Falling horizons.

Chapter One: The Foundation of Friendshipart 2

Alice put her hand up to her head for what seemed like the thousandth time that day. For days, she had been subjected to fierce headaches that refused to be treated with an Advil or Tylenol.

"Alice, you really should see the nurse," insisted Sarah, looking at her friend with concern. Alice shook her head and straightened up. The pain had subsided somewhat to a dull throb in the back of her head and was barely noticeable. Alice wasn't about to miss an important day of school and give the headache the satisfaction of having defeated her.

"You sure," Sarah asked again, eyeing Alice suspiciously. Sarah could be overprotective and melodramatic, but Alice loved her like the sister she had never had.

Alice shifted her backpack onto the other shoulder, relieving the pressure for a moment and sighing as her aching muscles relaxed for a moment. Her backpack felt heavier than usual, and she sighed as she turned from Sarah, choosing not to answer the other girl's question.

"Let's get to class," Alice mumbled, walking away with Sarah close behind. Barely escaping the infamous tardy bell, Alice slid into her seat, ignoring her moody neighbor, as usual.

The boy who sat next to her never spoke, except when called on or forced to. On most days, he kept to himself, a strange recluse, immerged in his work and too distracted to notice her.

Alice had long since stopped feeling offended by his indifferent nature towards her; because it wasn't as if he treated anyone else differently. Alice had never seen him start a conversation with another person for the entire span of the year. At lunch, he would sit under the large maple tree by the field and stare absentmindedly at the clouds while everyone else talked with friends and enjoyed the short period of the day where they didn't have to listen to teachers.

She wasn't sure why the boy was always on his own. He was good at sports and had relatively handsome features. He stood at about 6' 2", had deeply tanned, russet skin that gave off a golden glow, and his hair was an unruly dark brown heap piled on top of his head above two almost violet blue eyes and a warm smile. She didn't know him that well, but he usually did well on the tests their teacher's passed back and sounded intelligent when he did speak, rarely. Solitude must have been his wish, because Alice was sure any of the students at school would have been willing to befriend him, had it not been for his standoffish nature. Alice wasn't even sure of the boy's name. It might have been Jason or Jeremy or Jackson. In any case, Alice doubted she would ever have to address him anyway.

Ms. Jennifer stood in front of the class, beaming broadly. Despite her neighbor's gloomy and reclusive attitude, Alice enjoyed this class more than any other. Ms. Jennifer was one of those teachers who made you forget that you were in a classroom.

Her descriptive language and elaborate stories often made them forget they were at school at all. No matter what the subject they were on, Ms. Jennifer always had a story relating to it that would make them laugh. It was easy to remember things she taught, and they stuck in your memory, like Velcro almost.

Ms. Jennifer paced across the room, fiddling with her long red locks of perfectly curled hair and explaining their next assignment, a creative art project focused on different countries mythology. Alice practically quivered with anticipation.

She did all right in school, mostly B's and a few A's, but literature was her true profession. Since she had been old enough to read, Alice had spent her free time devouring every book she could get her hands on. Her closet was overridden with stacks of books, and she had been forced to buy a dresser to put her clothes in, because there wasn't any more room in the closet, next to her library. Her obsession with reading was a constant source of amusement and teasing for her mother, but Alice didn't mind.