I’d never truly been alone before. When I was in the Mad House there had always been nurses and inhabitants to accompany me. Before my accident everything was normal, and I usually had a family member by me. Now the thought of leaving me alone was odd.
Yet, there I was, all alone. I had always felt like a small part of me was always alone, but now it was true. Alice was alone, and no one was worried about the matter except for her. I was worried that some monster inside me would take over and cause me to storm out of the house, and attack some innocent bystander. I knew there was no such thing as the ability to read minds, but somewhere, somehow somebody did, because a knock rang through the house, and a face peeked through the glass on the side of the door.
Gemma’s brother was here.
He was early.
I was screwed.
“I take that back, I like being alone,” I hissed under my breath, looking up at the ceiling. “If there is a god you’re going to make that kid leave,” I continued, my eyes drilling holes into the top of the house. I flitted my eyes to the door, and I still saw a boy there. “Ok,” I muttered, “let’s try another religion. Zeus, want to strike a thunder bolt onto him?”
No answer.
“Well, let’s hope the French have one hell of a religion,” I thought out loud, slipping off my stool in the kitchen, and smoothing down my shirt. The boy, Harry, knocked again, and I felt my legs carry me to the door.
I’m French. I’m a medical student. I’m sane. I’m normal.
I chanted these thoughts like they were my only thoughts.
Je suis français. Je suis un étudiant en médecine. Je suis sain d'esprit. Je suis normal.
I then translated my mantra in what was supposed to be my native language. It may have been right, it may have been wrong, but whatever the correct translation, I still opened that door.
Greeted by not one, but two boys.
“Bonjour,” Harry said with a smile as I opened the door. I nodded and scooted back, repeating his greeting. I was tempted to ask who the boy was with him, but I doubted that French Alice knew English well enough to ask. “Is Gemma here?” he asked slowly, skeptical if I would answer. I gulped and moved back further as he set his luggage down next to the old lamp that Gemma constantly complained about.
I shook my head no, “No.” That was one word that was practically the same in every language. Rejection was the same in every language, but saying yes wasn’t as easy. Harry nodded and be noticed that I had been looking at his friend who was standing uncomfortably behind his friend.
“This is Louis,” he announced, and I fought the urge to scream out in frustration; Louis was a French name, and if he was French I was in trouble because I’m not so sure how my translations were. “Il est Louis,” he said, introducing him in French just in case I didn’t pick up what he was saying.
“Um … hey, bonjour” Louis greeted with a little wave of his hand, and I let out a little laugh. He obviously didn’t know French, and that washed a wave of relief over me. The need for impeccable French was gone; one less thing to worry about with two people whom I didn’t know, and who didn’t know me.
I gave them both a weak smile, and fiddling with the bottom of my sleeves. It may have been just a slot of discomforting silence for them, but for me it was time to collect my thoughts and figure out to stay away from two people while one of their sister’s was out.
“Where’s Gemma?” Harry asked, and I thought of the least informative answer ever.
“Out,” I replied, trying to heavily accent my voice, but coming out with sounded like I had a massive speech impediment. Harry nodded, and I was starting to see the upside to my alter ego being from France. I had an excuse to give short, vague answers because that’s all I could say. They do say English is the hardest language to learn.
“We’re going to go put our stuff up,” Harry said, pointing to the stairs. I nodded, and he picked up his bag, his friends closely following behind him. I watched as they left, and slumped against the wall when they had left. Gemma hadn’t given me any way to contact her, and I was stuck in a situation where I needed some assistance.
I’d never been much of an actress. If I were a god actress I wouldn’t be where I was. If I were a good actress I wouldn’t have known Gemma. If I were a good actress I would be back home, talking with friends, and hiding everything in. I’m not a good actress though, and I did know Gemma, and I was where I was. I wasn’t a good actress and I was being asked to put on an award winning performance.
While Louis and Harry were upstairs I scanned the room for something to do, so that when they came downstairs I wouldn’t be asked questions. I could’ve easily switched on the television, but that wasn’t the most consuming activity. My blue eyes roamed the room until they finally landed on one of Noelle’s books, but some author that seemed to win a lot of awards judging from the little badges on the majority of her covers. A book. Time consuming, thought consuming, and overall the perfect choice.
By the time the two boys came down I was in a cushioned chair, only able to seat one. I was staring at page of fifty of what was turning out to be a romance novel, and my hair was falling around my face. I would hope this would give off the impression I wasn’t in the mood to talk, but it only encouraged conversation.
“You’re reading an English book?” Harry asked, his voice no longer slow, but normal … a little fast paced even. I paused my reading, lifting my eyes to realize he was staring at the title of my book, which was, as a matter of fact, in English. I nodded, as it was obvious. It was a silly thing to mention, it was just a book.
“So you’re English is pretty good then?” Louis asked, and I froze.
That’s right, I’m French.
“I understand more than I can say,” I replied, mentally slapping myself for being so stupid to pick up a book written entirely in English. Harry started to say something, but a ring carried throughout the room. Louis slipped out his phone, and he sucked in a breath.
“I have to take this,” he said in apology. Harry shrugged it off, and he pushed himself up off the couch he and Louis had sat down on. “I’ll just walk outside,” he muttered, moving towards the front door, and disappearing out the door, leaving it slightly ajar as he passed through it. His voice just a whisper now that he was out of the house.
“So you can understand me when I speak in English?” Harry asked, and I took a second to think before I answered with a nod. Harry smiled at me and I looked back down at my book, but he spoke again before I could start to read the novel. “I can understand a bit of French,” he added, and I lifted my eyes just above the book, paper with ink still in my view.
“That’s nice,” I replied, finally getting a decent accent to go with my English, although it still sounded more like I was Dutch rather than French. Harry nodded and once more I wasn’t given a chance to get into Noelle’s book.
“I can teach you to speak more English,” Harry said, and at that point I just closed my book and set it down on the coffee table. I bit my bottom lip and looked at the television, because that one of my two choices. I could either watch a show, or have an excuse to speak some English. Both had their ups, but one outcome appealed more than the other.
I shrugged, leaning forward and smiling at him, hoping that would answer my question. “That sounds great,” I replied slowly, out of the corner of my eye noticing that Louis had closed the door entirely. “I teach French,” I replied, purposely leaving out words, trying to lessen my knowledge of English. He nodded and leaned forward as well.
When I snuck a glance towards the door that Louis was hiding behind I caught a glimpse of the clock. One hour down, about three to go. Only now I wasn’t alone.
Authors Note ~ Yay! I updated, and sorry it took a while. I recently made a book trailer for this lovely book, and I've gotten some good feedback on it! If you'd like to see it's posted on the prologue I think, or if you press more info you should see it on the side :D Anyway, I really do hope you liked this chapter, and I have a question for you.
Do any of you predict any relationships in this book? If so comment below.
<3
Luce