Whatever else Alice thought might change between her and Malcolm now that they admitted they were interested in each other, what hadn't changed was the fact that he was her teacher. So when she had to admit that she hadn't done the homework in class, it had resulted in her first detention of the week. But now the concept of spending an hour alone after class with Malcolm was a stomach flip inducing concept and not a worry inducing one. Not that it really mattered, Alice already knew how Hamlet ended, she didn't need to do the chapter questions to prove it.
Alice spent the rest of English class staring intently at the scribbles on her page, unable to think about anything with Malcolm in the room. Only he was Mr. Vega right now, she had to remember that. The man lecturing the class on Hamelt's impending deul with Ophelia's brother was the same man as had kissed her senseless the night before, but he also wasn't. When the bell for class change rang, Alice nearly jerked out of her seat, making a few students laugh.
The science class was quiet, everyone weighed down by the realization that winter exams were coming up. Alice was a little perplexed by their fearful panic over having to write exams. She was anxious about it, but not about to faint from fear. Then again, maybe these students weren't as quick with recall as she was. Pulling her attention to the class around her, Alice noticed a few guys smirking at her, then looking at her neck. With a flush, she popped the collar of her shirt up a little, hiding the hickey again. Just great, everyone knew she was a stripper, they knew she'd been beaten and now they knew she liked it rough. Ok, maybe not that far, but they knew she had someone sucking on her neck over the weekend. She spent the rest of class wondering what nasty things Lexi was going to spread about the hickies if she spotted them.
To make matters worse, the student body had apparently discovered Alice's new locker location. Like the first week here, the front of her locker was once again decorated. This time it wasn't nasty words or juvenile penises scrawled across the front. Instead it was the phrase: For a good time, drop me a note. Alice stared at her locker, worried about what she would find inside. She opened the locker door and a handful of notes fell out. She frowned down at the pile but as mad as she was, she started to laugh at it. The person standing next to her looked over, shooting her a worried glance. She probably looked bat-s*** crazy right now, but didn't care. "I honestly thought the pile would be bigger than that." Alice remarked then gathered the notes up and tossed them in the bin on her way to the cafeteria.
Lunch was a blur, Ace couldn't even recall the food she'd eaten, consumed entirely with the knowledge that today Mrs. Moodie was releasing the Gala display choice and assigning dancers their roles. It was supposed to happen Friday, but after the final displays went too long, it'd been bumped to today. Since most of the group of friends was involved in the Gala, it was all any of htem could talk about either. Though Justine and Kim were heaping praise on Alcie for her improvised dancing Friday. Ace had honestly forgotten that drama and dance were in the same performance hall. Alice walked into the Performance Hall and heard a cacaphony of noise, drama and dance students chatting amiably, mixed together for the first time all year. Quickly Kim and Justine joined her and for the first time in weeks, she wasn't alone in dance class. Five minutes ticked agonizingly slow, each student starting to hold thier breath as they heard Mrs. Moodie's high heels march down the corridor towards them. The teacher walked in with the drama teacher a step behind, brandishing a script for the actors, and a list of character names for the dancers.
"This year our Gala is based around A Mid Summer Night's Dream." Mrs. Moodie announced and the chattering burst out. Alice waited patiently with her friends, a strange calm hovering over her as the teachers fought to be heard. Finally excitement fell away enough for everyone to settle, and the assignments began.
The male characters such as Oberon were all from drama class, but surprisingly enough Mrs. Moodie already had choreography for them. Eventually Justine told Alice that they were the b-boys and hip hop or lock dancers of the school, but since dance class was for female students only.... There was a flurry of excitement as Lexi was announced to be portraying the lead female, Titania. The looks of victory Lexi shot at Alice were as full of venom as they were of haughtier, but Alice just smiled softly."I guess this Gala really is about spotlighting our talent. Show off the class, hide away the crass." Lexi taunted.
Alice tried not to let her comments bother her, but they did; because only Alice was left without a role, the teacher merely stating that she needed to discuss something with Alice first. The rest of the drama students were busy being assigned the duties of what non dancing characters they were expected to portray, or how they had to work with a dancing partner to provide the voice of a dancing character. It was all a little too complicated for Alice still, and she didn't want to admit that it hurt to not have the lead character's role.
