Chapter 13 Aria
I didn’t think much about the incident at the mall until I walked into school and saw Sienna already waiting at her locker. Usually Sienna texted me when she arrived or waved from across the hallway before joining me to our classes, but today she stood with her arms folded and a look that was a little too focused for first period.
I slowed. “Okay, that’s a serious face. Are we failing chemistry?”
Sienna didn’t laugh, which already felt strange caused she was a lover of jokes. She pushed her brown braids back behind her shoulders and leaned closer. “Did anything weird happen last night?”
I blinked. “Weird how? I went to bed early. My mom was watching some show and I passed out. Why?”
Sienna kept staring like she expected more. “No noises? No people hanging around? Anyone at your door? Anything outside?”
I frowned. “That’s a lot of questions.”
Sienna rolled her eyes like she wanted to play it off as nothing. Instead, she checked the hallway, dropped her voice, and asked again. “You didn’t see anyone outside your yard?”
I shook my head slowly. I wanted to say no without thinking, but the truth nudged my memory. There had been something. A movement by the fence, an animal or a person, I just didn't know. But I hadn’t even bothered to check because I had assumed it was a stray dog or raccoon.
She must've noticed my hesitation. “What did you see?”
“It could’ve been an animal,” I said. “I didn’t even bother turning on the lights.”
Sienna’s jaw tightened. “Did it look big?”
I made a face. “Sienna, do you want to tell me what’s going on or are we playing detective for no reason?”
That finally got a reaction. Sienna dropped the interrogation posture, forced a smile, and tried to wave it off. “I just don’t want you freaking yourself out if you hear stuff at night. This town has wolves the size of humans.”
“That, I noticed,” I said and grabbed the books I needed, tossing it into my backpack and shut the locker.
Sienna walked me toward English class, but she kept waiting for me to volunteer more. When I didn’t, she tried again, this time pretending it was casual. “You’ve been near the Hale house a lot, right?”
There it was. The Hale topic again. Second mention this week. I shrugged. “We’re neighbours. It’s hard not to be near it plus I’ve never gone in.”
“Okay. But have you been really close? Their backyard? Their fence? Anyone talk to you from there?”
I stopped walking completely. Students drifted around them, slipping into classrooms, laughing, and complaining about tests. Here I was, standing still in the doorway like I had to solve a crime before literature class. “What exactly are you asking me?”
Sienna let out a breath. “I’m asking if that family has said anything to you. Invited you anywhere. Tried to get close.”
I balked at the question. If only she knew that some weeks ago, Luca had shown up at her door wounded. But I doubted she'd like that revelation.
“Why would they?” I answered but that all Sienna offered was silence.
“Sienna, I’m not getting stalked by a family of supervillains.” I rolled my eyes. “I’ve barely spoken to them except Luca.”
We stepped into English, sat in our usual seats, and I tried to pay attention. The teacher started talking about point of view in short stories but I kept replaying the conversation. Sienna wasn’t suspicious by nature and she didn’t poke into people’s business unless she was worried about something real.
When the bell rang, I packed my notebook slower than usual. Sienna was already waiting at the door. “Lunch together? Maybe the library?”
I nodded because I didn’t want an argument. We walked to the cafeteria, grabbed trays, and picked a table near the windows. Outside, the sky looked like snow might fall but the sunlight was intense.
Sienna stabbed a fork into her salad. “So you didn’t answer my question.”
I set my drink down. “What question?”
“The Hale thing.”
My patience thinned. “Why are you so obsessed with them?”
Sienna stared down at her tray, voice low. “I’m not obsessed. I’m just cautious. There are families in this town who keep to themselves and no one questions it. The Hales are one of those families.”
“That sounds really dramatic.”
“It’s not. It’s history.”
I waited. If Sienna had a story, she could tell it. After a moment, she leaned in again. “When I was seven, there was something weird that happened down by the creek. A whole bunch of cops came in the night. The next morning, everyone acted like nothing happened. My dad tried to ask questions. He got shut down. Next week, we got a warning from the town leaders about spreading rumors that would cause panic but the weird thing was we didn't even know what happened.”
I softened a little. “Maybe it was about a wildlife. Or a search team for a missing person.”
“That’s what they told us. But nobody filed a missing person report and nobody saw an animal.”
I pushed my fries around my plate. “How does that connect to me living next door?”
“Because people disappear when they try to dig into that family.”
I sat back. That sounded like an urban legend. Creepy, sure, but also exaggerated. Plus, I wasn't even trying to dig into any family not that I wasn't curious about them but I knew the image Luca painted was just superficial.
Sienna dragged a hand down her face. “I sound insane.”
“A little.”
“But I’m serious. Stay away from Luca and stop staring at him.”
My pulse jumped. “I don't stare at him.”
Sienna raised an eyebrow and I felt my cheeks get hot. I wasn’t going to give Sienna the satisfaction of knowing I did. “He’s a playboy. You wouldn't want to get tangled with him.”
I set down my fork down angrily. “Do you want me to never speak to anyone at this school? Because so far your advice has been: avoid the basketball guys, avoid the cheerleaders, avoid the Hales—”
Sienna grimaced at my outburst. “I’m just trying to keep you safe.”
That cracked a laugh out of me, which made a few nearby students glance over. “Stop trying to “mom” me, Sienna. I get enough of that from home.”
Lunch ended and we walked outside together with the cold air prickling my cheeks.
“I’m just looking out for you,” Sienna said. “Silverpine isn’t always friendly just because it looks quiet.”
I nodded. “I know and I appreciate it.”
We reached the science wing entrance. Sienna squeezed my arm before heading toward her own class. We don't share this particular class. I stood alone for a second, looking out across the parking lot, thinking about the night sound behind our fence. It could’ve been nothing but the way Sienna asked those questions stuck with me in a way that wouldn’t shake loose. For the first time, I wondered if someone really had been watching.
And if Sienna already knew who and why.