Preface
Eleven years ago, 2002
"And you really think that I'm okay with that!?" Alice's mother yelled.
"I should hope so! This is an important job offer!" her father yelled back.
"I can't believe you really think you can just leave her like this, all for some stupid cross-country job!" she yelled back.
"The hell I do believe I can!" he yelled.
Alice sighed and walked out of her parents' apartment door and to the small playground that was around the corner. She sat on one of the swings and held onto the swings chains. She looked up at the sky, wishing she could bounce on the fluffy white clouds. Suddenly someone started pushing her swing, making her go higher. She looked over her shoulder and saw two boys about her age.
"Stop! I don't like heights! Stop pushing me higher!" Alice screamed.
The two boys stopped and let the swing come to a stop. Alice hopped off the swing and walked up to them.
"What are you two thinking!? Pushing a girl on a swing when her back is turned!?" She yelled.
"Ve vere just trying to cheer the young frau* up..." The light grey hair boy said.
"W-we're s-sorry if w-we startled or u-upset you..." the light blonde boy said with his face all pink from embarrassment.
"What are your names?" Alice asked.
"Gilbert, that is me awesome name!" The light grey haired boy proudly said.
"M-Matthew..." said the blushing, shy boy.
Alice smiled and said, "I'm Alice. I forgive you both...but..."
"But vhat, young frau?" asked Gilbert.
"Can we be friends!?" Alice shouted while blushing.
Gilbert and Matthew looked to each other, and looked back at Alice.
"I'll let you be friends vith the awesome me!" Gilbert laughed loudly.
"O-of course, Alice...we c-can be..." Matthew replied shyly.
Alice smiled at them happily, and the three new friends started playing together.
(frau* = lady/woman (in German))
Chapter 1
Present time, 2013
"Alice! Alice! Wake up!" mom banged on the door loudly, "you're going to be late for school!"
I groaned, and said, "I don't wanna!" and threw a pillow at my door.
Mom then barged in and said, "Wake up! Or I'll drag you out of bed, and you know I will young lady."
"Fine! Then get out of my room so I can get dressed!"
"You better get out of bed then!" she yelled, leaving the room and closed the door behind her.
I looked at my clock and groaned while getting up from bed. 7:30...15 minutes before Gilbert and Mattie would pick me up to go to school. I dug through my drawers looking for my black and blue short skirt and blue lace leggings, and pulled them on and walked over to my closest and grabbed a blue tank-top and a see-through black t-shirt. I sat down at my vanity table and pulled on my black-studded bracelet and my handful of friendship bracelets, one color per friend, each color symbolizing someone. I put on my mascara and thick black eyeliner and instantly my bright blue eyes were more pronounced. I smiled at my reflection and went to the bathroom to straighten my long black hair. Some people say or assume my eyes aren't natural, that I must wear colored contacts, but that's not the case. I was born with my mother's eyes, and my father's hair color. But I didn't care what people said. What mattered is that my family and closest friends knew the truth. When I finished straightening my hair, I walked back to my room and looked for my knee-high leather boot heels that had were studded along the back of the heel. Finding them, I pulled them on, grabbed my phone and black purse and headed down the stairs.
Today was the first day of the new school year. It was tradition for all three of us to go to school together EVERY day. And each day, Gilbert was the one to ring the door bell to my mother's house, give HER a rose and ask her sweetly if I was ready for school, and EACH time I was right behind my mother and punch his arm for fake flirting, and drag him to his car, where Mattie was standing beside the passenger door. Since we've met, Gilbert was the obnoxious loud one, and Mattie was the shy timid one. But as we grew up, Mattie became less shy around me. Gilbert on the other hand...he just became more obnoxious and flirty. I didn't know why, it just turned out that way.
I heard the door bell ring; I quickly picked up my purse, phone and keys, then rushed down out of the kitchen and hid behind mom. She opened the door, and instead, Mattie was the one at the door, not Gilbert. I came out behind mom and surprised to see Mattie.
"Mattie?" I asked him confusedly.
"H-hey Allie...I thought we could use a change in how we usually do things...after all, i-it is the first day of school..." he replied a bit shyly, with his face bright pink.
My mom sighs, "And to think...I'm going to miss today's rose from Gilbert."
Suddenly Gilbert peeks around the corner of the door, and smiles at my mom handing her a rose, "ah, don't zhink that I have forgotten Mrs. Burton. Alice, ve should get going, no?"
