SURVIVE (THRIVE: Book Two)

Chapter 22- Clarity

"I can't believe it." Pearl says as she looks at the ground in utter disbelief "There's no way, I mean, you're you. And now you're suddenly a different person?"

"You've been keeping this from us for a whole month?" Aria asks defensively "We're practically sisters, why didn't you tell us sooner?" she asks.

"I'm not a different person, I'm still the same old me, I just... have a past." I sigh "And I didn't tell you guys because I was worried that you would look at me differently." I explain nervously.

"How can we not? I mean, you're suddenly royalty." Pearl states as she looks at me, studying my face.

"I'm not, or at least, I don't want to be." I sigh as I look out the window at the full moon "My mother never relished in that sort of thing. She always looked at everyone as equals and taught me to do the same. I'm just a person, nothing more."

"That's not true." Aria states, still sounding shocked "You're immortal, not to mention the fact that you can apparently harness the elements. That's not normal." she explains.

"Okay, I suppose you're right about that." I agree, trying to think of what to say next, but we're all at a loss for words. The silence is deafening, making the ringing in my ears grow more and more intense.

"We aren't normal, there's no denying that as much as you want to." I suddenly hear Desire's voice. Pearl and Aria look around in shock trying to figure out where it came from.

"Des?" I ask "Where are you?" Suddenly, she appears in the window and climbs inside.

"What... how... what?" Aria mutters as she watches Desire come in and lean against the wall.

"Why are you here?" I ask curiously at her sudden appearance.

"You sent out a distress signal without realizing it when those guys attacked you." she explains "You're lucky that we're all still able to communicate like that. I'm glad you were able to get away on your own though. Are you okay?" she asks as she sits down on my bed.

"Yeah, I am now." I sigh as I look at Pearl and Aria who still seem completely dumbfounded.

"She's right. None of this is normal." Aria states as she stares at us.

"Exactly." Desire states as she looks between the two of them "We're still just people, we just happen to be powerful people." she explains casually.

"That's a better way of putting it," I say as I rub my eyes.

"I don't even know what to think right now." Pearl says nervously as she curls into the corner of her bed "I have so many questions, but none are even coming to mind now." she sighs.

"That's one of the reasons that I'm here." Desire smiles "It's a lot for one person to try to explain, so I figured I'd help ease that a bit."

"Thank you," I say appreciatively.

"But first, I need to talk to Aunt Lily. Is she home?" she asks curiously. Shit.

"Did you just say, Lily?" Aria asks, her eyes growing wider.

"Home?" Pearl asks as she darts her glance between us "Lily lives here? That would mean that-" she suddenly figures it out "Are you kidding me?"

"Whoops. I thought you already covered that part, that's my bad." she says nervously as she stands up, scratching the back of her head "I'll be right back." she states as she heads down the hall. Aria and Pearl quickly turn their attention from her to me.

"Is there anything else we're missing before someone blurts it out?" Aria asks anxiously. I try to think about it, but so much is going on that nothing comes to mind.

"Um, I can honestly say that I'm not sure." I sigh as I flop back on my bed.

"Well," Pearl nervously begins, "Can I ask you something?"

"Hm?" I ask, turning my head to the side.

"If you're one of them, why are you still living here?"

By the time Aria and Pearl finally went to sleep, I thought that the sun was ready to come up. Even after that long day, there was no way I was going to be able to relax enough, so I decided to go outside and climb up on the roof. The peaceful sounds of the night filled my senses, but it still wasn't enough to help me calm down. My mood was making the wind pick up, and I didn't have the energy to stop it. The whole point of staying here and not telling the girls was so that I could stay 'normal' a little while longer, but now it felt like there was no point in hiding it anymore. I know that they would miss me if I left, but I can't shake the feeling that they are never going to view me the same again. The whole premise had me stressed out, the only people that I cared about that didn't know were Alex and Magnus. Wait, Magnus. There's no way that I can tell him, for all I know, he would just keep dating me because I'm one of them. I know that it's not fair to hide something this big from him, but I want to see that he likes me for me, not for who I'm drawn out to be. It feels like my head is going to burst.

"Would you calm down, I can't sleep with all this stress coming off of you." Desire states as she climbs onto the roof.

"You could stop reading my mind, you know. It's creepy." I state as I look out over the rooftops "Actually, you could have gone home. You really didn't need to sleep over." I mention.

"No way in hell am I leaving you after everything that happened tonight." she says bluntly as she sits beside me, wrapping her arm around my shoulder "And I'm not reading your mind, your aura is just piercing through me like a knife," she explains.

"Sorry." I sigh as I pull my legs into my chest.

"Don't worry about it." she smiles warmly "Just focus on you."

"I'm trying not to." I state as I push my forehead on my knees "What the hell am I going to do about my boyfriend?"

"What do you mean?" she asks, confused.

"What if telling him the truth changes how he feels about me?" I ask nervously.

"You know," she begins calmly, "I've asked myself that question a million times, and I always come up with the same answer."

"What's that?" I ask curiously.

"Risking change is a lot better than hiding who you really are." she explains kindly "If he really cares about you, his feelings will stay clear and unchanged. When you love someone, revealing big truths doesn't matter as much as you'd think."

"Really?" I ask hopefully.

"Really." she smiles "And if his opinions of you do change, I'll just kick his ass."