Prologue

• t h u r s d a y •

"Quand il me prend dans ses bras. Il me parle tout bas. Je vois la vie en rose~"

My aunt sang as she finished preparing breakfast. I hummed along to the melody of the French tune. As the record spun on the record player, I devoured the meal before me; gathering as much joy as I could contain, knowing I would face ultimate boredom later on. Let me start from the beginning.

It all started on 10th of January 2004. My mom had given birth to me. Alice Foreman. Born and raised in the city of London. If you're familliar with the name, it's true. I am somehow related to Freddie Foreman; a convicted English gangster who is known for murder and armed robberies. I'm not the one who continues his work. Believe me, I want nothing to do with what he did back then, but since I guess rebellion and danger runs in the blood, I've learned about him and have sort of an edgy attitude according to my grandmother.

My mother is a wonderful woman. Cheery, kind, and anything positive really, but she's in the hospital due to brain cancer. Which is why my aunt's been taking care of me. My dad, well, that's another story.

My father had an affair with a girl he met at work; it was a secret until 7 years ago. His fling was a sugar baby and had many connections to powerful people who could destroy our family. My father was absolutely crushed and decided to leave his fling when mom and I had confronted him about Laura, but she blackmailed us and said she would ask one of her multiple boyfriends to take away everything we had if my dad broke up with her. The house, the car, our life savings, and everything my parents had worked for. My father had cared too much about us, divorced my mother and ended up leaving with Laura. My dad cheated on my mom because he couldn't handle the stress after he found out about her diagnosis, which was in a way, reasonable. But this still didn't give my dad the right to completely break all contact with the rest of my entire family. He got a new phone number and a new address, he changed his information on all of his cards, and changed his last name to Laura's. So my dad's name was Howard Wilcox. It bothered me a lot that my dad hadn't spoken to us since, but I guess I'm over it now.

This was nothing out of the ordinary for the people at my high school, considering the fact that I technically had no friends and avoided everyone. They don't know the details of that story. I'm not the type of person to approach others. Besides, all of my friends are at different high schools, living their best lives.

Now that that's out of the way, let's get back on track shall we? I finally reached school. As soon as I entered, I moved as far away as I could from the other students. A few glances and stares were noticed here and there, but I ignored them. I'm honestly glad nobody talks to me, but a few people do decide to make a big deal out of my personal family problem. Other than the fact that they still have no clue why, I don't see a reason to continue pestering me about it. As I approached my locker, I breathed out a sigh of relief. Nobody noticed me. I gathered my stuff and went to my first class.

"Now, divide x by..." the teacher's voice trailed off as I stared out the window. Math class isn't my favorite subject, but I wouldn't say it was my least favorite either. Mathematics was an easy pass for me, at least. I was slowly starting to space out when I heard my name. "Miss Foreman? Are you paying attention?" Mrs. M asked from the front of the classroom. "Uh, y-yes ma'am." Why did I stutter?!?! The class giggled. "Maybe she's figuring out why her dad left." One of the girls in my class said. Her name was Maria. She was one of the popular kids. The whole class burst into laughter. I lowered my head in embarassment and covered my ears to drown out the sound of shame. "Quiet down, class. That's no way to treat your classmate. You'll regret treating Alice that way when you walk in her shoes." The teacher scolded. I was always thankful for Mrs. M. She's one of the nicer teachers at Holten. "Alice, dear, would you mind coming to the front and solving this next equation?" Mrs. M said sweetly. I stood up and went to the front. I picked up the marker and started solving.

Once I finished, I put the marker down and returned to my seat. "That is...correct! Well done, Miss Foreman." Mrs. M smiled proudly. I turned my head back towards the window, waiting for class to be over.

The bell rings~

I gathered my things and stood up, waiting for everyone else to leave. As I approached the front of the classroom, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Mrs. M. "Alice, sweetheart, are you alright?" She asked with her eyes showing concern. "I'm fine, Mrs. M. Why wouldn't I be?" I replied. "I heard the way Maria spoke about you and I was worried. No child should ever be spoken about like that. If ever you need someone to talk to, you can always come to me, okay? Have a nice day, Alice. Don't let them get in your head." She smiled at me and patted my shoulder. I nodded. "Thank you, Mrs. M. I'll be on my way now." I smiled and left the classroom.

