The previous week, Alice dragged herself to school as always. The same drab expression, the same untidy hair, the same mean glances towards her. But then someone actually walked up to her with a jovial expression. It had been more than a year since someone had look at her that way. And of all people, it was Lucas Evans, the most popular kid in school. He was a sophomore too but in a different class from her. He was what you'd call the master of all trades. He was the smartest kid in his class and the captain of the basketball team since when he was a freshman. The type that everyone liked and every girl dreamed of. But what did he want with her?
"Hi!" Lucas waved. He came a bit too close, closer than Alice would have wanted, forcing her to take a step back. His brown eyes gave a very warm feeling. He had dark hair and was actually quite tall. His muscles were well toned, evident that he played sports.
"What do you want?" Alice asked, quite cross. There had to be something to it.
��That's harsh," He felt jilted. "Well I just thought I'd say hi. I didn't get to see you yesterday."
"Well, you have. Can I go now?" Alice jeered. She could feel the stares from the other kids and could hear the gossips. What did he mean 'he didn't get to see her yesterday'? Was this some sort of prank? Or did Lucas hit his head or something? Even before she was labelled 'the freak', they weren't friends, so why now? Just as the thoughts wrapped around her head, she felt someone wrap their arms around her from behind jolting her forward.
"Hi, Alice," A voice from behind said. It was small and cheerful and all too familiar. Auron Jakka. Together with Lucas and Erica Johnson; Alice's biggest nemesis, they formed what used to known as 'the big three'. Until they split the previous year. But Lucas and Auron were still pretty tight. And now, here she was, acting all 'buddy like'. Did something happen to the whole world while she was asleep? Judging from the stares she was getting from everyone else though, maybe only those two were affected.
"How've you been? Last time was crazy right?" Auron asked much to Alice's bewilderment.
"What are you talking about?" Alice said as she walked away from the two who just stared on as she left.
"She really can't remember. What do we do?" Auron asked Lucas.
"She saved us you know. Let's give it time. We really don't know if forgetting is for the best," Lucas replied.
"She's stronger than any eccentric we've seen and you just want to leave her be, give her time? We don't know who's her power source, so it's either we make her a friend or she's a foe," Auron snapped as she left leaving Lucas quite dazed.
***
Alice couldn't focus in class. The thought of what happened that morning ran through her mind and everything around her sounded like slur. Just then, her teacher noticed Alice's absentmindedness. "Alice! Alice!" She beckoned.
"Yes, yes," Alice replied, startled that she didn't notice when her teacher walked all the way to her seat. Her teacher was quite lenient with her most times but even she, had her limits.
"I can't have you spacing out, or you're going to have to teach the whole class," Her teacher scorned as she tweaked her glasses a bit. The class was in a roar, forcing a frown of Alice's face. The last time that happened, she just stared at the class and the only thing that came out of her mouth was 'hello'. The class was in a complete ruckus before she could even say anything else and even if they had been silent, she had nothing else to say.
Behind her, something picked her interest, so much that she didn't realize she was staring. "So, I was on this site, yeah? And it was talking about this awesome ritual where you can actually open the doors to a whole new world," One of the girls behind her gloated.
"No way, now that's totally fake," Another replied in shear disbelieve. I mean sham sites were quite the rave at the time so it would be no surprise if it turned out the same.
"I'm telling you, it's legit. And it's pretty simple really. You just---"
"Draw a circle in goat's blood?" The other girl interrupted.
"What? No! Sheesh, people still do that kind of stuff?"
"Yeah. One time my cousin---"
"No, no! I do not want to know about your freak of a cousin. Thank you. Anyway, all you have to do is stand in front of a mirror at twelve midnight, holding a cup and a candle and say the magic words---" She said but stopped as they noticed Alice's keen attention. "What are you looking at, freak!" She scoffed.
"What are the magic words, enchantress?" Alice goaded with smirk.
"Alicia Robertson! Front of the class, now!" Her teacher beckoned. And yes, it ended up a disaster.