Alice

Alice was always the girl no one noticed. Her medium length mousy-brown hair, her muddy-hued eyes, her petite features made it only easier to remain unseen and unknown.

Since as far back as she could remember, she was never picked for teams, never asked to be partners for projects, never spent the night at someone's house, never had a phone call to the house for her. She grew up sheltered, ignorant to the fact that kids her age were not always kind. She watched from a far, worshipping the very ground the 'cool kids' walked on.

Alice had never had it easy. As a small child, she had escaped a near-death experience that had unfortunately taken the life of her caring and nurturing mother. When they buried the casket, Alice buried a small piece of herself too, unknowingly, never to return.

As she reached her teenage years, things began to rapidly go downhill. When her father had remarried, her stepmother had brought along three new sisters with her.

Alice felt the difference between them. It was impossible not to. They were perfect. Indescribable beings like which no one had ever seen. Triplets, their only difference being the length of their corn silk blond hair. In another time, Alice thought, they would be placed on pedestals and worshipped as goddesses. Their only fault would have had to be that they were unkind and evil to her beyond all measure.

Her step-sisters arrived in the summer, the school year started in the fall. Driving to the front doors of her new school on the first day, Alice felt a sudden terror. High school would be so much different than Middle school. She could start over, at least attempt to be seen, at least attempt to be recognized or be noticed, but as the triplets stepped out of the car, their hair perfected with many hours of work, their skirts just a little too short, and their shirts cut a little too low, Alice knew that while living in the shadow of impossible beauty, she would never be able to emerge.

It was two months into High School and things were life-as-usual for Alice. If anything, it was even harder to be noticed in High School. There were so many people, who was going to look twice at the little girl with brown hair and freckles? In every class she took was a new group of people, and not one of them yet had spoken more than two words to her, not one of them yet had asked to be her partner, not one of them yet had asked her to spend the night.

It was during that second month that Alice met Wonder. While sitting in Social Studies, side-by-side, Wonder turned to Alice and introduced herself. It was the first time anyone had made an actual effort to get to know her, the first time it seemed to Alice that anyone had really attempted.

Wonder was the plainest plain-Jane Alice had ever met. There really, truly was nothing spectacular about her. Yet, she was not the kind you would look past and not see, she was the kind you felt the energy radiating from. Wonder had the most amazing way of seeing things. She had a spirit like no other. Alice quickly learned that although you may be simple and plain on the outside, you could be fantastic and remarkable on the inside. Every day, Wonder showed her a bit more of her hidden beauty, and before long, the two became inseparable.

Alice, always being the one without friends, was so grateful for one that she appreciated every phone call, every note passed to her in class, every "hello" in the halls, and Wonder, being the girl who everyone was friends with, but no one was ever best friends with, had just as much appreciation for their growing friendship. As Wonder began to introduce Alice to new people, their group of friends increased. Before long, it wasn't only Alice and Wonder, it was a whole group of girls who once weren't recognized for their true beauty.

As Alice quickly acquired more and more friends, she also quickly realized that with the good, there always came bad. Not everyone was always kind to her, not everyone always wanted to become friends. She tried her hardest not to be deceived, not to be mislead, not to be hurt.

Her step-sisters grew increasingly jealous. There was nothing great about Alice, they thought, so why is she getting all the attention? Somehow, they knew they had to put that brat in her place.

By the end of the year, Alice was no longer someone you looked past in the halls. Yes, she still looked the same, but she had radically changed in the way of her personality and outlook on things. The most important life lesson that she had learned was to appreciate everyone for their unique heart and soul. She learned that while not everyone may be model-perfect, they were all important and special none-the-less. People liked Alice for the way that she treated them. Fair and kind to everyone, Alice loved the way people had began to treat her, like an actual human being.

It was a week into the summer when Alice and Wonder were invited to their first beach party. It was to be in celebration of the end of the school year, and the date was set for only three days away. Alice's father disapproved immediately, saying that she was far too young to be off on a beach at night unsupervised, but her mind was already decided. She would go to that party, and she would be on time, and she would look good. For once, Alice knew what she wanted, and she knew nothing would stop her. Something clicked in her, suddenly, she blamed her father for her never having any friends.

"You're always trying to hold me back!" she yelled. "You're ruining my life!"

The triplets heard the commotion from upstairs. A party? They had never heard word of one. It would either have to be held by low-lives beneath them, or, for some odd reason, they had been intentionally uninvited. The thought of the later infuriated them. They quickly transformed from perfect goddesses to girls with no limits. Who did Alice, the good-for-nothing-freak, think she was? They owned that high school! They were the life of every party!

After Alice had gone to her room, crying, to call Wonder, the triplets slinkily made their way down the stairs. "Why not let Alice go to the party?" they asked, working their charm. "You know she'd never do anything against rules. She's always been a good girl."

