text: Slump Alicia slumped down on a chair after the last dance of the day. She was a hip-hop backup dancer that was doing a tour with Little Iné, currently the biggest rap/hip-hop singer in the world. She was doing a tour across North America, and they had just arrived from New Jersey, heading up toward Maine. Alicia had always wanted to visit Boston from when she was 9 years old, because of the giant libraries and museums. She was kind of a nerd. Anyways, here she was, 8 years later, in Boston, but for a completely different reason. When she was 9, she expected herself to be in Boston for school, not a backup dancer for the biggest singer in the world. Not that she was complaining. Alicia loved dancing, she started doing it from when she was 5 years old. Then, she was doing ballet. Ew. So girly. She switched to hip-hop when she was 7 because it’s more sophisticated and challenging. Alicia forced herself to get up, so she could wash the makeup off her face and go to sleep. Opening the door to the tiny bathroom in the tour bus, she turned on the sink and splashed icy water onto her face. She rubbed the waxy makeup off her face and looked at her face in the mirror. Her green eyes stared back at her, with her chocolate brown hair framing them. With her makeup gone, her acne popped out like a neon sign on a black background. After drying her face, she went to her room in the humongous tour bus, changed into her fuzzy cotton pajamas, and went to sleep. In the morning she stretched her arms out, yawning. It was the weekend before Christmas, which meant a lot to Alicia. The whole week she had been doing a whole 45 minute - 1-hour dance routines, 3 times a day. Two days of rest with no dancing sounded like pure heaven. Once Alicia got up and changed into sweatpants and a hoodie, she walked out into the breakfast room at the other end of the bus. More like the buffet room. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were basically just a buffet in the same room, with appetizers, main courses, desserts, and snacks changed to fit the meal. Today, Alicia wanted something sweet, so she got a breakfast that her dad would not approve of at all. Alicia grabbed 2 medium-sized cinnamon rolls, a nice greasy sausage, complete with a tall glass of orange juice. Not dad-approved at all. She found a table where her best friend, Rachel, was sitting. Alicia landed next to Rachel when she was having a conversation with Vivien. “...so when she sang ‘behind’, I completely lost my footing and went the opposite way we were supposed to go.” Rachel laughed, Vivien smiling while sipping her chocolate milk. Rachel talked a lot; more than the average human being. As Alicia sat down next to her, Rachel said, "Oh, Alicia! Perfect timing! I was just gonna tell Vivien about how Harvard’s library and the Museum of fine arts are open today to the public!” Rachel clapped with excitement since she knew how much Alicia loved libraries. “When can we leave?” asked Alicia. “An online brochure said that they’re open from 8 am today, so we can leave after we finish breakfast!” Rachel responded, sounding like a hyper puppy. Vivien checked her phone. “It’s 7:59,” she said. Rachel’s eyes lit up. “Oh GOODY!” They all laughed, making Alicia choke on her non-organic orange juice. As Alicia went back to her room to brush her teeth, she compared the scene outside to the tour bus. Outside was a winter wonderland, complete with the glowing Christmas lights everywhere, like colourful fireflies. Inside, it was a mixture of grunge and Polly pocket aesthetics. Who knew those two went together. The walls and hallways were a dark purple, with black and bright blue embellishments on the walls. There weren’t any Christmas decorations because the maintenance crew didn’t want to pay extra time and money for them. The rooms were a cheerful, synthetic pink, with purple decorations, which made the rooms look exactly like a Polly pocket toy, with Alicia as the doll. She wasn’t exactly judging Little Iné’s taste of accessories, but Alicia will one day ask her about the Polly Pocket stuff. Maybe Little Iné loves Polly Pocket. Who knows. After changing into a more.... presentable outfit, Alicia met her friends outside of the tour bus. “...and then I slipped this way, and everybody was staring at me!” Rachel finished, laughing so hard her esophagus might fall out. Vivien waved me over. “Ok, where are we going first?” asked Alicia. “Well, the brochure said that the museum closes at 2 pm, but the Harvard library closes at 6, so we better go to the museum first,” said Rachel. Alicia nodded her head. “How are we gonna get there?” Vivien asked. “I think it’s close enough for us to walk,” said Rachel. “About a 20-minute walk.” She pointed toward Simmons University, showing us the way we had to walk. “Ok, everybody got their stuff?” Alicia asked. Vivien and Rachel nodded. “Let’s go!” A big white structure towered over them. On the sides, there were bare shrubs covered with snow and little blue Christmas lights drape over the branches. A giant rusted statue in the middle of the courtyard shone in the sunlight, with pockets of snow scattered throughout. “...” Vivien opened her mouth, but didn’t say anything, taken aback at the sight. “Wowee wow wow,” Rachel said, walking in circles and almost falling into a bush. Creak “What’s that?” Alicia asked, now wary of their surroundings. Hello Alicia turned and noticed that the creaking sound was the statue, its head now turned toward the group of girls. Run now, or else Rachel turned toward them and yelled,” What is happening?” over the wind that was picking up mysteriously. You haven’t ran yet? Guess I’ll have to destroy you Vivien’s face contorted into confusion. “Destroy us?” Alicia shouted, over the now hurricane winds. All of a sudden, a red laser shot out from the eyes of the statue, burning the spot right in front of Alicia. “AHHHHHH” Vivien screamed, just running away from wherever the nearest burning hole was. Another