Original Stories Fan Fiction / Romance Fan Fiction / Angels Fan Fiction ❯ Heaven and the Damned ❯ Introduction ( Chapter 1 )

Heaven and the Damned

Written by: S.N.G

Author's Note-

It does start out somewhat slow but I promise that it's worth it. Please remember this is the Introduction so it has a lot of info important to the story. If I didn't write it this way then it wouldn't have made sense at all. Okay maybe it would have…but the more the merrier, correct? Also, this is my fist non fan-fiction on Media Minor so if you hate it don't yell too much please. Arigoto! Enjoy! =]

 

“Guess what I heard.”

“There's no telling.” I could hear Sam in the background twisting one of her golden tresses around her finger.

“Well, Jacob Stewart said that he saw you today after school in Mrs. Churchill's office.”

“Yea, so?”

“So, why were you there?”

Why is Jacob telling you about what happens to me after school, I thought. “She just had to ask me some questions.”

“Well, that's not what he said…”

“Are you saying? Jacob was eavesdropping on my conversation with Mrs. Churchill?”

“Not exactly, more like “overheard”.”

“Sure.”

“Anyway, he said that there was a little discussion about…pills.”

“And?”

“Well…”

“Listen, Sam, I'm not going to tell you everything that goes on with me, especially when it doesn't concern you at all. I'm not going to become one of your victims of gossip.”

Sam let out a sigh and then popped what sounded like a gum bubble. “Whatever. I thought I was your friend.”

“Well, I didn't think that you would try to use me as entertainment for your little buddies.”

“What the hell, Alice? All I'm doing is trying to find out what's going on with you.”

“Of course.”

“You saying you don't believe me?”

“That's what I'm implying.”

“You bitch! What is your problem?”

When I went to respond I stopped myself to listen to the laughing in the background.

“Sam, what's she saying? So is she like a druggy?”

More laughter.

“Who's over there, Sam?”

“No one. Now back to you.”

“Forget it.”

“Alice, talk to me! What is going on with you?”

“Nothing.”

“Hurry up, Sam! We have places to go.”

“Ask her!” a second voice demanded.

“Ask me what, Sam?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Do you think I can't hear Jess and Kate in the background?”

“Whatever…uh! are you a druggy? There.”

“No.”

“You're lying, you whore.”

“Alright.”

“I'm telling everyone.”

“You do that.”

“I don't hang out with druggies.”

“Well, you sure as hell have dated enough of them.”

“Oh, that's it Alice Rye! Our friendship is so over!”

“We never had one to begin with.”

“Bitch!”

Click.

 

“I'm the whore?” I pushed myself away from my computer desk and rolled back in my rolling chair as I threw my phone on my bed.

“Alice, dinner!”

“ 'kay!” I rose from my chair and walked through my door to exit my room.

 

* * *

“So, Alice how was your last day of school? You haven't said much since you got home.” Mom scooped up a bite of spinach on her fork and slowly placed it in her mouth.

“Fine.”

“Aw come on, Alice.” Dad stated as he reached for the basket of rolls on my side of the table. Before he had a chance to ask I picked it up and handed it to him.

“We didn't do anything but watch movies and walk around to different homerooms to say goodbye to each other.”

Mom smiled that stupid looking grin of hers that showed she was preparing to tell a story. I gave a grave look to my brother, as he rushed to finish his dinner, so he could be excused before the death sentence started.

“I remember my last day of Middle School. It was the year of 1971. I was so excited about getting out of Middle School and finally enrolling in High School. Your aunt Macy teased me all through the 8th grade because I wasn't in High School like her, but I had finally caught up to her. There was this one time…”

“Mom, I'm done! Can I be excused?” Xander rushed his words as pieces of rice and broccoli spewed from his mouth.

“What? You don't want to hear my story?” Mom gave an irritated look to my brother that matched with her tone.

“Naw! It's not that, Mom…I just…promised I'd call Kelsey tonight. I've been kind of putting it off so I figured I might as well get it over with.”

“Xander! You are horrible to that girl!”

Here we go again, I thought.

“She does everything for you and treats you with the most respect a girlfriend could give to her boyfriend and you constantly blow her off!”

“Mom…” Xander's moaning wasn't enough to stop her. She was like the energizer bunny…going and going and going…

“Don't Mom me! You get your butt upstairs and call Kelsey!”

“Yes ma'am!” Xander rose just to dash out of the dining room and fly up the stairs to his.

“Well, Alice…Alice? Are you having enough dinner?”

I glanced down at my lightly picked at food and back to my mother.

“Yea. I'm not really hungry. We had a lot to eat today.”

“You haven't been eating much dinner lately.”

“It's fine. I'm just not hungry.”

All right…well was that all you did today? Oh! What are your plans for the summer? I bet you and Sam have made plans to hang out with each other a lot. If you need a ride I can volunteer for the weekends, but her mother will have to…”

“Sam and I aren't going to hang out this summer.”

This actually shut her up. I made a mental note to rub this accomplishment in Xander's face later.

“What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“You've gotten me interested now, Alice.” Dad paused to let out a loud cough. “Now, what happened?”

“We had an argument and decided that it would be for the best if we didn't talk to each other anymore.” I wasn't completely lying.

“Well? What was it about?” Mom could be so damn persistent.

“I told you, nothing.”

“Alice! What is going on with you? You haven't even gotten to High School yet and you're already losing friends!”

“One friend, Mom.” Not like I had too many others, at least not in this state.

“Alice, I'm sick of this! What do you want me to have to do? Call Sam's mom and demand for an explanation?”

“No! You can't! It's fine, I mean.”

“What's going on with you, Alice?” Mom put down her fork, and folder her arms across her chest.

“Nothing. I just want to be able to handle this myself. I never liked Sam anyway.”

“You did everything with her! Don't think I'm going to buy that crap, Alice.”

“No, I went everywhere with her. Big difference. She was always off with all her other friends anyway. I just followed.”

“Then why did you continue to accept her invitations?”

“I had nothing better to do. To be honest I thought things would work out, and that I just hadn't gotten use to her. I changed my mind, and now it's finally been decided that it's over.”

“Well, did she do anything? Has she tried to pressure you into something? I need answers, Alice.”

“No, you really don't.”

“Excuse me?”

“Mom, it's fine.”

“Paul, what do you think?” Mom directed her attention to Dad, who was in the process of cleaning up his side of the table, and preparing on making his get away.

“I think that if Alice says she can handle whatever is taking place then that's fine by me.” Dad paused as he crossed to the other side of the room. “But I, personally, would like to know, or at least have an idea, what's going on.”

I let out a faint sigh and sat back in my chair. “This guy at school… he told her something that he heard me and Mrs. Churchill talking about, but it turns out that he heard wrong, and told Sam the wrong info. As a result she thinks that I've done something that I haven't, and has threatened to spread it around.”

“First of all, why were you in Mrs. Churchill's office? And second, what was Sam told?”

“I think I've said a fare amount already.” I went to get up but Dad put his hand on my shoulder to push me back down again.

“Now I'm getting nosy.” Dad took the seat next to me and waited, as did my mother, for an explanation.

“Today, since it was the last day, the custodians were supposed to go around the school checking lockers to make sure nothing was left behind in them. They found a few lousy pills in mine, and as a result I was sent to Mrs. Churchill's office to explain myself.”

“So why was there a pill in your locker? And what kind of pill are we talking about, Alice?” Mom could always find a way to get me annoyed.

“She showed me the pill and I told her it was an allergy pill. I took some a few days ago to school, because I wasn't feeling to good that morning. I guess a few fell out of my bag, and landed in my locker.”

“Why didn't you just take it at home?” Dad could always make a good point. I hated it when my parents tag teamed.

“I was running late that day. I figured it would be easier to just take them at school.”

