And The Smile I'd Been Waiting For

Alice Was Scrutinizing My Boring Jeans-and-a-t-shirt Outfit In A Way That Made Me Self-conscious. Probably Plotting Another Makeover. I Sighed. My Indifferent Attitude To Fashion Was A Constant Thorn In Her Side. If I'd Allow It, She'd Love To Dress Me Everyday―perhaps Several Times A Day―like Some Oversized Three-dimensional Paper Doll.

I'd Been Broken Beyond Repair.

Bella, It's Not My Fault If You Are Exceptionally Unobservant.

Driving At The Speed Limit--hideous Thought.

So When He Touched Me, It Was Deeper And Slower Than The Wildfire, Like The Flow Of Molten Rock Far Beneath The Surface Of The Earth. Too Deep To Feel The Heat Of It, But It Moved Inexorably, Changing The Very Foundations Of The World With Its Advance.