A/N: Hey guys! Future ponystories here. I'm going on my re-edit, fixing stuff up, all that junk. Hopefully this story will be a little cleaner, and leaning more towards the continuity. Yeah, Alice's treatment in this chapter is a little harsh, but there is a back story, okay? Anyway, this story is based on another amazing fic, I Belong, by SNOzzie6, which you should really read. Not too much will be changed here- mostly grammar. But yeah, some other stuff. Enjoy, dudes and ladies!
Alice Kate Manchester walked out of her classroom, cradling her maths books with her skinny arms. She stayed a distance behind everyone else, who were chattering away. The girl sighed and tightened her grip around the books. The class arrived at their lockers, still chatting away. They all stood there, so happy, so cheerful. Enjoying each other's company, like it was nothing in the world. Alice twisted open her locker lock with a pull. Why couldn't she have friends?
But then again.. Who would want to be friends with her?
The girl plopped her maths books away, grabbed her school bag and slung it over her shoulder. The weight almost made her fall over. Almost. She closed the beige locker, clicked the lock back on and set for the exit. She gave her legs as much power as she could to get her to the exit; away from that school. She needed to get away. Get away before-
"Crashice!" A taunting voice called from behind her. Alice almost stopped dead. Screaming at herself to move, she found every energy source in her body and forced it into her legs to run. Run and do nothing else. She sprinted to the exit, a sudden joy filling her body. She could make it. She could get away. Then it all came crashing down.
Alice didn't know what took her. Her leg just wobbled, and she tripped and landed on the floor with a crash. Her chest smashed on the stairs of the exit, sending pain all over her body. She heard daunting cackles from behind her.
"Surprise surprise, look what fell over again!" laughed the voice. A girl walked behind Alice, standing tall. She had armpit-length fiery red hair with bangs and diamond blue eyes. She was wearing jean-leggings that reached her ankles. Her flowy, grey, boat neck short sleeve t-shirt matched her white tennis shoes. She had a selection of golden bangles on her right arm. Alice resisted the urge to cry and squeal. Instead, she turned herself over onto her back, and fearfully got to her feet and faced the girl.
Alice herself had short, wavy, pale blonde hair that was tied back in a low pony tail. She was wearing a violet long-sleeve shirt, the collar done up with a line of black buttons. She had black tights underneath a knee-length black skirt. The outfit was completed with black boots.
"Leave me alone Chrissi..." Alice begged, her face showing shock and desperation. The taller girl ignored her and shook her fancy bangles in the Alice's face.
"What, without saying goodbye?" She hissed, fiercely shoving her hands on the blonde girl's shoulders, making her shiver. Alice sighed helplessly and looked away, at the close exit, like it was a gold nugget. Chrissi grabbed her chin and averted her attention back to her. She had a wicked grin on her face. "Oh, you wanna go see your mommy? Typical Crashice. You're always the big baby."
Alice squirmed and tried to get out of her grip. Her hand tried to reach for the other one clasped around her chin, but fear pulled it back.
"Does Crashice wanna go?" Chrissi said, with a babyish but evil tone. She shoved Alice back, and the girl landed on the hard floor, bumping her head on the staircase. She held back tears and clenched her fists, staring at Chrissi for mercy.
But Chrissi just laughed. "Did wittle Crashie get a boo boo? Ha. Have a nice day, Crashice. Hope you don't die from falling over the exit." She walked pass the fallen girl, her eyes narrowed evilly. Alice watched her leave until she was nothing more than a silhouette, then sighed hopelessly.
Her walk home was the same as usual. She tapped her feet along the normal path, her heavy bag slowing her down a bit. She arrived at a simple brick house, with a large stony path. Alice walked along the path she had been on so many times and opened the front door, breathing in the familiar essence of home.
"Hello Alice!" A cheery voice called from the kitchen.
"Hi." Alice muttered back, her voice drained compared to the caller. She trotted through the living room and glanced at the coffee table covered with newspapers. She came into the large, clean kitchen that was fairly well lit. A woman, with light brown hair tied into a ponytail and friendly brown eyes turned to the girl.
