The morning sun streamed through the windows of Westbridge School's classroom, casting long shadows across the desks. Alice Hart sat in her usual spot the farchest back corner of the classroom, her phone in her hands, scrolling through social media without really seeing anything. The classroom was mostly empty, with only a few students scattered around, and the bell wouldn't ring for another thirty minutes.
A group of girls approached her desk, their footsteps hesitant at first. Alice looked up, her guard immediately rising. She had learned the hard way that people only came to her when they wanted something.
"Hey, Alice," one of the girls said, her voice soft and almost kind. "We were wondering... what really happened to Melvin?"
Alice blinked. She hadn't expected that question, especially not from three bitchy ass girls in her class. No one talked to Melvin. No one liked Alice. so this was a pleasant surprise. Curiosity had clearly gotten the better of them. Behind them, a few boys had gathered as well, pretending to be interested in their phones but clearly eavesdropping.
"Melvin?" Alice repeated, feigning surprise. "What do you mean?"
"We heard he tried to... you know kill himself," another girl whispered, her eyes wide. "But there's been so many rumors. We thought you might know the truth. You are his girlfriend right?"
Alice sighed, leaning back in her chair. She thought about Melvin, about the complicated mess of their relationship. She knew the real story, but what they wanted was something juicy, something that would make for good gossip. And honestly, why shouldn't she give it to them? It wasn't like the truth would help anyone.
"Alright," she said, lowering her voice conspiratorially. "But you didn't hear this from me."
The girls leaned in closer, their eyes shining with anticipation. Alice took a deep breath and began her story.
"Melvin had a dog named Bruno," she started, watching their faces. "He loved that dog more than anything. And he had a girlfriend named Rosie. They were together for almost a month, and she was everything to him."
"A girlfriend?" one of the girls asked, confused. "But I thought he—"
"Yeah, yeah," Alice waved her hand dismissively. "Everyone thought he was my bf but we broke up a month ago. He was just a guy who fell in love with the wrong person. Anyway, Rosie cheated on him. She left him for some older guy from the city. Melvin was devastated. He stopped eating, stopped showing to school. And then Bruno died."
The girls gasped, their hands flying to their mouths. Even the boys who were pretending not to listen looked up in shock.
"It happened a few days ago," Alice continued, her voice dropping even lower. "Bruno had been with Melvin since he was a puppy. He was the only constant in Melvin's life. When he died, Melvin just... gave up. He called me on the phone yesterday. He wanted to say goodbye. He said he couldn't do it anymore. He was going to end it all."
"That's so sad," one of the girls whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.
Alice nodded solemnly, though inside she felt nothing. The story she was telling was a lie, of course. There was no Rosie, no Bruno. But the girls didn't know that. They wanted a story, and she had given them one. It was a transaction, nothing more.
"What happened then?" another girl asked, leaning in so close Alice could smell her perfume.
"Damian saved him," Alice said, her voice flat. "He went looking for Melvin and talked him down. Found the blade Melvin was about to slit his wrist with and flushed them down the toilet. Called for help. If it wasn't for Damian, Melvin wouldn't be alive right now."
She watched as their faces shifted from sadness to admiration. Damian Jones, the hero. Of course. He was always the hero in everyone's story.
"Damian is so amazing," one of the girls sighed dreamily. "He's always there for everyone."
Alice nodded, forcing a small smile. "Yeah. He really is."
The crowd around her suddenly shifted their attention. Alice saw Damian Jones walking into the classroom, his usual confident stride attracting eyes wherever he went. In seconds, the crowd that had been surrounding Alice had gathered around Damian, bombarding him with questions.
"Is it true you saved Melvin's life?"
"How did you know what to do?"
"Were you scared?"
Alice watched them with no expression on her face. Damian's eyes flickered to her for a split second, and in that moment, something passed between them. A silent acknowledgment. Then he looked away and started talking to the crowd, his voice warm and reassuring.
"I was just doing what anyone would do," he said, shrugging modestly. "Melvin needed help, and I was there. That's all."
The girls swooned. Alice turned away, pulling out her phone to check the time. She was suddenly very tired, the weight of the morning pressing down on her shoulders.
Her phone buzzed in her hand. Dad.
"I need to take this," she muttered to no one in particular, slipping out of the classroom and heading toward the washroom.
