Alice Smith was not adjusting well to moving to the Northside of Riverdale, especially moving schools. After her mother passed away, she was sent to move in with her father and stepmother, trading her doublewide trailer on the Southside to a cookie cutter two story house on the Northside. Her mother's death wasn't sudden, Alice knew it was inevitable that her mother wouldn't be able to fight her cancer much longer, but she had not been prepared for the pain it caused her when Helen Smith took her last breath.
She was grateful to have her dad be there for her and comfort her, but wasn't thrilled about her whole life turning upside now. Alice begged her dad to let her stay on the Southside in the trailer alone, but with no such luck. Before she knew it she was all set up in her bedroom the size of the trailer she had grown up in, tacking her poster of Madonna onto the wall to cover up the pink bunny wallpaper.
She kept to herself in her new home, coming down to dinner when asked and answering questions when they had them. But school was a different story, that's where she acted out.
Alice was never a rule follower, and Southside High was well known for being lenient when it came to them.
Ever since she had started Riverdale High, she'd had detention at least once a week. Whether it be breaking dress code, talking back to teachers, or smoking in the bathroom. It was those little defiances that kept her in control and from slipping into the mold like all of these perfect Northsiders. She was a loner and she didn't plan to make friends while she was here, she wanted to get through the last three years of high school as quickly as possible. But there was one person who had caught her eye.
She didn't know his name, but she knew he looked familiar. It didn't make sense, he was in a letterman jacket but she could have sworn she had seen him on the Southside before. He was tall, with dark hair intentionally pushed back, and Alice had a sense he didn't feel like he belonged here either.
They would catch each other's eye in the hallways between classes, but that was the extent of their interaction. He seemed like a kid that tried to stay out of trouble, and she had trouble written all over her.
Alice came home one day from school, her dad and stepmom sitting at the dining room table as if they were waiting on her.
"What's going on?", Alice dropped her bag on the ground by the stairs and walked over to them.
"The school called, apparently you've been forging our signatures on your behavioral forms?", Mr. Smith raised an eyebrow. "You've had six detentions in just this last week, when were you going to tell us about this Alice?"
Alice crossed her arms, "I wasn't planning on telling you about them, that's the whole reason I signed the forms."
"Honey, are you acting out because of your mother?", Alice's stepmother chimed in, trying to sound concerned.
Alice scoffed, "Not everything is about...that."
"I can't help that these teachers are soft and can't handle me", she shrugged. "The Southsi-"
"This is not the Southside, Alice! And you need to stop acting like it!", her father raised his voice. "Now, tomorrow you and Gail will go find new clothes for school and I'll be checking your room for any drug, alcohol or gang paraphernalia."
"You're going to start acting like a lady damn it, I won't have you turn into your mother", he added.
Alice stood frozen, "Excuse me? How dare you talk about mom like that! So what if she didn't want to live this perfect little fake life with you?? She was a lady, a DAMN GOOD ONE", tears started rushing down her face and she grabbed her bag, rushing out the front door.
