high school is kind of boring really

[self_composed]

School plods along. Bella is native-quality fluent in Spanish, professor-level at math, well and thoroughly versed in the workings of the United States government, capable of doing actual independent research projects in biology, and she's been speaking English since she was one. Alas, these skills only make classes easier for a short time. After the novelty wears off they're just tedious. Bella winds up squaring her homework done more often than not so she can work out the kinks in her design for telekinesis, or play music, or attend soccer practice, or write little computer games, or read, or just fly around. This works out fine. Magic is pretty good at homework.

She winds up not attending most of the dances, but she does want to go to the end of year one, as she will be leaving Forks High School forever and it has some good points. Alice promised her a dress...

Comments

[edgeofyourseat]

It's possible that Alice should be thinking about whether or not this means she is redefining their relationship somehow, and it's possible that if he were anyone else, he would be. But he is Alice, so he is thinking pretty much entirely about mountaintop makeouts and how much he loves Bella.

[self_composed]

Her modeling of Alice as being liable to do that is a fair fraction of why she decided to kiss him at this time instead of in several months. She has not come to all relevant conclusions, just the conclusion that kissing him would be nice. With any non-Alice, actually following through on that would have required more thinking first. With Alice she can just do whatever she wants and not do whatever she does not yet know she wants. She likes that.

She decides some of that might be worth articulating. [Only have this much figured out,] she says. [In case you wonder, when you have more of your brain online,] she adds teasingly.

[edgeofyourseat]

[I like this much,] he says happily. [This much is good.]

And Alice has all of his brain online, thank you. It's just largely devoted to processing kisses at the moment.

[self_composed]

That's all Bella has to say.

Actually, no it's not, she's not that good at shutting up. [The top of Mount Everest has to be the best place for a first kiss ever.]

[edgeofyourseat]

Of course she thinks that.

[It's pretty damn cool,] Alice agrees fondly.

[self_composed]

[I mean, there are other iconic locations, but I bet a million people kiss each other at the Eiffel Tower.]

There. Now she is probably done talking.

[edgeofyourseat]

In which case Alice is also done talking.

Mountaintop makeouts! Mountaintop makeouts and boundless, unselfconscious, radiant love.

[self_composed]

Bella indulges in some feedback-looping.

It turns out it's more seductive during kisses.

[edgeofyourseat]

That is not really a big surprise.

[self_composed]

Some time - some considerable amount of time - later, Bella breaks off, grins brilliantly, and shoots up into the sky. [Race you to Karachi!]

[edgeofyourseat]

Laughing, Alice chases after her. With his person-compass trained on Bella, he can follow her by feel and watch the landscape sliding away underneath them while he does it.

[self_composed]

Karachi is all the way in Pakistan. It's a long flight, and it's good Bella doesn't need to breathe and isn't bothered by the cold.

She learned Urdu on the way east, and she has not yet decided to risk traveling visibly in heavily Islamic countries anyway, but she zips around the city looking at things, playing hide-and-seek with Alice.

[edgeofyourseat]

Hide-and-seek becomes especially interesting when one party can read the other's mind and the other can locate the first via absolute directional sense. Alice decides that this way is much more fun.

Also, when they catch each other, there are hugs!

[self_composed]

Eventually it is dark.

Bella has not yet killed the need for sleep - she's considered it, but she doesn't yet have quite enough things to do to fill the time. (She'll see if the novelty of making out with Alice wears off or not before declaring that to be "enough things to do".)

She finds a flat roof - of a business, not a house - and sprawls out, conjuring a mattress and a pillow half-consciously.

[edgeofyourseat]

Alice touches down on the same roof and curls up invisibly beside her conjured bed.

[self_composed]

In the morning, Bella starts for Iran, which she hopes to cross (sightseeing en route) by the end of the day. It is time to head back west so she can catch her plane out of Heathrow, and see her parents before going off to college.

The next day she traverses Iraq and Syria and Turkey, and checks into a hostel in Greece.

[edgeofyourseat]

Is there room for Alice on the floor by her bed? He likes it best when that happens.

[self_composed]

There is room for him under the bed. He'll get tripped on anywhere else.

[edgeofyourseat]

Works for him!

[self_composed]

Bella travels around Greece for three days, using a fair amount of standard transportation to do it. Then she takes a boat to Italy.

[edgeofyourseat]

Alice stays invisible the whole way across, although he spends most of his time perching on various sections of the boat.

At the end of the trip, when all the passengers disembark, many of them are met by locals or fellow travelers waiting at the docks. There is one nondescript Italian fellow standing a little apart from the rest, peering anxiously at everyone as they get off the boat, as though he is looking for someone he doesn't know well and isn't sure of recognizing.

[self_composed]

Bella is pretty sure that she is not looking for a nondescript Italian fellow. She ignores him, and carries on through a tour of various cities in Italy. She is particularly fond of Venice.

Next is Switzerland!

[edgeofyourseat]

And in Switzerland, while Bella is on a train and Alice is keeping pace in the air, the engine makes a coughing noise and then gracefully shuts down. The train comes to a halt on a long, curving track through some very pretty forest.

[Damn,] says Alice, pulling up to hover beside Bella's window.

[self_composed]

[Huh. I could wish it fixed but I don't know who's looking at the broken part, if anyone - could be obvious - I'll wait for the announcement, I guess, I'm sure there'll be one.]

[edgeofyourseat]

The announcement, when it comes, cites engine failure of unknown cause, promises the attention of onboard mechanics to the problem, and apologizes most sincerely for the inconvenience to travelers. Alice isn't sure he believes it, at least not about the last part.