12. Don't talk about swimsuit in front of him
It's entering the hot seasons, and that only means the excitement of school's end...and finally, summer break! After taking finals—this time Sidney got on top again, flawlessly—the students couldn't shut up about taking trips somewhere or what they're gonna do during vacation.
Ace hated it. First of all, he always camped, so he literally always lived his life as a recreation. Secondly, he lived alone, so if there's no school, then he had no reason to nag Alice, unless he'd shamelessly nag her at her house.
Oh wait.
We're talking about Ace, huh?
Yeah then he had no shame.
"Ace, what are you doing here?" Alice deadpanned as she was about to depart for the last day, the closing ceremony. Julius closed and locked their house behind her.
"Nah, I just wanna talk a bit with your brotha." Ace casually grinned, and waved. "Hey, Jule! Can I spend the summer at your house?"
Alice replied in reflex; "NO—"
"Huh? Sure." Julius ignored his stepsister and pocketed their house key. Alice whined to him, and he stared down at her in confuse. "What? I thought you two are bestfriends. Besides, I need to go back home during summer. It's best you have someone around."
Ace raised his eyebrows at how Alice shook her head at Julius, and Julius acted as if he accidentally slipped something he shouldn't have said. Though he's smart enough to act as if he didn't realize anything—secrets will come out eventually.
"Aaalright, then my summer break's plan is done! The rest is up to my Princess~" Ace laughed and patted Alice's head.
Alice grumbled and tidied her hair as she walked to school with Ace.
What did she ever do to deserve this...?
~.X.~
"Hey Liddell, good job on getting on the second rank!" her classmates congratulated as she entered the class. They fell silent as they saw Ace followed behind.
Suddenly one of the boys smiled to Ace. "You're also amazing, for getting on the same rank with Sidney, on the top, Pendragon."
Ace raised his eyebrows, surprised that someone else than Alice took his time to acknowledge him. Alice elbowed him gently, grinning and began to clap her hands.
"Yeah, congrats, Ace! I'm so proud of you!" she praised, clapping loudly, and eventually, the others clapped for him as well.
He began to laugh too. In actuality, he wasn't sure how he felt; he felt happy that Alice would be so proud of him—on the other hand, he felt coldness at how those other kids suddenly acknowledge him.
Was he so used to solitude that he began to feel anxious when getting acknowledged?
Their homeroom teacher gave a little instructions about what to prepare for their second year which will began in September. Alice and Ace would share the same class again. Though Alice felt bad about this; Ace took the same classes as she did just to stick with her, and because he's smart enough to take any class he wanted.
"I don't really care, it's not like I have anything I wanna do after graduating." was what the brunet cheerfully said. Being happy-go-lucky was good, but sometimes Ace went overboard on it.
"Hey." Alice turned to see Sidney was submitting the list of classes he took. "Good job on getting the second rank."
"Thank you. You're awesome too, Sid." Alice smiled shyly, rubbing the back of her head. She then glanced at the classes he took. "Oh..."
"...Yeah." Sidney shrugged. "We'll be seeing each other a lot of time again next semester."
"I-I see..." the girl blushed, because he said the exact thing on her mind. "I'm...surprised."
"I'm more surprised with your choice." Sidney commented, as they just walked to their desks. "You don't look like someone who can fit in this kind of job."
Alice laughed nervously. "Y-Yeah, well...who knows, huh?"
"Alice~!" a girl who never once talked to Alice before, suddenly pulled her away. "Hey, we're gonna have a beach party next weekend, and we're hoping to see you there~ Please?"
"Oh, um..."
"Yeah, great idea!" Another girl squealed, and the girls began to surround her with begging eyes. "Please come, Alice, it'll be fun~!"
"The boys would love to see you there." they giggled as Alice blushed in embarrassment.
"Hey, knock it off! We're not thinking that kind of stuff..." the boys protested. "But it'll be fun if you would come. Maybe we can get to know you better." one of them said sincerely.
"Well, I'm—"
"It's a promise, okay?" the girls winked, and clutched their bags. "Can't wait to see you there, he he he!" they giggled and exited the class. "Oh, Sidney, wait for us!" one of them yelped; Sidney had already been out before Alice could realize it.
The dark blonde was still startled—she got invited...SHE GOT INVITED...to a party! Well that's a first! She was excited and nervous...a beach party, huh? The girl hesitated, and then, rushed out of the class and loudly asked;
"B-But what kind of swimsuit should I wear—" she stopped instantly since Ace was right in front of her, and she almost hit him. She was more conscious about what she accidentally slipped.
The brunet's crimson eyes gleamed and he raised his eyebrows in pure interest.
"Swimsuit...?"
"Uh oh."
~.X.~
Alice was a girl, so why was she embarrassed about going to buy a swimsuit, and on the contrary, Ace, a boy, was excitedly—overly energetically, picking up several types of swimsuit as he dragged her around the mall.
