Broken Scream

“Well, Alice, this is where we’re going to be staying tonight. I would like you to meet our good friend Rosie Mitchell. Rosie, this is Alice Prior.” Brandon said.
Rosie was a tall blonde with green eyes. She had a high set jaw, and a narrow nose. She was pretty and strong all wrapped up in one.
“Hi, Alice, it’s so good to meet you. You have just got to meet my mom she can give you a makeover. I would like to catch up with the guys if you don’t mind.” Rosie chirped.
“O dear that’s not good. Rosie, careful what you say to Alice, she has a bit of a temper.” Rick said.
“I do not have a short temper.” I squeaked.
“Yes you do.” Rick said.
“I do not.” I said.
“You two cut it out please.” Rosie said. “Alice, you don’t have to get a makeover if you don’t want to. I mean you’re already really pretty.”
.”You remind me of my best friend Mary. She always wanted me to get a makeover. I guess I’ll get a makeover from your mom.” I said with a smile.
“Great! Fallow me. Trust me you’re going to love my mom she is absolutely amazing” Rosie said.
Her house was painted red on the outside, and brown on the inside. When you walk in the door there is a living room off to the right. In the living room is a couch, recliner, and a plasma television. On the left side, when you walk in, was a family room. The family room had one brown couch, a television, and an Xbox 360. The house was a nice little two story house. On the first floor was the: kitchen, living room, dining room and the family room. On the second floor was: five regular rooms, a master bedroom, and two bathrooms.
Rosie led me down the hall to the last door on the left. She opened the door, and we walked into a home salon. There was a hair cutting station, a nail station, a makeup station, and a hair dying station. It made me choke on my own breath. The room was also really pink.
“Hi, Rosie, who is this?” A Tall thin woman asked.
“Hi, mom, this is Alice Prior. She is a friend of Brandon’s. She is here for a makeover, and make it on the house. Alice, this is my mom Lucy.” Rosie said. Then she left.
“Well don’t be shy, come in and sit down. I need to even out your hair before I start on your makeup.” Lucy said.
What? Rick said I cut my hair evenly. Why would he lie to me about something that stupid? I went over and sat down in the chair at the hair cutting station. All she was going to do was even it out. I just hoped she wouldn’t cut it too short. I would totally freak if she did.
Lucy got out her scissors and her spray bottle, and trimmed my hair. Then she got out her flat iron and started to straighten my hair. When my hair was straightened it reached an inch past my shoulders. Then Lucy had me move to the makeup station. She put on base that blended with my skin. Next she had me close my eyes, and she applied eye shadow that was a green color. Next came eyeliner, my least favorite part of the whole makeover. She took out mascara and gently applied it to my long eyelashes, and then she had me blink while holding a paper towel in between my eyes to get the extra off. She took out red blush, and a bush brush. She lightly put the blush on both of my cheek bones. When she finished that she took out red lip liner and out lined my lips, and then she put red lipstick on me. She put lip gloss on top of the lipstick to give it a shiner texture. After that she was done.
I got up and looked in the mirror that was on the other side of the room. When I saw myself my breath caught in my mouth. I looked different, I looked pretty. Lucy knew what she was doing. My eyes really stood out because of the eye shadow, and eyeliner.
“Here put this on.” Lucy said.
She handed me a purple sun dress with black strips on it. I took it out of her hands and gave her an ‘are you serious’ look. She just smiled and nodded at me. Then she pointed me to a changing place. I went behind the curtain and stripped, and then I put on the sun dress. It hung just above my knees, and was strapless. It was a nice little sun dress. I walked out from behind the curtain and spun around. Lucy handed me a pair of purple flats, and I put them on my feet.
“Now you’re ready to show off. You look beautiful, Alice” Lucy said.
“Thank you. You are amazing; I love what you did with me.” I said.
“Come on I’ll show you off myself.” Lucy said.
