The mover and seeker.
She felt like her heart was beating a thousand times a second. She twirled her straight light brown hair in her fingers trying to calm herself down and trying to only concentrate on the sound of her black suede boots as she walked down the hallway to the first class in her new high school. After all of the other moves she’s gone through she thought that she would've been used this thing already. This place was so different though and Alice was starting to dread her dad for making her move here and making her move in every other state in the United States. She understood that it was for a job but this wasn't the life that she wanted, she wanted a normal life with friends that she knew all her life. "Hopefully and I think that New York is our last stop," her dad said this morning and the rest of the talk that he gave her seemed irrelevant, all she cared about was that one line stood in her head the whole day.
She walked around the first couple of days wearing her summer suburban clothes and not fitting in .All of the other states, Nevada, Alabama, Colorado and the other 20 states seemed similar and she never had to change too much but here she knew that it was different. The people looked different, talked different and acted different. How am I ever going to fit in here? She thought to herself as she sat on the bus one morning heading to school. Have I really ever fit in anywhere that I've lived? She started to wonder. All the states she'd been to and all of the new friends she’s had to make made her really think about herself.
She hadn't painted a picture in years, well now that she thinks about it; she hadn't painted since she was happy and stable. When will I ever paint again? When will I ever be happy again? When will I ever have a normal teenage life? Alice thought about until she noticed that it was her stop and rushed out of the bus.
"Hi," a warm and high pitched voice said from behind Alice
"Umm hey," Alice said in a shy voice
“You’re the new girl aren't you? I seen you in my gym class. I'm Jane by the way," Jane said with a smile stretched across her face. Alice tried to analyze her in the few seconds that she could while Jane was speaking. The first thing that she noticed was Jane having black glasses, then her long black wavy hair flowing down in front of her shoulders, pink plain tank top with light blue jeans and a pair of converses.
"Yes, I am new. My name is Alice... what class do you have?" she asked trying to see if this new friend of hers was going to stick around.
"I have chemistry, that stupid class. What do you have?" Jane asked and noticed Alice's smile become smaller.
"Oh, I have Algebra now; well can I sit with you at lunch? I have been kind of lonely lately," Alice asked, hoping for a yes.
"Sure! I sit all the way on the right side of the cafeteria by the window with the Talent show poster on it, look for me there okay? I gotta run to class, see you later," Jane said as she began to walk away into the stairwell of the school.
Alice continued to walk down the hallway to her first class. She sat down in her assigned seat and took out her notebook for class. During the class the girl who sat next to Alice seemed dazed out and confused.
“Do you get this?" the pretty girl whispered looking at Alice with her big brown eyes with concern.
"No, not really," Alice said smiling but feeling her heart start to speed up.
"Oh, me either. This teacher doesn't know how to teach for shit. Well, how do you like the school?" the girl said smiling and glancing at the teacher every couple of seconds.
"It's okay, I haven't really met any friends though, except for this one girl this morning...I think her name was Jane," she said trying to make conversation and feeling more relaxed. Alice kind of like the girls' way of talking and she looked like the type with a lot of friends and outgoing. She looked at her small ant sized nose ring, curly brown hair and casual outfit.
“Come sit with me and my friends at lunch, you're pretty cool, oh and my name is Victoria but call my Vicky or something
"Okay, I'm Alice just in case you..." Alice said but was cut off by the bell. She hadn't noticed that she had overbooked herself with lunch plans.
"Find me at lunch, all the way on the left side of the cafeteria, adios!" Victoria said as she walked out of the classroom
She walked into the large all white cafeteria with posters on the walls and windows and kids walking around everywhere. She automatically walked all the way to the left, seeing Victoria sitting with a group of friends with felt like a breeze to Alice as she talked to the girls and mad friends with all of the them. Alice was so happy that she was connecting with Victoria's friends that when she finally remembered that she had planned to sit Jane first, she totally ignored it and continued sitting and laughing with the rest of the girls. They girls told her all about the information she needed to know in the school, all of the gossip going around and even convinced her to leave school to go shopping for some new clothes so she could look like them.
As they left the cafeteria Alice looked to the right and seen Jane sitting by herself. She truly felt bad about leaving Jane for Victoria but at the same time she felt relieved that she picked Victoria because of all of the friends she had compared to Jane. She walked up to Jane to apologize and asked her if she wanted to come with them to go shopping but Jane declined it and walked off to her next class.
When Alice got home she tried on all of the new clothes she bought. Is this the new person I am going to be? Am I really going to fit in here like this? I wonder if Jane would make me change that I was to hang out with her but it doesn't matter now, this is who I am now." Alice thought as she stared in the mirror at a person who she had become today.
As the weeks and months passed by Alice stuck to Victoria and her friends. She started to become just like them, talking like a New Yorker, dressing like it and really staring to get used to the New York life. She even began to pick up the bad habits that this girls did and seen herself growing into a person she never thought she'd be. She began cutting class, lying to her dad and even drinking alcohol. Every week seeing Jane in gym class and in the lumch room sitting by herself while doing all of her work made her wonder what it would be like to hang out with Jane. Would she be the same if she choose to sit with Jane the first day in the lumch room?
She began to realize that New York could be her new permant home which in some ways mad her happy, to think that she could finally be stable again which made her want to paint. She picked up some paint and large papers for her to paint on and began to what she loved again. Despite her having to change who she was and her home, she finally felt happy and she finally felt like she could permantly be this New York person.
After school one day Alice walked into her house to see her dad sitting at the dinning room table looking like he was waiting for her to come home.
"What’s up dad?" Alice said looking at her father. His face looked like one she had seen many times and not for something good. This seemed like times from before, bad times and bad memories. This all seemed to familiar for her and she didn't know if she could take this again.
"Hello Alice, we need to talk." her dad started as he looked her in her eyes.
No, not again, Alice thought in her head, feeling the tears wheal up in her eyes.
"Dad, please! I don’t wanna move again. Can't you tell your job to keep us here for a little bit longer?" Alice said begging her dad.
“Alice, it’s not because of my job, its you! You’ve changed. I don’t like the person you have become and your grades are dropping dramatically. There’s no discussion, pack your bags now!" her dad yelled with stern eyes.
Alice ran up to her room as ears ran down her eyes like waterfalls. There were so many thoughts running through her mind that she could barely keep track of them. How could he make me move when I've finally found who I am! I can't believe this! she thought and then she started to think, what would have happened if I sat with Jane in the cafeteria that day...
