“A sure friend is known in unsure times.”
-Ennius
The alarm clock awoke her at 6am. As soon as her eyes opened her stomach started to turn, as it had been every morning for the past year. This morning was the worst though, how would Keri use that page she stole against her? What torture would she be made to endure today, how was she going to get the images from that dream out of her mind?
After fifteen minutes she had managed to flip the covers off her, which in her estimation was quite an achievement. Just as she was mulling over swinging her legs over the side of the bed, there was a soft knock on the door.
“Ali, can I come in?” asked her mom. Whatever vestiges of sleep that she was still fighting off were instantly washed away in the torrent of thoughts that went through her head.
“What do I do? Do I jump back under the covers or jump out of bed. Or maybe dive into the closet or run up to the attic…. she’ll freak if I’m still in bed at almost 6:20.”
In the end she folded; and threw the covers back over herself and pretended to be asleep just as her mom opened the door. There was a short pause, which didn’t make sense because she had been expecting to hear her name yelled out at a volume that only mothers could produce. The yelling never came, instead she felt her bed sink down a little farther as her mom sat on the edge. She pretended to stir a little, to try and keep up her guise of being asleep.
“Ali sweetheart, are you awake?” And of course, at those words Alianna made her eyes open and then squint shut.
“Is it time to get ready for school mom?” she asked innocently.
“No dear, I’ve already called the school and told them that you were sick, I just came in to tell you that you could sleep in today.” Alianna’s eyes flew open, and she stared up at her mother. A small glimmer of hope appeared, but it was quickly crushed by her conscience.
“But that’s not true Mom.” she said, her voice falling to a whisper.
“Who said it is not true? Is your stomach bothering you right now, as I know it has almost every school day this past year.” She said as she turned her head slightly away, her voice growing a bit faint as she finished speaking. An ocean of relief flooded through Alianna; this was the happiest she had felt in months.
“M..mom” She paused to clear her throat as her voice broke. “Thanks, Mom.”
“We’re going to take today and put our heads together and figure out a plan for getting things back on track for you. Now here is what I have planned for today. We are going to go to Dr. Korvac’s about your stomach around 9:30. So you can sleep till about eight. Then we are going to head into Wilkes-Barre and go to the mall and do some shopping for some new clothes, and then we’ll visit Ellane. She fixes my hair whenever I go to town, we are old friends, and she is very good at what she does. And we’re both going to teach you how to put makeup on.”
There was a moment of joy which collapsed almost as soon as it came. “Why is she teasing me like this, is it some sort of sick form of punishment!” She felt sick, she knew she was turning green by the look on her mother’s face.
“Alianna…What’s wrong…. Is your stomach really bothering you that much….” “I’m not allowed to wear make-up mom; Dad will be so mad.” Thoughts of the two times her dad had taken his belt to her came to the fore of her mind. Alianna just kept repeating that she wasn’t allowed to wear make-up. It was a moment before she heard what her mother was saying.
“Alianna Renee Oaksen, look at me!” As always when her mother used her full name, she shut her mouth and looked at her. “Good, now that I can talk, it was your father who suggested that we let you. Now this is his one condition, you cannot overdo it.”
She had never known her Father to change his mind about one of the “House Rules”, she felt such gratitude to both her parents. She threw her arms around her mother and thanked her continuously. Over her mother’s shoulder she saw her dad standing in the doorway trying to hide a smile. “Oh Daddy” She squealed and jumped out of bed and ran to him and hugged him. “Oh, thank you, thank you daddy, it means so much to me.” As she kissed his cheek.
“I know Ali, I guess we didn’t realize how much it did until now. As your mom said though you can’t go overboard.” He knelt, set her feet on the floor and looked at her. “I still want to be able to see my Little Girl in that face, for a few more years, anyway. Now get some more sleep, I want to hear all about your day when I get home from work.” She buried her face into his shoulder. “I love you so much Daddy.” She whispered so only he could hear it. She felt his strong arms hug her tightly. She imagined that his arms were walls that could repel all the arrows that got shot at her daily. Then she was being lifted, effortlessly into the air. He kissed her forehead. “I love you too Ali. I always will.” He walked toward the bed, stopped so her mom could lean in and kiss her too, he then set her down on the bed and tucked her in. He gave her an Eskimo kiss, which made her laugh and took her back to when she was a little girl. He chuckled too and then kissed her mom and walked out of the room. Again, there was that sensation that her Dad was the strongest force for good in the world. The calcified remains of her heart began to beat once more, pushing hope through her veins
Her mother watched her father walk down the hall, her hand resting over her heart. After a minute her mom turned back to her bed. She fluffed the pillows and tucked the covers close under her chin. She got a big hug from her mom. Her mom's hugs were the most soul warming things in the world. Her mom kissed her again and then went to the door. She looked in before shutting it. “I’ll wake you up at eight, now rest, and don't worry Ali, things are going to change for you in a big way tomorrow.” Said her mom as she left the room. Alianna smiled and held Mr. Bear tightly. She had not felt so at peace since she was a little girl, and would crawl into bed with her parents, when some monster had managed to slip past Mr. Bear. She fell asleep, all thoughts of yesterday gone from her mind.
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Alianna sat on the love seat in their living room waiting for her mother. She occupied herself, as she always did, by staring at the painting above the couch. She started at the bottom left corner where the creek was wide, the water tumbling over the rocks. She then followed its course into the background. It slowly began to narrow as it passed by the old mill. It then continued out of the woods and then down a long slope into the valley beyond. On the other side of the valley a long mountain rose and fell. Where it ended, another mountain began. Between the two there was a pass, and that was as far as most people could see inside the painting. Alianna, however, could see beyond the pass into the next valley and the one beyond that one.
