Something About Alice Murphy: BOOK 1

P A R T - S I X

Chapter Six; Taunting Conversations.
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December 19th

The fall semester had now officially finished for the students of Summerland High, and for the next three weeks they were free to do as they pleased from morning to evening...

There was only a week left until Christmas and as the sun rose slowly on the following Monday morning after the winter wonderland dance, Alice Murphy was already up. With earphones in she continued working out quietly on her bedroom floor as the clock struck six in the morning. She was wide awake, and had been for the past two hours... for some reason she couldn't sleep properly, not since everything had happened with the hole in the middle of the woods. Every time she closed her eyes she felt the icy coldness of the snow against her skin and woke up sharply again.

Her mind had been whirring all weekend, thinking obsessively about what had happened at the dance and what it all meant. She'd just been talking to get herself out of a sticky situation with Magnus... but he'd actually let her go, and she'd heard nothing for forty eight hours. She couldn't help but feel the tension, as if she was waiting for something to happen... and that was possibly the underlying reason as to why she didn't feel like sleeping anymore.

At half six Alice made her way downstairs quietly, after having a shower and dressing herself in sweats and an oversized jumper. She made coffee, which was a drink she didn't consume regularly, and sat down to watch tv in the living room just underneath her parents bedroom...

"That's the third morning in a row," Sophie Murphy whispered from where she was meant to be sleeping on the left side of the bed, but she could hear the tv murmuring underneath her. "What time is it?" She asked, seeing as the sun had barely risen.

"Six forty five," Richard replied, rubbing his face as he sat up and yawned. "I should get ready for work anyway," he mumbled and got up, grabbing his robe before he left the bedroom to wander downstairs sleepily. "Morning sweetheart," he said softly to Alice who was curled up on the sofa with their dog, Polly. "Up early again?"

Alice glanced over and smiled half heartedly before looking back to the television in silence. Richard wanted to ask more questions, but because of Alice's body language he decided against it, and helped himself to some of the left over coffee in the pot...

Later that same morning, when it was a little closer to mid-day, Alice was staring absently at the wall above the television when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket... she sighed quietly before she reached for it, seeing a message from Candice suggesting that they went shopping together for Christmas presents. Alice realised slowly that she'd made no preparations for the up coming holiday and stared vacantly at the message before she made up her mind.

As she stood up from the couch her mother approached with a warm smile, "We're heading out to get the Christmas tree today honey," she announced, expecting a joyful response since Christmas was Alice's favourite holiday... at least it used to be. But Sophie didn't know that.

"I made plans with Candice," Alice replied as she walked past her mother and climbed the stairs in silence. Sophie's eyebrows furrowed as she turned over the gloves in her hands then looked up the stairs to see Alice turning the corner... she didn't understand for a moment, as she replayed what had just happened. Her daughter was being unusually distant, although she'd never been a bubbly personality to begin with, however around this time of year she'd perk up a little bit.