"Alice?" Mrs. Moodie and Mr. Pottinger bekoned Ace over to them and she went, ignoring the sneering Lexi. "Alice, we wanted to discuss your role before assigning it to you. See, normally your character has a lot of dialogue, but we felt that maybe with you dancing, we could cut all the spoken parts out." Mrs. Moodie started.
"And since your character is normally male, we wanted to clarify a few discrepancies that will crop up." Mr. Pottinger added.
"Precisely. So although it will be a lot of work for you, dancing in almost every number, both of us feel that you would be able to do it." Mrs. Moodie continued.
"It's the vision we want to present. Are you comfortable with that?" Mr. Pottinger jumped in again.
"I'm confused, which character am I?" Alice interrupted, not following.
'"Puck." they both said in unison. Alice took a moment to absorb that, then nodded. Puck was the character both Oberon and Titania turned to when their were estranged over a changeling. He was the character that sent the lovers on their journey of discovery. There was a distinct appeal there.
"I can do it." Alice agreed, already knowing that working with Lexi was going to be a task and a half.
"Excellent. Now we're going to have to work closely on the choreography to make it work with the rest of the cast, but otherwise we are trusting you to self design." Mr. Pottinger informed Alice.
"Wait, I'm coming up with my own choreography?" she demanded, feeling a little overwhelmed.
"After friday, I have no doubt that you're more than capable." Mrs. Moodie complimented, silencing Alice's objections. It was hard to come up with choreography, let alone an entire plays worth. But they already said they felt she could do it....
"Let's get started then." she agreed, looking down at the script in her hands. If she felt that dance class had been difficult before, it was going to be even harder now. First the teachers had to pause everything until the choir could be rounded up, and a representative from the band. Then there was a group discussion of how practice was going to be broken down. The dancers who had fairy parts only were to learn group choreography depending on if they were Oberon's or Titania's fairies. Then the actors had to shadow the dancers who shared a character with them. Everyone was given some creative license of the characters, as long as it worked within the vision the two performance teachers required. As smart as she was, even Alice was feeling consumed by questions and confusion, uncertainty plaguing her thoughts.
Alice sat in Mr. Vega's detention, eyes wide and stunned as she stared off into space. He tapped her desk, making her blink and come back to the moment. "You alright? Looked like you stopped to think and forgot to start again." he joked.
"I'm entirely incharge of coming up with a play's worth of choreography for my character in the Gala." Alice said, voice wooden.
"I'm guessing that's a good thing. So why are you looking so... poleaxed?" he asked, leaning over a little.
Alice looked up at him and was once again forced to remind herself that kissing him was a bad idea at school. Too many people around. But the concern in his eyes told her he cared more than any words could have. "I'm very happy. And terrified." she added in. "If this Gala draws in as much professional attention as everyone claims, not just how I dance will be judged, but the choreography itself will be judged. What if I'm not good enough?" she asked, suddenly worried.
"Ace, I've seen you dance. Both when you're deciding to make a point, and when you have no other choice." Malcolm reminded her gently. "It doesn't matter the circumstances, you are an amazing dancer. And I have absolute faith in your ability to wow a crowd."
Alice smiled at him, touched by his words. "Thank you. I think I'm just a little overwhelmed by it still. Once I get started I can figure it out. Mainly I'll need the music we're working with. Unless they've left that up to me too." she fretted.
"If you're too worried about it, why don't we talk it out now. I was going to discuss yesterday with you but it can wait." Malcolm suggested.
"Not going to happen Mal." Alice smiled as she said it, hoping he hadn't changed his mind. Again. "How did it go?" she asked, leaving what it was up in the air.
Malcolm didn't look terribly happy, but he also didn't look like he regretted it, so Alice had hope. "Shawna is moving out. I.... I didn't tell her it was because I wanted to be with you. I figured that the less anyone knows about you and I, the safer we are." he started and Alice almost cheered right then. He still wanted to be with her! The urge to jump up and do a victory dance almost propelled her into action but she bottled it down. "Instead, I told her that I hadn't been honest with her about my past. And that in all good conscience I could not continue lying to her about it." Malcolm continued. "So we got into a discussion over the things I had done as part of a street gang, and there were a few things she simply couldn't accept. Which made it easier for her to leave me." he added in.