She had stopped telling others about what she saw, because they gave her the strangest looks, and of course she got teased about it at school. Alison knew about it, how she saw things that lay beyond the point that most people stop looking. She must have told Keri all about it, because Keri loved taking every opportunity to remind her how silly that notion was. Alison also had her diary, and she probably let Keri read it whenever she wanted to. Alianna and Alison had switched diaries, as they always did, right before Alison betrayed her. Within those special books they would write secret notes to each other, they had developed their own secret alphabet that only they knew how to read, and so they could read each other’s thoughts, for there were no secrets between best friends. Alison had been the only one who understood, the only one who seemed to see the world like she did. The first time Alison had come into Alianna’s house she had stared up at the painting over the couch and asked Alianna about what she thought about the valley that lay beyond the mountain and what she thought it looked like. Right then Alianna knew they would be best friends. If only she had known then what she knew now, what an evil little traitor that Alison was.
Alianna still had Alison’s diary. Every day she looked at it as it sat untouched on her bookshelf, and every day the temptation grew to use it against her, to humiliate her in front of the whole school, but in the end one thing stopped her from doing so. If she did this thing that she wanted so desperately to do, then she would be just the same as Alison… a traitor. They had sworn a vow with each other to never reveal the secrets that they shared to anyone else. Alison had broken her word, Alianna refused to break hers. It was one of the few things that Keri and her click couldn’t control. Her Dad had taught her that telling the truth and keeping promises were the most important things. He said that she might see people lie and get away with it. Lying might even make them popular, or rich, but in the end, they would still have given away one of the few things in this world that was truly theirs, their word.
Her thoughts were disturbed by the chiming of the clock that set on the mantle. She turned to look at it, it read 9 o'clock am. The time was confirmed by her mother calling for her from the door that led to the garage. She sighed, wiped at her eyes, and then smiled. She would not allow Alison or Keri, or Trudi or anyone else to ruin her special day. She walked out into the hall toward the kitchen, just as she entered the kitchen she turned to her left and stepped out into the garage. She heard a low rumbling and saw her Dad’s F250 idling in the driveway. Her Dad owned a small construction business and so it was their only vehicle. With the extended cab and doolee in the back, it was a monstrous truck from her perspective, and she always had trouble getting into it. Her Mom must have taken him to work. As she was fastening her seat belt her mom climbed in and looked at her.
“Ready for a great day!” her mother’s smile lit up her face. Alianna smiled too and was about to say, “Yeah”, when one of the twins beat her to it as a loud “Yeah!” came from the back seat. Her Mom and her both started to laugh.
An hour later they left the Dr's office and headed down Rt. 118 toward Wilkes-Bare. The Dr. had given her mother a prescription to settle her stomach down in the mornings, and a note for school. Alianna stared out the window as the trees flew past. Mountains and trees were one thing that north-eastern Pennsylvania had in abundance. Black Canyon lay nestled in what was known as the endless mountain range. She had flown in a plane once when she was seven, and she understood why these mountains had gotten that name. All she could see below her were mountain and valley, mountain and valley, as far as the horizon in every direction. Trees had covered all of the mountains, and a lot of the valleys too. You could hide an entire world inside that continuous growth of trees, or so she liked to imagine anyway. She loved the mountains and the trees.
“I could just walk into them and live in the forest, and never have to go back to the dungeon again.” She thought to herself. She had been trying as best she could to keep her mind focused on the great day she was going to have, but she couldn’t keep these dreary thoughts out completely.
They drove through Dallas, heading toward the cross-valley express way. There were several narrow side streets that meandered off the main road and disappeared around bends or into a canopy of trees. She found herself imagining some exotic land that lay at the end of these mysterious roads. She got so engrossed in the images her mind conjured that they were on the other side of Dallas by the time she noticed that anything had changed.
Right before they got on the expressway, Alianna turned her head and looked out her mom’s window for one of the landmarks that always stood out when they went this way. It was an old building, only one story, and it was completely open in the front. Inside there was a bunch of junk and scrap metal, but what made it stand out in her mind was a curved section of train track that was resting upon a platform. It curved out an opening in the back wall and she couldn’t see where the rest went. She tried to imagine where the track led, she imagined it curving out of the building and traveling into the woods and mountains to a land no one had ever seen before.
Her mind was flooded with memories of that Lion. She had read the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe when she was seven, and ever since then she imagined that the lion on the side of the building was Aslan. Lost in her memories she forgot to look away from the road sign that now was filling her vision. It said: “Plains 1 mile”. Tears began to make everything blurry, and her shoulders began to shake a little. She felt her mom place a hand on her back, rubbing it gently. That sign used to bring such excitement for her, because Plains was where her Nanna had lived. Visions of the garden behind the house, where she had learned all about planting and growing vegetables and flowers, and the special drawer in her Nanna’s hutch that always held candy or surprises for her and Alison and Megan, when she came with them, flashed through her mind. Her Pop-Pop still lived there with her mom’s younger sister Karen, who had been caring for her grandfather since Nanna died.
It took quite a while for Alianna to banish her sadness, so much so, that she barely noticed that they had arrived at the mall. It was so much larger than the one near her town. Most of these department stores were two stories, and this mall had a food court where hers didn’t. She helped her mom get the twins double stroller out of the truck, and then helped her get them into it. They walked carefully through the busy parking lot and entered the mall through J.C. Penny.
“Should we look at clothes first? If I remember correctly tomorrow is picture day, and you don’t have to wear your uniform for that.
Alianna nodded her head. “I’ve been dreading it for months now. I never take a good picture.”
“You take a lovely picture dear, and this time round it will be even more so.” Her mom said with a smile. They got to the Jr’s section and Alianna went one way and her mother the other.
There were so many clothes she didn’t know what to look at first. She tried to picture in her head what Keri would wear. But, when she came to something she thought Keri would wear, it was either far too expensive or else something she herself didn’t like. When she came across an outfit that she liked she pictured them on Keri and saw the Keri in her imagination scrunch up her face in disgust at them. She stamped her foot on the ground. This was going to be harder than she thought. Then she saw it, a long-sleeved, button-down white shirt, with stripes of different widths, lengths, and colors on it. There was a large orange one on the right side, the rest were a mix of red, yellow, tan, and gray. And they had it in her size. Like finding the first piece in a puzzle it wasn’t long before she had a complete outfit. She had found an awesome pair of jeans that were just the right shade of blue. Also, a denim Jacket that was white, and a light brown belt with tassels at the end of it. Finally, a pair of nice boots to finish it off.
