The Witch and the Robot (ABANDONED STORY)

Chapter 3 - The Motorcycle

As the sun rose the next day and Jasper began to wake up, people bustled from one place to another. Adults moved about the city either at the end of a night shift or the beginning of a new day shift, eager to get to where they needed to be while the students of Jasper began preparing for their next school day before the weekend. Many students at the school in Jasper walked there, though most older students had their own vehicles and would tend to drive their friends who lacked one. Alice was one of the few students without a vehicle or someone to drive her to school in the morning, so she had to wake up extra early, early enough to say goodbye to her father as he left for his first job, but far too early to be on school grounds.

Alice made herself a quick breakfast and ate it on the go as she bustled around her own home, gathering up her homework and making herself a lunch to go, trying not to take anything that would spoil in the heat. She had no time to do any tarot readings this morning or any morning that she had school, unless she woke up at five in the morning for some reason. She had a shower and got dressed as the last thing she did before school, brushing her hair out just as she had to head out the door. This was her usual routine, and she was used to it at this point. Sure, she could do it all a little slower if she woke up earlier, but if she woke up any earlier, she found that she could hardly make it through the school day, and the walk home became unbearable.

The walk to school in the morning wasn't so bad, as the desert sun hadn't heated up the cool sands from the long night without it just yet. A cool breeze still swept over Jasper in the early morning, though Alice welcomed it, knowing that it was about to become hotter throughout the day, and the school had minimal air conditioning. Alice got to school around the same time as all of the other students, sitting outside and enjoying the last of the cool breeze as she watched the various students approach the building, though she was looking for one student in particular, Jack. She wanted to know if he was okay and get a better insight into his situation and how she could help; Alice was a lot like her mother in that way.

Alice's mother had died long ago in a car accident that took her life. She had been driving late at night when some racers whizzed past her on the freeway, and one of them struck her by accident as they had all been swerving around her. It caused a massive pileup that killed several people, though her mother was the only one in that situation who wasn't racing. Alice had her license but couldn't drive without a car, and she sort of liked it that way. She had it to run errands with her father on his rare days off, but she avoided the freeway like the plague when they did. They were still nervous in the car almost a decade later. 

As Jack pulled up to the school on his motorcycle, Alice got down from where she sat on the wall and approached Jack, weaving her way through the other students, but she heard something strange. It sounded like he was talking to someone, but only his motorcycle was there, she swore she heard a second voice, but as she approached, the voice was nowhere to be found. "Hey, Jack." Alice started, startling the boy as he jumped and turned to face her, chuckling a bit as he grabbed his bag and helmet off the back of the motorcycle where he had placed them temporarily. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Alice laughed a bit, moving to the front of the motorcycle and admiring it for a moment. She was a careful girl, but a part of her longed for the excitement that a vehicle like this could provide. After all, she was still a reckless teenager, just in her own ways.

Jack would smile and rub his head in embarrassment, shrugging a little as he glanced at the school doors and then at his motorcycle. "Hey, Alice. How, uh, How are you?" Jack asked nervously, he had nervous energy around him again, but it wasn't as strong as before. Jack was simply worried that she might have heard him talking to Arcee.

"Could be better. Walking to school every day is a pain. It must be nice having a ride like this." Alice would say, gesturing to the motorcycle, walking to the other side of it to get a better look at it. It was definitely something nicer than he could afford with a K.O. burger paycheque. "Did your mom buy it for you or something? There's no way you could afford this working at K.O. and insurance? Maybe you could afford that." Alice laughed a little bit, trying to joke with him as she stood on the other side of his bike, crossing her arms over her chest for now as they spoke.

Jack would shrug and tuck his helmet under his left arm, leaving his right one open as his backpack was over his shoulder. "No, I uh, got it second hand. She needs some work, really." Jack would try to explain, lying the whole way through. She could see his nervous energy increasing, and she would furrow her brows, looking down.