I am back! Finally, FINALLY, I've gotten a muse for writing fanfiction again. And I'm back on my West Side Story kick from eons ago... So without further ado, let me give a bit of background for these Jets and Sharks.

Disclaimer: If only, if only... but then the story would be about Riff and Bernardo instead of Tony and Maria.

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Why am I so soft in the middle when the rest of my life is so hard?

Paul Simon

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Prologue

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A-Rab swallowed a thick lump in his throat, watching outside the faded lilac curtains anxiously. It was today that the mailman came, right...? He hopped off the couch and began to pace, each second ticking by like a minute, minutes becoming hours, hours-oh, he didn't want to think about them. He'd already waited forty minutes, and it felt like an eternity.

"Will you stop pacing, Alvin?" Mrs. Baxter sighed. "He'll be here, he'll be here."

"Can't help it, Ma," A-Rab muttered, lip bit, fingers moving fast between, under, and over each other, dancing in worry. "The letter's comin'."

"I know, baby," Mrs. Baxter smiled. "I know."

A thump resounded from outside. Someone had dropped the mail in while they were talking. A-Rab dashed out the door, snatched the mail, and rushed back inside. "Here we go-bills, bills, bills-HERE!" he took the pale cream envelope addressed to him, Alvin T. Baxter, and haphazardly shoved the rest of the mail in his mother's hands. He rushed up the rickety stairs to his room, slamming the door shut. He plopped onto the bed, hands shaking as he opened the letter.

He read the message, face blank, preparing for disappointment. Soon, though, hands dropped the letter, letting it fall to the floor, mouth opening in a small "O" shape all the while.

"N-No way...," A-Rab whispered. His hands clamped over his mouth to hide the tiny, bewildered squeak that threatened to become a scream. His eyes welled with tears, and a few leaked out. "MA! I'm going out!"

"A-Alright, Alvin! Be back before dinner-" But he was gone, out the fire escape.

"JETS! JETS! JEEEEEEEETS!"A-Rab screeched, running down the street like a madman. The first person he ran into (quite literally) was Ice, who caught A-Rab quickly and tried, in vain, to stop the two of them from falling over.

"Jesus H. Christ!" the older Jet cried.

"What the hell's the matter with you?!" Riff added, trotting over to the two. A-Rab didn't answer, merely sobbing into Ice's shoulder. The leader and lieutenant's faces both fell at the same time.

"A-Rab, they didn't deserve ya. You're great, y'know?" Riff said quietly, kneeling beside the other. A hand tentatively rubbed circles on A-Rab's red shirt.

"Yeah, man; it's their loss," Ice nodded.

"N-No, cats, ya got it wrong," A-Rab removed his face from Ice's shirt, and while tears streamed down his face, there was a huge, stupid grin to go with it.

"I made it in. I made it."