laser shot at Rachel, burning the heels of her shoes. “AHHHHHH” Rachel screamed, imitating Vivien. They aren’t gonna be of much help, thought Alicia. While running around the courtyard, she had a lightbulb moment. Alicia ran to the back of the statue and grabbed something out of her backpack. A hair straightener. What girl doesn’t keep a hair straightener in their backpack? Alicia chucked the hair straightener at the statue’s head, making a loud CLANG! sound. The statue’s head fell off, slowly rolling its way to Rachel’s feet. She looked at Alicia in awe. “W-w, h-how..?” Alicia bent down, picked up her hair straightener and waved it at Rachel. Vivien said,” Ohhhhh.” So obvious right. Once they gathered their stuff and Rachel’s heel stopped having a meltdown, they walked into the museum. Alicia glanced behind at the statue. Its head was right back on its neck, the same as when they had got there. No lasers, no creaking sounds. Alicia thought, Hmm. Probably waiting until another group came along. Then they strutted into the Museum of Fine Arts. After coming out of the museum right after noon, Alicia thought about that statue again. I wish I could just have a peaceful Christmas for once, she thought. All the practicing, conditioning and exercise wore Alicia to the core, so for Christmas, all she wanted was peace, quiet, and rest. Rachel called out,” It’s 12:30 pm. Wanna get lunch?” Vivien’s hand shot up. “I would like a Big Mac, medium fries, and a large Coke,” she said, hugging her stomach. Rachel painted a disgusted look on her face. “You can have that if you want, I’m having Greek food. What about you Alicia?” Alicia thought for a moment. “Hmm, I’ll have some Korean Barbeque.” Rachel nodded while Vivien started towards a nearby mall. “Ok, so does everyone know where Harvard is?” Rachel asked. Alicia nodded, while Vivien gave a shaky thumbs up. “Everybody meet in Harvard Square after lunch, okay?” Rachel asked, confirming their plan. Both Alicia and Vivien’s head nodded. “See ya!” Rachel called, now racing Vivien to the mall. Alicia smiled, took a deep breath and sprinted after them. Once Alicia’s stomach was full of Korean BBQ, she walked about 20 minutes to the front of Harvard University. It kinda looked like a mini White House, but with red bricks, and students out on the front lawn. A black sign in the front said ‘HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL’ in big white lettering. Alicia spotted Rachel and Vivien near the doors. She ran up to meet them while Rachel was telling Vivien yet another of her dance failures. “.. so then Hannah stumbled over me and I almost fell onto Little Iné!” Rachel finished, Vivien smiling. Alicia said,” So Rachel, wheres the library?” “You think the library is gonna reveal itself?” Rachel asked incredulously. “We have to go find it!” Vivien raised her hand. “This place is huge. How are we gonna find it?” She asked. “There’s something called exploring, if you didn’t know.” Rachel said, gesturing toward the doors. Alicia grinned and sashayed into the University. After wandering around for so long, Vivien spotted the library. “Guys, it’s over here!” She yelled, running into a room with giant oak doors. Alicia ran in after Rachel, looking up in awe. Bookshelves ran endlessly around the circumference of the room, different colours of book spines staring back at her. Desks lined up in the middle, with some students studying with earphones plugged into their ears. Peaceful. Quiet. Perfect. CRASH What is happening? thought Alicia. BOOM Let’s hope it’s not another statue, thought Alicia. POW The doors broke down, revealing a bronze statue that was 6 feet tall, standing in the doorway of the Harvard library. I will destroy you, if you are Neil DeGrasse or not. Who said anything about Neil DeGrasse? Alicia thought. “Everybody, get a book!” Rachel called. Alicia raced to the closest bookshelf and grabbed a book called ‘Encyclopedia Britannica’. How nice. Alicia recognized the statue from the courtyard. John Harvard, she thought. John wasn’t very friendly. He tore parts off from his bronze body and yeeted them at us, keeping us busy so we didn’t get crushed by a leg. “Woohooo!” Vivien yelled, tossing a book thicker than Alicia’s Encyclopedia at John’s face. You fools! Only one thing can destroy me: acid! Why would you reveal your weakness to your enemies? Alicia thought. “ORANGE JUICE!” Rachel howled. “What?” Alicia yelled over the commotion. “Orange juice is acid! Somebody go to the cafeteria and get orange juice!” Rachel bellowed and chucked different horror books at John’s nose. “Already on it!” Vivien screamed and waved a full jug of Tropicana Orange Juice. Rachel grinned. “Open it, and throw it at John!” she yelled. “Alicia, keep him distracted!” On that, Alicia threw her Encyclopedia Brittanica at John’s eyes, scrambling to find more books. Thankfully, there was a stack near her, so she went through them as fast as a squirrel with acorns. Once Vivien and Rachel got the jug open, Vivien hefted the bottle up into the air, splashing onto John Harvard’s face. Nooooooo! His bronze figure melted into a pile of liquid, enough to make thousands of pennies. “Rachel ran over to Alicia. “Great job!” she said, high-fiving each other. Vivien started chugging the leftover orange juice in the jug. Alicia and Rachel grimaced. “Vivien looks hungry again. Is it ok if you stay here while we go to the mall again?” Rachel asked, keeping an eye on Vivien. Alicia nodded. “Ok, see you back at the tour bus!” Rachel exclaimed, running over to help Vivien. When Rachel and Vivien left, Alicia walked over to one of the bookshelves to pick out a book. Harry Potter Already read that. Chronicles of Narnia Finished. Artemis Fowl Haven’t read that yet, Alicia thought. She slid the book out of its place among the others. “Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer,” she said aloud, reading the back cover. She took the book to a mahogany couch, got comfy, and started reading.