petrichor [rosalie hale]

v. icy ground

"It's hard to explain," Kiara told Rosalie as they sat in the library, their notes long forgotten as the conversation had progressed from science to Kiara's short temper. She had just finished apologising to Rosalie for snapping at her the week prior after receiving Jacob's text. Spending their study hall time together had become a regular thing since Kiara had suggested it the week before, and with every hour they spent together it became less about the work and more about getting to know each other.

"It's like... when things set me off they just really get under my skin. I used to think it was unnatural but my mom had always told me it was genetic and that it came from my father but I've never really seen him get the way I do."

Rosalie nodded as she continued flipping through the book in front of her although she was sure she hadn't read a word for the past fifteen pages that she had crossed over. Her focus was entirely on every word that Kiara was saying, even if she would deny it later on when Alice brought it up that evening.

"What does your mom think about you being moved to Forks?"

Rosalie sensed that it was a touchy subject as soon as Kiara's heart missed a beat. She looked up from the book to see that Kiara had paused a little on flipping through her own, toying with telling Rosalie the story. Just before the blonde could apologise, Kiara continued speaking.

"She um... she died when I was little," Kiara said gently, not really knowing what to say. "So my sisters moved out quite quickly after that which obviously didn't help with the anger and then my dad tried to help me but he always just related so much more to Jacob. I guess the partying and the drinking and the sleeping around was always just a way to blow off steam."

"Kiara... I'm so sorry," Rosalie said, her voice tighter than usual as she looked at the girl. She herself had known a lot of loss in her life - for herself more than others, since she had lost the ability to have everything she had ever dreamed about - but the way that Kiara held herself was admirable.

Kiara shrugged as they continued flicking through the textbooks. "It is what it is. Besides, others have it a lot harder in life than I do. I'm just glad I'm out of the reservation for now, and away from Sam and his little cult."

Rosalie couldn't help the small smug look on her face at that, knowing that if any of her family had less of a tolerance for the wolves it was her. She didn't know why she disliked them more than others typically did but she knew for a fact that it had something to do with the whole idea that they were able to stop ageing until they chose to stop shifting and then could live the normal human life. Just another reminder of something she wanted but could never have.

_____

"I'll send you over the rest of the research analysis tonight once I've finished typing it up," Rosalie told Kiara as they stood outside the vampire's locker. Kiara nodded in agreement, having already thanked Rosalie for being willing to type everything up. She only had one laptop in her house that was shared between herself, Billy and Jacob so Rosalie offering to do the typing for them both was a lifesaver.

Kiara would write her part down on paper and Rosalie would simply type it up - and while Kiara felt bad that she was doing extra work, the Hale had insured her that it wasn't a problem at all. She claimed it gave her an excuse to avoid spending too much time with her family, and while Kiara knew she was mostly joking, she understood where she was coming from.

"Yeah, that's ideal," Kiara told her as she watched Rosalie place her textbooks back into her locker. Her eyes trailed over Rosalie's shoulder and down the corridor before they widened slightly, a small scoff of surprise falling from her lips. "That's new."

Rosalie followed Kiara's eyeline, her smile instantly forming into a vicious frown as she noticed her brother walking and talking with Bella Swan. After taking a week away from Forks after constantly thinking about killing the human, Rosalie was furious to know that Edward was standing beside her and asking small talk questions about her move to Forks.