Disclaimer: I don't own the Newsies, that's Disney. I don't own the lyrics of the song I usedfor inspiration, that's Dashboard Confessional. I don't even own the title of this story, lol, that's my wonderful girlfriend Ashley. When in doubt, I don't own it.
Author's Note: Well, I dunno where this came from really. I was sitting down to read stories, and ended up writing one just for the hell of it. Just a bit of fluff really. Originally I was going to write one where Spot was rejected, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it, lol, it's just not him - but for the record, I was so close. Please review.
Hey girl, you've got a smart way about you,
That makes me wish that I was smart enough for you.
Hey girl, you've got a fine laugh,
And I think that I could get used to that.
And you're already used to laughing at me …
So what if your friends think I'm crazy,
I wasn't tryin' to impress those girls anyway.
-Dashboard Confessional
Spot Conlon was not the type to stay loyal to a girl. When you had them throwing themselves at you, why pick just one? Sure, one for a night maybe – then when something better comes along, well, you ditch the old one and make room for the new.
Right?
It was a cloudy day when I first saw you. You was shoppin' for somethin' down by where some of the Manhattan boys like to sell. I remember 'cause I was spendin' the day with Cowboy. Just hangin' around like old friends do. He was tellin' me some story about him and Sarah's latest sexual exploits. I was toppin' his story, as usual, with one of me own about a blonde I'd picked up the past weekend. Well, a blonde and her twin sister, to make the story more interestin' …
And then you came struttin' around the corner like you was the star of the show. You and a few friends, but they weren't important, just background, 'cause all I saw was you. You and your short brown curls – not like the sleek blonde I'm usually datin'. You and your green eyes – didn't have quite the same glow as the baby blues I'm used to starin' at. You and your freckled cheeks, tiny nose, and rose lips. You were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in me life.
I told Cowboy about you, but he just laughed. He said you was just another "conquest"? I dunno – Jack likes to use big words he knows I don't understand. But he said it with that grin of his that means he don't think I'm serious. The one he uses when I tell him I'm gonna be king of all New York one day, not just Brooklyn. And the one he uses when I say I was with beautiful blonde twins the night before … He raises his eyebrows and his mouth gets all screwed up, and he just laughs. Well, I guess he shoulda figured out by now that nobody laughs at me.
So I punch him in the arm, hard, and I start headin' over to where you and ya friends are standin' -smilin' and talkin' and just bein' girls.
"Well I ain't nevah seen such an angel in me life," I say, with my smile, cause my smile is always what gets them, or so they tell me.
And ya friends all start laughin', an' then you do somethin' I wasn't expectin'. You raise ya eyebrows and give me that same smile that Cowboy just gave me.
But you still smile, so I guess it's okay. And you cross ya arms over ya chest and you say, "Well, if you're going to come over here and make an idiot of yourself, might as well do so with an original line."
Then I don't know what to say, 'cause well, you wasn't supposed to say anythin' – just stand there and smile, like they all do, and I could offer you me arm and we'd leave somewhere together.
But I get right back in. "Original? I'm jus' tellin' it like it is, sweetheart."
Again you smile, which makes it all worth it anyhow. "Well, stranger, you may call me miss, for starters –"
I laugh at this 'cause I don't think you know who you're talkin' to …
"Excuse me?" you raise your eyebrows again. But without the smile.
"Well, miss," I chuckle, "it's jus' funny tah me 'cause ya givin' me all dese names tah call you, but ya haven't even asked fah my name yet."
The smile's back … "Who says I care about your name?"
I look at you and I smirk. "Well, da stupid smile all ovah ya face gives me a hint, fah startahs …"
And then you give me the smile, but without the eyebrows. And I know I've won.
Ya friends are startin' to get annoyed by now. They start pullin' on ya sleeve, tryin' to get you to leave. And I know you don't want to make them angry at you. I know even better that you don't want them to know that you don't wanna leave.
So I decide that I better let you go, but not without tellin' you first: "I like ya laugh, miss, an' I like dat ya speak ya mind."
You don't know what to say to this, and I can tell. So I take ya hand and kiss ya cheek. Ya friends all gasp, but you just keep on smilin'.
"Oh, an' when ya wanna see me again," I say, "Da name's Spot. Spot Conlon. An' I'll be waitin'."
I don't even give you time to say anythin' back. Just turn around and walk away. That's just my style. I meet back up with Cowboy, who watched the whole thing from a safe way away.
He shakes his head when I come up to him and he says to me "She's too good for ya, Conlon, ya don't know what you're doin'."
I shrug my shoulders and don't say anythin', but now it's my turn to give Jacky-boy the smile with the eyebrows.
Because Spot Conlon just likes to sample the variety before making a selection. And when he finds one he likes, he expends all his energy pursuing her. This is because she's perfect. Perfect in everything she does, and he doesn't want to miss her when she comes along. Well he found her that cloudy day, and now Spot Conlon is scared, because loyalty is a word he doesn't understand.