Queen of Spades (House of Car...

For once when the other students were staring at Alice, it wasn't so they could whisper about her being a slut or a stripper. Instead they stared at her in open shock, seemingly astounded at the evidence of violence on her face. And they couldn't even see the worst of the bruises Stuart had left. What Ace found really interesting was the amount of people that patted her on the arm or shoulder when she passed them. Word had apparently already gotten around that bad things had gone down in her world, and the student body found itself drawing her into its circle of protection as opposed to kicking her when she was down.

Not that everything was perfect. No, there were still those people that wanted nothing more than to see her gone. Be it the one or two guys who found the concept of her being beaten as appealing as her old vocation as a stripper, they seemed to love getting too close to her, touch her in a way that was supposed to be comforting like everyone else, but made her feel creeped out and dirty. And then there was Lexi.

"I guess you learned not to talk back to your pimp huh?" Lexi asked snidely as she paused by Alice's locker. Alice had been about to close it and walk to class when Lexi had made her little remark. Alice turned and smiled a Lexi, knowing it looked a little horrorshow with the stiches in her lip.

"Whatever you have to tell yourself so you can sleep at night." She remarked to Lexi. It was a little random, but the prima ballerina seemed to understand the implied insult. As much as Alice would love to consider Lexi a blow up doll with attitude problems, the diva was more intelligent than she really understood. "Have a good day." Alice brushed passed Lexi and walked towards class. She wondered a little what her friends would think of the bruises, and a little part of her was hurt that they hadn't looked for her at her locker before class.

She strode into Mr. Vega's class after reminding herself that in school, he had to be Mr. Vega. He could be Mal or Malcolm outside, but here and now she had to remember that he was her teacher. Even if her mind kept replaying that brief kiss yesterday.

The other students were whispering to each other and looking at Ace like always, but the notes dropped on her desk today weren't the crude invitations to sex like they had been. The student who's nose she'd bloodied friday slipped on over her shoulder that simply read: I'm sorry.

Most were people trying to find out what had really happened. Lexi had already started an anti-sympathy rumour telling everyone that Alice's pimp had beaten her and she'd deserved it, but a lot of students were asking her for themselves if she was alright and willing to say what happened. Mr. Vega was watching this out of hte corner of his eye as he went around dropping off the quizzes from friday. Alice glanced down at hers and saw that it wasn't the 100% she'd been expecting. There was a red pen message scrawled on the bottom near her 90% grading. Good arguements, but you could have taken risks. Don't hold back next time.

Alice smiled down at the message, annoyed that if another student had given in that exam it'd have been 100% but for her it wasn't good enough. Though it was a compliment, he expected her to be that good and wanted to push her. Maybe telling him she was an autodidact had been a mistake, she mused ruefully.

A knock at the classroom door drew everyone's attention up. Mr. Vega had been gonig over the answers so the class could figure out how their answers had gone right or wrong and he paused, surprised to see Mr. Bottomswell standing in the doorway. There was a police officer standing behind him, looking stern with her hair pulled back in a severe bun, heavily laced with gray hairs.

"Mr. Vega, Ms. Spade, Officer Bradley wishes to speak with you. I'll supervise your class and you may use the quiet room." the principal offered. He was trying not to stare at Alice's battered face and failing, but she didn't resent him for it. She did looke a little like raw hamburger. The presense of the officer just sent the rest of the class into a flurry of whispers and Alice ignored it and grabbed her bag, heading to the door where Mr. Vega and Officer Bradley were waiting. Mr. Vega took them over to the quiet room and Alice felt a knot of tension rise in her gut, making her wish she hadn't eaten breakfast today.

"There was been a report filed claiming that Mr.Vega attacked and threatened a Mr. David Walter and his son Stuart Walter. And that afterwards he kidnapped you Ms. Spade from your legally contracted foster family." Officer Bradley stated without preamble. Alice gaped at the cop, astonished that the Walter's had had the audacity to claim that they'd been the victims!

