I stand frozen in the alleyway, looking at the dog. The dog was sniffing around the alleyway, looking for food. I need to get of here as fast as I can. I slowly sneak out of the alley, my feet barely making noise. I'm almost to the other side of the alleyway, "RUFF!" Oh no. I slowly turn around, but the dog knocks me down. I blindly kick my legs around, feeling them kick the dog a couple of times. The dog headbutts me, knocking my cap off. I sit on the ground, a little bit dizzy from the dogs attack. My nose was bleeding. The dog looks up at something and yelps. It starts to run away from a shadowy figure.
I hear footsteps come closer to me. I look up and see that it's Specs, his eyes filled with worry and surprise. He holds out his hand, I grab it, slowly getting up. "I knew you looked familiar! When I saw you at newsies square I thought I knew those eyes." I brush off my pants while Specs spoke, my body was kind of shaky from the dog. "If you don't mind mes asking, why are you dressing up as a boy?" I look up at him. "B-because if I I-I look like a g-girl selling papers, n-no one is g-going to buy from m-me." He nods his head, he grabs my cap off from the ground and hands it to me. "Y'know that you's can't keep being a girl a secret forever, the newsies are going to find out someday." I stuff my hair into the cap, and sigh "I k-know, but you won't t-tell anyone r-right?" Specs nods his head, "I promise as much as a newsie can."
After all that alleyway drama, the rest of the day working was fine. I made about 28 cents, which I guess isn't super bad. I saw the sun setting, I start to walk toward Central Park, my new sleeping spot. I hear a newsboy call out, "Hey'a Pete!" I turn around and see Jack, leaning on the nearest building. "Do you's got a place da stay?" I shake my head. "Well if you's want you can stay's at da lodge, it's not far from here's." I'm not sure if I should trust Jack fully yet. But he did pay for the papers, plus if it's a place with walls and a roof, then of course I would want to go. "S-sure." Jack starts to walk away, I follow behind him. "So, where are ya from?" He asks while walking, I mumble to him. "O-Ohio." It stays quiet for a few moments, before Jack says. "No wonder ya sound weird." I listen to Jack talk about him when he was a new newsie, how young he was and care free. Jack stops at a large brick building, he grabs my shoulder and smiles. "Welcome to da lodge."
Going inside the lodge I saw lots of stairs. The stairs were metal and did not look very safe. I follow Jack up the stairs, my legs even more like jelly after all those steps. We make it into a hall, I could see two doors on each side of the walls. Jack goes to one door and opens it up. When the room comes into view I see bunk beds against the walls, and newsboys everywhere in the room. I saw at the side an bathroom area. Jack points at a bunk bed in the corner. "Here's ya bed Pete, you get's dat bottom bunk." I walk over to the bed and sit down. I look around in the room of newsboys. The twin newsies I saw in Central Park were laying upside down on a bed. I could see Specs talking to a newsboy, and a group of newsboys were playing some kind of game. After awhile the newsboys started to head to the bathroom area. I stayed right where I was and pretend I was fast asleep. I heard the newsboys start to climb into bed. I wait a few more minutes before going into the bathroom, I tip-toe and make it to the bathroom. I washed my hands, and washed my face. I take my cap off, it feels so good to let my hair down. I walk over to the bunk bed in the dark night, being quiet as possible. I silently jump onto the bed, the mattress was hard, the pillow was like a rock, and the blanket was thin. Well it was better than sleeping on dirt. I could hear the snoring of teenage boys. I make sure my head was covered with the thin blanket so nobody could see all of my hair. I try my best to doze off, but thoughts and images of the past couple of days fill my head. My body was aching for food, coldness was tugging at me. I turn and turn in bed, wanting so bad for sleep to take over. I feel so tired, scared, sad. Tears start to come down my cheeks. I silently sob into the rock pillow, it really was like a rock because it was not sucking up my tears. After I was done crying I close my eyes again, my body way more relaxed. I feel the world of sleep take me away.
YOU ARE READING
Alice the Newsie
Fanfiction(IF THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME READING SOMETHING I WROTE. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS MY FIRST SO OF COURSE IT'S GOING TO SUCK.) After living in a small Ohio town all of her life, Alice Clark is sent to NYC to go to a better school. But when terrible thin...
