Pretty As A Rosebud. (Newsies Story)

Chapter 4 Background

Thorn smiled as she danced along the street, her long hair fell down her back and was blown out of her face. She let out melodic laughs as she wrapped her arms around Jack. Jack was always like her big brother. The big brother she had always wanted before she ran away, she had had a younger sister; she looked just like her, only blonde.

David led the way to his house, his eyes darting toward Thorn. Rose had made several deductions about David.

1.       He was smart, but had little common sense…scratch that he had none at all

2.       He was genuinely a good guy.

3.       He was an easily embarrassed and kind of awkward.

4.       He loved his younger brother, Les, with all his heart.

“Yea…Rose…” David said uncomfortably.

“Thorn” she corrected quickly.

“Thorn….um…what was that back there….at Medda’s?” he asked, she knew this question was coming. He was just trying to figure out how to phrase it.

“Well, I love singing and dancing. It’s one of the things my parents approved of. They gave me lessons and they put me in ballet. I wasn’t feeling it though, then I heard faster music, it was almost dangerous and…I don’t know, I felt…happy.” She said. It was a condensed version of the whole true story why she ran away.

“So is that why you ran away?” he asked, kicking the stone.

She shook her head. “No…it’s much bigger than that”

Jack ruffled her hair. “I think you can tell him Rosie...he is our partner after all.”

“Fine…I’ll tell him…but not tonight” Thorn replied.

“Thorn…” Jack began warningly, he pulled her by her arm, they stopped in front of a bar. It was safe to talk here for a minute.

“Fine.” She turned to David “I was thirteen when I ran away with Jack to the Newsies. Ever since I was born I was not what my parents wanted. I wanted nothing more than to be seen as smart. I taught myself to read, and I tried to talk to my dad’s friends about politics. My parents didn’t like that, they told me I should be seen and not heard. When I turned 10 I found out that I was engaged, he was three years older and very handsome. His blue eyes were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, his father owned a company that my dad wanted so they struck a deal: a merger, and as his name was George…” again David cut her off

“Wait…George JENKINS….his father owns the second biggest company in New York”

“Don’t interrupt me…” I snapped “Sorry, I’ve always had a temper…I figured I could impress my parents by acting like a perfect lady. The next three years of my life there were a living hell. George was possessive and easily angered. He took me out for my thirteenth birthday, in Brooklyn, where he caught me talking to some strange company, a newsie actually…he requested I was put in the refuge for a month or so…”

“Where her cell was right next to mine” Jack added with a smirk. “No one was supposed to talk to her, but I did.”

“…because neither of us have any regard for the rules…Jack gave me the idea to run away, as soon as I got home, I pretended to go to sleep and snuck out the window…I became a newsie and that’s the end of that”

“Why the name Thorn?” David asked

“Because my real name is Rose,”

“And roses are pretty but you have to watch out for the thorns” Jack added.

They walked in silence for a while, it wasn’t an awkward silence, it was a comfortable, peaceful silence.

“Here we are” David stopped outside an apartment building.

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this chapter is really bad, I just wanted to give some background information. The back story seems highly unlikely anyway...enjoy