"Is this the right place," one of three girls asked, standing in front of the Brooklyn Lodging House, "Nobody’s here." Scribble’s dull blue eyes looked around quickly, searching for any sign of life. Her soft curly brown hair blew slightly in the breeze before resting slightly below her shoulders.

"What are you three doing here," a new voice cut in. Spot looked at them from his position in the doorway, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"We were told to come here," the second girl called out, her dark brown eyes rising. She brushed back a strand of light brown hair, which reached to her mid-back. Rebel stood two inches taller than Scribble at 5 foot 6, "We got sent here because of the people in charge of the new school."

"A bunch of girls," Spot muttered under his breath.

"Were you expecting a bunch of guys," the third girl asked. Dani had blonde hair that stopped a little above her shoulders and blue-green eyes. She stood at 5 foot 3. A hint of teasing was evident in her voice.

"Brooklyn might be a little tough for you," Spot told them, a smirk on his face, "Hey Scribble."

"You two know each other," Rebel asked, "You could have mentioned it before. It would have saved us a lot of trouble."

"I used to live in the area," Scribble replied, "but I’ve never been here before." They stood in silence for a short while.

"So are you going to let us in," Dani questioned. Spot glared at her but nodded.

"Your room is this way," he said, sounding like he had better things to do with his time.

The room was small, but large enough for the five beds inside. Four were nicely made, but the fifth was occupied by a young girl. She stared at them in silence for a minute and then smiled widely at them, her blue eyes lighting up.

"Who’s that," Scribble whispered over to Spot.

"That’s Pillow," he replied, "Her older brother is a newsie, so she stays here."

"Pillow," Rebel asked, "What kind of name is that?"

"Let’s just say, if you wake up and discover your pillow is missing, you know it’s her," Spot answered, shrugging and then left them to get situated.

Pillow curled a strand of dark brown hair around her finger. "Yeah! I finally get roommates! This is gonna be fun!" The 10-year-old grinned, "We can stay up and talk all night."

Suddenly, the door opened and another girl stepped inside. She didn’t say a word to anyone, but went to claim the last bed, which didn’t have anything thrown on top of it.

The girl had shoulder length, straight black hair and bright blue eyes. She stood up to her 5 foot 6 height when she noticed everyone staring.

"Hi, who are you," Pillow asked, breaking the silence.

"The name’s Vaughn Kensington, but everyone calls me Smartass," the girl replied harshly, annoyed with having to answer the simple question.

"Smarta- yeah, nice to meet you," Scribble remarked, holding out her hand slowly.

"If you’re going to say my name, say it right," Smartass told her, ignoring the offered hand.

"What’s her problem," Pillow commented to nobody in particular. She received one glare and three shrugs in reply. The three girls exchanged a glance, not knowing exactly how to deal with a hyperactive kid and someone who obviously didn’t like people much. This was going to be a crazy time.

XXX

(Manhattan)

The next morning, the girls were awakened by the sounds of yelling. Kloppman went from bunk to bunk, making sure everyone was awake. Groans came from around the room, but Kloppman paid no attention to them.

"You awake yet," Spaz asked, poking a lump under one of the blankets. Bookworm glared up at her, irritation clear on her face.

"Go away," she snapped at the optimistic girl, "It’s too early."

"But it’s sunny outside," Spaz told her, "Everyone is happy!"

"Not me," Bookworm replied, but reluctantly pushed the blankets off herself.

"Hey girls," Nova called out, "Where’s the washroom?"

"We don’t have one," Sunshine replied. The girls looked at each other, knowing where this was leading.

XXX

The girls slowly approached the door to the lower level washroom. After approaching Kloppman about their problem, he had simply told them to use the guys washroom until the girls one was provided.

"Hello," Sparks called out, giggling a little as she opened the door, one hand covering her eyes.

"Girls," Mush exclaimed upon seeing them. All the guys in the room froze to look at them.

‘What are you doing here," Jack asked, glancing somewhat nervously around at the others.

To be truthful, it was quite a sight. Guys were everywhere. Some still had soap on their faces, trying not to blink in pain of getting it in their eyes. Others had their mouths hanging open, making black circles appear in white globs of shaving cream…or their substitute for it. One even had his pants down at his ankles, about to enter one of the bathrooms. He blushed slightly in embarrassment before pulling them up quickly, hoping his boxers hadn’t been seen by one of the girls.

"We were told to share with you," Sparks replied, removing her hand from her eyes. There was silence from all the girls…that is until Sparks started laughing at the sight of the groggy newsboys and the other girls followed her example.

Chapter 7