Oh my gosh! Someone shoot me now! It's been so long since I've updated! Almost two months...I think? Anyway, so, so, so sorry! I've finally typed this chapter up, after endless days of being lazy and not doing anything. Hehe. xD Well, enough of my little rant. Enjoy Chapter Two!
True My Heart
December 25 – Christmas Day
-x-x-x-x-
Alice woke up with a start on the crack of dawn. Today's Christmas! She quickly got out of bed and ran towards her door, only to skid to a stop and run back to fix her bed. After her bed was neatly done, she ran out of her room and down the stairs to the Christmas tree in the family room, where many presents were strewn about. She slid onto her knees beside the tree and started to look around for any particular presents.
"Oh! Hey!"
Alice jumped in surprise and looked up at the person in the doorway. It was the blonde-haired boy with the dazzling emerald eyes. "O-Oz?" Alice gasped.
Oz grinned and gave her a friendly wave. "Heya! G'morning and Merry Christmas, Alice!"
Alice smiled at his greeting and stood up onto her bare feet. "Merry Christmas to you too, Oz! You have presents from Santa Claus?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.
The blonde couldn't help but laugh, causing the brunette to look at him strangely. "Gee, Alice, you still believe in the big ol' Santa Claus?"
Alice felt her face heat up in embarrassment. "N-No! I was actually referring to...um...uh...y-your uncle! Yeah, yeah! Your uncle!" she quickly stammered.
Oz raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Uncle Oscar? I don't remember him being Santa Claus before..." he muttered as he thought back on his memories.
"Ozu~! Santa Claus has a present just~for~yoouuu~" Oscar Vessalius yelled out happily as he ran, no, danced up to the seven year old boy, a happy-go-lucky expression on his face.
Oz involuntary shivered. "Okay, you know what? I take that back..."
Alice giggled. "Told you!" she sang happily, glad that her lie was at least half truthful. She hopped onto her bare feet and walked over to Oz. "Come on! Let's look for presents!" she exclaimed, taking his hand and pulling him over to the Christmas tree. Even though she was just leading him, he could feel a faint heat on his cheeks at the hand contact. They kneeled down and started to search.
In the end, Alice had a whole pile of presents and Oz had a few. He shrugged it off, saying that he had more waiting at home. Alice, being the impatient one, grabbed a present and started to unwrap one carefully, trying not to rip the precious wrapping. Oz followed suit.
When the last of the tape was pulled off, the brunette pulled the wrapped off and set it aside. A cardboard box with a lid now lay in her lap, wide enough to put a full-grown cat in it. Alice curiously took off the lid and her eyes lit up. She let out a delighted squeal as she stood up with a long coat in her hands. It was red with white diamonds trailing down the side of the big-cuffed sleeves. It also donned a big white bow on the chest. When Alice tried it on, it made a big heap around her feet and her hands were hidden under the long sleeves. Apparently, it didn't fit her yet, but she couldn't help but giggle. "It's cute...but a bit big..."
Oz chuckled at her appearance. "Don't worry. When you grow up, you might be able to wear it," he reassured her with a comforting smile.
Alice agreed and smiled back. "Yeah, you're right! Well, let's go open some more presents, shall we?" With a nod of approval, they continued to open their Christmas presents. Alice had received more clothes and accessories from her friends and family, the same with Oz.
Now they both only had one more present to open. Both presents were almost the size of their palms and both were messily wrapped. They decided to open them at the same time at the count of three.
"All right. One... Two... Three!" they exclaimed in unison before ripping their presents open. Alice's eyes widened at her present as Oz's did the same.
In Alice's hand was a small locket. It was beautifully made and it's designs engraved on it were simple, yet they fit the locket. In Oz's hand was a golden pocket watch, it's size as big as his palm. It shined and his eyes studied the carefully-made designs on the cover. They both had a note attached to it, sparking their interest as they read it.
"'To Alice Baskerville. Merry Christmas! I hope we become good friends! :) From Oz Vessalius...'" Alice read, her eyes widening.
"'To Oz Vessalius. From Alice. I wish you a Merry Christmas! Do you like your present?'" Oz read before smiling up at her. "Of course I do! It's cool!"
Alice giggled at the happy boy. "Is it? It's one of my father's works. Here, look. This pocket watch also does this..." She leaned forward and pressed her thumb on a button that was on the side of the watch, opening it. She forgot that she still held Oz's present in her hand and when she had accidentally applied pressure to the side of it, it popped open.
