Chapter 3

"Say cheese!"

"CHEESE!" Amelia screamed through her smile, making Francis snort.

"Perfect!" Said Mrs. Bonnefoy. "I think we are done with pictures. Lets cut the cake!"

"Yessss!" Amelia said, and noticing Alice looking at her, sent her a wink.

"You're pretty...enthusiastic, aren't you?" She said trying to hold back a smile.

"The enthusiastic-est!" Amelia beamed back at her. She gleefully accepted a piece of cake from Mrs. Bonnefoy, but handed it to Alice instead.

"Now, don't make me convince you this time!"

"Haha, alright, I'll eat it." She said.

"Let's go eat it on the couch!" Amelia enthused, now used to the comfy cushion.

"Me also!" Said Francis.

The trio sat down on the couch, and happily ate the cake. In her cake induced glee, Amelia blurted out: "Happy Birthday Francis!"

Suddenly, her companions started choking on their cake, and Alice burst out laughing. She began to laugh too. Dude, her laugh is so weird, it's hilarious! She thought. Alice's laugh was very quirky. It sort of sounded like someone who was very happy, but lost all control of their vocal chords and was trying to sing a song. Yeah... something like that. But it made Amelia happy to see her laugh so hard.

"Tu es tellement stupide." Francis scoffed at her.

"Oops!" She responded, then continued to guzzle down the cake.

The rest of the party went as planned. Natalia never showed up, (thank god) the family and friends all took group pictures, (a lot of them) and then everyone left. Except, of course, the two girls, who went Ito Francis' basement to play games.

"One more round!" Francis whined as Alice politely tried quite hard to leave.

"No, I'm sorry, I really have to get home..." She said for the thousandth time.

"Awww come on. Why do you have to go home?" Amelia joined the conversation. She also wished for Alice to stay a little bit longer, hoping they would get another chance to talk alone.

"Amelia, I have to leave eventually!"

"Well yeah, but..." She sighed, unable to come up with reasons to make her stay longer. "Okay... Can I get your number?"

"Oh, um Sure!" Alice said, then walked back over to her. They exchanged phone numbers, and Alice turned to Francis. "Thank you for inviting me. I'll see you soon." she turned to Amelia. "I'll see you soon too?"

"Of course!" She smiled at her. "Now get home safe you crazy kid!"

Alice rolled her eyes but smiled at the comment. After one last goodbye, she walked up to the first floor and let herself out of the house.

After ten more rounds of Left 4 lunch 2, Amelia was getting bored.

"I'm so sick of zombies..." She groaned. "And I'm really tired, I think I'm gonna go home."

"Okay." Francis yawned. He got up from his chair and gave her a hug. They walked upstairs, she said goodbye to Mrs. Bonnefoy, took some wrapped up food from the kitchen, got her shoes and said goodbye. "I'll text you!" She promised him. "We will hang out soon!" He chimed back. She walked out the front door, across his lawn and onto the pavement. The cold hit her and she shivered. It was very chilly for a summer night.

I better get home soon or mom will have a cow... She thought. I had so much fun today. I think things went well... hopefully they feel the same way.

She finally reached her car, climbed into the drivers seat and started the engine. Setting the heat on high, she rolled off into the night.

Once home, she immediately ran upstairs, peeled off her clothes and hopped into bed. She went to put her phone in its charger for the night and noticed she had a new text message from Alice.

I'll read it tomorrow... She thought, then put it down and fell asleep almost immediately.

The next day Amelia woke up earlier than usual. She tried to fall back asleep but couldn't, so she climbed out of bed and went downstairs to make some breakfast. Her socked feet felt cold on the tile floor when she reached the bottom of the stairs. It was very chilly downstairs in the mornings. Grabbing a sweatshirt from the hall closet, she continued into the kitchen. She flipped on the lights, then went over to the fridge and opened it. She realized her family was gone, the house dead silent; but she didn't question it. It wasn't unusual for her to wake up to an empty house. What day of the week is it? She wondered, and went back upsairs to check her phone. She then noticed the text she hadn't read last night.

Hey this is Alice.

She decided to respond to it later, since it was pretty early in the morning (for Amelia, anyway.) She grabbed her phone and went back down into the kitchen. She closed the refrigerator door and opened a cupboard instead. Finding some cereal, she went back to the fridge and got milk. She poured herself a bowl, went into the living room, and sat in front of the TV. After about an hour of watching Adventure Time she started to get bored. Maybe Alice isn't busy! She hoped, and picked up her phone to text her.

Hey Alice :) what's up?

Not getting an immediate response, she put the phone down and went up to her room to get dressed. She put on yoga pants and a T-shirt. She heard her phone chime from the living room, so she ran downstairs to look. Picking up her phone, she saw the text was from Alice.

Hi. Nothing much. What about you?

She pressed the respond button and started typing.

same. :( Today is probably going to be a sit and watch TV day.

Alice responded immediately.

oh that sounds nice actually. I need a day like that.

oh really? R u like always busy?

sort of. I never really get to relax at my house..

Amelia's eyebrows raised at her response. This could be my chance to find out what she was gonna tell me yesterday.

really? Why?

my parents never leave me alone. They are always on my case about something.

:( that sucks. My parents are like that too, sometimes. Why don't you just like, leave your house or something?

I can't, really. They always ask me where I'm going and if they dont think I have a good reason they won't let me leave.

What can I say to that? Amelia pondered for a minute, hoping to find a way to make Alice feel comfortable saying more without pressuring her.

thats not very nice! Well, if you can get out you could always come hang at my place. You are definitely welcome! and im always here to talk.

oh I can't just use you to get away from them, that would be so rude...

what? No way! It's fine, really. Besides, we will hang out soon anyway, right? What's the diff?

yeah, I guess that's true lol. Thanks Amelia. :0)

Np :D anyway, would you want to hang this week maybe?

perhaps, but I have to check if I'm free. I'll let you know.

okay! :D

Amelia put her phone down, figuring that was the end of the Conversation. Well now I know there is something going on. She began to wonder if maybe she shouldn't want to know, that maybe she shouldn't pry, but let the concern fade. If they were going to be friends, there was nothing wrong with wanting to know more about her.

With that, she decided that maybe she should go out today.