Disclaimer: I do not own West Side Story or any of the characters contained therein. Raquel, however, is mine, so please don't steal her!

Author's Notes: Thanks to those of you who have read and reviewed! It makes me happy! lol.

eaglesgirl- Thanks for the review... I love Chino, too... We'll see what happens. lol.

Tonyboy- I was so glad when I saw that you had reviewed! It's all good. lol. I can't see Action singing "Krupke," but Riff pulled off the funny man thing sooo well. And I like Ice singing Cool. He just seems right doing it. I really didn't like how, in the novelization, they used GD without even acting like it was a big deal. I also didn't like the way A-Rab told Anita, "You're going to be raped, so just enjoy it." I was like, WHAT? First off, A-Rab, though he is kind of a jokester, is not that much of a jerk that he would treat her like that. I kinda like A-Rab myself. I like how he was so nice to Baby John in the movie, like when Action was bein' mean to him, and A-Rab told him to leave him alone. As far as Chino, that has yet to be seen. lol. But you knew that, right? My nephew is 5, and he's a cutie pie. He has an older brother who's 7, and a baby brother who's 3 wk.'s old. Yeah, Phantom was definately fun. I bet you'd have fun if your school did it. I would want you to be either Raoul or Phantom... Raoul, b/c I think you deserve to get the girl, but Phantom b/c I think you'd pull off the tragic character well... I need to see OKLAHOMA! now. lol. Let me know as soon as you find out how your WSS audition went... If you can't review, leave me a comment on my livejournal... I think the links in my profile... Thanks for the long review! That's my fave kind!

Chapter 5: A-Rab and Anybodys Introduce Themselves

At the Jets hideout, Raquel was sitting with Baby John and A-Rab talking quietly. Raquel was pretending nothing was wrong, but deep inside, she was torn to shreds with worry about Chino.

Baby John shyly attempted to make conversation. "You got any brothers and sisters?" he asked.

"Sí... I mean, yes... Two brothers. One in America, one in Puerto Rico."

"How old are they?" he asked.

"Nineteen and twelve."

Baby John smiled. "How old are you? I mean, if you don't mind my askin'."

"Seventeen," Raquel replied, before dutifully adding, "Almost."

"Oh."

A-Rab looked at Raquel for a moment. "You sure look older than that," he said, letting himself look at her long legs for much longer than he should have. She seemed to know what he was doing without even looking at him, so she pulled her dress closer to her and tucked it more tightly around her legs.

She suddenly stood up. "I need to go... well... I..."

"What?" A-Rab asked.

"I need to go al baño."

"Huh?" A-Rab said. "Speak English!"

Raquel shook her head. "I need to use the... restroom."

A-Rab grinned. "Oh... well... uh... I reckon you'll have to get Anybodys to show you where it is."

"OK." Raquel walked over to Anybodys. "Excuse me... Can you show me where is the bathroom?"

Anybodys snickered at Raquel's attempt at English. "Sure," she said. She lead Raquel to the "bathroom" which roughly consisted of a bucket behind a sheet. Raquel used it, then washed her hands in a bowl of soapy water. Already, she missed her home and friends.

When she came out, Anybodys was waiting for her. Raquel did not like this girl at all.

"Tell the truth, PR," Anybodys demanded. "What are you really doin' here?"

Raquel was angry now. Anybodys heard the anger in her tone as she spouted off, "Why can't you believe that I'm just trying to help?"

"Because nobody ever tried to help me... Especially not a spic!"

Raquel narrowed her dark brown eyes. "Perhaps," she said haughtily, "That is because you've never made anyone want to help you."

"You dirty PR! Why don't you just shut up?" Anybodys screeched more than screamed.

Raquel smirked. "Why don't you make me?"

That was it for Anybodys. It drove her to a rage, and she jumped on Raquel.

By this time, all the Jets were headed toward the two of them. Anybodys was shocked when Raquel swung hard and caught her in the lower lip. She tasted blood from her lip splitting on her teeth. "D--- you, spic!" she screamed, swinging back. Raquel shut her eyes as Anybodys' bony fist connected with her right eye.

"Anybodys, get off her!" Ice shouted, grabbing the gangly girl by the shoulders.

Anybodys screamed, "You ain't nothing but a no-good PR lover, Ice!"

