Alice

Chapter Three

"We are going with or without you Alice Marie Kavanagh!" Mom yelled from outside my bedroom door. "Fine! Be difficult!" she added when she realized I was not coming out of the room.

I tucked my head under the covers and stared at the white ceiling, my eyes hot with boiling tears and my cheeks growing puffier. I had gotten dressed; I was wearing my favorite JCPenny jeans and Hollister t-shirt and my hair was curled into little blonde ringlets. My makeup was even subtle, with only a little bit of brown eye shadow and black mascara, which was now running down the side of my temples into my hairline.

I heard banging and throwing downstairs, more than likely coming from my mom who had a bit of an anger problem. "Lucinda, get in the car!"

"I don't want to go without Alice!"

"I said 'get in the car'!"

When I heard the door shut, I pulled my covers back and let my feet hit the ground softly. I looked over at the bedroom dresser, which housed at least ten shattered picture frames of my family, all of which were broken by my mother the night before.

"He makes me so mad," she had said while pacing back in forth in my room. "Why did I ever marry somebody like him? He ruins everything!" On cue with "everything", Mom swung her arm across the top of my dresser, sending each picture frame of Lucinda, Mom, Dad, or me flying to the floor.

"Get out!" I screamed at her. "Just get out! I don't want to hear your problems!" I yanked my alarm clock from its socket and threw it at my mom. It missed by only an inch, hitting the wall behind her and breaking into six pieces.

I could see Mom's fury in her face as she looked at the picture frames then me then the alarm clock, "Stay in your room and do not come out!" She stormed out of my room and I didn't. I didn't come out.

The party had been going on for at least three hours, meaning it was one in the morning and barely anyone had gone home. I looked around everywhere for Justice, Laz, Ray, or the Twins, but I couldn't find them anywhere. I had seen Hayden a few times talking to some other junior girls from McAllister Academy and occasionally sipping on his cup of alcohol. Around 1:10, I made my way back to Ray's room to lay down for a bit because my head was pounding and my heart was racing from the overly loud music.

The stairs were still crowded and I stayed close to the wall as I made my way up them. I got to Ray's bedroom and felt around for the key on the top of the door and unlocked it. I shut it behind me and tossed myself onto the bed. While staring down at the closet in front of me, I remembered I had spilt more beer on my shirt, causing it to have a massive stain. I walked over to Ray's closet, and for the second time that night, pulled out one of his shirts. This time I got a Beatles t-shirt. I started to lift my original Pink Floyd shirt over my head until I heard the door swing open. I gasped and turned around, not even checking to see if my shirt was really pulled down all the way. I really thought I had locked it.

"Sorry to intrude," Ray said in a nervous voice as he placed his red cup on a stack of cds. He kept his eyes down on the carpet as he began to walk towards the bathroom. "I needed to do something."

"Yeah, go ahead," I reply, making sure he was completely in the bathroom before actually taking my shirt off and putting the other one on. "I was just coming up here to get away for a little bit." I jumped back onto the bed and grabbed the X-Men blanket as I made myself comfortable on the mattress. Ray walked out of the bathroom wearing Nike sweatpants, a black hoodie, and his square frame glasses. He had his hands in his pocket and he had re-spiked his hair. Ray was seriously cute, but Cathy liked him and I never planned to cross that line.