Adorably Clueless

Alice watched the ceiling tiles as she waited for them to finally stop moving. She gently placed on of her deadly pale hands on her forehead and tried to sit up. Hot stabs of pain ran through her head causing her to sink back down on to the small, cramp table.

Jace smiled thinly at her,” How are you doing there, Alice?”

She stared up confusingly at him,” Uh, how did I get here?” She reached up to him, ready to haul herself up on his strength. “Hey! Don’t you need to get to football practice? It is sixth period, isn’t it?”

He put a hand on her stomach, holding her down lightly. “You don’t need to be moving. Alec hit you in gym today, so he might have given you a concession.”

She rubbed her green eyes, causing Jace to come back into view sharper and clearer. “I don’t remember being hit. But, you should go ahead on to sixth. Coach will be mad if you miss practice.”

Jace just shook his head,” Coach will just have to wait. I’m taking you home and then I’ll come back for practice. You probably need to go ahead to the hospital but your mom wants to be the one to take you.”

Alice protested, getting up even though it felt like a huge stone was on her chest weighing her down. “No, I can drive myself. Really, I’m fine you should go on to practice.” Her legs started to come out from under her, causing Jace to catch her bridal style.

He huffed in frustration,” Alice, you are hurt! Quit struggling and let me take you home. It’s what best friends’ do.” A small smile slipped through his hard face as he said best friends.

Alice just kept shaking her head, giving herself a terrible headache. “No, put me down. I can take care of myself.”

Jace just ignored her and grabbed her purse along with her backpack, leaving the office with the nurse sighing on how cute ‘young love’ was. He didn’t let himself process what she had said, he just gently placed Alice in the passenger seat. He ran around the front end of the small car and crushed himself into the driver’s seat, hurriedly starting the car so Alice wouldn’t get out.

Alice just sat with her arms crossed, feeling degraded. “I don’t need you to take me anywhere. I can take care of myself.” She glanced over to Jace, watching his reaction. His hands tightened over the steering wheel, showing his tendons distinctly.

He said, clenching his teeth tightly. “Alice, just be quiet. I’m just trying to be a good friend.”

Her heart softened at the thought of him caring, which he pretty much said. She placed one of her arms on his hand, making him look over at her. “Thanks, I’m sorry for making such a big deal about this. I just feel like I can’t take care of myself.”

He flipped his hand over and gently squeezed her hand. “You can, Alice. I just want to make sure you get home safely.”

Alice smiled and just curled up in her seat, her eyelids feeling heavy. Soon she was softly snoring, the only noise you could hear in the car. Jace just shook his head, mesmerized in his thoughts. Why do I have to feel so protective of Alice? I know she’s my best friend but most guys don’t feel this way about their best girl friends.

Jace couldn’t seem to figure out why she was always on his mind. He lightly tapped Alice on the arm when they reached her house, not wanting to startle her by being in her face. She yawned, her mouth making a small ‘o’ while she blinked and took in her surroundings.

Jace grinned,” Come on, sleepy head! Your mom is going to kill me for not getting you home sooner.” He quickly got out of the car and reached the other side before she could open the door on her own. She just shook her head, knowing there was no arguing with his gentleman ways.

She briskly thanked him and gently touched his arm to show her appreciation. He briefly smiled at her, suddenly feeling the need to get out of there. He walked up the concrete porch steps first, and then watched Alice so if she was to falter, he could catch her.

Alice just blushed, feeling very weird and out of place. She took the steps very slowly, taking a step only when she was certain it was clear. She didn’t want another pounding headache that left her weak and in Jace’s merciful arms.

Her mom came falling out the screen door and ran down poor Jace, who was simply dazed. Alice’s eyes flew open as her mother’s rail thin arms wrapped around her waist and started carrying her. Alice wasn’t a huge girl but she wasn’t very small like her mother. Jace tried to help her, offering his arms to put her in but her mother just trotted past him and into the living room.

He followed Alice’s mother, taking in the blue room with its cream colored sofa and chairs. Various pictures were placed in the room, some on the coffee table while others cluttered the TV stand. Alice was complaining when he finally realized she had been put down. “Mother! You are too small to be carrying me around like that! I’m not that hurt, it’s probably a very minor concussion.”

Her mother, whose name Jace could never remember, just glared at her and then went in the kitchen to call her dad. Alice huffed,” She’s going to worry dad at work.”

Jace surveyed her profile, taking in her beautiful green eyes and the huge swollen bump on the side of her head. He answered her,” He needs to know.”

