Late November, 1900

Kid Blink groaned as he rolled over. He'd stayed up too late at Ira's the night before. Kloppman's voice was echoing in the hall, and the others were still out cold, sleeping off the whiskey they'd had. Kid Blink scratched the place under his bad eye, lifting up the leather eye patch. His good eye was trying to focus when the old man entered the bunkroom, shouting and pulling pillows out from under boys' heads as he passed their bunks. They yelled at him, groggy and grumpy. Kloppman just smiled and laughed.

"I wouldn't hafta do that if you boys woke up when you're 'sposed to!" he shouted, his elderly voice stern and clear.

Kid Blink looked to his right, seeing David asleep in the bunk across from his, Jack's bunk.

Kid Blink looked away, unable to help the disappointed look in his eye: he missed Jack. He was happy to have David around, but he missed his best friend. But he was needed elsewhere, where Ira was.

Kid Blink sat up and dropped his upper body over the edge of his bunk, his head hanging over Mush's below. He smiled: Mush was snoring lightly with his mouth hanging open. He always slept on the other end of the bunk, where his feet were supposed to go. That way, when they leaned out to talk to each other, they could see each other's faces. They'd talk and laugh the loudest, and most of the time the others were throwing things at them to shut them up. Jack was practically Kid's brother. But Mush was his true partner in crime.

Kid Blink sat back up and waited a moment, grinning cleverly before jumping off the bunk, landing on the floor with a hard thud right next to Mush's head. The brass bunk frames shook.

Mush woke with a quick start, his startled cry waking the rest of the dozing Newsies. Racetrack, who was under Jack/David's bed, scoffed and shook his head at them.

David moaned irritably as he rubbed his eyes, "Really, guys?"

"Morning, Davie," Racetrack called up to the boy. "Sleep well?"

"I did once I got used to the smell of your feet," David said as he threw his legs over the side.

The boys laughed and Race blew David off as he went to the sinks.

"Jesus, Kid," Mush said with a yawn, climbing out of bed and reaching for his trousers. "Can't ya wake me a bit softer?"

"Yeah, I'll make ya breakfast next time, sweetheart," Kid Blink called as he strolled into the curtain of steam that was rolling out from the bathroom. Mush glared and buttoned his pants as he followed his friend to the sinks.

The boys rough housed as they got ready for the day, whipping each other with damp towels and flinging soap at one another. But, then again, they always rough housed.

November was turning bitter, and the boys added more layers to their wardrobes every day, shuffling through the boxes of coats in a corner of the bunk room, seeing what fit. The older Newsies, like Kid Blink, had their own coats. They bundled up and bounded down the old staircase and out the door for the distribution dock where they bought their stacks of papes.

It was a sunny morning but the wind was still angry, nipping their cheeks. Girls huddled together as they went to school or to the factories and the men drew their coats around them. The streets were bustling as people went in and out of shops and offices and horse carriages flew up and down the busy intersections. Shouts could be heard from the markets and the bulls' whistle blowing echoed around the buildings.

Newsies didn't like the cold too much; their fingers froze as they held their papes high and they only had so many clothes that were made available to them through the generous donations of the city. They fared better in the summer, when they could strip away clothes instead of freeze. At least the city smelled better in the winter.

Mush and Kid Blink usually sold together. Even if they didn't sell anything, they had each other for company. Sometimes they couldn't stand together; they were their worst distractions and they'd laugh too much. They had their usual spots: the corner outside of Tibby's when men left their offices for lunch; the market place where they sometimes snuck a loaf of bread or an apple or two; and the corner across from an all girls' school, Saint Catherine's, in the Upper East Side.

The girls' school was not the best place for Mush and Kid Blink to sell papers. But they never really worried about selling papers there; they just wanted to see the girls leave the school at four in the afternoon, the biggest gaggle of girls the boys had ever seen. Soon word got out to the other Newsies and some joined Mush and Kid Blink, sniggering and gawking at the girls with long soft hair, their faces clean.

The Newsies stuck out like sore thumbs in their rags for clothes in the Upper East Side and their harsh New York accents filled the streets as they shouted the headlines. Even though they couldn't even afford to stand there and breathe and most passersby turned up their noses, Kid Blink made some decent coin; it's all in what you say. Some would shout about stocks and bonds or about world affairs but what sold the most were the stories covering the trail of Garrison Rockefeller, heir to the Rockefeller Empire. The Newsies had Ira to thank for that story.

