"I love when I talk and no one listens, makes me think of home"
-Gilmore Girls

Alice

Beep beep beep

My hand crashed down on the alarm clock, effectively silencing the irritating sound. I rolled over in the bed and snuggled further into the covers. Just five more minutes, then I'll get ready for school.

"Ali!" The door slammed downstairs, "where are you?"
I groaned into my pillow. Eli had made an irritating habit of coming to my house early and eating all the food in my fridge while I got ready for school.

"There you are," my bedroom door swung open, revealing my overly perky best friend, a title he had assigned to himself. My blankets were torn off, making me curl into a ball in a futile attempt to preserve the warmth.

"Get up lazy ass. It's the last day before Thanksgiving break and you promised you would make me breakfast."
"No I didn't. You're delusional. Hand me the phone and I'll call Freud to make you an appointment." My inner Sarcastic Sally reared her ugly head.
"Come on! Get your butt out of bed, I'm hungry."
"Ugh, fine," I sat up in bed, sending Eli a glare. "What do you want for breakfast, and don't say pancakes because I am way too lazy for that." I rolled off the bed and out the door, heading down to the kitchen with Eli hot on my trail.

"I'm thinking eggs," he beamed, "I'll take six."
"Six eggs?" He nodded eagerly at me. "I'm starting to think that you have a blackhole where your stomach should be. I know you had breakfast at your house as well, how are you not 500 pounds?"
"What can I say? It's a gift." He pulled the egg carton out of the fridge while I got a pan out.
"Shut up and help me make this," I rolled my eyes at him and got started on breakfast.

~~~

"Okay, make sure you read chapter eleven over the break so we can jump right into the next unit when we come back."

Riiing

"Have a good break. Make good choices." My statistics teacher shouted at us as students poured out of his classroom. But we were all so exited for break that no one was really listening to him, myself included.

I was swept into the crowd of anxious teenage giants as students ran for the doors. I was still convinced that I was the shortest person in this school. After a couple minutes in the hall I finally made it out of the big double doors, stepping into the late November air.

"Ali! Come on short stack, we're going to your house," Eli shouted at me from across the parking lot. The new nickname invoked a few glances my way from other students. I saw their chuckles as I blushed and ran to his car.

"You're mean," I told him once the door was shut.
"Aw, you know you love me." Eli turned to look at me and I knew what was coming.
"No. Not the puppy dog eyes. Not this time buddy," I clamped my hands over my face. While this effectively hid my eyes, it also cut off my oxygen.
"Come on Ali, just say it. You know the words." Eli's finger found my side and began prodding at my flesh, irritating and tickling me at the same time. "Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on." A poke came every time he repeated himself.

"Come on. Come on-"
"Fine! Eli is the coolest guys in the history of ever. Happy?"
"Yes." He turned away from me with a smug grin and started the engine. I sighed in exasperation. How did I land such a weird friend?

Pulling up to my house, I saw something I hadn't seen in a while; my mothers car in the driveway.
"Is that your moms car?" Eli turned to me.
"Yeah. Listen Eli, I really do want to hang out, I just-" I fumbled with my words, unable to formulate a good sentence. "I don't want my mom to scare you off." I spoke it slowly.
"I get it Ali. Go deal with your mom. I'll see you later okay?" He gave me a gentle smile. He knew I didn't get along with my mother.
"Thank you Eli."

I hugged him tight around his neck to show him that I really do appreciate him not pushing it. It's still not easy for me to be physical with people, but between him and Penn, I've been trying to be more open with people this past month. I really have.

I've known Penn for a bit over a month now. And he hasn't been anything but kind. I really don't deserve him in my life.

I let go of Eli and went for my front door. I crept inside like a teenager sneaking in after curfew, unsure how to behave around my mother.

"Alice darling, is that you?" Her voice rang through the house, an unfamiliar sound against these walls.
"Yeah," my voice trailed off, there was nothing I actually wanted to say to her.

And speak of the devil, my mother emerged from the kitchen. In a gray pant suit, high heels, with a smartphone clutched in her perfectly manicured hand, she wasn't exactly mommy dearest.

"Alice, you're here. Good. Listen darling, I know I promised that we would spend Thanksgiving together this year," I knew where this was going. "But my boss is having a dinner for a few company employees and he says that it's imperative I be there. He hinted at a possible promotion, and I think he's going to announce it at dinner."

She looked me in the eye, not an ounce of regret seen in hers. "I have to leave tomorrow afternoon." We stood still for a moment, just looking at each other.
"Okay," I mumbled. It's not as if it's the first time I've been left alone. And if you take away the title, Thanksgiving is just another day of November.

"Alright then." She turned on her designer heel and swiftly ascended the stairs. At the top she stopped and turned back to look at me, "you could have unpacked my things you know." She turned away and veered left down the hall.

"Great to have you home mom," I whispered to the empty foyer. My voice, which once held a bitter edge when things like this occurred, was now devoid of emotion altogether.

~~~

I had just pulled my shirt over my wet hair when the doorbell rang. I figured my mother would get it, considering I had just gotten out of the shower.
"Alice, could you get that?" Never mind.

I pulled up my pajama pants and exited the bathroom, wet hair dripping down my back as I reached the front door. I pulled it open figuring it was just Eli coming to check on me. Boy was I wrong.

Penn stood on the front porch, his brown hair was messy like he had been running his hands through it. A massive black truck was parked in the driveway, right next to my mothers BMW. Funny, I never really pegged him for a truck guy.
"Hi." His greeting drew my attention away from the car. He was looking right at me, not through me like my mother often did.

"Hi. Um- what are you doing here?" The corner of his mouth twitched up, "not exactly the greeting I had hoped for," he teased.
"Oh- sorry. I'm just distracted I guess. Hi Penn, good to see you. What's up?" I glanced over my shoulder, hoping my mother was still upstairs.
"Better," he was now sporting a full smile, one that made my heart beat a little faster. "And I came because I was wondering if you had any plans for Thanksgiving?"

I turned my head again, on the lookout for my mother, then turned back to Penn. "No, I'm not doing anything." I haven't had any holiday plans for two years. He smiled at me once again, but his eyes looked guarded, like he knew why I didn't have plans.

"Good. Then would you like to come to Thanksgiving dinner at my house? Ellis, Mary, and Elijah will be there. And chances are the rest of the neighborhood will show up, it's an open door thing every year. People bring food, there's about two dozen gigantic turkeys and vats of stuffing. It gets pretty loud, but it's always fun," he looked sheepishly down at me. It was strange to see him hesitate this way, he alway struck me as a confident person.

"So um, do you think that um, you might want to come?"
I stared at him for a minute, contemplating the offer; then I smiled. "I'd love to," the look of relief on his face was adorable, if not a bit funny.

Before I had a second to think I was in the air. Penn held me as tightly as he did that night I told him about my past. His hugs were becoming one of my favorite things in the world.

"I'm really glad you're coming," his sentence was muffled in my wet hair, but I heard the smile in his voice clear as day. "You smell like cherry blossoms," he mumbled into my shoulder. I just laughed and hugged him tighter.