Light in the darkness

35. World is turning upside down

Alice's breathing skipped as soon as she ran another mile. It wasn't her very first run, but she still was a beginner. Couldn't say the same about Hermione. Ever since she came back to Riverdale and moved into Fred's house, she tried to keep her mind busy. As it turned out, running, jogging, and working out was not only helping her with staying in shape but had a great impact on her mental health.

One day she had asked if Alice would want to join her during her morning runs and she agreed. Though she had never been too much into sports it was time to change it. And now when she finally found time to start working out, she saw that her condition wasn't in the best place.

The two women were running down the Picken's Park alleys. They were passing other runners and joggers. It somehow was comforting for Alice that she and Hermione are not the only ones working their asses out early in the morning when half of the town was still fast asleep.

But something didn't feel right today. With every other step, Alice felt the weakness taking over her body. She tried to get that thought out of her mind but it was stronger than she thought. Another step, another inhale, another exhale. She couldn't fight it anymore.

Alice stopped running and placed her hand on her stomach when she threw up. Her eyes started glossing over with tears as the toxins were leaving her body. She felt Hermione's hand patting her back comfortingly. When nausea stopped for a while she collapsed on the nearest bench.

"Hey, are you alright?" Hermione asked worriedly and handed Alice a bottle with cold water.

"Just give me a minute." She breathed out in response. The world still seemed to be spiraling around, but she didn't want the weakness to take over her.

"You looked a little bit paler than usual." Hermione pointed out quietly. She had noticed that Alice didn't look good. She felt a little bit guilty that she didn't tell her to go back home and lie down at the beginning.

"It's because FP and that whole 'eat breakfast before going out' thing." A cold scoff left Alice's lips. She felt the weakness in her hands when she pressed a bottle to her lips, taking a long sip of cold water.

"But you know he's right?" Hermione kneeled in front of the bench Alice was sitting at and sent her friend a warm smile. But Alice didn't return the gesture.

She couldn't hide that she was mad at him. She knew that FP was right, she was just too mad to admit it. And no matter if Hermione thought that she was insane for being mad at a guy just because he cared about you, Alice had more reasons to be mad at him. It was just a stupid last push to gather everything together and burst.

When FP let Alice into his life once again, she wanted to believe they wouldn't make mistakes. And it was the worst thing she could've done. Everyone makes mistakes. It didn't mean that they shouldn't try to avoid them, but sometimes making a mistake was a natural thing. Sometimes people are just getting lost in their messy life and are making too many mistakes. That was what FP did.

"Come on, let's get back to running." Alice patted Hermione's shoulder and got up from the bench way too fast. She felt that the second the world started spiraling once again.

"No way, I'm walking you home. No buts." Hermione wrapped her arm around Alice's waist and carefully took a very first step. It was time to take her home.

***

Alice angrily closed the door behind her back and took a deep breath before going further into the house. She could sense that the bomb inside her would burst in a matter of seconds. It just needed one last final push to finally explode.