Broken Scream

I walked into school with my heart beating at ninety miles an hour. I walked to my locker and written across it was we’re glad your back. In the space, that was left over, had people’s names on it. I took my sleeve and wiped it across the front of my locker and everything came off of it. When I opened my locker notes and stuffed animals fell out of it and piled up on the floor. I grabbed my book and slammed my locker shut all of my nerves forgotten. I bent down and picked up one of the stuffed animal. People were in the hall looking at me. I went over to the trash can and threw it in there. Everyone let out a small gasp.
“You shouldn’t act like you were worried about me when I went to the hospital when many of you weren’t worried about me when I disappeared. Like you, Tiffany, I know you hate me. I hate stuffed animals any ways so please, if you don’t mind, come get everything you gave me. I don’t want any of it.” I snapped.
“Does that mean you don’t want my welcome back gift?” someone said behind me.
“No I don’t want any welcome back gifts.” I turned around to see James standing there. “O, it’s you. Sorry, but I have to get to class.”
“Wait, you can’t just avoid me after telling me what you told me last night. That’s just not right, Alice. Please at least accept my welcome back gift.” James begged.
“Ok, what did you get me for a welcome back gift?” I asked.
“I got you a personalized charm bracelet with your name on it.” James said. He handed me a box.
I opened the box and inside was a silver bracelet with tiny hearts and cats on it. In the middle of those charms was a diamond. My name was carved into one of the hearts. To be honest it was a really pretty bracelet.
I looked up at James and gave him a small smile. “Thank you, James, its pretty. The bell is about to ring we should get to class.”
We walked towards our first period class and realized how late we were going to be with how slow we were going. We looked at each other and took off in a full sprint towards the class room. James tripped over his own foot so I stopped and helped him up. I couldn’t help but laughing at him after he got up. He glared at me for a second then took off down the hall. Soon it turned into a race. The bell rang as we got to the door of the class room. We were both out of breath and laughing the teacher told us to go to our seats. Everyone was watching us as we went to our seats.
I sat down in my seat and got control of my breath. I looked over at Mary and she had a big grin on her face. I just rolled my eyes and faced forward. I didn’t have to take notes I already knew everything on the subject we were learning. I sat through the class doodling in my note book. It seemed like only a couple of minutes before the bell rang. So far today hasn’t turned out too bad, but it was still morning.
The bell rang and made me jump. I put my books and binders in my back pack and grabbed my charm bracelet. I shoved it into the pocket of my pants and headed for the door. I was about to walk out when the teacher stopped me and told me he needed to talk to me. I let out a big huff and went to his desk.
“It’s good to have you back in my class, Alice, but if you didn’t run off you would be a senior. You were ahead in school, but that year pulled you back. Now you’re going to graduate with your own class.” Mr. Miller told me.
“Ok, is that what you held me here for?” I asked.
“No that’s not what I needed to tell you. You ran out of class yesterday in such a hurry, so you didn’t get the homework from me. We are doing a project on ancient Greece and it is going to be due in two weeks.” Mr. Miller said.
“Ancient Greece you say? That’s perfect I can get this done with time to spare. I’ll have it done with in the week. Good talk Mr. Miller. O can you right me a slip so I don’t get marked tardy?” I asked.
Mr. Miller wrote me a pass and I hurried off to my statistics class. I was four minutes late to class, but the pass got me off. I took my seat beside James and took out my stuff. James reached over and tapped me on the shoulder. I put down my pencil and looked at him.
“Where is the bracelet I gave you?” He asked.
“I couldn’t put it on myself, so it’s in my pocket.” I told James.
“I can put it on for you. I want to see you wearing the bracelet I bought you.” James said.
