This choice: Alice's roommate doesn't show, and she goes to the ceremony--and dinner--alone. • Go Back...Chapter #5The Pains of Being a Wallflower by: Mercer   If she were to be honest with herself, Alice would have much preferred if her roommate had turned up. Lord knows it would have made heading to the opening ceremony a lot more bearable.
Instead, as the minutes clicked by and the deadline for heading to said ceremony drew nearer, the young Freshman had to face the hard fact that she had to get going. She had to step outside into the unknown, brave through the halls, and make it to the auditorium. Alone.
All alone.
Alone while surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of girls she didn't know. Not a single familiar face to behold no matter where she looked. She cast her blue eyes to the ground as she walked. How she wished Mel were here...
At the thought of her cool big sis, Alice took in a breath, mentally steeling herself. No use sulking now, all she can do is to push forward.
And so, with renewed purpose, Alice picked up the pace. Who knows? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
***
Never before had Alice felt so small.
Upon entering the auditorium, the young blonde was treated to the nerve-wracking sight of the substantial Freshman student body of Buttercombe. Girls and girls everywhere, the entire room filled to the brim with animated chatter, tables occupied as far as the eye could see. Students everywhere just sitting down, chatting in either whispers or snarks, filling the room with noise, passing the time until it was time to shush up and listen to Ms. Polluck, queen of the hive, speak up.
Until then, it was chatter everywhere. Bodies walking around, finding seats, and waiting for the headmistress to make her speech.
Young Alice felt so disconnected, so out of place.
Keep it together, just find somewhere to sit....
Her eyes darted around, scouting for any table with an open seat. And, preferably, one that didn't have too many occupants. To her dismay, she quickly found there was no such thing. Look where she would, chairs were occupied, making her briefly wonder just how big was her Freshman class.
Shaking herself from the momentary distraction, Alice resumed her main motive in finding a chair. She could already see the familiar plump figure of Ms. Polluck walking up towards the podium.
"Umm, e-excuse me...." Alice asked one table.
"Hmm? Oh, sorry, that seat's taken."
"It's okay..."
She tried others.
"Oh, um, sorry, like, we're waiting on, like, a friend of ours."
"No more space on this table. Sorry, girl."
"We're waiting on a friend. Oh, here she comes now. Sorry 'bout that."
Alice moved her dejected self to the other side of the auditorium, eyes downcast as she moved along. With how every empty seat she'd come across so far had been taken, she briefly wondered if maybe the academy itself didn't want her around.
"H-Hey!"
"Huh--"
So into her thoughts was Alice, that she didn't notice the girl suddenly stand up from her chair and step right in front of her. It resulted in the two of them colliding into one another, creating enough of a commotion to earn the curious eyes of anyone close by.
"Ow, watch it!" the other girl snapped instinctively.
"S-Sorry!" Alice whimpered, eyes down, already feeling the world around her break.
The other girl seemed to pick up on the distress of the blonde. "Oh geez, are you...crying?"
Alice took that as her cue to briskly walk away, disappearing into a slightly less crowded area where she was sure there were no girls who had witnessed the little event that had taken place. As though fate decided to finally give her a break, Alice made it to a table with only three others seated, plenty of open chairs to pick from. She sat down, the other girls either too busy talking or just staring off in some other direction to pay attention.
"Good evening, ladies!" Shannon Polluck's voice echoed all over, her grand opening speech commencing.
Alice merely sighed dejectedly, her earlier incident with that girl still ringing in her head.
***
One long speech later, and everyone was officially allowed to march towards dinner. Not the cafeteria, mind, but rather the kitchen staff came rolling in big carts full of fine cuisine, setting up plates and utensils for the students to pick up. In no time at all, the entire Freshman gathering was lining up at the food carts, grabbing plates and eagerly piling them up with the succulent, lip-moistening grub prepared by only Buttercombe's finest chef staff captained by Head Chef Eri Flatterly.
And yet, despite the temptation, Alice felt worn out. Stressed, even. It had already been awful looking for a chair for the opening speech, and now she had to dine alone? Probably feel awkward as some curious eyes wonder and focus on her, the wallflower sitting all by her lonesome? It was enough to make Alice consider skipping out on dinner. Retreating back to her room and just collapsing on her bed in depression sounded all too inviting right now...  | Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
<<-- Previous · Outline  · Recent Additions © Copyright 2025 Mercer (UN: passerby210 at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Bobo the Hobo has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work within this interactive story. Poster accepts all responsibility, legal and otherwise, for the content uploaded, submitted to and posted on Writing.Com. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author