The corridor was empty, the only sounds coming from the distant chatter of other students in their classrooms. Alice pushed open the door to the washroom and was immediately hit by the smell of cigarette smoke. Three girls from her class were standing near the sinks, one of them holding a lit cigarette between her fingers.
Alice coughed, waving the smoke away from her face. The girls giggled at that. Alice ignored them and stepped into one of the stalls, locking the door behind her. She took a deep breath and answered the call.
"Dad?" she said quietly.
"Alice." His voice was strained, exhausted. She could picture him sitting at his desk, rubbing his tired eyes. "I need you to go home."
"Why? What happened?" Alice asked, though she didn't sound particularly concerned.
"It's about mom. She's got a high fever. I can't leave work. The househelp came over and did the cleaning and all the other chores. She left and told me that your mother is sick. She bought some medicine and already put it near the lamp shade. I need you to go home before school ends and take care of her."
Alice leaned her head against the cold tile of the stall wall. Of course. Her mom. The woman who had done nothing but criticize her since she was a child. The woman who had told her just last night that she was a disappointment, that she was ruining her own life. And now she was expected to rush home and play the dutiful daughter.
"Please, Alice," her dad's voice cracked. "I can't do this alone. I'm so tired. I've been trying so hard, at work, at home, keeping everything together. I don't know how much more I can take."
Alice felt a pang of guilt in her chest. She knew her dad was struggling. He worked long hours, came home exhausted, and still found time to try to fix the broken pieces of their family. And what did she do? She made things worse.
"Okay, Dad," she said softly. "I'll go home."
"Thank you," he breathed. "I'll call the school and let them know you're leaving soon. Alice... I love you. You know that, right?"
"Yeah, Dad. I know."
She hung up and stood there for a long moment, staring at the door of the stall. The smoke smell was making her nauseous, but she couldn't bring herself to move. She wanted to scream. She wanted to disappear. She wanted to be anywhere but here.
Finally, she pushed open the door and walked to the sinks. The three girls were still there, watching her with curious eyes. Alice turned on the water and splashed her face, trying to wash away the exhaustion that clung to her skin.
"Are you crying?" one of the girls asked, her voice dripping with fake concern.
"Huh?"
Alice looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were red, and there were dark circles underneath them. She looked terrible. "No," she said sharply, wiping her face with a paper towel. "I'm fine."
"Sure you are," the girl laughed, exchanging a knowing look with her friends. "You know, Alice, you're always so alone. You used to hang out with Sophia and Grace and Emily, and now you don't talk to anyone. Why?"
Alice stiffened. "That's none of your business."
The girl shrugged, taking another drag of her cigarette. "We're just saying. We're kind of outsiders too. People talk about us, look down on us. If you ever want to hang out, you know, with people who get it, you could join us."
Alice stared at them for a moment. They were offering her friendship. But she knew how these things worked. They would use her, talk about her behind her back, and drop her the moment she stopped being useful. They're all the same and she was tired of pretending they're not.
"Emily's coming back soon," Alice said, smiling a little, surprising herself with the conviction in her voice. "I think she's the only friend I need."
The girls exchanged another look, this one more amused than curious. "Okay, whatever you say, Alice."
Alice dried her face and walked out of the washroom without looking back. Behind her, she could hear them starting to gossip, their voices hushed but not quiet enough.
"Did you see her face? She looks like a ghost..."
"She probably doesn't sleep. I heard her mom is crazy..."
"Emily's coming back? I thought she left for good..."
Alice walked faster, her hands trembling at her sides. She didn't care what they said about her. She was used to it. It was the lack of sleep that was making things very hard for her early in the morning.
She made her way back to the classroom and sat down in her seat. The lecture had already started, and the teacher was droning on about something Alice couldn't focus on. She pulled out her notebook and pretended to take notes, but she was busy doing some other written tasks in some other notebook instead of writing down what the teacher was saying.
Her face was gaunt, her eyes sunken. She hadn't slept properly in weeks. She hadn't eaten a proper meal in days. The dark circles under her eyes were so deep they looked like bruises. She looked like a shadow of the girl she used to be.