Melodic music suddenly filled the room, perfectly in sync. Alice and Oz gaped and stared at each other in surprise as they recognized the tune.
"This is..." Alice started to say. "...the same music piece..." Oz finished for her. Alice nodded and one word slipped out of their mouths. "Lacie."
Mesmerized by the sweet yet sad tune, they closed their eyes and relaxed, letting the music calm their minds. A few more minutes passed until they decided to close their musical belongings with a satisfied click.
Oz then reached for her hand, taking the gift in his hands before standing up and walking behind Alice, who stared at him curiously. He parted her long brown locks to the side and put the locket over her head before clasping the two ends of the chains together. Alice blushed at his kind actions. When Oz walked stood in front of her, he studied her appearance before smiling and giving her a thumbs up. "Looking nice, Alice!"
"T-Thanks, Oz," Alice said, her hand reaching up and running her thumb over the bumps and edges on the locket.
Oz gave her a smile before he remembered something. "Oh!" He glanced at the tall clock standing in the corner. "It's almost nearing 7 o' clock. I think you should go change or something. You didn't brush your teeth, did you?"
Alice jumped in surprise. "How did you know?" she asked.
"Well, you're still in your night gown, oh cute gown by the way, and you have a bed head that looks like a huge poof ball, but they smell like lavender. And you have a red mark on the side of your chin," the blonde pointed out with an amused look. "Oh, and there's dried up drool on your chin."
The brunette could feel her face heat up in embarrassment as her hand slapped against her chin, rubbing away her dried saliva. "Ugh, you make me feel disgusting," she muttered in an annoyed tone. Her eyes scanned up and down the blonde, who was looking quite bright and clean in his nicely ironed clothes and neatly combed hair. "... You freaking neat freak..." she said under her breath.
Oz coughed. "Excuse me?"
Alice stiffened for a moment, thinking that he heard what she said since he wasn't even three feet away from where she was standing. Quickly shaking her head and sending her long brown locks flying from side to side, she gave Oz a big smile. "I didn't say anything. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go get ready for today," she said, walking out of the room. To her surprise (and annoyance), Oz followed her.
After walking up stairs and passing hallways, they reached her room. Ignoring the boy behind her, she opened her door before entering, Oz on her trail. As Oz started looking around her room, Alice walked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut, clearly wanting privacy. Hearing the water run, Oz decided to be nosey and started to snoop through her things.
He looked through her shelves first. "...Huh. Dolls, stuffed animals, toys... Books..." Not sparking any interest in him, he proceeded to look through her drawers. Opening the small ones on the top, he found make-up and other hair accessories. "What's in here...?" he wondered, getting on his knees as he pulled the lower ones out.
A wave of silence filled the room as Oz felt a huge heat rising onto his cheeks. 'Underwear and bras...' He quickly pushed it closed. 'Okay. TOO MUCH information there...' Getting back onto his feet, he walked away.
He was in the middle of shaking a snow globe that had cute penguins, the fake snow bits swishing around them, when he heard the door knob make a rattling sound, indicating that Alice was about to open the door. He quickly placed the snow globe down and rushed over to her bookshelf, randomly picking one out and opening it.
The bathroom door opened and Alice came out, feeling refreshed and presentable, even though she was still in her night gown that had bright blue bubbles on it. She noticed from the corner of her eyes that something was moving on one of her shelves. Her eyes flickered over to the blonde boy, who was facing away from her and seemed to be interesting in the book he was holding. When she saw the book title, she almost burst out laughing. "What are you doing?" she asked, trying to suppress her giggles.
Oz looked up at her and answered, "Reading a book, duh."
An amused smile creeped onto her face. "Oh really~?" she drawled out. "Can you tell me why you're reading 'Green Eggs and Ham'?"
"Huh?" Oz looked at her with a confused look as he glanced at the cover. Alice watched as his whole face went red in embarrassment. The boy quickly slipped the book back in its respective place before turning back to his friend with a sheepish grin. "Ooooops..."
Alice burst out laughing, tears of mirth forming at the ends of her eyes. "Geez, Oz. Nice try!" She wiped off the little tears and walked over to her wardrobe, opening it before searching through her clothes. After a few minutes of consideration, she picked out a velvety red dress with white frills. She then pulled out a Santa hat, just for Christmas spirit.
Oz watched her as she stood in front of the mirror, wondering what she was going to do. Alice's arms crossed and her hands fell to the bottom of her short bubbly-printed night gown, gathering a bunch of the silky fabric. She then paused and glanced behind her, seeing Oz blush and look away, a guilty look on his face. "Are you going to leave or stare at me as I change?" Alice asked.
