Shapeshifter Academy

Chapter twenty five: Chris and Aria's Story

Chapter twenty five:Chris and Aria’s Story

I nudged Aaron lightly as he casually sipped from his water bottle.

“What?” He hissed annoyingly at me.

I scowled at him. “Talk to the poor guy.”

Aaron glanced at Theo from the corner of his eyes.

Theo was an absolute wreck since two days ago. A bubble of guilt managed to squirm its way inside of me as I took in his sagging form. If I hadn’t brought up Aria, he would be perfectly fine now.

A long sigh managed to escape my lips without my permission. I dusted off the dirt from my black training tights and scuttled out of the tent. It was getting too depressing in there for me.

I passed through the intricate maze of tents in a ghostly manner. Everything felt surreal now, which scared me. I wasn’t used to this feeling of confusion. Sure I’ve felt lost in many matters before, but this was a whole new level. My mind couldn’t even comprehend all the events that just happened.

I glared at all the smiling people around me. Weren’t they terrified of being prisoners here? Didn’t they abhor the fact that they served for Maya now?

“Idiots.” I muttered.

“I know, I get that a lot.” I heard Chris murmur from behind me.

I close my eyes and sighed. “How are you always within close proximity?”

He caught up to me and started to match my slow stride. “I secretly stalk you.”

I glowered at him and thwacked him on the back of his head.

“I’m kidding!” He chuckled.

“You better be.”

“I’m just worried about you, that’s all. I was heading back to our tent after my training session and I saw you walk out of there. You looked stressed and slightly constipated, so I decided to follow you.”

I was about to smack him again, but I decided against it. His company actually felt nice for some reason.

“Thanks.”

No words were said after that, but I was fine with that. The silence was comfortable as we ambled along together.

“Hey Chelsea?” I watched Chris’ foot as he kicked a stray pebble along with him as he walked.

“Hmm?” I hummed in response.

“Are you…worried?”

I stopped in my tracks. “About what?”

“I don’t know…about everything? I can’t help but feel something bad is going to happen soon.”

I nodded in agreement. “I know what you mean. I feel it too.”

*****_*****

Aria’s POV

I was anxious today. Something felt different that I couldn’t point out. It was like…the whole atmosphere changed today.

“Aria?”

I flinched at the sound of Stacy’s voice.  I hadn’t heard her say more than a sigh these past few days.

“I think…” She glanced at me carefully. “I think I finally get everything.”

“Please do explain.” I nodded, encouraging her to continue.

“Your father,” she paused for a moment there, gauging my reaction. When she saw that I was passive, she continued. “He’s an all-shifter right?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re not?”

I shook my head.

“Since you’re a shifter, that means that your mother was just a normal shifter too.”

I nodded bitterly, already knowing where this conversation was going.

“This isn’t about the all-shifters getting revenge on the normal shifters, isn’t it?” She glanced down at her rugged clothing. “This is just about your messed up family.” She spat out.

I shut my eyes tightly.

“Eliza. That’s your mother, isn’t it? That’s why Maya is so angry with you. That’s why she’s targeted the whole school.” Stacy stood up in her full height and glared at me. “You and your mom must’ve left Maya and your dad alone one day.”

“Please stop.” I whispered helplessly.

“Where does Sean come into play here though?” She continued. “Eliza and Sean are happily married aren’t they? Your mom met Sean, and you three became a happy family.” She clenched her small hands into fists. “Chris.”

I held my breath.

“He doesn’t make sense. He doesn’t fit into the story. Eliza and Sean must’ve had the child together shortly after you were born if he’s a bit younger than you.”

Tears began to well in my eyes.

“Your mom and Sean had a secret affair with each other!” She concluded in anger. “We’re all here because of your slutty mother.”

Faster than I could process what was happening, I stood up from my bed and slapped Stacy right on the cheek.

“Don’t you dare call my mother a slut. She was anything but that.” The red mark on Stacy’s face was getting darker, but I didn’t care. “Do you know why my mom cheated on my dad? It’s because my dad couldn’t control himself every night. He would beat her with a new animal each night and every morning he’d apologize. At first, mom and I forgave dad. He couldn’t control himself afterall, right? Though over time…he started changing. Mom and I knew that he was different, but she still stayed. I wasn’t aware of the fact that she was seeing someone until she was pregnant with Chris. Dad was so angry at mom that he beat her until she lost consciousness. I called Sean that night, and the three of us ran away together. Chris was born shortly after that, and we’ve been happy since. Until now.”

Stacy stayed silent.

I sighed as I fell back onto my bed.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” She quietly murmured. Her blue eyes met mine, and yet there was still a hint of curiosity in them.

“What else do you want to know?” I might as well explain in all to her seeming as there was no point in keeping it secret now.

Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second, before returning back to normal. “Does Maya know about Chris?”

I didn’t want to meet her eyes. “She knows everything about Chris.”

A gasp came from Stacy. “So she’s going to…”

A lump in my throat began to form. “I don’t know. I have no idea what will happen to Chris.”

I tucked myself back into my bed and forced myself to go back to sleep. Saying these things aloud only made them more real to me.

“Were you and Chris close to each other?”

I knew this question was coming. The truth was, we weren’t. In fact, my mom was terrified of giving birth to another child. We kept Chris with us for a while, but my mom could never look at him in the eye. When Chris turned one, we gave him up for adoption. Mom was devastated, but she knew it was for the best. Dad would only hunt him down, so giving him away was our only choice. Mom was however too emotionally attached to me. She couldn’t give me away, so I stayed with her and Sean. It was only this year when we found Chris again. We’ve spoken to each other, but we never wanted people to find out we were siblings.

“Not really.” I simply put it. Words weren’t enough to describe my tangled family, so this was my only choice.

“Oh.” Stacy replied. “That’s a shame. He seems really nice.”

“He does.” I agreed. “I’m sure he does.”

*****_*****

Chelsea’s POV

“Can I ask you something?”

I looked at Chris confusedly. “Yeah, sure.”

“After all of this all-shifter crap is over, do you want to…”

I rose an eyebrow. “Want to what?”

He sheepishly smiled at me. “I don’t know…get a cup of coffee together?”

“You’re asking me out on a date?”

He flailed his arms wildly. “No! No! I didn’t mean that! I mean…unless you want it to be a date…but if you don’t that’s perfectly fine to me. Can’t two friends just get a cup of coffee together? Like seriously, right?! I swear…people coming to conclusions these days!” He babbled on.

I sputtered out in laughter.

He suddenly stopped rambling and eyed me curiously. “What?”

I shook my head and chuckled. “You’re rambling now.”

He scowled at me.

“I accept despite your horrid rambling.” I slyly commented.

“I wasn’t rambling!” He muttered.

I rolled my eyes. “Deny it all you want Chris. I still know that you did ramble.”

“It doesn’t’ even sound like a word anymore!” He complained.

“What? You mean the word rambling?”

“Yes! Quit saying it so much!”

“Ramble, ramble, ramble, ramble, ramble…”

He groaned in frustration. “Whatever.”

He still walked alongside me, which surprised me greatly.

“Why did you stop?”

I blinked slowly, deep in my thoughts. “What do you mean?”

“You stopped saying that awful word.”

“Oh, no reason.”

“There has to be a reason Chelsea.”

I glanced back at Chris. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For always being here.” I shrugged. “I just realized how much we’ve been through together. Even in grade school you were always there.” I laughed, reminiscing all the times I had.

“I’d never just leave you.”

“Never?”

He smiled at me timidly. “Never.”

I punched him lightly on the shoulder. “You better promise me that, jerk.”

He chuckled. “I promise.”

I could only hope that he’d keep his promise.