By the end of the second-to-last period, Alice was completely exhausted. Her head ached, her body felt heavy, and she couldn't bring herself to care about anything the teacher was saying. She laid her head down on the desk, her cheek pressed against the cool wood. She popped a piece of gum into her mouth and chewed slowly, her eyes half-closed.
Slyly, she reached into her pocket and pulled out an earbud. She kept her head down, making sure the teacher couldn't see, and carefully placed it in her ear. Music filled her head, drowning out the sound of the lecture. She didn't care what she was missing anymore. She just wanted to escape.
She stared out the window at the sky. The sun was starting to set, painting the clouds in shades of orange and gold. It was beautiful, but all Alice felt was emptiness.
Her eyes drifted across the room, settling on Damian. He was passing a note to a girl sitting opposite desk to him, his grin wide and easy. The girl unfolded the note, read it, and giggled, writing something back. Damian smiled at her again, his eyes warm and kind. He was always like that, always making everyone around him feel special.
The girl pulled out her phone and started typing, probably sending a message to one of her friends. Then Damian's eyes shifted. They locked onto Alice's, and she saw a flash of something in his gaze. Concern, maybe. Or pity.
He gave her a thumbs up. Just a small gesture, barely noticeable. But it meant something to Alice, even if she didn't want it to.
She gave him a thumbs up in return, then her gaze shifted to the window. The sunset looked even more beautiful now, the colors bleeding into each other like watercolors. But all Alice could feel was a wave of frustration so strong it made her chest hurt.
She hated her life.
She hated the complicated mess of her family history. Her mother had never been supportive, always criticizing and finding fault in everything Alice did. Her stepfather was the only one who seemed to care, but even he was stretched thin, working himself to the bone to keep everything together. And now he was exhausted, burnt out, and Alice couldn't help but feel like it was all her fault.
She hated the relationships that drained her. The friendships that turned out to be one-sided. The love that had never been real. Melvin had his own problems, his own secrets, and Alice had been caught in the middle of it all. He was gay, and she had been nothing but a cover, a convenient excuse. It wasn't his fault, she knew that now. But it still hurt.
She hated the way her grades were slipping, the way she couldn't seem to focus on anything anymore. She was floating in this pile of garbage, hoping to see the light someday, but everything was so bleak. She was losing her footing in all this redundant chaos, and there was no one to catch her when she fell.
A tear slipped down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly, but another followed, and another. She was crying silently, her shoulders shaking with the effort of holding it all in. The orange sunset blurred behind the tears, and Alice felt like she was drowning.
"Alice, where are your notes?"
The voice cut through her thoughts like a knife. Alice looked up to see the teacher standing over her desk, her eyes sharp and unforgiving.
"W- What?" Alice stammered, pulling the earbud out of her ear.
"Your notes," the teacher repeated, slapping a hand on the desk. "Show me your notes. You've been sitting here staring out the window for the past ten minutes. Show me what you've been doing."
Alice quickly searched through her bag, pulling out her mathematics notebook and handing it to the teacher. Her hands were trembling, and she couldn't meet the teacher's eyes.
The teacher flipped through the notebook, her frown deepening with every page. "This is old, Alice. These are from last month. Where are the new notes? Where are the notes from today's lecture?"
"I... I think they're in there," Alice said weakly.
The teacher slammed the notebook down on the desk. "You don't think, Alice. You know. Or you should know. You should be paying attention instead of wasting everyone's time. What is wrong with you?"
Alice flinched, her face burning with shame. She could feel the eyes of the entire class on her, watching her humiliation. She opened her mouth to apologize, but the teacher was already tearing the page where Alice had doodled from the notebook, holding it up for the entire class to see.
"Is this what you're coming to school for? Is this why your parents are spending all their hard earned money?" the teacher shouted, waving the page around. "Is this what you think is important? Drawing pictures while the rest of the class is trying to learn? If you can't pay attention, Alice, then why are you here?"
Alice looked down at her desk, unable to form words. She wanted to disappear. She wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole. The tears were flowing freely now, and she couldn't stop them. She didn't even care anymore.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
"Sorry isn't good enough," the teacher snapped. "You've wasted my time and the time of every student in this class. Pack your things and leave. I don't want to see your face in here again today."
Alice nodded, grateful for the escape. She quickly gathered her things, shoving her notebooks and pens into her bag without looking up. When she finally got to her feet, she walked toward the door with her head down, her body moving on autopilot.
