manhattan, new york, lodging house, 8:00 p.m.

all of the newsies were going around, taking turns about their day, most of them the same. everyone was talking, execpt for crutchie. he was too busy thinking about marina. her brown, dull, but bright eyes, her dark skin, and straight long hair. he couldn't focus ever since he met her. "CRUCTHIE-" someone had screamed at him, making him yelp, and look away from his phone. "y-yeah-?" there, in front of him, was the infamous jack kelly, with his brown hair, and light blue eyes that always shined in the sun. "you've been out of it ever since lunch break ended. are you doing ok-?" jack asked in worry, now sitting by him, instead of near the others. "y-yeah, it's just-uhm..i-" "cructhie's got a pretty girl!" race yelled out, snickering, making half of the newsies that witnessed it agree smugly, and those who weren't there 'oooooooooooo' loudly. jack looked at cructhie, smiling lightly, more of a smirk as he raised his eyebrows. "i ain't know you were that good with ladies." jack admitted, poking the boy's side, making him squeak. "i-it's not like that! sh-she just happened to see me starin'.....a-and she talked to me a lot....gave me a cookie....and her number...." crutchie explained sheepishly, shrugging. "you got her number on the first try?!" jack asked quickly with a grin. "i'm impressed!" "sh-she just gave it to me, i-i didn't think she start texting me-!" the blonde stammered, shaking his head quickly.

as soon as he said that, his phone went off, making him immediately grab it, most of the newsies crowding around him to see who it was. of course, it was marina, who was texting him as he spoke. the text was short and simple, but her use of words made it felt like it went on forever. "it's her!" elmer teased, looking over crutchie's shoulder. "what's the girl's name anyway?" jack asked, sitting beside the blonde. "m-marina." cructhie answered quickly, nodding. "she has dark skin, brown eyes, which are dull, but to be honest, i think they're really pretty, and she has black hair that goes down her back. sh-she's like some kind of angel, and-" crutchie realized he was rambling, making him go red, and mumble more things about her in a hushed voice. "read the text already, the wait is killin' us! you can gush over her later!" jack huffed, taking the boys phone out of his hand, making him whine. the text read ;;

'heya, darling. i left something at the door of the lodging house. go check it out. 💋💖💖'

jack 'oo'ed gently, snickering. "she's giving gifts already? she can't get enough of you." jack teased, the other newsies joining in. "oh shut up-" crutchie mumbled. "go see what she left-it may be an engagement ring~" albert teased, making crutchie throw a pillow at him, before grabbing his crutch, and standing, limping to the door. as he opened the door, he saw a little wooden basket, with a note on it, saying "open me!" written in beautiful cursive letters. as crutchie grabbed the basket by the handle, he took it inside with him, closing the door, and setting it on his bed, as most of the newsies sat around it. as crutchie slowly opened it, his eyes widened at what was inside. the basket was filled with cookies, bread, and a few more things, with a note on one of the cookies. all of the newsies started talking at once.

"she gave you food?!"

"well to get to a man's heart is through his stomach, right??"

"i want one!"

"well her mom owns a bakery so that's the reason she gave you this-"

"whoa! that basket is loaded!!"

"little red riding hood w h o-"

crutchie read the note taped onto one of the cookie wrappers, his face a bright red. the note read 'hey charlie. wanted to give you this-! my mom's excited i made a friend, and she hopes to see you and the other boys soon. come tomorrow after your shift, and bring some friends, if you want to. sincerely, marina.' as he quickly grabbed his phone, he texted her back, saying 'thank you so much, ma angel.', then setting her contact to 'angel face 😣'

marina was a special one. he could feel it.