Queen of Spades (House of Car...

The morning continued on a happy note for Alice, her alone time with Malcolm giving that class a relaxed air that followed her to science block. It wasn't that the other students weren't still whispering things about her, or dropping harassing notes onto her desk, they definitly were. It was just as if Alice didn't take note of it today. It rolled off her like rain off a duck. She was still in a happy place when lunch time came around and she headed out to eat with a little bounce in her step.

Alice grabbed a light lunch, not really hungry, and found her friends at their long table. A smile tugged at her mouth as she spotted a space left for her, that kept a wall at her back so there would be no sneaking up on her today. As she walked over to them, suddenly one male student stepped close in front of her.

"So is it true?" he demanded, standing a little too close.

"Is what true?" Alice asked, confused but assuming he meant her being a stripper.

"That you're a crack whore. That you're willing to do anything a guy wants if he can hook you up with a hit? Or even just for some weed." he asked. Alice stared at him in shock, completely caught off guard.

"Not even close." she finally managed to say. "Someone's been lying to you." she added in, realizing who must have been behind this new vicious rumour. Lexi.

"It's all over school. You don't have to lie." the guy smiled and grabbed her arm lightly. "I mean, I know a guy who can get you a gram easy." he offered, trying to pull her closer. Ace jerked her arm out of his grip, not smiling anymore.

"I'm not now, nor have I ever been, a whore. Not for money, certainly not for drugs. Now you can tell everyone that it's a lie and someone's spreading rumours. Have a nice day." Alice walked past him, less happy than she'd been but refusing to let it get to her.

Her friends were great about it, they had already heard the rumour and turned it into this joke. Saying that Alice's rates were too high, Butch would sell himself for a pack of skittles. Which somehow resulted in him getting nicnamed Skittle Slut. There was still an uneasy tension in the back of Alice's mind, but she did her best to ignore it while she was with her friends. And then it was time to dance.

Dance class was both her best and worst class of the day. Best because honestly, there wasn't a single things better for her than dancing. Worse because Lexi was in the class and just couldn't resist tormenting Alice.

"Ms... I think we should do mandatory drug testing." Lexi stated, looking innocent but shooting vemon glares at Ace whenever the teacher couldn't see. "One of your students is a crack whore and I don't think we should have that kind of element in our Gala."

The teacher looked a little confused, which was fair as this comment came out of no where. "If you're that worried about your habit, they have rehab." Alice retorted, knowing where Lexi was trying to go with this. It was a little disturbing, how far the queen of mean was willing to go to get rid of Ace, but was still not that bright. They could do a drug test, Alice had never once done anything illegal drugwise. Heck, she didn't even like to take advils when she had a headache.

"You'd know all about rehab wouldn't you skank?" Lexi asked.

"You have a pet name for me? How sweet!" Alice exclaimed, making her voice a high pitched mimicry of Lexi's usual tones.

"Ladies! I don't know what's going on here, and I don't care. This is dance class and I expect you to shut up and dance. I don't want to hear a word out of anyone all class. Do you understand me?" she demanded. All the girls nodded yes, not willing to even reply with words. No one wanted to be dropped from the class and stuck in standard phys. ed.

Class was silent and gruelling. Everyone danced, catching breaks only when the teacher stopped to demonstrate a specific piece of choreography. And then she would expect them to do it perfect, taking them through it repeatedly until she felt the entire group had mastered it. Even as fit as she was, Alice found herself running out of energy by the time the bell rang, releasing them from school. Ace shuffled to her locker, wanting nothing more than to grab her uniform, use the showers and then go home to sleep. The front of her locker had gained new decoration, this time it was a bunch of sharpie penises drawn all over the front. It wasn't even offensive to her, instead she burst out laughing at how badly drawn they were.

"I don't see what's so funny about that." Mal- Mr. Vega said, standing at Alice's side. She grinned up at him, still trying to swallow her giggles. She could see Lexi and her friends standing just a bit down the hallway, obviously afraid to harass Alice right in front of a teacher.

"It's hilarious. Either they were drawn by children with no concept of physiology or whomever drew them has way too many expectations." she indicated one obscenely large drawing. "Or wishful thinking." she added in, seeing a smile quirk the corners of his mouth.

