Shit! I forgot to clean this morning! She thought to herself.
"S-Sorry, I just had to get to scho-" she was silenced by the solid fist of Mr. Rogers across her face.
"I don't need your stupid excuses! Don't let it happen ever again! Or you'll regret it, I swear." he said throwing her to the tile floor, walking back into the living room, slumping his large round body onto the dusty couch.
Alice quickly stood up, throwing away garbage and cleaning the counters in a silenced panic. This wasn't uncommon, whenever she did anything wrong, there was the angry drunk man to beat her, so she did as she was told and hid in her room.
She held back the emotions boiling inside, sadness, confusion and rage. Afterwards she quickly walked up the steps to her small bedroom. It was a dark room, the walls covered with her favorite drawings, a small bed in the center and a dresser in the corner. This was her only escape, the only place she could be free. No one came in, only her, no one else.
The next day she walked through the snow filled woods and emerged onto the road on the other end, speed walking down the sidewalk. She did not cross the road today, she just quickly walked, her favorite black hoodie covering her large black and blue gash on her face. She couldn't tell anyone, who knows what Mr. Rogers would do....
"Alice! Hey, wait up!" said a familiar voice from behind.
"Hey, Ann." Alice responded with a monotone voice, back still facing her.
Ann caught up, grabbing Alice's shoulder as she caught her breath. Alice turned her head, looking out into the forest as Ann walked beside her.
"What's with the hood? Selling some drugs?" Ann giggled to herself.
"No, just.....you know.....cold." she said blandly.
Ann smirked and ripped off the hood, her eyes widened.
"Oh my god! What happened! Are you ok?" Ann said closely inspecting the black eye.
"Yeah, yeah! I'm fine I just......slipped and hit it on the counter top." She said, softly giggling nervously.
Ann looked at her face sternly. She knew Alice was lying, something was up.
"Hmm, if you say so. Just, if you need somebody, just know I'm always there for you." she said throwing her arm over her shoulder in confidence.
Alice nodded as the two girls walked towards the school.
Her day continued, people starred at her eye as she walked by, a few people asking about it and she gave them all the same answer, "it was an accident".
This was uncommon for her, usually people ignored her, not giving her even a glance. But she didn't like all the attention she was getting, so she wore her hood for most of the day. After school she quickly walked out of the building, not waiting for her only friend. She walked across the campus, tripping on the steps of the short stairs, when she saw two figures walk towards her. She looked at the ground, watching the concrete move under her feet. As she walked, a foot blocked her steps, tripping Alice onto the hard concrete floor. Her hand and elbow stopped her fall mostly but sent her notebooks and sketchbook flying in front of her. Red face with embarrassment, she squirmed onto her knees, grabbing her books in a panic. Laughing burst everywhere around her, her face turning into a deep red.
Sure, now people notice me. She thought to herself.
As she grabbed the last notebook she felt something hit the back of her head, brown liquid jumped in every direction, chocolate milk dripping off her bangs and onto her face. She froze, something tugged at the back of her mind. She felt her blood boil with rage until.....she just......snapped.
Dropping everything, she got up, spun around and ran towards one of the figures that had tripped her. The tall boy's eyes opened in shock as Alice's fist hit him in the gut, reaching up into his ribcage. He fell back wheezing, coughing up.....blood. As he sat on the concrete hugging his stomach her knee rammed into the side of his head. He coughed up more crimson when.....Alice grabbed his leg and, with her foot, broke it. A loud crack echoed against the brick walls of the school. she went for his arm when she saw the second figure run towards her. She dodged his punch slamming her elbow into his back, sending his body towards the concrete. The shorter boy quickly spun around, Alice sitting atop his stomach, punching his damaged face, over and over and over, until you could see blood pour from his nose and mouth. He struggled to stop her, but was too weak, he had no choice but to just take each and every blow.
"ALICE! STOP!" she heard someone yell, running towards the scene.
She looked up, hand positioned for another punch, but stopped once she saw the horrified look on everyone's faces, including Ann's.
She snapped out of what ever terrible phase she had entered and looked down at her bloody knuckles and mangled face of the boy.
