Disclaimer: Don't own the newsies. Do own Lute, Mandy and Rafferty. Anyone else belongs to their respective owners. The briefly mentioned Rhys Waveral is from Rupert Everett's novel Hello Darling, Are You Working? which is a fucking kickass book and everyone should read it.

On the night of May 10th, 2002, a group of thirteen freshmen friends got together in a backyard on a trampoline and made a pact: Each of them would have a date to their senior prom. It didn't matter who they ended up as, who they ended up with; they would each have their very own date.

Not too long after the nighttime pact, Jack Kelly asked Sarah Jacobs to the Morp dance; the two became high school sweethearts and dated throughout sophomore, junior, and senior year. Jack made the varsity football team his junior year and is one of the most popular boys in school; Sarah continued cheering, and is now the varsity cheer captain. They never forgot their old friends though, and stick by them. Currently, Jack and Sarah are going to prom together, so their nicknames have fallen out of use. However, Jack wants more than Sarah is willing to give. They may not still be dating by prom night.

Gray Conlon adopted the nickname of "Spot" based on his tiny height, especially considering his being a boy. Sophomore year, he discovered he was queer after all. Noah responded with a hearty, "I told you so!" then proceeded to make retching noises at the idea of a guy macking another guy. Spot, as if to spite Noah, embraced his sexuality and dressed flamboyantly. He never went very far though- very far meaning a crossdresser or speaking with a lisp or the usual flamer stereotypes. "I'm gay- that means I'm a guy," he would say as his reason. "I accept that."

Noah Flake became "Snitch," at Colby Perry's suggestion, because of his nasty, ironic habit of telling on people who do something wrong. Snitch offered to call Colby "Skittery" because of his inability to keep from screaming when people tapped his shoulder. "You're just paranoid," Snitch had kidded. "And you're just an asshole," Skittery responded smartly; having been close since kindergarten, Skittery knew just how to handle his slacker friend, and Snitch knew how to deal with Skittery's "Emoments," where Skittery became particularly whiny and depressed for no apparent reason.

Rafferty Madison and Mandy Pelligrino had been best friends since elementary school, much like Snitch and Skittery. Closer than sisters, their sophomore year they became girlfriends, Mandy's sugar-sweet personality balancing out Rafferty's tendency to get angry now and apologize later. They were two puzzle pieces, and Spot liked to make a big deal out of how no one paid attention when Mandy and Rafferty kissed, but if he even mentioned a guy he liked, everyone pitched a fit. Jack, Skittery or Ray would often have to calm him down, while the girlfriends giggled at him and continued their make-out session.

Ray Waters played on the badminton team his freshman year, and at his last game got a birdie straight into his left eye. He was forced to wear a patch until it healed, thus bringing him the nickname "Blink." Without anything better to do, Blink joined several clubs, including Close Up Club, Latin Club, S.A.G.E., and Yearbook. Because of this, Benny gave him the other nickname option of "Preppy," in reference to Zach Morris from Saved By The BellBlink answered that if he became Preppy, Benny would therefore be Slater. Benny did not want to be Slater. But no one could think of anything else to call him, until Snitch made up a word and christened Benny with it: "Bumlets." Benny decided he would rather have Snitch's random made-up word than Slater; even freshman year, he was starting to lean towards the punk, anarchist lifestyle. Bumlets now dons bondage pants, torn shirts, and his hair changes color and style every two weeks or so. Snitch, Greg, and Bobby always bet to see what color he comes up with next.

Greg Mei went down a path that surprised everyone; throughout middle school, he was sweet, good-natured, and likeable. Freshman year, he became sulky and cynical, refused to wear anything but black, and started painting his face white every morning, using excessive amounts of his older sister's mascara to make his eyes look as if they were the size of tennis balls. Snitch announced that his nickname should be "Itey" because he was an "itey bit freak-ay," and although Itey fought that tooth and nail, the name stuck out of spite.

Dutch Griphen was extremely intelligent, what one might call a "Nerd." He had told everyone he would take a silly nickname, but only if Snitch could spell "onomatopoeia," which, of course, Snitch could not. Dutch's nickname was simply "Dutchy," which Bobby argued they had used for years, but no one wanted to be challenged by the smartest boy in school and made to look like an idiot (Snitch was an idiot and extremely proud of this, but Dutchy had said he wouldn't challenge him again), so Dutchy stayed Dutchy.

Bobby Firze had always had a Rhys Waveral-type knack for drama; he had always wanted to act, always wanted to be on stage, and was always put down by his parents for it. At least he didn't crossdress like Rhys, but if the part called for it, Bobby would have done it. But Bobby never got the parts that involved crossdressing; he was an extremely beautiful young man, and therefore always got the leads. Bumlets and Dominick liked to tease Bobby about how he made his leading ladies turn to "Mush" when they did their romantic scenes; the word stuck as his nickname.

Dominick Carranni took up the nickname "Race" as a reference to his sixth grader days when he used to run track. "Those were boring times, weren't they?" he would kid, jingling in his chained leather jacket and reveling in the shocked and frightened stares he got from new freshmen. Race would do anything to get attention, anything to be out of the mainstream. He owned three kilts and wore them on a regular basis. This was the kind of eccentricity he exuded. His friends understood; he was the only one of them besides Snitch who hadn't really changed since middle school, so they were used to it. Everyone else, though, was shocked into stiff silence when they saw an Italian boy with a mohawk, leather jacket, thick black boots and a kilt walking casually through the courtyard. The stares were Race's favorite part.

Mandy and Rafferty, Sarah and Jack. These are the only four of the group who have been allowed to shun their nicknames as they have prom dates already. The other nine have three weeks to go. And considering who they are and how they act... it'll be interesting to see which ones can follow through with the pact, and which cannot.

.::AUTHOR'S NOTE::.

I'm breaking out of the rut. XD Mostly het. Brand new names. Brand new stereotypes. Well, almost. Spot isn't quite as bad a flamer here as he is in Pushing Back, and Snitch is a true trumpet-player this time: loud, obnoxious, and annoying as fuck. Everything else is something that I haven't really written before and am really excited to try out.

Anyway, I'm loving how this story's gonna turn out. I'm very happy with it. Yay! My random high school story that'll be fun and full of subplots to get everyone a date. XD

And that's pretty much it. OH! Except this: I'm holding a slash fanfiction contest! Please enter your fanfics into it! I'd be so happy and love you forever if you would! More info here:

outkastboys. 0catch. com/ Lutes(underscore)Slashy(underscore)Fanfiction(underscore)Contest. html

Just remember to take out the spaces and add the underscorse (damn ) and you'll be good. Thanks tons guys, and please review!