“Mom… mom over here I’ve found something.” She yelled. A minute later her mom came over to her.
“My those look nice, let’s see how they fit you.” Alianna smiled and practically skipped to the dressing room. A few minutes later she came out and twirled around laughing
“What do you think mom?”
“I think it’s very nice dear. You’ll be the coolest one there. Now is this what you want, or do you want to look some more?” Alianna turned and looked at herself in the mirror. She knew that they didn’t have a lot of money so she tried to find stuff that was on sale or not too expensive and thought she had done quite well. As she looked at the outfit on her though, she began to wonder if she had gotten to much. She looked longingly at what she had picked out, trying to separate out what was necessary instead of what she wanted.
“Well, I really like it mom, but maybe there is something over there.” She said looking at the half-off racks. Her Mom followed to where she was looking, and then turned back to Alianna.
“Alianna this isn’t about money, if this outfit is the one you want then that is what you shall get.” She said in a voice that brokered no argument. Alianna took one more look in the mirror and then nodded.
“Yup I think this is what I want.” She said, smiling.
“Good now go and change and we’ll head to Ellane’s.”
They walked to the other side of the mall and came to a salon called Cross Cutters. Her Mom went up to the counter and told the woman behind it that they had a Twelve O’clock appointment with Ellane. The woman scanned her list, but before she found their name another woman, who looked vaguely familiar to Alianna, came out of the back room and waved at her mom. She was a tall woman with red hair, who Alianna thought was very pretty. Her hair style was cool too. It was wavy down to her shoulders with highlights in a way that almost made it look like flames were dancing as she walked. “Emily, how are you?”
“Hi Ellene, sorry we’re a little late, we got held up in J.C. Penny's.”
“Oh, don’t worry, that place is always crazy this time of day.” Ellene came over to them and gave her mom a hug. She then looked down at Alianna. “No! This can’t be Ali, my goodness child you cannot have changed this much since I last saw you.” she said and gave Alianna a hug too.
“Ellane what are you doing here today, today isn't your day to work?” said a woman off to the right who was wrapping pieces of foil into a girls hair. Ellene made a shushing motion at her. “It’s ok Maggie, this a favor for a friend. right this way ladies, and gentleman.” She said as she touched Simon’s cheek, which made him giggle. She motioned them to a chair near the back of the salon. Alianna felt a sting of guilt as she walked over and sat in the chair, this woman had come in on her day off just for her? There were a lot of people making sacrifices today. She appreciated what they were doing for her. She was just very worried that all their work would be for nothing once she got to the Dungeon tomorrow. Her Mom came over and sat down in an empty chair nearby and started to roll the stroller back and forth to try and keep the twins quiet.
Alianna looked up at Ellane as she draped the smock over her.
“Thank you, Miss. Ellane, for taking the time to do this, I really appreciate it.”
“Oh honey, think nothing of it.” She bent down to fasten the smock at the back of her neck, and she whispered into Alianna’s ear. “Your Mom told me a little about what was going on, don’t worry dear, you’re in good hands. When I’m done with ya you’re going to be the prettiest girl at St. Pious.” Alianna blushed a little at the thought of that. She was also a little embarrassed that her mom had told Ellane about what was going on. This embarrassment lasted only a few minutes however, because Ellane plopped a stack of magazines on the counter in front of her. “Now you go through these and find the style that you like, and we’ll fix you right up. While you’re doing that I‘m going to spruce up your mom.” Alianna looked up at her in disbelief. She had never had any say in what her hair looked like, or how it got cut.
“Oh, Ellane you don’t have to worry about me, anyway someone has to keep these two monster quiet.” said her mom, pointing to the twins.
“Oh, there is no problem there. Olivia.” Ellane called toward the back room. A girl who looked to be about Alianna’s age came out from behind the curtain, she had dark hair with red highlights that came to just below her shoulders.
“Yeah mom?” she said sounding completely bored. “Olivia this is Mrs. Oaksen, and her daughter Alianna, you two used to play together, when we lived in Black Canyon.” The two girls looked closely at each other and then finally recognition spread across their faces.
“Ya, I remember, you had that cool tree in your back yard. You and that other girl had some club going on, and that was your club house.” Alianna smiled slightly at the good memories now turned sour and nodded. “Yup The A.L.I. club…” she said a bit too sullenly
“Olivia dear, I’m going to give Mrs. Oaksen a trim while Alianna here finds a style she likes, would you watch these two precious little angels until we’re done?” Olivia looked a little put out at this request, and still looked very bored. Totally understanding how she felt Alianna grabbed the first magazine off the stack and jumped off the chair.
“I‘ll help you if you want. One of us can push the stroller while the other looks for the best style.” Olivia looked a little shocked but quickly a smile appeared on her face. “That sounds like a cool idea.” And so, Olivia got behind the stroller and started pushing it around the back part of the salon, which was empty right now. Alianna skipped along after her and started asking Olivia what she thought about this style or that.
Meanwhile Ellane seemed to have a whole mess of neat stories about Alianna’s mom and her and the things they did together when they were Alianna’s age. She found herself laughing so hard a couple of times that she dropped the magazine. After the tenth time she switched off with Olivia she bent down in front of the stroller to check on the twins. She saw Simon’s eye crack open and then shut quickly when she made a funny face at him. Suddenly the magazine was thrust between her and the twins.
“Alianna look at this one, I think it would work great for you.” Alianna stared at the picture in the magazine. The model had her hair layered so that her bangs framed her face and curled inward under her chin. The rest fell back behind her ears separating the front layers from the rear. Then she noticed something else about the picture, the style included blond highlights that made her already blond hair really pop.
