Rumored Nights

In the darkness of the night Alice tossed and turned.

It wasn't the frantic voices from next door, or the sound of Hailey snoring across the hall, but her own inner turnoil.

With the unfolding events of the day she could find no peace of mind as every though was tainted by William.

Her anger wasn't just for him, but toward herself.

He was an asshole in her eyes, making decisions that affected her life without a single word, and taking himself out of the equation of her life.

With the nerve to go back to Avery after taking her home and still saying he did it because he cared sent a fire burning in her heart that was far from love.

It hurt her further knowing this and, despite it all, that Alice couldn't change the fact still cared about him.

Alice fell asleep into the early hours of the new day, not in tears, but in thought.

Her dream that night was a reflection on her inner musings, a memory from the past brought up instead of the usual dream.

Falling back two years, Alice found herself reliving August twenty-first, the day that dawned as her sixteenth birthday.

Good morning sweetheart and happy birthday! I'm so sorry I can't be here today but there was an emergency at the bakery. When I get home we'll celebrate. Love you lots, xoxoxo, Mom.

The scrap of paper containing her mother's frantic handwriting sat on her bedside table underneath an iced cupcake, 'Happy Birthday' laced across it in pink.

"Happy birthday to me." She muttered, crawling out of bed.

The house was quiet underneath her padding feet, the still air usually a refuge in a constantly busy house, but not on today of all days.

With her mother at the bakery that cancelled out the last of her hopes for making something of her birthday.

Caroline had left the night before to be emotional support for her friend while Ryan was busy away at college, both promising they'd make it up to her later.

Hailey on the other hand had gone on a Girl Scout's camping trip with Luke and wouldn't be coming back till the next day, which was fine by Alice.

While they made her mother's life whole again, Alice and her brother and sister had taken to their step family with neutrality, respecting that they made their mother happy while keeping a fine distance between themselves and their father's replacement.

But as she stood on the stairs in her house, searching and soaking in the emptiness, she would've given anything to hear a high pitched squeal or the thud of heavy footsteps.

It was cold irony that her sixteenth birthday could be so much like Sixteen Candles when she lived in Illinois, a state synonomous with John Hughes.

So perhaps it was too much when she started watching said movie on her couch, stabbing her fork angrily into her cupcake until it no longer reminded her of what the day was.

Although she didn't blame her family for having other plans, for not being there for her, a part of her desperately wanted to.

She wanted to scream and kick for not being important enough, lash out against herself for thinking she deserved the spotlight, overall express the warring emotions inside of her.

And then the doorbell rang.

Still in her Invader Zim printed pajamas Alice padded toward the door in her puffy eyed, blotchy glory ready to raise hell with the person behind the door.

"Whoever you are-"

Alice cut herself short as William stood in front of her.

He looked hesitant as he stood awkwardly on her doorstep, a brightly wrapped package held aloft in his hands.

"Uh, hey, Alice. Happy birthday." He stuttered, curiously staring at her less than pleasant appearance.

"Hey Bill." She sighed, only offering a half smile.

He slid past her with the present still in hand and by the time Alice trudged up next to him he was surveying the living room where she had spent her tears and frustrations.

But most obviously were the crumbs of the cupcake, like pieces of a wreckage scattered and part of a once bigger picture sorely missed.

"Alice, uh, do you want to talk about something?" William asked, setting the box in his hands on the table.

She sighed and flopped her body onto the couch where Bill was quick to join her, waiting for her to speak.

And she did.

In a likeness to a therapist's office, Alice lay on the couch and recounted her troubles.

She stumbled over the abrupt feeling of loneliness she felt in this one absent birthday, how it was so insignifigant yet bothered her so much.

Yet no matter how self centered she thought it sounded, what stuck with her the most was how serious William took her words.

When she had said her peace Alice took on William's role and waited for him to speak.

"So everyone is busy today and they all left you here? On your birthday?" He asked, not giving himself away with emotion.

"Pretty much."

Startling her slightly, William stood up with clear determination in his movements, his smile being a beacon.

He pulled Alice up from her dejected spot on the couch with both hands, smiling further still as he didn't let go.

