I stared up at the strange man. He wasn't normal, that was for sure, but he wasn't so odd as to send up flags in my head. He wore a simple suite, black and tailored to perfection. But the suite had random rips that had been sewed with colorful string, and the pants had paint splattered in random patterns. His top hat had a single card sticking out of the brim, the queen of hearts.
"Come little Alice, I shall show you the true meaning of madness."
I woke up in a sweat, my socks had fallen off in my sleep so my feet were cold, but every other part of my body was burning up. I rose from my makeshift mattress and rushed to my small bathroom before throwing up my dinner. This was normal, I usually threw up after having The Dream, but I knew I would still get in trouble. Hopefully the smell wouldn't wake up my aunt. And hopefully I hadn't been screaming in my sleep again.
After I finished I whipped my mouth and went back to my room. My aunt and I lived in a trailer in the small town of Rutland, Mass. My mother and I used to live in London, but when I turned three she dropped me off at my aunts and never came back to pick me up. When I turned 10 we moved to America and I've lived here ever since. My mom was never very rich, and my aunt was even less so, and taking care of me didn't exactly help the money problem.
I had school that day so I threw on an old pair of jeans and my favorite black hoodie. I only owned three outfits, but I didn't mind, I was never one to beg for millions of possessions. I quickly ran a brush through my purple streaked brown hair and smeared on some eyeliner and lip gloss. I grabbed my book bag that I found on the side of the road a few months back and tied on my favorite black converse. Then I rushed out the door to make it to the bus stop.
Bus rides had never been very eventful, just full of dumb kids and dumb social systems. I had always enjoyed studying the social tower of my school and over my school years I had written a guide to going to Rutland High-school. The bus seating went as follows: Popular stuck up rich kids in the back, those who worship the pops for some odd reason get the next two benches. After that the list goes jocks, cute girls that should be popular but didn't cut it, girl jocks, emo kids, nerds, geeks, those kids that nobody knows the name of, and then the rest of us. Yea I sit in the front, but I like the bus driver, he's nice to me and he always gives me a lunch since I never have one.
Once we pull into the school the cool kids file out from the back. Our bus was weird, we went from back to front instead of front to back. I had a theory that Mandy Krew's daddy paid the principal to make the bus drivers unload us like that so Mandy and her friends were never late to homeroom. Once all the kids were out but me and two others Kevin handed me a lunch.
"Thanks Kevin, your a life saver" I grinned at my bus driver.
"Anytime Alice."
Our school was pretty small, since our town was pretty small, so we only had one bus. I've always felt pretty bad that Kevin had to deal with all these kids, so one day I sat behind him and talked to him about it. He and I had been friends ever since, even though he's 25 and I'm only 16.
Though most kids hate school I tended to like it. Not only is learning new things actually really cool, school was an escape from daily life. Summers were the worst. My aunt wouldn't let me sit in my room all day so she made me get a job, and when I wasn't at my job she would make me go outside. Just imagine: You have nothing to do so you just roam around the city, every couple miles you pass someone you know. Eventually you pass some of the populars who make fun of you. Now imagine that everyday. That was my summer.
Creative writing class was first. I loved that class. Mrs. Dodgy always loved my stories.
"Alright, Alright settle down! First off we will be starting a new project. This will be done in pairs, I will read off the partners and then explain the project," Mrs. Dodgy shouted as she walked in. She pulled out a hat and shook it.
"This hat has all of your names in it, so this is fair I will have each of you come up and pick a name. " We all got in line and the pairs began to form. Ron and Lynn, Jess and Tyler, Mandy and Fern, Brady and Garett, Andy and Joe. Then it was my turn. I slowly reached in, my hand brushing the crumpled papers. I chose one at the very bottom, underneath all the others. I handed it to Mrs. Dodgy.
"Alice and Charles" Mrs. Dodgy announced. I groaned internally, Charlie was a stuck up brat, I would most likely end up doing all the work.
"Hey there partner" he grinned and sat down next to me.
"Yea" I grunted. I would make this as painful for him as it was for me.
"Okay ladies and gentlemen, your projects will be based on the inner workings of your imagination. You will write a story on what makes you tick. Tell us about your fears, your dreams, all the little things you love. Your partner will be there if you need help, they will be the only ones to know what your writing about. You will tell nobody else. Now, I don't care how long it is, and I don't care how well written it is, that comes after, I want a story. Good luck, and get to work!" She clapped her hands and we all began.
"So," Charlie began, "What are you gonna write about?"
"Why would I tell you? your probably just gonna copy it." I turned away and began working.
Once school was over I began making dinner so Auntie wouldn't kick me out. While the chicken cooked I took out my paper and began to write more. That was when my phone chimed. My mother bought me an emergency phone before she left, for just in case times. My aunt only let me keep it because it was cheap. Only two people had my number, my mother, and Cathy, my only friend. Cathy knew not to text my phone unless she needed to, so that could only mean one person had texted me.
I scrambled for my phone. When I opened it the number came up as unknown. Not my mother. The text just said how's it going.
Who is this? I texted back.
Charlie. was the reply. Cathy must have given him my number. he probably told her it was for a project or something.
What do you want scumbag? I texted back. He took a few minutes to reply.
I'm having trouble with my story! come over? He replied. Hell no, he probably wanted to pull a prank on me or something. Like Ha, you thought you were cool enough to get invited over here? Nope.
No
Why?
Because I don't trust you.
Well you should. besides your supposed to help me. I don't wanna fail.
Whatever. I'll be there soon. Just know I hate you.
I pulled the chicken out of the oven and set it out for Auntie to eat. Then I grabbed my backpack and left.
