Chapter 8: My Attraction to You

It was her clear, teal-blue eyes that caught his attention at the lavish party two years ago. The way her long brown hair framed her face and the way her eyes twinkled while she aimlessly wandered through the crowd made her absolutely stunning. Two years ago, the Liddell's company was on its path to power. They were celebrating their successes with many of the major companies in Heart Country while at the same time getting more connections to expand their business.

Ace leaned against the wall, his eyes glazed over and completely bored out of his mind. Nothing to do. Same people. Same parties. Same socialization. Same everything. He hated it all, conforming to the high class society he was born into. Julius walked over with some non-alcoholic beverage. "Still bored?" he asked.

Ace smirked and took Julius's drink. "Yep, and there's nothing we can do about!" Julius shook his head and took his drink back. At the party as well were the Whites, high class government officials; the Tweedles, with a company specializing in weaponry and advanced technology, the Monreys, who specialized in clockwork, and of course, the infamous Dupres, who dominated in most sectors of Heart Country when they were truly working underground as mafias. But, no one dared say anything about their illegal transactions for they feared for their lives.

Anyways, back to the party. Ace and Julius are bored out of their minds and they notice this small petite girl around their age. She's not exactly a stunning beauty, but has an aura that pulls you in. "She looks pretty cute," commented Ace. Julius looked away. Ace grinned. "Come on Julius! Lighten up! This party is already boring, we might as well look at girls."

Julius blushed, still conscious of girls. "I don't really care," he muttered. He already knew who she was. Her name was Alice Liddell, the daughter of the rising company of the Liddells. But, the way she interacted with people didn't seem like any bratty upper class girl. She actually had class and was intelligent.

"Where did she go?" Ace broke Julius's thoughts about Alice. He looked around. She was gone just like that.

Back to present…

"LET ME GO!" Alice pounded on Ace's back, but he refused to let her go. "Sorry, no can do princess! I'm on a mission!" said Ace, wearing his usual goofy smile.

"NO! You're going to get us lost!" Alice pounded on his back for the nth time, but he still wouldn't let go. After running through the sea of people, Ace put Alice down at a solitary park. The bench faced a small lake with willow trees surrounding it. Ace took a seat next to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulder.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Alice was about to push Ace away, but he held her even tighter. "We finally meet again Alice. I really wanted to meet you again," he said, resting his head on her shoulder. Alice couldn't help but blush at this action. He so handsome… argh! I need to get it together! Why would Ace even think about kidnapping me?!

As Alice's thoughts went haywire, Ace started speaking. "You seem different from last time." Ace lifted his head up and looked at Alice in the eye. "Your hair is shorter, but you still have the same intriguing eyes," Ace breathed. Alice blushed furiously. It felt like a love confession.

"Um, but did we meet somewhere?" Alice was curious. "You just took me and I was supposed to be with Julius at the moment." Alice slapped her mouth and stayed quiet.

Ace's mood slightly darkened. "Why were you with Julius?" Alice gulped as she felt Ace's gaze. "Well, he wanted to see my brother so…" Shit! Alice cursed mentally. I'm Aaron… Aaron's supposedly healthy and fine… Not in a hospital!

"Why was he in the hospital? He was fine like two days ago," said Ace.

"Ah, he was having um.. . his check-up! Yeah, and Julius um, just wanted to tag along because he wanted to talk to Nightmare about something," laughed Alice. She felt nervous under Ace's gaze. Ace frowned for a moment, but then smiled again. "Okay!"

Alice felt confused. She thought he would try to delve deeper. But, it didn't matter anymore. As long as she could hide her identity at school, all should be well.

"So, I should be getting back now. I think Julius might be looking for me," said Alice, trying to get off the bench, but Ace pulled her back. "But I don't want you to leave," he whined. Alice tried pulling her arm away, but he gripped her hand even tighter.

"A-ace, let me go!" Alice struggled and suddenly felt somebody pull her right hand. Ace immediately let go of her and she fell right into the person who pulled her right hand. "Oof!" She landed against the person's chest. She looked up and saw that it was Gray.

"Ace, why are you bothering her?" He glared at Ace and Ace returned a glare as well. "I'm not, we were just having a moment together."

"A moment? It looked like you were about to do something with her," muttered Gray. He cleared his throat and pulled Alice behind him. "Either way, you're just being a nuisance. Alice, were you supposed to be somewhere before this idiot tried to make a move on you?" asked Gray. He gave Alice a warm smile that made her blush from head to toe.

"Um, yes actually. I was supposed to be with Julius earlier," said Alice. Oh wait no! I shouldn't have said that… arghh… me and my big mouth!

"Julius?" Gray looked at her and inside he felt hurt. No, actually jealous that she would spend her time with a low-life guy. Gray already knew the source of her family's financial woes.

