Adorably Clueless

Alice shifted tirelessly against her bed sheets as she waited for her alarm clock to ring. Normally, she would have been asleep and the damn thing would go off but she was too busy wondering about Jace and what he was doing.

Nowadays, that's all her thoughts included of and she didn't like it one bit. She was independent woman and she didn't need nor want a man in her life. They cause nothing but trouble. Her mind always corrected her in saying but Jace is different, he's your best friend and he wouldn't ever purposefully hurt you.

Alice grumbled at her stupid mind, tired of its constant babble about Jace. "Look, he's a guy and all guys are the same. If I were to date, I'd just get hurt like my mom did." Her eyes started to prickle at the thought of her mom's trouble.

"Alice, darling, who in the world are you talking to this early in the morning?" Her mom obviously had decided to get up early instead of staying in bed as usual.

Alice moved to get up when her alarm finally decided to make it known how annoying it could be. She blindly hit at the snooze button as she wrapped her soft, pink blanket around her petite shoulders.

The wooden floor was cold beneath her feet as she walked to the bathroom to get ready for the school day ahead. She briefly stopped in the doorway to flick the light switch on and then hurriedly closed the door, stripping down to get into the shower.

The hot, steaming water greeted her as she stepped in the bright white shower. The water cascaded down her shoulders as she gently massaged her long waist length brown hair with shampoo that smelt like mango. Her thoughts seemed to assault her yet again, not giving her a moment of rest. Why does she think about Jace so much? He is her best friend but she doesn't think friends think about one another’s abs or beautiful gray blue eyes.

She sighed in frustration as she finished up in the shower and gripped the sides of the tub so she wouldn't slip. Then she swaddled her body in a big, fluffy white towel and stepped in front of a mirror. Her normally bright green eyes were dull and a bit swollen. She just grabbed the blow dryer off the sink and bent over, drying her hair. After about an hour, her curls were back and she lightly lined her eyes with black eyeliner. She then applied a light amount of mascara on her eyelashes.

“Alice Marie, get down here and eat your breakfast!” Alice huffed but quickly changed into a cute floral dress that hit on her body right above her knees. She slipped on some ballet flats that matched and then grabbed her bright orange backpack and small light gray purse.

She carefully maneuvered down the stairs and into the
kitchen, not wanting to fall and get yet another bruise. Her mom smiled at her and commented on her choice of clothing. “Wow, honey you look beautiful. What a nice change of style for your senior year.”

Alice rolled her eyes playfully at her mom. “Are you trying to say jeans didn't do anything for me?”

Her mom laughed and swatted at her with a wooden stirring spoon. “Oh, you know better than that.” She then gestured to a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. “Are you hungry?”

Alice’s stomach answered in a growl, causing them both to laugh. “I guess that’s my body’s way of saying that I am very hungry.” She sat down in one of the old wooden chairs that adorned the table. She demolished the food on her plate, and then rubbed her stomach in a full kind of manner. “That was amazing as always, Mom. Thanks for breakfast but I have to run. It’s my turn to drive to school. Jace drove last year on the first day.”

Her mom nodded at her and then went about cleaning up the kitchen as she left out the back door. Her cute blue vintage bug sat waiting in the driveway, ready to be driven to school. Alice quickly opened the driver seat’s door and got in. She rummaged around in her purse for her keys for a few minutes before she found her keys but then put them in the ignition.

The little car roared to life and then Alice put it into reverse, backing out of her driveway expertly. Once she was clear, she put it in drive and off she was to Jace’s house. The roads seemed to blend together for Alice this morning because she was at her best friend’s house in no time. She beeped the horn just as he started out the door. “Come on, Jace! We’re going to be late if you don’t hurry your butt up!”

He grinned at her,” Oh, calm down! We still have a good twenty minutes to get there.” He opened the door to her passenger side and slung his backpack into her backseat.
Then he got in and reached over, catching Alice in surprise by hugging her tightly. “I missed you.”

