Work Text:
Alice’s Story
Alice
Alice stood in the corner of the train watching the bright new day flicker by. She was average height, had pale skin, bright blue eyes, and long blonde hair but no one paid her any attention. She thought she liked sliding under the radar constantly. She didn’t really know what she was missing out on in the real world. Alice heard that kids her age went to parties got so drunk that in the morning they had no idea what happened. The train slowed down, she took her time to glance around the carriage. There were businessmen and women, a small child going to school trying to balance a trombone case. At least she thought is was a trombone. She went back to listening her music and staring out the train door. The train started up again picking up speed; flashes of colour flew by the window. Suddenly there was darkness. The tunnel went on and on and on. Finally the train started to slow down. Alice picked up her bag and stepped off onto the platform and headed off to school.
Alice sat at the lunch table, the same one she had sat at since year 7, it was now 6 years later and still didn’t have any friends. She knew people and she was able to do group work with them but they never seemed to want to stay and hang around with her. She didn’t really mind, it meant she was able to do assignments and homework at lunch and then have the weekends free for the theatre. She was again listening to her music, pumping loudly in her ears, blocking out all the sound surrounding her. While eating her sandwich she was attempting her Biology homework, it wasn’t her best subject, it would be best to say it was actually her worst out of all 6 subjects. She sighed, its not that she didn’t get the work it was the application, applying it to everyday life that she didn’t understand. She looked up across the courtyard. There he sat, she could see his aura pulsing; it was bright orange, sparkling in the golden sunshine. Alice could feel her cheeks getting hotter and she quickly bowed her head and went back to her work. By the time the lunch bell rang to tell students to get ready for the last class of the day she had finished her morning homework and was already heading to her lesson.
Eric
Eric woke up at 7:30 giving him only 10 minutes to get up and ready for the day. He managed to get out of the house before 7:45 but still having to sprint down to the train station to make the 7:50 train. Once the train had pulled up at Green Park station he bounced off and sprinted off the school. He couldn’t be late again any more days late he would be suspended, and he knew how his Father would react if this happened. Plus missing out on seeing her spend her lunches alone just made him sad. Once Eric got to school he was surrounded by friends where as she was always alone, sitting by herself at the same table she had sat at since year 7. He didn’t know her name, yet he knew that she lived up the road from him. He had never met her, never had the privilege to know her since she mysteriously appeared at the beginning of high school. He couldn’t wait till lunch to watch her work from a far.
At the end of period 4 the lunch bell rang out and hundreds of students spilled out into the courtyard, it was always a rush for the tables, however no one ever took her table. It was like it was infected, no one ever wanted to sit alone, not ever. But it seemed like she didn’t mind, didn’t notice that she was alone. He watched her from his table, filled with friends, all coming and going, wanting to always to be talking to him. He watched her eat her sandwich, and a bright red apple. He had been staring for a while when he noticed she had looked up and found herself staring back. Her cheeks went pink and she went back to her work and didn’t look up again until the end of lunch when she got up to go to period 5.
That night Eric didn’t sleep once, he only thought about her. Over the past 6 years in various classes he completed group work with her however still didn’t know her name. He felt bad for that because she was truly beautiful inside and outside. He never learnt anything when working with her because she always did all the work, even when he insisted that he could help. That slightly peeved him, just because his family was rich did not mean he was smart. However he thought she didn’t seem like the like of girl to judge someone on how much money he or she had.
Eric must have fallen asleep during some part of the night because he found himself being woken up by his pet cat, Flora. He had named her after his sister. His sister had been only 4 when she passed away the causes where still unknown but he felt that her soul had transferred to his cat, which had appeared the day of the funeral. Flora was sitting on his face by the time he had fully woken up, by this stage it was only 7:15 giving him plenty of time to get ready and get to school. He left home at 7:30 because he found he was ready to go so out he went down to the train station. On his way there he bumped into her, like literally hit her. It was his fault he had been listening to his music, pumping loudly in his ears not looking where he was going. All of her folders and papers were laying on the ground, falling in every direction. She was already scrambling to pick them all up, talking under her breath something about how she couldn’t afford another folder this month. He didn’t know what else to do but get down on the ground and pick up the rest of the papers for her. Once this was done he found she too was heading for the station so they walked off together. They talked a little bit. Eric finally learnt her name, Alice. It was such a beautiful name.