We went down stairs, but I hesitated on the last step. I had never been shy before, but for some reason I was. Lucy grabbed my hand a squeezed it and smiled up at my. We walked into the living room right beside each other. They didn’t notice us walk in because the couch was faced away from us, so Lucy cleared her throat. Everyone got up and turned around. When Rick saw me his eyes got wide, and he smiled.
“Wow, mom, you never seize to amaze me. You made her look absolutely gorgeous.” Rosie said. “Doesn’t she look gorgeous, Rick?”
“Why are you asking me?” Rick asked.
“Because she should have a guy’s opinion on how she looks.” Rosie said.
“He doesn’t have to answer if he doesn’t want to. I’m going to go for a little beach side walk.” I said a little harsher than I meant to.
I took off the flats, and stormed out of the door. The sand was soft, and still a little warm from the day. I walked down towards the ocean where it would be cool. I stopped at the edge where the water could almost touch me. Then I stepped closer, and let the water flow over my feet. I closed my eyes and pretended I was at the beach with my mom again, and it made me feel happy. I felt something splashing around in the water in front of me, so I opened my eyes and saw hundreds of tiny fish there.
I made sure my dress wouldn’t get in the water, and then I bent down to study the fish. They were an orange color with a tent of green in them. I put a finger in the water, and the separated. I laughed and stood up. I was about to start walking parallel to the water when someone ran into me, and made me fall in the water. My dress got soaked, and so did my whole body. I got up and shook my arm to stop them from dripping water.
“I’m sorry I didn’t see you standing there. I was just so busy running.” A deep voice said.
“Well maybe you should pay less attention to running and more attention to where you you’re going.” I snapped.
“I said I was sorry for knocking you over. Let me make it up to you. How about I buy you dinner?” the guy said.
“Thanks, but no thanks. I would rather jump in a pool full of sharks. Besides I’m leaving tomorrow morning, and I already ate dinner.” I said. I turned around to leave, but he grabbed my arm.
“How am I supposed to make it up to you if you won’t let me buy you dinner? Come on just let me buy you dinner.” He said.
“No! Now let me go you stupid idiot! I don’t know you, so you have no right to beg to me.” I snapped. I tried pulling my arm away, but he had a tight grip on it.
“Let her go Tyler. She doesn’t want to go out on a date with you, so just leave her alone.” Rick said from behind me. Immediately Tyler’s grip loosened and I pulled my arm away.
“Why are you out here Rick? If you couldn’t read my mind I came out here to get away from you.” I snapped.
“So, little Ricky is back in town.” Tyler mocked.
“Alice, I want you to go back inside of the house.” Rick said.
“Why?” I asked.
“Just go, I’ll tell you later.” He said.
“No I’m not going back in the house; you’re not in charge of me.” I said stubbornly.
“You are so stubborn, Alice. Tyler you leave Alice alone. Do I make myself clear?” Rick growled.
“I don’t have to it’s not like she’s taken. Is far as I’m concerned she’s free game.” Tyler said.
“It’s times like these I wish I was taken.” I thought.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Tyler, she is taken.” Rick said.
“By who, because I know it’s not you. You fight too much.” Tyler said.
“Wrong again, Tyler, it is by me.” Rick said.
“What did he just say I was taken by him?” I thought.
“How do I know you’re not just saying that to throw me off?” Tyler asked.
Rick turned towards me and gave me a ‘play along’ look. He put his hand under my chin, and lifted my head to look in his eyes. Then he bent his head down, and put his lips on mine. My first instinct was to push him away, but he wanted me to play along. So instead of pushing him away I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back. His hand left my chin, and found the middle of my back and he pressed my body closer to his. After approximately two minutes Rick pulled away. I looked around, and Tyler was gone. Rick put his arm around my shoulder, and pulled my back towards the house.
“What are you doing?” I hissed.
“Tyler could still be watching us, so we shouldn’t break character until we get in the house.” Rick whispered in my ear.
I rolled my eyes and took his arm off of my shoulder. He stiffened when I did that. I smiled up at him, and took a hold of his hand. He looked down at me and smiled. We started to walk towards the house, but I stopped us.
