Lavender - {G.B}

quatre

As Alice walked to her seat, everyone stared at her. Mr. Phillips yelled at her as she was thirty minutes late to class. Alice was a complete mess. Her hair was slightly tangled. She had a few tear stains and her face was pale, having not drunk or eaten anything. She sat down, staring at her slate. Mr. Phillips wrote equations on the blackboard, leaving the students to solve them.

Gilbert crushed a piece of parchment in his hands and looked over at Alice and then Mr. Phillips. A crumpled piece of parchment was thrown at Alice. She looked down at it and her eyes looked up at Gilbert who was in the row in front of her. She looked back down, trying to focus on the task given by the strict Mr. Phillips. A pencil dropped to her feet. It was the pencil that Alice lent to Gilbert. "At least he gave it back," thought Alice. She picked it up and set it on her notebook, still ignoring him.

Gilbert grabbed his apple from his desk, beginning to stand up, standing clear of Mr. Phillips. Alice glanced up at him and then watched him as he placed an apple on Anne's desk. He bent down and picked up whatever he dropped. He muttered a few words then pulled her braided hair, calling her Carrots.

"I'm not talking to you!" Anne yelled. The sound of her slate across his face reminded Alice what happened not too long ago. A tear escaped her eye. No one seemed to notice as they were too busy staring wide-eyed at Anne's words and actions.

Alice stood up, running out the door. "Alice Miller! Miller!" Mr. Phillips called for her, but she ignored him.

Alice ran outside, back to the riverbank where the picnic was held. She climbed the tree and sat there. To Alice, it was nice not having to hear Mr. Phillip and the chalk on the blackboard. It was nice not hearing Billy, all the boys and girls laughing. It was nice not being teased by Gilbert and watching as he teased Anne. Boys teased the girls when they either like them or dislike them.

She decided not going to school for a while would do her good. George didn't have to know. He was probably just drinking away like he always did.

-

George found out Alice had not been going to school. Mr. Phillips met George in town and explained her actions. He was in a rage when he found out but kept his cool in front of him. He had dragged Alice from the tree, also drunken at the moment. He yelled, telling her that she has to go to school again. But of course, he never left out the words that Alice was nothing and she'd always be nothing but a worthless child he had to take care of. He didn't take care of Alice and instead hated her with every cell in her body. "What did my mother see in him?" thought Alice.

Alice walked up to the steps, reaching up for the door. She hesitated, deciding if she should just go away instead, pretending to go. It's been days since Anne's actions and her sudden leave. Alice was about to walk back down, deciding to stay near the riverbank at least for one more day. However, the door behind her opened and she stopped, knowing she'd never escape Mr. Phillips and the punishment that awaited her.

"Alice? You're back." It wasn't Mr. Phillips, but him. "Where have you been?"

"It doesn't concern you." Alice started walking the other way. Gilbert grabbed her basket and books and followed her outside. "Go back, class is going to start."

"Well, you left your things here. Imagine you should take them with you." Alice turned around as he held her things in his hands.

She took it from him, sighing. "Thank you... for this, and for standing up to Billy for me and Anne."

-

It was a restless sleep for Alice. She kept hearing thuds below her. She got up to the sound of glass shattering and objects falling on the ground. She lit a matchstick, lighting a candle. She blew out the matchstick and held the base of the candle.