The Star in the Darkness

Chapter 2

Hope you don't mind but this is a quite a bit longer than the last one... I needed to get a lot covered for this chapter because things are starting to escalate now... anyway here it is!

**********************************************************************************

I look at you and I see myself, I know you better than anyone else. And I have the same faucet in my eyes, so your tears are mine...

The school bus swerved suddenly and Alice gripped her seat, lurching to the right. Her headphones unplugged with a jerk and the song was cut off abruptly. She straightened up to look out of the window.

Like every morning, the bus had narrowly missed the school gates, alerting everyone who didn't have fast reflexes that they were now in school, by chucking them out of their seats. Alice wrapped her headphones around her phone and tucked them into her bag next to her treasured book. She swung her bag strap onto her shoulder and edged into the aisle between the seats, then began to shuffle forward with the line of students pushing towards the exit. Finally, she was able to step off the coach. Balance still off from the sudden lurch at the gates, she stumbled to the left, catching herself at the last moment.

"Idiot"

She re-shifted her bag strap, before stepping forward to walk with the crowd making its way to the long grey building ahead. Alice caught the heavy door and held it open for the next person, then headed up the hallway to her form room of four years. She pushed open the green door.

It was a small room, probably  designed for a GCSE class of around fifteen. Mr Smith, their form tutor, had not yet assigned seats, which meant that getting to sit down was a lottery. The form was packed, many of her class sitting on tables next to their friend's seats. There was only one seat left untouched. A slim, dark-haired boy was seated at the little desk for two, tapping his fingers absent-minded on the table. Reluctantly, Alice  went over and coughed awkwardly to gain his attention. He looked up, ice blue eyes still stuck in his daydream. Alice swallowed.

"Would you mind if I sat-"

He jumped into action and yanked his bag off the chair next to him.

"Sure- sorry"

"It's OK"

Alice sat down gingerly on the edge of the chair, then shuffled her legs under the table awkwardly. She reached down, dug into her bag and pulled out her book, flipping quickly to the last page she had read to for the tenth time, the page when her namesake took part in the Caucus-race with the curious creatures. Suddenly, her dark-haired neighbour stopped tapping.

"Is that 'Alice in Wonderland' ?"

Alice perked up immediately and looked up from her book with a small smile... which just happened to be the first real one in days.

"Yes it is. Why? Have you read-"

Before she could question him, Mr Smith entered and clapped his hands together.

"Okay class, quiet!"

His Scottish accent rang out and everyone fell quiet. He went to the tall front desk and yanked a sheet of paper and a pen from his laptop bag, his tie flapping as he dumped said bag on the desk with a thump. He pulled off the pen lid with his teeth and wrote something at the top of the register.

"Okay, who've we got here..."

Alice diverted her attention to her book and continued reading.

"James Black"

The boy with the dark hair answered with a "here" and a raise of his pale hand. James Black. He looked like a James, Alice thought...

"Alice Liddell?"

Her name brought her back from her thoughts.

"Sorry, here"

Mr Smith rolled his eyes.

"In wonderland again I see"

The class' laughter was drowned out as the bell rang.

"Okay class, enjoy your day"

"You won't"

*****************

Alice's heart pounded as she sat down in the math room. Mr Jones, her math teacher, quickly silenced the class and began to hand out the test papers.

"Now I want you all to remember that this is just a test, and won't count towards any of your end of year grades" he said, before handing a paper to Alice. But it was so much more than that to Alice. It was something that she could use to prove herself, something that if she passed would give her that little bit of positivity she craved.

"Start now"

She scribbled her name and opened the paper. She sighed with relief. The first page was easy, she had revised these questions thoroughly. She grabbed her calculator and answered the page with ease. Dropping her calculator, she turned the page.

What?

She stared at the paper. She hadn't revised this! The questions were completely foreign to her. In blind panic, she flipped over to the last page. The same question type all down the page. Alice grabbed her pencil and began to scribble over the paper, hoping to achieve at least one mark on each question. But, as she made meaningless calculations, she realised she was fighting for a lost cause. 

"OK everyone, pack up"

She scribbled her last answer and handed the paper in, before packing her math set away with shaking hands.

"Well that was a failure" 

Her hands froze. It was back. She picked up her bag and ran out of the class, eyes blurry with unshed tears. She breathed heavily and raced down the corridor, pushing open the door. Fresh air hit her, cold and harsh.

In the corner of the school's land, grew a small wood that used to belong to the farmer that sold his hand for the school to use. It only took up the corner of the field but had been nicknamed 'the forest' by the year 7 form. She ran in to it and collapsed on a log that lay across the muddy earth. Her bag slipped off her shoulder and she buried her head in her hands, tears seeping through her sleeves.

"Well we know who didn't revise properly"

Alice shook her head, hands scraping through her hair painfully, dragging against her scalp.

"Either that or you're just plain dumb"

Her voice shook.

"Just leave me alone"

"Look at you, crying. Pathetic. Cry baby! Cry baby! Cry baby!"

Alice broke.

"GO AWAY!"

She lashed out, fists punching the air in pure, white hot, wretched anger. Her fists hit something warm and were gently grasped. Her eyes snapped open. James was standing in front of her, hands gripping her flailing wrists. Her cheeks flushed red and he dropped her wrists quickly, sensing her embarrassment. Alice quickly swiped her tears with her sleeve.

"Alice? Are you okay? Were you talking to someone?" he stammered, shifting his bag awkwardly. She shook her head and backed away. "None of your business!" she snapped, shocking them both. Cheeks still flushed, she picked up her bag and raced off, leaving a confused James to stare after her.

*****************************************************************************************************

I don't think I will have a regular update yet, I seem to just update when I get the time and an idea. Definitely there should be another in the next week :)