"Well, it's more of like we just met up to visit someone," said Alice. She was trying to simplify things before a fight would ensue because Ace was giving death glares towards Gray the entire time.

"Well, I should be going. Thank you for saving me Gray, it was really sweet of you," said Alice.

Ace's eyebrow went up with a questioning look. "You know Mr. Gray here?" he said sarcastically.

Another slip up… great! "N-no I don't, but Aaron has mentioned Gray a few times and showed his photo to me," said Alice, trying to keep her story genuine. Gray couldn't help but feel a bit amused that she was doing this much to help her younger twin brother.

Alice slowly stepped away from the two and walked quickly to the main street. She walked as fast as she could until she lost sight of the two. "Now, I can find—" Alice bumped right into Gray's chest and stumbled. Before she could fall, Gray caught her and brought her close.

"Are you alright?" he asked, but Alice blushed and pulled away. She tucked a piece of her short her behind her ear and looked away. "I'm fine. I need to go though," she said.

Before she could walk even further, Gray stopped her. "At least let me walk you to your destination," said Gray, offering a gentlemanly hand to Alice. Alice smiled and decided that it wouldn't hurt to accept this invitation. She was a guy for five out of the seven days of the week. "That's fine then. I'm headed towards XX station, where I met with Julius," she said. Gray's smile faltered for a moment as she mentioned Julius's name.

"Okay then, let's get headed that way then!" said Gray.

As they walked side by side, Gray stealthily observed her profile. Alice has changed quite a bit after two years. She was slightly taller, but still had a petite build. Her face has matured, but is still beautiful and her eyes haven't changed at all. It was only her hair that was different. It was cut as short as Aaron's. Gray wished she kept her long locks. He wasn't too fond of short hair, but for some reason, it suited Alice as well. Alice was still Alice.

Two years ago...

Gray wandered in the lobby area, trying to avoid the party. He hated those kinds of high class social parties. Girls would always try to fling themselves at him and he would always have to act polite. Those kind of parties just existed to bring more business connections.

He sat at the coffee lounge and looked out the windows, admiring the skylights. Suddenly he noticed a girl with teal eyes sit two seats away from him. It was just the two of them.

"I would like a small espresso please," she ordered. It seemed like she was a bit snotty, considering the designer clothes she was wearing. But her next action surprised Gray. She kicked off her high heels and threw off her cardigan, leaving them on the floor. "I'm tired of thest stupid parties," she mutttered under breath. Gray couldn't help but laugh because her actions were so adorable.

Maybe she isn't so bad after all... The waiter came by and served her espresso. Gray also, received his epsresso. Alice didn't even notice him. The two of them both took a drink at the same time.

I should try talking to her... she seems... interesting... Gray still felt mesmerized by her eyes, but then it was too late. Just like that, she left her espresso half finished. The only thing that Gray could keep as a keepsake was her cardigan, which was discarded on the floor...

Gray continued reminiscing his memory of Alice as the two of them were quiet for the rest of the way. They finally reached XX station and found Julius sitting at one of the benches in front of the station. He looked weary, as if he went on a long marathon run. He looked up and saw Alice. "Alice! Are you okay?" He ran up to her and gave her hug, which surprised her and Gray.

"Oh, I'm fine Julius," she responded. Julius still held onto her. "Um, Julius? Can you let me go? You're kind of crushing me," said Alice, trying to gasp for air. Julius let go quickly and blushed. "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to be that forceful."

Julius blushed even a deeper shade of red when he saw his fellow classmate. 'Gray, what are you doing here?"

Gray smiled. "How nice to see you here Mr. President. I didn't know that you were acquainted with Alice." Julius looked away. "I met her a while ago," he said, leaving his answer vague.

"Is that so? Well, I should be headed back now," said Gray. "I'll see you around then Alice, I hope we can hang out soon," said Gray. Alice smiled. "Me too, thanks!" She waved him goodbye until he disappeared into the crowd. Julius turned to Alice.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Julius, just a little bit shocked and almost had my identity revealed!" Alice sat on the bench. "I'm just attracting all sorts of bad luck, aren't I?" she joked.

Julius shook his head. You have no idea how much appeal you have, Alice.

Phew! Finding internet connection here is so difficult! I was so happy when I found a good spot to place my laptop in my dorm. Well, I'm trying to make my writing a bit more "stable" because when I read the last seven chapters, the story was fine, but the plot is getting a bit complicated. I might have to edit some things in this and in Shining Brightly since I have so many grammatical errors/confusing plot line. But, I 'm really happy for the reviews, so thank you! Plus I re-read Our Baby, Alice-chan!... oh wow... I never knew I could write like that haha xD

But, thanks for reading and please review! :D

~Seo Hyunee