'Life is unfair. How can you make an expression like that when you're hundreds of years old.' Alex thought as he looked at Alice.

"You a hooligan? Oh no, im scared. I need to tell my dad and send you to jail," Alex said as he faked a scared voice.

Alice looked at him for a moment and then said.

"We need to get you to practice changing your voice more. That was too unbelievable. Who do you think you're going to fool with that?" Alice said, her voice sounding disappointed.

'She's good,' Alex thought as he stared at Alice.

Turning around to face forward again, Alex sat back down, pressed his back against the bench, and sighed.

"School sure is draining sometimes, you know, Alice?" Alex said, his tone lacking the constant teasing undertones it usually had.

Alice looked at him briefly and nodded as she laid back down fully and looked at the cloudy sky.

"Yeah, I get the feeling sometimes. It's alright, though, as you have your family and friends around you," Alice said as she looked at the clouds converging on the sky slowly, a reminder of the storm about to come in a few hours.

Alex sat silent for a while, simply staring ahead with a somewhat absentminded look in his eyes.

"Yeah, sometimes it gets a bit hard, but you've got to look forward, huh? Time doesn't wait for anybody after all, does it?" Alex said, his voice carrying a barely noticeable tone of sadness.

Alice didn't reply immediately. It took so long that Alex thought she wouldn't reply at all.

"You're right, Alex. Sometimes, it does get hard, and sometimes, you question your own decisions, but those same decisions are what make you, You. Sure, we could sit and think about what if I had done something different, but time isn't going to rewind itself. That's why you should always be in the present. Sometimes, you shouldn't even look into the future and merely live in the moment," Alice replied, her voice soft and velvety.

Alex nodded. His thoughts, however, were still jumbled together into one massive mess.

'Was it the right decision to come here? Should I have wished for something different? Should I have just wished to be in heaven, or maybe even a copy of my own world where I had my original parents?' Alex thought as he stared at the cars in the parking lot.

*Sigh*

Putting his hands on his knees, Alex pushed himself up from the bench and turned to face Alice.

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"Thanks, Alice," Alex said.

Alice simply showed a close-eye smile, and two dimples appeared on her cheeks as she nodded at Alex.

"Anytime"

Alex stared at her for a few moments and then gave her a small smile.

"You're a good friend, you know?" Alex said, his voice sounding like he was teasing. However, he wasn't.

Sometimes, it was hard to say something like that without trying to fake it, to make it seem like a joke.

Shaking his head lightly, Alex pushed those thoughts out of his head.

'While I can sit here and mope around all day, it won't do me any favors. If I can't push forward, how can I believe my parents back in my old world could? I need to move on, not forget them, but accept the situation.' Alex thought as he turned to look at the sky.

"It sure does look beautiful, doesn't it?" Alex said to Alice as he nodded toward the sky.

"Yeah, sometimes, when I look at the clouds in the sky, I remember how little we are in this world. How our problems, which seem to be overwhelming, are just a small grain of sand in this world," Alice said as she got up from the bench and went towards Alex.

Alex turned to face her.

"I'll have to go now as I have to finish some work at home. Until next time Alex." Alice said as she waved at Alex, her joyful expression back in its usual place.

Alex smiled as he nodded.

"Yeah, see you later, Alice," Alex said as he waved back and stared at Al.ice seemed to almost have a skip in her steps as she walked towards the silver Volvo in the parking lot.

The smile didn't leave his face until she disappeared from view behind rows of cars.

His heart had unknowingly started beating faster, though he didn't notice it.

'All right, let's get back inside and wait for classes to start once more,' Alex thought as he turned to walk inside the school.

His heart slowly calmed down as he got further away from the bench.

Until it regained its average pace, a slow, steady rhythm as it pumped out his blood.

Opening the school doors, Alex went in and headed towards a small area in the central hall.

Putting his head back against the wall, he waited for the bells ring.

Looking at the clock on the wall opposite him, Alex saw that it was still half an hour before the next class.

'I really should graduate early this time. I thought that it would be nice to go through it once again, but I guess I was wrong,' Alex thought. He then looked around to see if there was anyone skipping class like him or even someone who had been kicked out of the class for causing a disturbance.

Quickly, he noticed another boy heading towards the exit of the school.

Alex started following him and headed outside.

"Hey," Alex called out to the boy, who turned around and looked at him confused.

"Hey?" The boy said, confused as he looked at Alex, who got closer.

Arriving next to the boy, Alex asked him.

"Hey, do you have a cigarette?" Alex's eyes glowed an eerie red as he asked the question.

"Yeah," the boy answered. He looked dazed, his eyes having lost their luster.

"Give me one," Alex said as he extended his palm.

The boy took one out of the pack in his pocket and put it on Alex's palm.

Alex asked the boy for a lighter as well. He burned the cigarette's tip as he took a long drag, releasing a puff of smoke.

Turning to face the boy once more, Alex told him.

"Forget this ever happened," Alex said as he put the lighter in the boy's pocket and turned around, heading for a more secluded spot on the side of the school.

Wisps of smoke flowed into the air as he walked.

____________________________________________________________________________

Extra chapter for 500 Power Stones.

Thanks for all the support both in Webnovel and on Patreon.

I tried to pour more emotions into this chapter. I might not have reached exactly what I wanted to portray, but I did my best.

Hopefully, I'll keep improving as I write.

Thanks for all the support <3

-WhiteAuthor