" Music in the soul can be heard by the universe. " - Lao Tzu

                    " Alice, wake up. " Chris called Alice, crouching beside her bed. She moaned and her eyes fluttered open. " Chris. " she called him and smiled. His cheeks pinked and stood up. " C'mon, let's go the my sister's dorm. Wear this hat. It'll cover your face. " he passed her a blue sun hat with a white bow on it. " Matches your outfit. " he continued. Alice smiled and asked, " What if we get caught? " Chris thought for awhile and snapped his fingers, grinning. " Run like yesterday ! " Alice sighed and said goodbye to Mrs. Witters.

" Hey, I don't want to be rude, but... these outfits... " she started off while they walked casually on the street. Chris looked at her curiously, touching his own outfit at the same time. " They're weird. " she continued. Chris chuckled and shrugged, telling her that they couldn't choose their outfits. Alice pouted and kept silent. She suddenly felt something was wrong. Something was staring at her from her back. She snapped her head around and took a glance at everyone but couldn't find anyone that was staring at her. " What's wrong? " Chris asked her. She slowly turned back uncomfortably and shook her head, forcing a small laugh. " No, nothing. I thought I felt someone staring at me. "

Chris looked behind to check for her, then took her hand. She looked at her hand that was being held, then looked up at Chris. " Run." he muttered, then pulled her. She squealed and used her other hand to hold the hat on her head, running together with him. " C'mon, we're almost there. " he ushered Alice when she stopped to catch her breath. She shook her head, still panting. She felt like she was about to pass out from lack of oxygen. Chris held her hands tightly when he heard footsteps of the uniformed guards getting louder. He pressed his lips into a thin line and pulled her, forcing her to run.

After a few more minutes of running, both of them finally reached a building. Chris glance at Alice worriedly as she looked like she was about to die from running. And the worst thing right now is, they have to run 7 floors up the building to reach Chris' sister's dorm room. He cursed under his breath and gripped her hand. " Alice, you have to go up yourself. I'll stall them. ", he told her. Alice looked at him " What? No, you go ! I can't run anymore...! " she said in between heavy breaths. " You don't have an Instrument, I'm the only one that can stall them. " , he insisted. Before she could say anything, some guards shouted from afar to stop both of them. .

" Both of you kids, show me your instrument. " one of the guards said sternly after standing in front of them. Alice hesitantly acted as if she wanted to take out her instrument. Before Chris could show his, a lady's voice came from behind them. " Hey, what are you doing ?" Chris turned around with widened eyes. " Samantha ! " She grinned and stood in between Alice and Chris, putting her hands on each of their head. " They're my siblings. You have nothing to worry about. " she told the guards. The guard who was standing in front squinted his eyes. " Show me your instrument. All of you. " Sam raised both of her hands as a sign of surrender and nodded her head a few times.

" Alright, alright. I'll go take it, it's in my room. " she backed away slowly and turned around, brushing her hand on Chris'. Alice and Chris waited for Samantha, fiddling with their feet while the guard stared at them, as if judging their every movement. A few moments later, Samantha came back running, smiling happily. " Here. This one's mine, and this is Alice's. She left it in my house last night. She's only here to take it back." The guard checked Alice's card a few times, because she seemed the most suspicious to him. Fortunately, he did not catch her. He nodded and gave the cards back to them. " Alright, sorry for bothering all of you. " the guard apologized and all of them went away.

After their shadows were gone, all three of them sighed in relief. " Gosh, that was scary. " Chris held his chest in relief. Sam ruffled her hair and sighed. " You two were lucky. Mom called me and told me about this then and I saw both of you downstairs with the guards. " For Alice, she stared at the ground, feeling guilty. " It's my fault. I'm sorry. ", she muttered. Sam and Chris looked at her. " Child, we insisted on helping you. It's not your fault. " Sam held her shoulder and told her nicely. Alice looked up at Sam and smiled with a hint of sadness. " I can't be perfect in playing the piano, I let my parents down, I always create problems for them. Now, I'm here and I'm creating problems for others. I feel... so useless. " Alice told the truth.

Sam smiled kindly at her and told both of them to enter her dorm after patting her shoulder a few times. They sat down on the chair for tea, then the conversation began with Alice explaining about where she came from and how she came here. Samantha nodded understandingly while listening to Alice's explanation. " By the way... how did you know my name ? On this card... " Alice asked while looking at her Instrument. Sam grinned and told her it was a secret. Alice pouted but shook it off. " Since you already have your Instrument... can you live like us while I try to find you a way home ? " Samantha asked, a little worried. Alice hesitated. She didn't want to. She hated music. But what can she do ?