Embarrassed, the boy muttered out a, "I'll see you downstairs, then." Then Oz quickly strode over to her door, opening it before slipping outside and closing the door.
Alice sighed in relief, finally having peace. She then continued to change out of her night gown, feeling the cold winter air prick her bare skin. She slipped on the long red dress, smoothing it out before reaching for her brush and brushing out her hair. Satisfied with her long hair, she slipped on her socks and placed the Santa hat sloppily on her head before standing up. Alice walked over to her bedroom door, opening it and closing it as she left the room.
She found Oz sitting on the bottom of the steps, absently staring out the window, a piece of toast in his mouth. "Hey," he said, glancing over his shoulder at her. "You look...cute..."
Alice blushed at the compliment and sat down next to him. "Thanks."
"Hungry?" he asked, holding out a plate with one toast, jam splattered on top of it.
Alice thanked him again, gratefully taking the toast and biting into it. Crumbs of bread fell onto her lap as she ate the whole piece of bread in two minutes. Licking the jam from her fingers, she said, "You put too much jam."
"Hey, I like it that way," Oz retorted. "Besides, you eat too much meat. I'm surprised that you're not even fat."
An angry vein threatened to pop in Alice's forehead at that remark. Oz sensed a deep and dark aura coming from the younger girl as she stood up and cracked her knuckles angrily. "Excuse me. Did you say something?"
Oz nervously laughed and averted his eyes somewhere as he started to whistle a random tune. His eyes landed on the windows and he noticed something outside. "Alice! Look!" he exclaimed, running over to the windows.
"What is it?"Alice snapped out of her angry mode and walked over to Oz, who was staring outside with amazed eyes. When she looked out the windows, she gasped,
It was snowing.
Without wasting another second, the two ran out the front door.
"Pretty!" Alice breathed out, her warm breath making a little cloud in front of her before disappearing. She held out her hand and snow slowly fell into her hand, dissolving into tiny bits of water.
"It sure is," Oz replied, amazed at the sight.
They raised their faces up to the sky, letting the snow land onto their faces as they watched. The snow was soon covering the earth and buildings with a white blanket. All they could do was stand there and watch in fascination.
Wanna know why it's so fascinating?
"I've never seen snow in my whole life," Alice confessed as she looked over at Oz, who lowered his head and winced after having it up for a period of time.
"Really?"
"Yep. What about you, Oz?"
Oz smiled and nodded as he crouched down and picked up a small handful of snow. "Yeah. My younger sister and I play in the snow sometimes."
"Eh? You have a little sister?" Alice exclaimed, surprised at the new information.
Oz nodded. "Yep. She's four years younger than me," he answered.
"And how old are you?" Alice asked curiously.
"Fourteen. Going on fifteen soon."
Alice exclaimed in shock again. "EH? You're fourteen?"
Oz shook his hand, sending cold water and snow in many directions. He then rubbed his hands together, trying to make the cold numbness go away from his fingers and palm. "Uh, yeah..."
Alice just gaped as she studied the blonde boy in front of her up and down. "...You don't look like you're fourteen... or act like one at all..." she mumbled.
The blonde-haired boy chuckled and scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I get that a lot."
Alice crouched down and scooped up a handful of snow, almost dropping it back to the ground when the cold stung her warm hands. A devilish grin spread on her face as her hands formed a snow ball with the snow in her hands. When it took the form of a lop-sided ball, she stood up and turned towards Oz, who was busy staring out at the horizon.
"Oz-zu~!" Alice chimed, causing Oz to turn towards her.
"Yeah, Ari—UGHK!" Oz's sentence was abruptly cut off when a snowball came flying towards his face and hit him square in the forehead. He fell backwards and landed on his back on the cold snow. "Oww..." he groaned, twitching.
Alice giggled. "Oooops!" she playfully sang, lightly dancing around the fallen boy. She suddenly shrieked when she felt someone's cold hand grab her wrist and pull her down. The brunette again landed on something soft and warm.
Her back was against Oz's chest and her head rested against his right shoulder. She could feel his faint heartbeat beating lightly on her back and her hands were placed against her chest, feeling the quick pound of her own heart. Her red dress was splayed around their legs.
She blushed and was about to quickly get off of him when Oz's arms trapped her and prevented her from moving.
"Don't move. You're making it uncomfortable," Oz muttered. "Just chill and relax."
"B-But your clothes are gonna get wet!" Alice protested.
