XOXO - R.G.

Prologue

"I'll miss you so much. Are you sure you can't come with me?" Alice Fern asked her mother, who shot her a sympathetic look; Alice was about to hop on a plane and travel halfway across the country to Evanston, Illinois to live with her aunt and cousin.
"I'm sorry, you know I could if I would honey. Call me as soon as you land, okay?" Alice's mother pulled her into a hug before sending her off.
"Okay, bye mom." Alice bid as she turned around walked through the departures gate, nervous for what would face her in the new environment.

-

Within a few hours, Alice's plane landed. As she was eager to get off the stuffy tin box, she quickly gathered her luggage and rushed off the plane, pushing past innocent passengers who shot her a scowl.

Emerging from the Arrivals gate, Alice looked out to the crowd of people waiting for their loved ones until her eyes fell on her slightly-older cousin, Janis. Her eye makeup was bold and smokey, with colourful streaks in her hair and a resting scowl on her face, which only slightly lifted when she made eye contact with Alice.

"Hey," Alice awkwardly greeted as she approached Janis.
"Hey." Janis responded, her expression unchanged.
"Thanks for picking me up." Alice continued, in efforts to start up some sort of conversation.
"No problem. How was the flight?" Janis asked, finally cracking a slight grin.
"It was fine. Was sat next to this man that I'm pretty sure kept farting the entire time..." Alice trailed off, screwing up her face.

Janis snickered, then fake gagged, "Ew." She then picked up one of Alice's bags and led her out to the car.

"So, are you excited to be here?" Janis asked as she loaded her cousin's extremely heavy bags into the boot of her beat-up KIa.
"Ehhhh... Not for being the new kid at school." Alice responded unconvincingly, which made Janis laugh.
"Oh, well," She responded, "I'll show you the ropes at North Shore. All you really need to know is to stay far away from the Plastics."
"The Plastics?" Alice questoned, laughing at the childish name that reminded her of Barbie dolls.

"Oh, just you wait and see..."