In a flash of comprehension, Alice realized his reluctance wasn't regret over loosing Shawna, but instead worry that the same things Shawna had found objectionable would be deal breakers for Alice too. "Have you killed anyone?" she asked, interrupting him.
Malcolm frowned at her. "No."
"Raped anyone?" "No!" "Tortured anyone?" "Not necessarily. I have beaten people, but not like that. Honest fist fights and turf issues." "Start fires?" "Yes" "Vandalism?" "Lots." They played question and answer until Alice had a rough idea of the things he'd done. They weren't great, he'd stolen, been in fights, was a womanizer, had used hard drugs and generally been a menace to society. But he hadn't done unforgiveable things, not according to Alice so she simply nodded.
"Her loss. My gain." Alice finally stated, pleased to see the flash of surprise in Malcolm's eyes. Without thinking about where they were or who might accidentally see them, Malcolm leaned the rest of the way forward and kissed Alice. She wasn't any better, kissing him back as if they were allowed to be together.
"That was stupid." Alice stated after they pulled out of the kiss.
"Extremely." Malcolm agreed, looking around to make sure no one had seen. It was snowing heavily outside so they were safe through the window, and there was no one wandering the hallways right now.
"Time for some ground rules I guess?" Alice suggested, feeling flustered still.
Malcolm nodded, sitting ontop of his desk. "I think the first one should be that at school, our relationship is strictly student teacher." he listed.
"Same goes for when we're out in public and people who know us can see." Alice added on.
"Alright, I also suggest we keep it from Salali. She has very liberal views on appropriate behaviour, and might accidentally let something slip to any Social Service Agents that come invesitagting." Malcolm warned. Alice nodded, feeling less jubliant.
"Anything else you can think ok?" Alice asked. Malcol looked down at his boots, and right away Ace knew he had a question but didn't know how to ask it. "Just spit it out. I will promise that any question you ask in the next... 3 minutes, I will not get upset, angry or hurt over. Go." Alice stated, checking the clock.
He laughed a little. "You can't promise that." he scoffed a little, then realized Alice was honestly counting down the time. "Alright, alright. I was wondering if you were actually ready for... intimacy. I know what it seemed like yesterday. But now that you've had a chance to calm down and think about it, I want you to know that I am in no rush. If you need to take your time, do so." he stated.
Alice nodded slowly. "Fair enough. I'm damaged goods, I know that. But I think taking it slow might be a good idea. And before you can worry, I've been on Depro Provera since I was 15." she added in.
"What exactly is that?" he questioned.
"Birth control." Alice replied back, amused that she had to teach him that. He mouthed an 'O' and nodded.
They both sat in slightly awkwars silence, listening to the clock tick. "I guess we can get out of here. It's not like you're actually making use of this detention." Malcolm joked, grabbing his racing jacket. Alice grabbed hers and followed after him. There weren't other students around by now, and even most of the teachers had left.
Outside the weather was brewing into a full fledged storm. The snowflakes had started out fat and beautiful, but now were almost ice shards and whipped by a howling wind. Alice climbed into the Jeep and Malcolm wasted no time getting it started and letting the heat soak the chill out. "We live in a freaking snow globe." Alice complained as Malcolm got the engine started.
"Please, at least your people are native to this weather. My ancestors are all wondering what the hell my father was thinking moving us here." Malcolm joked, carefully driving in this crazy weather. It was a tense ride, with even a cautious driver like Mal suffered several fishtails and ice patch skids. "We're going to my place, it's closer. These roads are a death trap." Malcolm announced into the silence. Alice felt a little thrilled by the prospect, but his tone held no sexual weight to it, and she knew he was seriously worried about this weather.
The apartment complex Malcolm lived in had underground parking, so as soon as they pulled in, it was warm and cozy. Alice pulled her duster jacket closed anyways, wanting to hide the highschool uniform so no one would know she was a student. They remained silent while they road the elevator up, trying not to look too awkward or guilty as other residents got on or off. When Malcolm headed out the door of the elevator, he didn't look back but Alice knew to follow. When the door behind them closes, Malcolm turned to her and held out his hand for her to take. A small smiled tugged up the corners of her mouth and Alice slipped her hand into his, a happy thrill warming in her chest.