Even though the girls across the street would never look their way, it was a good spot regardless: they were across from a busy intersection where people passed them every three seconds, unable to ignore their shouts of the daily headlines. Kid Blink would shout as loud as he could and would smile charmingly at the women that passed him. Some even smiled back.

His right eye would dart over to the ornate front doors of the school, where the girls waited for their friends. Every day the school bell would ring, echoing around the buildings within a ten mile radius, and the girls would flow out the front doors, giggling and laughing as they left. Their skirts and blouses were clean and crisp, their skin and hair just as clean. They tugged their shawls tighter against the cold and darted around the steps, talking with their friends. It seemed that every one of them was beautiful and out of reach. It wasn't hard to see why the Newsies' eyes were drawn to them.

And every day, he saw her.

It was four in the afternoon, the chilly air at their backs and rustling the papers, and Kid Blink's good eye happened to glance to the school right as she was coming out the front doors.

Kid Blink had noticed her the first day they had started selling on the corner. She stood apart from the others, or at least she stood out to him: her hair was down and blew around her shoulders, where as the other girls had their hair up in tight buns, and the sleeves of her blouse were rolled up, her hands always in a notebook she carried every day. She turned, and he saw her face.

The corners of his mouth lifted a little.

The boys teased him endlessly and called her "Blink's Girl". And he didn't mind in the slightest.

"She's pretty Blink," they'd croon and laugh. "Ya got good taste."

"Too bad he'll never get ta taste," they'd laugh.

"An' it don't botha ya that she's Upper East Side?" one of them would shout.

"Man, she could crawl out from the sewers an' he'd still be in love with her!"

He would just shake his head and shove them.

He was one of the more sensitive Newsies, looking out for everyone else before himself. He was loyal, almost to a fault, and where as his best friend, Jack, was more mysterious when it came to girls, Kid Blink wasn't afraid to fall. He and Mush enjoyed the occasional adventure to flirt with girls, either at Tibby's or on the street, but he had never been with a girl: being a Newsie was a full time job. There was hardly time to flirt with them, let alone talk to one for more than fifteen minutes.

There was Ira. She was the only constant girl in the Newsies' lives. She was Jack's, and like an older sister to the others…an older sister that wouldn't think twice about kicking their asses. For the past four months, Jack, Kid Blink, Mush, and David had been on their toes, helping her and protecting her as she made a new life for herself.*

And she was perfect for Jack: both hotheaded and the most stubborn people Kid Blink had ever met. They were good and bad for each other at the same time.

Kid Blink would see the way they looked at each other, when they thought no one was looking...

He envied Jack sometimes, as did the other boys. But Ira was…a special girl. Only Jack could handle her. Kid Blink wanted something a little softer than the hot-blooded Russian. But she was more than perfect for Jack.

Kid Blink used to not know what he wanted. That is, until he saw her.

He was still staring at her, his eyes hadn't left her face ever since she had turned around. She was laughing.

For lack of a better word, she was completely angelic. Her face was kind and charming, a face that could inspire every man in the world. She didn't have a face like Ira's, a face that reminded men of their manhood, but a face that embodied the beauty of the sun. Ira was dark, she was light. Ira was beautiful and all, but hers…well, it was a face Kid had no problem staring at.

She was a young woman, and she held herself with grace and poise and there was no doubt that she came from a well off family. But even from across the street, he could see the playfulness that hid just behind her expression. She didn't like to have her hair tied up, like the others'. Her hair was blonde, and shone like gold when the sun caught it. It fell to her lower back in waves, curling at the ends.

And she smiled, a lot. If she had smiled at him…well, it would've been more than enough.

She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful person he had ever seen. There was no other way to describe her. She laughed again, her face brightening.

He didn't believe in "love at first sight" or any of that bullshit. But he was willing to reconsider.

But she had money, came from the Upper East Side. He couldn't even afford to drop a nickel by accident. Why should she notice him?

"Kid! Let's go, I'm hungry," someone said to him. It sounded like Snoddy.

But he didn't take his eye away from her. His eyebrows were furrowed, concentrated, and his lips frowned a little. His negative thoughts were beginning to ruin his mood.

"'ey, Blink," Mush said huskily. "'s a matta?"

"It's his girl," Snoddy said, grinning as he saw her on the school steps. "I gotta hand it to ya, Blink: ya sure do know how ta pick tha ones ya can't reach."

