Hey, will it turn you off if I say this is my first Newsies fan fiction? I've written other stuff but it's been awhile. Let's see.

This story is set both in present day and early 1900's.

I appreciate any suggestions as to how I can keep it historically or geographically accurate. I don't live in NYC so I'm doing some research. If you happen to live there or know anything about it, let me know what I should fix. I do realize that some of the locations in the movie were different from the actual event. I also realize I'm mixing reality and a film but try and use your imagination and we'll see where this goes.

I love reviews. (who doesn't?) They're so...addicting! So yeah, if you feel like supporting my habit, it only takes a mouse click!

If you want a part in this story, I have lots of cameos available (and possibly some larger roles.) Send me a real name (it doesn't have to be yours) and a description.

This story has as many of the newsies as I could write in. If there's a character you want to see, tell me-I'll do my best to put them in.

Disclaimer would be: Disney owns Newsies but if I had a million dollars...

The end of the song, "All I Care About is Love" that Tanya sings is from "Chicago."

The actors (including Max Casella) belong to their agents. (Lucky agent!)

The real Kid Blink from 1899 owned himself.

HOWEVER, I own Tanya Farthing, our heroine. (Female hero, people! THIS IS A DRUG FREE ZONE! Except for caffeine...chocolate....mmmmmm.)

I also own LaShonda, the lodging house tour guide, Mrs. Hannedy, Mrs.Yeltinsky, and Grenada Pyer.

And here we go...

"See, all I care about...is laaaaaahhhhhhve!" The song ended and Tanya turned uplifted eyes hopefully down to the directors.

Expressionless, the dark blond with thick glasses nodded, "Thank you." He motioned for her to leave the stage.

Tanya fought to keep her thin shoulders from slumping. "Keep moving. Keep the confidence," the voice in her head urged. She walked down the steps, smiled winningly at the casting table and left the way she had come. The muggy city air clamored to embrace her the second she pushed the heavy double doors open. It was with regret that she stepped back into clammy New York City, leaving the dark, air-conditioned theater behind.

Just as quickly as she raised her arm to hail a taxi, she lowered it again. It would take her longer to get home but...

4 blocks later, Tanya stopped in front of the New Amsterdam Theatre and gazed with reverence at the bill that screamed-The Lion King.

The short line in front of the ticket office didn't give the girl much time to consider what she'd do if she didn't have enough money. The ticket agent didn't even look up from counting bills, "May I help you?"

"I need a ticket."

"Alright. Any particular seat?" He looked up at her then, his eyebrows raised.

"Um..." she bit her lip, the voice in her head kept saying orchestra, "How much does something in the mezzanine row cost?"

"Row 1 or 2?"

"1."

"90 bucks."

Tanya blushed, "What's the cheapest seat you have?"

"25 in the balcony."

The girl nodded, "I'll come back then."

"Suit yourself. Can I help the next in line?"

Tanya backed away from the theater. Trodding home, she tried to think of a way to get her hands on 90 dollars. Or 25, for that matter. "Maybe if I get some babysitting jobs this weekend..."

Her key fitted in the lock and she pushed the door open. No one was home. She eyed the answering machine. It blinked at her with its little red eye. She hit "play" and opened the refrigerator.

Beeeeep! "Tanya, it's Mom. I'll be working late at the office. Mr. Skinner wants those reports filed tonight. (Sigh) There's meat loaf in the freezer. If you need anything, call Mrs. Hannedy. Love you. Bye."

Beeeeep! "Tanya, it's LeShonda. You know that stupid field trip we have on Monday? Guess who's in our group. Ugh, I hate her! Call me when you get home."

Beeeeep! "Hello, this is Margaret Yeltsinsky and I'm trying to reach Tanya Farthing. I was hoping she might be available to watch the kids tomorrow night. Tanya, if you could call me, I would appreciate it."

"Yes!!!!" Tanya grabbed the phone and was just about to hit the speed dial when the voice in her head piped up, "Whoa, wait a minute, kiddo! Don't you remember what's going on Saturday night?"

She smacked her head in disgust, "Ugh! Call-backs!"

"That's what I'm talking about."

The voice in her head had been there for a long time. And no matter what anyone said, Tanya knew she wasn't just talking to herself. If she was, then how come that voice sounded so suspiciously like Max Casella?

"But what if I don't get called?"

"What if ya do?"

"But-"

"Fine, don't listen ta me."

"Okay, okay! I have to turn the job down. But what about those tickets?"

"We'll just have to think of somethin' else."

"Like...?"

"Betta hurry and call Mrs.Yeltinsky. LeShonda can't talk on the phone after 7."

"Fine. Be that way."

"Thanks, I think I will."

Tanya rolled her eyes and dialed the Yeltsinskys' number...