"Be careful Mr. Vega, you don't know what you might catch from her." Lexi insinuated snidely as she walked past with her friends.

Malcolm- Mr. Vega turned to scold Lexi for her off hand remark when Alice shot her hand out and grabbed his wrist. He gave her a surprised look and she let go of his hand, mumbling an apology. "It's not worth reacting to her. Even before the whole school found out, she hated me. I don't know why, I didn't do anything to her but..." Alice shrugged.

"It's easy to see why she's like that Ace. She's threatened by you." Malcolm smiled as he said it. Alice looked confused by his comment.

"Why would she be threatened by me? I'm the new girl with a checkered past." she shook her head.

"You really don't get it do you?" he smiled as he said it. The hallways were almost deserted by now, but neither noticed. "She's threatened by you because you're beautiful. Far more beautiful than she can achieve, and she knows it. So she's trying to tear you down." he explained. Alice looked down, fighting the urge to blush as he called her beautiful. She knew she had a great body, and wasn't bad to look at, but it was the first time she'd been called beautiful.

"Thanks Mal." she smiled, still looking away from him. "Well, I gotta shower. I'm pretty sure I stink." she changed the topic, not wanting him to take back the compliment.

"You need another ride home?" he offered, having seen how far away she lived.

"Ah... sure, why not?" she agreed with a shrug. "I'll be super quick ok?" she offered and ran off to the showers. It's amazing how quick it is to shower off sweat compared to scrubbing off body glitter, and Alice was cleaned and back out to meet Malcolm in less than 10 minutes. Her hair was still wet from the shower so she twirled it up, tucking it into her hoodie so it wouldn't soak her shirt.

"I thought girls your age were supposed to take forever to get ready?" Malcolm teased, looking at his watch like he was surprised.

"Guess that just goes to show that you don't know as much about girls my age as you thought." Alice joked back.

"That or you're not like the other girls your age." he added in, and it didn't sound like a joke to Alice. It made her palms suddenly clammy, thinking about how no other girls her age had given him a lapdance.

"You should be careful. Anyone overhearing this conversation would think you were taking me on a date, not giving me a ride home." she pointed out, only half joking. She didn't want him to stop, no she very much wanted to go on flirting, but she also wasn't deluding herself into thinking that he had any interest in her that way. Not that it should matter, she didn't like him that way either, he was her teacher, she reminded herself and got into the passenger seat.

Mal went on joking like he wasn't worried. "Want some candy little girl?" he asked in a creepy voice, wiggling his eyebrows at her. Alice gave out a bark of laughter, then covered her mouth; astonished at the dorky laugh.

"Did you just bray?" Malcolm asked teasingly.

"I'm sorry Ludo, I didn't hear that." Alice teased back.

"Who's Ludo and why do you keep mistaking me for him?" Malcolm asked, smiling to show he wasn't mad.

"Google Labyrinth. Or better yet, watch the movie. Then you'll understand." Alice brushed off with a smirk.

They settled into a comfortable silence, and for the first time that week it wasn't raining. Long before she wanted, they pulled up in front of her foster house. "You sure you're ok?" Malcolm asked, voice concerned.

Alice gave him a wintry little smile. "I'll survive. If I need help I've got batman's number in my phone and he's promised to come rescue me." she tried to turn it into a joke. Thankfully he went along with it.

"So I'm batman eh? Cool." he smiled. "Text me tonight so I know you're ok." he reminded.

Alice nodded, for a moment forgetting that he'd be out tonight. It only mattered that he cared enough to worry if she didn't. He was just a sweet guy that way. He drove off and Alice made her way inside and to her room. It was in the basement and wasn't technically a room. The Walters had put a cot in the basement with a dresser and hung up a black curtain to give her some privacy. The rest of the basement was filled with a couch, tv and Stuart's old gaming systems. It didn't provide much in the way of comfort or sanctuary, but it was at least better than sleeping on the streets. Having done that for a bit after running away, Alice appreciated the difference. She grabbed the list of companies and started to call them and try to find a location that would fill her community service hours. By the time dinner was called and eaten, nothing had been available and she was starting to panic. Not because it meant she wouldn't graduate, but because without a good excuse, they would expect her to be home on weekends when Stuart came around. A shudder rattled her body as her stomach flopped. He hadn't been able to touch her since she was returned, too many nosy people were still about that she could have talked to. And she intended to keep it that way, giving him no opportunity to pick up where he left off. And if he tried, Alice wasn't gonig to hesitate to end his existence this time, she promised herself darkly.

