Chase looked out the train window. They were in New York, but they hadn’t arrived in the city yet. Indiana seemed so far away now that they were so close to New York City. Fifteen minutes went by and the train came to a stop. Chase and Devin took their bags and stepped outside.
Chase looked around to see if she could find her grandmother’s relative. She then felt someone touch her shoulder. She turned to find a boy about her age with shaggy, dirty-blonde hair and soft, brown eyes. He had a pleasing appearance, and Chase could tell he was a nice young man.
“Excuse me, are you Chase O’Hara?” he asked.
Chase nodded. “Yeah, that’s me.”
The boy held his hand out to her. “My name’s Felix. Sal told me to come and escort you to East Side.”
Chase shook his hand. “Thank you.” She turned to Devin. “Devin, our escort’s here.”
Devin nodded and they followed Felix. He took them at least a mile, then they arrived at a large building.
“This is where us newsies stay.” Felix told them.
He led them inside and up some long, winding stairs. When they arrived at the top of the stairs, Felix opened a door and let them in. There were a lot of bunks, and there were two young men at a table, talking. The first one was tall with blonde hair and large, blue eyes.
The second was almost the exact opposite in appearance. He was also tall, but he had coal black hair that went down to his ears and piercing, narrow green eyes. Just one look at the black-haired boy and Chase fell in love. Felix announced that the girls had arrived, and both boys stood up.
“Hi.” Chase said shyly.
Devin said nothing. She wasn’t as shy as she used to be, but she still very timid. The two boys came walking over to them, and the blonde held his hand out to them.
“I’m Sal, the leader of the East Side newsies, an’ dis is my second-in-command, Tony.” Chase shook his hand. “My ma said that one a her relatives was comin’ here, so make yourselves at home.”
Chase couldn’t take her eyes off Tony. Those piercing green eyes were somewhat gentle when he looked at her. She also noticed the Felix looked a little disappointed when he saw the way Chase looked at Tony.
“Are we the only girl newsies?” Devin asked.
“’Fraid so.” Sal answered. “Since you’re newsies now, you gotta pick newsie names. Everyone has one, and we mostly use nicknames.”
Chase nodded. “When I was eight, my dad called me Seven of Nine. I don’t know why, but he died when I was ten, so I’ll go by Seven of Nine.”
“Seven of Nine it is. Do ya mind if we call ya Seven for short?”
“Fine with me.”
Sal nodded and turned to Devin. “An’ how ‘bout you? Anything you like?”
Devin gave him a little smile. “My dad called me Tweetheart cuz I like birds.”
Sal chuckled. “That’s really cute. Tweetheart it is.”
Seven smiled. She knew that this was going to work out just fine.
* * *
One Year Later
Jack knocked on the Jacobs’ door. He balanced on the balls of his feet as he waited for Sarah to answer. He felt nervous because he hadn’t gone out with Sarah in a while. The door opened and Sarah answered.
“Jack!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
“Sarah, I gotta talk to you.” Jack answered.
Sarah looked behind her, then she opened the door and let Jack in. The first thing Jack noticed was that there was another man in the Jacobs’ apartment. Sarah walked over to him and whispered in his ear.
“Jack, this is my cousin, Anthony.”
Jack nodded at him. “Sarah, can I talk to ya in the other room?”
Sarah nodded. She led him into her room and shut the door.
“Jack, there’s something I need to tell you too.”
“Then you go first.”
Sarah sighed. “Well, um, I find this hard to tell you but, I’ve fallen in love with someone else.”
Jack eyes jumped. “What a remarkable coincidence. So have I.”
Sarah smiled. “So I guess this is over, right?”
“I guess so, but it was great.”
“I think so too.”
Jack hugged Sarah, then he left.
* * *
Things had changed in the last two months. They went on strike, and when the strike was over, Sal decided that he couldn’t lead the newsies anymore and went to New Hampshire to his family. Tony became the leader, and when he did, he became hotter than Spot Conlon.
Seven became his girl during the strike, but she had also grown very fond of Felix. She decided that if she and Tony suddenly broke up, she would go for Felix. Tweetheart was no longer timid, and Seven noticed that she was continually leaving after she finished selling her newspapers. It confused her, but she didn’t mind.
The day finally came when she found out where and why Tweetheart was going. She was at the lodging house with Tony, and he was massaging her shoulders when Tweetheart came in.
“Chase, I gotta talk to you.” She said calmly.
Seven groaned. “Why’d ya hafta pick now?” she turned to Tony. “Can you continue some other time?”
Tony smiled and nodded. “Sure. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”
Tony left, and Tweetheart walked over to her sister.
“Chase,” she said, “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. I’m going to Manhattan.”
Seven’s eyes grew wide. “Whaddaya mean you’re goin’ to Manhattan?”
“I know you’ve noticed that I’ve always been leaving after we finished selling our papes. I’ve been leaving because I’ve been seeing Jack Kelley. He wants me to be one of his newsies, and I told him yes.”