“Why weren't we called?” Dad questioned.

“She said that since it was the end of the year, that she would let it drop, and that she wouldn't contact you. She said my record was clean, and that I have been a good student all year, so there was really no need to get to suspicious.”

Thinking we were done I, once again, lifted myself from my chair just to be pushed down again.

“So how does Sam fit into all of this?” Mom's arms were now crossed over the table, her body leaning forward.

“I told you, Jacob apparently heard Mrs. Churchill and me talking, and all he got from the conversation was “pills” so he told Sam.”

“Why would he feel the need to tell Sam?” Mom was on a roll with questions, and it was starting to piss me off.

“Because he likes her, and I guess he thought that giving her something else to gossip about would make her like him. I really don't know.”

“So what did he say to her?”

“He apparently gave her the idea that I'm a druggy.”

“Did he now?” Dad raised an eyebrow as he glanced over at Mom.

“Yes. Sam demanded me to tell her why I was talking to Mrs. Churchill, and I told her it was none of her business. Then she brought up the whole druggy thing.”

“Well, why didn't you just tell her the truth?” Dad was always the first one to judge if you didn't do the “right thing” first.

“Because I could hear Kate McGraw and Jess Montgomery in the background on the phone, and I wasn't about to give over information, that I didn't want the whole school to know.”

“Smart. So Sam is a lying, gossiping, backstabbing type of girl?” Mom picked a small fuzz ball off her shirt, and then directed her gaze back to me.

“Yes.”

“And you just now ended your “friendship”, or lack-there-of, with her?”

“I knew you'd get it.”

“Don't smart mouth me, Alice.”

“Wasn't trying to.”

“That's enough, Alice.” Dad always had to chime in.

“Alright. If Sam ends up spreading this rumor around, I want to know about it. This little pre-Madonna isn't going to ruin your freshman year.”

“Mom, I can handle this. It's fine.”

“Oh no, you're going to tell me. And you can tell her that too.”

“Tell her what, Mom? That if she goes around telling people that I'm addicted to drugs, I'm going to tell my mommy? That right there will ruin my freshman year way worse than anything she could ever say.”

Mom sat quiet for a moment, her fingers rolled in front of her mouth. “Alright.” She mumbled. “You handle this the way you want to then, Alice.” Her voice was sharp and irritated.

“Mom, don't act like this.”

“No, it's fine. You want to do this yourself? You can. But don't come crying to us when it all comes back in your face.” Mom picked up her plate, and stood up to walk towards the kitchen.

“Just because she says it's fine,” Dad pointed his thumb in Mom's direction, “doesn't mean that it's over. You know that.”

I nodded, my head empty with how to respond.

“You can go, Alice. Now.” Mom hissed from the kitchen.

I pushed my chair in, and slowly made my way to the staircase.

 

“Congrats, you have single handedly pissed her off. Finally, it wasn't me this time.” Xander placed a hand on my shoulder as I pushed open the door to my room.

“I thought you were suppose to call what's-her-face.”

“Please. We broke up weeks ago. I just couldn't stand one more of Mom's “walk down memory lane” stories.”

I nodded. I was getting use to this as a response.

“So…you sounded…pissed.”

“Yea, well, obviously I'm not the only one.”

Xander followed behind me as I entered my room. When I plopped myself down on the bed, he took it upon himself to open my window, and let a cool summer breeze flow in.

“So, interesting shit between you and Pam?”

“Sam.”

“Whatever. Hey, she's that cheerleader right? I know a guy in my grade that dated her. Dude, she's a whore.”

“Really?” I had made my sarcasm a bit too obvious.

“So…what's it like, being on drugs and all?” A smirk appeared on Xander's lips.

“Oh shut up!” I threw a Hello Kitty pillow at him. He pretended that he needed to dodge it, when we both knew I didn't have the aim to hit him, even if he was only a few feet away.

“I'm still waiting.”

I sighed. “You know I'm not on drugs.”

Xander nodded his head; his strawberry blonde locks falling over his face.

“Well…what are you waiting for then?”

“The only day you were running late, recently, was Wednesday of last week when you had woken up late, because you were on AIM with Aiden and Hiroshi all night. That morning I was with you the whole time starting from what we like to call “breakfast”, or lack-there-of, to when the bus came. All of your allergy meds are in the basket by the microwave. If you had taken any meds from there, I would have seen it. Obviously, you know where I'm going with this.”

“You think I lied to Mom and Dad about what those pills were.”

“Bingo.”

“Ha. You're pretty funny.”

“Really, Alice. I'm not stupid. I know that you never took any allergy meds to school. What was that pill for?”

“I'm not explaining myself to you, Xander.”

“You might as well, because you know I'm going to figure it out.”

“I can wait.”

“Alice.”

I looked down from Xander's eyes to the floor. I gripped the pillow that was nearest me.

Doo Doop

“What the hell?” Xander jumped a little while I turned my attention to the noise.

“It's my computer. Someone sent me an IM.”

“It can wait.”

“Why don't you go call someone? Or, better yet, jump out a window? Maybe OD on all those drugs I'm taking, since we all know that I'm such a druggy.”

“Very funny.”

“I thought so.” I smiled slightly as Xander headed for the door.

“Alice,”

“Hmm?”

“Take care of yourself, okay? I don't want the next news story to be about how some old guy, walking his dog, found you dead on the side of the road.”

“You come up with that just now?”

“Naw, it's been a fear of mine for awhile.” Xander smirked again before he reached his hand over to mess up my hair.

“Thanks.” I hissed.

“Anytime.” With that, Xander left, shutting my door behind him.

I sat down in my rolling chair again, and jiggled my mouse, so that the screensaver on my computer would go away.

Waiting for me was a message from Hiroshi.

 

XGAMES391: hey! I need to talk to you. So message me back! I know you're there.

 

XGAMES391 is away. This user will receive your messages when he/she returns.

 

“Alright then.”

AxR:hey. What's up with you? Hey when you get this tell Remiee to call me. she's not online , so have Kimiko call her or something. I need to talk to her. But remind her to use her cell. We can't afford long distance and Mom's already mad at me. So what do you want?

 

XGAMES391 is away. This user will receive your messages when he/she returns

 

“I know, I know. He's not there.” I minimized the AIM box and reached for my phone.

I'm so pathetic, waiting for her to call me, I thought. Why do I have to be such a loser?

I looked over at my wall, which was covered in pictures from years ago to just recently. I focused on the one above my pillow on my bed. It was of Hiroshi, my cousin Aiden, Remiee, Harris (friend of the other three boys, also head over heals fin love with Remiee) and Xander. The picture was taken when Remiee and me were in 6th grade, the guys in 8th. We were at the beach for summer vacation. Aiden, Hiroshi, his sister, Kimiko, Remiee, Harris, and all of their parents were with us. We had all planned to stay for a week at Aiden's summerhouse, that his step-dad had inherited from his father, but we ended up staying for two. That was back when Remiee and I were two short, pale, and pudgy little 6th grade girls. Not much had changed except for our weight. Now everyone we knew considered the two of us “twigs”. I had to admit that the change from “pig” to “twig” was nice, but how we go there wasn't anything to brag about.

At the beginning of that summer, we hated ourselves. We were filled with self-esteem issues and knew that if we didn't lose weight we would end up in a mental institute or worse. So, with the thought of being fat forever in the back of our minds, we decided to run every morning over the summer and eat nothing but healthy food. Of course that lasted two days, like always we gave up too easily. The night of the second day of our “diet plan”, Remiee called me in tears saying that she didn't know what else to do. She stated that she felt hopeless and in dire need of a new body. Of course, Remiee and myself weren't to the point that our weight was going to kill us. Actually, we were on the fine line between being the perfect size and being overweight, even though we were leaning closer to the overweight side of the line rather than the perfect size side.

