Chapter 1

It is just another ordinary day for almost everybody but it is different for Alice Meyers.

Today, December 21, 2020, is her eighteenth birthday. She can finally move out of her parent’s house and live on her own. She saved enough money doing part-time jobs as a commercial model or an extra in some movies. She doesn’t have a lot of real friends, just acquaintances or people who want to be close to her but don’t let them in her life.       

Johnson Taylor and Odette Sanchez are what she can call her childhood friends. The three of them have known each other since they were five and attended the same school. Alice is not the friendly type because she feels that she is different from them and they would think that she is weird when they learned about her real personality. In her point of view, she is a freak who has extrasensory perception. Aside from that, she can make things happen if she is too emotional.

Her only two friends don’t know anything about this.

“Happy birthday!” Her parents, along with the Taylor and Sanchez family who happens to be their neighbors as well greeted her after she entered the living room.

“Is this for real?” Alice stared at the people in front of her. She just came home and she was really surprised.

Odette came over and hugged her. “Happy birthday, honey!” She handed Alice an envelope. “This is my gift for you. I know you will need this.”

“Thank you, Odette.” Then Johnson hugged her too. “Happy birthday sweetheart, you will know what my gift is…later.” He smirked. She couldn’t seem to hear his thoughts when she tried to read his mind. All she could see in his mind were the foods that were on the table.

The other people inside the house took their turns in greeting and hugging her. The last ones are her parents. “Happy birthday, dear. We love you so much, you already know that!” Her mom’s eyes were full of tears. Alice can hear what she’s thinking. ‘I’m really afraid to let her go. I hope she will just stay with us.’

“You’re a grown woman now and we can’t hold you back from doing whatever you think is best for you, happy birthday!” said her dad. “We will always be here when you need us.” He added.

“Uncle, auntie, this is supposed to be a happy celebration. Why don’t we all eat before the food gets cold.” Johnson, as usual, is always thinking of food.

“How come you are such a glutton but it doesn’t show in your figure?” Odette is staring at Johnson with an envious look.

“Just don’t think of having a diet on my birthday!” Alice smiled, then started filling up her plate with food. “Let’s eat everybody. I appreciate this wonderful surprise!” she said while munching on pasta.

“Yeah, we know!” Gordon said while looking at her plate filled with mountains of food, he is Odette’s younger brother. Everybody laughed while they all grab food and started sitting on the chair beside the table.

The surprise party is a success. The older people finally got home while the younger people continued drinking at the party. Alice’s parents retired to their room as well. Hours passed by and all the other visitors already left except for Johnson.

“Hey remember what I told you earlier about my gift?” He said to Alice.

“Of course, I still remember!” She said while looking at his handsome face. ‘Hmmm, I will try not to read his mind. I love surprises!’ she thought to herself.

“Come with me then!” he held her hand and went to his car. 

“Where are we going?” she casually asked.

“You’ll see.” She felt his excitement but she didn’t say anything.

Johnson drove for more than an hour. Alice fell asleep during the journey and she dreamt of Odette running naked on the streets.

“Alice, help me!” she can hear her friend’s desperate cries. She wants to hug her and give her the jacket she was wearing in her dreams but a lot of people are chasing her and want to beat her to death. She can hear people’s thoughts.

“Kill her! Kill her! Kill, kill…!” She started to run after Odette but it seems that she runs very slowly and she was floating in the air while running. She felt very helpless and started to cry.

“Sweetheart, wake up. We’re already here!” Johnson noticed that there were tears in her eyes. “What’s wrong? I thought you were sleeping.”

“I fell asleep but I had this weird dream about Odette.” She confessed.

Alice can interpret dreams but no one knows about it, not even Johnson and Odette, and definitely not her own parents. She knew what her dreams meant but she only dismissed them and leave everything to fate and destiny.

