Queen of Spades (House of Car...

After the little locker incident failed, things seemed to quiet down on the 'let's harass Alice' bandwagon. Alice still heard people whispering about her all freaking class, or whenever she was out in the hallways, but since no one knew where her new locker was yet, there'd been no stationary target to focus on.

Wednesday and Thursday followed the same routine as Alice had established earlier, and she was just patiently ignoring the attacks in dance class that Lexi seemed to perpetrate. She was constantly shoved and tripped, knocked into, jostled and everything on her desk or in her hands was fair game to being knocked to the floor. As mad as she got during school hours, Alice found that it fuelled her drive to dance better than ever, and made the sweet moments with Monster and Salali all the more effective at calming her down. On Thursday she'd not closed his cage right and he got out but the only thing he did was follow her around like, well, a puppy. She knew she couldn't be angry wit him aroundm it would break the fragile trust he was developing, so everytime she was about to go into the shop, she took a deep breath in and shook her body, as if she could discard the anger like drops of water.

Alice had survived Friday through to lunch, and was looking forward to the weekend. She had a gig tomorrow night as DJ Mask, and had plans with Salali to go shopping for trip clothes and a new gig outfit tonight. All week Malcolm hadn't been in the shop, too busy trying to patch things with Shawna to be able to volunteer with the animals, and Salali had stuck him with the shop on his own so she could take Alice out. She even had a movie date planned with her friends for Sunday afternoon, and it made her so happy to realize that she actually had real friends. Even as bad as her week had been, it was still leaps and bounds better than any week she'd spent with the foster family.

"So did you guys want to go check out DJ Mask's show Saturday?" Theresa asked the others and Alice found her attention dragged back to the moment. She bit back a laugh, realizing that her friends were also her fans. When she got a chance to tell them the truth, they'd crack right up about it.

"Oh yeah he's the coolest!" Butch agreed.

"She's the coolest you mean." Sammy refuted.

"He." Butch countered.

"She." Sammy retorted. "Even with the masks and elaborate costumes, you can tell DJ Mask is a chick."

"No way! If DJ Mask was a chick, wouldn't she use sex to sell? I mean come on, unless she's double bag ugly, why would she cover up?" Theresa asked. Because I got enough of that in my day job, Alice thought ruefully.

"You want to go?" Kim asked Alice.

"I'm working, sorry." Alice deflected, trying to stifle her laughter. It must look a little weird, the wide grin on her face, but her friends didn't comment on it.

The others continued to argue over whether or not Alice's alter ego was female or male and she left the lunch room laughing her head off inside. With a lighter step than usual she changed for dance class and made her way inside. Today was the last day of judgement, when the teacher would finally tell them the piece they'd be working on for the Gala. The other girls were too nervous trying to be perfect to bother Alice and even Lexi laid off her usual attitude in an attempt to showcase her talent. Alice noted that even if she didn't say anything, Lexi had begun to push herself harder when she danced, as if she'd taken Ace's criticism of her talent to heart.

And then it was Alice's turn to solo dance. As the last one to go, she had the least amount of time to dance. She took the center stage and go into start pose for the choreography. Too late she realized that Lexi was over by the music player, and instead of the set music everyone else danced too, the strains of Rob Dougan's Clubbed to Death started. The song Alice had used to dance to while she stripped. Seems like someone still held a vendetta against her. The teacher frowned at the music but Alice decided she was sick of playing nice. So she started to dance. It was the choreography the teacher had drilled into her head, but Alice had to modify it on the spot to fit the pacing of this song. Thankfully she knew it inside out and backwards, so she could mentally map out the choreography and stretch out one move here to sequence to this roundele there and make it fit to the beat. The bell to end class rang but she danced on as if it hadn't. And when the song continued on past the steps of choreography, Alice improvised for all she was worth. None of the other dancers had moved at the end of class either, even Lexi and the teacher stared at her in shock as she finished dancing just when the music ended. The anger that had driven her all week twitched and coiled just under the surface and Alice didn't hide it as she made eye contact with Lexi. But unlike the other woman, Ace refused to let it own her, instead she found a way to use it.

The tense atmosphere was shattered when clapping echoed from the doorway of the performance hall. Everyone startled and looked to see Mr. Vega standing in the doorway, grinning and clapping with enthusiasm. 

. "Mrs. Moodie, your class grows more talented every year. I am very impressed with with discipline." he complimented the teacher. She flustered and smiled at him, as charmed by the handsome teacher as his female students were.