As a result, in the middle of the summer Remiee picked up on bulimia. She was hooked on it like a vampire to blood. We were both scared out of our minds that something was going to go wrong, and that she was going to end up in the hospital due to dehydration, or something worse. Fortunately, the day that Remiee passed out in the middle of lunch at her school, was the day that her parents were told of her eating disorder. Remiee's parents paid for her therapy, and after about four months she was, for the most part, free of bulimia related thoughts, however, the physical damage had a much farther way to go on the road to recovery.

If I hadn't learned one thing from life I had learned that there were never happy endings. A few months after Remiee's “I'm cured” phone call, I met Sam Collins, and that's when may down fall started. I was the one in Sam's little “group” that wasn't blonde, skinny, had slender, perfect legs, and boobs; okay, well, I had the boobs at least, they were the only things that Sam actually envied me for. So, here I was with a “friend” that was popular, gorgeous, and the biggest bitch on the face of the earth, and I was actually hoping that I would “fit in” somehow with her. She had a nice side, but hardly showed it, and she even acted like she was listening to you when it was obvious she could care less about what ever you had to say. For some odd reason, I wanted to like her. And something inside me told me that she wanted to like me too, but might I remind you that in life there are never happy endings.

A few weeks after I had met Sam was when I started taking diet pills. They claimed to curve your appetite for five hours, and were to be taken so that you wouldn't have the urge to snack in-between meals. So, I started out with doing what the instructions said; taking one pill after lunch and dinner. Eventually, that wasn't enough, and they turned into a way for me to avoid food completely. I was careful to eat a little bit at lunch, so it wouldn't become obvious at school what I was doing, and I ate enough at dinner that would make my parents happy. When I started to lose weight over the summer before 8th grade, I used swimming and constant walking around the mall with Sam as a reason to my body's drastic change in size. I was amazed when my parents and fellow peers bought it, and from there on it became so much easier to lie to them. Once I thought I had reached a pretty “descent” size, I tried to cut back on the pills, and start eating regularly again, but, much to my surprise, I noticed that I gained weight very easily, and found myself running back to the pills again for comfort. Soon I was a pill taking monster, and couldn't stop for love nor money, which scared me; obviously not enough to stop, though.

I turned my gaze from my picture back to the computer screen. Now I had a reason to be even more scared than I already was. Xander was on to me, and I had no idea how to stop him.

Doo Doop

 

XGAMES391: Alice! Oh and I told Kimiko to call Rem for you. She says to wait a few minutes and to have your cell ready.

AxR: thanks

XGAMES391:np how's life?

AxR: okay I guess.

XGAMES391: why's your mom pissed off?

AxR: don't ask. Just please…I'll tell you later.

XGAMES391: sure. So now I will tell you the most amazing news ever!

AxR: you're moving to North Carolina?

XGAMES391: uh…no…but it's still good news!

AxR: All right. =(

XGAMES391: so idk…two…three…sure why not? three days ago we got this new kid at school.

AxR: but that would have been…three days before school let out

XGAMES391: I know…it's really weird…he thinks it's pretty messed up too, but anyway, this guy is amazing! I mean seriously. His name's Seth, Seth…uh…Seth something… and he's gonna be a junior next year too. So now Harris, Aiden, and me have a fourth addition to our `group. It's great!

AxR: does this Seth guy live in ya'll's neighborhood?

XGAMES391: no…which really blows but he doesn't live too far away. He can always manage to meet us wherever, whenever so it's not a problem. At least for now.

AxR: that's cool =] I want to meet him.

XGAMES391: you will! When you and Xander come up to visit. It's gonna be great!

AxR: yea. I hope we can this year. I hate it down here.

XGAMES391: I thought you liked it. Weren't you hangin out with what's her face for a while?

AxR: yea… we're not on speaking terms.

XGAMES391: aw dude! I gotta hear this

AxR: another story for later.

XGAMES391: you're no fun tonight. Oh! But hey! Mom's letting Aiden and Seth stay over tonight!

AxR: you're kidding. Wait. What about Harris?

XGAMES: he's sick and I know! she finally got over the whole Aiden and me almost burning the house down incident! Dude…I thought she would never let that go…

AxR: you're lucky

XGAMES391: trust me I know.

AxR: hey h/o. phone.

XGAMES391: sure. Bet I kno who it is =]

 

I reached for my cell phone and pressed the OK button.

“Hello?”

“ALICE!”

“REM!”

“So, are you doing okay? Kim said to call you.”

“I'm having…eh…issues.”

“I see. Spill.”

“Hold on. I'm IM-ing Hiroshi.”

“Okay.”

AxR: yea. It's Remiee. Do you think I can talk to you later?

XGAMES391: sure =) I have to do my “night” chores anyway before your cousin and Seth come over. But get on later cuz I really want you to at least get to kno this kid.

AxR: okay. Ttyl .

AxR is now away

 

“Okay, you've stopped typing. So what's going on?”

I let out a sigh to restrain myself from spilling everything all at once.

“Mom's mad at me again, Xander is being a pain in the ass, and I'm scared out of my mind that I'm going to drop dead one day.”

“For the first one, that doesn't surprise me, for the second, when isn't he?, and for the third…well… now you've gotten me concerned.”

“Figures.”

“Heh.” I could picture Remiee shrug, “So what's the third one about?”

“Rem, you're my best friend, and I honestly need you to do me a favor, and promise me that you won't get mad.”

“Promise-ish maybe.” I could just see her smiling.

“That's good enough, I suppose. So you know that girl Sam?”

“Mhmm.”

“Because of some rumor she thinks I'm addicted to drugs. This is because I was sent to the assistant principles' office today because a janitor found a few pills in my locker. Some guy over heard Mrs. Churchill talking to me about it and took it upon himself to tell Sam that I was taken drugs, and that I had gotten caught. I got away with the excuse that they were allergy pills, but that was a lie, and I can't take the secrets anymore. If I don't tell someone it's going to kill me, and I feel awful keeping this from you after you've told me so much in the past. I wouldn't even feel this way if Xander hadn't started snooping around. He knows that I'm not on drugs but he's convinced that I'm taking the pills for some other reason, and he's right.”

“What are the pills for, Alice?” Remiee's voice was almost numb. It sounded like the life had been sucked out of her.

“Losing weight.” My voice wasn't above a whisper.

“Oh, Alice!” I could see the tears. I was picturing her standing in the middle of her room, like she always did when she was on the phone, and trying her hardest to stop the water works from flowing. Remiee had never been the type of person that actually “cried” when she was crying. Somehow she managed to keep her screams on the inside, only letting the tears fall.

“I'm sorry.” I mumbled. I felt so selfish and stupid. How could I be so weak? I never could build up enough confidence in myself, even if I was skinny.

“You have to stop!”

“I've tried!” I sounded like I was pleading to her.

“You have to stop, Alice! Do you want to end up like me? Do you want to cross the line too far, far enough that death will be knocking at your door? Is that what you want , Alice?”

“Of course not.” I gripped the armrest on my chair, my fingers wrapping tighter and tighter around it.

“I'm not letting you drown in your mistake. I was lucky. It would be you that wouldn't be, and I know that you understand that far too well.”

I nodded, even though I knew she couldn't see me.

“Tell your parents.”

“No! Remiee, I can't! Do you know what they will do?”

“Yes! They'll get you help, Alice! Sure, they'll be mad, furious, whatever. But it will all be worth if it means you getting better!”

“I'm not telling them.”

“Alice Seromery Rye! Tell them!”

“No!”

“ALICE!”

“I'M NOT TELLING MY PARENTS THAT I HAVE A FUCKING EATING DISORDER!”

“Alice…”

This voice didn't belong to Remiee, and I knew that when I turned around that I wasn't, by any means, keeping a secret anymore.