“No way” she shouted grabbing the magazine from Olivia. Unable to contain her excitement she ran back over to her mom, and Ellane. “Mom, mom look, I think this is it. It’s so pretty and look!” She nearly squealed as she pointed out the highlight. “Highlights!”
Her mom looked at the picture and then up at Ellane, asking without words if that was too much. Ellane gave her a reproachful look, and then turned to Alianna.
“I think that would look great on you Alianna, and the highlights will be no problem. I’m almost done with your mom so why don’t you go back to that sink there and sit and we’ll get started in just a few minutes.” This time she squealed and ran toward the sink and sat down in the chair in front of it.
“Olivia, she said she would do it.” she said waving at her. Olivia brought the stroller over a broad smile on her face.
“That’s great Alianna.” Alianna could see Sarah and Simon rubbing their eyes, the squealing had apparently woken her brother and sister up. “Do you hear that Sarah, your sister is gonna get highlights.” Olivia said as she bent down and gave Sarah an Eskimo kiss, which made her giggle and say “Yay Hi-whites.” The two girls looked at each other and started laughing too. When she calmed down Alianna looked at Olivia.
“You can call me Ali by the way, that’s what my friends call me.” There was a small twinge inside her head at the small lie she just told, about having friends, but this girl seemed so cool, and better yet seemed to think the same about her too. She didn’t want Olivia to think she was some kind of freak. Olivia smiled at her and nodded. “Cool. Well Ali you can call me…” she looked a little sad. “I guess there really isn’t a good way to shorten my name. Oli sounds like a bargain store and Olive is completely different name.” She said with a pout. Alianna remembered how exclusive the A.L.I club had been and thought that Olivia was thinking back to that time, so she reached out and touched the other girl's shoulder. “You don’t need to shorten or change it for us to be friends, I think Olivia is a great name.” A smile split Olivia’s face. “Friends it is then.” She said extending her hand. Alianna looked at the hand and then jumped up and hugged her. Olivia didn’t respond immediately as the gesture had caught her off guard, but she quickly recovered and hugged her back. Alianna let go and sat down. “Sorry, I’m a bit of a hugger.” She said with a little bit of a laugh. “It’s okay, my family’s Italian, so hugging is nothing new, I just don’t normally see it outside my family.” They both smiled unaware of the happy tears both their moms were shedding.
Three hours later they were finished. She stared at herself in the mirror and couldn’t believe her eyes. Was the person staring back from the mirror her? Her glasses kind of took away from the whole effect, but she really didn’t have a choice there. “I can’t believe that I am really wearing makeup.” She kept running over and over in her mind how Ellane and her Mom had shown her how to apply it. She looked behind her in the mirror and saw her mom and Ellane hugging again. She could just make out what they were saying.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Thank you so much Ellane, you don’t know how much this means to us, she looks so beautiful.”
“Was nothing Emi, you can repay me by coming by more often.” Ellane leaned in closer to her mother and spoke a bit more softly. “Oh, and by taking my daughter with you for an hour or two, she has been cooped up all day because of the teacher in-service at her school. Since I’m here I’m going to see if I can pick up any walk-ins.” Alianna had always had good hearing, so she was able to make out just enough of what Ellane said to let a smile creep cross her face.
“We’d love some company Eli, we may be a few hours or so though, is that too long?.”
“That’s plenty of time,”.
Alianna’s mom looked at Olivia.
“So, Olivia we have a few more places to go to, would you like to join us?” Olivia smiled.
“You know it Mrs. Oaksen! Mom is it ok?” Said Olivia with wide pleading eyes as she looked up at her Mother.
Ellane faked a stern look “I don’t know, you got a C on your last math test”.
“Ah Mom” she said a small pout on her face. Alianna covered her smile with her hand.
“Well, I suppose if you behave yourself, you can go.” Said Ellane as she winked at Alianna’s Mom, who also had her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh.
“Awesome Mom, you rock.” And not wanting to give her mom a chance to change her mind, Olivia grabbed Alianna by the hand and pulled her out of the salon.
She stopped outside and looked up the aisle one way and then back down the other. Olivia turned to look at Alianna. “So where are we off to?” Alianna shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t know, my mom didn’t tell me. All she said was that it’s a surprise.” She said a bit over excitedly. “Oh I love surprises.” Olivia rubbed the palms of her hands together. She took Alianna by the shoulders and turned her this way and that looking at her head.
“Oooh I love your hair, my mom did a great job, as usual”. She said, smiling. “Thanks” said Alianna as she did another little twirl.
“Okay Girl’s we need to get something to eat, the twins are getting hungry, so let’s go to the food court.”
“Oh cool, come on Ali I know the way.” She grabbed Alianna’s hand and headed off toward the main aisle of the mall.
“Just stay in sight girls!” said her mom as they walked off. Olivia kept pointing out stores and what was in them, Alianna smiled and nodded and acted excited at the appropriate time. Olivia seemed to be having so much fun she didn’t want to deflate her mood by telling her that she had been to this mall at least a hundred times. She liked Olivia, she seemed very outgoing and seemed more sure of herself than Alianna felt.
They arrived at the food court, which was a large, rounded section of the mall. Above the doors leading outside rose a wall of windows that let the sun shine in as you ate your food.
“What do you girls want for lunch?” Asked her mom as she caught up with them. “Chine-cheese” Said Sarah from the stroller. Alianna and her mom both laughed. Olivia smiled and bent down to the stroller and started to tickle Sarah and talk baby talk to her.
“Well dose Chine-cheese sound good to everyone?” Asked her mom trying to keep a straight face.
“We would wuv sum Chine-cheese wouldn’t we Simon”. Said Olivia as she tickled Simon who was feeling left out. He giggled as he nodded his head.