"Excuse me? I think if you check hospital records you'll find that on Saturday Ms. Spade here filed a police report against her foster family. This is their attempt to discredit her report." Mr. Vega spoke up, cool as a cucumber. Ace looked at him, surprised at how easily he was taking this. Something in his body language made Alice think that maybe he's spoke to police on a regular enough basis to have lost all fear of them. Not having that desensitization herself, Alice felt sweaty and sick to her stomach.

The officer flipped open her notebook to check something then looked back up at Mr. Vega. "Actually I did receive that hospital report. The trauma nurse was quite adamant that we take the situation seriously. According to the attending officer, the Social Services Agent assigned to Ms. Spade's case felt that her testimoney was unreliable." Alice felt a weird rushing sound in her ears, and only vaguely realized it was the blood racing through her, sent flying by how fast her heart was beating. They didn't believe her. She couldn't believe this was happening, the hope she'd felt yesterday curling up and dying in her chest. The Walter's had won again.

"I think I'm gonig to be sick." Alice said softly, but both adults looked at her, almost surprised to realize she was still there. Officer Bradley seemed to be a little sympathetic and carefully helped Alice sit down. Ace wanted to collapse forward and rest with her head between her knees, but the cracked rib refused to allow her that much range of motion.

"Officer Bradley, can I speak to you outside?" Mr. Vega asked, voice tight. The officer looked down at Alice for a moment, then nodded and followed him outside. Alice couldn't hear what they were saying, this was the quiet room for a reason. But she could see them outside the window, having a quiet conversation. The officer was impossible to read, her face a perfect blank cop mask of polite indifference. Malcolm was a little easier to read, he looked upset but not worried. She could only catch a couple of words on their lips, they both were angeled wrong for her to read their lips clearly. It was frustrating, to only catch the random odd word. You try figuring out what they were saying with only the words: realize, passive, temporary and choice. Alice knew they were speaking about her, and even could figure out the parts Mal wanted to say without her around, no one was comfortable discussing rape with the victim in the room; but it was still a little vague exactly what arguement he was using to try and persuade the officer.

She stopped trying to follow their discussion and instead waited for the nausea to pass. She took in deep breaths, willing her erratic heartbeat to chill out and slowly she felt the urge to toss her cookies pass. They reentered the quiet room and Alice peered up at them. The officer was looking down at her notebook and then studying Alice's battered face.

"I'd like to review your injuries." Officer Bradley informed her.

"Here?" Alice asked, a little confused.

"I don't wish to add to your situation by taking you downtown, but we can retire to the locker room so you can maintain privacy." Officer Bradley explained. Alice nodded, not really body shy after a year as a stripper. The cop turned to Mr. Vega. "If I have any further questions I will contact you again. Thank you for your help." she dismissed. Malcolm looked a little torn, leaving Alice alone with the officer, but he didn't aruge.

Ace stood up and led the cop down and around the halllways until they reached the girls changing room. There were no girls in there and classes were already well underway, so Alice had a chunk of time to disrobe and let the officer write down descriptions of Alice's wounds. The E.R nurse had taken pictures, but this cop seemed thorough so Alice didn't hold it against her.

"The trauma nurse reported extensive signs of vaginal tearing. And you reported that you were unconscious for the sexual acts. Is there anything else you'd like to report?" the officer asked. Technically since Alice was still under 18 she should have a legal guardian present, but considering that her legal guardians were the ones abusing her, she didn't exactly push to have them here, now.