She laughed nervously,” Oh, you saw me a few weeks ago! You couldn't have missed me that much.”

He smiled,” Whatever, Alice. You know you’re my best friend and that requires that I see you at least once every day!”

She shook her head in amusement at him as she concentrated on getting to school on time. Eventually they made it into the crowded school parking lot where Jace’s other football friends were waiting for him.

Mark, the one that absolutely hated Alice’s guts, hollered for Jace to get his ass over there to them. Jace looked over to her, as if to ask permission. She avoided eye contact with him because she didn't want to get in the way of him having fun with his friends. He took that as a ‘yes’ and he hopped out of her car in a flash.

Alice grabbed her stuff and then headed toward her homeroom, not really feeling up to the whole hanging with the football players thing. Being popular was more of Jace’s thing, in fact back in middle school he could have just dumped her as a friend but he chose not to therefore including her into the popular click or whatever it’s called.
Jace has always been there for her, always there to wipe her tears away. Alice tried to put him out of her mind but she couldn't. It’s like her brain and heart were working against her. Could it be that she liked her best friend in more of a boyfriend manner?

She didn't get to answer her question because she bumped into one of her other good friends named Jessie. Alice quickly embraced her friend, who she hadn't seen since school before summer break. “Hey Jessie, how was summer break for you?”

Jessie answered as she walked with Alice to homeroom. “Oh, it was okay I guess. Not much really happened to me over the break. What about you? I’m sure yours was good since you probably had a ton of parties to go too.”

Alice laughed lightly,” Oh, you know those things don’t really interest me. I spent most of my summer holed up in my room, reading some books I didn't get to in the past semester.”

Jessie giggled,” Oh, Alice! I swear you are such a nerd!”

Alice smiled,” Well, I guess that means I don’t have to worry about failing senior year.”

Jessie agreed,” I guess not.”

Mr. Harrison greeted them at the door and ushered them in. The first day was always hectic for the teachers because the office never had the schedules printed out right. Jessie and Alice just took seats closest to the windows, waiting for Jace.

Just when the bell rang, Jace went flying through the door. Mr. Harrison glared at him,” Almost late as usual aren't we, Jace?”

Jace smiled sheepishly at the teacher,” Yeah sorry, Mr. H.”

The teacher just turned away from him and sat down at his desk. “Class, just sit around until they give us the schedules. You know the drill.”

The hum of talking started up again as Jace plopped down in a desk next to Alice’s. He leaned over and asked her,” Why didn't you hang out with the guys and me?”

She shrugged her shoulders,” I just wanted to talk with some of my other friends.” She then turned around and starting up a conversation with Jessie.

Jace put a hand on her right shoulder. ” What’s wrong, Alice?”

Alice replied while shaking his hand off her. “Nothing, what makes you ask?”

Jace just stared at her, confused on why she was suddenly giving him the cold shoulder. He didn't remember doing anything that would cause her to be like this towards him. He just shrugged it off and then turned to one of his other pals.

Alice kept turning back around to tell him what was wrong but she couldn't quite tell him. She honestly didn't know herself. She just felt like she needed to distance herself from him, it was weird and unnatural feeling to her but she couldn't shake off the feeling that it was better this way.

A runner from the office finally showed up with all their schedules and gave them to Mr. Harrison. It was a fellow senior that Alice knew very well. His name was Alec and she had dated him at one point but she had broken up with him because he wanted her virginity, which she wasn't ready to give up. He still hadn't forgiven her for that and it had happened in ninth grade. He now tried to embarrass her every chance he got and today wouldn't be an exception.

Alec strolled down the aisle to her,” Hey there slut.”

Alice just pointedly ignored him, figuring if she didn't give him the satisfaction of hurting her he would go away.

Wrong, he just continued on with his assault. “I bet you had a lot of fucks over the summer. When do I finally get mine?”

Jace got up out of his seat and right into Alec’s face. “What did you say?”