That’s Rich- Newsies ⋆｡°✩₊ °✦ ‧ ‧ ₊ ˚✧₊ °✦

it was never in the cards for Jack Kelly to fall for you.

not like he cared!!

you were adopted by Miss Medda when you were an infant, maybe around 3 years old. she adopted you before the refuge could get to you, keeping you safe. since then, she’s trained you to be an amazing singer and performer, soon working in the theater alongside her.

as you grew, you noticed a boy coming in more often. when you were 14, a boy dressed in old clothes and hearing a hat would could in, he looked around 15. your mother seemed really fond of him, though you usually just hid away from him.

a year later, your mother fondly introduced you guys to each other. you’d learned he was Jack Kelly, a newsie that was left as an orphan that your mom let stay in the theater sometimes.

jack never really believed at love at first sight. it was a stupid, childish concept to him. until he laid eyes on you. beauty he’d never seen before. for once, he wasn’t his normal egotistical self. he seemed nervous almost.

from then on, he seemed to follow you around the theater in his free time. watching you rehearse, memorizing your lines, practicing your songs. he was there a lot. your mother didn’t mind, either. it was almost like jack was her son too.

as you both grew, he seemed to stay by your side. it was funny, though. you’d always been focused on your career and your theater performances, so boys were never too much of a concern. never stopped Jack, though.

see, when you were young your mother used to sing a song to you. well, it was apart of her performances for theater but she was trying to teach you something. a song called “that’s rich”, telling you never to get hung up on one boy. yes, it wasn’t that good of a lesson but she was trying to keep you safe.

she’d spent years pining over one boy, the boy in her song. so you learned. healthy, wealthy, wise, invest, and make a future for yourself. you didn’t need a man. and that’s the way you’ve always thought.

jack knew this. he knew how stubborn you were. but when he wasn’t selling papes and wasn’t running from Snyder, he was trying to charm you. and, boy, was he persistent.

one day you’d gotten to the theater to find it decorated with flowers and little presents made out of old newspapers he couldn’t sell. you wondered where’d he’d even gotten the money for the flowers, but you rejected him once again. he usually just shrugged it off, he knew you’d be stubborn. “ever thought about leavin’ all this behind? Could come to Santa Fe. Room for two. just sayin.”

your mother has talked to you quite a lot about him. not necessarily pushy about it, but just saying Jack is a nice boy, even through his background. but you had a career to make, a life to focus on. so you wouldn’t allow yourself to get distracted.

though jack was okay with waiting, he got annoyed a lot. see, being one of the biggest performers in new york thanks to your mother, you got gifts from guys trying to win your heart a lot. some guys gave you ermine, chinchilla and mink. some gave you diamonds as big as a sink. it was insane.

Jack hated it. he’d constantly give people dirty looks when trying to win your heart. “yeah yeah, fancy jackets, shiny shoes, let me know when one of them learns to be interesting”, he’d say when they tried hitting on you. he wasn’t gonna let you slip away. he also loved Miss Medda, so that was a plus.

today, you’d done one of your biggest performances in a while. it was a completely booked show, and you were the lead of the night. you were 16 now, jack being 17, but you were already a huge star.

today, you stayed at the theater after the performance as usual. cleaning up while your mother checked revenue and chatted with reporters and critics. that’s when you heard a door open, the hallway from behind stage.

“headline of the century: star knocks ‘em dead, crowds go wild.” he strutted in, approaching you with a smug smirk. admiration in his eyes, even through his confident facade.