Life With the Newsies- One Shots- OPEN to OCs

Cousins and A Couple of Lovestruck Teenagers

Post-Strike (Sometime after The Beginning of a New Chapter, go read that one if you haven't)

Jack wakes up to a wonderful sunrise in the "penthouse" with Crutchy. Crutchy tries to climb down the ladder to the fire escape and Jack has to keep him from falling like they do every single morning. It has become routine, but today for some reason, it bothers Jack.

"Would it kill ya ta wait for me, Crutch?" Jack asks moodily and Crutchy shoots him a look.

"Ya feelin alright, Jack?"

"Shoah, kid. I'se just gotta get ta woirk is all." Jack changes into his work clothes and helps Crutchy down the ladder. The usual bunk house shenanigans are in full swing as Jack and Crutchy walk through. Shoes, pillows, marbles and anything that can be thrown is flying through the air. Jack picks up a stray penny and yells, "Penny!" before throwing it into the throng that is the Manhattan Newsboys in the mornings. Shouts and chaos erupt and Jack escapes down the stairs and out the door before he can get involved more than he already is. Once he is on the street, he starts to walk in the direction of work when he hears a whistle pierce the air from one of the Lodging House windows. Jack is already certain Race was the one who interrupted the extremely temporary silence in the morning.

"Pipe down, ya bums. It's just a penny, where's Cowboy? He leave already?" Race asks loudly and Jack can still hear him. Jack begins to quickly walk down the street and he soon arrives at the World  building. He walks inside and knocks on his boss's door to let him know he is here. Usually Jack just pokes his head in and says good morning, but his boss calls to him.

"Kelly! Come here, would you please?" Jack turns on his heel and walks back into the office.

"Yea, sir?" The word, sir, sounding and feeling foreign to his tongue and his strong New York accent. He knew something was off about today the moment he had woken up to Crutchy trying to fall down the fire escape ladder for the umpteenth time. Jack stood in the doorway and his boss motions for him to sit.

"Close the door, please," He says and those words strike a red flag in Jack's mind. Closed doors usually have bad things that happen behind them. Jack cautiously closes the door and sits down. His boss smiles a sympathetic smile at him as he sits. What could he have done? He's only been here for a little over a month and he's already being fired? He would have to get Katherine to do something about this. Jack knew he wasn't loved by society, but why would he be fired for something like that? Jack clenches the soft arms of the chair nervously and his boss notices. "Relax, Kelly," he starts, "I'm not going to fire you or reprimand you if that's why you look worried. In fact, you should take what I'm about to tell you as a compliment." Jack raises an eyebrow at that and his boss smiles an even wider smile than before. "You are going to help a college student get some credit here. Mr. Pulitzer received a letter about a week ago asking about an internship here. Not a paying one, but he is interested in the newspaper world and wanted to see some of the different aspects. He will be working more on the writing side of things, but he's just a little older than you. He is very interested in drawing and just the artwork that makes a newspaper look good. Mr. Pulitzer recommended you to be the supervisor of sorts. Just think, kid, Pulitzer appreciates you! You could get a raise and me too if you do this right! What do you say?" His boss asks excitedly. Jack smiles and says,

"I would be happy ta woirk wid dis student and show him da ropes." Jack's boss eagerly extends his hand and Jack shakes it.  

"Great! I'll be sure to tell the big wig of the company. The student should arrive before you leave to sell papers," His boss says, pulling his key out of his desk drawer to lock his office. Jack tugs on his cap and the two walk out of the office together. Helping an intern would not be too terrible. Jack isn't quite sure why Pulitzer picked him. Maybe Katherine had been apart of that persuasion. He reminded himself to ask her about it later. Jack wanders over to his desk and sees the assignment for the day. He quickly begins to work. A couple of hours later, Jack feels a tap on his shoulder and turns. A tall man that looks similar to himself stands in a professional looking outfit which puts Jack's office shirt and pants to shame.