~ Twenty One ~

I sit inside my room, staring at the ceiling. I've been in here ever since the day I came back, since the day I told Jack about what I knew about Katherine.

My eyes travel to the doorway when I hear nearing footsteps.

"Hey," Davey's gentle voice speaks.

"Hey!" I sit up on my bed and smile at him.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you in a few days." Davey sits next to me on my lumpy bed.

"I've been in here," I turn to face him. "I guess I didn't really feel the need to go outside."

"You didn't feel the need? It's been beautiful outside for the past couple 'a days. Is everything okay?"

I don't really know what to tell him. To be honest, no, everything is not okay. I'm in love with my best friend, but he's in love with someone else, my other best friend and I have been going out for a while, but I don't really know how I feel about him anymore. To add onto everything, I don't even have money to feed myself, and all of my Newsies are in danger.

"I'm all right," I completely lie to his face.

"Really?" Davey tilts his head at me, he's onto me.

"No," I sigh, and I try to figure out what to tell him, and how much I should tell him. "Jack is all stressed out about the strike. I mean, we all are. I just hope we can end it soon. Not only that, we recently found out that Katherine is Pulitzer's daughter, and--"

"What?!"

"Oh, right... You missed that didn't you?"

"I guess so..."

"Well, they confessed their undying love for each other on the rooftop a couple days off, and..." I quickly realized who I was talking to and stopped what I was saying.

"And?"

"And... I'm just worried it might get in the way of things, y'know?" I said, unsure. I could tell Davey was unsure of what I said, too.

"That makes sense...?"

"Davey, I... I need to tell you something."

"Okay? Go ahead," Davey turns to face me.

I sigh, afraid of what he might say. "Listen, Davey, I love you, I do. But..."

"But..." He sighs.

"Please let me finish... I want you to be my friend, but if we're together, I don't see that happening."

"What? Cory, we're great togeth--"

"Your family hates me. They don't dislike me, they hate me. I'll never be good enough for them. I have such a complicated life, the way I live, everything! You're going back to school soon. I'm not girlfriend material and I lo..." I had to cut myself off before I said it.

"And? And you what? Is there something else? Is there someone else?" He raises his voice, but he sounds hurt.

I simply nod my head, put my hand on my forehead, and mumble, "Yes."

We sit in silence as he processes this. "Ah. I see."

"I want you to be my friend, Davey."

"And I want to be yours."

I hug him and he kisses my head. "I'm sorry, Dave."

Jack called a meeting in the dining hall, but I'm left wondering if I did the right thing.

~*~

"All right, boys," Jack begins a meeting. "Things are about to get a little bit bumpy, but if we stick together, we can get through all dis," he leans on the table. "Anyone got ideas for our next strategy?"

I lean on my doorframe while they sit at the tables in the foyer. My arms are crossed and I watch Jack speaking to all of the boys. He seems so serious, well, that's because things are about to get really scary.

Every now and then, I see him glance back at me. He smiles and gives me a wink, which only makes me blush. There's a part of me that says I did the right thing to break it off with Davey. It's not like we were courting each other, right?

But there's a little voice in my head that keeps telling me I still can't be with Jack. He loves Katherine. And he always will.

"We'se gotta find some way to prove that da workin' kids in Man'attan aren't gettin' deir rights," Race calls out.

"But how?" Another boy asks.

They all begin pitching in a few ideas on how we can get a headline for ourselves and let the people know how hard things are, not just in Newsies Square, but all over New York. Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx.

Then, an idea pops into my head, like a lightbulb turning on. I step back inside my room and go straight to my trunk and unlock it. Inside, I see all of the things from my past, including a book Jack gave to me for my birthday. When you open it up, you'd find all of his drawings from the time he was ten to when he was sixteen.

I flip through the pages, hoping to find a specific drawing of a nightmare we had both shared. While I go through the stained and wrinkled pages in the sketch book, I see some of my favorite drawings of his. A picture of my emerald amulet, a bird flying, and a picture I've never seen before. It was a portrait of... Me. When I was thirteen? I could tell it was old by the faded green colored pencil in my eyes. I can tell you one thing, Jack has definitely improved since he was thirteen years old.

As much as I wanted to look through all of the drawings he gave to me, I had to show Jack this idea.

"Dat's nevah gunna work!" I hear a few of the boys arguing when I step outside, but when I look over, I see Jack sitting down with his face buried in his hands, stressed out.

"How do ya know?"

"'Cause I do!"

"Ya wanna fist to yer face?"

"Woah, woah, woah!" I step in  between them with the sketch book in my hand. "Boys, this hard enough already, we don't want another Newsie outta the game."

"Thanks, Cory," I hear Jack mumble.

"And besides, I have a plan to present to you all."

Jack perks up at the sound of that, "Fire 'way."

"Okay, we can strike Snyder out with this." I show the drawing from Jack's book.

"The... Refuge?" Katherine squints her eyes to see the picture from where she stands. I hand it to her so she can see up close.

"Exactly."

"'Ay, dat's one of my drawings!" Jack exclaims.

"Think of this... Jack's drawing next to one of..." I scramble through my thoughts. I spot Katherine and it all clicks. "Katherine's writings! We could challenge all of the kids in New York to take a stand and... and demand a place at the table!"

"Yes! It doesn't have to be just about the Newsies," Katherine chimes in.

"Right! We could rally the kids from every sweatshop, factory, and slaughterhouse and stand up to Pulitzer and Snyder together!" 

"The Children's Crusade!"  Katherine exclaims.

"We'll print it and the Newsies can spread it all over Manhattan, and all over New York!"

"Wait, wait! Where we gunna print dis?" Jack stands up and breaks up our plan–making.

"There's gotta be one press Pulitzer doesn't control," I say.

"There's one in the basement of our summer house! I wouldn't imagine he goes there without a family anymore. We could print it there," Katherine suggests.

"Sounds poifect!" A few boys yell.

"So, what do you think, Jack?" I ask him.

Jack jumps up and hugs me, "Cory, you'se a genius!"

"So it's settled," Katherine starts. "Tomorrow, we're going to my summer home, print the papers--"

I finish her sentence, "And end this strike."

📰 ❤️ 🎵 📰 ❤️ 🎵 📰 ❤️ 🎵 📰 ❤️ 🎵 📰 ❤️ 🎵

-it's summer!!! yes!!!

-i hope you enjoyed this chapter of qony! i have a new one on the way very, very soon!

-qotd: what is your favorite broadway empowerment song?

-aotd: legit anything from hamilton. my shot, non–stop, the schuyler sisters, the room where it happens, you name it! but i also love seize the day (newsies), corner of the sky (pippin), don't forget me (bombshell) and this world will remember us (bonnie & clyde).

-alrighty! have an awesome summer, and keep your eyes open for a new chapter of queen of new york!

love, hayden beth 🐢💕