Her phone vibrated and she frowned at it, not expecting any messages.

ur idea was gr8 in theory but now she thinks i did something wrong!

For a split second Alice had no clue who it was that messaged her, but then remembered that Malcolm was taking his girlfriend out on a date to show her he loved her. That faintly sick feeling was back in her stomach but she forced herself to text back.

tell her that you haven't done anything wrong yet, but if she asks nicely you can do something very naughty later. she smirked as she texted it, having to pretend that it was a message to Butch so it didn't make her so sad.

There was no reply and Alice shrugged and started to get ready for bed. Homework had been done and she'd stretched out tired muscles before her phone vibrated again. She hesitated, not wanting to hear about how Malcolm had convinced his girlfriend he loved her. But he was asking for her help as a friend and she didn't want him to stop doing that so she eventually gritted her teeth and opened the phone.

Mayday mayday mayday she's pissed says that im suckin up 4 cheatin!

Alice stared at the phone, shocked. There was no way in hell his girlfriend should be freaking out about all this. It was starting to seem to Alice less like she was an insecure girlfriend and more like a controlling bi***. Thinking about how she'd handle a girlfriend of Butch's doing the same thing, Alice was a t least sure her response wasn't the confused bias she seemed to have for Mal talking.

when would you have time to cheat?! The rugby playing, pet saving, volunteer firefighting teacher that also chaperone's trips? You're too busy making Ghandi look bad to have time to cheat. Makes you wonder why she's so worried about it considering all the free time she has in comparison.

Alice hit send before she could chicken out. No guy likes to hear that his girl might be cheating. And hopefully Alice's gut instinct was wrong and Shawna was faithful but stupid. A very dark part of her mind was actually gleeful at the thought of the still unknown Shawna being removed from the equation. Ace gave herself a head shake to jar loose those idiot thoughts. There was so nothing there, she reminded herself. He was her teacher, he was seven years older, he has a live in girlfriend, he could do better than a waste of space like Alice.

She settled in to sleep and drifted off knowing there would be no reply. When morning came crashing around and her alarm shrilled into awful life, Alice followed her morning routine and it was only as she was heading out the door that she decided to check her cell phone. There was a message on it from last night, which astonished her.

she took my cell 2 c who i was txtng. red ur msg n flippd. not sure but i think she left me.

Guilt gnawed its way up Alice's stomach and lodged itself in her throat. Last night she had been so sure that what she wrote had been the right thing to say. It'd have been the same advice she'd have given Butch. Wasn't it? Now though the guilt overrode her common sense and made her feel awful for ruining his relationship. All because she might possibly have a stupid little girl crush. Which was a waste of time because he was older, her teacher and waaaaay out of her league. And now he'd hate her for interfereing. Alice dragged her feet to school and made it inside just as first class bell was ringing. Realizing she'd be late and end up with another detention, Ace dashed to her locker, threw everything inside and bolted for class. It didn't click right away but her locker had been hastily painted over this morning, covering up the sharpie penises that had decorated the front. That janitor had been as good as his word.

Alice skidded into the door of class and realized with a sinking heart that she was definitly late. Malcolm-- Mr. Vega didn't even look at her, just scribbled a detention note and handed it to her. Alice stared down at her shoes as classmates tittered behind their hands at her and she slid into her desk. On the top of her desk someone had carved a little message for her. The word HARLOT had been carved into her desk and it was fresh enough to have occured this morning before class. Wonderful. Mr. Vega handed out the pop quiz as if Alice hadn't interrupted by coming in late and she shut out the awareness of others whispering around her as she focused on the questions. It wasn't hard per se, but there was one question Alice hesitated over. It asked for a personal account relating to the Queen's statement: I think the lady doth protest too much. He wanted an example from our own experience to highlight the fact that we understood the conotations therein. The Queen was guilty but couldn't recognize it, so her condemning it in another person is both ironic and hyocritical. Like any of the cheerleaders who are borderline anorexic or bulemic making any comments about another person's weight. A scenario Alice had witnessed too many times to count. She wasn't sure if that was the kind of experience he would consider personal though, as she hadn't been directly involved in it. With a shrug she wrote it down, unwilling to divulge any other, more personal account. As most of the school now knew, she had no real moral high ground to stand on.

