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Chapter 32: The Witch Can Lie.
~~~ [START]
"All of you have your own apartments," Alice voiced, sitting on the kitchen chair and watching as Troy grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge. "It's crazy."
Troy nearly chuckled at her words. "Well, we all don't have parents, so…"
Alice just smiled, her eyes softly lowering from him. Then they lifted.
"The painting," she shot, her smile still lurking. "... I mean, the painting for… the project."
Troy's eyes stuck on her as he took another sip.
"Your visions," Troy said, referencing what she had just said while clearing his throat, "can you see the past… or something?"
Alice didn't answer at first, but she noticed Troy's eyes, which still lingered. So her head shook, with her lips folding atop one another in a pout.
Troy breathed out; something fortunate for him alone.
"I see the future." Alice faked a smile when she said it, or maybe it wasn't fake, and perhaps it was somewhat diminished by the weight of unknown knowledge.
And Troy, who was continually drinking beside her, didn't even question it; he only raised his shoulders.
"Then how did you see the painting? Is it because I showed you?" Troy asked, and secretly, Alice gave another nod. Only this time, it was hesitant, as though complimenting the lie; she had no idea what he was talking about.
And for the first time since they had been there, Troy took a seat, not far, but right next to her, so close that his shirt touched hers. Then he took another sip, and another, until the bottle of beer was finished.
He sighed when it did, then pushed the bottle to the front as it slid on the table and stopped at its center.
Then Troy turned his head, eyes now inches from hers. He was so close that for a moment, she swore she tasted his breath.
"You wanna see it again?" he asked, and the scent of beer lurking behind it made it more and more surprisingly comforting.
Alice smiled when Troy stood up without waiting for her reply. Then she rose after him and followed behind as he climbed the stairs, making their way to his room.
—---
{ELSEWHERE}
"I think he'll cheat on me," Gina suddenly spoke, grabbing a balloon, then blowing on it, as Honey did the same to another beside her.
"Cheat on you, Gina… you cheated on him," Honey said, and Gina clicked her tongue at the words.
They had been blowing and putting away balloons for an hour now, and sooner or later, Gina's uncle, who was downstairs, would leave to visit his ex-wife in New York. Both Gina and Honey knew the man didn't like going there, but he despised parties a lot more. So every year, for as long as Gina had been throwing parties, he would give her some space.
"I didn't cheat on him," Gina whispered back, this time untying a balloon that was rolling on the floor because it didn't have as much air as the others. "We just made out."
But Honey laughed beside her so uncontrollably that she mistakenly sank her nails too deep, and the balloon in her hands exploded.
"What?" Gina avoided turning to Honey's gaze when she asked.
Honey straightened, head shaking as she picked up an inflated one. "You and Que had sex. You were drunk, sure, but it's still cheating."
And again, Gina clicked her tongue; she had exposed too much of her nakedness.
So she slumped deeper into her seat, but again, her eyes turned back to Honey, who, unlike her, was taking the inflation of balloons way too seriously.
"What about you and Troy?" Gina asked, with her whole figure turning around and laying sideward to fully turn toward her. "Has he asked you out?"
Honey bit her lip while grabbing a bigger balloon, which clearly needed a machine to be inflated. But she didn't blow on it; she just lay it on her thighs like a pillow.
Gina's brows raised. "Wait… are you guys already doing it—?"
"No!" Honey laughed when she answered, leaning backward. "No."
And with that whisper came a strange uncertainty.
"It's complicated," Honey finished.
—---
{ELSEWHERE}
"I mean, I also have a collection, but this is—"
"Hedious." Troy interrupted her words, attempting to finish them. Yet they sounded more like a question than a statement.
"What?" Alice turned to him with a face draped in confusion. "No, I meant beautiful."
Troy didn't want to react, but a soft smile unintentionally graced his lips.
Alice turned from him, walking to the walls filled with dozens of paintings which were suspended onto them. And she stretched out her hands, with her eyes shutting when her fingertips touched them.
By touch alone, she could feel how long it had taken. The depth of the colour, the wetness of the paper; she somewhat felt at peace. But then she halted, fingers stumbling on a painting that felt too odd.
And when she turned her head, both at the painting her fingers graced and the one hung on the ceiling, her eyes widened.
God knew it was a near replica of what she drew in class. But in this one, the baby within the woman's womb was blurry, but the woman carrying it was clear as day.
It was a painting of her. Only with longer hair and a sharp crown.
Alice stumbled backward at the sight, and Troy moved swiftly, grabbing her before she could hit the floor.
And at that moment, their eyes interlocked. And the room paused.
Troy didn't yet know what he was feeling; he couldn't yet understand.
But for Alice, it was as simple as milk and honey. So she leaned closer, not for a kiss, but toward the position of his ear.
"What is this?"
Her question brought instant flashbacks to him. Because suddenly, a flash of her asking a similar question in class sparkled in his eyes.
And maybe that's when he realised, perhaps a moment too late,
That Alice was a liar.
~~~ [END]
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Join my PT for extra Chapters ~ p*tr-eon name is DUSK_IS_MEE
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-Extra chapters also include audio-books.
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