The black Audi cruised smoothly along the familiar road toward Forks High School.
The sky was its usual shade of gray.
A light drizzle tapped gently against the windshield while the wipers moved back and forth in a steady rhythm.
Inside the car...
Amara was in an exceptionally good mood.
She lightly hummed along to the country song playing on the radio, one hand resting on the steering wheel while the other occasionally tapped to the beat.
Around her, countless tiny emerald-green particles floated through the air.
Some danced near the dashboard.Some lazily drifted around her hair.
A few mischievous ones even circled her fingers before darting away again.
Amara's eyes unconsciously followed them.
One floated toward the rearview mirror.Another spiraled around the gear shift.
One particularly energetic little particle zoomed past her nose.
Amara couldn't help smiling.Hehe...They're so cute.
Look at them go...
She mentally nudged one.The tiny particle obediently twirled in a circle.Another one bounced after it.
Amara giggled under her breath.Good babies.
Beside her...
Bella quietly watched everything.Her eyes slowly shifted from Amara....to the empty space Amara kept smiling at...then back to Amara again.
Bella couldn't see anything.No green lights.No floating particles.Nothing.
To Bella...
It looked like Amara was driving while randomly staring at invisible objects and smiling like someone who had completely lost touch with reality.
Bella sighed internally.She really doesn't notice she's doing it...
After a few moments, Amara noticed Bella looking at her again.
She frowned.
"What?"
Bella blinked.
"What?"
"You keep looking at me."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"I'm really not."
"You've been staring for like... five minutes."
Bella calmly looked out the window."I was looking at the trees."
Amara looked outside."...Bella.There are no trees."
"..."
Bella slowly turned back."Then I was looking at the rain."
Amara narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
Bella maintained the most innocent face she could manage.
After another few seconds...Bella bit her lip.
Amara immediately pointed a finger.
"There!"
Bella blinked.
"What?"
"You did the thing."
"What thing?"
"The lip-biting thing!"
Bella frowned.
"I do not have a thing."
"You absolutely have a thing."
"I don't."
"You bite your lip whenever you're thinking."
Bella folded her arms.
"I don't."
"You literally just did it."
"..."
Bella looked away.
Amara gasped dramatically.
"See!"
Bella sighed."Can you please watch the road?"
"I am watching the road."
"...Mostly."
Bella rubbed her forehead.
Lucien really picked the densest girl in Washington.
Meanwhile...
Amara was happily thinking something entirely different.
Bella's just being Bella.Moody.Weird. Professional lip-biter.
Nothing unusual.Not once...Not even for half a second...
Did her wonderfully dense brain consider the possibility...
That Bella had already figured everything out.
Several minutes passed in comfortable silence.
Then...
Out of absolutely nowhere...
Bella spoke."Stop the car."
Amara blinked.
"What?"
"Stop the car."
Amara looked at Bella.Then back at the road."...Why?"
Bella remained completely calm."I need to tell you something."
Inside Bella's head...
A completely different conversation was happening.If I don't stop her now...
She's going to smile at invisible things in front of the entire school.
Then Mike will notice.
Jessica will notice.
Angela will notice.
Alice definitely will notice.
Then somehow the entire town will know.Then the government.Then scientists.Then documentaries.
Then Amara ends up in some underground laboratory.
Bella stared straight ahead.
No.
Not happening.
Amara glanced at Bella again.
She wasn't joking.
With a confused sigh, Amara pulled the Audi safely onto the side of the road.
The engine continued idling quietly.
She unbuckled her seatbelt slightly before turning toward Bella. "What happened?"
Bella didn't answer immediately.
Instead...
She bit her lip again.
Amara groaned."There!You did it again!"
Bella ignored her.
She was trying to figure out how to say this without making Amara panic.
Which...
Knowing Amara...Was impossible.
Several awkward seconds passed.Amara finally threw both hands into the air.
"Bella."
Silence.
"Bella."
More silence.
"Bella!"
"What?"
"Can you please speak?We're already running late.I usually don't care about school...but if I actually wake up early and get ready, I'd like my plans to stay intact."
She pointed dramatically."So whatever is going on inside that mysterious head of yours..."
"Please."
"Just say it."
Bella inhaled slowly.Then looked directly into Amara's eyes. "Can you stop making it so obvious?"
Amara frowned." ...Making what obvious?"
