“Incidentally,” She began softly, keeping her
eyes downcast. “I’d like to thank you.” Even more softly. “You can’t imagine
how important this is to me.” She hugged the blue notebook close, daring to
glance up into Connie’s eyes. For that brief moment, both hearts smiled and
shared a common love of imagination.
“I’m the one who should be thanking
you.” Connie said cheerfully back, her shyness dropping away. She tried not to
look at Alice’s face, but the crystal eyes drew her and the scars were
fascinating in their own morbid way. In spite of herself, Connie discovered
that she was once again wondering how they got there. “Thank you for getting me
out of that mess.” She continued, grimacing. Alice smiled from underneath her
hair.
“I could say the same thing.” Her
smile held a thousand secrets, its mystery alluring Connie with her curious
nature.
“What do you mean?” She asked,
bluntly, unable to resist her interest. “The notebook?”
Alice smiled to herself in that same
hidden way, her dark hair curling about her face in soft tendrils. Connie
lowered her eyes, wishing to seem inconspicuous while trying not to stare at
her new friend’s face. They walked out the doors across the grass lawn towards
the cafeteria building.
“No. That too, but I meant…” Alice
trailed off, looking peacefully up into the sky. Her hood slid carelessly off
of her head, and the wind whipped her hair back. For the first time, Alice didn’t
seem to mind, or even remember that Connie was there. She gazed at the dark
marks that split Alice’s face openly for a few moments before turning away
again.
“Do you feel that?” Alice asked, her
voice a whisper softer than the breeze.
“Feel what?”
“The wind. Sometimes I think if I
could just get somewhere high enough, the wind would come and sweep me away
from here.”
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