text: Ella G Chances 
   
   
   ♔Alice♔ 
   
   OF COURSE, YESTERDAY WAS FUN, WEIRD, AND CRAZY. 
   
     
     
   I mean, we went to the forest and explored stuff, I guess. I mean, I'm not usually close to nature; but with Kat, it felt like I was there all the time. I was pretty surprised when Kat asked me to express my feelings toward her.  
   It was weird, but I was relieved, too. I liked her a lot. Great music taste, 
   beautiful hair, nice, I could keep going on and on about her. 
   But, the shadow-ghost pissed her off, so it did pretty much take my time to calm her down. 
     
   Today, me and Kat are going to the forest again, but near the lake. It was silent there, and we could've rambled on, just the two of us. It felt like a date, and inside of me, I could've felt my heart skipping a beat. 
   I played music, and listened to "Caraphernelia" by Pierce the Veil. 
   After a while, I got a text from Kat. 
     
   
   
   Hey, wanna go to the lake again? 
   
   
   
   
   My parents left me a note that they're at Arizona with my sibs. 
   
   
   
   
   I'm bored. 
   
   
     
   
   
   Yeah. I'll go. 
   
   
   
   
   And why didn't you go? That's very Un-Kat-like o3o 
   
   
   
   
   ;] 
   
   
     
   
   
   Pshh. I didn't want to go.  
   
   
   
   
   Anyways, who'd you talk to anyway in a month? xD 
   
   
   
   
   I'll meet you at the forest in 5. 
   
   
   
   
   <3 
   
   
   
   
   ;]] 
   
   
     
   I laughed, and quickly got ready. I looked outside, and it was just flurries. 
   I wore my Goth-like creepers, red and black diamond leggings, my jacket, and a Pierce the Veil shirt this time. 
   When Jeremy McKinnon sang " WHAT IF I CAN'T FORGET YOU?",  I would instantly get the Feels, something 
   people that get too indulged in music get when it hits a memory... 
     
     
     
   
   
   
   ☾Kat☽ 
   
   I WAS SO BORED. AS ALWAYS. 
   
     
     
   I already had my black jeans, my Asking Alexandria shirt, and my socks on, so I grabbed my black windbreaker and wore my creepers, and headed out the door with my phone. 
   The sky was still in it's gray and lavender hue, and it seemed pretty. 
   I tilted my head back, and when a snowflake touched my nose, I heard a camera shutter. 
     
     
   I opened my eyes, and saw Alice looking at her phone smiling, and she said, "Well, I'm keeping that photo as my wallpaper. It's Kat-like." I laughed, and we headed into the forest. "Ya sure you aren't cold?" I asked her. She nodded, and kept walking over the leaves, looking down at the ground, and saying words to herself. 
   I nudged her arm, and she took one of her headphone's buds out. "Whatcha saying?" I asked. 
   And then suddenly, she sang "Caraphernelia", and motioned me to join in. 
     
   I laughed and joined in. "WHAT IF I CAN'T FORGET YOU...I'LL BURN YOUR NAME INTO MY THROAT, I'LL BE THE FIRE THAT'LL CATCH YOU, AND WHAT'S SO GOOD ABOUT PICKING UP THE PIECES, NONE OF THE COLORS EVER LIGHT UP ANYMORE IN THIS HOLE, JUST GIVE HER BACK TO ME, YOU KNOW I CAN'T AFFORD THE MEDICINE THAT FEEDS WHAT I NEED...," we sang at the top of our lungs, and the ravens and robins flew away. 
   And at that moment, I realized me and Alice had a lot more common than music. 
   
   
   
   ♔Alice♔ 
   
   AS ME AND KAT SANG " CARAPHERNELIA" 
   ,  
   I LOOKED AROUND THE BLUE FOREST. 
   
     
     
   Kat was kicking the leaves away with her toes, and she'd sometimes look behind her. 
   "What're you looking for?" I asked. She shrugged, then answered, "That bastard." 
   I laughed, and she gently punched my arm. 
   Our throats were a bit hoarse, but we still talked. 
   Sometimes we'd see geese fly overhead in a perfect arrow-like formation, and we'd go under a tree to avoid  
   their little 'surprises'.  
     
