It's my first week at my second year of college, so fun fact about the author, i originally created my account to write Newies (as in the musical) fanfiction, not all the superhero stuff that i write. So, here's a Newsie fanfiction about a character near and dear to my heart. she's a newsie. she's a girl. and her name just so happens to be Laces.

Enjoy!

L.L.A.P

~Laces

Chpt.1

"W-would you like ta buy a pape. P-please just a nickel. Please..." a young girl walked the streets of New York, trying to sell some newspapers. She had dark skin that a woman once said looked like she was covered in soot. She wore a thin brown dress, tattered shoes, and a black cardigan. The shoes constantly were at risk of falling off her feet, so the girl tied the shoes with multiple shoe laces to keep them bound to her feet.

Along with using the shoe laces to keep her shoes on her feet, she also had another pair tied around her dress as a belt to keep the dress closer to her body to provide warmth since it was about two sizes too large for her. Her hair stuck up in the air and was matted in several places. What the girl would give to have a knife to cut it so it wouldn't get so tangled.

Looking across the street, the frail girl could see a little girl about her age with long untangled blonde hair who was laughing with her parents wearing a warm jacket.

I wish we could switch. The young girl newsie though sadly, but was torn out of her thoughts as she felt herself get pushed aside by the people on the street, ignoring her.

"Please. Please buy a pape." She whispered more to herself as she felt a cough take through her body followed closely after by a shiver.

"Saying please isn't somethin' a New Yorker does."

The young girl looked up at see an older boy staring down at her and dread immediately filled her veins as she started to back away.

"I don't owe ya nothing!"

"Didn't say ya did, kid." The older boy shrugged but she could see him looking her over. He was so much taller and older than her that she knew that it would be useless trying to run away. The girl was only nine. This older newsie looked to be in his early teens. Eleven or twelve maybe.

"It's pretty cold out, you should either get a warmer coat or head home." He informed and the girl unconsciously clutched the thin cardigan draped over her shoulders.

"Thanks for the tip." she mumbled, still weary of the other newsie. The girl then looked up at a woman and held up the paper.

"Miss would you-" the older woman brushed right pass the girl, ignoring her existence.

"Y'know, selling papes takes a lot more personality. Ya gotta sell it like an advertisement." The boy stated and the girl shot him an irritated look. She wished that he would just leave her alone.

"Thanks." she grumbled. She tried to sell the paper to another person but again with no luck.

"At least try shouting a headline from the pape." The boy stated and the girl looked at him in frustration.

"I can't." saying it out loud made her heart sink and also made her angry at herself for being so stupid. "Now get lost." she snapped. The boy looked at her in shock, then started chuckling.

"Got some spunk for a girl."

He then took one of his own papers and held it in the air.

"EXTRA EXTRA MAN SHOT TO DEATH! COURTROOM BAFFLED!"

Immediately a man bought it from him and the newsie turned to look at the younger girl.

"Think you can do that?" He questioned and she slowly nodded. However she started coughing again and tried to hide the fact.

"Don't hide it. Use it." The boy stated seriously. "Go up to that hoity toity lookin' lady and cough while offerin up your pape." He informed.

Wordlessly, the young girl figured that she'd humor the older boy.

The woman glanced at her and the woman's eyes widened when the little girl started coughing.

"Oh, you poor sickly thing." The woman pouted.

"Please…"

"Here." The woman handed her a nickel and took a newspaper and walked away. Meanwhile, the little girl looked on in shock.

I managed to sell a pape. She thought to herself in disbelief.

"Not bad." The older newsie hummed from behind her with a smug smile on his face. "You want to sell more papes ?" he inquired, and the girl slowly nodded.

"If you want, I could help you out. We could split the pay of how much you make and I can look out for you."

"Why would-"

"You are the girl who's been sleepin' in the allies, right?" the girl looked at the older boy with surprise.

"How did you know-"

"Me and the boys noticed you sleepin' in the allies. That's not healthy. Especially for winter." He stated. "So, I can help ya out. But you'll gotta do everything I say."

The little girl stared at the older boy. What was she supposed to do? If she stayed in another ally again, she'd surly freeze. And this boy did just help her.

Slowly nodding, the girl whispered,

"A-alright." The boy spat in his hand and stuck it out for the girl to shake.

