Leaning back, my stomach growling, I turned my face upward toward the cloudy sky. The freezing rain splashed on my face and I closed my eyes before shivering. Winter was almost here, and I had no earthly idea what the newsies did then.

"You'll catch yer death out 'ere, Hannah."

I opened my eyes and spun around at the familiar voice. There was Skittery, soaking wet, grinning at me. I jumped up and gave him a fierce hug before he knew what had hit him.

"'Ey, lassie! I din't know ya missed me that much!" he laughed.

"Trust me, I did," I grinned. I proceeded to tell him of my fortune and misfortune upon my arrival in New York.

"If I ever see the likes o' that dirty bum who robbed ya, I'll soak 'im, that I will," he said angrily.

"Ah, he's probably out west by now, and hardly worth your trouble," I replied.

Nodding, Skittery said, "Yes, I s'pose you're right. We should be goin' inside, though. We'll both be sick as dogs out in this weather!"

In agreement, I grabbed his arm as we ran through the puddles on the sidewalk in the direction of the lodging house. We burst through the door and raced to the fire to warm up. Kloppman came running over with dry towels and wrapped them around our shoulders.

"I really can't afford ta share these towels wid tha likes o' ya, but more 'n dat I can't afford two sick kids!" he grumbled, putting more kindling on the fire.

"Thanks, Klop," Skittery said, slipping out of his Irish accent and into a New York one, though a more proper dialect than that used by most of the other newsies. "We'll pay you back somehow."

"Have you seen your father yet?" I asked Skittery once Kloppman had sauntered off to his desk.

He nodded. "I've just come from the sanitorium. I went there straight from th' ship. He's in high spirits, but we both know..." he trailed off, getting a distant look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Skit," I whispered.

Trying to shake it off, he looked at me. "Do ya want ta meet 'im? We can go when it stops rainin'...if you want. The only problem would be that it'd put ya in danger of gettin' th' consumption, or some bloody awful sickness like it. Maybe you should forget I ever asked-"

"No, Skittery...I'd love to meet your father. Goodness knows I've probably been exposed to everything already," I answered.

Suddenly, our conversation was interrupted. "Hey, Skittery!" several of the guys yelled, spotting him as they came down the stairs.

"Hey, fellas!" he greeted, back into his New York accent. They had a long conversation while I sat by the fire, my clothes slowly drying in the heat. Finally, Skittery came over to me. "The guys want me to play a game of poker with them, so I'm gonna go. We'll talk later, though. I promise."

"Bye," I said.

He winked at me. "See ya."

A long time after he had left, Coaldust joined me at the fire.

"Ah, dis is nice an' warm," he said, sitting beside me. "So ya talked ta Skit?"

I nodded. Coal said, "I rememba when 'e left on dat ship da foist time."

"Why did he leave?" I asked curiously.

"When his pop got da consumption, Skit couldn't pay fer da treatment wid jus' da money he made off sellin' papes. So, 'e got a job as a sailor on immigrant ships ta pay fer 'is pop ta go to da sanitorium, hopin' dat 'e would get betta," Coaldust answered.

That was very sweet of him, leaving all his friends and even his life behind to help his father, I thought. "Wow," was all I could say.

"So..." Coal began, "wouldja like ta go ta dinner wid' me again tanight?"

I was very flattered that he had asked me, but I was also feeling a bit uncomfortable that he was showing this much interest in me.

Oh, Hannah, what's your problem? Coaldust is nice, he's handsome, he's...I wish Sk- no, no, no, stop thinking that, Hannah! You shouldn't waste your time dreaming, you may miss your chance with the right person! What if Coal is the right one for you? You can't miss out on it, dreaming about boys that you don't even like! But I don't like Coal... he's nothing more than a friend. Oh, just say yes already, Hannah! It might be fun.

"S-sure, Coal. That sounds nice," I answered. I felt horrible, like I was betraying someone. Nevertheless, I went upstairs to brush my hair so I could look as nice as possible.

When I came back downstairs again, Coal had changed into a fresh pair of clothes and had combed his wavy black hair, though it wasn't near tame. We left the lodging house, staying as close to the buildings as possible, trying to keep dry. Finally, we reached Eddie's. Upon entry, the same delicious smell hit me. I took a deep breath as we sat down. Maybe this won't be so bad after all, I thought.

Coal ordered a plate of spaghetti for me, and when the waiter brought dinner we ate once again in silence, making small talk once in a while. I grew increasingly uncomfortable, and it didn't help that I was feeling feverish. I sneezed several times.

