Rising Secrets

Chapter 5- Questioning Loyalties

     On the drive to school, an eerie darkness replaced all but one train of thought that kept looping through Aidan's dazed mind: Did Rosette know? About her mother? His father? How they were all connected?

     When he finally rid his consciousness of that particularly bothersome set of questions, the next thing that surfaced was the fact that his father was alive. That had succeeded in keeping him up all night, wondering over his whereabouts and circumstances. Why, exactly, Marilyn didn't want to reveal anything about their father irked him in a very pestering way, too, as he replayed their conversation over and over, searching for hints.

     Worse yet, than the Lois family's questionable position on the field, was the fact that his own sister knew so much about their family -their father- that he couldn't even guess.

     Why had Dad told Emma, but not me?

     He was so distracted by his cloudy mind that he almost didn't notice a large, bustling crowd gathered before the front of the school. When he did see it, he stepped into it and shouldered his way through to the center of the mass to see what was going on.

     Thankfully, this was one of the times Aidan could be glad about his vertically six foot self, for he could see what was at the center of all that attention. But though he could see the scene- Rosette (he was quite shocked), a huddled brunette, and a tall, curvy blonde arguing about something - he couldn't fully comprehend it.

     "What's going on here?" He asked, and a sophomore, who he vaguely recalled as "Tucker", replied.

     "I think the head cheerleader, Ana, picked a fight with a girl from the literature club about dressing like an old lady. Seems kinda stupid, right? So this new chick, I think she's called Rosette or Rosetta- whatever, jumps in and defends the literature girl against the bullying and they're still at each other's throats, apparently- Rosette and Ana, I mean. That's basically the gist of it." Aidan nodded, understanding. But since Rosette and the brunette were in a pinch, no matter how much he questioned her person, he had to help.

     "Ana, was it? Why don't you let it go? What, uh," He paused to look at the small, mousy haired girl crouching next to Rosette. What was her name...?

     "Mara, Aidan, her name's Mara!" Rosette whispered, looking slightly exasperated.

     "Ah, yes, excuse me, what Mara wears can't possibly affect you in any way, yeah?" He finished. At least, he figured, he didn't sound lame. Just... kind of awkward, he realized, with a mental face-palm.

     "She's affecting my eyes. But whatever. This is between us." Ana snorted in contempt, then flipped her hair, in a stereotypical fashion, and sauntered away. Rosette stared after her with worry etched deeply into her flashing green eyes.

     "She totally let us of the hook there." She breathed. True, Aidan thought. He didn't know much about girls, but from what he'd seen with Emma, he knew they could act scarily relentless when they were serious.

     "Um... thank you. For... Helping me... With Ana." Mara stammered. She looked up at him, eyes glowing a soft amber light through her messy bangs.

     "It's fine, we're just nice, right, Aidan? Unlike some people." Rosette jeered, throwing a fiery look in the direction Ana had left in.

     Reaching a hand down to help her up, Aidan took a peek at what the whole situation had been about. True to each word against her, Mara... Dressed like an old lady. She had a fuzzy, unraveling old sweater on her top half, and a long, navy blue, ankle-length wrap skirt covering everything below her waist. To top off the ridiculous look, she wore huge, wire-rimmed glasses, that were quite antique looking, and owned a head of frizzy, puffed up hair.

     And though Aidan could see that, behind the glasses and outfit, Mara may have actually been a reasonably cute girl, he really had trouble looking past the get-up. No wonder there had been a confrontation; she seriously could use a new wardrobe, the thought breezed through his mind before he could stop it.

     "So, let's start that over. My name's Rosette Lois, and this here boy is Aidan Frosz. Won't you be our friend?" Rosette offered gently, as if talking to a startled animal. Aidan cracked a smile at her. If there's one thing the scene was good for, it was that he now was confident that Rosette was a kind-hearted girl, and most likely not evil-minded with scary secrets and a habit of breaking and entering. That, or she was a heck of a good actress. But as it stood, she was probably not the latter.