"Shawna has her own place that she uses, closer to work. So she's staying there, and eventually will be grabbing her belongings." Malcolm explained at he opened the apartment door. There were open boxes in the living room already, piles neatly organized. Either Shawna had stayed to calmly pack after leaving him, or Malcolm had spent the better part of yesterday packing for his ex-girlfriend. Alice smiled as she looked around, able to immediately tell which items were Malcolm's and which were Shawna's. The small, delicate, fragile and dainty items were hers, the rest was his. The big, soft looking raggidy couch with a hideous home made blanket thrown across the back. The mammoth flat screen tv with excellent surround sound set up and an extensive collection of not just movies, but video games.
"Wait a second. Are you a gamer?" Alice asked, eyebrow raised in amusement.
Malcolm shrugged. "Sometimes it helps deal with the frustration of teaching teenagers." he joked.
"Oh poor old man. Do you need me to fetch you a walker?" Alice mocked back. She took a guess and opened a door near the enterance and found the closet.
"The nerve of young people these days. You should show me some respect missy, or I'll put you over my knee and paddle you." Malcolm laughed, reaching past her to hang his jacket too. Alice kicked off her wet shoes and dropped her bag to the floor, watching as Malcolm walked towards the couch, loosening his tie and undoing the top buttons of his dress shirt.
"Did you just promise to spank me if I'm naughty?" Alice asked, trying to swallow her laughter. Malcolm gave her a scandalized look and started to chuckled himself.
"Can it wait until after food and hot chocolate?" he asked sarcastically.
"I can wait until after hot chocolate." Alice agreed, grinning at him. He rolled his eyes at her and moved into the kitchen. She'd expected stainless steel and smooth appliances, but instead it was a crimson kitchen with black accessories. There were bright accents of turquoise and green, some pinks and oranges. It was bright, cheery and insane looking and Alice loved it immediately. "I'm guessing you painted it?" she asked, grinning as she looked around.
"Potentially. Do you like it?" he asked, hesitant.
"Of course. It's.... fantastic." she laughed, nodding.
"Then yes, I painted it." he gave her a goofey grin. "It reminded me of my Abuelo and Abuela's place in Madrid. Not exactly this, but the colours, the feeling of being saturated with vivid colours and life." he explained.
Alice nodded, getting it. "All the little details that make up a memory." she agreed.
Malcolm had dinged up looking appliances and Ace couldn't help but wonder if they were hold overs from his college days. But they worked to get the water started and that brief task done he offered to give her the five cent tour. Penny for the kitchen, penny for the living slash dining room, penny for the bathroom, penny for the spare bedroom turned office and final penny for the master bedroom. Alice walked into Malcolm's bedroom and saw all the blank patches that used to be filled with pieces of Shawna. But now it was just his. The bed was a huge sprawl, looking grander than a King size. It had heavy wooden legs, stained dark and gnarled. The bedsheets were a plum colour, the comforter a purple so dark it was nearly black. The dresser matched the bed, a heavy, dark wood that reminded Alice of pirate ships and Flotillas. Mal stepped passed Alice to the dresser and opened it up, pulling out a set of men's pajamas.
"Here. If we're going to be here a while, you might as well get comfy." he suggested, handing them to her. Alice nodded and retreated to the bathroom, happily shedding the uniform. The pajamas were those matched set kind, where the button up top has an identical bottom. Only somehow she'd been handed two tops and no bottoms. The colours were the same, a rich dark blue, but they were definitly tunics. With a shrug she pulled one on and figured it was good enough, coming to her knee in the front, the slit up the sides ending mid thigh. Once again she kept the boody shorts on underneath and came out of the bathroom to see Malcolm waiting at the door of the bedroom. With no top on. Wearing the pants that matched her top.
Alice started to giggle, making Malcolm shake his head but laugh too. She handed him the extra tunic and when he grabbed for it, he tugged on her sleeve and pulled her to him. The spare tunic fell to the floor and Malcolm hugged Alice to his bare chest. They weren't kissing this time, just enjoying the experience of holding each other. The kettle started to whistle and they broke apart with a smile and headed back towards the kitchen, neither one caring about the shirt on the floor.