   I held Kat's hand, and she smiled, almost to herself. I bit my lip, and as soon the geese passed,  
   we went to walk along the way where the lake was. 
   After a while, I saw it and and we started talking random things, like the weather, sometimes music of course, and  
   even though we don't know, we could tell there are little bits and pieces about each other in each sentence. 
   Sometimes you have to listen really closely to figure out what they're REALLY saying, 
   and then you'll know what their fake and real smiles, and their truths and lies. 
   And that was exactly what I was doing. Listening for bits and pieces. 
     
   When we arrived, I climbed up on the railing while Kat put her back against the railing, 
   and playing with her band bracelets. 
   I stared at the horizon, and the sun's orange rays bouncing off the lake's frozen surface. 
   The flurries started slowing down, coming down lazily now, and then I heard a camera shutter. 
   "Aha. I'm keeping this, so ha." Kat announced, and I smiled at her. 
   She was looking at her phone smiling, and then she put a filter on it, and saved the two pictures, 
   one with a filter, and the other normal. 
   "You're weird." I told her. "And you're peculiar." "Don't they mean the same thing?" I asked. "Maybe." She said slyly.  
   I grabbed her hand, and she put her head back on the railing, closed her eyes, and sighed. 
   I laughed, and I stared at the horizon again, still holding her hand. 
   
   
   
   ☾Kat☽ 
   
   IT FELT NORMAL, AND IT FELT LIKE WE'VE KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR MORE THAN A YEAR. 
   
     
     
   But, we've known each other for two weeks now, and we found out more things about each other. 
   I turned around, making sure Alice's hand wouldn't twist, and leaned against the railing. 
   The ravens were silenced, and all that made noise was some of the geese that were flying.  
   My hand was almost frozen cold, and her hand was a bit neutral. 
   It was unusual, but who cares? It was just a moment I would've waited for. I looked at the sun setting, and it was beautiful. The sky revealed some of the hidden stars, and the moon's crescent shape arrived, almost next to the sun, and Alice sighed. "Guess we should go?" I nodded, and she leaped off the railing, and walked with my hand still in hers. 
     
   I bit my lip from smiling, because, well, it's weird, right? 
   Awkwardness? Oh, who cares. I don't think you had a moment like this...I think. 
    But, oh well. We quickly ran across the forest, hand in hand, and laughed along the way.  
   Alice's black hood fell down, and it revealed her head of white blonde hair. 
   Of course, we'd stop to catch up with our breaths, and then we'd giggle again, and run. 
   A gentle winter breeze came, and the leaves flew almost into the air, but lifted off the ground in an inch. 
     
   Alice let go off my hand, and fell backward, and said, "Look up," I got down onto my back next to her, and the sun's last rays made a bright orange, slowly fading. The moon was getting a bit more opaque, and Alice got out her phone, and I got mine, and we lifted it up on the air, and took a picture of each other. "Keepsake!" We shouted at each other after we took the picture, and laughed again. When I got up, I offered Alice my hand, and she took it, and we walked to Alice's house this time. It turned out my parents were in Arizona with my siblings, and Alice's parents were at Colorado with her older brother at their grandparents' for a month. Call it a coincidence, but I don't care.  
   At least we had company, which was each other.  
     
   
   
   
   ♔Alice♔ 
   
   I ALWAYS WANTED A MOMENT LIKE THIS. I REMEMBERED WHEN I WAS STILL LONELY, BEFORE KAT. 
   
     
     
   As Kat and I walked slowly to my house, the sky turned into a light orange hue, and the flurries started getting even lazier. Every ten seconds, a snowflake would drop onto my head or Kat's. 
   When we arrived to my doorstep, I opened the door with my key, and we headed in. 
   Sometimes we'd see a cars on the snow covered road driving slowly, with no drivers. I pursed my lips, and we took off our shoes. "Do you have Netflix, or nah," Kat asked, "'cause I was wondering if you and I could watch  "Rat Race". "  
   She wiggled her eyebrows up and down, and I said, "Why not?", and we ended up watching the movie. 
   Until we shifted into another world. 
     
