Longest freaking chapter thus far.

I hope you like it!

…..

ALICE: BLOODY WONDERLAND

CHAPTER FIVE: Tea time with Hatter-san

The rest of that day I stuck around Maurice at the top of the mountain. It had been hard getting up, but at least I was around at least one person I knew wouldn't hurt me. That thought stopped me short. Hurt me! As if…I suddenly realized how ridiculous the notion was. We were civilized! English were rumored to be the most civil of all the nations, with manners to match. I really shouldn't feel threatened at all. However, as I sat by the fire and felt Roger's gaze on me, I immediately re-evaluated my thoughts.

"So," Maurice laughed, "After that, the teacher was totally mad. We all got sent to the headmaster's office! And get this, the headmaster didn't even care. She thought it was funny! You should have seen the look on Ms. Moore's face. It was priceless."

"Uh-huh." I answered. I hadn't really been listening. Instead, I absorbed myself in the fire. The flames lapped at the sky, and at times I almost thought I could see myself inside. The flames…changed my eyes. The me from my dreams lived on the other side of that fire.

"Alice…"

"?"

"Alice…Come closer…heehee."

"Ok…" I crawled closer on my hands and knees, scuffing up my bruises. Someone snapped me back by my collar. I gasped and shrieked, but it was only Maurice.

"Alice! What the heck?! Were you about to…!?" Maurice exclaimed. I looked back up calmly.

"Sorry, there was something in there…that I needed to see."

Roger, a little ways away leaned up against a boulder, laughed darkly. "Maurice," He said with a mischievous sideways glance from beneath a curtain of black hair, "I wouldn't bother much with Alice. She's gone batty already."

"I have not!" I huffed angrily.

"Have too." Roger retorted devilishly, "Look at yourself."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Biting my lip, I turned away. Roger was such a pain. I still didn't like him; for all that it was worth. Just his face made me want to puke. Well, maybe not his looks, but definitely his smile. It was like he was trying to make people angry, and he was getting a real kick out of it.

"Whatever." He sighed with fake intensity, leaning down farther against the boulder and flashing Maurice and I another smirk. "Geez, Alice, you're so dense!"

"How did you learn my name anyway?" I asked, truly curious. I certainly hadn't told him.

"Oh," He chuckled, "Maurice talks about you enough."

"I do not!" Maurice turned red. I just looked between them quickly, still on my knees from being dragged away from the fire. Some sort of stand-off was going on here between the boys, but I couldn't quite understand it. I'd never understand them.

"Again, it's not like I care." Roger sneered, "It's just funny to mess with you two. Your reactions are…different."

"Are you calling us idiots?!" Maurice shouted, jumping to his feet. He grabbed the collar of Roger's black uniform and started to shake him back and forth. "I'll teach you…!"

"Now, now!" Roger laughed again. He seemed to be getting a kick out of this. "I never said that! Now you're just looking for an excuse to change the subject…Ow! Stop bashing my head against the rock! That hurts!"

"Make me!"

Roger pushed Maurice away easily once he felt like it. I turned my head to the side. Both were clearly a lot stronger than they looked at a first glance.

"Hey, Alice?" He asked, lacing a sweet, honey-like quality through his voice. It sounded so kind that it was almost mocking. Or maybe it was. I snapped to attention at my name being called. "Since you're up here, could you be a darling and fetch us something for lunch? We're going to be here until late, you know."

I pushed myself to my feet unsteadily and nodded. "Sure thing. It might be a while though." I replied. Roger just smiled in mock-friendliness.

"Thank you."

"Y-your welcome?" I started down the mountain. But not before I heard the starting of a conversation without me.

"See, I told you she was easily manipulated. It's no wonder Jack has his eye on her." Roger sighed.

"She's just a nice person that's all." Maurice shot back, "I don't see why anyone would want to hurt her like that."

"Just you watch." Roger responded. The conversation faded behind me. And, although I couldn't quite make the connection yet, their words sent shivers up my spine.

…..

After I'd gathered the fruit and shellfish, I made a loop back to where the plane had initially crashed. As I climbed up and out of the rut, something fell off of the lip of the scar and rolled back in. I dropped down as well, examining it with keen interest. It was a small metal bucket-looking contraption. I had originally intended to bring the water up in coconuts, but this would serve even better for carrying.

On my way up to the mountain, I went to the stream to fill it. That was when I heard it; faint rustling from the trees, the sound of voices. I felt my heart jump. Quickly, letting instinct take over, I ducked into some thickets and watched with wide eyes from the thorns as the hunting party went by. At its head, an all too familiar ginger gave orders. Holding my breath, I snuck out of the thicket and tried to go back up the mountain the back way. My dress caught on some prickers on my exit, leaving some pale pink fabric behind on the shrubs. I paid no heed. Instead, I ran as fast as my legs would allow me to go without hurting too much. It wasn't very fast. I screamed as someone walked out of the forest ahead of me and caught me by the shoulders.

"Alice, calm down!"

"M…Maurice." I gasped.

"Yeah, who else?" He said uncomfortably, taking a few things from my hands. "I was just on my way down to find you. It's been a while since you left, we were getting worried."

"I thought you were…never-mind." I finished, remembering my vow from earlier. "I can carry those. I don't need help." He looked surprised.

"R-really?!" Maurice smiled weakly, "Are you sure? I can help, really, it's no big deal…" He looked almost sad as I retrieved the fruit from him.

"I don't need help." I repeated quietly. He shrugged and headed back up the tree-covered mountainside.

