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. This fic is too much fun... BTW, notes to reviewers are at the end of the chapter.

Chapter 8: Raquel Dolls Up

The next day, Velma, Graziella, and Gee-Tar's girlfriend, Pauline, came to the Jet's hideout.

Graziella shook her head when she saw Raquel. "My goodness! What have you fella's dressed this poor girl in?"

Ice shrugged. "Clothes..."

"That's purely a matter of opinion," Velma said from her spot at Ice's side, where she was hanging on his arm. "Them ain't fittin' for a girl."

Graziella shrugged. "You fella's should be keepin' her dressed up. She's Puerto Rican and all, but she's pretty. And the last thing we need is another Anybodys."

"Hey!" Action jumped in. "Anybodys came through for the Jets. She done a good job. What're we puttin' her down for?"

Graziella rolled her eyes. "Oh, poo, Action! Alls I'm sayin' is that this girl's too pretty to be trottin' around in Baby John's blue jeans."

A-Rab grinned. "But she does look alot better in 'em than Baby John does."

Graziella shook her head. "You are all hopeless. Completely hopeless. But, I think I got some stuff at my place. We'll doll her up and take her out with us tonight."

"What Jet's gonna take a PR out to dinner?" Action asked Graziella quietly as the two of them, plue Ice and Velma, walked off from the group a little.

"A-Rab, from the looks of things," she replied.

Velma, who was more observant than Graziella, added, "Or Baby John. If he'll speak up... get his nose out of them comic books for once."

Graziella sighed. "Poor boy."

"Ice..." Velma said. "I gotta go with Graziella to get some stuff from her house. But... This date ain't over. Not by a long shot." She kissed him, as if to prove her point.

Graziella smiled. She called Raquel over, and once the Puerto Rican girl had joined them, she said, "So... You wanna come to my house and pick out a dress? I and Vel and Pauline'll fix ya up."

Raquel looked from the girls to Ice, A-Rab, and finally, Baby John.

"Go ahead," A-Rab said. "They won't bite. Least, not Velma."

Graziella smiled. "Sure thing," she said. "That Vel don't bite, I mean."

Raquel smiled. She looked at Graziella. So this was Riff's girl. She seemed nice enough. But that was OK. She wasn't plotting against the Jets' girls. Except maybe Anybodys.

Graziella smiled. "Well, come on, hon," she said, smacking on a stick of gum.

Raquel nodded and followed the girls out.

Graziella led them out to the street, where she hailed a cab. She sat in the front seat, while Velma, Pauline, and Raquel took the back.

Graziella gave the driver her address, and he expertly drove them to her home. "Come on in," Graziella said to the girls.

Raquel was a little nervous about going into a house on the white side of town, but Graziella directed her in. "My parents ain't home, so it's OK."

Raquel smiled, "Oh. Good."

Graziella looked at Raquel for a long moment, and decided that the girl was probably a size or two smaller than she was. Which meant she'd be able to wear clothes Graziella had most recently grown out of. "Hm..." she said. "Let's see what we've got in here."

She led the girls to her room, instructing Raquel to sit down while she and the others got the clothes out.

When they came out, Raquel's eyes nearly popped out. She had never seen so many dresses in all her life. Even though she had been to the bridal shop where Maria and Anita worked on many occasions.

"Well," Graziella said. "Take your pick."

Raquel recovered from her shock, and said, "Wow! Es mucha ropa... I mean... alot of clothes."

Graziella shrugged. "I guess so," she said. "But anyway... Pick out something!" She was obviously excited at the thought of doing a makeover.

Raquel looked at the dresses before deciding on a black satiny dress.

"The girl's got taste," Graziella said. "Well, first things first, you need a shower before we go out."

Raquel nodded. "Do I ever!"

Graziella handed her a washcloth and towel, and showed her the bathroom.

Raquel was so grateful for the shower. She closed her eyes and let the hot water wash the soreness and tiredness out of her bones. As the water poured over her, she found herself reminiscing about times past. She thought of the way life had been in Puerto Rico. Life had been hard there, but there had been so much less hate. She had been with her family. Chino and Bernardo had been happy. Not the frightened and angry young men she'd known in America. Life here had changed them. Changed them so that Raquel did not even know her own brother. Their hard lives had made killers of them both.