“What is it, Alice?” Rick asked.
“I wanted to walk along the beach when I came out here. Now I won’t get the chance to do that.” I said.
“We can do that. Come on.” He said.
We walked past the house and down the beach still hand in hand. Rick was on the side where the water was and he kept trying to stay out of the water. I smiled at that, and took my hand out of his. When I did that he gave me a look I couldn’t decipher. I just smiled at him. When he looked away I tackled him into the water. It didn’t matter that I got wet because my dress was already soaked. I was on top of Rick and was about to get up when he rolled over and put me under him. The water hit the middle of my head making my hair wet. The water was cold, but it felt good.
I let out a little laugh. Rick was looking at me with a big smile planted on his face. This was the most fun I have had in the past year. I was actually happy. Rick stood up and offered me a hand that I gladly took. When I was up I caught Rick looking at me, and my eyes met his. He started to lean forward, and his lips pressed against mine. I jerked my head back and Rick looked hurt.
“We should probably get back they are probably wondering where we are.” I said.
I didn’t give him a chance to answer I just walked back towards the house. I could hear him walking behind me, but I didn’t turn around. I walked up the stairs and through the front door. Everyone was getting on shoes, and grabbing their weapons. When I walked in everyone looked up. Rosie was the first one to speak.
“We were just about to come look for you guys. Where did you go to?” Rosie asked.
“No wear.” I said.
“I had a little talk with Tyler. He was trying to ask Alice out, but wouldn’t listen to her when she said no.” Rick said.
“Why are your cloths wet?” Brandon asked.
“Mine are wet because Tyler knocked me into the water before he asked me out.” I said.
“Mine are wet because Alice decided she would tackle me in the water.” Rick said.
“Ha, so that’s why it took you so long. You two were playing in the ocean.” Brian laughed.
When he said that I blushed. He had no idea. “Hey, Rosie, where can I sleep tonight?” I asked.
“You’re going to be sleeping in my room with me, Alice. The three boys get their own rooms. Is that ok with you?” Rosie stated.
“Yeah that’s fine with me. I’m going to go get ready for bed. Where is your room, Rosie?” I asked.
“Fallow me I’ll take you to it, and show you where you will sleep in there.” Rosie said.
I fallowed Rosie upstairs. Her room was the first door on the right. When she opened her door my jaw dropped. She had two beds, and her room was painted purple. Everything in her room was purple. I walked in and looked around she even had a purple window.
“My favorite color is purple.” Rosie said.
“I can tell.” I laughed
“The bed by the window is where you will be sleeping. You can use the pajamas at the end of the bed. Don’t go to sleep after you get the pajamas on, I want to talk to you.” Rosie said, and then she left the room.
The pajamas at the end of the bed were tinker bell pajamas. I put them on, and they fit me perfectly. They were comfortable, and purple. My stomach growled, and I realized how hungry I was. I walked down stairs and grabbed Rosie by the arm.
“Do you have something I can eat? I’m super hungry.” I said.
“I was just about to make some dinner for you three. Do you like spaghetti?” Rosie asked.
“I love spaghetti. It’s my favorite food.” I said.
“Perfect. Go sit with the guys I’ll have dinner done in thirty minutes.” Rosie said disappearing into the kitchen.
“Crap she wants me to sit with the guy, which means I have to sit with Rick. I want to avoid Rick right now after what happened at the beach. Man this is going to be so awkward.” I thought. Then I went into the living room, and of course the only spot left was by Rick. I hesitated in the doorway for a couple of second, and then I sucked it up and sat down by Rick.
“Alice, can we talk about what happened earlier on the beach?” Rick asked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I said. I could feel my cheeks getting hot.
“You do know what I’m talking about, and I know it. Alice, please.” Rick said.
“Not here, not in front of people. After we eat.” I said.
“The food isn’t even close to being ready, Alice.” Rick complained.
“I’m not ready to talk about it, so can you please wait until after dinner. You can at least give me that much, Rick.” I snapped.
