𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐄𝐃; jack champion

chapter one

ALAINA'S HEAD WAS pounding. She knew why, she'd been staring at the same nail in the wall of the mini bus above the window across from her for the past couple hours, but there was nothing else to do. She was sitting on the seat with her legs splayed out, her back pressed against the thin wall behind her as her shoed feet dangled off the edge of the cushion, blocking the path lining the centre of the van. She could feel the metal of the windowsill scratching at her scalp, tying her brunette hair in knots at the back, but truthfully, she couldn't care less.

St. Eustace Home for Girls prided themselves on their collected demeanours and neat appearances, their thoughts being set in line and their manners being presented out of thin air. Alaina Bilson followed these hopeful restrictions with ease, but as soon as the night fell, she let her imagination take over. 

Countless times in their old orphanage, the brunette would sit with Nancy and Carol, a torch between them, as she spoke of old fables and stories she was told when she was younger. She created fun games for the younger girls to play without the need of equipment, watching them prance through the fields in their own worlds from the edge of the flowers and grass. Alaina was the reason the girls of the orphanage had such strong-willed imaginations, which Sister Charlotte, their supervisor, admired.

Sometimes, however, Alaina's wild imagination slipped through the night and infected the day, which wasn't much of a worry. For example, as the girl rested on the bus as they travelled through seemingly empty fields, listening to Janice and Linda play with a chatterbox behind her, she tried to imagine what the Mullins House could look like. Her mind wanted big turrets and a deep moat with a hefty drawbridge, but she knew that in reality, it would look nothing of the sorts.

"It'd be nice to have a home," Alaina overheard Janice say, sneaking a quick glance over the back of her seat to see the girl's hand in Linda's.

"Yeah, but only if you're there," the other younger girl responded with a sweet smile. "I don't wanna go anywhere you're not."

The two girls made a swear, linking their pinkies as they muttered to themselves. Alaina leaned over the back of her chair, twisting her legs around with her arms resting on the top of the seat with a grin. The two younger girls looked up, their faces brightening.

"I'm a witness," Alaina said softly as she pointed a finger towards herself. "Which means if one of you ever break it . . ." she went silent, looking between the two with narrowed eyes, before she loudly clapped into the air.

Linda and Janice jumped in their seats, eyes widening as they held back their screams, before after a moment or two, they feel into laughter. Alaina admired them with a soft laugh of her own, eyes crinkling at the sides as she flattened the collar of her dress.

"You know what I like most about Sweet Sue?" Janice began after her laughter subsided. She looked down at Linda's doll before meeting her eye once more, Alaina resting her cheek on her hands as she watched on with interest. 

"What?" Linda asked.

Janice reached down, tilting the dolls chin, before reaching back up and brushing her fingers over the same spot on Linda. "She looks just like you."

Alaina grinned. "She does! You've even got the fringe," she smiled, reaching over the seat to run her hand messily over Linda's hair. The girl laughed as she swatted her hand away, pushing her back into the seat.

"I don't have the two pigtails though," the younger girl frowned, using her fingers to fiddle with the two red hair ties lacing the doll's hair together.

Alaina furrowed her brows in thought before reaching down to the bag sitting by her feet, reaching inside before pulling two almost identical hair ties out. "Will these do?" She questioned presenting them to the two girls behind her with a tilted grin and gleaming eyes.

Janice gasped as Linda widely smiled. "No way," Janice beamed as Linda took the hair ties form the older girl, quickly reaching back to separate her hair in two.

After she was finished, she turned in her seat. "How do I look?" She asked hopefully, Janice and Alaina sending each other amused glances from behind the girl's back.

"You look great, Lin," Alaina said softly, patting her shoulder with a smile. However, it didn't last for long, when the woman at the front of the bus shouted out a certain brunette's name.

"Alaina Bilson!" Sister Charlotte yelled out from the front of the van, having twisted around in her seat to see the girl leaning over the back of her own. The girl in question turned around slowly, eyebrows raised as she inwardly winced.

"Yes, Sister Charlotte?" She asked worriedly. The woman raised her brows, secretly amused.

"Will you please turn around? That is extremely unsafe," she pleaded with crossed arms, fingers tapping against her dark clothing.

Alaina sighed, yet held a smile, as she turned around in her seat. "Sorry, Sister," she muttered as she pushed her back against the wall again, knees drawn into her chest. 

"Properly," the woman dragged out. All other six girls turned to watch the brunette as she adjusted herself once more before throwing her thumb up into the air in question. The woman at the front of the bus nodded.

"Thank you, Alaina," she smiled before turning back into her seat. All the other girls turned back to the conversation except for Nancy and Carol, who leaned into the middle aisle while holding their magazine out for the girl to see. 

Alaina looked over with furrowed brows, only for them to soften once noticing the posed man on the front page. "Look at him, Laina. Look at him!" Carol quietly giggled as she shook the magazine. Alaina grinned.

"Who is it?" She asked naively. Carol and Nancy shared a look. 

"Who is it?" Nancy repeated, shocked. "Who is that? How do you not know who that is?"

Alaina raised her brows, looking between the two of them nervously. She gulped, managing a subtle shrug.

Carol laughed. "It's James Dean, silly!"

Alaina looked back at the picture, examining the boy posing in a field of long grass. She grinned as she let out a whistle, falling back into her seat as she wiggled her brows. She fanned a hand against her face, Carol and Nancy laughing with nods of agreement from across her as their faces bloomed a dark red. He looked good, Aliana thought, he looked really good.

Little did she know, but James Dean, to her, would have absolutely nothing on the boy she'd soon watch walk out of the Mullins House, curly hair bouncing in the wind like his steps.