I put my airpods in and went to the place I usually go to when I feel like studying. The school library. It was usually empty, we're required to be quiet, and it has good ventilation. I greeted the librarian as I entered and went to my usual seat. A chair in the back of the library, next to one of the many full length windows we had on the building. The window showed a view of the campus garden and gave a nice amount of natural light. Though we could sit anywhere we wanted to, nobody takes my usual spot. It was a rather unspoken rule that I sat there. When I reached my seat, I was taken aback by the boy that occupied it. He was reading a book about astronomy. I wanted to take my seat back, but I didn't want to have to approach him. Screw it. I tapped his shoulder. "Um, hi. I don't want to disturb you or anything, but you're kind of in my seat." I said awkwardly. He looked up from his book and adjusted his glasses. "Oh, s-sorry." He stood up and moved to sit on the chair next to it. I had to share a table with this boy. I guess today wasn't gonna be like every other day after all. "Uh, hi. I'm Levi. Levi Parker." He reached out his hand and smiled. I shook his hand and returned the smile. "Alice. Alice Foreman. I've never seen you around before, are you new?" I tilted my head to analyse his features. Definitely a new face. I took off my glasses and wiped the lenses, making sure I could get a clear view of his face. He seems like a nice guy. "No. I'm hiding away somewhere on campus most of the time, so nobody really notices me." He rubs the back of his neck. I swear to God, I'm looking at a slightly altered male version of myself. He has freckles, round glasses, and he's a quiet one. The only difference is that he has a darker shade of brown hair, green eyes, and probably a more stable life than I do. "Aren't you the quiet girl everyone's been making a fuss about? Something about your dad leaving?" Levi looked at me. I froze. He knows about it, too. Not that surprising. "Can we not talk about that? The other people in my class won't stop yammering about it. It was all 9 years ago for Christ's sake." I sighed and returned my attention to my book. Levi leaned back into his chair and chuckled. "I won't do that. I actually relate to you, kind of. My mom left, too." He said with gritted teeth. My eyes widened. "Okay, don't feel weird, but you are like a slightly altered male version of me." I said, still in shock. "I can kinda see it... yeah. Hey, wanna join me at lunch? My table is the best one in the cafeteria." He said proudly. It took me a while before I realized what was happening. I was actually having a conversation. This is the first person at this school that was nice to me. "We'll see about that. Do you wanna be friends? I haven't had one from this school since year 7." Somehow, I had mustered up enough courage to ask him if he wanted to be my friend. Now that I think about it, I sound like a preschool pupil on the first day. "Aren't we already friends? We've been talking this whole time. I've seen you around here, Alice. You're not the kind to talk to people. Am I right?" He pointed out. "I guess. I have to get ready for my next class. I'll see you at lunch. It was nice meeting you, Levi." I waved at the boy as I stood up and gathered my stuff before leaving the library. He seems nice.

- Lunch Time-

I exited the classroom once the bell rang. As I made my way to my locker, I spotted a familiar figure in front of it. "Alice! There you are. Shall we go to lunch? A few of my other friends will be joining us, if you don't mind." It was Levi. He was waiting for me by my locker. "I'll just put my things back and we can go." I said as I returned my stuff. I closed my locker and followed Levi to the cafeteria. When we arrived, it was practically full already. I paid for my food as Levi led me to the table. When we sat down, there were 2 girls and 3 guys at the table. "Alice, these are my friends." He gestured at the other 5. I greeted them as they started introducing themselves. "Hi! I'm Lucinda Sterling. But everyone calls me Lucy. Nice to meet you." She waved at me and smiled. I returned the smile and looked at the boy next to her. "Jacob Langley. You can call me Jake. Welcome to the shy kids gang." He did a fancy hand gesture. I giggled and let them continue. "Eddie Brown. Pleasure to meet you." The boy smiled as he did a small bow. "Amelia Wilson. Don't we know each other already?" She looked at me curiously. That's when I recognized her. "That's right! We were partners in a Chemistry assignment. That was so fun." I snapped my fingers and looked at the last person. "I'm Walter Hill. Nice to meet you." He grinned as he finished his sentence. "I'm Alice Foreman. It's really great to meet you all." I finally greeted.

The whole lunch period was just the 7 of us laughing and talking. Thankfully, nobody decided to approach us. When lunch time was over, we hurried over to our next class, which coincidentally, I had with Levi and Eddie. I guess this was bearable because our teacher was also one of the nicer ones. My English teacher, Ms. Norman. As the three of us entered the classroom, some of the students seemed to have noticed me. People started whispering and that's when I realized that I had left my hoodie in the car.

3rd Person View

A small wave of anxiety came through Alice's body as she walked to her seat. Though she was only seated at the 4th row, the distance between her current place and the seat felt like a thousand miles. She took a deep breath and continued walking to her seat. She didn't hear it, but her classmates were talking about her looks and the two boys who arrived with her. Those who were nice said she was good looking and were glad she managed to make friends, those who were jealous said that the two boys who were with Alice were "hot" and she was a gold digging whore who only showed her features to attract Levi's and Eddie's attention. Not only did this mean that Alice was going to get way more attention than she had hoped for, it also meant that people would start rumors about her. And that is the last thing Alice wants.

To be continued~