"Ok then. See you in a minute." And he was off. I was really close to calling him back, of not to help then for the company on my travel. However, I managed to keep my mouth shut and tough it out on my own. After all, it was always what I'd done before; even before I'd met everyone on the island. I'd always been alone, I'd always be alone. That was just what I lived with. By the time I reached the plateau on the mountain top however, I was completely out of breath. If it continued this way, I would definitely need to exercise more.

"Well hello there, sweetheart." Roger greeted jokingly, "Good to see the sharks didn't get you."

I ignored his rude jests and just tried to keep my footing, balancing the food wrapped in leaves in my hands and the bucket full of water in my jaws. I winced with the effort, and started to topple to the side a bit. Determined to not look foolish in front of them, I took in a deep breath and prepared to walk the last few steps.

Big mistake.

My foot caught on a rock and I fell forward, crashing into the ground. The food rolled out of my grasp and was probably no worse for wear. The bucket had been spilled along with a bit of my blood. My chin stung from the impact, as well as my knees. My teeth hurt too; holding the bucket during the fall had done quite a number on them. I heard a sizzled and my heart dropped. It couldn't be…no!

"Nice going, darling." Roger mocked, "You put out the fire! Geez, when blondie sees this he's going to shit bricks." He made a 'tsk'ing noise with his tongue. I looked up from the ground. The wounds had brought tears to my eyes and closed up my throat. Maurice saw me and rushed over.

"I told you I could help!" He scolded, helping me to my feet, "Sometimes I don't understand you, Alice."

"Make that all the time!" Roger jested further, not bothering to even move. I brushed off the dirt from my scrapes and helped gather what remained of the lunch. Guilt and worry gnawed through my innards, so when they finally sat down to eat, I didn't care to join in.

"Hey," Roger directed at me, although he didn't look my way. His mouth was full of food, so I guess he was only trying to attempt good manners. "Don't be so down about the whole fire thing. We'll fix it later. I doubt a ship's gonna come anyway, so there's really nothing to be sad about."

"Yeah," Maurice smiled genuinely, "No use crying over spilt tea."

"I know." I whimpered.

"Does that mean you're going to eat?" Roger suggested, "Because honestly I haven't seen you eat a single thing since we crashed on this goddamn island."

"Watch your mouth." I grimaced angrily.

"Make me." He bit at me and continued to eat, chin slightly up. It was becoming clear that no matter how many times I attempted to be nice to this boy, we would never be friends. Not to say that we'd be enemies either. We just wouldn't have a conversation where we didn't fight or he didn't make fun of me.

"Never mind him, Alice." Maurice gently said, reminding me of the first day. "He's right though, you really should eat something."

"Never mind him, Alice!" Roger mocked in a high-pitched voice, "You should eat something! Like my-"

This earned Roger a smack to the back of the head. He laughed devilishly. Maurice looked peeved. I vaguely wondered what he was about to say, but cut the thought short when my stomach growled. Ok, so maybe I was a little hungry. I picked up a mango and started to eat. Shellfish had never agreed with me.

"So, when do we stop watching the 'fire'?" Roger put fire in air quotes. I blushed.

"Whenever we get tired of it I suppose." Maurice shrugged, still upset about Roger's last comment.

"So, whenever we're done eating here, I think I'm gonna hang out by the beach for a while." Roger announced to no one in particular. I think he knew that no one cared, because it was quite obvious that Maurice wasn't enthusiastic with spending time on the beach with him, and as he said before, I was pretty dense. So, if he was insinuating something vulgar, I couldn't really tell. "How about you, Alice?" He sneered, "Do you want to join me?"

"Not in your dreams, Roger." Maurice frowned. I laughed for the first time in a while. Their banter was getting ridiculous.

The two boys stared curiously. I stopped laughing and tensed up, uncomfortable under their glances.

"Wh-what are you staring at?!" I exclaimed, louder than I usually would. If there was anything that unsettled me, it was people staring at me.

"You're laugh is very cute." Roger smiled. It was most likely fake.

"No need to be embarrassed." Maurice excused for me, "Sorry."

"N-no problem." I put on a straight face, "Anyway, I'll probably just walk about somewhere. Nothing fancy. I need to stretch my legs."

Roger laughed darkly about some inside joke apparently only he knew.

"Maurice can help you with that." He smirked. Maurice turned bright red.

"He…can?" I asked.

"Oh, shut up." Maurice finally broke in, covering part of his face with the collar of his shirt. "Alice, let's blow this popsicle stand. Before Roger infects your mind any more than he already has done with mine." He sighed and dragged me up to my feet. I frowned. What was he talking about?

"Oh, that's not the only thing you'll be blowing!" Roger shouted back, sticking a banana in and out of his mouth.

"Shut up already, man!" Maurice retorted, "That's disgusting!"

"You bet it is!" Roger waved and smiled too wide to be natural as we left, "Have fun, Alice! And don't forget, I'm here all week! Thanks for coming!"

"I'm glad he doesn't run stand-up comedy." Maurice muttered under his breath, "He would probably get banned from the tellie anyway."

"What was he talking about?" I asked curiously.

Maurice froze and laughed. "Don't worry about it. Roger's just being gross."

"Oh. Ok."

Just as said, I forgot all about it.

…..

I was going to combine the next chapter with this one, but it just seemed a little too long, so I didn't. :P

I hope you guys liked it, I really do. Sorry about Roger's sick sense of humor.

THANKS FOR READING! EVEN THOUGH COCOLADA I THINK IS THE ONLY ONE WHO ACTUALLY ENJOYS IT, BUT THAT'S OKAY. I STILL LIKE WRITING IT!

PLEASE REVIEW! THANKS FOR READING!