You think I'm crazy, you think I'm gone So what if I'm crazy? All the best people are And I think you're crazy too, I know you're gone That's propably the reason that we get along
Mad Hatter — Melanie Martinez ____
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England during summer was hard to bear.
And maybe when Alice was a child she didn't mind the hot sun or the sweat beading at her temples, but in her twenties she couldn't stand it. She became more aware of her body and any crease where sweat might have lingered: between the swell of her breasts, thighs, or up her behind.
She felt filthy and in need of a cold bath.
But as she was sitting with her older sister on a bench in their garden, sweating and cursing, as the woman next to her read a book, Alice tried to fan herself with the ruffles of her long skirt from the dress she wore.
Theoretically, it was made of a light material, but this tight corset and those damn ruffles didn't do her any justice. She was dying and her sister did not care, immersed in the story of the novel she was reading.
— Dear sister — Jude looked at her from under the rims of her golden glasses, her blond locks Alice was always jealous of, like a halo around her head — If you hate being out here so much you can go back to the house. I'm sure mother and father would be delighted to see you back — she said clearly aware of her struggles.
Before Jude continued she laughed beautifully.
— With Hamish by your side, of course.
Alice rolled her eyes at the name of a boy her parents wanted her to marry. He was around her age, tall and smart, but he was also insolent, artificially polite and greedy.
— Don't speak his name around me or I'll puke — she warned with a disgusted expression on her face.
There was no way she was accepting his proposal.
That's why she was hiding here with Jude. Between the weeping willows, flowers and green walls of her mothers labyrinth. Alice had no interest in participating in the party her mom threw just to find her a good husband.
She invited bachelors and their families from almost all of the neighborhood, in hope that Alice would like someone enough to talk to them and maybe find a man herself, if Hamish was such a bad choice.
She didn't.
After the greetings, she bailed with her sister who didn't have to worry about all of that anymore.
Her fiance, Cordell was a man not only from Jude's dreams, but also their parents, who loved him from the very beginning. They didn't question their love, simply letting go of Jude and completely focusing on Alice's future, which was even worse than the hot days in England.
