Disclaimer: I still don't own Resident Evil, this is all just for fun!
A/N: Okay, this next chapter is for you my wonderful readers. It's not as long as the last one but I hope you find it enjoyable, and keep on reviewing so I know if you are still liking this story.
A/N2: We can thank Matthew Good Band for the title of this chapter as I was listening to 'Non Populus' on repeat as I edited and posted this update.
Alice stepped into Umbrella Co. Dining at three fifteen sharp. She hadn't seen nor spoken to Carlos since last night, having gone straight to bed after getting home from work and after their conversation last night she had almost reconsidered showing up to meet K-Mart today. Carlos could not possibly be serious about this signs-from-the-universe nonsense could he? He knew perfectly well where she stood on the whole relationship idea and she was getting a little tired of her best friend shoving his romantic ideals down her throat. If she just stayed home she could avoid anymore coincidences that could be misconstrued as 'signs'. But at the very thought she could almost picture K-Mart's disappointed face and she imagined the redhead would probably be nothing short of furious if she didn't show after getting the teen's hopes up. So it was only after losing her own inner debate that Alice had dragged herself out of bed and left the house before she could change her mind.
Looking around the restaurant Alice could see that it was even less busy than the day before, but she figured that probably was due to the time of day. In any case, K-Mart was easy to spot sitting in a booth at the far side and the teen waved excitedly upon spotting Alice. She made her way across the room and smoothly slid into the leather seat opposite the younger blonde.
"Hey Alice!" K-Mart greeted brightly. "Thanks again for helping me out with this, it means a lot to Claire and I."
"It's not a problem, really."
"I uh, I probably should mention this before we start, in case you decide to leave, and I wouldn't blame you." The teen rambled as she fidgeted with the salt shaker on the table.
"K, spit it out." Alice said with an encouraging smile.
"I can't pay you." K-Mart blurted. "For tutoring me, I can't pay you."
"Oh." Alice was a little embarrassed at the awkward turn in the conversation. "I hadn't honestly even thought about it." She admitted. "I mean, that's not why I agreed to do this. I don't want your money K-Mart so don't worry about it, ok?"
K-Mart wasn't convinced. "Are you sure?"
"Positive."
The teen immediately perked up. "Thank you Alice, you've given me so much already with that painting. I promise I'll find a way to make this up to you."
"Let's just see how good I am at tutoring before we worry about that."
K-Mart grinned and the two got to work, completely unaware of the smiling redhead watching from behind the counter.
"Is it making any sense now?" Alice asked patiently as the teen stared at the textbook before her.
"So Francis Bacon took the land from the natives because the government wouldn't?"
Alice nodded encouragingly. "Right, but why is it important?"
K-Mart seemed to think long and hard before answering. "Because of the tensions between the rich and poor colonists?"
"Is that all?"
"And the race relations between the whites and the natives?"
"Exactly. K-Mart as long as you can remember Bacon's Rebellion you'll be able to trace all kinds of events in American history through those two tensions. But don't worry, we'll get to that later."
"How's it going over here?" Claire asked, appearing next to the table and after a moment she slid into the booth next to Alice. "Is K-Mart a good student or are we writing her off as a lost cause?"
"Hey!" The teen huffed indignantly. "I'm doing well, right Alice?"
Alice merely nodded in response.
Claire leaned across the table to ruffle K-Mart's hair. "Well that's a relief." The teen scowled as she attempted to fix her hair. "I think you guys could use a break. Do you want anything to eat?"
K-Mart perked right up again. "Yes please! I'll have–"
"Cheeseburger, extra cheese, extra pickles, no ketchup, and a chocolate milkshake." Claire recited automatically and K-Mart nodded. Then the redhead turned to the older blonde. "Alice?"
"I'll have the same." She replied, and watched as Claire stood from the table and walked towards the kitchen.
"So," K-Mart began, discreetly sliding her books off to the side and watching the older woman intently. "Do you have a boyfriend Alice?"
"No."
"A girlfriend?"
Alice quirked an eyebrow at the teen. "No, not for a long time."
K-Mart appeared to find this information very interesting and placing both elbows on the table she folded her hands and rested her chin on them as she stared at Alice. "So you currently are not seeing anyone in a romantic manner."
"Correct." She answered, trying to figure out where this line of questioning was going.
"And do you by any chance find my sister attractive?"
"Excuse me?" Alice had not been expecting the teen to ask her that and her eyes slightly widened in surprise.
"Do you find Claire attractive?" The blonde spoke slower, emphasizing each word.
Alice was growing increasingly uncomfortable but could tell K-Mart wasn't going to let this go without an answer. "Sure." She did her best to shrug it off but K-Mart seemed to be becoming more excited the longer the conversation went on and Alice didn't like it one bit. "Is there a reason you're asking me this?"