She didn't look back. She didn't look at anyone. She just wanted to get out. She had work to do.
The corridor was empty when she left the classroom. The silence was deafening, broken only by the sound of her footsteps echoing off the walls. Alice broke into a run, her legs carrying her toward the admin office. She needed to get out of this building. She needed to go home.
She reached the admin office, her face still wet with tears. The woman at the front desk looked up in surprise.
"What's wrong?"
"I need to go home," Alice said, her voice shaky. "My mom is sick. My dad called. He said I have to go home and take care of her."
The admin frowned, picking up the phone. "I need to confirm this with your father. Please wait a moment."
Alice stood there, shifting from foot to foot, her heart pounding in her chest. She just wanted to leave. She wanted to be anywhere but here.
After a brief conversation with her dad, the admin hung up and nodded. "Alright, Alice. You're cleared to leave. Take care of your mother, okay?"
"Thank you," Alice muttered, already heading for the door.
She walked out of the school building, the cool air hitting her face like a slap. The sun was still setting, painting the sky in shades of pink and purple. Alice walked to the bus stop and sat down on the bench, waiting for the bus to take her home.
From the classroom window, Damian watched her go. She looked so small, so fragile, standing at the bus stop with her bag slung over her shoulder. He felt an ache in his chest, a desire to help her, to fix things for her. But he was helpless in so many ways. He had his own problems, his own responsibilities. He couldn't save everyone.
He sighed and turned back to his friends, forcing a smile onto his face. They were laughing about something, making jokes about the teacher's outburst. Damian laughed along with them, but his mind was still on Alice, on the sadness in her eyes, on the way she had looked so broken when she left the room.
I'm sorry, Alice, he thought. I'm sorry I can't do more.
The bus ride home was long and quiet. Alice sat near the back, staring out the window at the passing buildings. The city was alive with people going about their lives, and Alice felt disconnected from all of it. She was just a passenger, watching the world move on without her.
When she finally reached her stop, she walked the rest of the way home on autopilot. The house was dark when she arrived, and she fumbled with her keys, letting herself in.
"Mom?" she called out softly, closing the door behind her.
There was no answer. Alice walked through the house, her footsteps echoing off the walls. She found her mother in the bedroom, lying in bed with a damp cloth on her forehead. Her face was flushed, and she was shivering despite the warm temperature of the room.
Alice's heart sank. She quickly dropped her bag on the floor and went to the fridge, pulling out a fresh ice bag. She took the old one from her mother's forehead and replaced it with the new one.
"Mom?" she said softly, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Can you hear me?"
Her mother's eyes fluttered open. They were glassy and unfocused, but she recognized Alice. "Alice," she croaked, her voice dry and weak. "You came."
"Of course I came," Alice said, her voice strained. "Dad called. He said you were sick."
Her mother nodded weakly, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Alice. I know I've been a bad mother. I know it's all my fault."
Alice felt her throat tighten. "Let it go, Mom."
Her mother sobbed, the tears streaming down her cheeks. "I've been so awful to you. I've said such terrible things. I tried to die so many times, Alice, but you always save me. You always keep me alive. Why do you do that? Why do you keep saving me when I don't deserve it?"
Alice felt the tears start to fall again. She grabbed her mother's hand, squeezing it tightly. "Because you're my mom," she choked out. "Because I love you more than I hate you. Because I don't know what I'd do without you."
Her mother shook her head, sobs wracking her body. "It's not easy, Alice. It's not easy to live. I've been trying so hard, but I can't do it. I can't keep going like this."
"Please try, Mom," Alice begged, her voice breaking. "Please just try. For me. For Dad. We need you. I need you."
Her mother looked at her through her tears, her face full of pain and regret. "I love you, Alice. I've always loved you. I just don't know how to show it."
"I know, Mom," Alice whispered, leaning down to rest her head on her mother's chest. "I know."
They lay there in the darkness, mother and daughter, holding on to each other like they were the only things keeping each other alive. Outside, the sunset had faded, and the night had crept in. Alice closed her eyes, feeling the steady rhythm of her mother's breathing beneath her.
She was so tired. So very tired.
But for the first time in a long time, she didn't feel so alone.