The next day, the doorbell rang at exactly 7:35.
"Jay, it's for you, remember?" my mom yelled from the bathroom.
"Yeah I got it!" I yelled back, before heading to the door.
I looked at my face in the mirror next to the entrance. My hair was all over the place, a bit of drool was on the corner of my mouth (I wiped it off), and my t-shirt was wrinkled.
No time to clean up now, I thought.
"Hi, nice to meet you, my name is-" I said, holding the door.
"Oh my gosh," she said.
She had dark hair, and bright green eyes. She was of average hight. Her skin was pale with freckles here and there. She stood straight and stared at me. It was Alice.
"I'm Jay," I extended my hand. I didn't remember ever meeting her, but I must have. She must have come visitied the Bryan's and I had seen her there.
"I know," she looked at me thoughtfully. "I mean, I'm Alice, it's nice to meet you too."
She seemed to remember me.
"Please, come in," I said and turned around, running y hands through my hair. "My friend Nate and his mom pick me up every day. Although, they come in like 20 minutes, so make yourself comfortable."
I went to the kitchen as she sat herself onto the couch. While grabbing two glasses from the cupboard I reran the last time I saw her through my head. It was with Jasmine and Seth, she was there.
Does she remember that? I thought to myself. No, she was just a projection, she wasn't dreaming.
Although she felt more alive than anyone else had even been in a dream.
"So what brings you to Nebbevill?" I asked, while handing her a glass of water.
"My parents decided that they couldn't really keep me anymore..." Alice took a sip and stared at the ground.
"Jee, I'm sorry to hear that," what else could I have said? "I'm sure that your aunt and uncle are happy to have you here."
"They felt bad for me," she laughed. "But yeah, I guess that because they never had children of their they don't mind me too much."
"Yeah," I tried to not sound worried. What kind of parents would do that? "I guess I know what you're going through, my dad left when I was a kid, it was pretty hard on all of us."
"That sucks, I'm sorry."
We stayed quiet for a little bit, until Nate messaged me "be there in 7". "Got an extra seat? My neighbor's niece is coming, too".
"Where did you live before?" I asked.
"San Fracisco," she smiled. "It's so different from here. I feel like I'm in a whole new world. You know?"
"Well, I've lived here my whole life, but I've traveled a bit, and even in the country it's so different."
"I've never been here before, Aunt Joan and Uncle Paul always came to visit us, so I had no idea what to expect."
She had never been here? How was it that Seth and Jasmine knew her, then?
"It's quiet, but you'll get used to it, I'm sure."
"I sure hope so."
Nate and his mom arrived soon after. They did, indeed, have an extra seat that Alice could use. Nate tried to flirt but he realized quicly that "she wasn't his type", like he told me afterwards.