I sigh, and wrap my arm around Mattie's, and say, "Sure...we only go to hell every day now."
Gilbert laughs loudly as Mattie flushes bright red from my arm being around his, and escorts me to Gilbert's sports car.
"A-Allie..." Mattie says shyly.
"Yes Mattie?" I smile up to him.
"Uhm...your..shirt is a bit r-revealing isn't it...?" he asks.
I looked down at my shirt before going into the car, and looked back up at Mattie, asking, "Mattie...you shouldn't ask things like this, I don't wanna have to hit you with my first text book this year like I do with Gilbert and all the other weird guys we hang out with."
Gilbert pipes in, "Are you too getting in or vhat? Ve are going to be late."
"Okay, okay." I say, getting into the back of Gilberts car while Mattie climbed into the front seat.
When Gilbert, Mattie, and Alice pulled into the student parking lot, Alice could see Francis had a huge vase of roses in his hands; Feliciano had a container of his specially made pasta in his hands. Aurthur had his arms crossed, and Alfred was smiling like a bloody kid on Christmas morning. Alice smiled to herself.
"Hurry up and park Gil!" Alice shouted in Gilbert's ear.
"Vatch it frau! Don't scream in mine awesome ear" Gilbert stated.
"A-Allie...calm down, we're almost there..." Mattie said quietly.
Once Gilbert parked, Alice had Mattie rush out the car door, so she could finally get out and hug Feliciano (Feli), whom she absolutely adored (mostly because his pasta was to die for). Alice was then suddenly being fondled by Francis.
"Francis! Let go!" Alice yelled. Suddenly Francis was ripped away from Alice, being dragged by Gilbert, and being choked by Aurthur. Alice turned around in time to kick Francis in the place it never shines. When Alice turned back to Feli, he was whimpering and holding the container of pasta up to his face begging, "P-Please don't do the same to me A-Alice..."
"Aaawwww..." Alice thought.
"How could I EEEEVER hurt sweet, innocent, Feli!" Alice said, while hugging Feli again.
Feli blushed wildly, and returned Alice's hug.
Alice felt a tap, well, a few taps on her shoulder. She turned around to her other friends who all looked fake-hurt for not getting their hugs. Alice laughed and gave all her dear friends hugs. Including Aurthur, who ultimately tries to avoid Alice's hugs, as to not feel like some of their friends, who liked to behave so rudely to Alice and try to take advantage of a simple hug. Aurthur was a gentleman. But Alice forced the hug onto him, and he gave in, once he realized she wouldn't let go until he returned the hug.
The bell rang, and we all had to dash off to homeroom. I laughed at the thought of being late, we, all of us, were ALWAYS late to homeroom, whether it was the first day of school, or Monday morning.
I smiled to myself as I looked over my shoulder to watch the guys running behind me trying to catch up. I ran faster than them, despite being in heels. As I turned my head forward, I ran straight into someone, knocking them over and falling on top of the poor person in the same moment.
Gilbert had me standing up and behind him in one second flat, glaring daggers at the guy I knocked down. I peeked out from behind Gilbert, and then looked around realizing, this strange guy is right by my locker. Not three lockers away.
"Sorry about that." I said walking out from behind Gilbert's protective stance, and offered to help the stranger up.
"It is no problem, ma'am." The stranger said, "I should have heard someone running my way." He smiled.
Alice smiled back, and realized they were all late, "Oh my god! Homeroom, guys we're late!" Alice preceded running to homeroom, as well as the guys, except Gilbert.
"Stay avay from frau." Gilbert warned, glaring at the stranger.
"Whatever, dude." The stranger walked away.
Gilbert caught up to everyone else and they all stumbled into their homeroom class.
Let the trouble begin.
I watched Alice across the room; she was glancing from her phone to the teacher every few seconds. She smiled at her phone that was in her lap, and glanced up and looked at me and she mouthed, "text to you." I took my phone out and checked the messages, most were from Alfred, all stating something to do with heroes, the bloody git, and one new one from Alice.
It read, "This class can't get anymore booooring then it already is, huh?"
I quickly replied back smiling, "Only another 15 mins to go, love, and then its over. It's not too bad."
Alice and I shared Math, Economics, and History together this year. And she hated the subjects, except History, in some ways. I admired Alice for her personality; she was very different from others in a way that makes her perfect. I would be lying if I said I wasn't jealous from time to time when she favored Mattie or Feli more. But I did respect her more than the others, especially Frog-face Francis. The French idiot was overly-friendly to Alice and the most disrespectful towards her at most times.