She read over it, convinced her answers were satisfactory, then flipped it over and started to doodle on the back of it. The other students were all still scribbling away, frowns of concentration or looks of desperate terror on their faces. A hand landed on her page, making Alice jump. She followed the hand to the arm and finally looked up to see Mr. Vega frowning down at her.

"Are we boring you?" he demanded, voice unamused. A strange dropping sensation churned in her gut as everyone looked up to watch her get reamed by the nicest teacher.

"No." Alice replied, voice softer than she wanted.

He tapped the doodle on the back of the pop quiz. "Really? Then what is this?" he pulled the quiz away from her. His eyes darted down to the front as he noticed that she'd completed the quiz already. The frown on his face faltered a little, but he was still being unfair. And it was finally prodding Alice to repond.

"That's me keeping myself quietly entertained while I wait for the rest of the class to finish." she replied, no longer cowering before his displeasure.

"Why don't you spend your time doing something worth while and continue reading the play?" he demanded, then walked back to his desk.

"I can give you something worth while to spend your time doing." the guy sitting behind her whispered, though he was loud enough other students could hear it and laughed. Alice didn't think about it, she could feel his breath on the back of her neck, realized he was leaning over his desk to harass her, and shot her head back, hearing a satisfying crunch from where her cranium met his nose. The injured student let out a muffled series of curses while he clutched his face and general pandemonium erupted in class. Eventually the injured student was sent to the nurse's office, the class was given a series of pages to read and Mr. Vega had pulled Alice in the corridor. He didn't speak to her right away, instead led her to the quiet room. It was one of the only sound proofed rooms in the building and offered the principal a secure room to discuss issues with faculty and students alike. When he closed the door, Alice suddenly felt actual fear. Any time Stuart pulled her away from witness', it always ended badly for her.

"What the hell was that?" Mr. Vega demanded, voice rough with anger.

"I'm sorry." Alice automatically apologized, unable to make herself look up. Instead she stared intently at the floor, wishing she could be back to living on her own. Amazing how she wanted so badly to be back at school, and once here it'd taken only three days for her to want to leave it again.

Mr. Vega didn't seem to buy her apology though. "First you interrupt my class, then you attack one of my students? Why can't you just leave people's lives alone?" he demanded. Alice was expecting the fear to take over but instead surprised them both with some of her own anger.

"I'm not asking for any of this! Do you think I want to be so afraid to go to my foster house that I get cramps in my stomach? Do you think I enjoy sitting in class having to deal with the male student body wither trying to feel me up or make passes at me? Because I'm really not loving all of this but I will defend myself! Even if no one else thinks I'm worth the effort, I refuse to just roll over and take it. I will always fight back." she snarled and shoved past him.

She was too angry to go back to class, and had no desire to stay here and endure even more abuse. So she stormed over to her locker, grabbed her books and bag and slammed hte locker door shut. Then marched right out of the school, aware that she'd probably just gotten herself expelled from the one school that had been willing to take her. The sinking feeling in her gut from earlier was back full force, making her regret lashing out at Mr. Vega. But he had earned it, even if she really had no right to snap at him like that. Confusion and guilt pounded through  her head, resulting in an instant head ache and Ace wished she could just go collapse and sleep. But as bad as staying in school would have been, gonig to the house would have been much much worse. They wouldn't care she'd walked out of school, they'd just care that she had made them look bad by her behaviour. Because if social services didn't believe they were enforcing basic social necessities, they'd pull her out of their house and there goes their pay cheque.

Eventually Alice found her way to the library and threw herself into a study booth at the back. Hopefully no one would bother her here. She plugged her mp3 player in and collapsed her head onto her arms, letting the beat of the music overwhelm the pulse of the headache. Sometime later she slipped into sleep.