"Well, I know we just met, but I can already tell that you're awesome. And I think that if you're interested, you and Claire could be really cute together." K-Mart spoke as if she'd given the idea a lot of thought and Alice found it unnerving.
"Did Carlos put you up to this?" Alice looked around, almost expecting to see her friend and noticed the diner was completely empty. Quickly checking the clock on the wall she discovered it was almost seven thirty. Glancing back to the girl across from her she saw the blonde was now staring at her in confusion.
"No, Carlos didn't put me up to this. What are you talking about?"
"Carlos had this crazy idea last night. He seemed to think Claire and I are soul mates or something ridiculous like that, just because of a few coincidences."
K-Mart now looked intrigued. "What kind of coincidences?"
Alice sighed, running a hand through her hair, she really did not want to be having this conversation for the second time in less than twenty four hours. "He just thinks it's a sign from the universe that Claire was at the art show last night after being our waitress yesterday morning, and that I give a painting to you only to find out you're her little sister."
"And he came up with this theory after you agreed to tutor me?" Alice nodded and K-Mart leaned back into her seat, her hand fidgeting along the edge of the table as she sat thinking. After a few minutes of silence the teen locked eyes with Alice and spoke. "I think Carlos is right." Alice looked at her in complete disbelief. "Just hear me out! I don't know if he's right about the soul mate thing but it has to be more than coincidence that you keep running into Claire. Meeting her here, and then the art show, and now me with the tutoring. You might as well face it Alice, the universe is trying to tell you something."
Alice scoffed. "Well I think that's an awful lot of time and energy for the universe to waste on me." The teen seemed to deflate before her eyes and Alice felt a little guilty at laughing off her theory. "Listen K, I'm not the kind of person you want dating your sister, trust me. Besides, even if the universe is trying to push us together, don't you think Claire should have some say in this?"
K-Mart seemed to accept this but was not ready to throw in the towel yet. "Well, I can easily find out if she likes you if you want."
Alice face palmed. "That's not what I meant." She mumbled but K-Mart was no longer listening to her.
"Claire doesn't really have a 'type' as far as I know. And whenever I bring up the subject she always says she's too busy to date."
"Maybe she is?" Alice was trying to end the conversation knowing the redhead would be back at any moment with their food.
K-Mart waved off the comment. "That's just an excuse she uses to avoid it. In fact, it makes this whole thing make even more sense!" The teen looked even more excited now. "Don't you see Alice? It's not just the universe pushing you towards Claire, it's also using you as an offering to my sister. She thinks she doesn't have time to date, but she keeps seeing you. It's almost perfect."
"Almost perfect?" Alice couldn't resist asking.
"Well it would probably work better if you would accept that this is suppose to happen." K-Mart stated as if it were obvious.
Alice was still not convinced. "I'm still leaning towards coincidence, so for now why don't we just wait and see where 'the universe' takes us, ok?"
"Fine." K-Mart sighed. "I'm not going to drop it but I am going to leave it up to the universe to prove you wrong, and at the rate you're getting these signs it should be easy."
Alice was about to object but it was at that moment the redhead returned to their table.
"What should be easy?" Claire asked as she set down their plates.
"My history test next week, with Alice tutoring me I'm sure to ace it." The blonde winked across the table and Alice was somewhat impressed at the teen's ability to come up with a believable lie on the spot.
Claire looked genuinely pleased. "That's good K. I really must find some way to thank you." She said to Alice.
The redhead's words were innocent enough but that didn't stop certain images from invading Alice's mind and she had to ignore the knowing smirk coming from K-Mart. Alice could freely admit to herself that Claire was beautiful and if they had met at a bar or club and she was looking for some fun she would have definitely tried getting with the redhead, but Claire was clearly not that type of girl. If Claire thought she was too busy to date than she certainly wouldn't be the type to sleep around. But that still didn't stop Alice's mind from wandering. She cleared her throat loudly. "It's not a big deal, don't worry about it."
Almost an hour later the three of them left the diner when Claire's shift was finally over. The redhead was visibly exhausted and tried in vain to hide a yawn behind her hand.
"Do you two need a ride home?"
"No we're fi-" Claire's response was interrupted by another yawn.
Alice chuckled. "I think you do, come on." She motioned them over to her truck and hopped into the driver's seat. She watched with some amusement as the pair seemed to have a hushed argument outside until a defeated looking Claire sighed and climbed in the passenger side, followed by K-Mart. It was crowded inside the truck with Alice and Claire pressed tightly together in the cramped space. Neither of them noticed the smug smile emanating from the blonde teenager. Alice pulled out of the parking lot and cleared her throat trying to lessen the awkward silence inside the truck. "So, I'm pretty sure it's Friday, do you two have any exciting plans for the weekend?"
