midnight," Finch stated seriously. "I's think that calls for some major worrying. "Date or not you'se knows what happens when ya get back when everyone is sleepin'. An' there's also Feisty."

Mush's heart dropped when he heard Finch say her name. He didn't think it would've been that bad and...he was kidding himself for thinking that Feister, the toughest, most loud/smartmouth, firey and feisty girl he's ever met, thought that she would be ok with last minute news.

"She didn't come outta 'er room for the rest of the night, an' when Jack, Race, an' Specs tried ta see if she was ok. She didn't yell at 'em ta go away," Finch explained. Now, Jack, Race and Specs have a special bond with Feister. After all, they were the ones who brought her to the Lodge. And if she wouldn't talk to them, then it meant that something was really wrong. "She was real quiet. It was scary."

Feister? Quiet? If there's one thing in the seven years Mush has known Feister is that she is never quiet! The only time she was ever quiet was her first minute in the Lodge and well...that's a story for another time.

But the point was Feister is never quiet. Mush sighed and fell down on his bed and pulled the blankets over his head. He was sure in for it in the morning. Because if there was another thing that he knew about her was that she doesn't let go easily. Just ask one of the Brooklyn boys.