As they sat eating Alianna stared out the windows at the clear blue sky, thinking that this day had been the best day in her life. It felt so good to have one to offset the bad ones. When she looked back at the table her mom was whispering into Olivia’s ear. She put a shocked look on her face and cleared her throat. They both looked at her and smiled.
“Keeping secrets from me are we?” she said pretending to be flustered. Her mom laughed.
“Well since you two seem to want to run off on your own, I was just telling Olivia where we were going and what the surprise was.” Olivia looked at her and scrunched up her face and mouthed the words, “I know something you don’t know”. She then placed her hand over her mouth and giggled.
“Ohh I can’t stand it, come on what is it?” Said Alianna breathlessly.
“Well, the quicker you finish your food the quicker you can go and find out.” said her mother in a very forced, motherly tone. They all smiled and then continued with chit chat on this and that as they finished their food. “Olivia” said her mom. “What do you like to do, what are your hobbies?” Olivia swallowed. “Oh, nothing special Mrs Oaksen, I'm pretty boring really.” She said her eyes looking down to her food. “I don't believe that for a second Olivia.” Said her mom. “Yeah, you seem very cool Oliva, and I'm so glad you’re with us.” Alianna added. Olivia smiled slightly and looked up. “Aww, thank you both. I guess I love to read books, and I play the piano. I play the keyboard in the worship band at my church.” “That is totally cool Olivia, I wish I could play an instrument, singing is all I can manage.” Said Alianna. “Singing is great Ali, it always sounds much better when a band has a singer.” Said Olivia. Ali smiled. “Olivia, what is a worship team?” Olivia looked at her for a moment. “Well, we have a band that plays the worship songs at our Church before the service.” “Oh, so they play music before the Mass?” “What's a Mass?” Asked Olivia cocking her head to the side in confusion. Her mom got a slightly worried look on her face and hurriedly changed the subject. “Wow, look at the time, you both better get going, I’m going to clean up here and then do some shopping, but don't forget Olivia where I told you I would be and at what time.”
“We’ll be there Mrs Oaksen” Olivia said giving her mom a thumbs up.
“Ok then go ahead. Oh, here take this just in case you see something that you want to get.” She handed Alianna forty dollars, and Alianna couldn’t believe it. This was more than she earned in a month by babysitting her brother and sister, and helping out around the house. She hugged her mom.
“Thank you so much mom, this has been the best day ever.” Her mom kissed her on the forehead.
“Don’t worry Ali there will be more best days to come. Your father and I are very sorry that we haven’t put as much attention on you since the twins have been born, but that’s going to change.” And she hugged her again and then they let go and as soon as they did Olivia grabbed Alianna’s arm and started to drag her from the food court. “We’ll see ya there Mrs. Oaksen.” She said over her shoulder as they disappeared around the corner into the main hall.
They had gone into a couple of shops and looked through the windows of a few more. They had stopped in front of a store that sold wedding gowns and were discussing what their wedding days would be like. “Is it time?” she said excitedly. Olivia had become so lost in the topic she said. “Time for what?” “For the surprise? I don't want to miss it” She said with excitement mixed with worry.
“Don’t worry Ali, you won't miss it, we got plenty of time, your mom told me to take you around a bit,”.
“Phew. Great, now I have to go to the bathroom, is there one near here?” She realized that even though she had been here so many times, she never needed to use the bathroom while in the actual mall hallways. Olivia looked around and then pointed to two black double doors that were set into the far wall.
“It’s through there and then it’s the first left. I’ll go with you I got to go too.” They went through the double doors. Once on the other side Alianna froze. A long hallway disappeared into the distance. Fluorescent lights were set in the ceiling every 15 feet or so, but between them were pools of darkness. The closest such pool looked darker then the other’s, like the blackness that she had found herself in her dream last night. The blackness that led to that kitchen and that woman, and the whip. “Ali? Are you okay?” Said Olivia from up ahead. Alianna shook her head and when she looked up the darkness didn't seem so dark, just normal shadows. She laughed nervously. “Yeah, sorry Olivia, just wondering where the hallway goes.” Olivia looked down the hallway and at the darkness that floated about 30 feet away as some of the overhead lights were out and shivered. “Let’s not find out. I don't like the dark.” Alianna looked at her and smiled. “I don't either.” She then quickly followed Olivia into the bathroom.
Alianna stood looking at herself in the mirror, turning this way and that, trying to see the new her from every angle, and trying to forget that awful dream. Olivia and she had begun playing twenty questions. Mostly general things that people ask when they are trying to figure each other out. Things like: What do you like to do? Where do you like to hang out? What music do you like? And so on. She had just begun telling Olivia what kind of music she liked when she heard a scream echo from the hallway outside. She stopped in mid-sentence and turned her head toward the bathroom door.
“You like classic rock and what?” said Olivia from inside the stall.
“Huh?
“You were answering my question and then stopped. Is everything Ok?”
The scream came again, it sounded like someone was in pain. It sounded like the scream from her dream last night, but it wasn't her voice.
It was a girl's voice though. “It must be that dark haired girl, the same one from my dream.” She thought. This scream pierced Alianna's heart as she remembered the pain and knew that it was that dark-haired girl who was enduring it right now, and she felt an overwhelming need to go and protect her. But this wasn't a dream, she was hearing it for real and the weight of that reality pressed down on her. The dream must have been giving her a glimpse of what was coming. If she ran out that door and followed the scream then she knew she would find herself in that kitchen again, except this time she would be on the floor covering that dark-haired girl and enduring the pain of that whip. As hard as she tried, she could not push away the feeling that she needed to stop this, stop the pain that girl was in. Without a word she flung the bathroom door open and rushed outside. As the door was closing, she could hear Olivia shout her name. She looked back toward the mall but didn't see anything, she then looked to her right, down the long hallway to where the section where the lights were out. That same thick veil of darkness from her dream was there again, roiling almost as if it was a living thing.