“Ok, fine, we can wait until after dinner to talk about it.” Rick said.
Brandon and Brian were giving us strange looks. Brian opened his mouth to ask what we meant, but Rick told him not to worry about it. We all sat in silence until the food was ready. I ate mine as slow as possible so I wouldn’t have to talk to Rick so soon. When I finished eating I let out a small grown. Rick led me outside and sat me down on the bench swing, and then he sat down next to me.
“Look, Alice, I’m sorry for kissing you down there. I have no idea what I was thinking.” Rick said.
“I have a guess what you were thinking. You were thinking I’m going to kiss her.” I said.
“I really am sorry, Alice. Something just came over me. I shouldn’t have kissed you like that.” Rick said.
“Its fine, Rick, next time warn me before you kiss me.” I said. His head whipped around to look at me. I winked at him and went inside.
“What were you guys talking about?” Rosie asked.
“O nothing of importance.” I smiled.
I walked up to her bedroom and sat down in the bed. Rosie walked in after me and shut her door. Then she plopped down on her bed. She looked at me for a little bit before talking to me.
“You know you really are pretty, Alice.” Rosie said.
“Thanks, Rosie, you are too.” I said.
“Thanks. So, how long have you been traveling with the guys? They seem to like you, one more than the others.” she asked.
“Three or four days. I think I know which one you’re talking about.” I said.
“Cool. I have known them for seven years and counting. Brandon is my boyfriend.” Rosie said.
“Wow really? That’s a long time.” I said.
“I know. So, Alice, do you have any brothers or sisters?” she asked.
“No not anymore.” I said.
“Not anymore? What do you mean?” she asked.
“They all died.” I said.
“O, sorry for bringing it up.” She said.
“It’s fine.” I said.
“Well I’m going to go to sleep, Night, Alice.” She said.
“Yeah night.” I whispered.
I put my head on the pillow and looked up at the ceiling. I couldn’t even see the ceiling let alone look up at it. I grabbed the blanket and pulled it over my head. I let teat freely flow from my eyes, but I didn’t make a sound. I learned that when I cried I felt a lot better after I was done. Every time I feel like I need to cry I will. It was crying for about seven minutes before I dozed off into a dreamless sleep.
***
I woke up and felt really sad I didn’t realize why until I looked at the date. It was June seventh, the date my family died. I sat up in the bed and put my face in my hands and started to cry. Today was going to be a long sad day. I wiped my eyes and got out of bed. A new sun dress and flats were sitting on the end of my bed. I didn’t feel like wearing something that nice, so instead I threw on the cloths Rick bought me.
After I got my cloths on I trudged down stairs and sat down on the couch next to Rick. I could smell pancakes cooking. The smelled like the ones my mom always made. My face cringed up at that thought. I could hear Rosie humming while she cooked the pancakes just like my mom always did. Come to think of it Rosie was a lot like my mother, and that made me really sad. Rosie came out of the kitchen with a tray full of plates and started to hand them out. When she got to me I just shook my head.
She shook her head and said, “You’ve got to eat breakfast, Alice.”
“No thank you I’m not hungry.” I said.
“Come on, Alice, eat the food. It took me forever to make it.” Rosie said.
“Look, Rosie, I said I wasn’t hungry. When I say I’m not hungry that means I’m not hungry ok. So stop trying to make me eat.” I snapped.
I stood up to go back upstairs, and hit the food to the ground. Immediately I bent down to help her pick it up. All of the plates broke.
“Rosie, I’m so sorry.” I said.
“It’s fine; I don’t need your help. I can see you’re still upset about what I asked you last night.” Rosie whispered.
“No, I’m not still upset about what you said last night. I was never upset about what you asked me. I’m upset about what today is.” I said.
