Mind Games.

chapter 22: Thanksgiving break.

The weekend of thanksgiving had arrived and I planned on spending it at Oliver's house along with Terence and Clark with Jean. I packed my bags in my dorm, ready to get out of this place for a little while. Libby had already left. Her parents lived in Oklahoma, so she had already boarded the plane. It was a nice Saturday morning, early and beautiful outside. Many of the trees leaves were barren, and the ground had awoken this morning with a small layer of frost over it. The twins parents were in Germany, so they left the moment the talent show ended. I didn't know about Connor, but I was glad to be rid of him for a few days. It gets tiresome looking over your shoulder twice a day, after all.
A knock came on my door, so I shouted to it,
"Come in!" The door creaked open, and Clark stepped in the room, hands in his coat pockets. His beard had grown into the status of scruffy, but it didn't matter. He smiled at me with his wrinkled mouth.
"Hey Alice. You need help?"
"No, I'm almost finished." I stated, waving my hands towards me.
"Come in, Clark." I told him, to which he replied by taking half a step closer and closing the door. He looked around the room and sighed loudly. I smiled to myself while folding a pair of jeans.
"Yes, Clark?"
"What?"
"You know what. Why are you sighing in an overly exaggerated manner?" I turned to face him with a playful smile on my face. He smiled tiredly back and sighed again.
"I just...can't believe that you're in college." He stated, but I doubted that's what he really wanted to say. But I didn't push it, I only nodded and smiled, clicking my suitcase shut and picking it up by the handle.
"Shall we?" I questioned, walking to the door. Clark nodded and reached in front of us, opening the door. I shuffled out into the hallway and started down the stairs with Clark right behind me. We walked up to a black Cadillac escapade that was parked in the parking lot. I set my bags in the trunk and buckled myself into the front seat.
Clark hopped in and started the car, pulling towards the street. Oliver lived in Cold Spring, New York, so the drive wasn't going to be that terrible, but it was still 2 hours long. After about five minutes of silence,we had turned off the turn pike on 56 and started towards New York. Clark whistled and twiddled his fingers on the the steering wheel.
"So...Alice?"
"Yes, Clark?" I asked him, looking up from the window.
"Have you been working on that packet I gave you?" He inquired. I bit the inside of my right cheek and shrugged.
"I have been, but I can't figure out the last chemical I need for the entire equation to work." I explained. He chewed on his bottom lip and nodded.
"Ok, well, the boss is having one of the best enginers from NASA coming over to Oliver's house tomorrow so you can discuss it."
"Uh-huh. And how old is he?"
"Why?" Clark asked, confused.
"The older a person is, the more self righteous they tend to be about themselves and their generation. I don't want an old man telling me I don't know anything because of my age group." I explained, turning to stare out the window. Clark laughed a little and shook his head.
"No, Alice, I'm pretty sure he is around 35 years old."
"You're positive?"
"I said I'm pretty sure, but either way, I don't think he'd say something like that to you."
"And why do you say that?" I asked him. He shrugged.
"The boss has already explained everything to the guys at NASA. They know you're the smartest person recognized by the government, so he'd be stupid for even thinking about correcting you." He finished, pulling off to a gas station. I smiled and leaned my head on the window.
"Ok."
"Would you like something?"
"An energy drink would be nice." I replied, rubbing my forehead. He nodded and disappeared inside the gas station.
We arrived at Oliver's place in Cold Spring at 2:30 in the afternoon. Jean was sitting on the front porch with Oliver's wife, Maria. When we pulled up and parked on the side of the street in front of the two story house, Jean smiled and got up out of her seat, walking down the stone pathway to the car. I stepped out, my legs greatful for the stretch after two hours of driving. I wrapped my hands around Jean as she pulled me in a tight hug. I had missed the warmth her arms brought to me.
"Its good to see you, Alice."
"You too, Jean." She squeezed my back in the way she always has. I smiled and pulled away. She hooked her arm under mine and pulled me towards the door. I frowned and turned towards the car.
"I have some bags-"
"Oh, don't worry, Clark will get them. So...I heard you sang nights in White satin for the talent show?" She asked, smiling at me. I nodded slightly.
"Yes, I did."
"I also heard you won!" She exclaimed. I giggled and nodded slightly again.
"Yes."
"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so proud of you." I smiled meekly as we walked the rest of the way in. Oliver's house was a two story Victorian style house with one cone shaped roof on top of the house. The front entrance showed a large oak spiral staircase that led to the second floor. Then there were two open doorways. One led to the living room and study on the right, the other led to the dining room and kitchen on the left.
Once we had entered, paisley came running down the stairs with a little cabbage patch kid with blonde hair.
"Mommy! Look at Tina's new dre-" she stopped in her tracks when she saw me standing there. She walked up to her mother's side and glued herself to her legs. Maria smiled and said,
