A New Way of Living

Chapter Four

Author's note: I do not own West Side Story or any elements of it.

THREE WEEKS LATER

"How are you feeling about your upcoming tests?"

Vivienne stood in the empty lecture hall at the school. It was her last class of the day and she was desperate to get home before it got too cold and too dark, but had been caught out by her professor. He was an older and kind gentleman, who had the patience and wisdom that only someone who had spent their whole life learning about one thing could.

"I'm feeling good," she admitted. "I'm still trying to study as much as I can. But otherwise, pretty confident."

"You shouldn't have anything to worry about," he said, his voice warm. He glanced up at her from his papers. "But I would recommend getting some practical experience if you can."

"Practical experience?"

"Maybe more shadowing at a hospital. It creates a correlation between what's on the paper and what's in front of you in reality."

Vivienne gave a small, sly smile. How's fixing up a couple of gang members? Is that enough correlation?

"Okay," she replied. "I can look into it."

"Have a good night."

On the subway home, Vivienne let her head rest back against the window. It shuttered and jolted her, but she allowed it. When she reached her station and began the walk to her building, she felt herself get excited at the idea of kicking off her shoes and crawling into the warmth of her bed.

Soon, she reached her building and let herself in to begin the long flight of stairs to her apartment.

As she walked up the last few steps to where her door waited for her, she looked up and stopped dead. A cold shock ran up her spine. At the door, Riff, Action, and Ice stood outside her entrance. Action looked restless, tapping his feet with impatience. From where she stood, she could see the side of his face was stained with drips of blood. Riff, who leaned casually against the wall, spotted her instantly. He smiled wryly.

"About time!" he quipped, pushing himself from his position. "Where you been?"

Vivienne all but stumbled up the steps, entirely thrown from the sight of them at her door yet again. Just when she thought she'd been free of them.

"At school," she replied, her mouth dry. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Riff looked confused and pointed towards Action, as if she were missing some obvious fact. "We got another one for ya'."

"No."

"Huh?"

"No. Go away."

Riff looked towards the other two, exchanging amused scoffs.

"This don't exactly feel like the welcome committee."

"It's not," Vivienne snapped back. She felt her blood pressure rising. "I've done my job for you not once, but twice. Now I'm telling you to get lost and leave me alone."

Riff, after a pause, let out a long exaggerated sigh. "Look, sweetheart, let's not do this. You tell us to leave and we remind you that we can make you help us, and quite frankly, I'm not in the mood to get into the whole 'threat' thing right now. Okay?"

Vivienne glared at him. He was looking at her with an expectant look. He was waiting for her to give in, and it pissed her off. The worst part of all was that he was right. What was she going to do - say no? Not when all three of them were standing outside her door and towered tall above her. She couldn't fight back, and she likely couldn't outrun them. She could scream, drawing the attention of some of her neighbours perhaps, but what then? They still knew where she lived.