The Mad Ones (A One Direction Fan Fiction)

Chapter Three - Innocence

               “Bye Harry,” Gemma said, giving the boy a small wave. “Bye,” I muttered under my breath, loving the way English sounded on my native tongue. He nodded, and looked once more at me as if I was some sort of alien … but then again, it’s not everyday you find a French women in your sister’s basement.

            “I’ll see you tomorrow with Louis right?” she asked and he nodded, and after that he disappeared out the door. For a moment when he left Gemma just shut her eyes, a gulp taken from the air in one quick breath. “I’m so sorry Alice,” she muttered, her head swaying in a shake, “I never wanted any of this to happen to you … it’s unfair.”

            “It’s the first contact I’ve had with someone besides you in a while … even if their had to be a language barrier,” I started, my blonde hair falling in my face, “I really didn’t mind after I got over the shock of it all.” Gemma popped her eyes open, sad green eyes greeting me.

            “Don’t you have the others?” she asked, and I bit my lip.

            “It’s not the same,” I admitted with a shrug, forcing my eyes to meet hers. She sighed and gave me a small nod, a hand running through her hair. “I just don’t know how to act like this though,” I admitted, my voice wavering on a high note as another gulp passed down her throat.

            “French?” she asked, and I didn’t reply. “I can help you … I don’t really know how to be French quite honestly … but that’s what the Internet’s for and-,” she blurted out but I shook my head, slowly silencing her.

            “I can handle being French,” I replied, my incisors cutting into my lips sharply. “I don’t know how to be normal though,” I admitted, and when the words passed through the air into Gemma’s ears I saw her visually sadden.

            “Alice … you are normal,” Gemma told me, but this time it was time for me to feel sad. “Before you were in the … placed under supervision, I bet you were normal,” she said, but I didn’t believe her, I knew she wasn’t right …

            “Mum, can I go play with Ashlyn?” I asked and my mother’s eyes were cold as I watched her, my blue eyes wide, and my voice holding the innocence a girl of that age should have. “I haven’t seen her in a while,” I said and my mom nodded, watching me as if I wasn’t her daughter … more like an animal.

            “I’m sorry darling but Ashlyn’s Mum doesn’t want you to be hanging out with Ashlyn anymore,” she apologized in reply, but funny enough, looking back, she didn’t sound the last bit apologetic.

            “But-“ I started, but her harsh gray eyes stopped me before I could continue.

            “Don’t go talking about Wonderland again,” she pleaded, and emotion was heard in her voice then; she sounded desperate for to stop. “Wonderland isn’t real Alice,” she reminded; those words I had grown to know. They had been drilled into my head ever since I spoke to my father about my visits to Wonderland.

            “Yes Mum,” I muttered, dropping my head because even then I could understand that my mother would get a feeling of superiority from my deflation; even then I knew the feeling of being an oddity.

            “Now, go to your room and play,” she ordered, and my feet went before my head, taking me up the winding stairs in our estate. “Dinner will be served soon sweetheart,” she called up, but I ignored her as I darted into my bedroom.

            My room was a nice place before it had been stripped of its identity. All the stuffed animals had been taken away, and all of my storybooks had been replaced with dictionaries and encyclopedias. For some reason my parents were lead to believe that those were the reasons for my delusions.