Disclaimer: I do not own Newsies, Disney does. I just own Nelly and her family. And Emily Elizabeth!
Nelly's PoV
Manhattan Lodging House - Roof
"Okay, now, let me get this straight: you're pretendin' to be a boy because your mother got fired from her job and your step-father told you to?"
I nodded my head for what felt like the thousandth time that day. Really, Emily Elizabeth was one to grasp things pretty quickly, but she didn't seem to understand this all too much. And they say the older the wiser.
"I think I understand it now,"
"Finally. Now, how'd we get here?" it was a question I'd been meaning to ask her. I don't remember anything after I hit the wall, except for the scene that just unfolded in the bunkroom. I could only hope Emily Elizabeth was conscience.
"Oh, that, well, first of all, you are a very stupid little girl. Did you not learn your lesson from the last time you jumped into a river? The same thing happened then, too; you hit your head on the bank. I swear it's a miracle you don't get concuss-"
"Can we skip the flashback and get back to the subject?"
"Oh, right, that. Well, after you push me in -thank you, by the way- and you jumped in, you hit your head and passed out. Then you started sinking, so I grabbed you and carried you on my back while trying to look for somewhere to swim. I knew we were by the Brooklyn Bridge, so that ment we were by Brooklyn. Do you realize how heavy you are? Swimming with you on my back gave me one hell of a workout. I wouldn't be surprised if my-"
"Em!" I snapped. I knew how much I weighed, but I also knew how weightless people were in water. I just wanted to hear the story.
"Sorry. Anyway, I knew that if I followed the Brooklyn Bridge, I'd find Brooklyn. And Brooklyn has a dock. And people were on that dock. So I started swimming towards it, but after a while I got tired, and my leg cramped, among other things. So I started shouting for help. Then I went under.
While I was under there, I guess someone must have grabbed us both, 'cause next thing I knew we were lieing on the docks, coughing. Well, I was, you weren't responding. So I started doing compressions on your stomach, and you don't want to know what came out. It was disgusting! But you were breathing, so it didn't matter.
"This boy saved me. He said his name was Spot, and he has the most... gorgeous eyes ever," Emily Elizabeth trailed off, and I thought I lost her until she started talking again. "I told him who we were, and he said he knew your name. I guess that boyfriend of yours talks about you a lot or something, 'cause Spot said he knew where to bring you."
'Wow,' I thought, 'some guy who doesn't even know us taking pity on us. That's both... thoughtful and pittyful.'
"Wow," I said. "And how long was I talking before I woke up?" I asked.
Emily Elizabeth looked at me and smiled, then looked away and mumbled something.
"Excuse me?"
"Half hour."
"Dammit!" I hit the cement with my fist. We were sitting on the roof, trying both to dry off and hide. Well, I was hiding, Em was just sitting. You don't realize that your clothes stick to you when you're wet until you're in a room filled with guys... it's pretty embarassing.
"I know something that'll cheer you up," Em said, standing. She shook her body, water droplet flying from her hair and clothes. Then she smoothed out her skirt and blouse and held out her hand. "May I have this dance?"
I nearly fell over; Em and I had taken dance lessons one summer, and this was the first time in a very long time that we actually did something together. So I laughed and stood up.
I placed my left hand on her shoulder, and she put her's on my waist, them we held our right hands together. It was a ballroom dancing class that we took, so even if it looked weird, it felt perfectly normal.
"Dancing bears,
Painted wings,
Things I almost remember,"
I almost gasped once we started moving; she was singing my favorite song to both sing and dance to! I came in right after she did. Little did we know at the time that we had an audience.
"And a song someone sings
Once upon a December.
Someone holds me safe and warm.
Horses prance through a silver storm.
Figures dancing gracefully
Across my memory...
Someone holds me safe and warm.
Horses prance through a silver storm.
Figures dancing gracefully
Across (across) my mem (my mem)
Far away, long ago,
Glowing dim as an ember,
Things my heart
Used to know,
Things it yearns to remember...
And a song
Someone sings
Once upon a December"
We let go of each other and bowed.Then we heard clapping. I gasped and looked up to see Race, Jack, Skittery, Mush, some boy I didn't know, and Kid Blink standing in the doorway, clapping. I swollowed and gave Em a paniced look, but she didn't seem to be phased by it. When I gave her a questioning look, she only shrugged.
"I've had a curtain fall on my head." she explained. I nodded, not understanding how that was embarassing. "At my catillion." she continued.
"Oh," now I understood that.
"Hey, uh, Nel, can I tawk ta you?" Racetrack asked. I looked at Emily Elizabeth, who pretended to be more interested in her nails than my looks. So I sighed and nodded my head. "In private," it was a demand, not a question. Now Em was looking at me, a small smirk on her face. She followed the boys down the stairs.
"Wouldja mind explainin' ta me what happened?" he asked.
"I was walking with Emily Elizabeth -that's her, by the way- in Central Park, 'cause we were walking her dog Pommy. Then all of a suden my brother taps me on the shoulder and shoves your hat on my head and runs off. I guess some guy was chasing him, 'cause then he was chasing us and we jumped into the Hudson River. I hit my head and was knocked out, then I woke up here." I explained. "there's nothing more to it."
Race nodded, taking it all in. I was starting to wonder if he believed me or not until I heard a crack of thunder, saw a flash of lightning, and rain started pouring down on my head.
"Ah!" I yelped, throwing my arms around his torso and squeezing him. He just stared down at me and didn't move or say anything. I started laughing until it thundered again, which made me squeeze him tighter.
"Don't like thunder storms, huh?" he chuckled. I was shaking in his arms. You could say I didn't like them... or you could say I was down right terrified of them.
"Terrified. That's the word." I nodded. And it was just the thunder that bothered me; I used to always dance around in the rain and count the seconds between lightning, but thunder... it brought back bad memories.
"Let's go inside, then." he laughed. And we did.
"Straight flush, in spades," I could hear Emily Elizabeth's smirk even while walking -and at some points jumping- down the steps. She was the best Poker player I have ever met, not to mention the person who taught me how to play. And I could see that she had beaten the boys out of most of their money, or lack there of.
And then it thundered again.
"Mommy!" I shrieked, and dashed across the room and ran into Emily Elizabeth, sending the herself and the chair she was sitting in to the floor. I heard snickering, but I was too busy shaking. Em just frowned.
"You've got seriouse thunder issues, honey," she said, but I knew she meant nothing bad by it. She was just stating the facts.
"Why is she so jumpy?" Race asked.
Em hesitated before answering. "She almost lost her brother during a thunder storm when they came over from Italy."
A/N: Bah, I don't like this chapter zP But, whatever! What I think doesn't matter (even though it does). What matters is what you think! And please, if you want to read something else, read and review my one shot My Strongest Suit. I won't disappoint you, I promise.