I don't own Newsies, they belong to Disney. Although you can wish right. I do own all the characters not mentioned in the movie. Yay for me. Note the sarcasm.

A/N This is my first story so please be kind. *ducks to avoid any possible flying objects* Please forgive me if the Newsie dialect is wrong. I'm just starting to get the hang of it. Any reviews and suggestions would be highly appreciated. And I apologize if I may steal someone's newsie name. If I do it was not my intent.

                                                    The Past Is Exactly That                                                                  Chapter 1

"I'se don't owe you anyt'ing." A girl that looked about 15 shouted at the man glaring evilly at her. With shoulder length auburn hair and sharp green eyes, you could tell she inherited her looks from her mother and the more Irish side of her family. She was a pretty slender girl and somewhat tall for her age, which didn't hurt her in the way of looks. She began to dart away when the man grabbed her by the arm.

"You may not owe it to me, but you do to your mother." He had run out of patients. He was just paid to help out her mother during her last few hours and carry out her last demands, not to fight with a little girl over her new residence in Europe. He tried his hardest all day to convince this stubborn girl that she must go live with her aunt. It was now dark and he had gotten nowhere.

After her mother's sickness had taken her away, she was left with no family in New York. "Your mother told me that when the time came, you should be placed with your aunt. It's what she wanted for you Charlotte." He had to convince her. He wasn't fully paid until her last demand was met.

She freed herself from his grip. "Ya can't make me go! I'se stayin' in New Yawk wid me friends." With that said, she ran upstairs to her room. 'Why do I'se hafta leave. I lived heah all me life. All me friends are heah. All da people I'se know. Jus' ta live wid some strangah. I can't leave, I can't.' 

Charlotte let her gaze slide out the window, where she spotted a newsie most likely walking back to where he stayed, if he had a place to go that is. Despite the warnings from her mother, she wondered the streets during the afternoons talking to many of the newsies. Sometimes she'd sneak out of her classes to eat lunch with them. After spending all the time she could with them, she started to talk like them, disappointing almost all her teachers. But they were her friends, and right now the only people she could turn to.

She grabbed some clothes, her favorite book, and what little money she could find, and threw it in a small bag. "Well dis is what I want fa me" she muttered under her breath. When the ever-nearing footsteps stopped in front of her door, she slipped out the window and ran as fast as she could.

Her auburn hair was flying wildly and combined with the darkness that was setting in fast, it made it almost impossible to see as she sprinted to the nearest alley. She turned the corner quickly and ran into something, or someone. The force of the collision sent Charlotte flying on her back. "Well, what do we have heah?" She opened her eyes to see two guys, both in bowler hats standing over her. She never seen them before but had the urge to get up and run. It was obvious that these were two people you didn't want to run into, especially at night.

Charlotte quickly brought herself to her feet, when the one she assumed that she ran into backed her against a wall. "Shouldn't a goil like you know ta stay outa da alleys at night." Having never even been in a fight before let alone cornered to a wall like this, she let her instincts take over.

"So whaddya say sugah, me an' you—" He didn't finish before she threw back her arm and connected with the side of his face with a surprising amount of strength. By the look on his face, he hadn't expected her to do that either. He stood there for a while just stunned that she could hit that hard. She was a girl after all. Charlotte used that pause to her advantage and kneed him in the stomach.

"What da…" She turned to see the slightly larger of the two staring in astonishment at what she'd done to his friend. She was getting a lot of those looks lately, and she liked it. 'Maybe I'se shoulda fought moah often.' She watched him as the astonishment turned to anger. As he started to charge towards the girl she realized how much larger he was compared to her. With that her adrenalin rush came to a complete halt. 'Ah maybe not' she thought as she cringed in fear. She waited for the sharp blow when she realized he wasn't coming towards her anymore.

"Comon Oscar, get up its da bulls." The two boys ran out of sight as Charlotte ran towards the alley beside her. If she knew one thing it was to stay away from the bulls. What if they're looking for her, to take her back to the docks? That no good idiot probably told the cops she ran off. All he cared about was getting his money. What if they take her to her aunt? What if they take her away from New York, her only home?

She was starting to worry herself with all the what ifs that she didn't realize to look where she was heading and tripped falling flat on her face. 'Great, jus' great.' When she looked back to see what she'd been so engulfed in her thoughts to miss, she couldn't breathe. One of her friends was laying on the ground, unconscious and badly beaten.   

A/N : Well what do you think? Its pretty ordinary for a beginning but it'll get better, I promise. Well, I'll post the next chapter when I get the chance…darn band camp. A lot of reviews might get me working faster though. ;-)