"Whoa, dere," Coaldust said, handing me a napkin. I wiped my watered eyes and sniffled several times. "Thank you," I mumbled, this time coughing. "I think I need to head back, Coal. Thank you for dinner."

I stood up, but he stopped me. "I'll come witcha."

Nodding, I waited as he paid the bill. He came toward me and we left the small restaurant, once again trying desperately to keep as dry as possible.

Upon our entry into the lodging house, I ran straight for the fire, shivering. Skittery was already sitting there with several of the other boys, telling funny stories and having a good time. I sniffed and wrapped my arms around myself, getting as close to the fire as I possibly could.

"Hey, Hannah, are you catching something?" Skittery asked me.

"I don't know, Skit," I answered, shivering.

"Did you...did you have a good time with Coaldust?" he asked hesitantly.

Looking up at him, I whispered, "Not really, but don't tell him that. I'll talk to you about it more later."

He nodded, winking. "Don't worry, I won't say anything. C'mon, let's get you upstairs."

Skittery walked up the stairs with me to the girls' bunkroom and stopped at the door. "You keep warm, Hannah. I don't want ya gettin' sick, hear?" He grinned and tweaked my nose. "G'night. Sweet dreams."

"Good night, Skittery," I whispered, turning around and entering the bunkroom, shutting the door behind me.

"Whoa, Han, ya look sick or somet'in'," Twiggy told me when I sat down on my bunk.

"I feel awful," I muttered.

Monkey came over to me. "Ya need any blankets or anything? We can get hot water for ya ta warm yer feet."

"Thank you," I said, shivering as she and Ribbons left the bunkroom and went downstairs.

Twiggy sat down beside me. "Didja see dat Skittery's back?"

I nodded. Just then, someone from across the room said, "'Course she knows Skit's back. Dey was holdin' onto each udda earlier taday like da woild was gonna end or somethin'."

Several giggles arose from this. I felt the blood creeping to my face. "It was only a hug," I tried to tell them.

"Oh, sure, a hug," one girl named Gem Rogers mocked. "Da immigrant goil's already plastered ta one o' da newsies, an' she ain't even been heah a whole week!" All the other girls but Twiggy laughed.

"My name is Ha-"

"I know yer name, British goil! I ain't stupid," she snapped.

"Well, if you know my name you could at least show common courtesy and call me by it," I said angrily.

"Oooohh, 'common courtesy'!" Gem imitated my accent.

"Knock it off, Gem!" Twiggy finally cut in.

"Oh, Twiggy Townsend's taking up fer da trash, is she? A born and bred New Yawker, an' she's still helpin' a foreigner!" Gem mocked.

"Gem, I sweah, if we weren't heah in dis lodgin' house I'd soak ya," she said through gritted teeth as the other girls laughed cruelly.

Hot tears crept into my eyes, but I blinked them back forcefully. I wasn't going to cry for this girl.

The taunting didn't stop until Ribbons and Monkey came back into the room with the water, well over fifteen minutes later. Twiggy had been targeted, also, but she had still tried to get them to stop.

"Here. We've got some hot water for your feet," Ribbons told me as she and Monkey set it down on the floor.

I put my feet in and the water felt wonderful. I'd never soaked my feet in hot water before.

"Oh, special treatment. I see," Gem commented loudly.

"You'd best shut yer hole, Gem Rogers, or you'll have at least three o' us after ya!" Monkey threatened angrily.

"Ah! One immigrant standing up for another. It's...touching."

Monkey ran at her angrily, but Gem retreated before Monkey could throw the first punch. "Tha's what I thought," Monkey said. Turning to me, she winked and whispered, "It's th' Irish temper. Gets 'er ev'ry time."

"Yeah," Twiggy added. "Dis ain't nothin' new."

"She's always after Monkey and the other girls who immigrated," Ribbons said. "Her whole family was a nativist family. There are a lot of people like that here in the city. You just have to learn to cope with them."

"On top o' that, she's gone on Skittery," Monkey told me.

"I see," I said. Gem obviously doens't know that Skittery's Irish, I thought with amusement.

"Whatcha smilin' about?" Twiggy asked.

"Nothing. I'm tired," I said, pulling my feet out of the water and drying them on a towel. "Good night."

"'Night."

I lay down and closed my eyes, wondering why some people were so cruel, and eventually fell asleep.