   "KAT!" I remembered screaming her name. I remembered breathing heavily....and I remembered waking up alone. 
   "KAT!!" I screamed again into the dark, teal-black sky. 
   Leafless trees were everywhere with black and green grass. I looked around frantically, and found her. 
   I ran. I ran as fast as I could all the way to her. She was staring at a white-grey moon that seemed to catch our attention. "Kat!" I yelled, and when she turned around, I hugged her, and she was holding me tight. 
   "We're going to find a way out. We're going to find a way out, okay? Oh, that BASTARD!" She yelled. 
   I held her hand tight, almost making her hand blue tinted and bloodless, 
   but she didn't seem to mind. She was cursing in so many words that I was wondering if I talked to her, 
   she'd cuss at me too. 
     
   After an hour or two, Kat calmed down, and she was telling me all about what she'd do if that ghost came. 
   "Oh, I'd punch the SHIT out of it! UGH! She stomped down to the navy lake, and threw rocks at it, making noises of aggrivation and frustration. I sighed, and sat down on a boulder. Another hour passed, and she came back, her face a bit red, and one of her hands into a white knuckled fist. 
   "Whoa...chill, Kat. i'm here. Anyways, what if it was ourselves? What if it wasn't the shadow?" I was already convinced myself, but Kat groaned, and replied, "Whatever, let's just find a way out."  
   I nodded in response, and we walked to any corner, hoping to find a way out. 
     
   
   
   
   ☾Kat☽ 
   
   I WAS REALLY PISSED OFF. 
   
     
     
   It was annoying. That shadow thing, GOD! Why the hell did it send us here, though?! 
   Alice convinced me halfway, and gave me time to think.  
   First, I hated this place. 
   Second, I'm mad at that bastard shadow. 
   And third...I love Alice. 
   It's just that...we have been hanging out a lot, I guess, and I just realized that. 
   Judge me, I don't care.  
   I just realized that I loved her. Alice was looking around now, desperate for a way out. 
   She frantically ran side to side, and I crossed my arms, and yelled out to her, "ALICE, THERE'S NO WAY OUT! WE HAVE TO WAIT!" Alice sighed, and I could make out the words she was saying almost to herself. "I know.." 
   She walked slowly back, sat down on the boulder, and put her head on my shoulder. 
   "We'll find a way out." I assured her. She looked up at me with her brown eyes. "Promise?" 
   I hesitated, sighed, and said, "Promise." 
     
   Three hours passed, and there was no way out yet. 
   But then, a bright flash of light appeared, and a puff of black smoke, and there stood a thin shadow. 
   I balled up my fists, ready to cuss at it and try to punch it, until a girl appeared. 
   She had hair as black as a raven's, and eyes that were sky blue. She had pink Converse sneakers on, a short sleeved white tee, light washed high waisted jeans, and a coffee colored jacket. 
   "Hey. I'm Seyne and I could help you." Her voice was a bit British and Southern.  
   Alice was staring at the ground, her head still on my shoulder. 
   "Are you a shadow bastard, too?" I asked. 
   She said, "Nah," "Good, now help us." I said. 
   She looked behind me, and said "There." 
   When Alice and I looked behind us, there was a square white portal. 
   "And aye, I'll see you sometime. And the shadow is a bastard. Just be lucky he dint get THAT angry." She walked toward us, and stepped through the portal.  
     
   Alice gripped my hand tight, and ran into the portal. 
   My face felt like it was being pulled off, and my hands felt like they were being pinched. 
   Seyne appeared in front of us, laughing and smiling in Alice's house. "You weren't supposed to run!" 
   Alice's face looked like she drank something unpleasant. 
   "I could help you get rid of your disease." Seyne looked straight into my eyes, and got serious. Alice was staring at me like a toddler. "Tell. Me. Now." I told her. "It's a bit dangerous, though." "We'll do it!" Alice said, her voice full of hope. 
   I noticed Seyne never looked at Alice, until she looked at her and spoke. 
   "I'll show you." And with that comment, the bastard appeared near Alice's staircase. 
     
   
   
   Publication Date: May 30th 2020 https://www.bookrix.com/-sedfc4e6728a225