Lavender - {G.B}

vingt-quatre

"Are you sure you are good?" Alice asked for reassurance.

"Yeah, totally fine," Billy winced.

Alice was not convinced. He still had his hand to his left ear that held his ice pack, but every now and then he'd wince.

She didn't mind going. Gilbert held her back, but she didn't want to listen to whatever he had to say. She wasn't ready. When she did leave behind the rest of them, Gilbert felt a ping of jealousy but remembered he was the one who grew distant first.

The door opened due to Prissy who got to the door first. I dragged behind the three of them with Ms. Stacy.

"Billy! Oh, my word! What happened?!" she asked while taking a look at his ear.

Ms. Stacy hesitated for a moment. Before she got to explain, Mrs. Andrews interrupted her. "And what is your place here? Are you responsible for this?"

"She's our friend," Billy explained before any other accusations were thrown.

"I just came to make sure he came back home safely with Prissy, Jane, and Ms. Stacy," Alice said, beginning to leave. "I'll take my leave. Uh - good day?"

Alice left the house and returned home where it was less chaotic. She sat down into the empty house. Both Fred and Angelina were at work for the day and wouldn't come back until evening.

-

There was a knock on the door. Alice set down the batter she was making to give to Cole when she had the chance. Alice thought he needed something to cheer him up - he needed to know he wasn't alone.

She opened the front door and found Diana and Ruby. She let them in and began putting the batter into the oven. She set three cups down on the table in front of them and poured them drinks.

"What brings you two here?" Alice asked.

"Well, we're going to collect our things from...you know," Diana explained.

"Also, I was wondering what's going on between you and Gilbert now," Ruby said.

"Ruby!" Diana scolded. "Sorry, it's just that you and Gilbert seemed...different? There was something off."

"Look, he's dealing with things right now, studying, so we are taking a break as of now," Alice explained. "We both want to find ourselves, figure out what we want to do because we aren't going to stay here forever." Ruby and Diana simply nodded. "I'll go get my things after I give these treats to Cole. You can just...go without me."

"Thank you, Alice," Diana smiled.

"See you at school," Ruby said and they both left.

-

When Alice arrived at Cole's house, his mother did not let her see him. Alice's persuasive voice and words convinced her to let her see Cole. He was working in the field, digging in the ground. It was obvious he was working hard and dreading it.

"Cole," Alice greeted so she was known.

"What are you doing here?" Cole asked bitterly.

"I brought you some treats," Alice responded. "It's good."

Cole was tempted. He hadn't eaten anything yet. He took one out of the basket and took a bite. He nodded his head, the delicious taste in his mouth.

"At least someone enjoys it," Alice said, starting to wonder if Gilbert ate the bread she made.

"Well," Cole began. "I don't want to stay here, but I have nowhere to go."

"Hey, there has to be somewhere," Alice assured him. "There has to be somewhere. I know there is and we'll find it."

"My mom's going to be mad," Cole said.

"It'll be worth it though, wouldn't it? I think I have a place in mind. Well, I know where you might be able to recieve some advice. I should get going, but I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Thanks, Alice," he smiled.

-

"Lower-school children will practice their cursive, beginning with the letter A. Upper-school children should read chapter...nine," the teacher instructed.

"But we already read that chapter when Mr. Phillips was here," Anne told him.

"Repetition is the key to learning," he said. "Now hold your tongue. I will brook no further disruption in this classroom."

Alice pulled out the book and began reading until they got a break. She was pulled along with Diana, Anne, and Ruby into the smaller classroom next door, beginning to talk about saving Miss Stacy.

"There has to be something we can do to save Miss Stacy," a passionate Anne said. "If this was a story, what would the hero do?"

"But we're not heroes, Anne, we're just girls," Alice said.

"Don't be ridiculous," Diana told me.

"I'm not ridiculous," Alice remarked.

"A hero is a person, and that person can be any person," Diana said.

"All I am saying is that we don't have the power to do anything about it," Alice explained.

"The hero accepts the call to adventure," Anne breaks up the argument. "So we have to convince the town to accept Miss Stacy and let her stay."

Moody peaked through the door. "Not now, Moody," Diana said.

"The town hall meeting is tomorrow night," Ruby said, saying they didn't have enough time.

"Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing. Either way, I say we try."

"Whatever you're planning," Moody began. "I want to help. Everything went wrong after I dropped the light bulb."

"I've got it!" Anne exclaimed. "I know what we're going to do! Huddle up. Here's what has to happen tomorrow."

After the plan was said, Alice had doubts. "I don't know. I want to save Miss Stacy, but we should let the adults handle it."

"We can do something that's...actually right. We cannot let them take Miss Stacy away," Anne said.

"We'll wait for you, okay? If you don't come ten minutes after, we'll know your decision," Diana said.