Oz closed his eyes and let his head rest on the snow. "I'll get up in a minute. It feels nice..."
Alice squirmed uncomfortably. 'How is this nice?' With her fingers tapping impatiently, she waited until a full sixty seconds passed. "Now can you please let go of me and get up?" she asked.
Oz hummed a random tune, completely ignoring the brunette in his arms. "...Don't want to."
Alice felt her cool go off. "If you don't get up this instant, I'm gonna kick you somewhere you don't wanna get kicked!" she grounded out angrily.
"I'd like to see you try, Alice," Oz said, a smug smirk on his features.
Alice then started to squirm and wriggle out furiously, hoping that he would let go of her.
He didn't.
She flailed her arms and kicked her legs, but either they were locked in a tight embrace or they were too far down to be able to kick that very spot. "L-Let go of me, Oz!" she shouted.
Oz just kept his arms locked around her, amused at her futile actions.
As Alice continued to struggle, she suddenly brought her left shoulder up and made contact with something hard. "Ow!"
She felt Oz's arms let go of her and she rolled off of him, wincing when she felt her shoulder bone throb. "Ouch..." she said, touching her shoulder.
When she glanced over at Oz, she found him laying face-first in the snow, his hand between his mouth and the ground of snow. "Oz?"
The blonde boy twitched visibly before he pushed himself up to a sitting position, his hand still pressed against his mouth. "Ow... Danith, Aris! I bith my ton! Whied yuu hath ta thu that?" he angrily mumbled out.
Alice just stared at him in confusion, not understanding his words as she tilted her head to the side. "Huh?"
Oz groaned in pain and touched the tip of his tongue with his index finger, only to wince and pull his finger away. Alice gasped when she saw something red stain his finger.
"I said, 'Darn it. I bit my tongue. Why'd you have to do that?'" he repeated, a frown on his face.
Alice comprehended. 'Oh. Direct hit to my shoulder, and direct hit to his chin.' She huffed, turning away. "Your fault for not letting go," she retorted.
The blonde-haired boy sighed and shook his head before standing up. "It felt comfortable though. Here," he said, holding out a hand.
Alice took it and he helped her up. "Whatever," she said. "Let's go back inside." And with that, she started to walk back inside.
"...Alice!"
The said girl heaved out an annoyed sigh and turned around, only to see a snowball fly towards her face. "What– OW!"
Oz's playful laughter filled the air as snow fell off of Alice's hair and clothes. "Payback!"
The eleven year old fumed angrily as she felt a vein snap. Quickly scooping up a handful of cold snow in her small hands, she started to form it into a snowball. Oz saw what she was doing and grinned before running away. Alice ran after him, screaming, "COME BACK HERE, YOU BLONDIE!"
-x-x-x-x-
Alice was now having the life of her life, smiling, talking, and laughing the whole time. However, as they say, not all things last forever.
Soon, it was nearing dark and the snow was falling a lot more harder, causing the air to turn colder. The windows were covered in frost and could barely be seen through.
Alice, Oz, and their family members were lounging in the family room. It was big enough to hold about a hundred people squeezed together. On one side of the room, there were tables with food and drinks stacked on top of them. On the other side, there were chairs and sofas scattered here and there if your wanted to sit. In the front of them room, there was a burning fireplace that radiated heat to warm the room.
Oscar Vessalius, Jack Vessalius, and Alice's parents were sitting over on the side with the seats, happily chatting about this and that. Since whatever the grown-ups were talking about seemed to be boring, Alice and Oz decided to hang around the food, sampling each dish.
Alice took a small serving of grilled meat that was coated in some kind of sauce. She grabbed a knife and fork and proceeded to cut a little chunk of it off before placing it in her mouth.
"Oh, the sauce on that meat is one my family's secret ingredients. How's it?" Oz asked as he took a swig of fruit punch from his cup.
Alice chewed slowly, savoring the delicious taste before exclaiming, "It's delicious! I didn't know your family had a sauce like this!" She gave him a grin before eating another chunk of it.
Oz smiled at her response. "Is it? I'm glad that it doesn't tastes funky." He took another swig of punch before noticeably frowning. "This punch tastes...a bit weird."
"Really?" The brunette reached over and filled her cup with the punch before taking a sip herself. She noticed how it had a strong smell and how it left a weird tang on her tongue. The taste of the punch was also different from the normal taste she was familiar with. "It does..." Then it hit her.
"Someone spiked it!"