She could only see about fifteen feet from where she stood, anything further was shrouded in that darkness. The scream came again from down the way she was currently looking, but the curtain of darkness prevented her from seeing what was happening. She clenched her fists. “I have to help that girl.” she swallowed hard and then took off running toward the noise. As she got closer to the darkness, she found that she still couldn’t see past it, like a black wall. She didn't stop, and just as her right leg was disappearing into the darkness, the darkness seemed to grab a hold of her leg and was dragging her into it. She screamed as the darkness seemed to come alive. Just before her waist disappeared into it, it felt like her feet connected with something, but she didn’t find out what that something was someone grabbed her hand from behind and drug her backwards. She was dragged out of the darkness and skidded along the tile floor into the light. She looked up, her eyes partially blinded by the light, until she realized that it was Olivia who had pulled her back.
“Alianna what the heck are you doing? What made you decide that you needed to head out for a jog down the hall, and why did you scream?” Said Olivia looking concerned and not a bit scared.
Alianna looked back at the way she had been going and could see now that it wasn't a curtain of blackness, but just an area of the hall where two of the lights had gone out. She shook her head and then looked again; nothing had changed. She turned her gaze back to Olivia. “I'm sorry Olivia, I could have sworn I heard a young girl screaming. It was coming from that direction.” She paused, covering it by sucking in some air. “I need a valid reason, can’t let her think I'm skitzo.” she thought quickly, and thankfully a valid reason jumped into her head. “I...I thought she might have been abducted or something, so I ran after the noise to see if I could help, and then once I got out of the light into the shadows I got scared of the dark and so I screamed.”
Olivia looked down the way Alianna was pointing, and squinted into the shadows. After a moment or two she looked back. “I don't see anything Alianna, it was probably just a kid out in the mall crying cause they couldn't get the toy they wanted. This hallway probably carries a good echo.” She cupped her hands over her mouth and yelled “Echo!” she shouted into the shadows. “Echo. Echo.” came her voice bouncing back to them. She looked back to Alianna. “See.” She said with a smile.
Alianna could see that Olivia wasn't teasing her, she was only trying to ease her concern. So, she smiled and nodded her head. “You're probably right Olivia, sorry for spazzing like that.”
“It's OK, I didn't hear it, but I’m pretty sure if I had, I’d have been running down the hall too. Are you ready to get back to shopping then?” She said, extending her hand to Alianna.
Alianna looked at the hand, nodded, and then let Olivia help her up. They walked back down the hall to the double doors that led back to the mall. Just before she left the hallway, Alianna looked back to where the shadows had begun. As she stared at where the curtain of darkness had been, she had the sudden feeling that she had just lost something very precious, perhaps the girl had died because Alianna hesitated. Waves of guilt rolled inside her, but she couldn't do anything about it until the curtain was gone. She begrudgingly turned back into the mall and joined Olivia.
A little bit later they were walking out of Macey’s and back into the mall. Alianna spotted a bookstore just down from them called BAM.
“Oh I’d love to go and look, it’s been so long since I was in a bookstore. She said she liked books, so maybe she'll want to go in.” Suddenly, before she could go to the bookstore, Olivia grabbed her iPhone and looked at it. Her eyes went wide.
“Oh my gosh, we got to go we’re so gonna be late.” And before she knew it she was being whisked away again down the main hall. After they had run for a few minutes, Olivia stopped and placed herself in front of Alianna so that she couldn’t see in front of her. “Ok we’re almost there, now you got to close your eyes, I just saw your mom coming and I promised her she could see your face when you saw where we were. So come on hands over your eyes”. The sudden excitement of finally finding out what this surprise would be pushed the thought of books to the back of her mind, and so she put her hands over her glasses and shut her eyes.
“Ok my eyes are closed.” She said practically jumping up and down. Olivia led her by the arm. After they had walked a few yards, they stopped and Olivia turned her to her right.
“Here she Is Mrs. Oaksen.” Alianna felt a hand on her shoulder and her mom whispered in her ear.
“Keep your eyes closed Ali and give me your left hand.” Alianna did what her mom asked. As she stretched out her left hand. her mom put something into it. It felt like a part of a newspaper. “Ok Ali, open your eyes.” She opened her eyes and found herself in front of The New-U Eye care. She didn’t quite understand what the surprise was, surely all this build up hadn’t been merely for a pair of new glasses. It all became clear as she looked down at the news ad in her hand. It was an ad from this store, and circled in red marker was a picture of some contact lenses. This couldn’t be true, she had wanted contacts since she was old enough to know what they were. She hated her glasses, hated wearing any pair of glasses. She just didn’t like how she looked in them. The page blurred as tears filled her eyes. She couldn’t believe this was true. She looked up at her mom, the biggest smile she could produce on her face. She saw tears in her mom’s eyes too. “There is that smile that I haven’t seen in quite a while.” Said her mom as she gave her a big hug. They heard sniffling near them and they looked and there was Olivia standing with the stroller wiping her eyes. “I’m sorry, that was just one of those moments.” she said half laughing half crying. Her mom and Ali joined her in the sentiment.
Another hour later they were walking out of New-U eye care, it had taken Alianna a long time to get used to putting the little lens in her eye. She had been starting to think that she wouldn’t be able to do it, that she would be doomed to wear her glasses forever. But thankfully she had finally managed to do it. And what was even more special is that these contacts had a blue highlight in the middle that made her blue eyes stand out more prominently. It wasn’t her mother's phone. “This is your father's old work phone. He just got a new one and so he wanted you to have it. Look behind you.” Alianna looked behind her, her head still not accepting what her mother had just said. Behind her was the Comcast store. She kept blinking at it, a realization slowly dawning. “Let's go in and get you added to our plan.” Her mother touched her shoulders and turned her toward her. Tears glistening in her eyes and mouth open in wonder Alianna looked up at her mother. “Now Ali, this type of phone carries a lot of responsibility and so your father and I added some things to the plan to protect you and so it may seem more limited than some of your friends phones, I hope that is okay.” Alianna nodded vigorously. “Totally okay Mom. I can't believe it. I can't believe I'm going to have my own phone.” She started bouncing up and down and Olivia looked at her with a big, surprised face and mouth the words “So Cool.” “Now Ali, you need to follow the school’s rules about phone use, and when you are home you can have an hour to be on it before bed, but we don't want to see you on it all the time, and we'd like you to put it in our room before bed.” “Sure mom, definitely not a problem.” “Okay then let's go get it fixed up.” They walked into the store and a half hour later she and Olivia had their shoulders together as they stood next to each other texting their information, and then Oliva was showing her how to use some of the apps and which apps she should download. Soon it was almost five o’clock at night and her dad needed to be picked up at six, so her mom rushed them back to the salon to drop Olivia off.