“Alice? Alice, what's wrong?” Remiee rushed her words in a low whisper, not like it really mattered.

Dad walked in, and stood right behind me. He reached for my cell phone until he finally took it from my hands. I gave it up willingly.

“Remiee? It's Mr. Rye. Would it be alright if Alice called you back later?”

I couldn't hear Remiee's reply, but I figured that she was just as nervous and scared as I was.

“Alright. Thanks Remiee. Uh-huh. Bye.”

Dad snapped my phone shut, and set it on my desk.

“Why don't you go downstairs with your mother? I'll be there in a minute.” Dad was calm, but behind his eyes I could see how worried and hurt he really was. I wanted to disappear. Anywhere would have been better than where I was.

 

* * *

 

“Alice, sit down.”

“Mom, I…”

“No, Alice. We need to talk. I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier, but I believe you should be too. There's something wrong, Alice, and your father and I want you to tell us exactly what it is.”

“Mom…”

“Alice, why don't you let me do the talking first?” Dad took a seat next to Mom and watched me intently as I sat back into the cushions of our violet couch, crossing my legs pretzel style in the process.

“Monica, just now Alice was on the phone with Remiee.”

“What does that have to do with anything, Paul?”

“Well,” Dad let out one of his loud coughs and then sat up a little straighter, “They were discussing something that I think we should definitely know about.”

Mom directed her attention to me. Her eyes pierced into my own as she searched for an answer beyond them. “What's going on, Alice?”

“Alice, I would like for you to be the one to explain to your mother about what you were yelling to Remiee.”

“I…” I was frozen. Once I realized that I wasn't breathing I decided to speak again, just to make up for the lack of oxygen, “I have a problem, and I don't want to tell you about it.”

“That's not good enough, Alice.” Dad took hold of Mom's hand. She was hesitant at first, but then allowed him to intertwine his fingers with her own.

“Okay…I lied to you today.”

“That's a good start.”

“Paul, shut up!” Mom was interested now, and there were to be no interruptions apparently.

“About the “pills in the locker” ordeal, they weren't allergy pills. They were diet pills.”

Mom shut her eyes as she leaned forward, resting her chin on her knuckles as she propped up her elbows up with her legs.

“I haven't eaten a descent amount of food for over seven months.”

“Alice!” Mom stopped herself before she went to far.

“I know, stupid Alice. I was on the phone with Rem so that I could confess to someone about what I have been doing.”

“Of course you go to the friend that has been in therapy, because of her own eating problems!” Mom stopped herself again.

“So, since there is no lie known to man that will get me out of this, I have an eating disorder, and I'm afraid that I'm going to die.”

“Shit…Damn it, Alice!” Xander's voice was the last that I had expected to hear.

“Xander! What are you doing down here?” Dad roared.

“I was just coming down to get some cake…”

“Xander, I told you to stay in your room.” It was nice that Xander held my parents' attention for the moment.

“I know. But I got hungry.”

“Go!” Mom bellowed. “Alice, how could you? I've told you before that you are beautiful, and that no amount of weight can or ever will change that!”

“Mom, do you think that really matters? You of all people should know that just because you are told something doesn't mean that you will believe it! You've had self-esteem issues! When you hear “you're beautiful” it doesn't change a thing!”

“But I'm your mother! I wouldn't lie to you!”

“Exactly! You ARE my mother! Of course I'm beautiful in your eyes! Don't use your relation to me as an explanation!”

“Alice, you can stop now.” Dad stood up to walk over to the other side of the room, and pick up our house phone that rested peacefully in its holder.

“Monica, I think that we should call the Ramsdens.”

“Why? You think that they can tell us more than we already know?”

Yeah, I thought, why call Remiee's mom? The last thing we need is Mrs. Ramsden to get all freaked out.

“Yes. We know now what is going on with Alice, now we have to figure out a way to handle it.”

“If we call someone, it should be Aiko Nagasawa. She works at a teen treatment center for God sakes! She was one of the consolers that worked with Remiee…”

“You're right. I'll call the Nagasawas.”

“Damn it, Paul! Put the fucking phone down! We'll call in the morning. We have to get things straight with her first!”

Dad set the phone back in its cradle, and then returned to his seat next to Mom. He seemed so weak when it came to her.

“Alice, exactly how long?” Mom's voice was nowhere above a whisper.

“I started the pills towards the end of June, the summer before 8th grade. I started to, I guess you can say, “OD” on them the following August of that year.”

“I'm surprised you haven't passed out by now. Or even…” Mom stopped herself for what had been the third time.

“To be honest, so am I.”

“Well you should be thankful! Doing such a selfish thing!” Mom rose quickly from her seat. “Alice, what the hell were you thinking?” Mom ambled over to where I sat, and knelt down in front of me. She gently took my face in her warm hands, and held me there, forcing me to gaze into her eyes; eyes filled with agony. I couldn't bear to look at them, but, due to her hold on me, I remained still and silent, gazing into now not her eyes, but her broken heart.

“Mom…” my voice was hoarse as I forced the words from my tongue, “I'm so sorry…”

“I'm not going to tell you it's okay, babe.” Mom let go of the left side of my face to use her free hand to stroke my arm, “but I will tell you that I love you very, very much, and we will get through this. You understand? Oh, and I'm still very much pissed off at you. Very.”

I nodded.

“Paul, make some coffee. You and me are going to be up for awhile longer. Alice, I want you to go to bed. No computer or phone tonight. I have a hunch that you want to call Remiee, but now is definitely not the best time. You can tell Xander to message “whoever” over his own computer, and let them know that you are busy for the rest of the night, okay?”

I nodded again. What could I say? My ship had sailed, and there was no way in hell that I could turn back now.

“G' night, Alice.” Mom kissed me on the cheek and then on the forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” I mumbled.

“Sweet dreams, kiddo.” Dad tapped me on the head, “ Don't worry about telling Xander about contacting your friends. I'll let him know to just send the word out. He'll know who to give it to.”

I nodded. This was true. If anyone knew me well enough, it was Xander.

“Straight to bed, okay?”

“M-hmm.” I nodded my head once more, and then proceeded up the stairs to my room.

Before I had the chance to open my door, Xander's head popped out from behind his own.

“You okay?”

“Yeah…just…disappointed.”

“Disappointed? What the hell? You practically got off the hook! I was picturing screaming, yelling, broken plates, slamming doors. What actually happened couldn't have been nearly what you were expecting!”

“It wasn't. Not at all.” I shook my head, my hand still gripped on the door handle. “It's just, after keeping this a secret for so long…I feel ashamed that I've sunk so low to actually let it out.”

“Al…you would have ended up dead other wise.”

A smile found its way to my lips. “But wouldn't that have happened anyway, Xander?”

Before my brother could respond, I pushed open my door, and shut it tightly behind me.

 

* * *

 

The sun lit my room with its rays. I sat up in my bed, and glanced around, when the events from the night before hit me.

Damn.

“Hello?”

I met Xander's eyes without responding. He leaned his head into my room, his hands clinging to my door.

“I'm going to Josh's house. Mom told me to tell you to come downstairs when you woke up. Since you're awake, Mom said to go downstairs.” Xander added a smile at the end of his announcement.

“Alright.” I mumbled. Gently, I rubbed my eyes, and then looked back to the door. Xander had already left.

 

“Aiko? Hi, it's Monica...Oh, well I suppose caller ID is pretty popular these days.” I could hear Mom chuckle lightly. She sounded nervous. “Paul wanted to call Debbie, but I really think that you would be the best one to talk to, at least for now.”

Mom stayed silent for a moment, obviously listening to Mrs. Nagasawa's reply.