Oz's eyes widened and he tried to suppress the punch he was almost to spew out of his mouth. He grabbed a napkin and wiped off the drips from the corners of his mouth. "W-Wait, you mean someone put alcohol in this?"
Alice set her cup down on the table and rolled her eyes. "Yes, dummy. What else did you think I meant?"
"N-Nothing. But...who spiked it?"
All of a sudden, big hands clamped down on their shoulders, scaring the heck out the two kids. "I did~!" a joyful voice sang out from above their heads.
They couldn't help but sigh and do a face-palm. OF COURSE. It was none other than Uncle Oscar. "You DO realize that we're only minors, correct, Uncle Oscar?" Oz said.
The bearded man stepped back and studied them. "Is that so?" he asked, scratching his short beard. "You two seem perfectly fine."
"That's because we didn't really drink a lot of it," Alice pointed out.
"Why don't you drink a bit more?"
"I JUST SAID THAT WE'RE MINORS," Oz hissed.
"But the experience is one of a kind!"
Oz scoffed. "Yeah, having a hangover in the morning is an amazing experience~! No thanks," he said before dragging Alice away from his uncle. Alice just kept quiet, her plate of meat still in her hands.
-x-x-x-x-
A few hours passed and it was almost nearing 8 P.M.
Suddenly, Uncle Oscar and Jack stood up from their seats. "This has been a wonderful day, but we must be going. Thank you so much for your hospitality, everyone," Jack said, smiling.
Alice's parents stood up as well. "It was a pleasure. Please come and visit us once again if you have the time."
"Oh, we will. Well, we'll be taking our leave now. Come now, Oz." The young blonde nodded and walked over to his relatives.
'Wait, he's leaving?' Alice trailed behind slowly. '...What if he doesn't come back...? Or forgets about me?' she thought sadly, but she shook her head to clear the negative thoughts in her mind. "Oz..." she said sadly.
Oz turned around to face her, giving her a smile. "Alice."
Alice couldn't help but hug him and bury her face in his shoulder, inhaling his scent. "You'll come back, right?"
Oz was taken aback by her sudden action, but he soon relaxed and wrapped his arms around the petite brunette, patting her back. He buried his face in her hair, noting that it smelled like lavender. "Yeah."
They pulled away and Alice stared at him, unsure. "Promise?"
Oz nodded. "Promise."
Jack interrupted them by tapping on Oz's shoulder and whispering in his ear. "Why not seal it with a kiss?"
At that, the young boy felt his whole face burn. "Wh-What?"
Jack just grinned and pointed above their heads. Confused, Alice and Oz looked up.
A mistletoe was hanging over their heads.
"..." The two didn't say anything.
Uncle Oscar gleefully danced around them, throwing flower petals in the air with a happy-go-lucky expression on his face. "Go! Go, Oz, my boy!" Everyone was staring at the two, hoping that they would go with it and kiss.
Instead of going with it, they just stepped away from the mistletoe with dead-panned faces, completely disappointing everyone as they said, "Awwww..."
The blonde-haired boy laughed, making everyone look at him curiously. "Just kidding~!" he sang before leaning down and pressing his lips against Alice's in a chaste, yet sweet kiss. Everyone in the room suddenly brightened and cheered.
Alice just stood there, her eyes widening as she comprehended on what was happening. The blonde-haired boy that she had known for a day and a half was kissing her! Even though it was just a peck.
But Oz had pulled away just as quick and Alice continued to stare, dumbfounded. "Don't worry, Alice. I'll come visit once in a while," he said, giving her a smile.
Alice snapped out of her trance and she watched as Oz tucked a stray lock of her hair behind her ear as he leaned in and planted a kiss on her forehead. "May destiny bring us back together again, Alice," he whispered in her ear before pulling away. He smiled at her parents and bid them good-bye before leaving with Uncle Oscar and Jack.
The brunette's hand absently reached up to her forehead, brushing her fingers against the skin Oz kissed. Her hand brushed against something smooth placed behind her ear and Alice picked it up.
It was a red rose.
She smiled and held it to her chest. Oz and his company were on their way home now, Alice could see from the windows.
"May destiny bring us back together again...Oz..."
-x-x-x-x-
So how was it? Good, or bad? I know that the summary said something about having a teacher and school, but these two chapters haven't said anything about it. Don't worry! On Chapter Three, that's where it starts! :) Oh, and I might not be updating any time soon, now that state exams are right around the corner for me. But I'll have another chapter up by the end of this month after the exams, hopefully! So review, review, review! It helps! Later!