Beautiful ➳ Neil Perry.

trois

Alice felt her heart racing; she could feel his gaze fixed on her. Everyone sitting around the fire began introducing themselves one by one. There was Charlie Dalton, Richard Cameron, Steven Meeks, Gerard Pitts, Todd Anderson, Knox Overstreet, and Neil Perry.

"Everyone, this is Alice Holt. Quite pretty, isn't she?" Adrienne stuck out her tongue at Alice before bringing her cigarette up to her lips, "Why did you come so late, by the way? You missed Todd's poem."

Adrienne and Alice always joked around and called each other pretty excessively during school. It was different being called pretty in front of such a large group of males; Alice felt quite anxious this time. She maintained eye contact with Adrienne, who had a cheeky grin plastered on her face.

"I slept in, actually. Chris and I have been up since ten, so I thought I'd rest awhile before coming."

"You know Chris?"

The boy sitting on Neil's left shifted in his seat. His voice sounded rather happy and overjoyed.

"Yes, I do. Chris is my best friend. Why?"

"Knox Overstreet," he said, "Does she talk about me?"

Knox was overjoyed to hear that Chris did talk about him; and very often. Chris wanted to talk to him more, get to know him more. After the violent incident with Chet at her house, she never got the chance to apologise properly for Chet's behaviour. It was strange for Alice to see Knox for the first time, yet feel a sense of familiarity.

Everyone soon broke out into several different conversations. She turned her body away from Adrienne and Jessica, who continued to smoke their cigarettes. Alice was not a fan of cigarettes. Her father never smoked inside the house or anywhere near her for her own sake; she was asthmatic. When she felt her chest starting to tighten, she stood up, excusing herself, before leaving the cave.

Following after her was Neil, who wondered what made her leave so suddenly. Everyone had their eyes glued to him, wondering what he was to do. Alice took deep breaths, inhaling the cold fresh air the early morning had to offer. With her back still facing him, he gave her a few more moments to herself before he found his position beside her.

"Are you alright?"

"I just needed some fresh air," Alice replied, "I can't handle it when people smoke."

"Asthma?"

Alice nodded, "Were you wondering why I didn't pick up a smoke?"

"Yes, actually." he admitted.

"You go to Welton Academy, don't you?" Alice ran her fingers through her long hair, "What is it like?"

"Hell, actually. For me, at least."

"Really? Why is that?"

Alice heard from her father that Welton had to be the best school in the area. Her father would've had her attend the school if it weren't only for boys. Alice's father graduated from the school in 1934, and from there, he never really faced any financial struggle. Stephen always gave the credit to his education, and couldn't feel any more guilt for sending his only daughter to a mere public school; there weren't any private girl schools in Vermont.

"Everybody expects you, when you graduate, to pick up a job that pays you handsomely. You're only expected to work in a bank, become a businessman, go to law school, or medical school."

"Isn't that what we all want, Neil?"

"What do you want to do after graduating, Alice?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

"To go to medical school, of course. And you?"

"Medical school?" he chuckled, "Is that what you really want?"

"What do you mean?" Alice stuttered a little, unsure of what Neil was trying to suggest. He smiled, a little.

"Is that what you want, or is that what your father wants?"

Neil really did know how to silence Alice. As much as she hated to admit, Neil was right. Alice never thought of what she wanted to do, and decided she'd go to medical school because of her father's wish for her to do well.

"I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately," Neil suddenly said, "I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. To put to rout all that was not life; and not, when I had come to die, discover I had not lived."

Alice turned to Neil, her smile not fading away. There was something about him that she really liked.  He, although they had only known each other for two days, had already intrigued her. And intriguing Alice Holt was probably one of the most difficult things to do in the twentieth century.

"Where's that from?" Alice asked.

"You haven't heard of it? It's from Walden."

Alice wasn't the biggest fan of literature. She had to admit that.

"Anyway, what did you want to do after high school, Neil?" Alice asked out of curiosity.

"I want to do something for myself for once," he said in a firm tone, "Not for anyone else. Just me."

The wind blew, sending a cold shiver down Alice's spine. It was a very chilly morning, and Alice underestimated the weather. Trying to keep herself warmer, she folded her arms across her chest. It wasn't until today that she realised how useless her cardigan had been against the wind. Alice suddenly felt a weight fall onto her shoulders, somewhat stopping her from shivering. She looked to Neil, who had just taken off his jacket and placed it on her shoulders. He was smiling warmly, fixing the jacket, so it wouldn't fall from her shoulders.

"Wait, Neil," she struggled to find the words to say, "Aren't you cold? I'll be fine!"

"I'm fine, don't worry. Besides, I've got a jumper on. I'd be more worried about you."

The ends of Alice's lips curled into a smile. Could anyone be more thoughtful and caring?

"Thank you, Neil."

All of a sudden, Alice no longer felt cold anymore, as if the world had warmed itself up just for the two of them. She had never felt so warm in the insideㅡ it was a strange sensation, but she loved the feeling. If this is what she'd feel like spending time with Neil, she wanted to spend more time with him.

"Will you come by tomorrow?"

"Of course."