Timeless Ties || Volturi Kings

09. High Hopes

Be something greater, go make a legacy
Manifest destiny, back in the days
We wanted everything, wanted everything

— Panic! At The Disco

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When Alessia woke up that day, she immediately sensed the chill in the air, and to her surprise, her sweater had disappeared overnight. Alessia rarely awoke covered by her blanket due to her restlessness at night, so the absence of her jumper was immediately noticeable.

She searched her room thoroughly, checking every nook and cranny, but the sweater was nowhere to be found. Frustration and confusion started to consume her thoughts. Could fatigue be playing tricks on her memory, making her imagine things that never occurred? Perhaps she had only dreamed of wearing it and never actually put it on in reality?

As the morning progressed, Alessia knew she had to push the strange thoughts aside and focus on other matters. She couldn't let herself entertain the idea of something inexplicable happening. Unwanted memories of last Saturday, when she panicked after dreaming about waking up on the wrong day, resurfaced, adding to her discomfort. Because it made Alessia remember that time when— No.

Deciding to distract herself, Alessia went out for the day. She chose to go eat some pastel with caldo de cana for lunch at the nearby feirinha. She had to wait thirty minutes for her pastel because the woman was passing everyone in front of her, and then when she went for the caldo de cana the couple who sold it was already gone. There were other people selling it, but theirs weren't so good. Her frustration increased when she decided to eat her pastel, just to discover that it had basically no filling.

Returning home, still hungry and in a sour mood, Alessia found her frustration compounded by a throbbing headache. This marked the second consecutive day of physical discomfort, as she had a mysterious cut on her foot the day before. She couldn't recall how it had happened, especially since she was always wearing her Converse whenever she left her house.

Later, Alessia decided to check her email, hoping for some positive news to salvage the day. However, her heart sank as she read the message, freezing with anxiety and dread. It turned out she had received a zero on her Introduction to Economics test because she had missed taking it altogether . Panic set in as she tried to recall what had occurred last Monday, and the memory hit her like a wave. Her professor had unexpectedly launched into a monologue about the stock exchange instead of following the class' tab because they had an online test scheduled for that day. Stock exchange probably had been an additional class probably just for those who wanted .

And— oh God . Julia had not been in the class with her, and then Alessia saw her later at the University Restaurant's waiting line. How had Alessia not realized it? Julia had the same IE class as her but had skipped class. If she had just asked Julia why, she would have had enough time to do the test in the last hours of the day and send it to her professor. Why had her professor even decided to make the test online?

A mix of emotions swirled within Alessia — she didn't know whether to cry or yell. Above all, she was terrified of her father finding out about this mistake. He would undoubtedly say that she "was just wasting his money in another city instead of studying", like he had already done once that semester when she had asked if she could spend a bit more on the credit card that month because she wanted to watch a movie in the theater.

Moreover, she couldn't help but fear having to retake the class. Alessia really needed to complete her university education within the prescribed four years as per the course calendar. She had high hopes about her future and it was imperative for her to stay on track because relying on her father's financial support was not a viable option. Alessia was going to prove to her father (and to herself) that she could and would get her degree and get a job and enter Instituto Rio Branco and become a diplomat and earn her own money and buy a house and—