Chapter 9 - August 31, 2017 - Tempest Alana claims to have some “news” she wants to tell me and Genesis. I plop down in a seat next to her in the lunchroom; I really want to hear what she wants to say for some reason. Maybe it has something to do with this “difference” of hers she told me about in freshman year, but I don’t know for sure. “So, what’s the ‘news’?” I asked. “Nothing important; I’m just friends with Royce now,” she replied casually. I sighed. “There must be more!” Alana lowered her voice to a whisper. “Let’s just say… that he… knows.” Geni quieted down as well. “About you and Skylar?” “Yeah.” I spoke up again. “I know there’s more!” Alana sighed. “He’s sitting at our table tomorrow…” She trailed off. I sighed. I should’ve known this was going somewhere. Then Geni spilled the beans. “Royce… is my… cousin.” That just got interesting. Alana… wasn’t surprised. I suspected that he had told her, or that Royce had sat with them when I left the table early last week. “Royce sat with you guys last week when I left, riiiiiight?” I asked. Alana looked at Geni. I glanced over as well. “Actually, he did,” Alana admitted. “But clearly you met somewhere else, right? I saw Royce at the courtyard a few minutes later, so you must not have talked much.” Alana took a bite if her salad and looked over at me. “Well, the next day, I did see him in the courtyard doodling…” She sighed like there was something she shouldn’t be saying. “Since Royce is sitting here tomorrow, maybe he can explain the rest.” Thankfully, most of my burning questions had been answered, and quickly too. Genesis’ resemblance to Royce wasn’t an enigma anymore, Alana had yet another person to talk to about… well… the stuff, and maybe, just maybe, Royce would finish off the story for me. My mind was actually satisfied for once.
