2|| Whispers in the Wind

24|| last chance

Aria

Aria was in a mixture of jealousy and sadness. She'd walked past the office and heard her mom laughing. In fact, it was more a giggle than a laugh. And Kalyani was with her. Their mom only giggled when she was gossiping about something. Aka almost never. So what could it have been? Not bothering to eavesdrop, she'd hidden in her room and watched Kalyani walk by it with her hair in a French braid, which none of them knew how to do.

Mom's work.

Which meant once again, her perfect sister was spending time with her perfect mom who was acting like a perfect mom. Nothing new there, nothing at all. Aria's heart beat fast, and not just because of anticipation for the rest of the day. That midnight video call had really shaken her up, and she didn't know why.

Maybe because she had that shaky feeling when Wilder had appeared. She'd had it once when she first saw him, and now again, but only much stronger. Would he betray them? It didn't seem possible, what with Wilder and his pep talks and his being so sweet to her sister.

Another feeling had uncovered itself too. And this time it wasn't just nervousness. Recently, Arlo had stopped trying to be super nasty to her and made some attempts to be nicer.

Aria liked the old version of her better.

But she'd caught glimpses of it; with the snark and the dark humor and what have you, Arlo had also expressed concern and urge to help them. She'd known it as soon as she heard about Wilder and Kalyani sneaking into her bedroom window and her not actually throwing them out.

That's right, just glimpses- and it had been enough. Actually, it had been more than that. During her fight with Kalyani in the woods, her mind had skimmed over a detail that hit hard later on. Apparently Arlo, the same one who had tried to make a fool of her, only did it to cover up something further.

Things were so confusing.

And so, she heard a knock on her door, and it cracked open. Despite herself, Aria snapped, "What do you want, KaA- oh shoot. Mom. Sorry. Hi."

Her mom didn't bother to ask whether she could come in- she just did. "Aria. I think we need to talk some things through."

"Yes, mother. What does your," highly respectable super esteemed soul "I mean, what do you want to talk about?"

Mrs. Chopra waved a hand. "For once, don't try to be all respectful- although you should- but I want to know what you actually think."

"About what?"

"Don't play dumb. I know I haven't been the best mom- and I don't want a lecture on that, but I want to know how you felt about it."

Outrage coursed through Aria. "You know how I felt about it. I felt as though I couldn't talk to you about anything, I felt like you were picking favorites just because I couldn't be a straight A student who never gets in trouble and who's council president wherever we move to. The fact that I was more interested in sports and fashion and drawing than everything you want me to be." Aria was shocked. Where were these words coming from?

"But I don't! I don't have... maybe I should stop saying that. I'll be frank, it's hard for me to accept that you refuse to use all your potential and take the path we want you to, but that doesn't mean we don't love you or accept you."

"But I am using my potential. The academics thing is okay, but it's never been my thing. I'm using my potential in what I'm good at," Aria insisted.

"It's still going to take time, but I'll just say this: be the best in whatever you're doing. Meanwhile, I'll try to express myself better, so we don't go through these misunderstandings. Anyways, I overheard the other day that you thought I wouldn't accept your sexuality because you're you," her mom continued severely.

Aria flushed with embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that- I was just mad... like always." And it was true. She'd had an unexpected fit of rage at her parents and didn't know how to simmer down.

"Well, I know you very well, but I want to hear it again. So tell me what you've been hiding," Riya Chopra crossed her arms.

"Okay," Aria blew out a silent breath. "Let's make this official. "I'm bisexual. I've known this for a few years, and I know I had the right to not tell you, but my reason was wrong."

Her mom nodded. "I support you, and I'm glad you told me. Is there anything else you want to talk about? Is there anyone you like?"

Aria flushed. "Who told you that?"

She smiled. "I have my sources. So tell me about her."

"Ummm, well, she's blonde for one thing. Her eyes are kind of pretty, and I've known her before. She just sort of changed her name. Not legally legally though- more like a nickname," Aria blurted out.

"You're rambling, Aria. Just tell me, what's her name?"

"I... I don't really want to. I can tell you her initials!"

"Okay, let's hear it."

"A.D. Those are her initials," Aria whispered.

Her mom's eyebrows shot up. "That girl from summer camp? I had no idea you were close..."

"We're not. She was pretty awful actually and she's the one Kalyani almost killed with a tennis ball so."

Mrs. Chopra laughed. Wait, no. It was more like a giggle. Like the one she'd heard earlier. Wait a SECOND. She'd been gossiping. With Kalyani. Had she...?

"Kalyani I swear I'm going to kill you!" shouted Aria, hoping her sister heard.

Now her mom rolled her eyes. "Keep your voice down. I'm glad things are better now." The smile vanished. "You're going to do something stupid, aren't you?" she asked seriously.

Aria gave a noncommittal jerk of the head. "Maybe..."

Her face twisted into a frown, but she nodded. "I'm not going to pry. Just be safe."

A grin spread over Aria's face. "Okay mom. I love you." Damn, it felt good to say those words.

"I love you too." And she was gone.

Seconds later, Kalyani popped in. "Things went well, I assume?"

Aria threw a pillow at her head. "Why did you tell her?"

Kalyani grinned. "It's my job as your annoying twin sister. Do you want to get something to eat or should we play a game on your console?"

Hardly believing it, Aria stared. "Don't you have some student council thing to do?"

"Nah. It would be much more fun to hang with you."

By the time they'd finished up, it was about 6:00 (break time included). The doorbell rang, and Aria assumed it was the mailman or something. But it wasn't. It was Jacob and Evelyn.

"Hi Ev," Kalyani called out from a different room.

"How did you know it was her?" Aria yelled back.

"Best friend instinct!"

Aria rolled her eyes and turned back to them. "Yeah, you're thirty minutes early. What is it?"

"Well, we went down to the lake, and Jacob tried to get Roxanne to talk like you said. But she wasn't appearing."

By now, Kalyani had joined them.

"Remember the other day Jacob and I were texting in the library and didn't tell you why?

"Yeah?"

"Well, we were talking about Roxanne. Where she was. The more we thought about it the likelier it seemed- now it's proof." Evelyn looked all around, as if she couldn't bear to say the next few words.

"What if she was lying about having to go back to your house? What if she was always here?"