The rest of the class scattered but Alice took her time, knowing that if Mal had come looking for her, the weather was terrible. Ever since they'd fought in detention, he would drive her to Salali's to make sure she wasn't forced to walk in bad weather. Considering that the weather had sucked all week, that had made some tense and quiet drives. Neither one had apologized for the things they'd said, and even though he had texted her that night, their friendship was still tentative.

She waited until Mrs. Moodie had left before she said anything directly to Malcolm, and as soon as the door swung shut behind the dance teacher, he beat her to it. "I heard that song and just knew it was you. I cannot believe you picked that song to dance to." he stated. Alice was expecting him to be mad but instead he seemed amused.

"I didn't." Alice huffed, the anger she'd pushed aside earlier flaring out now. "Lexi put it on. Some of the guys she hags with saw me perform that night too." she explained tersely.

The smile dropped off his face as he took in her upset anger. She wasn't looking forward to shopping anymore, and was annoyed with herself to feel the prick of tears in her eyes. She rubbed a thumb roughly between her eyebrows, trying to push the emotions back again. It would be a terrible idea to break down in front of Malcolm. He had his own issues to deal with and his responsibilities did not include handling the emotional breakdown of a seventeen year old stripper turned student, Ace reminded herself rudely.

"You ok?" Malcolm asked, and Alice was surprised to find that he had crossed the room and was now standing right in front of her.

In fact he was close enough she could feel the heat swirl off his body. "I'll be fine. You know me, I'm always fine." she gave a fake smile, not wanting to burden him.

Of course she wasn't taking into account the fact that Mal wasn't an idiot. He could see for himself that she wasn't alright. There were bags under her eyes, signs of strain around her mouth and her body language screamed 'I'm not alright!' He pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her, tucking her head under his chin.

"Sure you are." he agreed with her, still hugging her.

Alice gave an unhappy little laugh and humiliated herself when tears started to slip down her face to soak into his jacket. Her body shook softly as she fought to stop the crying, but he didn't seem to mind, just holding her, offering her a safe place to let down her guard and only let go when she stepped away. With a shakey hand she wiped the last of the tears off her face. "That wouldn't have looked wrong if anyone walked in." she admitted with a laugh.

"True, but everyone left awhile ago Ace." Malcolm agreed with a soft smile. Alice looked at the clock and was surprised to find that it'd already been nearly an hour. Between the dancing and the crying, she'd lost complete track of time.

"Oh no, I was supposed to meet Salali at the mall a half hour ago!" she exclaimed and searched frantically for her phone.

"It's alright. Actually one of the reasons I came to find you here was that she called me and said she had to cancel tonight. The farmer she works with for the large animal rescues called in and asked for her help with one of his horses. She's closed the shop for the night and another worker has already come in to tend the animals." Malcolm interrupted her.

Alice slumped in relief, thoug a girly part of her was disappointed to not be going shopping. "Oh, ok that's good. I guess. I hope hte horse is ok." she said, a little lost on what to do now.

Malcolm tilted his head to the side and looked at her. "Why were you meeting at the mall?" he asked, hearing the disappointment in Ace's voice.

"Oh... I needed to pick up a new outfit for tomorrow for sure, and I was going to get started on my shopping for the Senior Trip." she admitted with a shrug. They headed out to his Jeep, even though now she had no rush to be anywhere.

"Of course." Malcolm rolled his eyes, voice heavy with laughter.

"Hey," Alice slapped his arm. "Don't mock the shopping. It's therapeutic as well as practical. Just because most men don't have the patience or stanima to shop doesn't mean you can dismiss it as trivial." she teased.

"I so have the patience and stanima. But before we go shopping, I need food. Mexican or.."

Alice cut him off. "Mexican. I love me some epananda." she admitted while rubbing her tummy in anticipation.

He laughed at her enthusiasm. "My mother would love you. White girl with a liking for real food. I can't even get Shawna to try guacamole." he laughed with ease.

"I'll have you know that I am half Native. I think. At least dad always though mom was a purebred." she blinked, trying to remember if he'd ever mentioned what her grandparents had been.

"Really?" he asked, seeming interested. "Do you know what tribe?" he asked. Alice shook her head negative. She'd never asked and never really had the chance to learn about that part of her heritage. When her mother had run away with her father after getting pregant, they'd had to sever all their familial ties. The humour fell away from Alice's face as she realized that she could have grandparents out there, aunts and uncles and cousins she'd never know. Because when her mother had gotten pregant, every one else had wanted her to abort. They hadn't wanted Alice to exist at all. Well this isn't a depressing line of though, Alice scolded herself and dropped the maudlin thoughts.

