Newsies everlasting

Chapter 12

"Oh my god, I completely forgot, I said I'd meet Katherine for lunch!" Winnie remembered, franticly running to grab some clothes and racing into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Wait, what should I do then?" Jesse called through the door. He didn't want to face the other boys just yet.

"You can hide out in here if you want, just don't let Aunt Medda see you!" She replied, before running back out fully dressed, desperately trying to tame her hair into a braid.

"Okay, I think I can manage that, ya don't think she'll come in here, right?"

"I don't see why she would need to" she said, grabbing her coat and checking the clock on the wall, "Oh god, I said I'd meet her in five minutes!"

"Quick go! I'll be fine, don't worry" Jesse laughed, ushering her out the door. In all honesty, he probably wouldn't be fine - now he had to spend the day alone with his thoughts with nothing to do other than become increasingly more stressed over the entire situation. How was he going to eat tonight? What were the other boys going to think about him? He was mad at himself for how he spoke to Jack the night before, and was desperate to apologise. And what if Medda caught him? What was he going to say then?

"Okay, see you later" Winnie called, before rushing out the door and down the stairs.

Now he had to wait.

***
"Hey, Winnie, you're right on time!" Katherine smiled, waving her over to her table. This place was much more grand than the deli, but Katherine had insisted upon treating Winnie and paying herself, as she never had any female company and was grateful for another girl to talk to.
"Hi, Katherine, wow, this place is stunning! Thank you so much for taking me here!"

It truly was amazing. The multiple chandeliers glistened light upon each silver plater, gleaming with excellence. Extravagant paintings and portraits were displayed upon the walls, coated in luxurious, deep teal wallpaper, which despite how dark the colour was still managed to bring an element of brightness to the room in a way that Winnie just simply couldn't understand. Each table was covered in a pristine, blinding white table cloth, of which one of the newsies could probably make dirty just be looking at it for too long. Upon their table lay two silver plates and so many pieces of cutlery that Winnie confused herself just by looking at them. A delicate menu lay across the table, screaming prices that made Winnie want to rush out the door immediately.

"This is a lot of money, Katherine, are you sure you don't want me to..."
"Oh nonsense" Katherine laughed "my dad knows the guy who runs the joint and managed to get us a good deal. Apparently he told them that I'm writing a review for the paper, so we got 70% off so I would be nicer in the article!" They both started laughing, considering Katherine had no intention of publishing anything on the restaurant.

"Anyway, I've got exciting news!" She smiled - Katherine hadn't told anyone other than Jack yet, not even her father. She wanted to tell another girl, and was grateful about her new friendship with Winnie.

"Okay, spill!" Winnie could see the excitement in Katherine's face and was desperate to know what was going on.

"Okay, well, I'm pregnant!" Katherine squealed, earning some weird looks from the surrounding tables, before quickly composing herself and restricting her excitement to grinning broadly, Winnie doing the same.

"That's amazing, Kath! Does anybody else know?" Winnie was so happy for her friend.

"Well, Jack obviously does, and I think he told Crutchie last night."

Ah, that was why Jesse was so upset. That was why he for so angry that he couldn't grow up. Winnie knew, after all, that he could probably never raise a family of his own. Not after what happened to Miles - his wife had taken his only son, Thomas, after accusing Miles of witchcraft, leaving him alone, never knowing what became of his son. Jesse probably realised this, explaining why he came straight to Winnie, as there was no way that he could explain his internal conflict to Jack.