Malcolm puttered around the kitchen, setting out the mugs of hot chocolate; cooled with milk to non molten lava temperatures. Alice sat at one of the breakfast bar stools, elbows on the table, watching Malcolm cook. She stayed quiet as he collected pots and pans but then spotted the radio. Unable to resist the lure of his epic entertainment system, Alice slid off of her stool to turn it on. Music started fill the apartment and she looked over her shoulder to see Malcolm singing along to the radio. He had a surprisingly good voice, unexpected but rich. She stared at him for a moment, fascinated by the easy notes he hit and then shook herself out of the daze. But it was rather impressive! She wandered back to the kitchen, sitting down and letting Malcolm serenade her with the top 90. Of course depending on what song was popular, some of what he was serenading was down right hilarious and disturbing.
"I would never have guessed you'd be a meadowlark." Alice teased a little as Malcolm stopped singing to check on dinner.
"Thank you. It used to get me beat up fairly frequesntly. At first because the guys all figured dinging made me a sissy, later because all the ladies dig a tenor." he admitted with a sly grin.
"Of course." Alice agreed dryly. "You be a good boy and cook." she instructed, slipping off her stool again to go turn up the music. She was perusing the cd rack when she saw Malcolm step up to the radio and push a button, hunting down a song in particular.
"I have to know." he stated at her curious look. While Alice frowned in confusion, Malcolm stepped behind and slightly to the right of her.
"Have to know what?" Alice asked, waiting as Malcolm reached passed her and hit play.
"If you can tango." he answered as the music started up. He grabbed one of her hands and spun her, surprising her completely. His style was a lot more fluid and natural than hers was, and she didn't know all the complicated footwork, but Ace trusted his lead and followed with grace. They whirled and spun, feet flicking out as he guided her through tha dance of his childhood. Alice was laughing in pure enjoyment when he dipped her. His hand rested on her back under the shirt, skin to skin, and he was laughing as he pulled her upright. His other hand went to the back of her neck and he kissed her. She danced out of his grip, humour in her eyes.
"Easy there Cassanova, or you'll burn dinner." Alice warned.
Malcolm growled at her, chasing kisses along her jaw. "You're terrible for my blood presure." he stated, walking back towards the kitchen.
"Do I need to pull out the old man jokes again?" Alice asked, eyebrows raised.
Malcolm laughed. "No thank you. My delicate male ego can't take it." he joked. Alice knelt on the stool, leaning over the counter to drool at the food. He dished out the quesadillas while laughing at her greedy hunger.
"When was the last time you had a home cooked meal?" Mal asked, chuckling as she sucked on burned fingers.
"The night before Stuart came for a visit." Alice admitted, loosing the bright happiness from her eyes at the memory.
Malcolm surprised her by smearing salsa across her cheek. "Ooops, got sauce on you." he said softly, then kissed the condiment off her cheek, whispering when he was next to her ear. "Sorry for making you loos your smile." His lips brushed hers lightly, then he pecked her nose, between the eyes, her eyelids and would have kept going but she started to laugh softly. "Ah there it is." Mal crowed triumphantly.
"You're impossible!" Alice laughed, pushing him away from her playfully. "Alright master chef, you showed off your culenary skills, now it's my turn." she announced, then walked into the kitchen. She'd spied the ingridents while he prepped dinner, so now she easily moved about and set out the ingridients to make chocolate chip cookies. He watched her ease in the kitchen from the stool she'd perched on not long ago. Of course he whistled when she bent over to put the cookies in the oven.
"Quiet you lecherous old harridan. Or no cookies for you." she warned, trying not to laugh or blush. One of his eyebrows quirked up and his eyes started to smoulder.
"Lecherous? Nice adjective." he complimented, casually standing up from the stool. Her heartrate tripled as she realized it was just a ploy to carefully move closer towards her.
"Yeah that's me, surprisingly complex lexicon." Alice agreed, her voice breathy. Malcolm had esaily pinned her between the counter and his body, not seeming to have to work hard to get her there; she was used to overt attacks, not patient stalking.
"I've told you once before that you have a wicked mouth." Malcolm smirked, leaning in a little bit but still not touching her.
"And what's a cretin like you going to do about it?" she demanded, jutting her chin out, trying to act like having him so close didn't affect her.
"I supposed I could always follow through on the spanking I promised, dinner is over." he pointed out. They stared at each other for a pause, then she ducked under his arm and took off running. He chased after her, dodging around his living room, growling threats about catching her. Alice was laughing as she ran which did nothing to help her escape. Not that she wanted to.