"Get dressed, okay?" William stated brightly, already tugging her toward her room.

Attempts to question his sudden enthusiasm went unanswered by William, who grinned with the satisfaction of his scheme.

With William behind the wheel of his car, they drove toward an unknown destination, further mystery by the bandana he had wrapped over her eyes as a blindfold.

While the desire of knowledge went unfed, Alice was happy regardless that she was no longer wallowing in self pity and instead was in-route to somewhere, with William.

Their drive lasted long enough to get through the mix CD she had burned him not so long ago with only a handful of stops where she had kept the blindfold on, enjoying the anticipation of a surprise.

"O-okay get out slowly, here l-let me help you." Bill stuttered as Alice could imagine him nervously watching her, ready to step in at the first sign that she needed help.

Quicker and more graceful than even she could've thought possible, Alice tore out of the passenger's seat and stood where she thought she was facing Bill.

A small touch and gentle turn led to the blindfold binding her sight being removed without a word.

As the too bright light of the sun receeded, Alice overlooked where William had taken her, the gasp caught in her throat halfway.

"William... Bill, I-, this is... wow."

The late summer sun cast a glow around her, high above her home where she stood on an overlooking bluff.

In front of her the houses that usually surrounded her had shrunk, her home becoming like a model for her life ready to be sold to the nearest buyer of happy moments.

Even further out from behind her, at the height and distance that they were at, Alice could make out the Chicago skyline where she had spent many memories.

In between these two places she felt as if her heart was whole and not stretched between two great places, both where she had spent great times with her family, her friends, and William.

With the cloudless blue sky stretching overhead and dwarfing the scene surrounding her, Alice turned to William.

"This is beautiful." She whispered, feeling the unwanted tears prickling slowly at her eyes.

William smiled and looked around before he stepped closer to Alice, looking out at the view she had earlier been absorbing with hungry eyes.

"I thought you might like it up here." He murmured, putting his arm around her shoulder. "Happy birthday Alice."

From there he picked up a picnic basket that hadn't been in the car before and led her over to a grove of shaded trees.

It was one of those memorable moments with a friend where the edges of freedom and happiness met, where Alice felt in this one moment nothing else mattered.

If she clung onto this one moment nothing could ever make her sad again, because where she sat with William, looking down at her tiny life, nothing could matter more.

"Sandwich?" Bill asked, breaking her from her dramatic movie musings.

From the basket next to her on the checkered blanket William pulled out two deli sandwiches, each with an adjoining aluminum can he had picked up apparently in one of his many stops.

They ate their lunch in relative silence, both knowing words would only clutter the clear air they enjoyed.

When William reached into the basket for a second time he pulled out a plastic box with a small round cake inside.

"I know you'll probably get one of these tonight, but I want you to blow out candles that don't seem like a guilt gift. And don't try to tell me you won't, or that you won't pretend everything is wonderful when it's killing you inside. You're a terrible liar." William laughed as he poured over the cake, his back blocking Alice's view of what he was doing.

Finally he turned, waiting to see her reaction as the iced cake came into view, every inch of it covered in candles well beyond the number of her age.

"I think that's a fire hazard." She murmured mesmirized as he pulled out a lighter.

Once the cake was finally lit Alice sat in awe staring at it long enough for a small puddle of wax to form.

"Make a wish already!" William exclaimed in amusement.

Before a gust of wind could beat her to it Alice drew a deep breath and blew out the candles.

As cheesy as it sounds, all she wished for was that the day would never end, regardless of how unrealistic it was.

In a sense this was the birthday she wanted all day, without her family but also without the sadness involved with most holidays in her home.

William had done something Alice could never repay him for, doing more than just getting her out of the house on her birthday.

"Bill... thank you."

He grinned with softened eyes and leaned over to press a kiss to her forehead.

Alice's lasting memory before she woke up was of William, still smiling, looking out at the endless land below them silhuetted against the endless blue above him.

As the light from her dream was replaced by the new morning, her mind was just a dull fog, the memory of happier times and her dream being just that, a memory.