The Wrong Alice (Edited Version)

Chapter 27

I walked through the rain like a zombie. I hardly felt it soaking into my clothes like a wave from the ocean. My eyes were on the ground as I traced the familiar steps from school to home. There was a crack in the sidewalk that I remembered, stretching across the concrete like a scar, and a bush of roses in the yard of one of the houses that was flourishing as it always did. These thoughts were cloudy and distant, but somehow, they felt the same as they always had. Like no time had passed.

As I drew near the rusty, molding gate of the maze without a glance, I hurried my steps. I didn't want to see the black hole that it had ripped in my heart. It squeaked as the wind blew it open and closed over and over again, almost like it was screaming for my attention. However, I trudged on my way, ignoring its calls.

There was a gust of wind and I shivered as it blew through me, the dampness of my clothes finally making itself known. I pulled my jacket tighter before continuing my pace down the street. As I came to the corner my house was on, I noticed the sound of voices behind me, growing louder by the second. Glancing back, I frowned as several boys quickly closed the gap between them and me.

"You're in a hurry. Mommy want you home to cook dinner?" one asked with a snicker. The others laughed.

Vaguely, I remembered these boys. They hadn't let up the past few days in their torment of me. I pretended not to hear them and kept walking, hoping they'd soon leave me alone. Unfortunately, this was not the case. They followed me, and I quickly found my path blocked. I tried to looked unaffected. "What do you want?" I asked.

I was pushed back and I slipped in the rain, falling down with a gasp. I winced as my hands scraped on the wet ground. The biggest of the boys grabbed my collar and yanked me off the ground only moments after I fell. "I think he's talking back to us. What do you think, guys?" he asked.

I flinched as he raised his fist in a fake punch. His cronies laughed and made jokes that maybe I wasn't really a guy. A fire flared in my chest. Furious, I kicked the guy in the stomach as he attempted to lift my shirt. "Keep your hands to yourself," I spat. 

Coughing, he glared at me and tossed me on the ground, holding his stomach in pain. "Don't get the wrong idea," he said quickly. "Only a sicko would want to touch someone like you."

The memory of Cheshire's face flashed in my mind and I narrowed my eyes. The guy gestured to his buddies and they started to walk away. "He's such a freak," one said.

That last comment set me off from the fury already boiling inside me. I growled as I scrambled to my feet, slamming what little body weight I had into him and causing him to trip. He fell forward and I climbed on top of him. "You wanna see freak?! I'll show you freak!" I shouted.

He rolled over to face me and I started punching his face. My arms were weak so he easily grabbed my hands and held them away, but I only fought harder. We rolled around on the ground, ignoring the shouts of the other boys as they tried to stop us. At one point someone grabbed me, but I shoved them off.

The neighbors who heard the commotion came out of their houses and started to try to resolve the situation too. But I was too far gone. I barely noticed my elbow slam into another boy's chest as I pushed him off of me. My mind was gone, my eyes full of red. 

Suddenly, my mother's voice broke through the noise and I heard her shouting. I looked up, surprised. She was staring at me with shocked eyes, hurt written in her expression. "Alice..." I said.

This gave the older boy a chance to push me off and scoot away. His nose was bleeding and he had a swollen eye. "You really are a freak..." he muttered as he glared at me, wiping blood away from his face.

I clenched my teeth and was about to resume the fight when my mom called my name again. "Alice!" she said, voice shaking. "Come here."

I took a short breath as I got to my feet, ignoring the stares of the neighbors as I passed them to walk to my mother. She brushed me off, though I was mostly covered in mud, and looked at me. Then we walked home in silence, both of us a little too shocked by my actions to speak. As we entered the house, my mom told me to sit down at the table so she could treat my cuts and bruises. We sat in silence as my mom applied disinfectant to my injuries and covered them with bandages. As she wrapped my last bruise with ice and wiped the rain from her forehead, she finally spoke. "That was your second fight this week. What has gotten into you?" she asked.

I started picking up the supplies and putting them back in the first aid box. "It's nothing," I said.

My mom put a hand on my shoulder and turned me towards her. "Honey, if something's bothering you, I need to know," she said. "What is it?"

I brushed her off. "I'm fine," I insisted.

She grabbed my shoulders firmly and made me sit back down when I tried to leave, taking the first aid box out of my hands and setting it on the table. "Talk to me," she demanded. She stared into my eyes and I stared back. Then my eyes watered with emotions and I bit my lip to hold it back. My mom saw this and she pulled me into a hug. "Just let it out. It's okay..."

The dam broke and I sobbed into her shoulder. "I-I... I th-thought I was f-finally home...!"

"You are home," she said.

"No...! I want to go back, but it's not there!" I was crying so hard my head was starting to hurt. "Th-the way back is gone...!"

My mom looked confused as she pulled me back to look at me. "What are you talking about?" she asked. I just shook my head. She sighed and hugged me again, tighter this time. "What has you so upset...?"

I never answered her. Eventually my tears came to a stop and I pushed away, resuming the false face I had worn since my return. "I have homework to do..." I said. "I'll just eat dinner in my room."

My mom looked reluctant. "Are you sure?"

I nodded and wiped my cheeks. Then I stood up and went upstairs to my room. As the door closed behind me, I slid to the floor dully. My head was swollen and my eyes puffy, and I pulled my legs up to my chest so I could lay my forehead on my knees. My body hurt from the fight, and I could see fresh bruises forming over old ones.

"Why am I still upset...?" I muttered to my room. "It was just a stupid dream. It wasn't even real."

I sighed to myself before I stood up to change out of my wet clothing. After a while, I started getting my homework out. I had to get over this, and the best way to do that was to bury myself in work and school. That way I wouldn't have time to think about the twins or Rab... or anyone else.

I began working on my biology homework, concentrating on the problems on the page. As I worked, however, I suddenly came to a question that had me crumpling my homework and throwing it across the room. I stood up and stormed out of my room in a huff, the question running through my head:

"True or false? Cats are, by nature, curious creatures. However, if a male cat feels threatened by someone or something, he will always lash out..."

My mom looked up from the pot of soup she was stirring as I stomped down the stairs. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

"It's fine," I said shortly. "I'm going for a walk."

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