“Well, I wouldn't necessarily call it a “problem”, just an issue that has yet to be resolved…M-hmm...Oh, no. Paul's fine…Yes, I'm sure. No it's about Alice, actually.”

Mrs. Nagasawa's reply was much shorter this time.

“Yes, well, Paul and I were wondering how much therapy for teens went for these days…yes that's exactly what I'm implying.”

Mom let out a sigh while she listened to Hiroshi's mother.

“Aiko, I just don't know what to do. I feel like I've been backed into a corner, and there's no way to get out of it…Well, Paul overheard her talking to Remiee last night about an eating disorder. She confessed to it, and also to lying to us earlier that evening about an incident that had occurred at her school, that would have cleared up this whole mess. Yeah, apparently a janitor found a few diet pills in her locker, and mentioned it to the assistant principle. Alice said that they were allergy pills. She had all of us fooled.. …I know, I'm happy he did though. If that pill hadn't been found who knows what would have happened to her?…oh I understand completely it's just that…this is such a big blow you know?…Paul and I have no clue on what action to take next.”

I took another step down the stairs, and clutched the wall beside me with both hands. I watched Mom as she paced back and forth from the kitchen to the eating room. Kitchen to eating room, kitchen to eating room. Every step she took made the hole in my chest grow deeper.

“Well, I can't think of anywhere to go that's near here…I know! it's almost like we live in the middle of nowhere!…Maybe…that does sound like a good idea. Alice is having problems with a few friends of hers anyway so maybe…that just might work. I'll definitely mention it to Paul. I'll call Judy once we get off…do you think she would go for it?…you're right she really does enjoy seeing Alice.” Mom smiled to herself, which made my curiosity grow even more.

“I'll give her a call and mention it to her first, definitely before I talk to Paul about it. Don't get me wrong, I don't really like her being that far away for that long, but if it will help her then we really have no choice…He'll have to get over that now won't he?” Mom chuckled again, but this time with more life in her laughter.

“Alright, Aiko. I'll email you when I know what we're doing…all right, you too. Uh-huh. Bye-bye.” Mom pressed the OFF button, and then set the phone down on the dining room table.

“Damn.” Mom leaned against the table, holding her face in her hands.

It was time to make my move.

“Mom?”

Apparently I had startled her. “Oh! Alice. Did you sleep well?”

“M-hmm. Have you made coffee yet?” I was thankful that I was still capable of drinking what I wanted to.

“It's brewing right now. It'll be a little bit longer.”

“Oh, okay.”

Mom kept her eyes on me as I ambled into the kitchen.

“Alice?”

“Yeah?”

“How would you feel…how would you feel if you went up to Virginia this year without Dad, Xander, or me?”

“I guess I wouldn't mind…to be honest I thought that trip was surely going to be canceled…for me at least.”

“Oh, no. I think that it's actually going to be the exact opposite.”

I considered this, letting the information sink in. Every summer my family would take a trip up to Virginia, and visit with Aiden and Aunt Judy, my Mom's sister. Mom and Dad would check into a hotel a few minutes from where Aunt Judy's house was, leaving Xander and me to stay with our cousin Aiden, Aunt Judy, and Aiden's step-dad Steve. The first year we made the trip was the year that Xander and me met Hiroshi, Remiee, Kimiko, and Harris. Aiden and the four others live within six houses of each other, so we would spend our week in Virginia hanging out around the neighborhood. This year, I had given up on being able to go, due to my “Eating Disorder” incident, but, much to my surprise, Mom made it sound like the trip was a definite `yes'.

“Why don't you get something to eat, okay?”

I nodded my head. Easier said than done, I thought.

 

* * *

 

“Oh, Alice! That one is way too smutty!”

“Gee, thanks, Mom.”

Mom held up the bikini that I had placed on my bed, one of the three that I was planning on packing. Thanks to my “great packing skills” I had last minute items to throw in.

“It's just…so…black…and…revealing.”

“Well, it is a bikini. Might I remind you that you were there when I bought it.” This made her set the two pieces of spandex back down.

It amazed me how I had so quickly gone from safe, secure one piece bathing suites to two-piece “smutty” ones. I smiled lightly.

“Alright. Fine.” Mom glanced into my duffle bag, as if searching for more articles of clothing to criticize, and actually try to win, about.

“Do you have your shampoo?”

“Yes.”

“Two bottles?”

I held up my Ziploc bag filled with two bottles of shampoo and two of conditioner. “Yes, Mother. Please, calm down.”

“I'm sorry, okay? My baby is being sent a whole state away from home. I have a right to be a little nervous.”

“M-hmm.” I pretended to actually be listening.

I glanced at the Care Bear clock on my wall that Xander had given me when I was six. It was 6:30 in the morning, my flight was going to leave at noon, and I wanted to kill myself. My attention turned back to my mother who had her gaze directed out my window, and into the still, front yard bellow it.

“Mom?”

“OH NO!”

“I'm sorry?” Now what did I do?

“Your birthday! Oh, Alice! Your birthday is going to be during your trip! How could I forget something that important?”

“You've had a lot on your mind.” I went back to stuffing my duffle bag, but that didn't seem to hide the fact that my mother was spazzing in the middle of my bedroom in a bathrobe.

“It's your fifteenth birthday, Alice! And you're going to be in rehab!” This seemed to unlock the water works. Now, my mother was spazzing and crying in the middle of my bedroom in a bathrobe.

“Mom…” I stood up and paced over to where my mother stood. “It's not rehab. And it's okay. I'll call, and we can have a big party thing when I come back home.”

“Alice…” Mom placed her hands on my shoulders. Her brown eyes looked tired and hurt, her use to be short, dark brown hair now had streaks of gray. “I love you. I really, really do.” She paused to close her eyes. “And I am so very sorry that I didn't see how much pain you were really in, and probably still are.”

“Mom, it's fine.”

“No, it really isn't.” She smiled, her eyes still closed. “It really isn't.”

I didn't know why, but I suddenly felt the urge to wrap my arms around her and hold her, which is exactly what I did. I held my mother, just like that, for what felt like forever. I couldn't remember the last time she had honestly seen life through my eyes. It felt so good to have her on my level, to know that she not only had an idea of what I was going on, but also saw it.

“I'm sorry, Mom. I'm so sorry.”

“Is it really your fault that you're human?” she laughed lightly.

I smiled at this. No, I guess it wasn't.

“No matter what you do, Alice, I'll always be proud of you.”

I nodded my head, burying it deeper into her shoulder.

“Now, I'm going to check on Xander, and make sure he isn't still up.”

Mom kissed me on the forehead, walked out of my room, and then down the hall to Xander's.

I moved from the middle of my room to stand in front of the large mirror that hung on a nail in my wall. I gazed intently at the reflection that stared back at me. Dark green eyes, a pale reflection, shoulder length auburn hair, and a twig. That's who I saw, not me, but the “thing” I had become. I looked away from the person in the mirror, and glanced out my window. It amazed me how five days ago could seem like just yesterday.

 

“You remember the center that Remiee I currently in?”

“Yeah…but she's out, Dad.”

Dad took a sip of his coffee while Mom smoothed a wrinkle on her shirt.

“Not yet. Apparently she is still taking some therapy over there. Anyway, your Aunt Judy has agreed to let you live with her over the summer, so you can attend the same treatment center.”

“What?” I couldn't tell whether or not I had been hit in the chest with a baseball or if I had heard my father correctly. To be honest I would have rather been hit in the chest with the baseball.

“Alice…this is the only plan that really works.”

“When? When am I leaving?”

“Judy said that Wednesday would be the best day for you to come up.”

“That's in five days!”

“We know that.” Dad took another sip of his coffee, “Alice....”

“Fine,” I crossed my arms over my chest, and turned my focus to the floor. “You're right. And besides, this is my fault anyway. I have to own up to what I have done.”