Ice shook his head. "You better be glad I don't believe in hittin' girls!"

Anybodys angrily crossed her arms. "I wouldn't care. I'd love to see you try to hit me!"

Ice shook his head again, more out of frustration than to answer to Anybodys that he wouldn't hit her. "Get outta here," he said. "We don't want you here noway."

Raquel heard both protests and agreement from the Jets. Action, who hated her in the first place, was on Anybodys' side, while A-Rab was agreeing with Ice. Others chose sides, but it all boiled down to what Ice wanted to do.

Anybodys glared at him. "Sure. Kick me out and let the spic stay. Don't come cryin' to me when she kills one of ya... or all of ya. You're no good, Ice."

Ice said nothing more to Anybodys, but signalled to Joyboy to escort her out. He obediently took the girl's arm and led her outside.

Ice shook his head... again. "When will this stuff just stop!"

Raquel had stood with A-Rab's help and brushed herself off. "Thank you, Señor," she said with a smile.

"No problem, Señorita," A-Rab replied with a funny, arrogant grin, trying to impress Raquel with one of the very few Spanish words he did know.

Raquel winced when A-Rab touched her sore eye. "That's gonna be one heck of a shiner, there, Raquel."

Raquel nodded. "Yes. It is."

Baby John shook his head. "It's gonna need a piece of meat."

"And who better to go get it than the one who suggested it," Snowboy said, with a grin that met somewhere in between wickedness and mischief.

"Sure..." Baby John said, tired of volunteering himself without meaning to. "But where d'ya want me to go get it from?"

"Go to Graziella's," Ice said. "It's closer than Vel's or a grocery store. She'll give ya somethin'."

"OK," Baby John said, secretly wishing that he could stay behind and take care of Raquel. "Anybody wanna come along?"

"I'll go," said Action, who'd had his eye on Graziella for quite a while... since not long after death had put an end to her relationship with Riff. Action and Baby John walked out of the cellar together.

After a moment, Ice signalled to A-Rab. "You go help Raquel get cleaned up."

"Yes, sir!" A-Rab said with an evil grin.

Raquel sighed. This could get interesting.

She sat down in a chair as A-Rab got out a first aid kit, which had been graciously provided by Tony when he had been working for Doc. He'd bought it at a discount, and given it to his friends, who he'd said were, "sure to need it sooner or later."

A-Rab shook his head. "Anybodys ripped your dress pretty bad."

Raquel sighed. He wasn't kidding. The skirt looked like it had been through a paper shredder in places, making her glad she was wearing a black slip underneath. One of the straps on her shoulder was torn in two, and hanging loose.

She had a bad scrape on her elbow from being thrown down on the floor. A-Rab opened an alcohol wipe and went to work on her elbow. "Ay!" Raquel exclaimed. The alcohol stung.

"Sorry," A-Rab said, looking into her eyes. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"No. It is all right," she said, smiling. "At least I'm not back on the streets, like Anybodys."

A-Rab grinned. "Everybody knows Anybodys belongs on the street anyways."

Raquel had to smile at that comment.

A-Rab put some ointment on her elbow, then a bandage. Then he stood up. "Well, there ya go," he said with a grin.

"Thank you, A-Rab," she said, touching his cheek.

"No problem," he said, her touch setting his nerves on edge. Had it really been that long since a dame had touched him? And how on earth could a PR broad do that to him. He thought for just a minute, and even as he voiced his question, he had the feeling that he was going to regret it. "You ever been kissed, Raquel?"

"Why... no..." she lied. The truth was that Del Campo, one of the Sharks, had always liked her. And had made a habit of kissing her. But A-Rab didn't need to know that. "Why, A-Rab! You don't want to kiss me, do you?" she asked, feigning innocence.

Once again, A-Rab knew he was going to regret it, but he did it anyway. It had been too long since he'd kissed a girl. So what if she was a PR? "Actually... yeah," A-Rab said. "Yeah. I do."

He put his arms around her and pulled her close. She gently slid her arms around his neck and let him bring his lips close to hers until they met. They stood there for a moment, wrapped up in the kiss.

So wrapped up, in fact, that neither of them noticed the youngest Jet walking in, only to see them, turn around, and run away.