"I don't think exciting is the right word." Claire stated dryly.
K-Mart elbowed her sister at the comment. "Claire and I are going to the movies tomorrow and she's worried I'm going to force her to sit through some stupid romantic comedy or something."
"What kind of movies do you like Claire?" She inquired of the redhead.
"Horror. Anything with blood and I'm good. And now that I've said it out loud I realize it sounds like I'm a completely morbid person." Her face flushed with embarrassment.
"No, I'm totally with you on the horror thing. Zombie films are my favourite." Alice confessed, then she chuckled. "Carlos can't stand them so he never lets me pick the movie when we go out, he's terrified we'll watch something that will give him nightmares."
"Well I agree with him." K-Mart piped up. "I don't understand how you guys can watch that stuff and not have bad dreams."
"There's only one movie that's guaranteed to give me nightmares." Alice admitted as she turned onto the next street, only a few minutes away from the Redfields' apartment.
"And what movie is that?" Claire intrigued.
"Pinnochio." Alice answered with a shudder. "Every time I watch it I dream about people turning into donkeys." Next to her she could feel the redhead shaking as she tried to contain her laughter. "Go ahead and laugh, everyone does when they find out, but it doesn't bother me. That movie is completely fucked up and I cannot believe it is meant for children."
Claire and K-Mart looked at each other before bursting out laughing and they were still laughing when Alice stopped in front of their apartment.
"When you're done laughing you might notice that we have arrived." Alice gestured to the building they were parked in front of.
Claire was the first to recover and gave Alice a grateful smile. "Thanks for the ride Alice." The redhead then proceeded to all but push K-Mart out of the vehicle and onto the sidewalk.
With the passenger door still open the teen addressed the older blonde. "So, same time, same place on Monday?" Alice merely nodded her consent. "Ok, see you then." K-Mart was about to close the door when she added, "and if you change you're mind about that other thing we discussed, let me know and I'll set it up." She lowered her voice so Claire couldn't hear and closed the door before Alice could respond.
Alice shook her head at the teenager's stubbornness and waited for the two women to enter the building before driving away.
Immediately upon entering the house Alice was met by Carlos. He stood in what Alice often called his 'big brother stance' with crossed arms and tight lipped which easily made him look ten years older.
"Where have you been?" He grunted.
"At the diner tutoring K-Mart, remember?"
Carlos glanced at his watch to confirm the time. "You were there all this time? I thought it would only be a couple of hours."
Alice shrugged. "Does it matter how long it took? The girl needs a lot of help Carlos, she thinks Ronald Reagan is one of the presidents on Mount Rushmore." She walked passed her best friend, heading directly for her favourite chair in the living room.
Carlos followed but stood awkwardly in the doorway. "I thought maybe you were avoiding me and that's why you're back so late."
Snapping her head in his direction Alice stared at Carlos incredulously. "I wouldn't do that to you. We had a disagreement last night and that's all." Her face softened and she chuckled sarcastically. "I actually had a very similar discussion with K-Mart today, she thinks you're on to something if that makes you feel better."
"You told her about it?"
"She wants to set me up with Claire. She kept asking me all these questions about if I was seeing someone or if I thought Claire was attractive."
Carlos looked more excited now. "Are you going to go out with her?" Alice shook her head. "Why not?"
The blonde stood up from her chair. "What you and K-Mart seem to be forgetting is that it's not up to you or the 'universe' to decide if people get together. Just because you two want it to happen doesn't mean Claire does, and I think she figures pretty important into this whole scenario and I can't believe I am still talking about this." She threw herself back into the plushy chair, eyes closed and looking completely exhausted.
Carlos took slow, hesitant steps further into the room and sat on the edge of the coffee table in the middle of the room so he was facing Alice. "You're right. I shouldn't be telling you what to do with your life and who you should be sharing it with. I'm sorry."
Alice opened one eye. "So you'll never bring this up again?"
He nodded. "I'll even make it up to you. The game is on tomorrow night, we can stay in and watch it, and I promise I won't make any comments about how shitty the Memphis Grizzlies are. Sound good?"
She seemed to think it over for a bit before reaching out her arm so Carlos could bump her fist. "Yeah, that sounds good."
Carlos smiled, relieved that things were back to normal between them. "But, if you two end up getting together because it's what you both want I reserve the right to say I told you so."
Alice glared openly at him for a moment and Carlos only just got out of the way before she launched herself from the chair and he laughed as she chased him out of the room.