"My dad used to always make me try different foods. He used to claim it was so I would have a cultured palette, but the truth was he sucked at cooking and was kind of a butterfly with what he ate." Alice added, trying to switch back to happy topics.

"Butterfly? He ate light?" Mal misinterpreted.

"No, he flitted from one pretty thing to the next. If it looked yummy, he'd eat it. Which meant I would too because whatever dad had, I had to steal a piece of." she smiled at the memory. He used to make sandwiches with an extra one that she would steal. Ace could remember eating things she knew she hated, but doing it because it was her dad that made it.

"Alright then, what's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?" he asked, pulling up outside of a rather authentic looking Mexican restaurant.

"Hmm, it's a tie between live squid and deep fried tarantula." she admitted with a goofey grin. He stared at her in shock for a second, which made her crack up.

"You're pulling my leg aren't you?" he asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Alice shook her head and ran from the Jeep to the front door. Her borrowed jacket had been ruined, the paint stiffening the material into a hard plank. Her sweater and dance gear had suffered the same fate, which is one of the reasons Alice was supposed to go shopping tonight. Malcolm was slower as he locked the Jeep but even he scurried to get in out of the swirling snow.

"I've never been here before. Must be good if they can get an authentic like you in the door." Alice remarked, taking in the cosy atmosphere. She was used to loud, noisy and garish display at the usual 'Mexican' eateries. But this place was out of the way and smelled so good. The waiter settled them in and Alice looked over the menu options and realized that this place was authentic. It was simply called Gordi's, which Malcolm exlained meant Fatso's.

The atmosphere was quiet as the tables filled with diners that spoke in low tones. Alice tried not to notice that almost every table around them was filled with couples and instead had some of her Mexican empananda. Malcolm kept stealing pieces from her plate though so she retaliated by hacking off a piece of his tostada, and they had to use the ancient art of war known as rock paper sissors to determine who got the last Mexican pastry for dessert.

"Has your good mood been restored?" Mal asked casually after they climbed back into the Jeep.

Alice smiled and nodded, greatful that he'd let her be. "And now onto shopping!" she sounded enthusiastic again. It was already 6 pm and the stores closed at 9, but at lesat she could get a jacket and an outfit for tomorrow. As DJ Mask she had a very androgynous costume, but since she wasn't the only DJ of the night, she wanted to have clothes to change into for dancing. If she found her friends then, she could always honestly tell them that she just got off work and made it over. Though she paused and wondered how it was that a bunch of seventeen and one eighteen year old were getting into a club. With a shrug she figured they had fake ID's.

Malcolm was actually good at shopping, for a guy. He wandered over to the men's section when she went jacket hunting, and after she'd found the perfect jacket, he quietly endured her club outfit shopping. Admittedly she was more awkward with having him around than he seemed to be hanging around her. She would grab an outfit and disappear, come out to check it in the mirrors and he would yell at her to show him the clothes so he could give her 'male's eye view', as he called it. That's where she got a little flustered. He'd seen her in next to nothing, and yet now he was telling her the honest truth about the clothes she was trying on. One cute skirt looked too boxy and made her hips look even wider, the cropped pants stunted her legs, that shirt gave her uniboob etc....

Finally she stalked out of the change room, angry and frustrated that everything she'd picked out or tried on didn't work with his high standards. "You know what? If you're going to be so picky, you pick out my damn outfit!" she demanded, glaring down at him where he was sitting on the 'boyfriend' chair.

Malcolm raised both eye brows at her. "If you go like that I guarantee you'll get attention." he stated, looking down at her outfit. Alice frowned and looked down herself, then went brilliantly red and ran back inside the changing room. She'd stormed out to yell at him while wearing only her bra and kilt.

"I hate you!" Alice called out, but she was laughing, so it didn't sound angry at all. She could hear him chuckling as he walked closer to her dressing room and fabric came flying over the top.

"I can't believe you went that red!" he chuckled. Alice glared at the door even though he couldn't see it. "You'd think I haven't seen you in even less than that before." he added in. The flush burned across her cheeks again as her hormones decided to go haywire at that comment. "I can tell you're blushing right now. Whoosh." he teased through the door.