“But why? Everyone here’s good to you!”
“I know, but Jack is someone special. I’m very fond of him, and I don’t want to run from territory to territory every day to see him.”
Seven sighed. “Oh well. I guess I’ll just hafta take all the East Side guys myself.”
Tweetheart nodded. “I’ll come to visit you. My things are packed and I’m ready to leave.”
Seven got up and hugged her sister. “I’m gonna miss you.”
“Me too.” She let Seven go. “I’ll see ya later.”
Tweetheart ran into their room and grabbed her things. She hugged Seven again and ran to Manhattan where Jack was waiting. When Jack saw her, his face brightened.
“So yer gonna stay?” he asked.
Tweetheart smiled. “Yes I am.”
Jack put his arm around her. “Good. Yer gonna love it here.”
* * *
Seven was a little lonely the next day, but she didn’t mind, as long as she had Tony and Felix. Especially Tony. He was the sweetest guy she had ever known, but he was like Derek in some ways. That night she was having a talk about her sister’s leaving.
“Well, it’s her choice. If you wanted to go to Manhattan, I’d let you.” Tony told her.
Seven smiled. “Thanks.”
She hugged him, for she wasn’t about to kiss him in front of all the other newsies.
“Chase, it’s Wednesday.” He said when they pulled apart.
“So you’re going to the saloon to meet Pudge?”
Pudge was the leader of the West Side newsies. His name was the exact opposite of his weight. He was as skinny as a string bean. He and Tony were best friends, and they met at the saloon every Wednesday night.
“Yep. I gotta go or I’ll be late.” Tony answered.
“Okay, but come back soon.”
Tony kissed her cheek quickly then left. An hour went by and Seven was bored. She had played poker with some newsies, and had talked with them, but she was still bored. Tony took her to the saloon with him before, so she decided that she’d go to see him. She pulled her coat on and walked to the saloon.
When she arrived, she found Tony kissing a girl she had never seen before. Her heart froze when she saw the two of them kissing. She whirled around and ran back to the lodging house with tears in her eyes. She wiped them away when she neared it and slowed down to a walk.
Before she entered, she heard Felix calling her. She turned to find him in the alley on the other side of the building.
“What is it?” Seven asked.
“Are you okay?” Felix asked. “You look like you jus’ saw a murder.”
“I’m fine, Felix. I’m jus’ tired, that’s all.”
“Seven, if there’s anything wrong, you can tell me.”
“There’s nothing wrong. But thanks for telling me.”
Seven walked into the lodging house and trudged up the stairs. She entered the bunkroom and walked over to the room that was built for Tweetheart and her. She shut the door behind her and threw herself onto her bed.
She couldn’t bear the sight of Tony kissing that girl. He was the second boyfriend she had ever had, and he too had broken her heart. Tears flowed from her eyes. Soon, she was overcome with drowsiness and closed her eyes heavily.
* * *
Tony pulled away from the girl and looked over at a young man on the other side of the room.
“He saw.” He said.
The young man came over towards them, then grabbed Tony and punched him in the face.
“Don’t EVER kiss me goyl again!” he exclaimed, then he grabbed the girl and kissed her. When he stopped, the girl started to laugh.
“It worked Tony!” she exclaimed.
“What?” the man asked.
Tony stood up. “That was jus’ a fix to get you back with Emily. She had me kiss ‘er so you’d come back to ‘er!”
The man looked at Emily. “Is it true?”
Emily smiled. “Yes it is.”
“Well, now I’m glad you did it.”
Tony walked over to Emily. “I’ll leave you two alone now. Oh, by the way, Emily, you’re a good kisser; but, I only want to kiss one girl from now on, an’ that’s Seven.”
Emily smiled and kissed the man again. Tony rubbed his jaw, which still hurt a little, and headed back to the lodging house. He talked with Wilson, the keeper of the lodging house for a while, then headed upstairs to go to bed. All of the newsies were in their beds, and most of them were asleep.
Seeing how many were asleep, he walked over to Seven’s room and opened the door quietly. He found Seven sleeping quietly. He shut the door behind him and walked over to Seven’s bed. He rolled her onto her back and kissed her softly. Seven woke up and kissed back. She had forgotten what she had seen at the saloon for the moment.
Tony finally pulled away and smiled. Seven smiled back and Tony kissed her again. Then, Seven remembered what she saw. She pushed Tony away and was overcome with anger.
“Chase? What’s wrong?” Tony asked.
Seven sat up. “I saw you with that girl at the saloon.”
“Emily? Oh come on, Chase. She’s not my type, and I was kissing her because her boyfriend was giving her trouble. When I stopped, her boyfriend came over and took her back.”
“Do you expect me to believe a story like that?” Seven snapped.
“It’s the truth!”
“Get outa here. NOW!”
Still confused, Tony got up and left without asking questions. When he shut the door, he could hear Seven crying softly. Maybe I shouldn’t have kissed Emily, he thought. He sighed and went to his bunk.
