Kids in Love

Alice had perched herself on the edge of the single bed, her legs dangling off the side. Swinging back below her like tiny pendulums.
"But why can't Mom and Dad stay here with me?" she pouted, letting her hands fall hopelessly to her sides. Now that her crying had subsided she'd come out from under the duvet.
"Well honey, you know that your parents are very busy with their work and they have to travel to different countries all summer. They told me that it would just be boring for a little kid if you went with them so I said you could stay with me." Alice's grandmother knelt down in front of the sobbing child, wiping a stray tear off of her cheek.
"But I'm not a kid, I'm six! That's like a grown up."
"I know, I know! But your parents still think it would be more fun if you stayed here with me. We could go to the beach, or the carnival, or we can bake cake and go shopping. We're going to have so much this summer, alright?" Alice took a shaky breath and wiped another fallen tear with the sleeve of her t-shirt,
"Okay" she nodded, and then her grandmother thought she could almost see a hint of a smile.

• • •

Over a week had passed and Alice had spent the majority of it inside reading as a result of the drizzling rain. Now that the sky was bright and clear she relished the chance to leave the small house.
Alice's grandmother was a young enough woman, she was only about fifty but her husband had passed
several years beforehand. Now she invested her efforts mostly into her garden, it was a beautiful open space towards the back of the house. There was a small treehouse from when Alice's mother had lived there as a child, along with a plethora of trees fit for climbing, beautifully bright flowers and lush grass. It was any child's dream.
Alice set herself up on a picnic blanket in the centre of the garden, bringing her Barbie dolls with her in a little purple bag pack that she was never without. She lined the dolls up in front of her and planned the game out as she always did, being an only child she'd grown accustomed to playing by herself. In her young mind she'd constructed a scenario where her two favourite dolls were trapped in the jungle, trying to find a way out.
Just as Barbie and her friend had confronted a giant tiger in the jungle Alice heard someone stepping on leaves behind her. "Please can I have a few more minutes grandma? I'm not hungry for my lunch yet." she asked without turning around.
"Oh, um. I'm not um..." She heard a meek voice say. Standing up and turning to face the voice she saw a little boy who looked her own age with shaggy black hair and a runny nose.
"Who are you?" She simply asked.
"I'm, um, I'm Frank. Your grandma lets me play in her yard sometimes, I live next door and I don't, uh, have a tree house" he kept is eyes away from hers, focusing on the clouds or the grass, "she said that I could play with you"
Alice grinned, she had some friends at home in New York but she never really had any friends that were boys because well, boys were gross, but she'd get over it.
"Yeah! Which Barbie do you wanna be?"

Notes

Only starting this one out but I've got it all planned out. I'll be polishing it up as I go, as you can see I don't have a cover picture or a proper theme yet but that'll all come soon enough. Please let me know what you think!