"Yeah, so anyway, I can't work for you tomorrow night. Yeah, call backs. So um...huh? Good luck?" Tanya felt suddenly panicked, "Uh NO! Uh, you wouldn't mind takin' that back, would ya, Mrs.Yeltsinsky? Well, no, it's just that...it's...bad luck," she finished lamely. "Superstitious? I can't afford NOT to be. Yeah, well, break a leg? Yeah. Thanks. I'll talk to you later, Mrs.Yeltsinsky." Tanya hung up and called LeShonda.

"Hey, I thought you were NEVER going to call!"

"Sorry. I had to take care of something first."

"Oh. So anyways, you heard we got stuck with Grenada, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"She's so...!"

"Aggravating?"

"Like...YEAH!"

"Oh, well. At least, she's not in our study hall."

"Yeah, like...at least. Oh, hey, I better go. We're eating dinner." Tanya could hear the shouts of LeShonda's younger brothers in the background.

"Okay."

"Talk to you later."

"Bye."

Saturday morning came and went. Saturday afternoon dragged on until Tanya glanced down at her watch and saw the time...6:02. She sighed. "Oh, well."

"Hey, don't let it get ya down. So one audition didn't pan out. Theah's always the next one." The voice in her head tried to sound cheerful.

Tanya ignored it and yanked open the freezer door.

"Oh, great," groaned the voice, "Anothah ice-cream binge. If you keep it up, ya gonna look like a cow."

"Gee, thanks."

"Anytime, sweethawt."

Monday morning, Tanya climbed onto the bus, her hair still wet and her uniform untucked.

"You're a mess," LeShonda announced, flipping her blond hair out of her face.

"I know. The hair dryer quit working."

"Sheesh."

"Well, hello, Tanya," a snotty female voice from behind her began.

"Hey." Tanya made an effort to sound friendly.

"I didn't see you Saturday night."

"Excuse me?"

"The call-backs!"

"Your point being?"

"Oh, you weren't cast, were you?" Grenada's blue eyes grew wide. "That's too bad," she sympathized, her voice condescendingly sweet.

Tanya gritted her teeth. "It's fine." She managed to shrug. "So one audition didn't pan out. There's always the next one."

"Plagiarist," hissed the voice.

"You have SUCH a great attitude! If I hadn't been cast as Annie, I would have a had a fit!"

Tanya felt ready to throw up.

LaShonda spoke up then, "Yeah, that's one of the big differences between you and Tanya. Tanya would accept the director's decision like a true professional and you would throw a tantrum like a spoiled brat."

Grenada's face colored with anger and embarrassment...and hurt. Those big blue eyes seemed to cloud over with a mist but Tanya couldn't be sure.

She was just about to speak up when the bus lurched to a stop. Tanya turned to look out the window at the brick structure and the old wooden sign that read, "Newsboys Lodging House."

Something felt like it should click. Where had she seen that sign before? Newsboys...Newsies! Tanya smiled.

The noise inside the bus grew as the kids stood up and began gathering their back packs and lunches.

Tanya was still studying the door. A smaller sign had been added below the first-MUSEUM PROTECTED BY THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL PRESERVATION SOCIETY.

Mrs. Hannedy was standing at the front of the bus with another woman. "Alright, alright. Listen, listen to me!" The din softened. "Let me introduce Marlene Saunders who will be conducting our tour today."

Marlene smiled and began, "I understand this class has been studying the 1899 trolley strike. Today we're going to be visiting the location of another strike. The summer of 1899 was the summer the newsboys of this city went on strike, protesting the price raise on newspapers."

"Papes," Tanya murmured.

"Excuse me?" Marlene raised her eyebrows.

"I just remembered the newsies called their papers, 'papes.'"

"Yes, that's right. And yes, the newsboys were often called 'newsies.' Very good. I see someone's been studying."

Tanya smiled faintly.

"This lodging house, although it has not been confirmed, is believed to have been the main lodging house for the Manhattan newsies. You see, the strike started in Manhattan..."

Tanya stopped listening and started to remember things from the story...Joseph Pulitzer's greed, the newsies' bravado, the Refuge...

LaShonda was elbowing her. Tanya returned to the present as Marlene was saying, "Now if you'll follow me inside we'll take a look around." The students did as bidden.

At the steps, their guide stopped and turned to face them. "Please remember this building is over a hundred years old and most of the furnishings are original to the house or from that time period. Please refrain from handling anything or leaning against the walls. We want to preserve this site for many future generations to enjoy. Follow me."

The floor boards creaked underfoot and the front room had a musty old smell about it. Marlene placed a hand on top of the desk. "This desk is the only original piece in this room. It was the territory of the lodging house care-taker. According to various records from the time, the care-taker was a man named George Kloppman. He was responsible for the boys' room and board."

