Chapter nine
Three days have passed since the whole ice skating failure, and it was now Monday. Outside was exactly how it was a few days ago, which was freezing and covered in a layer of snow, and I had no real interest to go outside ever. My goal as of right now was to stay on the couch wrapped in a warm and fuzzy blanket and watch reruns of Friends while Alice went to work during the days.
We've become close and I'd consider her my best friend. Ultimately she topped Michael, Ashton, and Calum, three of my best friends back in Australia. However, I haven't seen them, with an exception of Michael, in over three years, which kind of loses that best friend title, if you ask me.
"You need to start your life," Alice said as soon as she walked into the door.
I turned the telivison down and smiled at her. "It's nice to see you as well, Alice. How was your day?"
She rolled her eyes and jerked the blanket off of me and hit me with one of her girly throw pillow. "Seriously, Luke," she whined. "You need to get a job. You're like, the biggest loser I've ever met in my life, and I went to a school full of losers."
I laughed. "I'll get a job tomorrow," I promised. "But I'm not going to get a shitty job that I'll hate. Nope, I refuse."
"It's just a temporary job, Luke," she told me. "I can't support you forever. I know I said you can live here and everything, but it wouldn't hurt if you helped out a little and maybe split the rent, or something."
"Okay," I told her, turning my attention back towards Friends and away from Alice, who went into her room and did whatever she does in there, which I think is working on a book or something.
I haven't have any motivation to do anything lately, which results me to lounging on the couch all day in my underwear. Alaska wasn't really on my mind as much as she use to be, but she was still there. It was a weird feeling, like I felt her presents with me all day everyday, which got annoying.
She's popped up a few times here and there, but I've been trying to put her away like I'd taught her to do. I was pretty sure that Alaska only heard voices in her head, but what if she saw more? What if she could see the people inside her cluttered mind? She probably would have exploded way earlier than she had.
I pushed the thought away in my mind and attepted to relax, but the couch still wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep on. I'll have to get my own place eventually. I can't depend on Alice for the rest of my life while I drown in my own woe, which is what the future looked like for me as of right now. I can't do that. I need a job, a house, and some career that I can support a future family from.
Maybe writing could be that career for me. It's the only thing I enjoy doing and it's the only thing I've been doing for the past ten years. In the asylum, writing was my only source of salvation from the horror of that place and over the years, I grew better and better at writing. My mind began coming up with beautiful ideas and words that flowed together, like a small stream connecting to a large ocean.
I rested my head on the pillow and covered my body with the blanket and began thinking about things of interest. I could always write a novel about an asylum, seeing as if I spent a portion of my life in one. I could write about mental illnesses and death, psychos and killers, I could write about dark things that only someone with as dark of a mind could write. But then again, I love the stars and the moon, I could write a story about them. About the night sounds and the humming of the cicadas and the swaying of the trees in the wind. I could write about how love can be found in the oddest places. I could write about Neverland and Alaska, or perhaps I could write about my Alice in Wonderland.
I found myself falling asleep to possible ideas of a novel, which would probably never take action or come true.
✂ ✂ ✂
The next morning I woke up to the smell of bacon permeating through Alice's small apartment. My eyes fluttered open, taking in the light of the room and I smiled, suddenly feeling happy for some odd reason.
"Good morning," I greeted Alice and took a seat on the kitchen bar stool.
"Mornin," she replied and flipped a pancake. "You seem cheery."
"Guess so," I said. "or perhaps I'm just getting out of the shade and walking into the sun."
"The sun's hot,"
"Uck, all the hot ones are like, gay!" I said in my best thirteen year old white girl voice.
Alice laughed and put a few pancakes on a plate and slid them over to me. "Forrealzies, Lucas,"
"Oh, using my full name. I'm so scared," I answered, sarcastically.
"Luuuukeeeeee," she whined.
"The sun may be hot," I said, taking a bite of the bacon. "but it feels fucking nice."
She smiled, and continued back to flipping pancakes, focusing herself on getting the them to be perfect.
When we finished our breakfast, I went into the bathroom to change into clothes to start my day. Last night, I did some research on some jobs that were looking for employees and I came to consclusion I would start at the record store, In Your Ear.
I pulled on my black jean and threw on a Green Day shirt with a red flannel, the typical clothing I would wear. Quickly, I sculpted my hair with some gel and after saying bye to Alice, I left.
It was freezing outside and the streets were extremely busy, seeing as it was the day before Christmas Eve. I hated large crowds, and that's exactly what I was in right now. People pushed through one another, careless as to how other people would feel. In the city, it always felt like everyone was in a rush. They didn't look up once to see the architecture or their surroundings, just briskly fast walked towards their job or wherever they were off to.
The sky was white, which meant it was most likely going to snow later. I wasn't exactly sure where the store was, but I knew it was on Commonwealth Avenue, which was in my view. I turned onto the street and kept my eye open. Finally seeing the shop, I hurried up a bit to get there.
I opened the door and a bell chimed, which resulted into the girl behind the counter turning her head towards me.
I walked up to her and smiled a bit. "Hey," I said.
"Hey," she replied. "need help looking for something?"
Her hair was bright red and fell just above her shoulders. Her large blue eyes popped with the black eyeliner she was wearing and her long lashes seemed to flutter every time she blinked. Plump lips were colored with red lipstick to match her hair and she was dressed in a Blink 182 shirt.
"Um, I saw you were looking for a job,"
"Oh, yeah!" She got up from the stool she was sitting on and grabbed a paper which she handed to me. "I just need to know if you've like, had any criminal records or anything, which I'm sure you haven't. But other than that, I can guarantee you you've got the job."
"Really?" I said. "Sweet."
"You from Australia?"
I nodded.
"Hot," she said. "I'm Jane."
"Luke." I finished out the job application and handed it back to her.
"Awesome," she smiled. "My boss is in Hawaii for Christmas or whatever, so he'll probably give you a call after the holiday."
"Cool, thanks."
"No prob Bob," she said. I laughed and thanked her once again, leaving the store and entering the cold winter air.
