Chapter 6 Chapter 6

BELLA

The words catch in my throat as my eyes scan the anger that is slowly brewing behind his darkened orbs. I want to say yes, I have a problem with it. I want to tell him that this is insane, that my sister shouldn't be sleeping in our bedroom, that there is something deeply wrong with this entire situation.

But his cold eyes squeeze the words out of my mouth, warning me before I even open my mouth. He's daring me to object, daring me to give him a reason to be angry with me again.

I sigh, shaking my head to rid myself of the truth that will almost kill me.

"No, it's fine," I say, forcing the words out even though they taste bitter. I sprinkle a forced smile as well to seal the deal.

"I was just going to say I have a sleepover planned with Esme anyway. So really, it doesn't matter,” I turn to Ariana, masking the hurt, “you can stay.”

His jaw tightens and somehow, the anger amplifies even though I didn't know it was possible. He leans forward slightly, his voice deepening.

"You're going to Esme's house?" he asks, but it doesn't sound like a question, “How can you even think of going anywhere when your sister hasn't been around for three years!?” He bellows. I squeak, jolting backwards a bit from the intensity of his voice. My skin crawls with goosebumps.

“Ariana is clearly trying to put today behind her and look forward to things getting better, but you're giving her an attitude by running off?"

The unfairness of it makes something inside me break a little. I haven't been giving anyone an attitude. I've been the one holding everything together while everyone else has been falling apart. But I don't say that. Instead, my shoulders cave inward and the fight drains out of me.

"You're right," I whisper. "I'm sorry. I'll stay."

Ariana giggles as she steps forward and wraps her arms around me, pulling me into an embrace. My body freezes, unsure how to respond. But then muscle memory takes over and I hug her back, and something inside my chest loosens just a fraction

Warmth explodes in my chest, the strong feeling of missing her overtakes my senses. Despite everything, despite all the years of her treating me like I was beneath her, despite the way she's turned my entire life upside down in the span of a few hours, I missed my sister.

"I missed you," Ariana whispers into my hair, and I almost believe her.

When we pull apart, a soft smile spread across my face unintentionally. It's complicated, the relationship between my sister and I.

Yes, Ariana has always been cruel to me. Yes, she's been the favorite since the moment we were born, the one who was bigger and stronger and smarter, the one everyone wanted to be around. But there's another side to her that people don't see. The side she doesn't let people see.

When it is just the two of us, behind closed doors, Ariana is different. She is nice to me. She is the big sister I need her to be. It's almost like she is afraid for people to see that she has a good side and can treat me nicely.

Her hand lingers on my shoulder, her thumbs drumming a rhythm to a cartoon that we had watched when we were small. The day when I found out that our parents wanted to split us up.

They wanted to send me to the local werewolf community school where rogues and most omega kids all studied together, while Ariana would go to the elite academy. I remember how she'd flung herself on the couch and wailed frantically.

Her arms flaying like she was four years old. She threw a tantrum, refusing to go anywhere without me. She had screamed and cried until our parents had no choice but to enroll us both at the elite school, even though it meant she had to tolerate my presence constantly.

Maybe that was the price I had to pay for the years of torment I endured from her and her friends.

“Are you sure she's your sister? You both look nothing alike,” one of her minions flanking her side had said during one of their numerous episodes of bullying me. It was a lie, we looked alike…maybe it was because my uniform had holes that were patched up with other similar coloured materials instead of a new one.

Ariana chuckled as her minions matched toward me with a refuse that had garbage water leaking from the crack beneath it. It stained the immaculate tiles, a slow countdown.

“Do it,” Ariana commanded and at once they flung the trash at me, the slimy mix splashing across my teeth and hitting the back of my throat. I gagged and ran into the toilet, hurling the content of the little breakfast my parents had given from Ariana’s remains.

“Aw, is she going to cry?” Ariana said as she waltzed into the stall I was in.

“Answer me,” she demanded but my face was halfway into the toilet, my lungs burning with intensity desperate for air, already fragile from the reflux.

She slammed her foot into my side, pain shooting up my frame immediately and like clockwork, her minions joined in and slammed their fists wherever they could. I curled into a foetal position, blocking my vital organs from years of experience.

“That's so sweet of you, Ari,” Brad says, severing the trip down memory lane. Ari? We are back to per names.

She shifts away from me, moving back to the spot she had been standing behind Brad. His face, on the other hand, relaxed into softness when he trails her footsteps.

“Why can't you be more like your sister,” Brad mutters and I catch it before he turns toward her. We look alike, but to him, I can never in a thousand years meet up to her expectations. Ariana inhales sharply.

"I'm ready to tell you what really happened that day and where I have been for the past years," Ariana says suddenly.