I could feel tears at the edge of my eyes threatening to spill over and run down my cheeks. I wiped my eyes, and then I turned and ran out of the door. I ran down the stairs and down to the beach. I sat down in the sand brought my knees up and place my four head on them, and then I started to cry. I missed my family so much and today made the pain hurt even worse. I felt someone sit in the sand beside me, but I ignored them and kept crying. The person was patient, and just played with the sand while they waited for me to cry. I knew it was Rick that was sitting next to me.
I couldn’t stop crying I just held it in long enough to see if it really was Rick sitting next to me. I was right of course; it was Rick sitting next to me. He pointed down at the sad he had been playing with. I looked down to see what he wrote. It said ‘what is today and why is it upsetting you?’ I shook my head and started to cry again. This time Rick pulled me into a one arm hug and I cried into his shoulder. He stroked my head and that helped calm me down until I remembered that my dad did that to calm me down. I didn’t know if I would ever be able to stop crying until the day was over.
I sniffed to keep my nose from running and smelled a nice scented clone. I like the smell so much that I sniffed again. I had finally stopped crying, but I kept my face buried in Ricks shoulder until I knew for sure I was done. When I was done I looked up at Rick. He looked me in the eyes and gave me a big hug. I pulled away from him, and cracked a weak smile. I got up on my knees leaned forward, and pressed my lips against his. When I did that he pulled his head back and gave me a questioning look.
“Alice, what are you doing?” Rick asked me.
“What you don’t want a thank you for letting me cry on your shoulder in public kiss?” I asked innocently.
He smiled at me and shook his head. I started to turn away disappointed, but then he grabbed my arm and pulled me in tight. Then he pressed his lips on mine. He lay back on the sand so I was on top of him, and we kept kissing. Our lips fit perfectly together like they were made that way. We were kissing for a while until someone cleared their throat and stopped us. We both got up and wiped the sand off of our cloths. Standing there were Rosie, Brian, And Brandon. All three of them were smiling at us with huge smiles. My cheeks got hot at the idea of them seeing our make out session.
I looked down at the sand and twisted my foot back and forth in embarrassment. I didn’t mind people I didn’t know seeing our make out session, but these guys made it a lot worse. I looked up and they were still smiling. Rick was over by the house now talking Brandon. Rosie came up to me and pulled me aside out of ear shot of everyone else. Then she crossed her arms.
“Why were you two kissing each other?” Rosie asked.
“No reason.” I said.
I turned around and started to walk away, but Rick was in the way. He crossed his arms, and he was the only other person that wasn’t smiling (I was the other one not smiling). He looked me straight in the eye and had a concerned look in his.
“Alice, I need you tell me what today is, and why is made you so sad. You can hardly smile today.” Rick said.
“This day is the worst day of the year. I don’t know how to say it without my heart hurting. I’m afraid to say it out loud because that might just make it worse.” I said. Rick crossed his arms and kept looking at me. “It will probably make me cry again, but I’ll tell you anyways. So today is the anniversary of my families death. A year ago today they were in that house when it blew up.”
“O. We can do something for them today if you want to. Honor them for the life they live, and honor them in death. Let them know you still love them and you always will love them. But that’s only if you want to, Alice.” Rick said.
“I would love to do that, but I don’t know what I would do for them. That is the only problem.” I sighed.
“If you want to do something for them I’m sure we can find something to do for them. Don’t give up before you even try.” Rick said, with a sort of melancholy to his voice. “We are going to stay here another night so you will have time to think if you don’t have anything right now. That also means more beach time.”
“I have no idea what to do for them. They never even told me what they wanted me to do when they died; it wasn’t something that they would have their minds on. I don’t know what I want to do.” I cried.
“Hey, Alice, calm down we can figure this out. If we know what they did today we could do something for them.” Rick said.
“Well what they usually did on this date was spend time with me.” I said
“Why did they spend time with you? What did you usually do on this date?” Rick asked.
“They take me out to dinner for my birthday.” I cried.
“O, that’s right you mentioned that they died on your birthday. Well I guess happy birthday even though it’s not all that happy.” Rick said. “You’re seventeen now right?”
“Yeah I am. Worst birthday ever.” I said.