I took the bracelet out of my pocket and handed it to James. He grabbed it and fumbled with the hook. It took him three or so minutes to get it undone. When he got it undone I put out my arm and he put the bracelet on. I looked at it and it seemed to glisten in the light. I was completely mesmerized by it. Everything on it was placed perfectly and it only made it look that much more amazing. I just couldn’t stop looking at it. I didn’t realize James was talking to me until he tossed his binder down in front of me. I snapped out of it and looked at him.
“Do you like the bracelet?” James asked.
“Yeah, James, I love it. It is really beautiful. The diamond looks so real.” I said.
“That’s because it is real.” James told me.
I whipped my head around and looked at him. “You bought me a real diamond? That is over doing it, James. How much did you spend on it?” I asked.
“I can’t tell you how much I spent. It’s a gift you are never supposed to tell the price of something you bought. Its fine I didn’t over spend I still have half my money left.” James told me.
“Why would you spend this money on me after how I treated you? It just doesn’t seem logical.” I cried.
“Because, I love you, Alice. Didn’t I already tell you this? then you told me last night that you still loved me so I went out and bought you this.” James said.
“It truly is beautiful, James, thank you so very much.” I whispered.
“It was no problem at all, Alice. Patrick helped me pick it out. It turns out he has good taste in jewelry. Having a gay brother really comes in handy at times.” James said.
“Your brother is amazing. I love him like he was my own brother.” I chirped.
“O did I tell you that when you were away he found himself a boyfriend?” James asked.
“No, what’s his name?” I asked.
“His name, I believe, is Rick.” James said.
Hearing that name made my body freeze up. I could feel tears edge towards my eyes, but I choked them back. I couldn’t cry in the middle of class. I went from frozen to shivering. My body began to go through different stages. I was cold then hot, and then I was just right. I thought I was doing better, but after hearing that name made me go all the way back down to level one. I looked over at James and realized he was trying to talk to me.
“”Ok?” was all I heard.
“What?” I asked.
“I asked if you were ok.” James said.
“Yeah I’m fine, that name just seemed familiar I was thinking where else I heard that name.” I lied.
“Well Patrick is bringing him over tonight if you want to meet him. My parents have wanted to see you ever since they heard you were back. You could see if you can come over” he said.
“I don’t know if my grandma would let me after what I said to her last night.” I told him.
“How about I call her right after school and ask her myself. If she tells me yes you can come with me.” He said.
“Yeah I guess that could work, but don’t forget to ask your parents.” I said.
“They already said it was fine. I text them a few minutes ago.” He said.
“Is there something you would like to say Miss, Prior?” The teacher asked.
“No Sir.” I said.
“How about you, James?” The teacher asked.
“No sir.” James mimicked.
“Then please be quiet during my lecture. Believe it or not there are some people who want to learn. Next time you disrupt class you will be going to the principal’s office.” The teacher warned.
We nodded our heads and the teacher walked away. We looked at each other and smiled. Through the rest of the class we both remained quiet. The teacher would look back at us every now and then to make sure we weren’t talking. When we got out of class we both started cracking up.
“The expression on his face was priceless. I think that was the first time he has had and expression at all.” James laughed.
“Isn’t that the truth? What I wouldn’t give to see it again.” I said.
“What are you two laughing about?” Patrick asked.
“It’s nothing. Patrick, Alice might be coming over after school if you don’t mind.” James said.
“No, I don’t mind at all. Why is she coming over? If you don’t mind me asking.” Patrick said.
“She wants to meet your boyfriend.” James told him.
“Cool Rick will just love her. They are so much alike.” Patrick cooed.
“You really think so? I would really doubt that now and days.” I sighed.
“He will still love you.” Patrick insisted.
“I guess we’ll see tonight. Well we should probably get to class.” I said.
I turned around and headed for my third period class which was creative writing. I sat down in my desk and started on my warm up exercise. This week we had to do a short story about vampires, so that’s what we did the rest of the class period. The rest of the day was boring and slow. The closer it got to the end of the day the slower the time went by.