Alice
Alice was running late for school, she tried to get there early so she could do more work. However this morning she had been caught up looking after all her siblings. Once again her mother was in hospital suffering from depression. Alice had recently lost her father. It had been a freak accident. He had just been jogging when he had the heart attack. It didn’t make any sense, he had been so fit. Alice brushed aside these thoughts and hurried the rest of her siblings out the door to their bus stop. They were still in primary school; Sarah and Matt were both in year 6 and would be attending Alice’s school next year, if they could afford to send them there. Alice sighed, there wasn’t much spare money at the moment, having her mother in hospital often meant she couldn’t work. Alice had already decided that she wasn’t going to go to college straight away, instead work and look after her sister and brother. Matt was running ahead to meet up with friends as Alice pulled Sarah in for a hug and then hurried off to the station with all her folders for the day in her arms.
While half running and half walking down the hill to the station she tripped and fell on top of him. She gasped as all her folders and papers fell all around her. She hoped that the folders weren’t broken, she had already had to buy new ones this week, she couldn’t afford the waste that kind of money. Scrambling on the ground she busily pick up all of the papers. Her hand stopped as she saw his brush across hers. She stopped breathing for a minute and then remembered they were going to be late and continued to pick everything. He continued to apologies for what happened but she reassured him it was fine. He told her his name was Eric and he sounded surprised when she said she knew. He then recovered when he remembered that everyone knew who he was. They then both hurried off together to school. Alice wasn’t really used to talking to someone apart from her family and from what it looked like Eric wasn’t a very good conversation starter. So they spent their train ride and walk to school in silence, commenting every now and again but for no longer than a few seconds.
Eric
They started catching the train together daily. Eric wanted to be with her, he wasn’t sure if she wanted him since she didn’t talk much. He would make polite conversation about school but that was all. Alice didn’t say much, just tended to look out the window, sigh and put her music on. Eventually during the daily trip Eric would give up and also turn his music back on. Today Eric studied her while they were on the train. She was small he realized, she had dark rings under her eyes and they were red like she had been crying all night. He wanted to take her in his long arms and tell her it would be all right. At one point in the trip she gripped her stomach tight and looked like she was going to pass out. He didn’t think much of it only that maybe that she got train sick. But it was at lunch when he realized that her lunch had been growing smaller and smaller daily. He also noticed that at recess she used to spend that 20 minutes reading but now she spent every second spare minute doing schoolwork. He didn’t know what was going on with home life; he wanted to know but didn’t know how to ask without sounding like a sticky-beak.
Alice
Alice clutched her stomach, telling it to stop complaining. They were running out of money. Her mother was still hospitalized and they were running out of money. Alice was having to pay the bills, cook, clean and look after Sarah and Matt. It was lucky she was 18 otherwise they would by now probably be in foster care. She gave most of her food to the twins, leaving not much for herself. She felt her body and stomach shrinking. She was still eating; she tried to eat fruit and vegetables so she wouldn’t get sick. But as each day went on she felt herself growing more and more weak. Only 6 more months until the end of school, then you can get a job she told herself. Then you will be able to eat properly again. Alice had hoped her mother would recover, but now she started to doubt it. During her afternoon free periods she would head over to the hospital to see her mother, she would pull the twins out of school and off they went to visit her. The nurses and doctors told her that they she may not be coming out any sooner, that she might need to go to rehab to recover. Alice sighed; she knew that money would run out sooner rather than later. She knew that she would need to get a job eventually, but she wasn’t sure how she would fit it into her busy schedule of caring for the twins.
Eric
On the train home Eric was munching on some sweets. He offered some to Alice, knowing she hadn’t eaten much. She refused it saying she already ate. He didn’t push it but his older sister Abby had an eating disorder and he knew that the phrase, “I already ate” was just a saying, that she really was starving. He had missed seeing her at lunch; she mentioned something that she had an appointment.
Alice
Alice hadn’t been lying when she had told Eric that she had an appointment, she did have one. She left during her double free in the middle of the day to go and visit her father’s grave. It had reached that staged where she didn’t know what to do, she was starting to run out of food even for the twins, and eventually she wouldn’t be able to pay for water and other necessities. She wanted to be able to talk to him, to hug and hold him. She really didn’t know what to do anymore. She spent every possible moment at school doing work, except for today. She needed a break, to go and see her father but it hadn’t helped, she just felt worse. And when Eric had offered her some sweets, while she was starving she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold it in her stomach.
