Something About Alice Murphy: BOOK 2

P A R T - T W E N T Y - F O U R

Chapter Twenty Four: Unfolding.
Monday, June 10th
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It was early Monday morning in Summerland when Alice woke up with the birds chirping, the sound of the songs wafting in through her open window along with the crisp, fresh breeze. The quietness in her room let her know that Magnus had probably left early so he could head home to get ready for his morning exam... she'd grown used to the sound of his slow, deep breaths now, so when they weren't around... it seemed extra quiet. 

She got ready for school, pulling on some mid-thigh length denim shorts that hugged her thighs after her shower, an oversized cream Nike sweatshirt she'd borrowed from Magnus's closet and some new sneakers. She left her hair natural, and in its natural state that was mainly straight with a few waves here and there and did her make up. Not before long she had jobbed lightly downstairs to have breakfast, wondering why the kitchen seemed so quiet as her mother put Olivia back in her baby seat on the counter after feeding her, and her younger sister ate her cereal whilst scribbling something down in her school notebook. "Where's Polly?" Alice asked suddenly, noticing the dog bed empty after she hadn't been greeted with the small dogs usual happy barks.

"Richard took her to the vet," Sophie replied, her eye focussed on Olivia as the new born closed her eyes to sleep.

"Why?" Alice asked, placing her hand on the back of Charlotte's neck in greeting before sitting down next to her at the breakfast bar and pouring herself some cereal.

"She had a limp? And kept licking her paw the whole weekend, so Richard just wanted to get it checked out." Sophie replied, "She probably stepped on something outside, she's got such tiny feet." She added, whilst smiling happily and touching her baby's tiny feet covered with knitted pink socks.

"Oh," Alice replied lightly, noticing her phone buzz on the table. She checked it, and smirked seeing how Magnus had responded to her good luck text with a thumbs up. "How's the baby?"

"She's fine," Sophie cooed, feeling all light headed and googley eyed as she continued to watch Olivia. Alice smiled and continued to eat quietly, glancing at the time to see how long she had left to brush her teeth and get her bag together. Fei had offered to pick her up, and only fifteen minutes later Alice heard the light beep of a horn from outside.

It was a bright, crisp but a little warmer than usual morning in Summerland, the breeze was gentle and softly scented with freshly cut grass that had been ripened by the sunlight. Music flowed from the radio as Fei and Alice drove to school, both of them singing along to the sound of Promises by Calvin Harris. The two even stopped at the drive through for coffee, wanting to celebrate the sunny weather by ordering iced caffeinated drinks to sip through paper straws. By the time they arrived at campus the flow of students gathering to head into the building was in mid-flow, and from the inside of the car everything looked normal, considering they couldn't hear the topic of conversation.

Some students were gathered together in groups to talk, whispering quickly in hushed, nervous tones with wide eyes, and others with particular shades of hair were glancing around themselves, suddenly paranoid because of the news that had broke that morning.

The music from the radio stopped, and Fei turned off the engine from her car, plunging them into a quietness before they both got out and gathered up their bags from the back seats. Alice noticed instantly, picking up on the quietness that had settled like an invisible fog over the school grounds. "What?" Fei asked as Alice closed the back door behind the passenger seat quietly and furrowed her eyebrows as she glanced around.