"Hey in there!" Graziella's voice cut through her thoughts. "Do you wanna go with us tonight, or do ya just wanna spend the evening with the shower?"

Raquel smiled. "I'm coming," she said with a sigh.

"OK."

Raquel put on the warm robe Graziella had given her to use. Then she picked up her clothes and put them in a bag, which Graziella had also given her. Then she walked into Graziella's room, where the girls were waiting for her with a chair and a vanity table full of makeup, perfume, and lotion.

"Here we are..." Velma said. The girls immediately set to work. Velma dried Raquel's hair, then sprayed it and curled it. Pauline shaped and painted her nails, and Graziella put her makeup on. She put mascara, eyeliner, eyeshadow, and lipstick on her. Raquel had worn makeup before, but this was different.

When they were done, Raquel put on the dress. It was lovely, and fit her well. She looked at herself in the mirror. "Hm... It needs something."

"Like what?" Graziella asked.

Raquel turned and dug her sash out of the bag. Then, she tied it back around her waist.

"That's nice," Velma said. "Adds a little more color."

"Thank you," Raquel replied. She looked in the mirror again, and smiled. Velma was right. The red and black went great together.

"Well, girls," Velma says. "Looks like we did great on this project."

"Thank you, girls," Raquel said, surprised at how well they had done.

"Well, let's go," Graziella said, leading the girls down stairs.

OoOoOoO

The guys were shocked when the girls walked in.

"Wow!" A-Rab said to Raquel. "You look good."

"Thank you."

"No problem. So... where we goin' to eat tonight?"

Raquel saw Baby John stealing glances at her from where he sat, at a table, playing cards with Mouthpiece. And she didn't know what made her lie to A-Rab, but she did. "Actually..." she said. "Baby John asked me already. And I said I'd go with him."

"Oh," A-Rab said, a little upset.

Baby John heard Raquel, and he looked at her, trying to hide his excitement. She smiled at him. "Why, Baby John! Aren't you ready yet?"

He smiled. "Sorry, Raquel. I got a little bit sidetracked."

He quickly went behind the "bathroom sheet" and changed out of his T-shirt and jeans into a blue-grey button top with a tie and navy blue dress pants. When he came back, Raquel smiled. "That's more like it," she said, as she took the youngest Jet's arm and follows the other couples out the door.

OoOoOoO

A/N:

Eaglesgirl- I'm not saying Chino will get out of jail, but I shall include him in a later chap for you.

Tonyboy- Thanks sooo much. I'm not planning on giving her twins, or using anything else, but her just having a baby... but I appreciate your being willing to let me borrow those things. You rock so much. lol. I agree that Elvis would have been great as Tony, but it would have made it automatically "an Elvis movie. I didn't know about him dating Natalie Wood. That's pretty interesting. He was such a mama's boy, which I think is cute. Yeah, it does really suck that I can't come to see your play. But I agree that there's always a possibility for anything. Jonny singing I feel pretty is one of my best memories of school this year. lol. I didn't know about that happening in "Anger Management." I wish my chorus teacher would let us decide on musicals, or at least make suggestions. But, no... It shall never be. We didn't actually do Phantom the musical, we just did a concert. And for the school play? It was "Nine" but I didn't get to see it, because I had an AP test that day... Yes... being up late is not good for mind or body. lol. Good night, even though it's morning now. lol. But anyways... I shall try and UPDATE!

Ash- That's cool. I thought that was what you meant. lol. He is a chivalrous little devil, huh? Yeah, that's a word. lol. Are you sure you see where I'm going with Baby John and Raquel? lol. Never can tell. I love Tony, so I had to put him in here, even though he's dead. Poor guy. And A-Rab and Baby John are such good buddies, I don't know if I'll be able to keep this up. But anyways... Yeah, Poor Del Campo. This made me laugh insanely hard: "Do not fear! Your loved one still lives! Unfortunately, she's gonna become a muderess pretty soon, but hey! Whatever." lol. Well, anyways, on we go...