As the bell rang I got out of my desk and went to find James. He was waiting in front of the school and I went up to him and tapped his shoulder. He turned around and gave me a sign to hold on. By the looks of it he was on the phone with my grandma. He nodded his head and hung up the phone.
“Your grandma was hard to convince, but she finally said yes. My mom is going to be picking us up, so we have to stay here for a few minutes. Patrick is going to wait with us, and Mary has basketball practice.” James informed me.
“Did my grandma seem mad at me at all?” I asked.
“At first, but I told her my parents were waiting to see you. She gave in to that.” James told me.
“Maybe I should just go home so my grandma doesn’t get even angrier.” I said.
“No, please don’t go home she already said you could come over.” James pleaded.
“But I’m already in trouble, why make it worse?” I asked.
“Alice, just come over for a little while so you can meet Rick. That’s why you were coming over anyways.” James said.
“Fine, but just for a little while.” I warned.
His mom pulled up just as Patrick was walking out of the school. I got in the back seat with James and Patrick sat up front. There mom pulled out of the parking lot and headed for her house. The whole way home she was telling how much they missed me and how sad it was that I wasn’t with James anymore. She asked me why I wasn’t with him anymore, but I didn’t want to tell her. She pulled into her driveway and turned off the engine.
I got out of the car and walked into their house. The inside looked a lot different than it did a year ago. The walls were painted a light tan color all over. They had a new flat screen television, and new leather furniture. The kitchen now had an island in it. And they got a new dining table. From the looks the table was made out of mahogany. They told me to set my stuff in James room, so I did. His room was still a dull blue color and had a twin size bed in the middle of it. His dresser was still off to the left of his room. And over all it was still pretty organized.
I went back out to the living room and sat down on the couch next to James. I fidgeted under everyone’s stare. The first person to talk was James’s mom.
“So how have you been doing, Alice?” She asked.
“I’m doing fine, Sara. How are you doing?” I asked her in return.
“Just great now that you’re back, and James is smiling again. You know ever since you had left James has closed himself off from the world. We were worried about him because he would cry every now and then. The boy is hopelessly in love with you.” Sara told me.
“Mom! Did you have to tell her that? That is so embarrassing mom!” James squeaked.
“I was just trying to tell her how much you worried you were about here. So much that you didn’t even look at another girl.” Sara apologized.
“You really didn’t get with another girl? Why not?” I asked James.
“Because I was too busy missing you. You’re the only girl I have truly loved and I wanted to hold on to that if you ended up coming back.” James told me.
I was about to answer him, but someone knocked on the door. Patrick got off of the couch excitedly and grabbed the door. The guy that walked in was average height with blue eyes. He had brown hair and a narrow nose. Over all he wasn’t a bad looking guy. Patrick waved his hand in front of my face. It was then I realized he was talking to my.
“Sorry, what did you say?” I asked.
“Alice, I would like you to meet Rick. Rick this is our good friend, Alice.” Patrick introduced.
“Hi, Alice, it’s nice to meet you.” Rick said.
“Um, yeah hi it’s nice to meet you as well.” I said. “By the way I like your name.”
“Um, thanks.” Rick said.
“Why don’t you tell Rick a little about yourself, Alice?” Patrick said.
“No thanks, I don’t really want to tell anyone about myself at the moment. It’s nothing against you. Sorry.” I said.
“No that’s fine. Maybe some time later.” Rick said.
“Yeah maybe later.” I agreed.
“How about you tell her about yourself, Rick.” Patrick told him.
“Ok I can do that. Well as you can tell I’m gay. I use to travel a lot, but I stopped after I moved here. My favorite color is a dark green color, and my favorite food I pizza. Then I just have to say I absolutely love hazel eyes. Your eyes are absolutely beautiful.” Rick told me.
“Please don’t tell me your favorite animal is a husky.” I said.
“Yes that is my favorite animal. How did you ever guess?” Rick asked.
