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Feigned Innocence

Alice wanted to laugh at Melanie for the blatant jab and tilt her head before asking if she personally had ever gotten above a rank of fifty in the academic ranking. It was funny since she never understood the purpose of having friends who couldn't do anything else but talk about other people's lives instead of their own.

The girls continue to chatter about their plans that evening to which they took turns trying to invite the other out. Something about karaoke. Events like those always got out of hand.

Alice kept her smile on her face, not letting it falter, when Melanie turned back to give her a side eye that scanned down the top of her head down to the tips of her shoes.

Placing her pencil down, the girls turned their heads at her from her harsh movement, and Alice tilted her head to the side with an innocent smile. "Please excuse me. I just remembered that I needed to send a slip to the library. I should probably do that now since we aren't speaking of anything of importance right?"

The girls didn't answer, but Lainey did give Alice a measly nod of acknowledgment to which Alice stood up, hitching her briefcase over her shoulder. Alice walked past them without another word but was still polite enough to incline her head before leaving.

She got to the front of the classroom and leaned over to whisper to Mr. Caroll, the teacher who stepped in for their class, who was grading some sheets of homework inconspicuously.

"Hi, Mr. Caroll. May I leave early to return a slip to the library?"

He didn't even bother to look up. "That's fine, Alice."

"Thank you. Have a great day, sir."

Mr. Caroll nodded in thanks, absently scribbling on the top of an essay with red marks, and Alice left without another word, sliding the wooden door open and walking down the empty hallway.

The library was located in another building, straight out the doors to the courtyard, but since Alice was lying anyways, there was no purpose in walking all the way there.

She tilted her wrist up to look at her slim leather watch, and there were only fifteen minutes left of class anyways. She might as well have lunch early. Alice didn't make it a habit to cop out whenever she was uncomfortable, but it wasn't ideal that they were her last class since she would have ended up getting roped into eating with them if she didn't escape.

Alice sighed tiredly as she climbed the stairs to the third level to her locker where she stashed the lunch box that she normally didn't carry since the food court at the academy was well-known for its greatness and high-quality meals. She wasn't planning on eating alone, but she might as well take the chance.

Either way, she wasn't going to complain about her mother going the extra mile to prepare her lunch since she loved her mother's cooking. Her mother made her a lunch box from the extra tiny sandwich rolls due to the ingredients in the refrigerator that was going to go bad. Alice was going to take it as a sign of extra freshness.

Her eyes scanned down the hallway before deeming it safe. Her locker was in the corner of the end of the hall next to the art classrooms, and she quietly walked passed the classrooms, carefully to not make her heeled shoes click on the flooring but still thankful that all the doors were closed.

Alice reached her locker which she never tended to use since it was too far from her classes and made it mundane, and quickly twisted her code into the lock combination.

The door squeaked when she pulled it open and grabbed her pink lunchbox with white ribbon bows that she had since grade school. Alice didn't feel the need to buy a new one since she rarely used it. It didn't matter though. The box was still cute.

The white ribbon reminded her of the ones in her hair that she got up earlier to do, inspired by a photo she saw online. The desired effect was certainly there with her wavy hair she spent an hour doing and the soft ribbon exuding an innocent light on her face.

She switched her boots for heeled Mary Janes which are black and knee-high white socks. Her mother raised her eyebrow at her when she left the house today since Alice was going out with much more care in her appearance that morning for no reason.

Her locker was the last one in the corner, and she crossed her arms around herself, as she paused near the window that overlooked the corner of the academy's property. She could see the school gardener making his rounds in his lawnmower around the property, leaving pristine lines on the grass from his hard work.

It was a clear day without being sweltering, and Alice brought her hand to her chin to think. She didn't want to eat in the quad by herself since she didn't bring a blanket to do so since she didn't want to sit directly on the grass, and she was alone which would end up making people sit next to her.

Eating the cafeteria with her lunchbox was begging for a headache from people's stares, not that she would care but would rather eat in peace.

The rooftops of the buildings were a popular destination as well, but the rooftop of Carver Hall was always empty since the building was facing the opposite direction of the quad and had a pretty obscure backdrop of bustling tall buildings that blocked most of the view. It mostly served as a storage space with a small shed up there.

Carver Hall was the furthest building away from the campus, and the walk there was pretty but tedious which made most students avoid it if not truly needed. She glanced down at her watch.

She would have enough time to cross the quad to get to the other building if she left now. There was no rush for her to get back since her next class was a random elective she took for the semester.