" I'll try..." Alice whispered. Sam smiled and patted her head. " Thanks. You know, you can go to school with Chris ! " Sam suggested, making Chris choke on his tea. " W-What !? " he almost shouted, putting his teacup down. Alice gave out a small giggle and nodded. " Yeah, I can do that. " Chris turned to her with widened eyes and asked, " Not you too !? " Both of the girls laughed at him. " Can I ? " Alice asked him, smiling. Chris blushed and avoided eye contact. " Why not ? " he muttered. Sam grinned and stood up. " Alright, sister Sam has homework to do, so you two need to go home. " she announced. Chris and Alice stood up together and both of them thanked Sam for helping them.

" Your sis... she's nice. " Alice told Chris. He chuckled and nodded. " Yeah, she is. " Both of them chatted happily along the way home with Alice playing with her new Instrument. They reached home calmly and Mrs.Witters left a note saying she was out to buy more groceries. Alice drank a cup of water and went upstairs to her room. Well, she can call it her room now, right ? Since she's staying here for some time. Chris knocked and entered her room. " Hey, are you okay ? " he asked standing near the door. Alice was laying down on her bed. She looked over to him and smiled. " Yes, I'll try to cope up with this life temporarily. " Alice replied.

He stared at her for a few seconds, then asked, " Are you sleepy ? " Alice grinned and nodded. " Oh, sorry for disturbing you. Sleep well, then. " Before Chris could go out, Alice stopped him by shouting his name. He looked into the room and cocked his head to the side, waiting for her to continue. " Uhm... what will happen if I get caught by the guards ? " Chris' mouth formed an 'o' and told her, " I'm not sure, but from what I heard... they will take you somewhere and you'll never be seen again. " Alice shuddered, feeling uneasy, then she thanked him and told him goodnight.

Alice got woken up by the sunlight shining through the window. She stretched and stood up. Weird, I don't feel like I need to bathe at all. She touched her hands that was still clean and smooth then smiled. She went downstairs and greeted Mrs. Witters who was cooking breakfast. " Dear, can you please wake Chris up? He's going to be late for school soon. " she asked Alice for a favor. She agreed immediately and went back upstairs to Chris' room. She knocked on his room door and opened it slightly to peek into his room. " Chris, wake up. You're going to be late for school. " she heard him grunt in annoyance, then she opened the door bigger and went in. " Chris~ C'mon, you have to bring me to school too. " Alice shook him to wake him up.

Chris sat up suddenly and stared at Alice, with her smiling at him awkwardly. Then, he smiled and stood up. " Sorry. Let's go. " Both of them went downstairs and sat at the dining table, waiting for breakfast. Chris told Alice about his school and how great it was while they ate breakfast. " Woops, we're late. Let's go! " Chris pulled Alice and both of them ran out after saying goodbye to Mrs. Witters. Soon enough, they reached a building filled with teenagers in weird outfits. " This... " Alice gasped. Chris looked at her curiously. " Yes ? "

" This is the school I ran out from... before I met you. " she told him honestly. Chris was a little shocked but he didn't comment anything. He held her hand and brought her into the school. Alice looked around and spotted someone familiar. " Oh my... is that.... Kai- something Filmore? " she pointed at a guy not far away from them. Chris looked at him then looked at her with widened eyes, " Kairon Filmore, you know him !? " Alice shook her head slightly."No... I met him in my school.... but.... I'm not in California right now.... so what is he doing here..? "

"... Nevermind. Let's go first. We have to find your class. You said you ran out while playing the piano, right ? " Chris asked her to confirm. Alice nodded. " The teacher called my name... I guess they know me.... but I don't know them. " she said worriedly. Chris thought for awhile then snapped his fingers. " Yes, tell them you have amnesia. " Alice laughed. " I'll try to convince hem that. " She told him jokingly. Chris chuckled and pulled her to find her class. "Alice !! " a girl's voice called her. She turned around and saw a familiar girl. "Woah, what are you doing with this guy? Chris, right? " the girl asked.

Alice wanted to talk, when Chris started for her. " I'm her cousin, Chris Witters. Alice unfortunately had amnesia so she doesn't remember anything. Can you please tell her what class she is in? " The girl seemed shocked. " What? Alice has amnesia? " Chris fidgeted and told her he was late for class so he can't explain everything now. " Just, what class is she in ? Please bring her. I'm late for class. " Chris told the girl. The girl looked at him for a mere second then glared at him. " Alice is mine. You can't have her," she said. Chris raised both his eyebrows and nodded. " Don't worry, I won't. "

The girl laughed and said she was joking. " She's in class Presto No.5, by the way. " Chris thanked her and ran to his class, obviously late for something. Alice looked at her once more. Short, cute and kind. Who was this again? " Sorry, may I know your name? " Alice asked, a little curious. The girl pouted sadly.

" I'm Anne White, don't you remember? "