She glowered at him,” Hey, I thought you were on my side!”

Jace sat down on the other side of her. “Of course I am! Best friends until the end, but if you’re hurt they need to know. It’s your parents and it’s their job to get you whatever medical attention you need.” He wrapped an arm on the back of couch, right behind her head which was something he always had done.

Alice blushed lightly, feeling his arm around her. “Yeah, yeah but this could wait until he got home from work.”

Jace felt a weird urge to kiss Alice when he saw the tint of red on her cheeks. He leaned in and gently cupped her face so she would face him. He wanted to close the gap between their lips; he could feel the hot air she was panting from her lips. Instead, he just smiled and comforted her with words. “Oh, you know your mom is going to do what she wants to do. She’s a grown woman and you are her only daughter, of course she’s going to worry and want to tell your dad.”

Alice stared into his eyes, thinking about what it would be like for him to press his lips against hers. “Yeah.” Her thoughts were quick and sudden. I love you. She pushed away from him, her eyes wide with disbelief. Had she really thought that?

Jace looked at her confused, wondering why she so suddenly had to get away from him. Alice smiled meekly before making up a lame excuse. “Uh, thanks for taking me home but I really should rest. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She stood up but Jace pulled her down into a hug and then placed a friendly kiss on her forehead. “Okay, I better get to practice anyway. See you later, Alice. Text me, okay?”

She nodded and then turned, running up the carpeted stairs. She couldn’t get to her door fast enough, but once she was in her room she let her thoughts ran wild. Was he really going to kiss me? Oh, my. Would I have liked it?

Her cell phone that she had accidently left this morning beeped, proclaiming her text message to the world. She tapped the screen and saw a message from Jessie.

Hey, what happened today? Everyone’s talking about how you got nailed in the head by Alec?

Alice groaned, not wanting to be the talk of the school. She answered Jessie,” Alec just up and nailed me in the head but of course Coach didn’t see it. "

Alice flopped down on her bed while she waited for a reply from Jessie. Soon enough it came, making her phone come to life when she was least expecting it. That’s bull crap! He should get fired for not paying attention to his students. How does he even have a job?

Alice typed back,” I have no clue as to why he hasn’t been fired. :)"

Jessie’s name lit across her screen again,” You get some sleep, you need it after being wacked in the head. I’ll talk with you tomorrow. Love you, girl. "

Alice smiled but couldn’t reply because her mother knocked on her door. “Alice? Do you think you’ll be okay for a few minutes; I have to run to the store to get you some pain killers.”

She answered her,” Yeah, I’ll be fine mom.” She didn’t get an answer back so she just stared at her ceiling. Her glow in the dark stars was still tacked up there from her kindergarten year. They didn’t glow anymore; the light or charge was gone. Her eyelids started to get heavy and soon she was asleep.

Alice sat alone at the edge of the playground, not wanting the bullies to find her. Her legs were up against her chest, her back to the tree. They weren’t going to pull her hair again, it hurt too much.

All the other kids were sliding down the big slide in the middle of everything and Alice desperately wanted to do the same. She decided to stay put though, figuring the bullies would want to slide more than pulling her hair. She was wrong because she suddenly felt a tug on her hair from behind. She froze and the boy who had a grip on her dark hair laughed. “Did you really think you’d get away from us?”

She whimpered,” Please, leave me alone.”

They began to circle her, appearing from behind the tree that had been unoccupied at the beginning of recess. “No, no. Alice, you’ve been a bad girl and bad girls have to be punished.”

Tears started freely running down her little face. “I’m not a bad girl!”

One of the boys lunged forward and jerked her hair again. “Yes, you are Alice. You are a really bad girl.” The other boys joined in, causing Alice to scream in pain. None of the teachers heard her because one of the boys clamped their hand over her mouth. She bit it, breaking skin and causing a metallic taste to be in her mouth.

The boy shouted in pain and then slapped her hard against her face, leaving a whelp. That little boy was suddenly on the ground, his face all bruised. Alice looked up and there was a boy with beautiful gray blue eyes.

He grabbed all the boys and dragged them to the ground, giving each a matching whelp and a black eye. When he had finally caught all of them, he yelled at them. “You are not suppose to hurt girls! You guys are bullies and I’m telling the teacher after recess!”

Then he turned to Alice and offered her one of his hands. “Hey, I’m sorry those guys were mean to you. Do you want to come play with me?”

Alice smiled shyly,” Sure.”