Alicia was a liar. Even her face was a lie. That happy smile of hers was the grandest lie of all. She was not a happy person, though you'd never know it. How could you, when she smiled all the time? And when you look at her you think only of sunrises.
Her head was always upright, lifted to the heavens, as if she knew what awaited her in the Great Beyond. She was simply a human and not an angel, but her golden hair was a halo surrounding her face and she smiled through the haze of pale light as if to say, 'Yes, I am holy. You may worship me, if you please.'�
The cheeks that rested calmly on each side of her face were adorned with redness always. It was a happy, pink kind of red that made her look like a blushing bride. Always smiling, her lips were pinked with gossip, a calm, giggling mystery of all the things she knew.
'Hello all,'� her eyes seem to greet. She was the only girl in the popular crowd who had other, less attractive friends. For this, she was loved and admired by all. Of course, she was Class Sweetheart. 'She probably goes home after school to paint her nails and feed the homeless,'� one particularly adoring fan said. Everyone nodded their heads in unison. Yes, she must, they thought.
When she did go home, there was no nail polish of pink, and no homeless to save. There was only loneliness.
Alicia's father was a drunk, and he hit her every change he got. Sometimes he hit her so hard, she forgot who he was. How could she think of him as the man who used to cradle her and tell her bedtime stories? This man was not he.
Their came a time when she just stopped caring. The bruises became just another lie to cover up with lip-gloss, nail polish, and that effervescent smile. This time, it was across her right arm.
The mark was not black yet, nor was it blue. The red welt almost glowed, as if it was making an outcry of rage. She wanted to cry out, but bit her bottom lip and remained quiet. Alicia sat on the linoleum floor in crushed silence.
It could be worse, she thought. He could have hit my face.
She was covered in sweat, and she tried to rub it off with her sleeve. The floor underneath her was cold and unforgiving, seemingly harder than usual. The kitchen was dark, but she could still see wallpaper ripped at the edges.
I must never let anyone know how I live. They'd feel sorry for me, and there is nothing worse than being pitied.
Her mother appeared in the doorway a moment later.
'Oh honey. I'm'�I'm sorry 'bout your dad. He doesn't mean it sweetie.'�
'Yeah right,'� Alicia spat bitterly. She could not forgive her mother for not saving her from him.
'Baby, you know I'd leave him, but'�'�
Her mother looked at the floor sadly, realizing full well that she'd said it a million times, and that it was never true.
'I know. We have nowhere to go,'� Alicia said, finishing the sentence for her.
Alicia could tell her mother had been drinking. She took one more look at her, and then closed her eyes in pain.
'Goodnight mom.'� Maybe tomorrow I'll wake up and be someone else's daughter.
She sat on the floor of her kitchen, like a broken doll, and prayed to never move her body again.

The morning was welcoming and warm. It was nothing like the night before. Her mother and father had apparently already left for work. She was still slumped on the kitchen floor. The room faintly smelt of bacon.
'They didn't even wake me up,'� she muttered angrily.
Slowly, as if afraid to fall to pieces, she stood. Then she headed to her room. Alicia changed into a nice crisp top, and a cute pink skirt, to match her shiny pink nail polish. The skirt ended just below the knee, and hid the bruises on her legs perfectly.

