Beautiful ➳ Neil Perry.

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A week passed since the Dalton family had dinner at the Holt-Dubois household.

It took Alice much longer than she wished, but the day she promised herself she'd tell Neil everything finally came. It took her a lot of time to think about how to tell him. After all, it wasn't a topic to take lightly.

"You're gonna end up stuttering yourself to embarrassment," Charlie said bluntly, taking a sip from his latté.

Alice had walked into him on her way home, inviting him to join her for a cup of coffee before she planned to meet up with Neil. She'd spent the entire night before picking the right words carefully, hoping Neil would understand. But she couldn't worry too much about that— Neil was the kindest boy she's ever known. He'd understand, or at least try to.

"Please, you could at least have a little more faith in me, Charlie."

In the past few days, Alice found herself grow a liking to Charlie. She never disliked him; she just never thought they'd get along this way. Alice picked up the jar of sugar syrup, pouring a plentiful amount into her iced tea.

Charlie snickered at her, bringing up his cup of coffee as if to mask his half-suppressed laugh.

"What?" Alice questioned the look in the boy's eye, mixing her warm drink with a teaspoon.

The boy just leaned back in his chair, tucking his hands into his pockets before shrugging.

"Ah, it's nothing. You just have the taste buds of a child."

Barely even shaken from his brutal comment, Alice lightly kicked his shin before her eyes trailed to the entrance of the café where a familiar ginger-haired figure stood for a moment too long. He was of the few friends of Neil that Alice didn't get the chance to talk to personally, but it was impossible to forget his face after all the times she'd seen him around. He also had quite a few distinct features that really stood out— like his fiery hair, freckles and neatly styled hair.

Despite noticing Cameron looked rather shocked than pleased to see her, Alice smiled up at him, her smile slightly fading as he marched towards her with his hands clenched into fists.

"What the hell is going on here?" he asked, his voice very evident of suspicion.

Alice was taken aback, unsure of exactly what Cameron appeared to be upset about. She turned to Charlie who coolly remained relaxed in his seat, a playful spark in his eyes.

"Well, what do you think is going on here, Cam?" he replied, causing the red-haired boy to turn his heel.

"I hope Neil knows about this," he said accusingly, "Because if he doesn't, he's about to find out right now."

Cameron bolted out of the café even faster than the way he had come in, causing Alice to frantically rise up from her seat. Whatever Cameron was thinking couldn't be good. The way he glared at her and spoke in a threatening tone . . . This was not going to end well. She didn't know whether Charlie's friendship with the boy was a strained one or a good one, but he didn't seem like he wanted to hear the truth behind the scene playing before him.

It never occurred to Alice that spending some time with Charlie would ever be harmful. He was someone she wanted to get to know better and has proved himself a good friend to her.

"This is a whole misunderstanding . . ." Alice said, her voice a minute away from turning into a cry, "What if he really talks to Neil?"

"Neil's not gonna listen to him," Charlie assured, "No one does."

"But you don't know that!" Alice said, her eyes filled with a mix of emotions. She knew she was guilty of one thing— not telling Neil about her supposed engagement with Charlie. But she was not guilty of cheating on him and the words he could possibly hear were anything close to the truth.

Charlie let out a sigh, pausing as if to collect his thoughts for a moment. He stood from his chair, taking the last sip from his latté before effortlessly swinging his jacket over his shoulders.

"Finish your tea," he said calmly, urging Alice to sit back down, "I've known Cameron for years and he isn't the world's fastest runner. I'll catch up to him, stop him before he gets to Neil. So don't stress about it, alright?"

Alice nodded her head, pursing her lips as Charlie turned towards the door.

"And don't cry around me in public, okay? I don't want people thinkin' I'm no gentleman."

* * *

Alice stood by the phone, waiting for a call from Charlie.

He'd promised to call her to tell her he had fixed the mess of a situation. But it was now eleven o'clock in the evening, more than six hours since the incident and no calls had come through. Perhaps he had been busy and forgotten about the call. But one thing was for sure— Alice's mind couldn't settle without knowing everything was fine for sure.

Grabbing her warmest jacket from her closet, she tiptoed down the stairs, careful not to wake Stephen or Elsbeth on her way out. She knew that sneaking out had its consequences, but she'd save that lesson for another day.

As soon as the late night breeze hit Alice, she knew she made the mistake of not taking a scarf with her. The wind was so sharp and sudden, it was though it were nipping at her face. Cursing herself under her breath, she continued to make her way towards Welton which was approximately one kilometre away from her home. It had to be at least midnight by the time she'd reach her destination.

Sneaking into Welton at any time of the day wasn't easy. It had to be almost impossible, but the boys managed to do so every so often without getting caught.

Alice was standing at the bottom of the stairwell, afraid each step she'd take would echo through the entire tower. Biting down on her lip, she carefully bent down to remove her shoes. If she was to make it out of here alive, Alice was willing to do something as simple as walking up the cold steps with only her socks on. Pleased with the stealth the lack of shoes had given her, Alice picked up her pace, racing up the stairs as fast as she could manage.

With every second she spent at the school, she felt her heart race faster. She'd heard so many stories about the headmaster of the school— tonight wouldn't be the best time to get to know him.

Just as Alice stopped halfway to catch her breath, she heard a pair of footsteps echoing from above. And as the steps grew closer, Alice rushed to hide herself away from the moonlight. But it was then she recognised one of the voices— it was no other than Todd Anderson. With him was Gerard Pitts— or just 'Pitts', as they call him. The two looked rather surprised to see Alice in the school grounds especially at this hour.

"Alice," Todd spoke first, "Alice, we need to talk.