"How's my little star?" she asked, beaming at the girl. Alice sighed and put her bag down near the kitchen table. She began unloading all the homework and books that were inside, taking up half the room.
"The little star crashed." Alice replied, a tear falling from her eyes. It landed on her hand and she quickly shook it off, resuming sorting her homework.
"Don't talk like that, Al. You are so smart and beautiful; don't listen to Chrissi. She's insecure and jealous of you." The lady said, looking up from cleaning the dishes with a motherly gaze. Alice shook her head, her eyes getting watery.
"What is there to be jealous of? All I do all day is fall over and make a mess. I'm nothing but a big coward! You don't understand!" Alice cried, jumping up suddenly, "You'll never understand!" She ran away, ignoring her mother's pleas, to her room. She fell onto her bed and panted for a few moments, letting her stress out. Wiping her forehead, Alice stood on two feet, trying not to fall over and bang her head on her desk like she had done so many times.
Alice Manchester had always been slightly gangly. In her early childhood days, she had been involved in a tragic car accident where she had lost her father and permanently damaged her leg. The doctors had said she would be fine to walk around, she just needed to be careful. However, the accident had not just physically damaged her; it had taken away her courage and hope and was replaced with fear.
The physical damage itself had left her with a clumsy attitude. She fell over and dropped something at least three times a day, thus adopting the nickname 'Crashice'. Most people in the school called her that now, making life a living hell. Alice groaned with anger and grabbed out her laptop.
It didn't make sense. Didn't they understand she was disabled? But then again, she had always noticed they meant something else, too. She wasn't sure what. But she knew it was something other than her leg. Heating up, the laptop turned on, letting out a blast of light. Alice quickly searched her favorite game of all time, Poptropica.
A smile appeared on her face as a group of Poptropicans ran across a blue screen. She clicked 'returning player' and signed in. Soon, she was welcomed onto HUB island as her Poptropican, Fierce Fox. She chose that name because even if she couldn't be fierce, at least her Poptropican could.
Fierce Fox had long, wavy, fiery red hair reaching to the middle of her back. She had a black skirt, a yellow t-shirt with a music note and a black leather jacket. On her head, she had headphones and carried the 'Lighting Staff' item. Alice grinned as her Poptropican jumped across the screen and climbed up the rope, into her blimp. She rode over the islands and flew to her destination: Mythology Island.
"Let's go." Alice said, with a beam. Her Poptropican landed on Mythology Island, which is based off the ancient Greek Gods and myths. It was one of Alice's personal favorite islands. But it wasn't just that island she loved. She loved all of Poptropica.
Poptropica was the only thing that had kept Alice happy all these years. When people had bullied, shoved and teased her, Poptropica had given her a new light. It was seeing the sun after years of stormy weather.
"Fierce Fox is so lucky," Alice said, her eyes beginning to water. She started to blubber as her Poptropican climbed up Mount Olympus, to fight Zeus. "She gets a life full of adventure. All I get is just... Torture..." Alice began breathing heavily, allowing tears to fall. A couple splashed on her computer screen, making it blurry and wet.
"Foolish mortal! How dare you enter my realm!" Zeus cried, from the computer screen. His body was shining like lightning itself, and his face was a storm of darkness. Alice rolled her eyes; Zeus was so full of himself. He reminded her of Chrissi. The only difference was he always got his butt kicked. Chrissi always managed to top Alice.
The blonde-haired girl wiped off her tears and resumed playing the game. Zeus charged at the now-powerful Fierce Fox, who thanks to Alice safely dodged his strike. The avatar shot a bunch of lighting bolts at him, making him cringe and fall back. Aggravations burned into Alice's mind: Why couldn't she do that with Chrissi?
Some time later, Alice beat Zeus and Athena gave her the medallion for the 15th time. Alice's eyes became a waterfall as she laid back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She placed her hands over her face and rubbed her eyes, until they became red and blotchy. Alice bit her lip and clutched her laptop.
"All I want is something better," she sniffed. "Something better than my life..."