"The only things I can tell you probably won't be admissable if this ever goes to court." Alice admittied. The officer looked up from her note pad and frowned, not understanding. "For the first year or so living with the Walters was alright. Their then sixteen year old son was moody and verbally cruel, but not violent. When I turned eleven though, he started to sneak into my room at night and touch me inappropriately. I told his parents about it and Mr. Walter slapped me and told me to shut my ungreatful mouth and that lies will not be tolerated. Seeing that his parent's weren't going to object to his actions, Stuart eventually held me down and raped me. I was still only eleven. It wasn't every night, from eleven to aroun thirteen it only happened a handful of times, though both he and Mr. Walter would hit me whenever they were angry. Mrs. Walter would hear it but do nothing. And every time Stuart came by to 'visit' my room at night, they heard me screaming but did nothing to stop it. And they cleaned up after him. All my hospital visits they lied about what happened and told the doctors that I was a pathological liar, saying things just to get attention. After I started to fill out thanks to puberty, Stuart's 'visits' became a lot more frequent, and the physical violence escalated. I fought back every single time and when I was fourteen I actually won. I'd bashed him over the back of the head with a lamp and he'd dropped to the floor. I had a piece of the broken porceline in my hands and I could have slit his throat with it." she paused, voice flat as she stared off into space. "But I didn't. When he caught me alone the next time, he poured boiling water over me so I would learn my lesson. He meant to teach me that if I ever fought back, he would hurt me worse; but instead I learned that I will never hesitate again. If I'm in that situation again, I'll kill him." she told hte cop point blank.

"We didn't attack them. Mr. Vega and I both volunteer at the same animal shelter. When Salali, the boss and the woman who's offered to take me in now, found out how injured I was, they took me to the hospital and went with me to gather my possessions from the Walters. Mr. Walter attacked first and Stuart followed after. I'm not saying that there wasn't mutual threats flying around the room, and that we couldn't have handled the situation better, but the fact of the matter is that Mr. Vega and Salali were just trying to protect me. Please don't punish them for what is my issue." Alice reuqested.

Officer Bradely was scribbling notes down in her notebook and when she stopped she still had on the unreadable cop face. Alice had no clue if the cop believed her or not, and she really wished she knew what the Walter's had said. Every time she had reached out for help before, the Walter's had found a way to squash it, and Alice was convinced that this time would be no different. Though this time the nurse had believed her, so there was still that little seed of hope. It only takes one person to change the course of hi온라인카지노게임 and Alice was certainly hoping that this was the time her sad hi온라인카지노게임 got to start a new chapter.

"Thank you for your time." Officer Bradely stated and offered a buisness card. "If you ever need anything, or if you remember anything else, do not hesitate to call." the cop was briskly professional. Alice watched her walk out of the change room without another word and she felt torn between elated hope and toppling melancholy. She gave herself a hard shake before heading out of the change room herself, hearing the bell ending first class. Great, now she had to survive the rest of the day, with the fact that a cop had talked to her adding to the rumours going around. Lexi would have a field day with this one.

All of her science teachers seemed surprised to see her so battered looking, but otherwise seemed oblivious as to the whispering rumours Alice's classmates were up to during class. Already people were making up new ones with more and more outrageous stories trying to explain the cops presence. Her favourite one was that she was secretly in protective custody and was actually the daughter of a mob boss, spilling all their secrets. She'd expected today to be horrible and exhausting, but when she saw her friends at lunch, she rushed over to share the most creative rumours gonig on around her. They were concerned about her, but she brushed their worry aside simply by being happy at lunch. Some of it was a farce, a bright smile she put on to keep them from asking questions. Her little talk with Officer Bradely had used up all her courage and she no longer wanted to discuss it with anyone. Let them have their rumours, she knew the truth.

"So ah... Alice, do you like... need a place to stay?" Butch eventually asked her softly, while the rest of the group was discussing this year's senior trip. Alice wanted to learn more about it, but sweet honest Butch seemed worried she was homeless.

"Thank you but I'm good. The boss where I do my community service has already given me her spare bedroom. I think you guys would like her, she seems really cool." Alice smiled, and was surprised that his concern touched her instead of irritating her. "Now, tell me everything about this senior trip. I have no clue what's gonig on!" she directed the topic back to safer waters.

"I forget that you've not even been here a week yet. I hear your name everywhere and everyone seems to know you on sight so it seems.... I dunno, I guess you just fit." Butch remarked, oblivious to the fact that the rumour mill wasn't exactly doing Alice justice. "Well, last year we all had to raise money. Half of the proceeds went towards the school's charities and the other half went towards our senior trip. I guess we were all really motivated because we raised a fortune!" Butch enthused. He was almost like a big kid and Ace wondered if maybe he was a little bit special.  But it made him endearing and she didn't care if he wasn't the brightest crayon in the box. "The senior student council this year let us submit suggestions on where our trip should go to and then voted between them on the final destination." he stopped talking.

