I'VE GOT MY EYE ON YOU, tyler galpin

11 / the silent treatment

If you go, I'll stay

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"Have a good evening, bye!" Tyler said goodbye to the last customer for the day and the Weathervane was finally empty. "Phew, today was one of the longest shifts ever, I'm exhausted."

Alice stayed silent, drying the last cup in her hand and not saying anything.

"I actually thought about inviting you to my place, but I think you're also tired, right?" The boy asked as he took off his red apron and put it away. But when she stared at the ground with a blank expression and didn't reply, he saw something was off. "Alice, you okay?"

"Hm-mmm? Oh, uh, yeah, sorry..." She showed him a fake smile and put the coffee cup below the counter in the cabinets.

"You're not okay." 

Alice looked up at him in confusion. "What? What are you talking about?"

"I can see something's wrong," Tyler moved closer to her, not taking his look off her. "When you zone out, you have something on your mind."

The girl looked up from the ground and at him with a sigh. "Ms. Thornhill asked me some freaky questions today about us. It scared me and I'm trying to understand if it was really that bad or if I'm just overreacting."

Tyler instantly became much more interested. "Well, what kinds of questions did she ask?"

"About us, but they got weirdly specific," She said. "In the end, she advised me to cherish our relationship and that was the weirdest shit ever."

"Those might seem a bit personal." Tyler tried to agree.

"Exactly! See, I'm telling you, I knew I wasn't the only one who thought that way." Alice happily exhaled out of relief.

"But-but maybe she wants a relationship and-and needed some help from you, don't you think?" The boy suggested. "Maybe she wasn't doing anything with harm, I'm sure it wasn't anything bad."

"I don't know what her goal was, but I won't stress myself over this anymore," Alice said as she picked up her school bag from the ground and kissed Tyler on his cheek. "Do you mind closing the place? Weems is coming to my place to talk with Nancy and I have to be there so she doesn't tell nonsense to her."

"Woah, the principal is coming to your home? Did you get into that much trouble?" Tyler asked dumbfounded.

"By her standards, yes. By my own, no. Anyways, I gotta go. Love you!" Alice said without thinking a second time but noticed Tyler's face full of joy after she walked around the counter. "What is it?"

"No, it's nothing, it's just...you said "I love you" for the first time." 

Alice leaned against the countertop and smiled. "Yeah, I guess I did. Will you say it back to me though?"

Tyler took a few steps over to her and kissed her on the lips. "I love you too."

The girl giggled at his words and sprinted out of the cafe as fast as she could to her apartment. When she unlocked the door, she instantly saw Principle Weems and her aunt, sitting at the kitchen table and drinking tea like nothing.

"Alice, darling, please," Weems chuckled and pointed to a seat next to her. "Join us."

Alice hesitantly took off her shoes and walked over to the table, sitting down next to her and sending her a fake smile. "Lovely to see you again, miss."

"Alice," Nancy cleared her throat and sent her a glare. "Did you close the place? How did it go?"

"Oh, great, perfect," The girl heavily sighed and took a cup, pouring in some tea for herself as if she had an exhausting day. "So many customers, so much work - just so much going on, I wish I could just go to bed, you know?"

"I understand you're feeling fatigued, but how about we solve your problem in a friendly matter and leave it behind us once and for all?" Principle Weems suggested with a smile. "I'm sure you want nothing more."

"Wrong, I actually want dinner, which I would be making for myself right now if it wasn't for you barging into my-"

"Okay, that's enough, Alice," Nancy cut her off before she could say anything more. "Larissa, I believe Alice has had a lot on her place recently - an unexpected decision to stay, a new school to adapt to, last year before college - and I would appreciate it if you would acknowledge that."

Principle Weems turned to look at Alice, trying to maintain a calm presence, and smiled. "Of course, I only want what's best for Alice. But what she did was certainly out of line and needs to take responsibility for her actions."

The girl rolled her eyes at that statement as Nancy continued talking. "Of course, we haven't had the chance to have the talk, but tonight will be the day we do. I would like to apologize to the family of the poor girl if that's possible-"

"Oh, no, no, you're not the one who's supposed to be doing it," Larissa leaned in on the table and took Nancy's hands in hers, sending Alice a death glare. "Alice should be the one."

Alice was barely holding back from punching her in the face but put on a fake smile and nodded. "Of course, that's the least I could do. Are we done here?"

Principle Weems looked away with a proud look on her face and Nancy decided this was more than enough for one night. She escorted Larissa outside, but as soon as she closed the door, she went silent and Alice knew what was about to come her way.

"In my defense, the girl acted terribly toward me, she disrespected me and treated me like an idiot-"

"Not another word, Alice," Nancy sighed as she began turning off the lights in the apartment and getting ready for bed. "Go to bed, you have school tomorrow."

It was obvious Nancy was mad at her because of the eye contact avoidant, and low voice tone. She was pissed, but Alice wasn't going to let that slide. Say what you want to say about her being immature, but when no one was believing her, besides Tyler, she was starting to get frustrated.

"So, now you're going to put me on the silent treatment? Wow," Alice scoffed as she followed her aunt around the apartment slowly. "Very mature of you, Nancy. You know, of all people, you should be on my side, but you're quite the opposite."

"I'm not the one who just assaulted a girl for ordering at my coffee restaurant." Nancy turned around and looked at her.

"For the last time, she was verbally abusing me," Alice was about to raise her voice. "Why is everyone only looking at me?"

"Okay, you know what, Alice? Just go to bed, it's late and you have class first thing in the morning." Nancy had enough of her attitude and closed the door on her way to her bedroom, leaving Alice all alone in the dark living room.

The girl slowly sat down in defeat on the couch and took a moment to herself. And in a moment of desperation and anger, she broke down in heavy tears of frustration.

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