Mush shoved Snoddy, "Jus' leave 'im alone, a'right?"

"Nah," Kid Blink said, still staring at her. "He's right. Let's go."

The next day, it was the same thing. He was eager to see her again, to see her face. She was waiting outside, sitting on the school steps. She had a large notebook under her arm. Girls waved to her and she smiled at them, laughing when they teased her playfully as they passed. Then she would be all by herself; even though there were people all around her, she would retreat into her own little world, smiling a little as she wrote in her notebook. She might have been drawing.

Kid Blink felt like he was intruding, even though she was completely unaware of him. His papers hung limply in the crook of his arm, not listening to Mush and the others yelling next to him. He was completely distracted, enamored with her.

But why? There were plenty of girls, and they had been selling at this spot for weeks now. Why had he noticed her?

And then it occurred to him: she had looked over to them, the Newsies. She'd looked over at them at least once every day, even now her eyes flitted over to them as she waited on the steps. None of the other girls had taken the time to notice the newsboys. And if they had, it was perhaps out of disgust or indifference. But her eyes had wandered over to them and had even wandered over to him. She looked…curious.

And the more he looked at her, the more curious he became too.

"Kid!" Snoddy shouted. "Ya just gonna stand there and look pretty?"

Mush followed his friend's gaze and then gave his friend a look, "Man, jus' go an' talk to her. Ya both have been starin' at each other for weeks."

"Ya think so?" Kid Blink asked, dazed. He looked at his friend, seeing his incredulous expression. Kid Blink scoffed, "Man, come off it. I'd get arrested."

He looked back to her just as she and a girl with curly red hair were walking down the street, away from the Newsies. He sighed, his shoulders dropping, "Nah, 's just another girl."

"C'mon, man," Mush said, putting his arm around Kid Blink's neck and leading him after the other Newsies. "Haven't you learned anythin' from Jack? Girls make you crazy."

"But Ira's meant to drive him crazy, ya know?" Kid Blink said. "It's like…there's that one girl meant ta drive you crazy…"

Mush shook his head, his eyes dark with worry. "Aw, Kid, you've got it bad. Ya don't even know her name!"

Kid Blink's eye glinted sadly, looking down the street she had taken. He knew she was beautiful, and must have a personality to match. He knew she noticed little things, even the Newsies. He knew she liked to write or draw a lot because she carried that notebook everywhere. He knew she came from a wealthy family. He knew she was well liked by the other school girls. She must have been kind.

He may not know her name, but he knew he had fallen. And for a complete stranger.

Kid Blink dreamt of her that night: she walked across the street to him and smiled at him, her hair blowing around her face. He did remember much of the dream, just the sun on her face and her eyes crinkled as she smiled at him. He woke up wishing he hadn't dreamt of her at all; it was a painful reminder that someone like her would never talk, or even smile, at someone like him.

The guys teased him all morning as they got dressed for the day.

"Going to see your girl today, Kid?" Snoddy shouted loudly, laughing.

Mush shoved Snoddy, glaring, "Man, cut it out will ya?"

Kid Blink laughed, "At least I didn't wake up to kissing Spec's foot!"

The boys around the bunks laughed and Snoddy fumed.

"Man, taday's tha day," Racetrack beamed, slamming his fist into his palm. "Taday's tha day fellas: I'm gonna be rollin'."

"The only thing you'll be rollin' in is the shit in the stables, jus' like last time," Mush shouted from the sinks.

The boys roared with laughter: Racetrack was infamous at the tracks for not being able to pay when he lost his bets.

Racetrack glared, "Well, guess I knows who I'm not sharin' tha winnings with."

"Oh, gee," Mush said as he rolled his eyes.

Racetrack kicked him and ran for cover in one of the showers.

The day dragged on like every other day but Kid Blink's heart was pounding in his chest when they reached their spot across from the ornate catholic school. He knew it was stupid to feel that way; nothing would happen. Even so, he still liked to see her.

The Newsies reached the corner and Kid Blink glanced to the front doors as usual. His brows furrowed when he saw her in the middle of the street, dodging buggies and people. The other school girls were on the sidewalk and the steps of the school, chasing after loose sheets of paper. The wind was carrying the papers into the street and the girl, Kid's girl, was trying to save them from the oncoming carts and buggies.

He connected the dots fairly quickly, but not before his feet were already moving.

"Kid! Where are ya goin'?" Snoddy shouted.

