Minds: Book One

Chapter Twelve

        “Hi Alice.” I said. She sat up and took my face between her hands and kissed me hard. She pulled away after a few seconds. Her hands slowly left my face and I immediately missed them. I sat down on the end of her bed.
        “So I’m normal now?” Alice asked Doc.
        “You should be.” Doc said as he laughed a little. Alice slowly got out of bed when she stood up my hoodie fell to just above her knees. She looked up at me and smiled like a little kid in a candy store. She wrapped her arms around Doc’s waist, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
        “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much Doc.” She said in and excited voice. He laughed and said, “You are more than welcome Alice.” She let go and smiled at everyone in the room. After a few minutes Doc and both of the nurses left. River wheeled himself over to Alice. She bent down and gave him a hug. He hugged her back and wheeled himself out from under the privacy curtain.
        “Do you want to go get our bunk assignments now?” I asked. She shook her head and walked over to me. She wrapped her arms around my waist and looked up at me.
        “Not yet, I want to go show you something.” She said. I bent down and kissed her lips.
        “Anything you want.” I said smiling down at her. She changed into some jean shorts and a light blue t-shirt. She put her hair up into a pony tail and put a pair of white flip flops on. She slipped her fingers between mine and lead me out from under the privacy curtain and out of the back door.

        Alice led me down to the edge of a cliff that over looked a huge lake. She looked over the edge then back at me.
        “Are you ready?” She asked excitedly.
        “Am I ready for what?” I asked nervously
        “We are going to do some cliff jumping.” She said with a wide smile on her face. I looked over at her and stared with wide eyes.
        “You’re kidding right?”
        “No.”
        “So you’re telling me that you want me to jump off this cliff with you?” She slowly shook her head.
        “You’re going to jump off by yourself.” She smirked at me.
        “YOU WANT ME TO JUMP OFF THIS CLIFF BY MYSELF?!” I yelled.
        She nodded her head.
        “It’s only a fifteen to twenty foot drop to the water.” She said as she kicked off her flip flops and picked them up. She stood on her tipsy toes and kissed my lips.
        “I’ll be waiting for you at the bottom.” She winked at me drove off the edge of the cliff. I rushed over to the edge and watched as she gracefully entered the water. She surfaced a couple seconds later. She smiled up at me and swam off to the side so I wouldn’t hit her when I jumped.
        I took off my shoes and held them in my hand. I took a few deep breaths as I stood on the edge. I looked down at Alice who was waiting for me in the water.
        “Just jump already you big baby!” She called up at me. I closed my eyes and jumped. I was only falling for a couple of seconds before I was submerged by water. The water was cold but it woke me up and made me feel alive. Just like Alice does. I swam to the surface and saw Alice swimming towards me. She flung her arms around my neck and kissed me. I put my hands on her thighs and made her wrap her legs around my torso.
        My hands slipped underneath her shirt and up her back. Her fingers slid up into my hair. She pulled herself closer into me, so her chest was pressed against mine.
        I could feel the curves in her chest. She gently put her tiny hands on either side of my face and pulled away. With her outstandingly beautiful eyes locked on mine she caressed my cheek bones with her thumbs.
        “You’re crazy for jumping off that cliff.” I said.
        “So are you.” She said.

