Beautiful ➳ Neil Perry.

seize

"And after all that, we were finally okay again."

Alice drew her eyes away from her friends as they teased her, nudging at her sides as they squealed. It wasn't often Adrienne or Jessica heard Alice talk about Neil so fondly, but today seemed to be that special occasion. Seeing Alice walk into school like her usual self deserved a whole lunch break's worth of an explanation.

In all honestly, Alice did feel like the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders after last night's late talk with Neil. He'd been so sweet, listening to every word she had to say and giving her the words of advice she didn't know she needed. Neil had also walked her home to her doorstep, refusing to leave her side until she got home safely.

Chris was smiling from ear to ear, nodding her head in approval. She'd mention how she was right from the start— time always had its way of fixing things.

"She's glowing," Adrienne cooed, gently pinching Alice's cheek, "Because she's in love!"

"You're all glowing," Jessica playfully retorted, letting out a heavy sigh, "Good for you guys, looks like seeing boys from Welton is the new cool thing."

"Better than any of the boys in this school!" Chris argued.

"Oh, how are you and Knox, anyway?" Adrienne rolled her eyes at her twin, shifting the table's attention to the blonde.

The three girls hushed each other's expressions of excitement to give Chris the chance to tell her story. However, they were shortly interrupted by an out-of-breath Nina from Alice's art class. She'd been one of those people neither of the girls were really close with, but would greet as they pass in the hallways. They weren't necessarily close friends with Nina, so the sight of her hurrying to them as she did in the midst of a lunch break was out of the ordinary.

"Are you okay?" Adrienne asked, raising a brow as she stood from her seat.

Alice's half-smile dropped completely when Nina spoke up; and it was like the whole room fell silent as the words left her. An unsettled feeling started to sink in as Alice quickly took off in a rush towards the art room with Chris following closely behind. It was the same feeling Alice had felt when her father took away all of her art supplies, forbidding her from painting ever again.

Alice and Chris came to a rough stop as they arrived, her stomach dropping when she realised her art really had been missing. A part of Alice wished Nina was simply playing a sick joke on her. No one could've been cruel enough to take it away like that.

"Where did it . . . Wasn't it right here . . ." Chris trailed off, her eyes scanning the room for any sign of the portrait.

It took Alice some time, but her eyes widened in realisation when the answer crossed her mind. Who else could've done it? No one else in the entire school would've done something so inhuman, so cruel and heartless. No one else but Chet Danbury.

"Alice, wait!"

Her best friend's voice was the last thing she heard before she found herself running at full speed, in search of the star football player. Alice felt herself fuming in anger, however, afraid of what he'd done more than anything. If he'd done anything to her artwork . . .

It was never too difficult to spot Chet and his friends. All you ever had to do was find a large crowd of jocks and cheerleaders standing around together someplace in the school grounds. He was leaning against the wall, surrounded by some of his closest friends when Alice came to approach him. He had that usual smug expression on his face, his smile curling up upon seeing the girl walking towards him.

"Ah, so you finally noticed," he laughed, "Glad we got your attention."

As his friends echoed his laughter in the background, Alice paid them no attention. She needed to focus on the reason she was even talking to him in the first place.

"Just give it back to me, Chet."

As angry as she was, it wasn't wise to challenge him. Alice had no time to spare when her whole project was at risk here— if it meant refraining from arguing with Chet, then so be it.

"Look, I don't like the way you've been treating my best bro Jonathan," he replied, unwavered by her demand, "So, let's play a game of hide-and-seek."

"Where did you put it, Chet?"

By this time, Chris had caught up to Alice. She was out of breath too, but knew Alice needed her help if she wanted her artwork back. If anyone knew Chet Danbury the best, it was Chris Noel. She had been his girlfriend for most of high school, and knew how he played his games.

"You know what? Fine," he grumbled, rolling his eyes at his ex-girlfriend, "You guys are lame. You'll find that stupid thing in the boys' locker room."

Together, the girls made their way to the boys' locker room which was located on the other side of the school grounds. As tiring as this whole situation had been, the girls only had seven minutes left of their break. If they were going to get it back, they needed to get to the locker room soon before the next gym class starts.

Without hesitation, the door of the locker room burst open as Alice made her way in. There had been a student or two washing their hands at the sink, but their puzzled reactions were not enough to win Alice's attention. Right beneath the sink was her missing artwork— the frame bent and crushed from being shoved underneath the pipes.

"No, this can't be happening," Alice shook her head in disbelief, her fingers running over the torn fabric, "I've been working hard on this for the longest time."

Not only was the frame wrecked. The art itself was too. A very poor artistic attempt of a mono-brow and moustache had been drawn over the original portrait, marked with the words "You're welcome".

And the next thing she knew, Alice was running back to pay the artist his commission.