"Don't make me shake you. Where did they decide the seniors get to go?" she asked, not even 100% sure she got to go with them since she was new.

"Oh, we're going to Cosumel Mexico for ten days over March Break." Butch announced calmly. Alice blinked at him, just amazed that they had raised that much money.

"Excuse me Ms. Spade, I was hoping to take a moment of your time." Mr. Bottomswell drew the groups attention to him.

"Yes sir." Alice smiled and slid out of her seat. She left her lunch, not really hungry after this morning and followed the principal back to his office. The fact that he wasn't taking her into the quiet room seemed to relax some of the knots out of her neck.

Mr. Bottomswell smiled at her as he sat down. "I would firstly like to extend to you the services of the school chaplan and councillors if you have need of them. Father Bryant is a good man who is always willing to listen. Even if you're not technically Catholic, sometimes it helps to speak to one of God's helpers." Alice put a smile on her face and swallowed her laughter. Something about telling a priest the same things she told the police struck her as funny. She'd probably make him drop his bible if she told him the specifics. "Ah.... I'm not sure how to approach this so I am just going to be candid with you. The circumstances of your current, ah... situation require a.......level of discretion and...." Mr. Bottomswell trailed off.

Alice wasn't sure if he was uncomfortable because he believed she was the victim or if he was uncomfortable because he believed she was the sociopathic pathological liar the Walter's claimed she was. Either way, his discomfort was making Alice anxious because she couldn't help but feel like she'd done something wrong. "I'm not telling students about it, don't worry." she blurted out, thinking that maybe he was concerned over some of the more outlandish rumours she'd heard today. Add the obvious bruises into some of the rumours already gonig around about her, and it wouldn't be hard to imagine a terrible 온라인카지노게임 about her.

Mr. Bottomswell seemed to relax a little at her words though, so her guess wasn't too far off. "I appreciate that Ms. Spade. I don't think the student body would handle your.... news well. I've had a few concerned faculty in here to speak with me already today."

Alice looked down at the desk top, that weight of dread in her gut already. "Considering what my record already says, I can understand why they'd have trouble.... accepting that I might not be at fault here." Alice stated, trying to remain logical and mature. It wasn't fair that everyone assumed she was the problem. Just because she'd run away from her foster house and worked as a stripper didn't mean she was promiscuous, a drug user or a troublemaker, but that's what everyone always believed about her. Though it made her appreciate people like Salali and the kind janitor all the more because they were good people despite the easy route everyone else took.

"Alice," Mr. Bottomswell used her first name, drawing her attention upwards, "you didn't deserve whatever happened to you. Even if you were a horrible person, no one deserves to be hurt." he said kindly. She wasn't sure why, but that simple statement made her start to blubber again. Tears dripped down her face and her shoulders silently shook as she tried to swallow the emotions back down. She managed to bottle it back down and Mr. Bottomswell didn't comment on it as he passed her some tissues. The end of lunch rang even though he offered to let her stay here until she was composed, Alice squared her shoulders, smiled and was about to head out when something occured to her."Sir, I know I'm new here, but am I included in the senior trip?" she asked.  

Mr. Bottomswell smiled kindly at her, going along with her attempt to seem like she hadn't just cried. "Of course. You're one of our seniors this year." he stated simply. Alice smiled at him and headed out to dance class, having to fly through changing to make it on time.

As soon as the girls saw her arrive, they burst into a flurry of whispers that went silent as she passed by them, and started up once she was further away. She rolled her eyes, ignoring the smug satisfaction on Lexi's face. The darkling part of her nature wanted to grab Lexi by the hair, drag her out into class and slap her silly, but she was better than that.

"Alright ladies! This week we're wrapping up with the chorus choreography. You are all being judged this week so put your best foot forward!" the teacher announced, clapping to get everyone's attention.

