That Night √

38» That Painting

"And you think that'll work?" I opened up my eyes and glared at her. I sounded way too harsh. "It's not that easy, Alice."

She shrugged at that. "It can't be that hard either. You both were best friends for so long. He can't just hate you."

I fell silent at that, not knowing what to say.

It was that hard.

And I hadn't even known.

•••••

Frost seemed to love Alice more than anything. That was the exact reason why I was sitting at my porch right now as Frost barked loudly, nudging Alice's arm so that she'd play with him.

Alice laughed and picked up the chew-toy she'd just brought for him from her house. Which Frost seemed to love a lot.

Frost barked and pounced at her, making her stumble back and fall down on the grass.

"Oh my God, he's so—" She was cut off when Frost yapped at her and licked her face. "Okay, no—ew! Don't do that. I just did my makeup."

A small involuntary laugh escaped my lips.

"Gracie, help me out!" She spoke up loudly, dissolving into a fit of giggles as Frost kept on licking her face.

I stood up and went towards them before picking Frost up in my hands. He barked loudly, nudging my chin with his small black nose.

"Oh dear Lord, dog drool is so gross." Alice scrunched up her nose before wiping her face carefully with her sleeve, though she was still grinning goofily so that was that.

I rolled my eyes before looking down at Frost. He barked loudly before struggling out of my grasp. I tried –really– to not let go of him but I swear to God, this pup was so darn energetic.

He jumped out of my hands and ran over towards the opened wooden fence. Without waiting for another second, I rushed after him, not surprised when I found him running over to the driveway beside mine.

I stopped when I saw Marleen, looking like she had just come from somewhere. Frost roamed around her feet before giving out a loud bark.

Marleen jumped a little in surprise, looking down at Frost. "Oh God, you scared me."

Ever since Marleen had helped him with the deep gash on his little paw, Frost always ran over to her whenever she was near.

I walked over towards them before picking Frost up. He yapped excitedly, trying to break free again. Marleen laughed at that and ruffled his fur. "Aren't you a sweet pup?"

I watched her turn back around towards her car before taking out two huge pots of yellow colored flowers.

"Hello, Mrs Jackson!" Alice spoke up cheerfully before coming up beside me. She was still wiping her face, her sunglasses clutched in the other hand.

Marleen smiled at her. "Hello, Alice. How are you doing?"

I looked down at Frost and saw his bright blue eyes trailing over towards Alice. I would've warned her but I really didn't get the chance.