The sidewalks near the academy were freshly cleaned with all the grout neatly done with no remains of any sort of greenery from before that may have only been tiny weeds no larger than little clovers. Alice tucked her hands behind her back with her briefcase swinging in the wind as she walked on about.
She got out later than usual since she was stuck on fill-in cleaning duty. She would have to go over to Claudia's house and truly give her a stern lecture for playing her like that without even letting her know first. The kicker? She was also alone and cleaned up the whole hall before the janitor took over after seeing her work for an hour.
Alice thanked the man before grabbing her bags from the library that she had set her items in the firsthand when she was getting some quick study time with all the materials she needed set before her and got some work done before getting ready to head back to the convenience store after stuffing her brief cased closed and saying goodbye to the librarian.
She turned to look at the fence and saw the club activities as she normally did and glanced down at her watch to see that she was going home later than she had wanted to, but it was quite inevitable after the whole fiasco and finishing her work in the library.
Glancing both ways after pushing the walk button, she walked through the crosswalk with her arms tucked underneath her zip-up hoodie from the unusually cold day despite the warm spring weather lately. She took her normal way home only to get stopped by a large sign from construction saying that the road was closed.
Alice sighed and made a U-turn to go through the nearby park to try and cut down the time but knew that either way she would have to make a full circle around. The sun was starting to set, so her walk which normally took fifteen minutes would soon turn to thirty if she didn't quicken her pace.
She knew the surrounding streets well though, so it wasn't any hardship to pass the familiar buildings and whatnot. Alice fished her phone out from her hoodie pocket and slid up on the smartphone to find out if Claudia responded to her text message yet only to see that it was still left unread.
There was much work to do when she got home such as her regular studying schedule but also the surprise project from another class that she had decided to solo since she was alone in that class and didn't want to bother having to give up her weekends to meet up with other people when she could sacrifice a few late hours of her life for the next few days instead.
It would definitely take up more time doing it alone but despite saying so, she truly didn't mind at all. If anything, she wanted to get more of the beauty sleep that she treasured dearly on the weekends. The harsh wind blew her skirt up into the air, and she pressed a hand down on the fabric and looked up into the sky.
It was a gloomy day with the overcast sky, so it impacted her mood as well as the dark and tired feeling throughout the day. She tightened the strap of the briefcase around her shoulder and smiled at the people walking by before tucking the phone away so that it wouldn't fall out since she took off into a run.
Rounding the corner after a few blocks, she slowed her pace and put her hands on her hips. She was certainly no runner, but running for fun instead of a punishing manner that could be seen during the physical education classes was much more enjoyable, and honestly, she could last longer too when there was no pressure.
The cool air felt nice on her sweat-slicked skin, but she immediately shivered and rubbed her arms to try and get her temperature back to normal again instead of the flash of hot and cold. She glanced up when she passed by more buildings of cafes and small boutique shops nearby before it went to apartment buildings.
Alice inclined her head down to the movers who were currently still loading items from the large truck into one of the rooms inside. With only a split-second glimpse inside the open doors, she made eye contact with someone that she unfortunately did not want to see for the day considering that he was gone.
Recognition sparked through Noah's eyes while Alice lifted up a hand in hello now that she was acknowledged. He was in the mover's uniform with the navy tee and the thick cargo pants with dust all over his shoulders from his work. They must have stopped for too long since the other men clapped a hand over Noah's shoulder.
"You two know each other?" the boisterous man asked.
Noah rubbed a hand behind his neck. "Yeah."
Alice passed a quick smile on her face to try and make it less awkward. "Hi, yes. We are classmates."
The man laughed. "That's great. Noah, I can tell you're selling yourself short by working here."
Noah shrugged. "It's a side job anyways, Miller."