Eric
She didn’t turn up to school for several days, it made him sad. He missed her. When she came back on the fourth day, he didn’t ask where she had been because by the look of her face; her swollen red eyes and tiny hunched over figure he knew she didn’t want to talk about. He silently handed her the notes she had missed and didn’t say anything. She took them and he was glad she had. He tried to ask her if she was all right, and she croaked out that she was fine and just had a slight cold and really just needed to rest her voice and could they not talk. Eric wasn’t very happy about that but he agreed anyway.
Alice
The twins had gotten sick at the end of the weekend. It had been lucky for Alice because she couldn’t miss her work at the theatre, while it wasn’t a proper job, it was something and once the show was over she would get paid. But it did mean that she had to skip school to care for them however. Of course that meant by the time they were better she was sick too. Surprisingly she realized she missed her chats with Eric. While she was still sick she still went to school once the twins were better. She knew she looked like total crap, hell she felt like crap but she pined for some social interaction.
He had offered her his notes on the train that morning, saying that he didn’t mind when he got them back. She planed to have them back to him by the end of the day. Alice knew she could have them done by the end of lunch but she didn’t want to have to go over and talk to him during lunch. She still couldn’t talk; she had lost her voice very badly and sounded like she had been smoking 10 packs of cigarettes a day for 40 years straight!
School was uneventful. Alice finished all the work she missed while away during her study sessions and was starting on a new essay; it was for her theology class. The thesis was simple and easy, she wondered if her teacher had accidentally given her work from another year group. The question stated, “How does social interaction reflect love.” Alice stared at the paper for 20 minutes. The only words on the page were her name, the statement and Plan:. She shook her head and didn’t understand the question. The bell suddenly rang; it was the end of school so she headed home. On the train she met up with Eric again and handed him his notes. Then there was silence…
Eric
The train ride home was even more quite than in the morning. Eric looked at Alice, her forehead crinkled like she was trying to remember something. Out of the blue she looked up, and saw he had been staring at her for the last 20 minutes. She blushed and looked away. She then asked if he understood the theology essay. Eric didn’t know what she was talking about. What essay? When did they get an essay? Their teacher was hopeless, all he did was stand at the bored write some notes and then let the students muck around for the rest of the lesson. He never gave homework, only the mandatory assessment tasks. Eric had a feeling their teacher was trying to manipulate Alice. To find out what was wrong. Eric realized it hadn’t just been him noticing she was getting worse. Alice cleared her throat, Eric realized he had been silent for at least 5 minutes and they were about to get off the train. He offered to come back to her place and help her with it. The thought just came tumbling out before he could even stop himself and before he could correct himself Alice answered with a blush and said ok quietly.
Alice
Alice could not believe her ears as she said ok. She was still blushing when they got to the bus stop to pick up her siblings. Eric said he didn’t mind helping her with them he liked kids and was happy to help. Once she had given the twins a snack and got them started on their homework she and Eric sat down to look at the question. They spent a good 10 minutes just staring at the paper, well at least she was. Alice could feel his eyes staring at her. It made her nervous because she was scared that while she had grown to like him that he didn’t recipitate these feelings. Suddenly out of the corner of her eyes she saw him moving towards her, she turned her head and unexpectedly he kissed her. She sat there like a stunned mullet but quickly recovered and returned the kiss.
Eric
Eric didn’t know what he was doing but all he when he saw her blush even more he just couldn’t contain his feelings any longer. He was slightly worried at first when she just sat there but then when she returned the kiss he knew she felt the same way. Weight was lifted from his shoulders and he felt the happiest he had been for a while. That was until the twins walked back into the room announcing that they had finished their homework. They had stopped and stared and then ran from the room giggling. Eric turned back to Alice and saw her staring at him with her big blue eyes, slightly panting. Then she smiled.
Alice
Alice flipped her calendar over and saw that next week was her one-year anniversary with Eric. Within one year she had managed to, with the help of Eric, find a suitable and flexible job, to help her mother get better and to finish school. It turned out the twins were quite capable to get home in the afternoon and look after themselves until Eric popped over to get them dinner when she had a night shift. Eric had managed to convince her to go to college, to get a degree as her mother was getting better without the help of rehab. It seemed that once Alice had started to become happy again that energy transferred to her mother. I guess you could say I lived happily ever after Alice whispered to herself. And that’s exactly what she did.
The End