wouldn't you like to know

- 4 -

After Lilly and Spot were finished selling their newspapers, they headed to the docks, where the Brooklyn newsies like to hangout.

"if I's ever see that posh little bitch again, I'll pound her!" Spot stated, connecting his palm and his fist.

"Spot, for the third time, it's okay." Lilly reassured as she grew more annoyed by the minute.

"it's okay?! She called you's pathetic and worthless. An' she- she was actin' like she's bettah than you's!" Spot ranted as he flailed his arms around. He never preferred to show it when he cared about somebody, but he would still stand up for any of his newsies if given the chance. But he wasn't afraid to show his best friend that he cared about her. He knew that the talk of her parents was a tender spot for her even though he didn't know the whole story; he still knew and that was enough to care.

"that's 'cause she is bettah than me." Lilly replied quietly, crossing her arms protectively.

Along with it's pros, being a girl newsie did have it's cons. The biggest one being that if rich, posh girls find out that you are a girl on the streets, they would feel the need to mock and insult you.

And it has happened to Lilly multiple times.

"no prissy, rich schoolgirl can evah be bettah than Lilliana Cosette Dubois."

Lilly gave a small, sad smile. "thanks Spot."

Spot smirked and wrapped an arm around his best friend. "ay, no problem. I's always here for ya, ya knows that." He reminded, making Lilly's smile a little more genuine.

"um- I'm gonna take a little walk, I'll be back in a bit." She shrugged Spot's arm off of her shoulder and walked away.

"Lilly!" Spot called, before she could get too far. "you's sure you's okay?"

"yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry 'bout me."

Spot's eyes softened. "okay." With that, he let her go and watched her walk further and further away.

As Lilly walked, she couldn't seem to get her mind off of what the schoolgirl had told her.

"You're pathetic! Worthless streetrat! Your parents couldn't wait to get rid of you, so they just threw you out already, huh? I don't blame them, I mean if I were them, I would've done the same thing."

Along with her words, her high pitched, deafening laugh rung through her ears, getting louder and louder with each step. She knew her parents didn't throw her out of the house. They died in a trolley fire, she saw it with her own two eyes.

It wasn't her fault her parents went on a long trip. It wasn't her fault that as soon as they came back, the trolley caught fire. It certainly wasn't her fault that her parents were killed in that fire and wasn't her fault she ended up an orphan.

None of it was her fault and she was tired of acting like it was.

After a while, she couldn't take it anymore. She thought the walk would get her mind off of the event from earlier, but it didn't. It was now drilled into her head. Lilly slipped into the nearest alley, sat against the wall and broke down almost immediately.