Memories of the past were knocked out of his head when he reached final class for the day. He was a drama student, not because he was good at acting (though he was), but because it was as close to basket weaving as this school got. The performance hall had a massive stage at one end, and another section devoted to glass walls, ballet pose bars and open space for the dance class. Normally West ignored the girls in that class, they all followed along behind the beautiful but b****y Lexi Hamilton. And as hot as she was, it wasn't worth suffering through her attitude just to 'dip his stick', as it were. 
                              
Today though, there was someone new in class that completely caught his eye. She was taller than the other girls, probably 5'9 or a little more, and she had a reddish brown tint to her skin, pale now, but under the sun it'd resemble his own colour more than the bland beige most girls went. Her hair was down to her butt, wavy and thick, each strand catching a different colour of brown in the lights. West mused about how thick her hair was, and whether or not it would be able to cover his hands compeletly when he grabbed her head to kiss her. Because she was different. He could see it in her eyes. 
                              
The other highschool girls were just that, girls. Young, yappy, clingy, needy and inexperienced. This new girl was entirely different if you knew what to look for. His eyes raked down to take in how she wore her dance leotard, the way she moved, everything. She was fit and slender in a way that was as much due to exercise as it was to not having enough money to eat three square meals a day. He'd seen the look on himself far too often to think anorexia. Her eyes were dark and held a weight to them that proclaimed louder than words that she had lived through some serious s*** and came out the other side of it scarred but alive. 
                              
"Who's the new girl?" West asked one of his buddies, knowing that someone in drama had to have heard it by now.
                              
"Her name is Alice. Apparently she used to be a stripper." one of the drama girls spoke up. Jasmine...no, Jessica? No, West thought, trying to recall her na,e.
                              
"Alice huh. Thanks." West gave the nerdy girl a smile. She smiled back at him, a little dazed and West toned down the charm. What was normal behaviour for a Cubano like him was heavily flirty here in Canada and most girls started to get the wrong idea about him very quickly. 
                              
West mused over the fact that the new girl used to be a stripper. How the h*** does a seventeen year old become a stripper? Though looking at how she moved and the tight dancing costume she had on. West had to admit that he could believe she'd do very well taking off all her clothes for money. 
                              
"I know that look. You're going to claim ehr aren't you?" Romeo asked him, groaning as he said hte words. West's Trinidadian friend made a face at him. "You could have any girl in the school. Probably every girl in the school all at once if you wanted. Why d'you gotta nab the new hottie?" 
                              
West grinned down at the shorter guy. "I'm a patient hunter Romeo. There's no fun to be had with any of these girls. That one though," he pointed at Alice. "That one's different. I bet you a week of math homework that she will make things interesting here for me." he grinned a little dark grin. "She's so mine." he stated with confidence. 
                              
####
                              
He didn't approach the new girl though, letting her have some time to settle into the school and start to relax. Of course he heard about the crap the student body was putting her through, all led by Lexi and those cabrons of hers. (cabrons= a**holes). West got to hear their detailed descriptions of what it had been like to see the new girl dance as a stripper. Apparently she had extensive tattoos on her back and left arm, though she hadn't looked like the type to go ink crazy. 
                              
West was determined to find a way to make the new girl come to him, so that she never knew that from the first day onwards, every male in the senior and junior years knew that she belonged to him. The thing was, the more West watched, the more he was convinced that maybe she was already taken. No one had heard anything about her having a boyfriend, and no one had heard anyone in the other highschools claim her as theirs, so West kept pursuing her silently. But he had this feeling that she was taken, so he was even more patient than normal for him. 
                              
Until the day the classes were brought together for the Gala. Every year this highschool threw a fundraiser. Tickets cost $20, but they included dinner and a show. The drama class, the dance class, choir and band all got lumped together to perform whatever the teachers picked out. Last year they had done Les Miserable, West reluctantly cast as Jean Valjean. It had been a resounding success and the girl who'd played Cosette had ended up on tv after a scout in the audience saw her. 
                              
This year the teachers were having them do A Mid Summer Night's Dream, and he was immediately handed the script for Oberon. West stared at the thick pages, knowing that this was going to be a lot of work. The drama teachers loved to make him hte leading male, because it guaranteed that every female student (and some of the teachers) would attend the show to watch.
                              
"Mr. James, you will be working closely with Ms. Spade. She will be playing Puck to your Oberon. The other student you'll be working closely with is Ms. Hamilton. Good luck." the drama teacher informed him and wandered off to go settle an arguement between the mechanicals. {A/N: in the play, a group of actors are called the mechanicals}. 
                              
West turned to see the hot new chick calmly walking over to see them. Even her walk was full of swagger. Not the 'look at me' kind most girls had, where their hair bounced and their hips swished. She walked like she was about to burst into violent action, all carefully coiled grace. 
                              
"Alright boys, I'm supposed to either trick, charm or steamroller my way past some of you guys to find a flower. We need to make it showy, action-y and fast paced." she announced as she reached them. 
                              
""-Y." West added on as she stopped talking, unable to resist the temptation of making her single him out. She shot him an assessing look that he smirked at. Her eyes dragged down from his golden ones, to take in the baggy uniform that hid away his powerful physique. Then she gave him a smirk and kept talking like he hadn't said anything! 
                              
 "Can you guys do that for me?" she asked, acting like he'd never interrupted.
                              
"Yeah we can do that for you. The question is, can you keep up?" West countered, adapting to her hard to get attitude. He liked that she wasn't fawning all over him like the other clinggers this school housed. 
                              
"What I got, you can't handle. If you think you're so good, show me what you've got. Wow me." she challenged, stepping back to give him room. 
                              
West could feel the dangerous smirk spread across his face. It was the same smile he wore while fighting, f***ing, and pretty much anything that involved adrenaline and action. He felt the beat of hte song hit his blood and he started to move, body deeking out hip hop with a little b-boy for some flare. He could see the glow in her eyes and he thought he had her already. Until she started to dance along side him. Holy s*** she was mouth watering. Her body moved through her own hiphop routine, echoing moves he did as if she'd done this kind of thing all the time. He konged it at the end of the song, wanting her to see the hard body under the soft clothes. Because West was more determined than ever to havethis girl in his arms. 
                              
Class was letting out and normally West would leave the new girl to chase him. But he hadn't even told her his name yet, and she needed to start thinking about him more. So he sauntered over to her. "Hey, I'm West." he introduced himself.
                              
"West?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him. 
                              
He chuckled, used to that kind of reaction. Most people expected him to be named Castro or Pablo. "Yeah, Westley Vincent James jr." he offered as an explanation. "Anyways I just wanted to say that was pretty cool. You're kinda sick for a little squaw you know."  he saw her blink, surprise flooding across her face as he recognised her ancestry. Honestly it had been a lucky guess, her high cheekbones and reddish tan had implied "redskin", Native. 
                              
"Yeah well you don't suck either. I think this might be fun." she replied and he grinned at her. He knew she would think about him later now, so he waved at her, smiling, and walked back to his friends.
                              
"So is she yours yet?" Romeo asked sarcastically.
                              
"This one's in the bag." West grinned confidantly. How wrong he was.
                              
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A/N: I know there is no teacher for West to romance right now. We're getting there. Patience :P 
                              
Yay Alice! We finally get to see a little of her world from someone else's POV. And West isn't as good a boy as he pretends to be :P I'll try to get to the introduction of the teacher West falls for in the next chapter. Something that took a long while in QoS has just been covered in a few paragraphs here, and it's making me feel strange :P I gave myself jetlag by writing two different stories in the same timeline. go me.