creole ➸ [michael au]

April 10, 2016

Open.

When Alice heard the pang from the computer, she immediately gasped. She was in the middle of making some morning coffee, pouring the mixed beverage into a mug until she heard the notification. She dropped the mug and didn't even flinch when she heard the sound it made when it clashed onto the countertop, for this was far more lethal.

Now, ten minutes had gone by and the only thing that was audible was her repeating of "No, no," as she read over the email over and over again. She was hoping that the college board made a mistake.

Her final clinical exam occurred two weeks ago, and when every one else got their reports, Alice already saw it was doomed for her.

Now looking at the email, she just felt stupid. She missed the passing score by one point.

To anyone else, it probably wouldn't have been a big deal. However, this was the only thing she really hoped for her at LSU. Her tears swelled in the ducts of her eyelids, and with one move, she slung herself into the couch and sighed loudly.

Her phone rang and she knew exactly who it was. She'd usually smile when she saw that Michael wanted to FaceTime, but this time she couldn't. When she pressed accept, Michael's ruffled hair and light peach fuzz became apparent.

His eyes were barely open, usually Michael wouldn't be up at this time but he really needed to speak to Alice. These past few weeks  Alice had been focusing on her studies; spending a crazy amount in the public library and making odd flash card on all the possible anatomical diagrams. Michael had no time to see her.

Michael was happy to see her— that was until he saw the discoloration of her cheeks and the glossiness of her pupils. "Were you crying?" was the only thing Michael could've said as he threw a shirt over him and made his way to her apartment.

He banged on the door, impatiently. When Alice opened the door, he instantly threw his arms around her and pulled her to the kitchen. She sat on the countertop, with Michael in-between her and listening to her rant and cry.

He whipped some of her tears away, but when her mother called and begun to nag at her, her tears didn't stop.

"Alice, is this what we brought you to the states for?" Her mother barked at her with a tone so harsh, Michael could just imagine how this vile person looked like, "For a god damn 89%, Alice? That's not going to pay your bills and honestly, it's not going to pay for the years I've wasted to send you to the best schools."

"You're right, Lisette," She could hear her father's dark voice ring through the telephone lines, "Out of all the great colleges, she picked LSU, along with her mediocre grades."

"I've tried my best, that last question really stump me." Alice tried to change the topic as she whispered, her mouth was on Michael's chest as she tried to quiet her cries.

"It wasn't just one question! You missed 11 points, Alice. Do you think we could've gotten away with this in our country? You're privileged and you're ungrateful." Alice's father started, but by this time, her father called her out in his creole language and Michael didn't understand one word.

After the constant going back and forth between her parents and Alice, the call disconnected —her father got frustrated then hung up the phone on her— and Alice just hunched over on the counter and watched her dangling feet.