“I can’t do this I have to go. I’m sorry for acting this way, but I really have to go you two are too alike.” I said.
“Do you want a ride home, Alice?” Sara asked.
“No I can walk.” I said.
“But your house is ten miles from here.” Sara compromised.
“That’s fine I can walk.” I said.
I turned around and walked out of the house. I walked down there driveway and got on the road. I started to walk down the street towards my grandma’s house. With the luck I had it started to pour rain. I pulled my hood over my head and continued along the road. My path was starting to get foggy, so I had to squint my eyes to see. A few cars passed on the opposite side of the road. By the time I reached the end of the street I was drenched from head to foot. I felt a shiver go through my body and I let out a big sneeze. I turned right and headed up the street. I was still eight miles away from my house so I had a long way to walk.
The pathway got so foggy that I couldn’t see where I was going. I tripped over something on the ground and landed in a big puddle of muddy water. I tried to get up but I slipped back into the puddle. The second time I attempted to get up I was successful. I began to walk again when a car pulled up beside me. I looked over and saw James sitting in the driver’s seat. He held up the bag that I head left at his house.
“Let me give you a ride home at least. You’re going to get sick if you’re out there any longer, Alice.” James explained.
“Fine, but you have to give me my bag.” I said.
“It’s a deal. Hop in.” James laughed.
I got in the car and shut the door behind me. I grabbed my bag out of his hand and he drove towards the house. I put my head against the seat back and looked up at the roof of the car. I noticed it had a few rips in it, but it did the last time I was in here. Not too many things had changed since I had been gone.
“Dang it I can’t see, I’m going to have to pull over.” James said.
“How long will we have to stay pulled over?” I asked.
“As long as it takes, for the fog to clear up a little bit.” James replied.
“I hope it doesn’t take too long.” I said.
“It probably won’t, but until then we could talk. So what did you mean when you said you two are too much alike to Rick?” James asked.
“It was nothing, I was just thinking out loud. I’m sorry for freaking out and leaving so suddenly.” I said.
“That’s fine, Alice. I have question for you and you have to answer it truthfully.” James said.
“I’ll do my best.” I told him.
“When you said you were still in love with me did you mean it, or were you just trying to put me in a good mood?” James asked me.
“Yes I meant it, James, I wouldn’t lie about something like that it’s just cruel. Were you wondering that all day?” I asked him.
“Truthfully I was wondering it all day. I would have been so crushed if you had only said that just to make me feel better.” James told me.
“I don’t want you to ever feel like that again, James. I love you, and I won’t stop loving you.” I explained.
“I don’t know if I can believe that though, Alice. You have changed so much how am I supposed to believe that?” James cried.
I reached over grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into a tight hug. His arm instinctively wrapped around me. I could feel tears fall onto my shoulder as he started to cry. I pushed him back and looked him in the eye. It was like he could read what I was thinking because we both leaned in at the same moment and our lips met.
The kiss deepened as my phone rang. I let out a groan of annoyance and looked at my caller I.D. it said that the number was blocked. I rolled my eyes and hit the end button. I put my phone in my coat pocket and looked at James
“Who was calling you?” James asked.
“It was a blocked number so I ignored it.” I told him.
“Well that was really weird. It looks like the fog has cleared up we should probably get you back home.” James said with a smile.
“My grandma is probably wondering where I am.” I agreed.
I got into the passenger seat and he got into the driver. He started the engine and sped off to my house. He pulled into my driveway and put the car in park. I got out of the car and thanked him for the ride home.
“Hey, Alice, wait.” James said.
I stopped and turned around. He was getting out of his car and walking towards me. He got to where I was standing and brushed a good bye kiss. He looked me in the eyes and I could tell he had a question.
“Alice, does this mean we’re back together?” James wondered.
“Well-“ I began.
“Alice Mary Cross, you get in this house right now!” My grandma yelled out the door.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow, James.” I said and ran into the house.