"We gotta make it official." He stated with a smile, and the girl spat on her hand and they shook.

"It will be an honor to have ya as my apprentice." The boy smirked. "It's nice ta meet ya, Laces. My name is Jack Kelly some call me Cowboy." He said, but the girl frowned.

"My name ain't Laces it's-"

"You're a newsie, Laces. The less people know your real name, the better." Jack informed. "Now, let's get ya some trousers."

"Trousers?" the young girl, Laces, repeated uncertainly.

"Yes. Trousers. To be my apprentice, ya need ta pass as a boy."

"But you just said that your friends saw me too. Won't they know I'm a girl?"

"I don't care if they know. Ya just need to pass as a boy to the owner of the lodging house." Jack informed.

"Lodging?" Laces head was spinning from the current turn of events.

"Well, I can't let ya stay in the cold, Laces. You'll die if I let that happen, and I certainly don't plan on letting an apprentice of mine die." He informed.

Laces could hardly believe what was happening. Next thing she knew, Jack was buying her some trousers, two shirts, and suspenders from a cheap shop. She knew that this would be money that she would be paying him back, but as she felt her legs enclosed by the pants, she didn't care, savoring in the warmth. He took a knife, hacking away at some of her hair until it was close to her scalp, making her smile.

"I'm takin' it that you didn't like your hair."

"Not at all." Laces nodded.

She looked down at herself noticing how her clothes still hung off her frame and belted the pants with some shoe laces and kept her extra shoe laces around her wrist and in her pockets. She was feeling quiet masculine.

"Now, what will your man name be?" Jack questioned.

"My man name?" Laces repeated slowly.

"Well, we're all gonna be callin' ya Laces, but when the man who runs the boarding house asks for your name, he's gonna mean you're real name. So what'll be your man name?" Jack questioned.

"Uh…" Laces gave it some thought. Her middle name could work. "Does Dallas Johnson work?" she inquired, and Jack chuckled.

"Sounds perfect. Now, let's get goin'. It's getting' colder and colder by the minute out here."

Laces nodded and followed Jack into a large house where she was introduced to an older man.

"My friend Laces here is lookin' for some lodging." Jack smirked and the man nodded.

"Can you write, son?" he inquired, looking at the girl, and Laces shook her head sadly.

"Then I'll fill out your paper. What is your name?" he inquired.

"O… Oh, it's Dallas. Dallas Johnson." She informed, almost slipping up, and the man nodded, writing it down. The form didn't take long to fill out, and then she was officially lodging in the newsboys house. Jack paid for her lodging as well, and she knew that she would be paying him back.

She followed him upstairs to where some boys were huddling in their beds.

"Hey Cowboy." A young boy with a crutch grinned as he limped over.

"Hey, Crutchy." Jack spoke in a calm voice and Laces could tell from the tenderness in his voice that the two were close.

"Isn't that the girl in the ally?" a boy questioned, and all the others suddenly had their attention on Laces. She didn't know what to say. Jack, however, did.

"This is my apprentice Laces. He will be staying here and learning the tricks of the trade from me. Any questions?" Jack's voice was stern for someone his age. He sounded like a leader, and by the way the boys reacted, he might just be the leader of the group.

"I got one." a boy stated. He was about Jack's age with a cigarette in his mouth.

"What is it Race?" Jack questioned. Tt was quiet for a moment, and Laces expected the boy to protest her staying there. However, he said,

"When can we take the guy out for a bite to eat? Look at 'im!" the boy, Racetrack, grabbed Laces shoulder and poked her ribs. "All I feel is bones."

That caused some laughter, and the boys all started talking about places to drop by for Dinner.

Laces was baffled by it all, and one of them could clearly tell.

"Listen kid, we're newsies and so are you." The boy with an eye patch smirked as he wrapped an arm around Laces. "Newsies are family. Nobody cares about us so we have ta care for each other. All for one and one for all." He grinned and Laces found herself smiling.

"What's your name?" she inquired.

"Name's Kid Blink." He said proudly. Jack and Kid Blink gave her a tour of the place and then they all went out to dinner.

Laces was pretty much in debt to Jack, but she'd make sure to pay him back. The Newsie life wasn't easy, but it was hers now. Who better to teach her how to thrive in the business than the popular Jack Kelly?