Bella answered without hesitation."That you can heal people."
Silence.
Complete.
Utter.
Silence.
Amara's brain completely crashed.
...
...
...What?
How?
HUH?!
Her mouth slowly fell open.
She stared at Bella as if she'd suddenly started speaking ancient Greek.
How does she know?!
I never told her!
I literally got this power THIS MORNING!
ROB!
WHAT KIND OF SECRET POWER GETS DISCOVERED IN LESS THAN TWELVE HOURS?!
THIS IS A SCAM!
Before Amara could even attempt to deny it...
Bella raised one hand.
"Don't."
Amara froze.
"I wasn't..."
"Don't."
"I can explain..."
"Don't."
"I...."
Bella sighed. "Amara.You've been smiling at empty space....moving your eyes around like you're following invisible butterflies....giggling to yourself.....and then somehow..."
Bella pointed at herself.
"I stopped feeling exhausted."
She pointed toward road in the distance behind them."And Charlie suddenly looked ten years younger."
Bella folded her arms. "Even a stupid person would connect the dots."
Amara quietly lowered her head."...Fair."
Bella continued.I'm not saying this to make fun of you.I'm saying this because someone else will notice too."
Her expression became serious."Healing people isn't normal, Amara."
"It's... huge."
"Do you understand that?"
Amara nodded slowly.
Bella leaned back against the seat.
"What happens if someone records it?"
"What happens if doctors find out?"
"What happens if the government gets involved?"
"What if scientists start asking questions?"
"What if people start chasing you because they want you to heal someone?"
Bella's voice softened.
"Worse..."
"What if they stop asking?"
"What if they simply take you?"
The words settled heavily inside the quiet car.
For the first time that morning...Amara's smile disappeared.She had never thought that far ahead.Not once.
She'd only been excited.Healing Charlie had made her happy.Healing Bella had made her happy.
She hadn't considered...
Everything that could happen afterward.
Her hands slowly tightened around the steering wheel."..That's actually terrifying."
Bella nodded.
"It is."
Amara stayed quiet for a long moment.Then she asked in a much smaller voice,
"...Does Charlie know?"
Bella thought carefully."I don't think so."
She shrugged.
"He probably just assumed you've been acting weird because of Lucien."
Amara immediately released the biggest sigh of relief imaginable.
"Oh thank God..."
Bella couldn't help smiling.
If only they knew...Neither sister realized...Charlie had already noticed far more than either of them believed.
He had simply chosen silence.
After another quiet moment...
Amara looked toward Bella.
"...Should we tell the Cullens?"
"...Or Lucien?"
Bella considered it seriously.
Several long seconds passed.
Finally...
She shook her head.
"Not right now.You don't owe anyone an explanation."
"If one day you decide to tell them...That's your choice."
"If you don't..That's your choice too.You don't have to tell anyone until you're ready."
Amara looked at Bella quietly.
Something warm settled in her chest.
Bella rarely said sentimental things.So when she did...They meant something.
A small smile slowly appeared on Amara's face."...Thanks."
Bella immediately ruined the emotional moment."Now stop looking at me like you're about to cry."
"I wasn't!"
"You were."
"I was appreciating the sisterly bonding."
"It was getting weird."
"I was having character development."
"You were having tears."
"I was not."
Bella pointed toward the windshield. "Drive.We're going to be late."
Amara blinked.
"...You're really good at ruining emotional moments."
Bella smirked.
"I know."
Amara started the car again.
The Audi smoothly pulled back onto the road.
This time...
Amara deliberately kept her eyes fixed ahead.No smiling at floating particles.No absentminded giggling.No following invisible lights with her gaze.
The little green particles continued happily dancing around her anyway.
Amara whispered so quietly even Bella couldn't hear,"Behave yourselves, green babies."
Several tiny particles lazily bumped against each other as if completely ignoring her request.
Bella glanced sideways."...Did you just talk to yourself?"
Amara answered with complete confidence.
"No."
Bella stared.
"...That was incredibly unconvincing."
Amara coughed.
"Drive now."Bella simply sighed and looked out the window.
Yep.
Definitely need to keep an eye on this idiot.
Otherwise she won't even last a day before accidentally revealing everything.
And beside her...
Amara silently made a promise to herself.From today onward...She would learn how to hide her powers properly.
Preferably...
Before her own facial expressions exposed her again.