Tanya eyed the desk with interest. Marlene seemed to fade from view and behind the oak furniture the girl could see the outline of a man with thinning white hair and a trembling, frowning mouth unaided by the cruelty of age. Not unkindly, but with a hard look he stared at her from under his bowler hat. Tanya shook her head and returned to the present. What was Marlene saying now?

"...boarding fees, tenants, etc. Now if you'll follow me upstairs, I'll show you what kind of conditions were common for the newsboys of this era."

The stairs groaned with the weight of 20 students and Tanya tried to imagine what they sounded like with 30 or 40 newsies running down them all at once. At the top of the stairs, Marlene began her lecture again, "As you can see, this is the bunk room. This is where the boys slept after a long day hawking headlines. You must understand, these boys didn't have much but they were fortunate to have a place to live at all. "Carrying the banner" was a favorite expression of the times meaning-sleeping on the streets. Meager wages made life..."

Once again, Tanya tuned the woman out. She wasn't trying to be rude. She just wished she could figure out where those noises were coming from. She heard someone groaning and turned to stare at the rest of her class. They stood silent and attentive to Marlene. There it was again! It was coming not from anyone near her but from the other side of the room, next to the far bunk bed.

Hoping she could get closer to it, she raised her hand.

"Yes?" Marlene smiled pleasantly.

"Uh, are the...beds original?"

"As matter of fact, some of them are. The two in the far corner were originally here. The others are replicas built by the museum workshop." She took a step towards them, motioning the class to follow her. "They're made from unfinished pine and had very thin cotton mattresses. Not a great night sleep..."

"You call that lousy four hours sleep?" a male voice echoed behind Marlene. Tanya gasped in surprise. Everyone looked at her. Marlene stopped mid-sentence, "Is something wrong?"

"Who said that?"

"Said what?" the guide looked quizzical.

Tanya's eyes narrowed, but she shook her head, "Never mind. Sorry."

"As I was saying- these rooms got very cold at night. Even in this somewhat luxuriant lodging house, pneumonia was common during the winter. Over here," Marlene walked toward another room, "We have the washroom."

They walked through the open door into a long room. "The shelves in here are replicas but from period photographs we know these were common in boarding houses."

Tanya heard running water and distant boyish laughter.

"Where did they get their water?" she blurted.

The woman nodded, "Good question. They didn't have running water in the sense we think of. She moved to one side, revealing a green metal pump. "This pump is original. It's made entirely from cast..."

Tanya saw the pump moving, up and down. She watched the water gush into the barrel. The boy behind the pump had large brown eyes and a crutch. Someone shouted at him to hurry.

Hurry, you're going to be late. Gotta sell your papes or you'll be out on the streets. Move it, bonehead, let's go!

"Hey, Tanya, let's go!" she looked up to see LaShonda motioning to her. The rest of the class was following Marlene down the stairs.

"I'll be there in a second."

"Are you okay? Like you look really freaky right now."

Tanya shrugged, "I'm coming. Go on."

LaShonda rolled her eyes and bounded downstairs.

Tanya took a sideways glance out the window. Marlene stood on the sidewalk in front of the building, the class crowding around her to hear the end of the lecture. Good. She had a

minute.

The girl walked carefully through the rows of bunks until she came to the one in the very far corner. Her fingers traced the worn wood. A noise startled her. Someone moving, the mattress was moving! A sigh. She stepped back but another bed moved behind her. A noise escaped her lips, something between a shriek and a sob. She moved to the top of the stairs and looked back. A dark haired boy pulled a shirt over his head.

Not waiting any longer, she bolted down the steps, but when she stopped to look back, she tripped over the edge of the rug. Rug? There hadn't been a rug there before. She looked reached for the door knob and turned. It didn't move. She turned harder, she pulled, she yanked, begged, and began to cry as she realized it had been locked.

Moving to the front window, she began pounding. Her heart sank. The school bus was nowhere in sight. Marlene Saunders had disappeared from view. And it was getting dark. She might not have noticed except that a man had started lighting the street lamps...lighting the street lamps.

None of this made any sense. LaShonda wouldn't have let the bus leave without Tanya. Marlene wouldn't have locked the doors without making sure everyone was out. And street lamps aren't LIT! Not in the 21st century.

"Who's up foh a round a pokah, hah?" the voice came from upstairs but Tanya could hear it distinctly.

"Yeah, shoah, deal me in, Race," said another.

A chorus of voices shouted out then.

Tanya's heart caught in her throat as the front room got darker and darker with the absence of the sun.

a/n: Alright, first chapter, whew! That was longer than I thought it'd be! I don't think the rest of the chapters will be quite that long...hopefully not, anyway.

Please, please, please I beg of you...REVIEW. I NEED reviews. Pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaassseeee!!!!

I will love you all forever!!!

Legs comments on Racetrack Higgins: He's hot and adorably sarcastic. Streetwise. Loyal. Did I mention gorgeous?