CHAPTER NINE

The next day, to Teddy's surprise, Aviana found him with remarkable ease, leaving him pondering how she had managed to do it.

As Teddy watched Aviana effortlessly walk along the edge of the stone wall, he couldn't help but notice how carefree and almost reckless she seemed.

He, in comparison, walked on the safer and more stable ground, and as he observed her, he couldn't help but marvel at her brazen nonchalance.

Although Teddy attempted to maintain a calm composure outwardly, internally, he was filled with concern. He walked with a straight back and kept an unwavering focus on Aviana, ready to catch her if her balance wavered and threatened to send her falling to her demise.

Despite his own anxiety, Teddy couldn't shake off the realization that Aviana appeared unusually calm and collected.

Just as abruptly as she had started, Aviana came to a sudden stop and planted herself on the stone wall. This sudden halt caused Teddy to let out a sigh of relief, thankful for the brief pause in her reckless movement.

Aviana chuckled softly at Teddy's sigh, but Teddy remained far from relieved as he noticed that one of her legs was still dangling over the edge.

A silence hung in the air as Aviana initiated the conversation with the words, "Say, Edward—tell me, something." Teddy listened patiently, expecting her to follow up with a question, but as the moments passed without her saying anything further, he began to realize that that was all she had intended to say.

"What would you like to know?" Teddy inquired.

Aviana rested one of her knees in front of her, leaning on it as she replied, "Nothing in particular."

"Usually, when someone begins a conversation with 'Tell me, something', they usually already have a question lined up in their mind," Teddy responded, slightly puzzled by Aviana's casual approach.

Aviana chuckled and reached out to pat Teddy's arm, saying, "I can't really argue there, but I'm not one to just have a precise question."

She knocked her knuckles against her head, adding, "I occasionally forget that not everyone can just read the situation as seamlessly as I can."

"What do you mean, reading the situation?" Teddy inquired with curiosity.

"I call it people watching," Aviana stated, "Alright, I told you something, now - tell me something about you, and it has to be something not obvious," she added, pointing to her head, referencing his genetic inheritance as a Metamorphmagi.

"I always carry around chocolate," Teddy shared, rummaging through his pocket and producing the sweet treat. "My father always says it's a good antidote for when you're feeling misplaced or overwhelmed by your heightened nerves."

Aviana tilted her head, her eyes gazing off into the distance, and confessed, "My real parents abandoned me in the wake of the war."

Teddy's eyes widened in response to her words, and a sense of tightness gripped his chest. He attempted to tear his gaze away, but a gut feeling told him that averting his eyes might only serve to make her uncomfortable.

He realized that this was not something she casually shared with just anyone, even if many people were already aware of her situation. But the question that arose for him was, why did he trust her enough to reveal such a sensitive matter?

Instead of asking, however, he found himself settling down beside her on the wall. Something about the nature of her secret struck him as deeply personal, yet the way she had revealed it appeared so casual. The desire to share his own secret welled up within him, and he confessed, "My father is a werewolf."

Just as how he had sensed, she too recognized that looking away wouldn't be the right thing to do.

That single, intimate exchange prompted a realization within Aviana—that Teddy was indeed different from the rest. Unlike the others, he hadn't reacted with a sudden stiffness or taken extra precautions after hearing her revelation.

As Aviana smiled and continued the conversation, something had shifted between them. The tension and caution of earlier had lessened, and they now conversed more freely, the wall of restraint fading with each word they shared.