Ryder

twenty nine

Alice's POV

The evening mist in the air was cold, carrying the feel of a late storm, the dew in the air, and the muffled cheerful festivities all around.

It was nostalgia and it was melancholy; it was something I remembered and something that was so out of reach.

My phone buzzed for the second time in my hand as I leaned against the glass balcony railing and tried to look past the hundreds of tall buildings scattered around the city. The sun was about to go down. The night was just within reach.

Sighing, I looked down at the screen and watched Alyssa's name flashing on it. She'd only called once before and I'd missed it. Not wanting to call her back myself for more than one reason, I had been waiting for her to call again.

The tense silence between Ryder and me back in the lounge had been too much. Rafael had started looking a little guilty for speaking, though he hadn't looked like he was going to back down before the furious look on Ryder's face. I'd tried to look for a way out because my head had started aching again, the tea had gone cold, and I was having feelings.

Lots of them.

Mostly, I just felt sad.

Nobody wanted Sad Alice around because she got pathetic and needy and clingy. So I'd looked for a way out and was only relieved when I saw the flash of a missed call on my phone. I had excused myself and walked upstairs, thinking I should head to the guest room I'd taken a shower at earlier but when Gem had followed me upstairs and nudged me to go after her to the end of the hallway--towards the balcony doors--I'd thought that maybe Gem wouldn't mind having Sad Alice around.

"Alice," Alyssa spoke the moment I answered her call. "Alice, for God's sake, are you all right? What's going on? Should I come there? Are you still at the hospital?"

I straightened up a little. "Hey. The hospital?"

"I got a call from the StateView Hospital. You had me under your emergency contacts. Is everything all right, Alice? I've been worried sick for hours! I would've come there but there's... I'm at home. I didn't think you'd want Mom to know about this."

There was a lot to unpack in what she'd just said. I looked around the huge balcony, near the chaise lounge chairs where Gem currently lounged, and asked, "Mom? I'm fine. You don't have to...You don't have to worry. I'm sorry."

Alyssa let out a pained noise. "But Alice, why did I get a call from the hospital?"

I almost nearly winced. "I'm so sorry. I must've mistakenly put you under my emergency contacts."

"No, that's not what I mean." She responded abruptly, and I heard the evident alarm in her voice. "Not the emergency contacts, Alice. I'm glad I got the call! What I want to know is why were you at the hospital. Were you hurt? They said something about a...about a concussion? God, I wasn't listening clearly right then."

"I'm all right."

"You're not answering my question." She sounded a whole lot more worried now. I was trying to keep the situation from getting more worrying but nothing I said was helping. "Where are you now? If you've got a concussion, you can't just stay at your dorm. Have you got friends there or--"

"Alyssa." I cut her off gently. "I swear, I'm fine. It was just a tiny knock on the head. I didn't even lose consciousness." I think. "It was purely an accident."

I didn't like lying to her when she was just being so kind and honest with me. But what else could I have told her? The truth?

"An accident?" She asked in a small voice. "Were you... I'm so sorry, it's just... Were you drunk?"