Alone with Alice.

“And she’s always like this?” Alice asked me.

“Yeah, pretty much,” I told her. We both looked at Cake, who was comfortably curled up on the bed right beside me.

I had the new guitar on me and was practicing on it. Alice had dropped by to visit and we were alone in the house at the moment. Of course, alone if you don’t count the cat.

Alice reached out to Cake and the white and orange fluff ball leaned into her hand. Cake had learned to behave in front of Grace and Sarah already, and she seemed to be warming up to Mila, but Alice and Noelle were a different matter. Cake loved them, and of course she did. They were the ones who rescued her.

“And the sound doesn’t bother her?” Alice asked again.

“I think she’s here partly because of it, actually.”

We were talking about the fact that Cake seemed to enjoy listening to me playing guitar. It was getting to the point where I could play a couple notes and she would come all the way from the first floor to my room and get on my bed.

“That’s adorable,” Alice said, giggling.

“I’m surprised, honestly. It’s not like I play relaxing music to sleep to.”

I began to play the song again, from the top. I had the amp plugged in but at a low volume. I needed to check that everything sounded correctly on the new guitar, which was what I’d use for the performance.

Alice remained quiet and listened, too. She smiled and kept her eyes on my fingers on the fingerboard. When I was done, she clapped gently.

“I can’t wrap my head around it,” she said. “It’s like you make more sounds than there should be or something.”

“There are many techniques involved,” I told her. “It’s not the most complex song, but there’s a lot of sliding and bending involved. Also a bit of tapping, too.” Alice’s look was enough to tell me she had no idea what those terms meant. “Never mind,” I said, chuckling.

“No, no! Tell me. I want to know.”

“I don’t want to bore you.”

“Who says you’re ever boring?”

I smiled and warmth filled my chest. She meant that, and it meant a lot to me.

I began to explain some of the terminology and showed her examples. It helped the ego a bit to see her being impressed.

“I knew you were good, but I didn’t understand how,” she said, giggling. “You’re amazing.”

I shook my head. “This is like the bare minimum to play songs like these. I’ve seen truly impressive guitarists. I don’t think I’ll ever get there.”

There are genuine virtuosos out there that blow my fucking mind. I couldn’t help but look up to them with a bit of envy.

“Who knows? Maybe you will, maybe you won’t. Will you stop playing and never find out?” Alice asked casually.

I chuckled. “Nah. I don’t know how far I’ll get, but I don’t think I’ve plateaued yet. Besides, I enjoy this.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“What about you?” I asked her. “Have you broken your best time down the pass?”

Alice winced and laughed. “Ouch. Did you have to go there?”

“So that’s a no?”

“Not yet. I think there are a couple of corners where I can shave off some time, but I still can’t find the lines.”

We talked for a short while more before I switched from the guitar to the bass to continue practicing on it. It was there that I needed to focus my efforts for the time being.

Alice went quiet and Cake stayed curled at my side. I played, made mistakes and played again, slowly but surely fixing them. Then a faint, nagging feeling entered my head. It was Alice’s. She wanted to talk, but was feeling hesitant.

There was still that thing that happened at Grace’s house. That stupid movie had triggered some bad memories for Alice and she was still thinking about it. We hadn’t talked about it yet, and she wanted to, but was afraid.

Honestly, her silence on it since then was also making me more afraid. Was it something so bad that it would change my perspective of her? I could understand that she might be thinking along those lines. I did it all the time. But… Well, considering what little I knew about Alice’s history, I was starting to get ideas.

“I…” Alice quickly said. Maybe my own feelings had gotten across to her and made her finally decide to speak. “I’m… sorry about the other day, Oliver. I know it came out of nowhere. I know I… overreacted. You’re getting all sorts of ideas now, aren’t you?”

“It’s hard not to.”

Alice chuckled. “I’m truly sorry. Do you… mind if I just talk at you for a while?”

I set the bass down behind me and patted the right spot on the bed for Alice to sit next to me. She moved from my desk chair and sat close to me, leaning on me. Cake, seeing this and sensing something was off, walked over my lap and sat close at Alice’s side.

“What? You can read minds, too?” Alice asked the cat, giggling and stroking her back.

“I know I said I could wait until you had sorted out your thoughts,” I said, “but the longer this goes, the more worried I get.”

Alice nodded. “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you. It’s just… It’s difficult to talk about. I look back and keep telling myself I was such a fool. And sometimes… I worry I still am.”

I held Alice close and she held my hand tightly. She sighed and began to tell me what was on her mind. I kept quiet and listened.

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