        We walked back to the Safe House hand in hand together.
        “Are you excited about getting your bunk assignments?” I asked.
        “Yes! I’m so glad I’ll finally be able to sleep in one of those beds again.” She said. I opened the door for her and I followed her inside. It was a little after lunch time. I followed her up to Richards office. Alice gingerly knocked on the door. Richard looked up from his computer screen and flashed us a smile.
        “Are you guys here for your bunk assignments?” He asked pulling a notepad out of his desk drawer.
        “Yes, finally.” Alice said as she sat down in one of the chairs in front of Richard’s desk. I sat down in the one next to her. Richard examined the notepad for a second before looking up at us again.
        “You guys can either have bunks 173 A and B, or bunks 270 A and B.” He said grabbing a pen and holding over the notepad. Alice looked over at me and raised her eyebrows. I shrugged my shoulders.
        Which ever bunks are farthest away from Nick’s bunk, are the ones I want. I said to her. She slightly nodded her head and said,
        “We will take bunks 270 A and B.” Richard wrote something down on his notepad. He reached into his desk and pulled out a small black board and a white marker. He handed them to Alice. She wrote our names on the board in neat writing.
        “Thanks Richard.” Alice said as she stood up. I smiled at Richard before following Alice out of his office.
        “I call the top bunk.” Alice said as she skipped down the stairs. We walked through the sea of bunks until we got to ours. Alice put the small black board on the end of the top bunk. There were two trunks underneath the bottom bunk for our belongings. We didn’t have anything to put into the trunks, so we just kept the lock on them with the key still inside. Alice climbed to the top bunk and sat cross legged.
        “Hi Alice.” A little voice said from the top bunk to the right of ours. I looked up and saw a small boy sitting on his knees looking over at Alice. He looked about ten or eleven, he had jet black hair, bright blue eyes.
        “Hi honey.” Alice said with a voice that I had not heard before. Her voice was sweet and sing-songy. The boy climbed down from the top bunk and gave Alice a tight hug. The top of the boy’s head only came to Alice’s chest. Alice placed her hand between his shoulder blades and on the back of his head.
        “Milo, this is Isaac.” Alice said with that sing-songy voice again. Neither of them let go of each other. Milo looked up at me and smiled.
        “Uhh Alice can you let go of me?” Milo said as he laughed a little. Alice giggled, kissed the top of his head and let him go. Milo walked over to me and offered me his hand. I shook it slightly and smiled.
        “Hello Isaac, my name is Milo Emerson.”
        “Are you Piper’s little brother?”
        “Yep, don’t worry I’m a lot nicer than she is. And obviously better looking.” Milo said as he framed his face with his hands. I laughed. I already liked him a lot better than Piper.
        “Milo, sweetie, will you do me a favor please?” Alice asked as she looked under the bed.
        “Yeah, sure.” Milo said as he walked back over to her.
        “Will you go get me some sheets please? They neglected to supply us with some.” Alice said. Milo nodded and headed off in the opposite direction. I walked over and sat down next to her.
        “He’s a sweet kid.” I said.
        “Yeah he is, he was my bunk mate when I got here the first time.” She said as she leaned her head against my arm.
        “He’s nothing like his sister.” I said laughing a little. Alice laughed too and wrapped her arms around my waist. I slide my arm across her shoulders and kissed her head. I tried to read her mind for the first time in a few days. Surprisingly she let me, she was thinking about her walking through the same door that I walked in through for the first time. She looked so young. Her hair was matted and she looked exhausted. She was just was amazed as I was when she looked around for the first time. She pushed me out of her head when Nick appeared in her mind.
        “Even with Nick being here, I love the Safe House.” Alice said in a quiet voice. Milo walked up to us with his little arms filled up with several blankets and two pillows. Alice got up and took the blankets and pillows out of his arms. She set them down on the bottom bunk and handed me a pillow and two blankets. I made my bed as she made hers.

        After we finished making our beds, it was dinner time. After Alice, Milo, and I got our dinner we found River in his usual place, behind a mountain of food.
        “Hey River.” I said as we all sat down at the table.
        “Hey guys.” River said with a mouth full of food. I’m pretty sure Alice and Milo didn’t understand what he said but they still smiled at him.
        “River do you know Milo?” I asked after I took a bite of my sandwich. River looked over at Milo and nodded his head.
        “Yeah, he is the nice Emerson sibling.” He said with food flying out of his mouth. Alice scowled at him.
        “River, stop talking with your mouth open. It’s disgusting.” Alice said in a stern voice. River rolled his eyes and said, “Yes mom.” Alice reached over and punched him in the arm. River grabbed his arm and noticeably winced in pain. Milo, and I burst into laughter. I was laughing so hard that my stomach started hurting. Alice smirked, obviously pleased with herself.
        I winked at Alice from across the table. She leaned over the table and I met her half way and kissed her.
        “Wow you guys are so cute I want to throw up.” River said with a monotone voice. Alice and I shrugged off his comment.

        After dinner was over the four of us walked back over to our bunks. River’s bunk was only a couple bunks away from ours. Alice gave Milo a hug and kiss before he climbed into his bed. Just watching how Alice is with Milo warms my heart. Even though she didn’t need it, I helped her get up into her bed. She leaned over the railing and kissed me. She gave me a small smile before laying down. I got into my bed and pulled the blankets up the my chin and eventually feel asleep.