Queen of Spades (House of Cards Series 1) [Student/Teacher Relationship]

The Tower

Wednesday was a jolt for Alice. The snow day off at Malcolm's place had been restful and exhillerating at the same time. After the massage and pass out session, there really hadn't been another moment that Alice had felt the pressure to take this a step further. Not that she hadn't enjoyed kissing Malcolm, but they had slept, woken, eaten and gone to check on the animals and finally Salali. There'd been no time for romance amongst all that. Then she'd eaten, showered and passed out only to wake up and have to go to school.

Most mornings she was rather good at getting up and out the door, but today her feet dragged. She had the sneaking suspicion that she'd caught a cold during the snow day and it was starting to kick her energy levels down. Her eyes felt puffy, her head was packed full of cotton balls and her body ached. She stretched her neck out from side to side and then erupted into a fit of coughing. It grossed her out to have to spit out the phlegm from her chest and she made an ugly face afterwards.

Finally she trotted out to get to school, already wishing it was over with. Amazingly enough, the student body seemed reluctant to harass her today. Either they were being cautious because she looked like death reheated for leftovers, or because she had a nasty scowl on her face keeping them at a reasonably safe distance. She settled into her usual desk for English class, for a change keeping her jacket on to combat how freezing it was in class. There was only a moment or so to wait and then Mr. Vega was in class. Because of the snow day, most classes were a day or so behind now, and with winter exams approaching, that'd mean trouble for most. But Malcolm was resourceful and brought in a film version of their play.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, We're wrapping up Hamlet on your own time, however there will be a question and answer session Friday for any questions you may have. Yes Craig?" Mr. Vega started to feild questions. Alice just laid her heavy head onto her arms, wishing she'd just throw up and get it over with already.

The lights flicked out and the movie started, but Ace didn't mover her head. Even though she enjoyed Hamlet thoroughly, she didn't look up from her arms until someone tapped her on the shoulder. She craned her head up to see Mr. Vega frowning down at her."Can I speak to you in the hallway Ms. Spade?" he requested, sending the rest of class into a flurry of whispering. But Alice was feeling too rotten to care, she just got up and slugded after him. They only stepped out into the hallway, but there was no one around so it was semi private. "Ace, are you ok?" he asked, concerned.

Alice lifted her lips in a smile. "Just tired, think I'm fighting off a cold." she explained. "I'll have some soup and self medicate, I'll be fine." she waved away his worry.

Malcolm gave her a sceptical look. "How did you take care of yourself while you danced? I don't guess youd had many days off."  

Alice tilted her head to the side a little, recalling the work calendar she'd had organized. "One of the things about being street broke and then getting money again, is that you will always want to squirrel some away. Meant I worked pretty much every day they'd let me. Except my birthday. I took that day off and did whatever the hell I wanted." Alice shrugged, lips tugged up at the happy memory. Birthday beats meant and entirely different thing to her than anyone else and her seventeenth birthday had been perfect because no one had hurt her. But she didn't want to be thinking about sad things in her already fatigued state so she added in the happy. "But the next day is great to work because most of the girls want to take the day off if they have a honey, and the place is packed full of desperate, lonely, heart broken guys. Great tipers." Alice offered.

Malcolm gave her an incredulous look, a frown of slight anger on his face. "No offense Ace, but that's horrible. I'm sorry you ever had to look forward to that." he paused and Alice swallowed, throat strangely tight. She cleared her throat and started to cough. "What I meant though is how did you handle that if you were sick."