Alianna walked up to Olivia as their moms said goodbye to each other. “Thank you so much Olivia for coming with us, it was so nice to have someone to talk to.”
“I should be thanking you Ali, if you guys hadn't come along I would have been doomed to a day of helping my mom clean the house.” She said screwing up her face at the mere thought of wasting a day off doing that. Alianna laughed.
“Call, or text me anytime.” Said Olivia. “It..it would be nice to have someone cool to talk to again. My two closest friends, or the two closest that I have to friends anyway, moved away at the beginning of this year. They went to my church, but their parents became missionaries to Africa, and it's been hard to keep in touch with them outside of email. It's been kinda lonely.`` She blushed. “Sorry, didn't mean to dump that on you, probably think I'm spaz girl or something, heh, anyway if you want to ever talk...” Oliva was cut off as Alianna threw her arms around her. Olivia froze for a moment, then she returned the gesture. Olivia looked up and saw their mom's looking at them. She read volumes of gratitude on Mrs Oaksen's face, and from her mom she got a look of encouragement, with a slight nod toward Ali. When they pulled away, Alianna's cheeks were red with embarrassment.
“So...sorry, I hope that didn't weird you out, I...I just know how hard it is to lose a friend,
plus, like I said, I’m a hugger.” she said. A look crossed Olivia's face so quickly that Alianna couldn't place it. It almost looked like sadness.
“Well it looks like it's easier to make them then lose them.” Said Olivia with a smile.
Alianna smiled. “Yeah, yeah it looks that way. I'll give you a call.” She said waving her new to her iPhone at Olivia excitedly.
Soon they were on the cross-valley expressway again heading back toward Black Canyon. “Awi you wook pitty” Said Sarah from the back seat. “Yeah pitty” shouted Simon next to her. Alianna smiled and looked behind her into the back seat. “Thank you Sarah.” And she blew her sister a kiss. “And thank you Simon” and she blew him a kiss as well. Both the twins reached out their hands and pretended to catch it and popped it onto their mouths, which made them both start giggling. Which also made Alianna start to giggle too.
As her mom got out of the truck at her dad’s construction site to tell him they were there, Alianna sat there and stared out the window, her thoughts swimming through all the awesome things that had happened to her today, she also dwelt a little too long on what had happened in the hallway. “How could my dream become so real like that, and then fade like a hallucination. Was it a hallucination?” Fear began to creep in that she might be going crazy.
There was a knock on the driver's side window which made her jump and she looked over her shoulder and her mom was standing at the door pointing over her shoulder mouthing that her father was coming behind her. Alianna took a deep breath to compose herself and pushed away those less joyful memories and letting the excitement of all the cool things that had happened wash over her again she threw open her door, not able to wait to see what her father thought of the new her. She jumped down and ran around the front of the truck, and when she came around to the driver’s side she saw her father standing next to her mom. “Hi Daddy” she said, giving him the same large smile that she had given her mom earlier. She spun slowly in place. And then looked up at him. “What do you think Dad.”
He just stood there and stared at her, which wasn’t the reaction she had been envisioning. The smile started to fade from her face a little, and this seemed to unfreeze her father, because he then broke into a smile, knelt and hugged her to him. “Oh Ali, you are prettier than any princess that you’ve told us about from your books. I’m sorry that it took us so long to give you a special day. I guess I was trying to keep you my little girl as long as I could, and that was selfish of me.” She hugged him tight. “It’s ok Daddy I’ll always be your little girl. Thank you so much for everything today, Dad, it has been the best day of my life.” He hugged her tighter at that, picked her up and twirled her around, which made her giggle and laugh because this was how she had envisioned he would react. He then set her down and turned back to the driver's door, but Alianna would swear that she saw him brush at his eyes.
They rode home as a family, Her mom telling her dad everything that had happened that day from her point of view. When they got home, she modeled her new clothes for her dad. “You picked that out all by yourself Ali”? asked her dad, and she nodded smiling. “Well Emi looks like we could have a future fashion designer in our family.” Alianna blushed and looked away. “Ahh come on Dad”. She looked at her mom and dad, staring intently at their faces, wanting to etch this moment in her memory. She had never loved her parents more. She didn‘t know what this day had cost them, but both of them had probably sacrificed a lot to make it possible. She would never think that way about her parents again. “Mom, Dad,. Thank you so much for everything today. This has been the very best day ever, and I’ll never forget it.”
“It was a day that should have happened a long time ago Ali. Ellane did a great job, and you did a real good job picking out that outfit. So tell us what did Olivia and you look at while you had your free time, we want to hear all about your time today?” Alianna recounted the stores that they visited and the things they talked about. She left out what happened in the long dark hallway and shifted over to telling them about the nice dresses they had seen in the wedding store. She started to tell them about all the ideas she had gotten for the day she would get married.
After she was done telling them about her thoughts, her mom took a deep breath and looked at her father. Her father sighed a little and nodded. Her mom nodded and looked at Alianna. “Those are all great ideas honey. I'll stop by your room later and I can show you some pictures of our wedding to give you more ideas.” “Oh wow, I bet you looked so beautiful on your wedding day Mom.” Alianna said. Jonathan Oaksan turned toward his wife and said very sincerely. “She most certainly did, the most beautiful woman in the world and she still is.” “Oh Jonathan, stop, you're going to make me tear up.” She said with a lot of emotion in her voice and her cheeks reddening.