“Hey, I’ll be right back I have to go do something.” Rick said.
Rick ran to the car that was parked in the driveway and drove off. I closed my eyes and sat down in the sand. I took a deep breath in through my nose, and then I let out a shaky breath. When I closed my eyes I could picture me and my family all sitting around the table laughing and smiling. Spending time with my family were the happiest birthday memories I had. My family was always so happy and nice they would give their lives for another’s no matter whose it was. I use to be that way until they all died after that I changed who I was. I became a bitter person who didn’t care if I was rude to others. That was the reason I ran away from my grandmas home.
Up until about four days ago I didn’t see anyone or speak to anyone. When I met Rick and his friends I was rude to them at first, but they never left me alone. They took the cruelty like it was nothing. The whole time they were nice to me, and it reminded me so much of my family. Finally I stopped being mean to them because I could see my family in them and I would never be mean to my family. I remembered what my mom told me. She told me to be nice to everyone even if they are rude to you then they will feel guilty about being rude to you later. Maybe that was what Rick was doing maybe he heard the same thing. I feel guilty now more than ever for being rude to him. If my family were here now they would be disappointed in me because of my rudeness. If my family were here now none of this would have happened I would still be happy. I would still be able to hug them when I was sad, but I can’t and will never be able to again.
If I could go back I would try and get my family out of the house before it exploded. Or maybe I would say goodbye love you, instead of see you later. I would like to say at least that. I wish I did see them later. I wake up every morning waiting to see their smiling faces, but they never come, and they never will. I’m going to have to learn to live without them. I will always remember how each one of them comforted one another through bad times.
I could feel tears running down my cheeks and let them flow. I didn’t want to open my eyes, but I needed to. If I kept my eyes closed the memories would keep passing through leading up to their deaths. I opened my eyes slowly. Standing in front of me with his arm stretched out was rick, and in his hand was a gift bag. I looked up at him and gave him a wet questioning look. His eyes became sad when he saw my tears.
“I know that you said this birthday was the worst birthday ever, but it’s still your birthday. I decide I would go get you something for your birthday, and they have a no return policy. After you told the story about you returning you moms’ gift I made sure it was no return. I hope you like it.” Rick said.
I shook my head at him. He kept his arm out. I stood up and took the bag from his hand and wrapped my arms around him. I whispered in his ear. “Thank you, Rick.”
“You don’t even know what it is. You might not even like it, so I wouldn’t say thank you just yet.” Rick said.
“I don’t have to open it to know I’ll like it. I know I’ll like it because I got it from a friend, and that’s enough for me.” I said.
I opened the present Rick gave me. Inside of the bag was a velvet necklace box. Inside was a silver chain and on the end was a glass wolf with a small painting of the ocean and the full moon in it. It was absolutely beautiful I loved it. My eyes began to get blurry from tears. I loved the gift Rick gave me.
“O my, Rick, that is an awful lovely necklace you got Alice. It must have cost a lot of money to buy. Alice, you should feel so lucky. Do you want me to help you put it on?” Rosie asked.
I nodded my head and Rosie took the necklace from the box. She put it around my neck and hooked it. I couldn’t help myself I knocked Rick over with a hug.
“Thank you so very much I love it. It’s so beautiful, and it’s my favorite animal to. Thank you, Rick.” I cried.
“I figured you needed to get your mind off of today so I went and bought you this necklace.” Rick said. “So I guess, unhappy birthday.”
Sure today was an unhappy day, but I enjoyed parts of it. I loved the necklace Rick got me it was beautiful. Everyone decided they would go get me a cake for my birthday, but I couldn’t eat any. The cake was chocolate and I was allergic to chocolate. They all ate the cake in spite of me. It made me happy to just be with people on my birthday I felt like the hole in my heart was finally full. That was the best gift I could ask for, and nobody knew I had received. I smiled at everyone that was sitting there eating cake and talking like a family does. I felt like I was home for the first time in a while and that was all I could ever ask for.