wouldn't you like to know

- 9 -

Baseball was Lilliana's secret talent. She played it for the first time at 9 years old; the Annual Newsies of New York's Baseball tournament's "age of eligibility." For the two years that she played with the Manhattan newsies, they won two years in a row.

Manhattan has never won a tournament before Lilliana came along.

Brooklyn and Harlem usually made the finals then either borough would win these tournaments, so it's safe to say that they weren't happy when Manhattan won two years in a row. However, what Brooklyn didn't know was that they now had Manhattan's secret weapon.

Lilliana was 11 years old at the time and it was the second Sunday of August: the Annual Newsies of New York's Baseball tournament, which was the first year that she would be playing on Brooklyn's team. The Brooklyn newsies haven't been taking her seriously ever since she arrived, so she wanted this opportunity to finally prove herself and show them that she could be taken seriously.

"alright boys... and Lilliana," Ace, their leader at the time smiled at the girlsie. "for some miraculous reason, 'Hattan won two years in a row. How do we's change that?" All the newsies were sitting in a circle in the bunk room, discussing a game plan.

"I got it!" 12 year old Spot raised his free hand, his other arm was draped around Lilliana. "don't let Felix pitch this year." This caused everybody in the room to snicker, except the blonde messy-haired boy in question who crossed his arms.

"I wasn't that bad!" Felix protested.

"yeah, he ain't that bad." Hot Shot defended, making him smile. "is what I would say if I was his mothah." This caused an eruptions of laughs among the newsies.

"alright so Felix ain't pitchin' this year." Ace repeated for confirmation as he nodded. "Lilliana, you wanna give pitchin' a go?"

"wait, wait, Lilliana's gon' play?" Skipps asked, earning a stern look from her.

"what do ya mean by that?"

"I means," Wilder started. "don't get me wrong but... yer a girl."

Lilliana crossed her arms. "so?"

"so you won't be any good." Skipps replied. "so ya ain't pitchin'." This irritated her, but she knew that she was good at batting and running; it was what helped Manhattan win the last two years.

"fine by me." She simply shrugged. "I ain't even wanna pitch anyways." She stated pettily and crossed her arms.

"yer actually gon' play?" Temper questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"duh!" Lilliana rolled her eyes. "what else do you think I's gonna do, sit 'round an' make grass castles?"

"well... yeah,"

She sighed loudly, in which Spot tightened his grip around her. "don't let 'em get to ya, prove 'em all wrong." He hissed in her ear, making her smile softly.

"I's gonna play, right Ace?"

Ace, who had developed a soft spot for the girlsie smiled and nodded. "yeah." Her smile widened, knowing that the reason that Manhattan won was because they had her.