Kid was already in the middle of the street, crouching to snag the papers. He was right: they were drawings. But he didn't stop to look at them; he grabbed the ones in the street, getting closer to the girl. The horses and carts seemed to pass them without hesitation, and soon the street was clear. Kid reached for another drawing and looked up, seeing her kneeling next to the sidewalk, smiling at him as she tucked her long hair behind her ear.

His chest heaved, feeling out of breath. He didn't know if it was from grabbing the drawings or from her smile.

It was probably the latter.

"Ah, thank you," she said breathlessly. She stood up and quickly went to him to take her drawings. She looked up, meeting his good eye. "You didn't have to."

"I didn't mind," he said, smiling back. "'s better than watching you get run over."

She laughed, her face lighting up. His smile grew in response.

"Thank you so much," she said kindly as he handed over her drawings.

God, that voice.

He noticed her eyes first; they were light hazel, wide and clear as glass. Her face was soft and her lips were full and rosy. Light freckles dusted across her nose and cheeks. He was about a head taller than her. Her body was petite and feminine, dressed in a white blouse and a long navy skirt, her school uniform.

"Here's some more!"

Kid looked up to see Mush running towards them, holding a few drawings.

"Hey, these are really good," Mush said. He nudged Kid, "We're even in here."

"Huh?" Kid Blink asked.

"Yes! I'm sorry, I couldn't help it," the girl said eagerly, smiling up at Kid again. "You and your friends are very good subjects."

She held out one of the drawings and Kid and Mush leaned in, seeing their drawn-selves on the street corner, shouting and holding up their papes. The gray strokes reinvented their street corner, and she'd even drawn his eye patch.

"They're only sketches, so they're not very detailed," she looked up and met Kid's eye. "But I hope you like it."

The air in Kid's lungs evaporated.

"'s amazing!" Mush laughed.

"Thank you," she said. "And thank you for saving them for me."

"Any time," Mush said, touching the rim of his cap. He gave Kid a long meaningful look before turning to run back to the Newsies.

"What is your name?" she asked. Her voice was very…proper. She didn't have a New York accent. It wasn't one he had heard before. But it was pleasant to listen to.

"Kid Blink," he answered. "'s the name the Newsies gave me."

"Newsies," she repeated. "Yes, the newsboys…you come here every day, don't you?"

"Yeah," he said excitedly. "'s a good spot to sell papes."

"And to watch the school no doubt," she said cunningly, glancing to her friends. "I sometimes hear my friends giggling about the 'cute newsboys'."

"Cute? Really?" he asked excitedly, smiling.

She laughed at his reaction. Her teeth were perfect.

"So what's your name?" he asked boldly.

"Katherine," she said. "But my friends call me Kat."

"Kat," Kid Blink said to himself.

She smiled innocently. Was she blushing?

"Well, thank you again, Kid Blink, for risking your life for my hobby," she said, her eyes glinting.

"Wasn't any trouble," he laughed. "Maybe you could draw me sometime," he said playfully.

She smiled, looking into his good eye.

"I already have," she said.

Kid had to repeat the words in his head, unsure if he had heard her right.

"Perhaps I'll see you tomorrow, Kid Blink," she said. "I would like to."

He stared down at her. Her smile was completely genuine. She wasn't playing games with him. He heard it in her voice; she was being serious. He didn't say anything back; he was too stunned.

Leaving him on the sidewalk, she turned away, still smiling, and went to her friends on the stoop who were giggling as they watched her.

He smiled to himself and, feeling lighter than air, returned to his friends on the corner. The Newsies watched him open-mouthed.

"Damn, Kid," Mush said, smiling in disbelief. "She's an angel."

"'s her name?" Snoddy asked. "Maybe she can help me out with tha red head…"

"Kat," Kid Blink answered, glancing back across the street to see her walking away with her friends.

"Seriously?" Specs snorted. "Kat? So, what, you'd be… Kid and Kat?"

The boys roared and Kid Blink hit Specs hard in the stomach with his remaining papes.

"Tha's almost too good to be true," Snoddy said. "Like a fuckin' nursery rhyme."

"Say one more word, an' I'll soak ya," Kid Blink said darkly.

Mush couldn't help laughing a little, "C'mon, man, let's get outta here."

"C'mon, lover boy," Snoddy said over his shoulder.

….

*See "Numb Like Her" for Jack and Ira's story!

So it starts a little slow. Give it a chance! Kid's got to have his story!