Alice took a deep breath, preparing herself for the worst. She had dealt with her stepmother before, so she wondered why she had suddenly felt so nervous. She was sure to send her to a faraway boarding school after what happened last night. Hoping for the best, Alice lightly knocked on the large wooden door, slightly biting her lip.

"Come in."

Elsbeth's voice came out strict and frightening, diminishing the little courage Alice had to begin with. However, it was far too late to walk away now. Alice pushed the door open to see her stepmother had been busily reading a few books in her office. When Elsbeth had moved in with Alice and her father, Alice had given up her personal study room to Elsbeth who made it into her office.

Elsbeth, still half-focused on her book, flickered her eyes to Alice who was now standing a metre away from her large mahogany desk.

"Would you mind explaining where you went last night?" she asked, "I believe your curfew is eight."

"Sorry, ma'am," Alice said, "I got carried away. I was at a friend's house last night, and got caught up in conversation. I should've known betterㅡ I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

Alice knew she sounded like a five-year-old girl apologising to her school teacher for accidentally spilling paint, but that's exactly what her stepmother wanted. She wanted Alice to fear her. She never let Alice call her anything but ma'am. Alice's father explained that she was only used to be called ma'am, since she spent most of her years teaching at a high school in France. Alice, however, did not believe that was the reason.

"Your father and I cannot keep an eye on you when we're on our business trip, so I expect you to behave yourself. Alice, you are seventeen. You are old enough to take care of yourself and know what's right and wrong. I don't want to waste any more time talking to you about this. You've disrupted me from my work, and now I must start again. Leave, at once."

Alice nodded, wordlessly making her way towards the door. As she put her hand on the door knob, Elsbeth spoke to her once more.

"If you step out of line once again, I assure you, Alice, you'll never have the will to visit your friends ever again."

Unsure of what to think, Alice nodded.

"Yes, ma'am."

Besides her struggle with her stepmother, Alice's life wasn't so bad. Her father loved her with all his heart and made up for Elsbeth's non-existent love towards her. Alice had a very loving best friend, Chris Noel, and had good friends who were always there for her.

Alice had lost her mother the day she was born, and many had blamed her for her mother's death. Especially her grandparents and aunts and uncles. They gave her a difficult early childhood, which was the reason why Alice's father had decided to raise her up elsewhere. Together, the two of them were happy, though Stephen barely had any time for his daughter due to his work. He couldn't really raise Alice on his own, and so he married a woman he fell in love with in 1950. Elsbeth Dubois.

Elsbeth spent most of her time yelling at Alice, telling her she was too troublesome to handle. Most of the time, she'd scream at her for spending too much time painting, and not enough time studying. Elsbeth and Stephen both came to the agreement that Alice would go to medical school after graduating from high school.

Stephen explained that Alice could continue painting whilst at medical school, but Elsbeth insisted that she gave up on it. For Alice, it was like telling her to stop walking. When Alice painted, she felt so alive. For once, she felt as though she was living for herself, and not for anyone else. Not Elsbeth, not even Stephen. Just herself.

Whilst pondering on these thoughts, Alice's mind flashed back to the events from last night, at Chet Danburry's house. Chet was the typical high school bully who was captain of the football team. Unfortunately, he had to be dating Christine Noel, who happened to be Alice's best friend. Although Alice swore she'd never associate herself with Chet or any of his friends, she promised Chris that she'd always support her decisions and her relationships.

Chris was hosting a party at her house that night, and Alice promised she'd attend. The party started at five o'clock, and it was six o'clock when Alice arrived. The second she walked into the Noels' home, she recognised the strong scent of alcohol. At least ninety percent of the guests had been drinking or were already drunk. Alice, a little worried, began searching for Chris, hoping that her friend was still sober. Alice gasped when she felt someone grab onto her arm. She turned her head immediately. It was Chris.

"You came, Alice! You came!"

Chris enveloped Alice into a hug, pulling away after a few seconds. Chris was not yet drunk, but did have a subtle scent of alcohol.

"Oh, Chris, please do tell me you haven't been drinking."

Chris gave her a small smile, before walking away towards the couch. She explained she was a little tired, and needed to close her eyes for a minute. Half-concerned and half-irritated, Alice decided to step out of the house for a while. She couldn't handle watching all her classmates making out with drunk strangers in Chris' kitchen. The stench inside of the house was bad enough.

Alice slammed the back door open, a disgusted expression plastered on her face. She had just witnessed the most disgusting kissing session between two of her classmates, and she suddenly wished she had never come at all. Her expression slightly faded when she noticed that someone had already been standing by the railing, their back facing her. Unsure of who it may be, Alice decided she'd ignore their presence and mind her own business.

Alice only hoped that the stranger wasn't drunk, or anything similar to that. She took a quick glance to her right, suddenly wishing to recognise the figure standing a few feet away from her. She felt quite flustered when she realised they had already been looking her way. She heard the stranger chuckle, the silence between them causing a familiar sense of discomfort.

"Are you a friend of Chris Noel?" Alice suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

"No," his voice was soft, yet demonstrated maturity, "Actually, I'm a friend of a friend of Chris Noel."

"I've never seen you before," Alice said, her eyes glued to the gentleman, "Well, my name's Alice. We don't go to the same school, do we?"

He was, indeed, handsome. He was definitely not a male model, but really could have been. His dark hair had been groomed so carefully, it kept perfectly in place even with the wind blowing. However, his hair wasn't his best feature. His eyes; although dark, were entrancing and mesmerising. His eyes could shine as bright as the evening stars, had he smiled with joy.

"I'm afraid not," he replied, "And I'm Neil Perry. Pleasure to meet you, Alice."