“You know dreams mean the other way around. If you dream of becoming poor, it means you will be rich. Just don’t take it seriously, sometimes it doesn’t mean anything.” Johnson waved his hand to emphasize what he is saying.

“Come on let’s go and I will show you something!” He got out of the car and Alice got out as well.

She noticed that they are inside a garage. She looked around and saw a gate and a small garden and when she looked behind her, she saw a beautiful house. “Oh my! Where are we?”

“Just shut up and let’s go inside!” Johnson laughed and pulled her inside the house excitedly after unlocking the front door.

They went through a spacious living room and climbed up a stair leading to a bedroom. Once the door is opened, Alice’s eyes grew bigger. The room is decorated with purple wallpaper and there is a small bookshelf on the right of the room while the bed on the other side is covered with a galaxy-inspired blanket and bedcover, the same with the pillow cover.

A glass door on the other side was leading to a balcony outside. The roof of the room seems to be made of very thick glass but she can clearly see the bright moon and stars in the sky. It has an automatic cover and uncover function with the help of a remote control

“Do you love it? Well, this is my surprise for you!” Alice stares dumbfounded at Johnson.

“I love it! This is my dream room!” She felt so happy and she is starting to think that it is time to open up to her friends without worrying about what would they think of her. She is already eighteen and it is time to be close to her friends and treat them as real friends without keeping any secrets.

“My dad bought this house for me after knowing that I applied for a scholarship at the University. He said the house is cheap and it will be perfect when we start college.” Johnson said as he was opening the door of another room.

It was almost similar to the room that she first saw except for the decorations and color. “Remember when we were still in kindergarten and our teacher asked us to draw our dream house?” That was almost thirteen years ago but Alice knew that Johnson is a very intelligent person with sharp memory.

“Yes of course I remember. A lot of our classmates want to have the same house as the house that I had drawn.” She smiled at him.

“It got me inspired too and I promised myself that when we grew older, we will have the same house. For now, you don’t need to rent, both you and Odette. We will all go to the same university, and live in the same house until we start building our own careers or our own business.” Johnson is very optimistic about his future and his friends’ future.

“You are embarrassing me. I know that your family is rich but did you tell them about your plans? About me and Odette living here?” she knew the answer to this but she just asked out of formality.

She knows that Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are very kind and generous and there will be no problem with them. Both she and Johnson are the only child of their families but her family is not as rich as his family.

Johnson just waved his hand, “As if you don’t know how nice they are, just like me.” He laughed.

“Oh yeah, I know that you are nice since we were kids when you tried to bully me several times!” Alice argued.

“Hey! I am not a bully. I just want us to be friends but you are such a snob back then!” he retorted.

“What do you mean snob? I’m not a snobbish person!” Alice sat on the bed, picked up the pillow and threw it at Johnson.

“Oh, you want a pillow fight huh!” he started to throw the pillow back at Alice but she suddenly raised her hands.

“I surrender, I surrender!” she yelled while laughing.

Johnson sat on the bed too and was suddenly tackled by Alice, making him lie beneath her. “You cheater! I knew you have tricks up your sleeves again!” he began rolling on the bed so that he would be the one on top. They always have had this wrestling match since they were kids but Johnson is wondering why Alice is so strong even if she’s a girl. Now, she is still stronger even if he is always working out to have a muscular body.

While Alice was laughing and trying to manipulate their positions, she suddenly saw that Johnson’s face was covered with blood and there was a big hole in the middle of his forehead. She knew it was a vision, and she cried out in horror. The shock was written all over her beautiful face. She stared at Johnson and tears instantly welled up in her eyes.

Johnson felt that something was wrong and he stared at Alice as well. He saw her expression but Alice shook her head vigorously and looked at him again, she composed herself and asked where the bathroom is.

“There’s a bathroom inside this room, just like your future room.” He then pointed at a door that was near the study table in his room. ‘There she goes again, just as we are having fun, she instantly withdraws herself. Is it a sin for her to have too much fun?’ Johnson thought to himself.