Tenebrous ↠ Volturi Kings {1} ✓

09

"So Aro arrived Friday?" Bella asked with trepidation on Monday morning. I chuckled as I bumped my shoulder with hers. It was sunny that day, which meant my siblings had been pulled out and I was left with Bella as my companion. The excuse for leaving me behind was an easy one - I wasn't a very outdoorsy person, and Carlisle let me make my own decisions. No one in the past couple of years had ever questioned it.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it. He only asked about you once, and even then it was simply to ask how you were, I think. Aro can be hard to read sometimes," I mused.

She nodded her agreement. "I got that impression in Volterra."

"He's very sweet, though. He thinks I haven't noticed that he's been letting me win at chess," I said with a laugh. "I don't think I have the heart to tell him."

"I didn't know you play chess," she remarked as we took a seat in our first class of the day. "I've always wanted to learn."

"I can teach you sometime, if you want. How about this weekend? We could have a sleepover at your place - normal folk only," I finished with a wink, knowing that Bella would understand what I meant while also ensuring that no one nearby would overhear and question the statement too much.

She brightened. "Yeah, that would be great! It feels like forever since we've done anything together."

"Rowan!" Jessica said as she entered the classroom, hanging up her jacket and ruffling a hand through her thick, curly hair. "You gotta see this, it's so weird. I saw it and was like, no way! Right? But it's so weird and I thought you'd think it was so funny!"

"Uh, see what?" I prompted, raising my eyebrows at her.

"Hold on, I gotta get it! I printed it out because it the resemblance is just so odd, you know?" Jessica rifled through her backpack and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, which she smoothed out before handing it to me. It two pages from a news article and just managing to keep my expression school to the right amount of detached surprise.

"Whoa, that is... weird," I said awkwardly. The article was from my hometown in Breckenridge, Colorado and read, City Remembers Rowan Ailes on Four-Year Anniversary of Disappearance, published just this past January. It was complete with my 8th grade school photo and an interview with my father.

"I know, right? Like, there's no way it's you but it's still weird, right?" She rambled on, and I was thankful that she hadn't thought enough into it to connect the dots.

"Totally weird. Do you mind if I keep this? I think my siblings will get a kick out of it," I said.

"Sure!" She said brightly, as the bell rang, forcing her to take her seat. I swallowed roughly before shoving it into my own backpack. I barely paid attention as Mr. Barty droned on about Macbeth, too busy locked in an internal battle with myself to truly listen. Did I read the article and bring back old memories, or simply throw it away at the first opportunity?

"You okay?" Bella asked softly as we packed our English books back into our bags after the bell rang, signaling the end of the period.

"No," I murmured in response. "Not really. But I want to read it."

"Is that a good idea?"

"Probably not," I admitted.

We paused at our lockers to deposit our books. Our lockers were right next to each other's, which was how we had first met in the first place. Bella peeked around her locker's door. "Did you want me to read it with you?"

"No," I said, voice filled with resolve as I slammed my locker shut. "This is something I have to do alone."

She wrapped me in a light, unexpected hug. "Okay. But I'm always here if you need to talk."