By her twentieth birthday, there are a few things Valarie Ricci knows for certain.
She knows that her waitressing job barely covers the costs of living out of a beat up old van. She knows she's stuck in the dead end hometown her high school friends...
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In the end, Alice came to her.
It was Monday morning, and Valarie was only operating on about two hours of sleep. But the second Alice walked into the classroom, sat down, and turned to look back at her, Valarie was wide awake.
"Uhm," Alice said. "Hi. You're here today."
Valarie tried to be subtle about checking her face for any drool since she'd been taking a light nap at her desk. "Oh. Uh, yes. I am. So are you."
"Yup." Alice nodded. "Here we are. I, uh, told myself I would say hi if you were here today." Her eyes fluttered around like she was trying to snatch something to say out of the air. It seemed like she hadn't planned to get this far.
"Oh, um." Stop saying that, dumbass. She's going to think you know, like, one word. "You're late," Valarie supplied. "Stuck in traffic?"
"No, I stabbed someone in the parking lot this morning." Alice winced, like she couldn't believe the words that had just come out of her mouth.
Valarie only smiled. "That'll do it, what with all the blood–"
"–the blood, yeah."
"Good job getting the stains out."
"Thank you." Alice settled into her chair more and gestured down to her perfectly white shirt. "This was red before."
"Uh." Holy shit, shut up. "I saw you at tryouts the other day."
"Did you?" She couldn't hide the alarm in her voice. Her back straightened again. "How much–?"
"At least, like, half an hour."
"Sorry."
"Why are you apologising?"
"I think I owe, like, my ancestors an apology for that one."
She didn't try to hide her smile. "Absolutely not. That was the bravest shit I've ever–"
"Fuck off," Alice laughed, actually laughed. Valarie immediately liked it, like, a lot. The sound sent a warm rush through her chest.
"No, seriously," she said. "It's okay. As a rule, I try not to find anything embarrassing."
Alice gave her a skeptical look.
"It's true," she said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Alice's eyes tracked the movement. "Everybody's always embarrassed about everything, but, like, none of it really matters. It's like... nobody really cares about each other, you know?"
"Well, that's bleak."
"No," she laughed. "I mean, if I were to fall on my face in front of a bunch of people–which I have–I'm going to be the only one still thinking about it the next day. Everybody else just moves on cause they're too busy cringing at their own embarrassing stuff. So, like, what's the point in making yourself feel like shit?"
Alice thought about this for a moment and said, "I don't believe you."
"What?"
"It's a nice idea, but I don't believe you."
"Explain."
"I don't think people really forget anything."
The statement didn't make much sense. It would have been easy to point out that everyone forgets everything constantly. Instead, Valarie, going off pure instinct, said, "Maybe the right people forget the right things."
Alice's gaze jumped up to meet her own.
They stayed like that for a very long second before Alice blinked and Valarie asked, "Why soccer?"
"Hmm? Oh, uh, it's not only soccer. I'm also trying basketball, badminton, chess, anime club, uh, pen pals, tech club, and, uh, I think there were two more...?"
"Why?"
"Spite, mostly." Alice didn't elaborate.
"What do you mean?" Valarie prompted.
"I'm trying to do a teenage rebellion."
"So you joined a chess club?"
"It's a long story." Alice shrugged. "It's kinda been a rough year."
"I'm sorry."
She shrugged again.
"Do you like any of those clubs?"
"Well..." Alice wrung her hands together. "Nobody can accuse me of not trying, at least."
"You know, you're always doing something with your hands," Valarie blurted out, her head completely empty. Why am I like this? "Maybe you should get one of those fidget things or something." She prayed that Alice wouldn't notice the blush spreading across her cheeks.
"Fidget things?" Alice repeated. "You're the one who can barely sit still."
She hid her surprise. Was it possible that Alice paid as much attention to her as she did to Alice? Before Valarie could decide if Alice noticing that she was a hyperactive mess was a net-positive or not, Alice spoke again.
"Are you in any clubs?"
"I'm barely in this school." Then, a stroke of genuine genius hit her. "But, uh, my friend Rachel's on the student council. She's helping organise the Fall Carnival so it won't be so shit anymore. If you gave me your phone number, maybe I could message you if she has any suggestions?"
Alice was already nodding before she had finished talking. "Yeah, thanks." After she put her number in Valarie's phone, Alice said, "I actually wanted to apologise to you. I was being a dick the other day. I should have shaken your hand."
"Why didn't you?"
"I don't know. You confused me."
"I confused you?"
"Yup."
"Because I introduced myself?"
"I couldn't figure out what you wanted."
Valarie didn't understand. "Uh, to be friendly?"
"I dunno," Alice said. "It seemed kinda weird to me at the time."
Her voice grew higher. "Did it?" She wanted to inform Alice that she was nowhere near complicated enough to merit that much thought.
"Well, to me, at least, but, yeah, I am sorry."
Summoning all of her recklessness, Valarie stuck out her hand and said, "Shake on it."
She grinned–and dimples? This whole time? It felt like a revelation. Was this the first time she'd properly smiled? Valarie didn't want her to ever stop. Alice's skin was surprisingly rough when she placed her hand in Valarie's, but their palms fit together perfectly.
"Valarie Ricci: clown," she introduced herself. "Nice to meet you."