Their soothing voices put their Step-Father into a state of confusion. "But... there, there won't be any super... supervision..." He managed to mumble. "She might... wrong crowd."

"Well," said the oldest. "What if we went too to watch over her? You know we're very responsible. We wouldn't let her out of our site for a moment! You can trust us..."

Alice called Wonder back in a state of pure ecstasy. "For some reason, my dad just came into my room saying that I could go to the party, but only because the triplets has volunteered to 'chaperone'. I think he was drunk, but it doesn't really matter as long as I can go, right?"

When she hung up the phone, she looked around in amazement. Maybe, just maybe, she had misjudged her step-sisters. Maybe, just maybe, they did care about her.

The night of the party came and Alice, for once, spent the day in front of the mirror preparing. She brushed and curled and applied lipstick in several shades. She'd never used make-up before, but her fingers just sort of told her what to do. She observed, shakily, her new and 'transformed' self. She looked so different, so mature, so... important. But most of all, thought Alice, she looked the part.

Bounding down the stairs, two at a time, Alice arrived in the kitchen with a thud. "Why aren't you ready to go?" She asked curiously to the triplets, who stood there, looking suspicious, in normal clothes and dress.

"Oh, we're ready to go alright." said the youngest. "We've just been waiting for you." Smiling to the two others, she took a step towards the door. "Shall we go?"

Instead of asking their father for a drive, the triplets insisted on walking to the beach, even though it was a good twenty minute walk. Alice protested at first; she had promised to meet Wonder there in five minutes, and now she would be late. But when the triplets threatened to not go at all, she readily agreed.

After walking without any conversation, in the slightly breezy summer air, Alice began to wonder where exactly they were going. "Are you sure you know where this beach is?" She asked.

"We aren't going to the beach." said the oldest. "And neither are you."

"But... But then I'll miss the party..." Alice grew confused, her made-up face began to frown.

"Exactly." said the youngest. "We didn't get invitations; we're not going, so neither are you."

Alice stared again, in a state of pure perplexion. If they weren't going to the party, then where were they going?

"Listen Alice. You knew we never liked you from the beginning. Waltzing around the school like you're the queen bee? Think you're all that, eh?"

While the middle triplet spoke, the oldest grabbed Alice's hands from behind. "You were never all that. Understand?" She slipped a gloved hand over Alice's mouth.

Suddenly, Alice felt so small, so terrified and helpless. The triplets were at least twice the size of her, and there were three of them. Suddenly, she was very afraid.

"Don't even think about making a sound." one whispered from behind her. "I mean it Alice, it's for your own good."

They walked with her between them, off the side of the deserted road, into the thick bush on the side. She could barely move her legs, let alone her arms to escape, but in her muddy-hued eyes, fear was shown like never before.

After pushing her through the woods for some time, they came to a small, secluded beach. The triplet took her hand off Alice's mouth and turned her around to face them.

"Listen," Alice whispered. "If this is because of the party..."

"This isn't about the party!" The oldest shouted. "Don't you get it? This is about you thinking you're better than us!"

She raised a hand high above Alice's frightened face and brought it down with extreme force. "You'll never be better than us," she hissed, striking her again.

Alice cried out, but no one could hear. The youngest took her sweater and tied it around her mouth. The middle triplet grabbed her arms behind her again, in order to allow better aim for the eldest.

Again and again they hit her, until her lips bled and her eyes streamed tears in pain. Gashes from their rings streaked her face, like stripes on a zebra.

She could not yell, but in her eyes, you could see the words as clear as ink. Why?

When they were finished beating her, the oldest took a stone from the ground and hit her over the head. Alice's eyes slid back, her feet became like air, she slipped and tumbled to the ground, where she formed a trail of blood.

"Put her in the river." the youngest said, and they dragged her body through the rocks and twigs to the water's edge. The oldest leaned into Alice's unconscious face, so close it looked like she might kiss her, then pulled back and spit in her eyes before pushing the limp body into the icy waters, face down.

They watched a while, watched as she floated downstream, then turned, and ran back through the bushes where they had entered from.

"How was the party?" asked their father, as they came into the house panting not an hour later. "Where's Alice?"

"Oh dad!" the youngest cried. "There were so many people! We just lost her in the crowd. We spent the whole night looking for her, but couldn't find her anywhere. The girls that drove us home said they saw her down the river with a bunch of druggies. I think she might be in trouble."

And as their dad went flying out the door, not one felt a pang of guilt for their actions. They all truly believed that she had been dealt exactly what she deserved in the first place.


Author's Note: This was initially wrote as an English project that I had to present today. The topic being to write a short story or poem on a topic that you thought would evoke emotion in the audiance. This is what I came up with. If you liked it, leave a comment rating it from 1-5 so I know if the teacher gives me a good enough mark or not.