The girls buzzed with excitement and Alice even had one girl lean over and whisper to her, "she never auditions us for roles, instead she tells us how we're doing and gives us a character." then the girl seemed to realize just who it was she was whispering to and shushed herself, scootching away so as to physically distance herself. After the teacher's announcement, the class was broken down into troupes of five, with four groups of five and one group of four. The troupe with Alice put as much room between their collective whole and her that it was clear that they didn't want her associated with them. The teacher frowned but said nothing and Alice instead took advantage of the extra room to add a little touch of extra drama to her dance moves. Then it was the next troupe's turn and Alice was back to being ignored by everyone except for Lexi.

"Do you need a tissue for your issue?" she asked, batting her eyelashed in mock sympathy.

"Is that supposed to make sense?" Alice asked, not following.

"You really are as dumb as you look, how sad!" Lexi exclaimed, earning some laughter from the peanut gallery watching. "I'll use small words." she promised.

"Sticking to your strengths, good idea." Alice interrupted, earning a glare from Lexi.

"Your eyes are all red and puffy. So either you've been crying or smoking pot. I gave you the benefit of the doubt and went with crying. Not hard to figure out since your pimp beat you and kicked you out of the drug den." she snidely added.

Alice just looked at her and had a moment where she could let the anger take over and retaliate or be he more mature person and ignore it. "Can I ask what it was I did that made you so hateful? It's not an attractive quality, and I'm really not sure if it's because you're angry that I'm better looking, or threatened because I'm a more passionate dancer?" she asked, making a few girls gasp and stare at the two of them.

Neither girl noticed but even the teacher was paying attention to their little spat in background. Alice's calm words made Lexi erupt into anger. Her face went mottled and red, eyes glinting and hands gesticulating erratically. "You think you're prettier than me? You're a stupid ugly slut cow! And I'm the best dancer this school has seen in years! A disease ridden stripper like you could never be half as good as I am!" she screetched.

Alice sighed and rolled her eyes. "You're such a drama queen." she shook her head, her flippant attitude clearly irritating the volatile Lexi. "Yes I was a stripper. Big freaking deal! It was a job. J-O-B job. Paid the bills and put food on the table. I know concepts like financial responsibility and personal maturity mean nothing to you, but to me they are very real concepts. I'm sorry if that offends your spoiled brat vision of the world, but grow up and get over it." Lexi was actually speechless for a moment. Then she let out a banshee screech and tried to slap Alice.

Ace stepped back, let the slap miss her, grabbed Lexi's wrist, pulled her forward and pushed so that Lexi ended up sprawling to the floor but didn't get hurt. "And you know what? You are the better technical dancer. You could be amazing. But you're too busy sitting on your laurels. Even if you can't say it out loud, at least admit it to yourself that you needed someone like me to come along and challenge you. I'm not the best technical dancer, but when I dance, every eye is on me because I dance with my heart." Alice offered her hand down to help Lexi up. "I'm not gonig anywhere and I'm not asking to be friends. But can you just stop the abuse? I get enough of that from the foster family and I really don't need to be dealing with your juvenile bulls*** here too." Alice wasn't so calm sounding anymore, instead she sounded exhasperated.

Lexi slapped her hand away and stood on her own. "You're so pathetic. Do you really believe all that stuff about yourself? You're not only a whore, you're a crazy whore too. Guess it's all the crack you've sold your body out for. Get the hell out of my sight before I have to put you in your place. I'm better than you, it's a fact you seem to have trouble with, but it's one you need to accept!" Lexi huffed, letting the rest of the girls collect behind her.

Standing on her own, Alice noticed that the teacher was watching the interchange with interest. "Lexi. I hope nothing for you but the best. Eventually you'll grow up and step into reality and it's gonig to be a rude awakening for you. Until then, leave me alone. There are what, seven months of school left? I will outlast everything you throw at me and all that time and effort you're wasting on me could have been put to something more constructive. Now go play little girl, the adults have things to attend to." Alice waved her fingers, shooing Lexi and her cohorts away as the bell rang.

Ace grabbed her things and didn't even bother changing out of her sweaty dance gear. She pulled on the hoodie and spare jacket Salali had loaned her and headed out to go play with animals and earn her keep.