“That's right.” Mom smiled a weary grin.

“Should I start packing now?”

“No, but there is one more thing.”

I waited while Mom sat up in her chair. “You are grounded from now until the day you leave.”

“What?” Another baseball.

“What happened to the responsible girl a few moments ago? Stupid me to actually start to get use to her.”

“Can't I at least talk to Remiee? Please?”

“No. In a few days you'll have the whole summer to do just that.” Dad stood up and walked over to the sugar bowl on the counter. He took a spoon full and then returned to his seat, where he dumped the sugar into his coffee.

“The center is called Cedar Wood Teen Treatment Center. You, like Remiee, will be one of the few that only come to treatment during the day. However, you won't be attending at the same time Remiee does. At least I don't think so.”

“How many days?”

“Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. I'm pretty sure the hours are from7am to noon.” Dad looked to Mom, as if asking if he had gotten the information correct.

“That sounds about right, and they don't go to church so this works perfectly ” Mom assured.

“Five hours?” This just kept getting worse and worse.

“Don't start, Alice.” Mom stood up and walked over to where I sat. She patted me on the shoulder, and then proceeded in walking out of the room.

“Your flight leaves at noon on Wednesday. Be sure to wake up early. I'll remind you the night before.”

“When you say grounded…”

“No phone, computer, T.V., and whatever else that involves connection to the outside world.”

I nodded in response. What else could I do?

“Music?”

“Is allowed.”

“There's the sunshine in my day.”

“Just be sure to keep that attitude. You'll need it starting Thursday at seven.”

“No, I'll need it Wednesday when I arrive. I'm going to have half that neighborhood bombarding me with questions and criticism.”

“Well, at least you're thinking positively.” Dad grinned as he picked up the newspaper that had been waiting for him during our conversation.

 

“Well, Alice,” I whispered, “you sure have done it now.”

 

* * *

 

“Hand me the cookies will ya?”

“Get them yourself.”

“Hey! If anyone has a right to be rude it should be me! You get to stay with Aiden all damn summer while I'm stuck here with…”

“That's enough, Xander.” Dad moved over lanes as he glared at Xander in the rearview mirror.

“Oh yes…” I used all the sarcasm I could, “I'm so lucky. I get to be a whole state away, with my friends might I add, and most of the time I won't even be able to enjoy it because I'm going to be locked up in a treatment center filled with teenagers with much worse problems than I have. Oh, and let's not forget that I can owe this all to my eating disorder that, at the moment, I would much rather have killed me!”

“Alice Rye!” Mom turned in her seat faster than Xander could run from Mr. O' Conner's pit bull. “I never want to hear you talk like that again, young lady! Do you hear me? Do you?”

“Yes, ma'am.” There goes my dignity, I thought.

“Xander, I don't want you even thinking about being jealous of your sister. Do you understand?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“Good. We have forty-five more minutes until we reach the airport, so try not to start another issue before we get there, please. And, the first thing that we'll be doing is looking for Uncle Steve while your father takes care of Alice's luggage, so you both are to be on your best behaviors.”

“Wait. What? I thought I was flying alone.” I thought of the baseball comparison.

“Alice, don't be ridiculous. You've only flown once, and even then you had your father go with you. Do you honestly think that we're going to put you on a plane full of strangers on just your second time flying?”

“Do you honestly want me to answer that?”

“Alice.” Dad made a right turn, which caused Mom to slam into her door.

“Paul, please. Slow it down a bit.”

“Going as slow as I can without arriving late, honey.”

Mom paid no attention to Dad's statement, “Alice, Steve will be flying with you. It turns out that he was already in North Carolina when I called Judy. He said that he would love to have company on the way back to Virginia.”

“Why was he here?”

“Business trip. Apparently things aren't going to great at the company. He was the lucky one chosen to settle things at “home base,” which happens to be in NC,” Dad informed me, as he glanced into the rearview mirror again.

“I told him that we would have driven you ourselves, but Xander has cross country practice in an hour, and your father is suppose to be at work. He really can't afford to miss today let alone the two or three that we would have to end up staying up there.”

I let the information sink in, not bothering to respond. I had found myself getting irritated by the whole situation anyway, so it was best that I didn't show my view on anything thrown at me.

 

* * *

 

“Steve! It's wonderful to see you again!” Mom wrapped her arms around her brother in-law, as Steve handed his cup of coffee off to me.

“Like wise! Boy, this is what I call a last minute plan.” Steve turned to me. “So Alice, how've you been?”

“Better. Worse.” I had always liked Steve. He was much more warm and interesting than Uncle Tom, Aiden's real father.

“I can imagine.” Steve winked and then motioned for his coffee.

“So, Xander, how's cross country going? I hear you have practice this afternoon.”

“Pretty good. We get to meet all the new freshmen that want to join this up coming year, today. It'll be kind of nice seeing new faces, I guess.”

“Oh, it will be. Hey, go easy on them, okay? I bet it's pretty scary for them. You guys can get pretty intimidating.”

“Sure.” Xander rolled his eyes.

I looked away from the “group” for a moment to watch the people passing us by. The more I thought about what was happening, the more I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide until I felt it necessary to come back out.

When I retuned my gaze to my family, I turned to look at Xander, which caused our eyes to be locked on one another.

Before I could end the silence, Xander did, as he walked over to me, “I'm really going to miss you.”

“You'll get over it,” I teased.

“Ha, yea.” Xander reached his hand behind him to scratch his head. “Why didn't you tell me, Al?”

“Why would I?”

“I'm your brother for crying out loud!” I glanced over at Mom, who was too preoccupied with talking to Steve to notice Xander's outburst. “I mean, damn it, Alice. I would have never forgiven myself if you…well...you know.”

“Why? This wasn't and isn't your fault.”

“I could have helped. I could have tried to notice.”

“Xander, I had everyone fooled. That's not your problem, it's mine. What I did was wrong, and unforgivable.”

“I forgive you.”

“Thanks.”

“I mean it. I'm pissed off, but I forgive you.”

“I mean it too. Thanks.”

“How can you stay so calm about this?”

“Do you really think it would make this situation any better if I was screaming and yelling right now, that I didn't want to go? Anyway, I would be lying if I said I didn't want to go. I mean, the therapy I could do without but the fact that I'm going to be away all summer, well, I'm somewhat excited. Not like anything exciting is really going to happen.”

Xander smirked, “I hear that knew guy is pretty “exciting”.”

“Don't even.”

“What? Just saying. Who knows what could happen? I mean, Harris got a thing for Rem, didn't he? She has a thing for him.”

“You don't know that!”

“Oh, please.”

“Whatever.”

“Don't “whatever” me.”

“Whatever.”

“Damn it, Alice! Stop doing that!”

“What?”

“You're making me wanna just shove you in the trunk and take you straight home. God. How am I gonna make it through the whole summer without someone to fight with?”

“You have Josh.”

“Don't even.”

“What?”

“I don't know. Just felt like saying it.”

I smiled at this. He might have said that he was going to miss me, but not nearly as much as I was going to miss him.

“Xander?”

“Hmm?”

“I love you.”

Xander's eyes widened and then relaxed, as he grinned. “I love you too, Alice.”

Before I could stop myself, I fiercely wrapped my arms around my brother's neck, and stayed there, gripped to his warm body.

Xander gently wrapped his arms around my waist, his hold gradually getting tighter.

There we were, my brother and I, in the middle of the airport expressing our love for one another. I was surprised that Mom hadn't called all the news stations.

“Love ya, Sis.”

“Love you too.”

“Have fun.”

“Ha…fun.” I let go of my brother, as he did me, and glanced over at Mom and Steve who had been witnessing the whole event.

“You ready?” Steve questioned.

“Yea,” I took one more look at my brother, and then my Mom.