The teacher of our math class let us choose our partners, and Alice walked right up to my table and sat next to me, smiling. I smiled politely back.
"This should be fun, huh Aurthur!?" Alice stated happily.
"I should hope so, and I should hope that one of us can STAY concentrated, correct?" I asked.
"Of course." Alice smiled.
Lunch! FINALLY! Now it was a matter of hunting Alice down. It's likely she's at her locker admiring either the flowers Francis gave her, or salivating over the pasta Feli made for her. Ha. Silly Alice, she was so funny, but very oblivious at sometimes. I smiled the whole way to Alice's locker, and then dropped the smile when I saw her. She either looked disturbed or mad, maybe scared.
"Alice!" I yelled, running up to her, "Are you okay!? The hero is here!"
Alice looked around until she saw me running up to her. Her eyes said everything, she was horrified. Once I reached her she had a note in her hand. I took the note from her and read it.
"If you were the Venus god, pure and sweet, I'd corrupt you."
My eye twitched in anger towards whoever wrote this and looked back at Alice, she was slightly shaking from fear. Never had she had something like this. Sure in freshman year, the guys and I left more sweet and innocent love notes in her locker, but this...THIS was TOO far, and CROSSED the line.
"Alfred..." Alice said quietly, "Did you or one of the guys do this?" She asked and looked up at me with sad, scared eyes.
"No. None of us would do this Allie-Cat." I pulled Alice into a hug after calling her by her pet name the guys and I came up with. "None of us would cross the line like this idiot did whoever he would be."
Alice slowly returned the hug, and let go, slightly pushing me away to have her personal space. She was trying to regain her confidence and train of thought. She smiled up at me and said, "It's lunch time, you got to be starving, and the guys are probably wondering where we are at." I could tell she didn't fully recover from the note, but she was doing her best for now. I guess later she'll go to either Mattie or Feli to cry her eyes out. She never let anyone besides those two see her tears. I sighed and patted my stomach.
"Yeah...I'm starved; I think a whole cow should take care of it..." I sighed drastically again, and Alice burst out laughing, a genuine smile this time.
"Then I guess we'd better find you one." She said, grabbing the pasta Feli made her, and closed her locker. I took the note from her hands and crumpled it up, then threw it away.
Alfred kept cracking jokes whenever we passed each other during the school day. But it was last period; Physical Education which Mattie and Gilbert were in it with me. The teachers decided for us to just play volleyball, and we made our own teams. Mattie, Gilbert, Kiara (an old friend, sort of), and I made team together. Never, not once, did Mattie or Gilbert let me hit the ball when it came my way. I tried each time, but they always somehow managed to hit it before me. So I took this class time to ponder the note, switch positions, ponder, try and hit the ball, ponder some more, and finally class and school were done. And I made my way over to the girls' changing room to put my normal clothes on.
Frau was spacing out while Matt and I kept the ball away from her. Only natural of us to keep her safe, she was ours to protect. But frau kept spacing out, I can't figure out why, but she just is. Matt pointed out Alice was spaced out, just by her eyes being distant. I'm worried about if something happened. I'm mad that Francis has anything to do with it. I asked frau once when we were switching positions; all she said was, "huh...? Francis? No he didn't do anything..." she trailed off, not even answering fully. God! I wanted to know what happened to my precious frau! I'm sure she'll tell me or Mattie on the way home.
I got out of the changing room and headed for Gilbert's car. He always took too long in that horrible, cologne-smelling change room. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, a message from Alice. I quickly read it, and was shocked.
"Mattie...can I come over to your house today? I don't...feel like going home..."
I quickly replied, "Of course Allie...whatever you need."
A text back, "thank you Mattie..." with a smiley face.
"You're welcome Allie." I replied back.
"Vhere is frau!?" Gilbert shouted as he walked up to his car.
"Sh-she's coming. She j-just texted me...y-you don't need to d-drop her off at h-her house...s-she wants to go to m-mine. Something t-to talk to me a-about or j-just to hang out..." I told him once he was by his driver-side door.
"Vhat!? She texted you, and not ze awesome me!?" he shouted.
"W-well..." I started, but Alice was walking up to the car with the roses Francis gave her earlier that morning.
"Hey guys...can we just get going..." Alice said glumly. "Did you tell him Mattie?" She was referring to going to my house instead.
"Y-yes Allie, I did..." I replied.
I climbed into the backseat of Gilbert's car as Alice climbed into the front.