Kingdom Come

Chapter One:

November 28

"Alice. Are you listening to me?" a whiny, low attempt of a voice called out to her. She looked up slowly, fighting the urge to roll her eyes, staring blankly towards her best friend.

The dimmed lights of the English classroom hid her expression well as they sat at the back.
Alice couldn't help but chuckle at Celia's face, forming into a childish frown, pouting.

"Yes, I'm listening" Alice sighed, her gaze drifting back to the teacher, Mr Cole, at the front of the room who was droning on about Jane Eyre.

"Your birthday plans?" Celia's voice blurred as the clock ticked slowly, each second feeling longer than the last as Alice struggled to keep her attention on the lesson.

It was the first birthday without her mom, cancer took her so quickly that even the great Elizabeth Victoria Clarke wasn't prepared to meet her maker.

This was the first day Alice was back at school. She felt more than ready to be back. She needed a normal routine after months off. Alice ignored all the pity glances and hugs thrown her way in the hallway as she made her way to her classes. She was determined to hold her head high and not show any weakness as her peers stared, even hearing the occasional wolf whistle.

She looked over at Celia again, her face was now hard as a stone as she tried to catch her attention. She placed a finger to her lips, silently indicating that Celia should pay attention too.

She quickly offered Celia a weak smile, a titbit, as they returned to the lesson.

She knew that Celia wouldn't let up until she had her way, but Alice didn't have the strength to argue with her best friend, especially today. She truly appreciated her friend's persistence and comments, albeit feeling slightly exasperated.

Admittedly, she was just grateful that she was off Celia's radar for a few seconds as she took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts.

Family, Alice muttered to herself as she stared down at her notes, her handwriting unrecognizable - maybe she should find her dad? but the sad part is that she didn't even know where he lived, nothing about him.

She only knew his name was Richard, and that he left her mom when Alice was a baby. No pictures. No visitation or child support. Nothing. He wasn't even on her birth certificate.

Father unknown! Alice was so mad when she found that stupid piece of paper in a pile under her mother's desk. Elizabeth standing in the doorway blanked face, eyes watery filled with shame.

Alice currently was living with her third foster family in four months, but it was the first family that she hadn't ran away from.

It's the truth, her uncle, Frank, was uninterested in caring for her, but more interested in hookers and living in Vegas.

You'd think that her own grandmother would want her....Nope

As for her aunt, Nicole, her mom's older sister and the one who terrified Alice the most. She was off living with her rich husband and their five children somewhere in Wyoming - Alice had to admit that she didn't even know if Nicole was living on the same planet anymore.

It was just too difficult to be placed with her relatives right now, Alice knew that she wouldn't last long in her mother's family so she settled being moved around like cattle.

Alice couldn't say that she hated her current foster parents, The Willams, they were good church-going people, a little passionate for her taste, but they have been kind with her over the past few weeks and they even let her go back to the same school, not some religious cage.