“I love you, babe.” Mom hugged me tightly and then kissed me on the cheek and forehead. “I love you so much. Call! And write. It's much less expensive…”

“I love you too, and I will.” We exchanged smiles, hugged one last time, and then departed. As much as I wanted to look back, I just couldn't bring myself to doing it. It was almost like I was afraid of turning into a pillar a salt.

“Let's go find your dad, then we'll work on getting to the plane.” Steve smiled and then tapped the back of my shoulder with his hand. “Ha! Speak of the Devil.”

“Hey! Let me tell ya…airports these days.” Dad wiped his forehead and then gave a crooked smile over at me. “Hey, kiddo.”

“Hey, Dad,” I almost whispered.

“I'm gonna miss you.”

“You too, Dad.”

Dad quickly embraced me in one of his bear hugs, and then held on like he wasn't planning on letting me go.

“I love you, Alice.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck, “I love you too, Daddy.”

Dad let me go, chuckling. “Where did that come from? I haven't heard you call me that in years.”

“It hasn't been that long.”

“Well, it's felt like it.” Dad smiled and then looked to Steve. “Take care of her, you hear?”

“You have my word.” Dad and Steve shook hands and then, for the last time, I smiled at my dad. I almost gasped when I saw one tear falling from the corner of his eye, but before I could say anything, Steve and I had walked away.

 

* * *

 

“When we get to the house, you can have Aiden show you to your room. I can't remember if you're downstairs with him or not.” Steve chucked a little and then made a turn onto Chestnut Lake drive. “Almost there.”

“It's felt like forever since the last time I was here.”

“Trust me, it's felt that long for us, too.”

Steve pulled into a neighborhood called Cherry Cove and made a left turn. We drove up a long, steep hill for what seemed like hours, until we reached the house.

Aiden's house was one of the biggest in the neighborhood, which was saying something since most of the houses were either ranch or split level style. Aiden's was a split-level, but it was easy to see that it was a very spacey one.

“Alrighty, Miss Alice. Let's see about getting your bags inside.”

“Okay.” I unbuckled and then made my way out of the car.

“Alice!”

Suddenly, someone smacked into my backside and wrapped their arms around me.

“Aiden!” I turned, as much as I could, to face my cousin. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Aiden's hands were now on my shoulders, locking me in place. “Miss me?”

“Of course,” I teased.

A breeze blew by, blowing Aiden's brown tresses this way and that. He smiled, his green eyes glistening in the sunlight. “Let's go in before Hiroshi looks out his window.”

I laughed. “All right then.”

“Hey, Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, bags?”

“Oops.”

 

“How was the flight, Alice?”

“Fine. Steve and I got pretty tired of these two guys behind us constantly kicking our seats, though.”

“I swear, Judy, these guys were doing it on purpose.” Steve took a swig of his beer and then sat back in his chair.

“I hate flying. I use to love it, but it just seems to be such a hassle now days. Like going to the movies.”

“Oh! That reminds me!” Aiden blurted, “Alice, you wanna go over to Hiroshi's?”

“Movies, Hiroshi's…I don't see the connection, Aiden.” Steve chuckled.

“Ah, Aiden, I don't think that's such a good idea. Alice has...uh…to go to Cedar Wood tomorrow bright and early.”

“So? We won't be over too long.”

“Aiden.”

“Really, Mom. Hiroshi even invited Seth over and made sure that Kimiko would be there just for her!” Aiden pointed a finger in my direction.

“Aiden. Don't you think Alice might want to rest a while?”

“Uh…no.”

“It's okay. I want to go.” Finally, the truth for once.

“Alright, fine. But be back for dinner.”

“Sure.”

“Aiden.”

“Okay, okay. Promise. So, Alice, you ready?”

I looked down at my red spaghetti strap shirt and faded blue jeans, a hole in their right knee. “Yep.”

“Great. See you guys later.” With that Aiden grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the kitchen, and, eventually, the house.

 

* * *

 

“ALICE! I can't believe you're here!”

“To be honest, neither can I.” I waited for Aiden to chime in, but apparently he had nothing to say.

“How long have you been here?”

“About an hour...”

“Where's your brother?” Aiden interrupted.

Kimiko took a sip of her coke before she answered, “Store. Mom took him and Seth like thirty minutes ago. They wanted to get some movies or whatever. I swear, that kid never leaves. Why hasn't he slept over at your house yet?”

“Because Mom hasn't wanted anyone over. She says that “the house is too messy”. Of course, when we got the news Alice was coming she forced Steve and me to clean.”

“That sounds like her.” Kimiko smiled before she took another sip of her coke. “How're things in NC, Alice? Hiroshi said that things haven't been too good. Something about problems with Sam?”

I could feel a blush creeping over my cheeks. “Sam” wasn't a topic I wanted to be brought up while I was in Virginia. “It's nothing. Just some issues.”

“Girls at that age are a pain in the ass. God, I'm so happy that High School is over. Well, at least for me.”

“Oh shut up. You're rubbing it in and you know it,” Aiden ridiculed.

“You're just mad that you have two more years left. Think about poor Alice, she has four.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled.

“I wonder what's taking so long.” Kimiko glanced at the wall clock behind her. “Damn…I'm starving too. Mom hasn't been to the store in forever. It's because Dad hasn't been here, him and his stupid business trips, but he's back and we're completely out of food now that our fourth person has “returned”. The fact that that Seth kid is constantly over doesn't help either. He doesn't eat much though…so…oh I don't know. He is pretty cool though.”

“Told you!” Aiden bellowed.

“I never doubted you. So what makes him so…amazing?”

Kimiko grinned, “He's different. Something you don't see around here. I mean, don't get me wrong, but it's like been just “us” for you know…ever…now someone new has…you know… appeared and it's nice. That'll change though, once he starts to sink in with the rest of the stupid boys in this neighborhood. Which really sucks, seeming that he doesn't even live here. I feel somewhat sorry for him”

“He's been everywhere too,” Aiden added, ignoring Kimiko's insult. “Alice, he's been to England, Scotland, Germany, Egypt, Japan, Norway, I mean, just name a country and he's been there! He's something else.”

“He's gorgeous too.” This made Aiden scowl.

“When you say that it just ruins the mood.” Aiden mumbled.

“Well he is! I mean Hiroshi's gonna have some big comp- um…anyway, I'm not into the whole “dating guys two years younger than you thing”, but I mean, Alice, when you look at him. Well, you'll see.”

Seth had started to sound better and better.

“Anyway, when they get home, how about we go down to the dock? You know, that one behind Old Man Thompson's house. Were the lake is.”

“Oh no. When they get back, Mom's gonna start-cooking dinner, okay it's too early for that, but at least think about what she's making, which means when she really does start cooking, she's gonna have to round all of you guys up so we can eat. There's no way I'm going to wait any longer than I have to, to have food!”

“I don't really feel like going down there anyway, Aiden.” I was exhausted enough as it was. I didn't need any more excitement in my day. Well, besides meeting Seth.

“Okay, so I guess we'll be watching movies all day.”

“I can cope with that.” Kimiko beamed.

“Me too.” I smiled but it was obvious that it was fake. For the first time in years I had started to feel homesick. I missed my brother, my dad, even my mom and her schizophrenic nature. And on top of all that, I was extremely nervous about therapy. I didn't want to go and tried to think of ways of stopping myself from going. Of course nothing had come to mind.

I left my thoughts realizing there was something that would make me feel better.

“Where's Rem?”

Kimiko had now taken a gulp of her coke. “Harris'. He's been sick for a while, so she's been checking up on him. You know how she never catches anything. She's been there since noon. You can go over if you want. Mrs. Millson doesn't seem to be bothered by the fact that by allowing other kids into her house, she's setting herself up for lawsuits. Or at least phone calls from angry parents. I can hear it now…”

“Can I call instead? I really want to talk to her.”