"Paisley, this is Alice, Clark's daughter." I didn't bother correcting her, since I doubted paisley would understand. She looked up at her mother, then to me and smiled shyly. She waved.
"Hi. I'm paisley."
"I know, your daddy talks about you all the time." I said, smiling politely at her. She smirked in a manner of fact way and nodded.
"Yeah, I own him." Jean and Maria giggled and I nodded.
"Yes, it does seem that way. I like your doll."
"I have three other ones! Wait here, I'll bring them so you can see them." She disappeared as she ran up the stairs, bumping past Oliver. He frowned at us and pointed a thumb at her.
"What's her rush?"
"She's going to show Alice her dolls." Maria explained. Oliver nodded and walked the rest of the way down.
"When are we leaving for the orchards?" He asked. I frowned and looked a question at Jean. She smiled and explained,
"We're going to pick Apple's at the orchard outside of town for some apples to make Apple pie." She smiled and I turned to Maria, who was turned to face Oliver.
"As soon as Terence gets here."
"Ok, then." He stated, walking to the kitchen. Jean smiled and we sat down together at the table.
"So...have you met any cute guys lately?" She asked, making me think about Mr. Marsh and causing me to blush.
"No..."
"Oooo, what's his name?!" She giggled, scooting forward. I bit my lip and shook my head.
"No, I can't tell you."
"Aww, please? I swear I won't tell anyone!" She looked at me with wide eyes. Just tell her.
"Fine....Simon." she giggled and turned to Maria, who was also giggling.
"What does he look like-"
"Alice!" Paisley saved me by coming around the corner and plopping her dolls on the table. One had black hair, the other two had red hair. She smiled and took the seat next to me.
"I got this one from my grandma, and these two from daddy for Christmas." She explained, making me smile. Her mother smiled and patted jeans shoulder.
"C'mon, let's go put the buckets in Oliver's truck." Jean nodded and they left me alone with paisley. She handed me two dresses and said,
"Ok, should I put the girl with black hair in the pink one, or the purple one?" She looked at me. I looked down at them and thought.
"Hmm...I'd say...the....purple one." I told her, making her nod too.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." She pulled the purple one from my hand and gestured towards the dolls with red hair. "You can put that on one of them." I nodded and grabbed he one with her hair in a ponytail.
"This one?" I asked. She tilted her head and then nodded. Just as I began to dress the doll, Maria appeared in the doorway and said,
"Come on, girls. We're leaving for the orchards now." Paisley nodded and ran after her mother, leaving the dolls behind. I got up from the wooden chair and hopped back in the Cadillac escapade with Clark and Jean in the front. After I had buckled myself in, we started down the street towards a dirt road. The day was sunny with a mild breeze that lifted the leaves from the ground. They swirled in the air before finding a new spot to land. I smiled at them as we approached a set of giant iron gates that had the words, Apple grove, spelled out at the top. We all parked in front of a big cabin and walked in. We were greeted by a native man with long black hair tied into a ponytail. He smiled at us with worn eyes and said,
"You folks here to pick some apples?" Oliver nodded and said,
"We brought three buckets, how much will it be?"
"$60.00 even." The man replied, smiling. Oliver reached into his wallet and handed him a $100. The man gave us the change and we started out towards the trees. Paisley, Maria and Oliver went to one tree while Clark and Jean walked to another one. Terence and I walked up to a tall tree that had a ladder next to it. I climbed onto it while terence started grabbing the apples he could reach. There wasn't much to say, so we stood in silence for a few moments until I broke it by asking,
"Terence?"
"Yes, Alice?" He said, looking up with a smile. I bit my lip and said,
"Do you remember anything about my parents?"
"I know they're in the Pacific islands somewhere-"
"No, I know that. Do you remember anything else? I can't remember what they were like." It was a lie, but I wanted to know if anyone else besides me thought about them. Terence looked at an Apple that was in his hand. He threw it up in the air and caught it as it came down.
"They were always very happy. I've never met a more happy couple before them." After another second of silence, I looked down at him and questioned,
"What did they say when they were sent off?" He thought about it for a moment before he said,
"They said to take care of you." Then, he smiled sweetly and asked, "you know how they spent their last day with you?"
"How?" I asked eagerly. He smiled and picked another Apple.
"They had a big neighborhood barbeque. I was there, so was Oliver and Clark...heck, even Kendall came. They didn't talk about leaving, they told jokes and played songs on the guitar. They brought everyone's spirit up..." He trailed off, his smile fading. "I can't believe it's been 15 years..." He trailed off, leaving an eery silence between us. After a little while, I looked down and asked,
"Do you think I'll ever see them again?" Terence stopped for a moment, then he patted my shoulder and said,
"Anything is possible, Alice."

_______________________________________

Hope you liked it, enjoy the next one, bye! :).