She scrolled through her phone waiting for Claudia as she posted some of the photos today after much contemplation and replied to the comments from people who flooded her comment section with kind words of encouragement amongst those who reveled in her beauty which made Alice elated since it was a compliment to hear such words.
Alice wouldn't say that she loved the attention, but who wouldn't like to hear the niceties that people could say rather than other disdainful words that could be more worrying and tiring to feed to one's mind?
"I'll be back in a second," Claudia said as she went to her door.
"What for?" Alice asked as she slid over to look beside the sofa at her.
"My mom is looking for something, and she's asking me to find it."
"Oh, take your time," Alice said as she waved her off. "Say hi to your mom for me."
"Or, you can say hi to her right now," Claudia sang.
Alice laughed. "Of course. I would love to."
Claudia came over with her phone in hand happily, and Alice leaned over to see that they were on video chat. Alice waved as her face came onto the screen, and Claudia's mother's brightened when they saw each other. Claudia was practically a mirror to her mother with the same hair and eyes, but whereas Claudia's mother had structure to her face, Claudia had softer features.
"Hi, Mrs. Vivian," Alice smiled.
"Call me Vivian," she reminded Alice, a reminder that Alice had always gotten, but when Alice was younger, she always called Claudia's mother that, so it just stuck in her mind that way. She often called Claudia's mother and father, Aunt and Uncle as well since they were quite close. "What are you two girls up to?"
Alice laughed. "Nothing too crazy to say the least. We're about to study now."
"You should come over to tutor Claudia more often, Alice."
Alice smiled. "I would love to, but I'm so busy alongside with Claudia here."
"I don't know if I classify going out for karaoke as studying," Vivian said which made Alice snort because Vivian also knew of Claudia's antics.
Claudia slid Alice a wide-eyed look to get her to save her from the situation that was about to veer into a lecture, and Alice dipped her chin down discretely before turning her attention back to the call. "I'm sure that you and Uncle are busy. I would hate to keep you for too long."
Vivian nodded. "Don't worry, Alice. If only I wasn't pressed on time, then we would be able to speak more."
"That's okay," Alice waved her off with her other hand. "I'll see you two when you both get back safely."
Alice handed Claudia's phone back over to Claudia, and Claudia wrapped an arm around Alice's neck for a quick hug. "I'll be back."
Alice gave her an okay sigh, and Claudia walked out of the room going on about how her mother always forgot things, and Alice covered her giggle with the back of her hand. Seeing Claudia's and her mother's dynamic was always fun to watch.
She leaned her head back against the cushioned sofa to bring out her phone to look at the photos once more before pulling up her profile to see the likes continue to pour in.
The little photo dump was for the books. It fit her feed so nicely with the bright lighting and pastel colors. Alice was scrolling through her socials and alternating editing some photos to post to other platforms when she almost dropped her phone in surprise when she got a text message from Noah himself.
She pushed the notification up, not wanting to think about it and wonder what it was, and continued to scroll through her feed a little while longer. The tiny notification came up again, and Alice didn't want to think too hard about it but ended up opening it anyway with a racing heart.
She wasn't much of a texter, so people who wanted to chat by text rarely got the chance to get an answer from her due to the fact that she would rather talk in person unless it was important information if that made sense.
She didn't want to text back for an hour to listen to someone but would rather listen to someone over the phone so that she could do other things. Most of her notifications were turned off, but Noah didn't text enough to warrant her switching it off for him.
Noah: I saw that you posted the book that you were reading.
Noah: I'm surprised that you picked it up.
Alice: It's digital, and I'm surprised that I picked it up too. I thought that it was really interesting. It sounded like something that you would read, but those stories are definitely up my alley too.
Noah: Glad to hear it.
Alice: I'm surprised to see that you finally opened up your social media after an eternity.
Noah: It was a random afterthought.
Alice: Yeah, yeah. You don't want a social media presence.
Noah: I would like my privacy, but I could care less at the end of the day.
Alice: Should I post the picture of me tripping you last week?
Noah: Do it.
Alice: I'll declare to the world that you're a menace.
Noah: I have to deal with you every day.
Alice: Not even. You latch on to me.
Noah: In your dreams.