Rumored Nights

With a life ruled by the ring of a bell, Alice was more than happy when it rang and she was free to do as she pleased.

Number one on this list was already waiting for her, leaning against the usual tree.

The difference today was the tall blonde girl standing next to him, engrossed in whatever words they were exchanging while William seemed almost passive.

Before Alice could get close enough to turn green a blur of a body came flying at her.

"Alice you've got to help me!" Jesse exclaimed, attempting to hide himself behind her small frame.

"But-, what?" She sputtered in shock, the amused smile lacing her lips making it all the harder to add to her pathetic attempts to speak more.

"Shh!" He said in a hushed stage whisper. "I made the mistake of calling Liz by her full name, Mary Elizabeth."

"And now she wants to mount your head on her wall?" Alice assumed, cringing at the proper name belonging to her new friend.

Jesse nodded solemnly. "Shotgun and hunting cap included... figuratively of course."

With a chuckle Alice did her best to hide Jesse's body behind hers while murmuring discretely to him. "You watch way too much Looney Toon's."

"And maybe you don’t watch enough." He quipped. "Now act natural."

For his sake, as well as Liz's, Alice found her inner Hercules and would've made her mythology loving father proud with the pose she struck.

"Jesse!" A loud voice cried from nearby. "Don't think you can hide from me behind Alice!"

Alice didn't need to turn from where she stood to know that it was Liz she heard, or that she was standing in a precarious spot between a lioness and her prey.

The panic must have shown on her face along with this realization as Max, in his chivalirous efforts guided by Skye, appeared next to her.

"Never fear my lady! I'll save you!" He announced heroically, putting his arms around her waist.

Like any usual contact Alice froze at first but had no choice in the matter as she was quickly slung over his shoulder and wisked away, the sound of Jesse hitting the ground echoing in their wake.

An odd tickling feeling reverborated through her throat and it took Alice not a moment later to realize the accompanying sound was her giggling.

It was an infectious sort of giggle that generally occured with lots of flirting and hormones in the air, the type of giggle that was never synonymous with her yet came from her regardless and completely uncalled for.

The whole time she analyzed her happiness Max had continued his rescue attempts and by that time had rejoined the group of friends from lunch with a few additional new faces.

As he finally set her down Skye took up the damsel in distress role, throwing herself uninhibitedly into his arms, announcing in a deep Southern drawl, "My hero!"

Being pushed into Alice by Skye, Sisky snorted, rubbing his arm. "Yeah, my hero."

Everyone around them continued their conversations, interrupted momentarily by the return of Liz and, looking a little worse for wear, Jesse.

"Hey Alice?" Liz asked as the grin she playfully flashed for Jesse wore away. "Is that your boyfriend over there? Because if it is I can help getting that blonde thing off him."

That caught Alice's attention with alarming speed and she glanced back to where he had been earlier to see the same girl flirtatiously leaning on his shoulder and, although she couldn't hear it, was giggling the same laugh that had escaped Alice a few minutes earlier.

Perhaps it really was contagious.

"Oh crap I forgot about Bill!" She exclaimed, grabbing her bag from it's borrowed home on the pavement.

Yelling goodbyes back as she ran, Alice nearly collided into William as he appeared much closer than he had actually been, grinning and missing his blonde friend.

"Hey." Alice murmured into his chest as he pulled her into a hug.

"Hey yourself." Bill chuckled, slipping her bag off her shoulder before she even realized what he was doing.

Before she could object he laced his hand with hers and quickly changed the subject to one she couldn't wait to gush about.

"So, I assume it was a good day?"

She flashed him a grin. "I made some friends."

He rose an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue, which she did with a shrug.

"Well Sisky kind of forced them on me, and they seem to like new people since I just met them today and they're already using me as a human shield."

This time when Alice looked up at William he was smiling warmly at her, his lip partly between his teeth as if he wanted to say something but wouldn't let himself.

"What about you? How was your day?" Alice asked, expectantly waiting for him to hopefully tell her what was obviously on his mind.

He shrugged nonchalantly, squeezing her hand. "Nothing really happened. Went to work, dealt with annoying people, then came and found you."

At that last part he smiled crookedly down at Alice.

Still, she was persistent. "Really William, surely something notable happened today."

He sighed and resigned himself to looking down at the sidewalk passing under their feet.

"Well, I have been thinking about this girl today." He murmured, apruptly freeing his hand from hers.

"Oh?" Alice asked, attempting to sound interested and hide the painfully obvious feeling of hurt waiting in the wings.

All he had to do was say those few words and it would come to embrace her like a plague.

"Yeah," He continued, not meeting her gaze. "I've kind of liked her for a while."

"Oh... interesting." Alice mused, toying with a thought that no longer seemed as insignificant as before. "She wouldn't have happened to be at my school this afternoon would she?"

A faint blush tinged his cheeks and he glanced away from Alice, keeping his gaze forever glued on the ground.

That was the only answer she needed to let go of the heart she was holding onto to let it fall and shatter.

The blonde girl from earlier strutted into her mind uninvited, dragging along images of her and William this afternoon like a kick in the gut.

“Oh...”

“Is that all you can say?” William asked, frustration lacing his words.

“What else can I say?” Alice muttered sadly.

Bill let out an annoyed sigh and ran his hand messily through his hair. “Could you maybe tell me how you feel?”

Alice sighed, numbly walking the familiar route home with Bill.

Words filled her mind, answers he would and wouldn’t want to hear, words Alice would have to choose from.

She had never openly lied to him before, never had a reason to till now.

“You don’t want to know how I feel William.”

The hand that gripped her arm was warm and calloused and stopped her in her tracks.

“Alice... talk to me.” He murmured. “Please, just tell me.”

With a sigh she turned and did her best to compose herself to say the words she didn’t know.

“I... don’t care. They’re your feelings William, it’s not like what I think would change them. It really doesn't matter.” Alice replied thickly, turning away from her best friend.

“Doesn’t matter?” William echoed. “Doesn’t matter? Alice you’re opinion means everything to me.”

Despite the cool breeze Alice felt hot, her skin too tight on her body and tightening further still with his words.

Every time he pressed on their conversation it only made it harder for Alice to listen, to be so close to him knowing that’s as far as she’d ever get.

“Alice can you do something for me?” William asked.

It was then she noticed they had stopped in the middle of the street in front of her house where William stared at her with such intensity it rose the hair on the back of her neck.

It was almost like their conversation before had ended, though Alice knew full well there was no escaping the topic under the scrutiny of his gaze.

“If you’re going to avoid my questions can you at least do this for me?” He pursued.

Alice could never say no to William, no matter how much she wanted to.

Without meeting his gaze she nodded, staring intently at the worn edges of her converse.

“Forgive me.” She heard him whisper, his hand cupping her chin.

There was no chance for her to ask the reason why as he pulled her chin up to meet his gaze.

A blur of brown eyes under an expression of hurt didn’t register as they grew closer to her.

It took the feel of his lips against hers for Alice to grasp that he was kissing her.

He was kissing her.

“I, uh... just needed to- to... see something, for my- myself.” He whispered, his warm breath blowing across her lips in the absence of his. “I’m sorry.”

Her heart, if it hadn’t shattered before, was surely driven to powder by now.

Those were the last words he stuttered to Alice before he turned away down the street.

She couldn’t feel the cool autumn breeze that followed in his wake, or anything else that was happening in the world around her.

Her thoughts were on one thing, one person to be more specific, and the numbness of shock she warmly embraced.