Alice didn't really have much dating or romantic advice, but whenever people asked her, she had always given her two pennies since they would pester her for her opinion. At the end of the day, she was able to help out, but as she said, it was different to advise on love rather than experiencing it.
She had never truly had a crush on anyone or liked anyone after getting over the young puppy love most girls experienced when they were about ten to thirteen years old.
Most of the men that she surrounded herself with were her classmates, and there was no other way for her to meet other people since she didn't have a job due to the convenience store.
The boys who do come by the convenience store all lived in her neighborhood, so she didn't meet anyone new or rarely had anyone come by from different districts in the city. Alice tried to remember if Noah had ever dated, but she couldn't ever remember if there was a girl by his side. More often than not, it was just rumors like her.
She would often get into rumors with boys after only breathing in their direction or them looking in her direction, so it was a bit of a headache sometimes since afterward, they would tend to shoot their shot. And every single time, they missed. It was a hopeless endeavor that Claudia would often make fun of her for.
However, she had other things to focus on rather than her own heart and taking care of another person's feelings when she herself was still preparing for university days and helping the convenience store that most look down on her upon knowing the fact since those that attend the academy were from powerful families.
It was that one reason that she tried to not have any enemies since she wasn't ready to have her family's name get dragged in the mud for her immaturity. For those who want to dig a little deeper, she doesn't have anything to hide, but she wasn't ready to give that special person everything of herself since she had things to do.
Things to do with her life and whatnot. Alice hoped that was selfish, but she would rather not waste her time on someone who was not long term considering that she did need people around to help her get up, but to take care of someone emotionally on top of hers, was something that she was not quite ready for yet.
"Folks, that's advice from Noah Park," Liam said. "How about moving on to our next game?"
Rita nodded. "Yes. We have a staring contest up next. You won't be able to see it, but we, hosts, will be watching them sternly to see wins!"
Noah shifted his chair so that it was facing directly to her, and Alice did the same before sitting back down, close enough for their knees to touch. She didn't know if she would be good at it or not since she had never done one before and decided to state the fact. "I actually have never done a staring contest before."
"What? Really?" Sharon asked.
Alice laughed. "Yes. I'm just hoping that Noah isn't like a serial champion at it or something."
"I'm not," Noah assured. "But you're going to lose anyways."
Alice rolled her eyes. "Okay, this is Noah Park, everyone."
"Are you two ready?" Rita asked. "If so, close your eyes and don't open them until I say so. It says that staring into another person's eyes signals trust and can be used to find a deeper connection."
"What?" Liam said as he flipped the notecard back and forth. "I don't see that on the notecard."
"It's on Google," Rita whispered with Sharon fake coughing to cover their words making Alice laugh.
"Three, two, one... and open," Sharon said.
Alice fluttered her lashes open and stared straight into Noah's gaze making her burst into laughter. "How long are we doing this for?"
"Until one of you blinks," Rita said simply.
Alice watched Noah carefully, and his eyes were a green in the room which would often than not sometimes look a pretty light brown from his hazel-colored irises. She tried to keep her smile at bay since it was so funny which only made his lips twitch at the awkwardness of the situation.
To think that she would ever study him so closely for that long, she didn't like how there was an awkward air now in the room which wouldn't happen if Noah wasn't staring at her so harshly. In his eyes, she didn't know what he trying to convey, but she was able to tell that he trying to tell her something that she didn't understand.
She didn't think that it would last for that long, but Noah wouldn't give in to her at all. Her eyes were starting to water, and she started to grip her skirt for strength, making Noah push her hands off her skirt. Alice was about to kick him but held back since her eyes fluttered closed anyways.