Kimiko reached over the arm of the couch and grabbed the phone. “Here. Knock yourself out.” She paused for a moment before she handed the phone off to me. She almost looked as if she were admiring the fact that I was sitting next to her. Like the fact that I was actually there made her happy, not that it shouldn't have. We had been friends since forever, at least to us. We might not have been the best, but we could count on each other and loved each other like we were family.

I dialed Harris' number right as Mrs. Nagasawa entered the front door, two other figures following behind her.

“Hello?”

Mrs. Nagasawa saw I was on the phone and smiled, as I responded to Mrs. Millson.

“Hi, Mrs. Millson? This is Alice Rye.”

“Oh, Alice! I didn't know that you were here already!”

Oh how news traveled fast.

“Yea…well…here I am.” I had tried to sound pleasant, even though I wasn't too much about the fact that she probably knew the reason why I was there as well, along with the rest of the neighborhood.

“How can I help you, hun?”

“Um…not to be rude…but is Remiee there?”

“Why yes she is. And you're not being rude at all, sweetie.” I could just see her smiling that jaw-breaking grin of hers. “Just one minute, okay?”

“M-hmm.”

“Are you on hold?” Hiroshi whispered in my ear. I turned around to face him, as I nodded.

“Alice?”

“Rem?”

“ALICE!”

“REM!”

“Oh, God…” Hiroshi groaned.

“You're here? Oh my gosh! Where are you?”

“The Nagasawa's.”

“I'll be right there. Why didn't anyone call sooner? Wait…how long have you been here?”

“I don't know…a little over an hour.”

“Hmm…OH! Have you met Seth yet?” This made me aware of who all was in the room with me. I glanced around, looking for a gorgeous, world traveling figure. I almost screamed when I saw him sitting right next to me. He was gorgeous. I couldn't believe the figure next to me was real. His eyes were an amazing, right on the spot, emerald green that didn't need any light to glisten. His hair was a dark chestnut that stopped right bellow the bottom tips of his ears. It was almost like there was some miraculous light that just seemed to glow around him. He was the exact definition of pale, but he was one of the few that could make the tone look beautiful and elegant.

“Alice? Hello? You there?”

Woops.

“Ye-ah…” I whispered, “I'm here.”

“Good. Stay! I'll be there in like two minutes. Bye!”

Click.

“Bye.” I pushed the OFF button, not once taking my gaze away from the angel in front of me. That worked. Angel. He was by far the closet thing too the word.

“So what'd she say?” Kimiko took the phone from my hands, unintentionally waking me up from what I thought had been a dream. I wanted to jump for joy when I realized that I was defiantly in reality.

“She's coming over.” I had to look like a brainless fool, because I sure as hell sounded like one.

“Great…a reunion.” Hiroshi groaned again.

I turned to face Hiroshi, hurt by the fact I was leaving Seth's gaze. Then it had hit me. Seth was watching me just as intently as I had been watching him. The thought made a chill run down my back, but it was, by far, not a chill from disliking.

“Finally! I was waiting for you to stop acting like a space cadet.” Hiroshi hissed.

I stood up, trying to forget about the angel two feet away from me. “Miss me?” I attempted to tease.

“No. Not at all.” Hiroshi smirked and then wrapped his arms around me. I replied to this by doing the same. He was so warm. I realized just how much I had missed him and everyone in the room with us. They were the only friends I had ever been able to trust and love.

“So, what movie are we watching, Al?” Aiden questioned.

“Yea, pick one that will drive the guys crazy.” Kimiko added.

“Ha! We only got action and horror, which, might I add, are the ones highly recommended by critics and the whole, soon to be, 11th grade body.” Hiroshi stuck his tongue out at his sister, causing her to make a threatening gesture to kick him where it would hurt.

“Don't even, Hiroshi.”

“So, Alice, what will it be?” Aiden asked, once again.

I examined the stack of movies that had been placed in front of me. ““Dawn of the Zombies 4”, “Horror in Vegas 2”, “Tokyo Rush”, “Night of the Vampires”…oh wow…choices, choices…”

“Uh! I'm never letting Mom let you two get movies again!” Kimiko waltzed over to where I stood to grab the stack of movies, just to look over them.”

Aiden chuckled slightly and then turned to Seth. “Since Alice and Kimiko look oh so excited about the movie selection, what do you wanna watch?”

Seth smirked at Aiden's words. My eyes stayed locked on him, as I waited for him to answer. I was surprised when he focused his gaze to meet mine, his answer sounding as if it were directed at me.

“How about the vampire one?” I would have thought he had been singing if I didn't know that he was actually speaking the words.

“Alright then. Vampires it is.” Hiroshi went to get the movie from Kimiko, but was stopped by Remiee's knock at the door.

“I'll get it,” Aiden offered.

“Wait!” Kimiko grabbed hold of my arms, which grabbed everyone's attention…including…well you know.

“Let's hide her and surprise, Rem.”

“But she already knows she's here.” Hiroshi could ruin anything.

“So? She'll scream anyway once she sees her. Let's make her have to wait even longer. They say the best relationships are made stronger by separation.” Kimiko smiled to herself, as if satisfied with her words.

“You're making us sound like lesbos, Kimiko.” I mumbled, my arm's still gripped within her grasp. Seth seemed to find this statement funny, and let out a slight bit of laughter from his radiant lips. I felt a blush creep over my cheeks.

“Oh, hush! Aiden! Don't open the door until I cough. Got it?” Kimiko's voice was nowhere above a whisper.

“Sure…”

“Okay, Alice. Let's go in the kitchen.” Kimiko pulled me away from the group as Aiden made his way towards the door.

In the kitchen, Mrs. Nagasawa busied herself with putting up groceries.

“Hello, Alice! It's nice to actually talk---”

 

“Not now, Mom!” Kimiko sat down on the counter closest to the refrigerator. “Alright, when we hear Rem say something…anything…I'm going to push you into living room, `k?”

Mrs. Nagasawa shook her head and smiled as she went back to her groceries. I greatly admired her the patience she had with her children.

“Sure.” I was defiantly feeling a sense of uneasiness at that moment, and I knew I would have been feeling the exact opposite if an angel hadn't been in the next room…the room I was expected to pop in to and technically scream “BOO!”.

Kimiko let out a loud cough, and then we waited.

“Where is she?” Remiee demanded.

“GO!” Kimiko pushed me through the wide doorway that led into the living room, sending me flying.

“Um…boo?”

“Alice!” Remiee screamed.

“Remiee!”

“OH MY GOD! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!” Remiee's arms were now wrapped around me, as mine were around her. As much as I tried, I couldn't get the thought that Seth was watching us out of my head.

“I missed you too!” At least I could focus on what she was saying to me…

“Shit! You're here and I don't even know what to say to you!”

I laughed lightly, realizing just how much I had missed her too. I held my hand up, motioning her to take it. There we stood, in the middle of Hiroshi and Kimiko's house, our hands gripped tightly together.

“We're gonna get through this, Alice. You and me, together.” Remiee whispered.

“I wouldn't have it any other way.”

Remiee smiled, as a tear fell from her eye.

“You haven't even been here ten minutes, and you two are already acting all mushy and lovey-dovey. You make me sick.” Hiroshi stuck his finger down his throat.

Remiee smirked. “You're just jealous because I'm closer to her than you'll ever get.”

Hiroshi blushed as everyone around us laughed.

“Aiden, put the movie in would ya?” Hiroshi rushed his words as he found a spot on the couch next to Seth.

Remiee sat down too, leaving a spot between her and Hiroshi for me to sit in. Next to her was Kimiko, and at my feet was Aiden.

“Ready?”

We all answered “Yes,” as Aiden pressed play.

 

* * *