Alianna watched her father get up from the table and go over and kiss her mother on the lips and said “I love you Emily Oaksan even more than when we first met and you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, and I'm very grateful that you are my wife.” Tears ran down her mother's cheeks and she stood and threw her arms around her husband. “Oh Jonathan, you really are the bravest, most honorable, handsome best father in the world and Husband, and I love you too.” Alianna watched in awe. Her parents were always showing affection in front of them, but she had never seen such a real, tender moment as this between them and she also learned in that moment what a good man looked like and knew that she could only marry someone like her father. A man who would say things like that to her.
She helped her mom prepare dinner and then they all sat down to eat. After dinner she helped her mom clear the table and do the dishes, and then she headed to her room to do her homework. About 15 minutes after she started a knock came at her door and her mom said. “Ali, can I come in.” “Sure mom.” Her mom opened the door and came in carrying a large white photo album. “Can you take a 15 minute break?” 'Sure mom, is that your wedding album?” Her mom nodded her head and sat down on Ali's bed and patted the spot next to her with her hand. Alianna put down her pen and went over and sat next to her mom. “Yep, it’s hard to believe it has been 15 years since these pictures were taken.” Her mom said as she opened the album. She showed her pictures of her and her father, of relatives at the wedding. After a few minutes of this, before turning the next page her mom took a deep breath and set the book down next to her on the bed and looked Alianna in the eyes. “Ali, I'd like to switch to another topic. Something I've been wanting to talk to you about for a while, but just wasn't sure when the best time would be, but I think with all this talk about weddings and the new you, there is something I'd like to talk with you about.” Alianna had not been prepared for the topic that her mom switched to, and for the next hour they had a very private talk, that should be kept between a mother and daughter. After her mom left her room. Alianna lay on her bed digesting everything her mother had told her.
Her parents also allowed her to stay up till 10pm on a school night, which was also something new. She took the extra time she had and called Olivia and thanked her for going around with her today. They talked a lot, like friends would, and Alianna felt a lightness inside that she hadn't had in a year. For some reason she felt safe with Olivia and so she shared her fears about tomorrow, about Picture day, and what everyone would think of the “New Her,” especially Jim Kurtz. She told Olivia all about how she thought of him as her knight in armor and such things. When it got near to 10 o’clock she said goodnight to Olivia. She went down and kissed her dad goodnight and her Mom, who said they would be up in ten minutes to say goodnight. She handed her mom her phone and then went upstairs and brushed her teeth, and removed the makeup like Ellane had shown her. Ellene had given her mom a complete set of makeup before they had left the salon, and Alianna spent a good while going over the process in her mind once again. She then put her hair up the way Ellane had told her so that it would be easier to put back in the morning.
She had just climbed into bed when her parents came up the stairs. Her dad came in first. “Goodnight, Sweetheart, everything is going to be great tomorrow. If you can be ready by seven, I’ll take you to school on the way to work.” “I’ll be ready Dad” she said and kissed him on the cheek goodnight again. He smiled and then left the room. Her mom came over and sat on the bed and adjusted the covers somewhat. “Mom, I’m a little scared about tomorrow. What if none of this changes anything, what if they still treat me the same way?” she said her voice was getting softer as she spoke.
“Alianna, it already has changed something. I’ve seen you smile more today than I have in the past year. I saw you as you walked back to the salon with Olivia, you were walking a little taller, I think. Now Alianna you’re a beautiful person, you always have been one on the inside, and now that your beauty is coming out on the outside and because of that I want to caution you. There is a good chance that their attitude toward you will change tomorrow, and they will offer you what you’ve been wanting, to join in with them. I understand that desire, dear, I had the same dream when I was your age. That’s right I was the odd, clumsy fat girl that just didn’t measure up in my peer’s opinion. Until an older cousin of mine moved into the area, and she did kinda the same thing that we did today, and when I got back to school everyone saw me differently, they even let me join their group. I thought it was the happiest day of my life, Ali, but instead I changed, for the worse. I forgot very quickly what it had been like to be picked on and started doing it myself along with my new friends. Until one day when I hurt someone who used to be a very good friend, I embarrassed her very badly just so I could gain some points with the leader of our group. I’ll never be able to forget the hurt look on her face when she found out I was behind it. The reason I’m going into all of this Ali is that, if things do change, and they ask you into their group, just be very careful that you don’t let them destroy the beautiful person you are inside.”
“I promise Mom I won’t ever act like they do”.
“I know you won't, dear. Good night Alianna. I love you very much.”
“I love you too mom.” Her mom stood up and Mr. Bear fell onto the floor. She reached down and picked him up and held him out to Alianna. “Do you want Mr. Bear, or should I put him back on the shelf?” There appeared to be an internal struggle going on inside Alianna, but her mom waited patiently.
“I’ll take him….and put him on the shelf myself, it’s kinda a private moment if you know what I mean mom”. she said finally.
“I certainly understand my dear, here you are. Have sweet dreams sweetheart.” She handed Alianna Mr. Bear and then kissed her again on the head and left the room.
Alianna looked down into Mr. Bears good eye and smiled. “Thank you Mr. Bear for defending me again from the things that are trying to hurt me. I need to start facing them on my own, and defeating them, but rest assured Mr. Bear that should anything arise that I cannot handle you will be the first one that I call upon.” And then because she knew that her mom was listening at the door, she bent down to whisper in his ear. “Don’t worry I’ll come visit you on the shelf every once and a while.” She then hugged Mr. Bear very tightly and then got out of bed and set him on the shelf in an easy chair that her dad had made for him when she was ten, a subtle hint from him that it was time to let Mr. Bear go. She then covered him with the miniature blanket that her mom, she assumed, had knitted with the same motivation. She went back over to her bed and crawled back in, and fell asleep, and finally had one good night's sleep.