A F T E R D A R K | PAUL LAHOTE - 1

21

I closed my eyes and pulled my bottom lip between my teeth. Mitosis, I knew this one.

It was silent in her house, the only noise was the soothing sound of rain pounding off the windows.

"It's, uh.." I tapped my fingers on the table, searching for the answer in my mind, "Don't tell me, I know it."

Soft laughter filled my ears, "Okay, I won't." Emily said to me as I continued to think.

"Oh!" I yelled, clicking my finger and jumping slightly out of my chair, "Mitosis is a process where a single cells separates into two identical daughter cells!"

Emily grinned at me, "Yes!" She said, putting the card down on pile I had gotten right, "So how many stages of Mitosis are there?"

The triumphant grin fell quickly from my face and I looked at Emily. How many stages? I wasn't aware there was stages of Mitosis. I groaned loudly, collapsing down on to Emily's dining table in despair, "I don't know." I mumbled, although my voice was pretty much inaudible.

I heard Emily chuckle just as the timer on the oven dinged. She pushed the chair out from underneath her, "Let's take a break, your pasta is ready."

I lifted my head up and rested it on my folded arms, still pretty much lying flat out on the table, "Thanks Em—" I was cut off by my phone ringing on the table beside me and answered it without checking the caller ID, "Hello?"

"Did you know Jakes not ill?" Bella's voice rang through the receiver and she spoke to me in a rushed voice, "He was walking around shirtless in the rain!"

"Bella." I calmed lazily as I ran my hand through my hair, "I'm sure he's fine."

"He's not! I went over—"

I sat up immediately, "You went over?"

"Yes, he's cut all his hair off and he even got a tattoo." She said, "It's Sam, I'm telling you Sophia he's got something to do with this!"

"Bella I'm sure he's fine." I repeated as Emily placed the bowl of pasta down in front of me. I looked up to her and mouthed a thank you before she returned back to the kitchen, preparing the food for when the pack got back.

"You didn't see him Sophia, he.."

Bella didn't finish her sentence and I pressed the phone further to my ear, "He what?"

"Nothing." She told me quickly.

I sighed, forking the pasta in the bowl. I knew she was lying, "Look I'll be home soon and we can talk then, alright?"

"Yeah.. okay."

"Talk later Bels."

"Bye."

Emily sat down opposite me, "Something the matter?"

"Yeah." I grumbled, "Bella went to go see Jake."

She nodded in understanding straight away and her smile dropped, "Oh."

"Yeah, oh."