School was a drag. All of her 'friends'� complimented her, and she suffocated in their miserable kindness once more. Then, without warning, she arrived.
She was everything Alicia wasn't. She embodied everything Alicia hated about the world. Her name was Vivian, and she was made of steel. No, harder than steel. Vivian was friends with no one, cared for nothing, and seemed to laugh at the world in wild defiance.
She was not pretty, like Alicia. She was gorgeous. Her dark hair was made of waves cascading down her lank frame. Her huge green eyes were mesmerizing, and seemed to pierce you if you looked at them too long. Her lips were red and full with a happy little sneer in the left hand corner.
All the kids hated her for different reasons. She seemed so perfect, and they wanted to be her friends, but for some reason that's not the way it worked out at all. For some reason, Vivian did not want to be friends with anyone. Especially Alicia.
'Well hello Viv!'� Alicia called out, her voice sounding like a ringing bell.
She wriggled her nose like a mouse and looked slyly at Vivian.
'Hello,'� responded Vivian graciously.
'How was your weekend? Mine was a bore!'� Alicia complained, her lips frowning but her eyes smiling.
Vivian seemed revolted.
'It was'�interesting. Nothing that would interest you though, I expect,'� she said mysteriously.
'Oh, you won't say? That's a shame,'� said Alicia, who did not really care.
'Is it?'� asked the girl with the piercing green eyes.
'Sure!'� said Alicia, lying again.
'Alright. I was at an engineering conference in Memphis. My father'�'�
'What were you doing there?'� Alicia asked, as if it sounded like the most boring place on Earth.
'I'�Since you obviously don't give a damn, I'm not going to waist time explaining, you silly, foul girl,'� she said, and she was off, her hair flying behind her like a banner.
Alicia turned back to her friends and cried, 'Honestly! I try so hard with that girl! Look at her waking away like she's all that! What does she do for fun, hang out with her father? Go to boring conferences? Nobody likes her. Why isn't she miserable?'�

That question haunted her.
Why wasn't she miserable? What lies behind her mask? Something awful maybe. Or maybe it's something wonderful!
Alicia saw her outside after school and screamed,
'Vivian!'�
Vivian turned quickly around, whipping her hair back.
'What is it?'�
'Vivian, why don't you care what people think of you?'�
'I didn't realize anyone thought of me. Why would they? And why should I care if they did?'� Vivian asked with a twinge of curiosity hidden in her bored voice.
'But'�why wouldn't you? Don't you ever get lonely?'� asked a very flustered Alicia.
'No.'�
'What?'�
'Look Alicia, I really haven't the time for this. I don't think of you, or of anyone else for that matter, because there is no reason to. What for?'�
'But don't you care what people think?'�
'Stop deluding yourself. You think anyone in that stupid school actually thinks anything? If that's what you think, you're more deluded than I thought.'�
Alicia's cheeks burnt red.
'That's an awful thing to say!'� she barked.
Vivian seemed to consider this. 'If it is, I'm glad,'� she responded finally. 'I've never enjoyed being nice, and I suspect the opposite suit me better!'�
'You don't have to be a horrible person just because you know you're brighter than most. It's called modesty,'� retorted a very put-out Alicia.
Vivian paused at this. She meditated on what Alicia said with great care.
'I've never been humble my whole life. Why should I start now?'� she asked, truly wanting to know what the strange blonde girl would say next.
Alicia jumped at the question. 'Well, because'�because'�it's what's decent.'�
Vivian seemed very pleased by the response.
'Ethics is very important, indeed. I'm glad you said that. You reminded me that not all people are imbeciles. Just most of them.'�
She began to walk away, but the very pleased Alicia grabbed her upper arm and said, 'Vivian! I can't live like this anymore. I need'�help.'�
This was the last thing Vivian expected. The young blonde in front of her seemed so vulnerable, so ready to accept change, that Vivian, for the first time, felt sympathy. She did not enjoy the feeling, nor did she favor Alicia for bringing it out in her. Still, she felt this 'sympathy'� and had to act on it.
'All right. If you want to know why I don't care what people think of me, we'll have to spend some time together, talking. In the end, if you want to have the same mind set, that's something you have to figure out yourself. But I will help you get there.'�
Alicia stood there in silence. She was dumbfounded.
'Why? Why would you help me?'� she asked, baffled by Vivian's change in tone.
'Because you asked,'� she responded simply. 'It is because you asked that gives me hope that you can actually learn something from me. Mind you, I'm not doing this for your sake. I'm doing it for mine.'�
'What could you possibly gain from helping me?'� asked a girl who had never received help in her life, nor had the drive to ask for it.
Vivian responded,
'Hope.'�

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