Alice narrowed her eyes and grinned evilly. She pulled on the outfit he'd tossed over the partition. It was a reddish brown silk dress, meant to tie halter style behind her neck. The skirt was mid thigh, clingy but not tight and the top was loose. She smirked and carefully wrapped the ties around her neck and tied it, leaving a large line of her cleavage and collarbone exposed. She took her long hair out of it's usual braided bun and mussed it a little, then opened the door to the change room. She even hammed it up a little bit by standing on her toes and leaning against the door.

"Is this better?" she asked, making her voice husky and hooding her eyes so they looked sultry.

The smile that spread across Malcolm's face wasn't his usual sweet, goofey smile. This grin was pure naughty thoughts and the piece of his soul that liked to be the badguy. "You wear that and someone's going to get their heart broken." he tried to make it a joke but there was too much weight to his words.

"Promises promises." Ace joked, laughing to ease the tension. It wasn't the 'something has gone wrong' tension she'd encountered with him lately. Instead it was a different one entirely and it made a flutter race around her stomach. "Guess I'm getting this one then." she stated and closed the door, cutting off the strange weight of his gaze. Once safety behind the door Alice brought a shakey hand to her chest and felt her heart racing. Had they just been flirting? Well ya, obviously, but had it been serious? She asked herself, not understanding if this was just the play-fun type or something a little more...real.

"I would suggest high heels with that one. Somehow your running shoes just don't match." Malcolm called through the door and then she heard him wander away. She did a mental checklist and realized he was right, she had to go buy shoes that would go with the dress. Mal patiently followed along as she went to the shoes, still wearing the dress. Thank god clothing stores have started to carry dresses AND shoes in the same place. Made doing this so much easier! Alice thought to herself as she crouched down to grab one pair of shoes.

A shadow loomed over her and Alice looked up to see Malcolm standing close next to her. He was looking down at the shoe in her hands but his eyes flashed to hers and they held eyecontact. "You've got something in your hair." he said softly, and gently pulled fluffy of fabric from her hair. Alice swallowed her pulse, unable ot break eyecontact with him looking at her like that. It must have made an interesting tableau, she was couched down low, in a rather sultry dress and he stood very close to her, standing straight up so that she was awfully close to his.... belt buckle. The clatter of a store clerk coming from the back room broke the moment and Malcolm cleared his throat and Alice stood up with the nearly forgotten shoe in her hand. They were a pair of Christain Leboutin knock offs, and she pulled them on to see if they suited the dress.

Malcolm started to cough and Alice frowned at him as he walked away, clearing his throat repeatedly. With a shrug she turned to the mirror and studied the outfit. The dress looked amazing with the heels and she felt like a goddess staring at herself in the mirror. Still, her critical eye picked out the fact that she needed some kind of braclet and possibly a pendant to display in the gap of flesh revealed by the dress. And maybe she could do something with her hair. She picked up a lock of hair and studied it, not paying attention as she wondered if she should curl her hair more or maybe straighten it out.

"You should go change, the mall is closing soon." Malcolm spoke, his lips brushing her ear as he whispered. Her eyes went wide as she looked up, feeling him standing right behind her. How she hadn't felt him step that close was beyond her, and she looked at him in the mirror, amazed to see him look so...torn. She frowned over her shoulder at him, and then turned to face him straight on.

"Ok, I'll go buy these then." she agreed and hurried to the change room, then to the cash register. He was right, she could hear the general announcement over the mall PA that the mall would be closing shortly and that everyone needed to take their purchases to the cash register now. Aalice pulled on her brand new winter jacket, a black suede duster that hit the back of her knees. The inside was heavily lined and she felt super warm in it even with the weather so crappy around them.

The car ride back to Alice's place with Salali was easy as they went back to talking about strange foods they'd eaten, and which foods they were adamant they would never eat. "Don't dismiss haggus until you try it." Alice argued while Malcolm made fake gagging noises. He pulled up outside of the building and Alice was grateful that Salali had finally gotten Ace her own keys. "Look." Alice said, pointing out hte front of the car. Mal turned to see what it was she was pointing at and Alice leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you for helping me get over my s***y day Mal." she said sincerely. "Did you want to come up for hot chocolate and a movie? I'm gonig to wait for Salali to get back if she isn't already." she asked, enjoying his company.

The smile on his face fell a little, though he tried to still look happy. "I can't. Soryy but Shawna gets home around eleven tonight and I said I'd be there when she got home. Have a good night Alice." he explained.

Ace tried not to let her face show how much his words hurt. It was so stupid of her to keep forgetting that he had a girlfriend, for even believing for a moment that this was...something more than him babysitting her.

"Goodnight Malcolm." she said and went inside.