"One piece bathing suit!" Ace winked his right eye and tried to match the one-piece on Alice in his mind. "This is sensuous—teasing! The hips are cut, so it's showing the skin—so tempting! And the back side is low...it'll make me want to run my hand on your skin, ha ha."
"Ace! Jeez! Lower your voice!" Alice hit his shoulder, blushing hard as people began to stare.
"Yeah, this will do! This will do!" Ace dashed to the cashier.
"Wait, Ace, I don't want that—"
"It's okay, I'm buying!" Ace laughed, and dragged her out of the shop. "Let's get back and see how you'll fit—NO WAY."
The brunet proceeded to drag her to the next shop as he wondrously eyed top-and-short bathing suit. Alice facepalmed as Ace entered the shop and came out with the bag of it.
"Yes, top-and-short! Boyish, daring, sexy...just like those dancers on the bar, but you're actually wearing a sport bra-ish top..." he paused, and then grinned to Alice. "But don't worry, I've never been in a bar before. I just saw it on the internet! Ha ha ha!"
"I don't care about that! But now you just bought two swimsuits!" Alice scolded him.
"It's okay, it's okay...the more selection we have, the better." Ace waved his hand dismissively, and then froze. "But of course..." his eyes widened as his sight caught something else.
Alice huffed. "Here he goes again..."
"Bikini...OF COURSE!"
"...Wait. WHAT."
~.X.~
"You really don't need to bring anything else?" Alice frowned as Ace just entered her house, bringing a backpack. "You have a lot of money but just have a few clothes?"
"Well, I'm a guy, so who cares, right?" Ace shrugged and dropped his backpack to the sofa. He then pulled the bags of bathing suits he had bought. "Now the main business begins! Ha ha!"
"You're not going to force me trying those, right?" Alice deadpanned.
"As much as I want to, I won't."
"Good boy." she huffed and stood from his side. "I'll put up some coffee."
"I want black." Ace said, and she nodded, leaving him alone in the living room to ogle at the bathing suits lined on the lounge.
"Hmm, I really want her to be in a bikini, but it's too daring...unless it's in a private bedroom. Alice is shy, so I guess one piece should be conservative enough? But it's too tempting to see the curves show like this...she's not the temptress type..."
Fifteen minutes later...
"Tempting or daring?" Ace hummed as if trying to solve a puzzle. His eyes then glanced to the top-and-short piece. "This one...what is this...hmm...so she wears this pink top and this blue short."
"A little plain? But...if she wears accessories like shades...yeah, yes, this could work! Cute!"
"That's beyond creepy, seriously." Alice commented awkwardly while serving their coffee. She sat down beside him, frowning at the pieces. "Ahh, but all of those are still so embarrassing..."
The brunet sipped his coffee, and then glanced at her. "What were you planning to wear then?"
"White shirt and a short?"
"Then when it gets wet, you'll be seen through!" Ace laughed. "So what's the difference?"
Alice blushed. "Ah you're right! Humm...this is so difficult." she sulked. "I mean, this will be the first time people will see me in a bathing suit! What if the boys think I'm too skinny? Or that my hips are too big...or...Ace...?" she stopped, since Ace suddenly gripped her shoulder.
The brunet's eyes were dark.
"...Boys...?" he muttered darkly. "People...? Beach party...? Boys...? Alice...? Swimsuit...?"
The girl shivered, since Ace began to shiver and emit murderous aura.
"A-Ace...? What's...?"
"Those...sons of..."
~.X.~
Sidney knocked at the metal, then scoffed, glancing at his half-brother condescendingly.
"This is, I admit, interesting."
"I don't need anyone to tell me that." Ace laughed.
Alice shivered in wrath and embarrassment as everyone were trying to hold their laughter.
"Y-Y-You look...g-great, Alice...hmphhft..." one of the girls tried to say.
"How much did you buy this?" a boy asked in pure curiosity. "Can you breathe inside it?"
"Actually, I even bought the gas tubes, so if Alice wants to deep-sea-diving, no problem! Ha ha!" Ace laughed in satisfactory.
The girl growled.
"Yeah...sure...ha ha ha..." she laughed dryly.
Sidney nodded, his eyes were in pure interest. "It looks very, very, interesting. I'd like to try it out."
Ace laughed. "Hah! No. I especially bought this swimsuit for Alice, to protect her from wolves and perverts like you, bastard!"
Sidney glared at him. "Pervert? Look who's talking, trash."
"Ace, I thank you for your concern of my proper clothing..." Alice began, but she was practically a shaking volcano. "...but this isn't even a bathing suit! This is a diving suit you dumb mother freaking assh—"
"Look! Free ice cream!" someone squealed.
"Awesome!"
"Aaargh!" Alice fell along inside the diving suit since the others accidentally pushed her onto the sand. "AAAACCEE!"
God damn, I hate indefinite updates. Anyways, that's for this week. Hope you enjoyed it! Kindly review if you have the time :)
