Flip's POV*
We all walked out of the Lodging House as a burst of heat hit me like a train. "Ok, why is it so hot?" I asked Blink as he just shrugged.
"Hey, guys." David said as he and Les walked up to all of us.
"I hate summer." I muttered, taking off my grey vest, leaving me in my white sleeveless shirt as I tossed my vest back inside the Lodging House as the boys also lost a layer or two.
"Do we have to sell today?" I heard a boy ask.
"Ok boys. You know the drill. Sell as many papes as you can...and then meet at the Diner because they have fans that work." I told the boys as we all weakly cheered, walking towards The World Newspaper Stand. "Jack, you gonna sell today?" I asked him, smirking.
"I need the money." He told me, smirking as I let out a laugh.
"We all do." I joked as we walked through the gate. I walked up to Weasel, smirking at him. "Give me the usual." I told him, putting down a half dollar coin.
"100 papes for the girl!" Weasel shouted as Morris handed me a stack of papes.
"Pleasure doing business, with ya." I told Morris, smirking as he rolled his eyes.
"100 papes." I heard David say as I sat down on the stairs as he later joined me. "Any good headlines today?" I asked David as the two of us started to look through the papes.
"When are there?" he joked as I let out a laugh.
"Good point." I said to him as Jack walked up to us, sitting down next to me.
"Headlines don't sell papes. Newsies sell papes." Jack told us, smirking as more boys walked up to us, papes in hand.
"I paid for 20. I only got 19." I heard a boy said as I looked behind me before looking at David.
"Déjà vu." I said to the boys as they all nodded. "Ok Newsies. Let's sell some papes." I told my boys as we walked out of the gate, going separate ways.
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"Finally done selling today." Skittery said to me as he literally laid down on the dirt road.
"Skit, I know it's hot, but that's disgusting." I said, laughing as I held out my hand for him.
"I know, but it's so hot." He complained, grabbing my hand as I pulled him up.
"I've never felt weather this hot in my life." Jack complained as Race walked up to us, hair drenched.
"Race, you had the right idea of pouring water on your hair." I told him, panting.
"You think this is water?" he asked me, pointing at his hair as I looked at him in disgust.
"Why do we have to sell on literally the hottest day of the year?" Skittery asked me as the four of us walked over to the diner, walking in as we sat at a table that was directly under the fan, which was going full speed.
"I've lived in New York my entire life and I've never felt temperature this hot." I said, looking up at the fan as David, Les, Bumlets, and Snoddy walked in.
"You know, sellin' papes at the harbor when it's really hot is awesome." David told us, pulling up a chair as Les laid down on the floor.
"You good, Les?" I asked him.
"The floor is cold." Les said to me as we all chuckled.
"David, you were saying?" I asked, looking at him.
"The hotter it is, the more people want to just use the papes to fan their faces with. The four of us quickly sold out just so people could fan their faces." David told me, laughing.
"Makes sense. There's no way to stay cool in this heat." Jack told us as Mush, Blink, and Specs walked in.
"Where're the other boys?" I asked the three.
"They all split off." Specs told me as I just nodded.
"Jack." I said as he looked at me. "Remember a few years ago when we found that lake, running from Snyder?" I asked him as we nodded. "I think today would be a good day to spend the day at the lake." I joked as he chuckled, nodding.
"Swimming day at the lake!" Blink shouted as we all cheered. Thing was, only the main Newsies were gonna come. The 10 of us walked out of the diner, running down the street to the Lodging House to get some stuff. We all ran upstairs to the bedroom as we all got our own towels, our swimsuits, and I grabbed a pair of sunglasses.
"You all ready?" Jack asked us, smirking as we all said variations of yes.
"Is it a good idea to bring an 11 year-old along? I mean, we're all 16 and older." Skittery pointed out as we all looked at Les.
"Aww...let him come." I said to Skittery, swatting at his arm as we all went back downstairs. We all walked outside as we walked behind the Lodging House and into the woods.
"So how far exactly is this lake of yours?" Specs asked Jack as I looked up at the trees, smirking seeing that they were tall enough off the ground. Without any of the boys seeing me, I climbed into a tree.
"Only a few more minutes." Jack told him as I started jumping tree to tree without the boys even noticing. "Right Flip?" Jack then asked, turning around, but didn't see me on the ground.
"Flip?" Blink asked, looking next to him since that's where I was. "Flip, where are you?" Blink asked as the boys started to look around as I stood in a tree, snickering as I looked at them.
"Flip, where'd you go!" Race shouted as I jumped off the tree, landing next to David as I startled him. I put my fingers to my lips as he nodded.
"I'm right here." I said, acting confused as the boys all looked at me.
"She's been talking to me the entire time." David told the boys, going along with it.
"But was she...? Then how'd she get..." Blink questioned, utterly confused as I walked back over to him.
"I'm a ninja." I whispered in his ear, smirking as he let out a laugh.
"And here we are!" Jack exclaimed as we all walked out of the woods, walking onto the beach of this beautiful and big lake that is somehow hidden in the big city of Manhattan.
"Wow." Les said, looking around in awe.
"Wow indeed, Les." Jack told him, smirking before looking at the rest of us. "Flip and I found this place a few years ago when we was runnin' from Snyder." Jack told the boys.
"There's a lava pit only a few miles under the surface, so the lake is warm all year long. In the winter, it feels like a hot tub." I said to the boys as Jack took off his shirt.
"Jack, there's a lady present." Race joked, looking at me as we all laughed.
"She's seen us worse." Mush joked, also taking off his shirt.
"She's a goil livin' in the Newboys Lodging House. She's seen most of us buck naked." Blink also joked as the boys all started to take off his shirt.
(For the sake of the story, we're just gonna put Flip in a sports bra and booty shorts)
All of the boys then stripped down to their underwear as they all headed for the water as I sat on the sand, chuckling as I looked at them. "Flip, wata's nice and warm." Race joked, laughing as I smiled, rolling my eyes.
"Yea, yea, I'm coming." I said to him, smiling as I stood up, unbuttoning my shirt as I look it off, revealing me in my black sports bra with my toned and muscled stomach. I looked up at the boys, seeing that some of them turned their eyes away from me as I chuckled. "You've all seen me worse!" I exclaimed, taking off my jeans, leaving me in black booty shorts. I quickly tied my hair up into a ponytail as I ran into the water.
"Nice of you to join us." Blink said to me, smirking as he splashed me.
"You did not just splash me." I said to him, smirking as I splashed him back. The two of us then started to splash each other and soon after, Jack and Racetrack joined in, causing the rest of the boys to join in as well to the giant splash battle.
After a few hours at the lake, we all decided that we should head out. "We need to do this again." Race said as we all walked out of the lake, drying off with the towels we brought.
"Whenever it gets this hot again, you can count on it." I joked, putting on my shirt, buttoning it up as I also slipped on my pants.
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We all walked out of the woods, back onto the dirt roads as we all headed for the statue. "Today was fun." Blink said as we walked to the square as I jumped to sit on the base of the statue.
"We have to do that again." Specs added as I nodded. We were all talking as I felt someone looking at me; I looked up, making eye contact with someone I'd never see again.
Ok, guys, I really hope you like this so far, so please comment and vote and follow!
StarWarrior...signing off!