Dark Fire

by Bethany Wicker

  I had a huge chunk of money from them though and would use it to go to a good school. I wanted to be a police officer and become a beneficial part of our society instead of a nuisance. It was why I moved to this small town in the first place. Nobody knew me and it was a fresh start. Luckily, my mom had a house here too that her father had passed down to her before he died. It would’ve been impossible for me to buy a house at the age of seventeen. Okay, so that was the main reason I moved here. The bank seized our old house, but my parents had kept this one hidden somehow.

  Nobody here knew I was an orphan and I was set on keeping it that way. I’d also keep Kyler in the dark about it as long as I could.

  Not wanting left over pizza for the second night in a row, I rummaged through the cabinets for something. The only thing edible I could find was ramen noodles and settled on that. I put going to the store on my to-do-list for tomorrow. It was mentally written right after having lunch with Kyler.

  That was going to be interesting and I was looking forward to it. My stomach was doing backflips and my mouth kept drying at the thought. Hopefully, I could keep my brain in check for tomorrow and not look like such a lovestruck idiot.

  I couldn’t decide if I was going to bring up the elemental thing or not. I didn’t think I was ready for her to know about me just yet. So, after a few minutes, I settled on not talking about it.

  Plopping on the couch, I took my first bite of the ramen noodles and immediately spit them out. They were stale and disgusting. Leftover pizza it was then. I groaned at myself.

  I need to learn how to cook.

  I missed my mom’s home-cooked meals and longed for a good dinner. I hadn’t had a home-cooked one in years and my mouth watered when I recalled the taste of my mom’s spaghetti. She didn’t keep recipes so I would never taste it again and regretted taking it for granted.

  The pizza tasted bland too and I gave up on eating. With nothing else to occupy my time, I decided to go to sleep. It would be difficult with my anxiety about tomorrow though. Talking to Kyler was quickly becoming intimidating because I wasn’t sure how elementals conversed. I hoped it was the same as us. It seemed that way when I tried to talk to her when I walked her to the principal’s office.

  Either way, I would be careful since I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.

  In bed that night, I held onto my parents’ lingering warning that they’d left me with before they died and they were set on repeat.

  Elementals are not your friends. They aren’t kind and accepting of people like us.

  I would keep that in mind while I had lunch with Kyler and wouldn’t let my guard down no matter how much I liked her. Her cold demeanor had only confirmed my parents’ warning so far.

  Chapter Ten: Kyler

  My morning classes went by with a blink of the eye. Remy didn’t say anything, but would shoot me smirks throughout the day when we passed each other. Nova chatted animatedly, but I didn’t pay much attention. My mind was elsewhere and she seemed to realize it quickly. That didn’t stop her from talking though.

  The teachers ignored me, which I liked and I wasn’t going to tell Mr. Callahan that I actually had caught up with them on The Scarlet Letter. Instead, I was going to knock his socks off when I took the test. Proving people wrong was very entertaining.

  I’d found it to be a weird story though. It spoke of adultery, which I wasn’t familiar with. When elementals mated, we mated for life. It was neither a spur of the moment thing nor a temporary thing. It lasted until the end of our days.

  Remy met me in front of my fourth class and walked me towards the cafeteria.

  “How did history go?” he asked.

  “All in all, today has been a good day so far,” I replied.

  That made him let out a throaty, deep laugh that fit him perfectly. It was a sound I could get used to and with that thought I slapped my cheek trying to pull myself together.

  “Did you hit yourself?” Remy sounded astounded.

  My eyes darted back to him to see he was looking at me incredulously.

  “Nope.”

  He narrowed his eyes but didn’t bring it up again. While we were waiting in line for our food, he asked me basic things like my favorite color and food. We went back and forth like that until we reached the front. I grabbed a salad and he grabbed a burger. After paying, we went to go outside to eat but two guys stopped us.

  “Where ya going, Remy?” the guy with red hair asked. He was tall and slim with a perfectly straight grin. His skin was fair and he had a few freckles on his nose.

  “I’m going to eat outside for the day with Kyler here. I think you’ll survive a day without me,” Remy answered.

  “But why are you sitting with that fiery companion? Trying to get burned?” the black haired boy teased. His skin was brown and he was pretty buff like Remy.

  My gaze hardened on him. If only he knew there was a true meaning behind that question except it would be aimed at him, not Remy.

  “Better watch it or you’re going to be on the receiving end of that blast, Oscar,” Remy retorted.

  Black Hair, or Oscar, reached his hand toward me but I stepped out of reach.

  “Do that and you’ll have a broken arm,” I warned.

  Red Hair started cracking up while Oscar pulled back fearfully.

  “Have fun with that one. Don’t forget to save some for me,” Red Hair said through his laughs as the two of them walked off.

  “Your friends are idiots,” I told Remy when we started walking again.

  He chuckled. “Yeah, I know Ethan and Oscar are crazy, but they’re still my friends and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  “And you say I’m weird,” I muttered and made him laugh harder.

  We both sat at an empty picnic table and I started eating my salad while he bit into his burger.

  “You’re not one of those girls that don’t eat when they’re around guys, are you?” he asked.

  “People do that?” I inquired with a quirked eyebrow and he nodded his head. I continued, “No, I’m not one of those people. I was in the mood for a salad so I got a salad. Is that the wrong thing to do?”

  “No, not at all. I was only joking. So, how are you liking our town so far?”

  “I think the people are stupid, the air is polluted and stifling, and the trees aren’t being tended to properly.”

  “So you’re a hippie then.”

  “A what?”

  “A hippie.” He explained more when I gave him a strange look, “You know, a tree hugger and nature lover.”

  “I love nature but I don’t necessarily hug trees.”

  “It’s just an expression. I don’t think they really hug trees, but I give up.” He threw his hands up in the air. “I can’t decipher you, so why don’t you tell me more about yourself.”

  “I don’t like talking about me,” I responded simply.

  He twiddled his thumbs and the nervous energy radiated off him. It made him even more attractive, as odd as that was. He wasn’t like I’d expected. He wasn’t hounding me for answers or being rude. He was simply curious and I was being the impolite one. Maybe I was wrong about humans.

  “I’m sorry,” I said slowly, not liking how those words tasted. “I don’t like new people or new places so it makes me difficult to deal with. I can tell you’re not trying to be offensive, so give me time and I might open up to you. I don’t feel comfortable talking about my personal stuff after we just met. Heck, I don’t even want to be talking to you at all.”

  The nervousness dissipated from him and he cocked his head sideways. His eyes were analyzing me, but they wouldn’t find anything different from a few minutes ago.

  “If you don’t want to talk to anyone, why do you keep Nova around?”

  “She hangs around me, even though I told her that didn’t make us friends. I don’t need friends.”

  “Then, why not push her away like you do to everyone else?”

  “Because it seems like you and your
friends do enough of that. Me adding on to it might push her over the top.” My tone was accusatory.

  His expression fell. “The hierarchy of the food chain is sometimes hard to swallow, but it’s the way of the world.”

  I scoffed. “You aren’t trying to eat her so that statement makes no sense and neither does picking on her because you think you’re better.”

  The bell went off signaling the end of lunch and I blinked at him. That’d been a worthless conversation and I was angry at myself for stressing over it so much. At least I didn’t expose my secret like I thought I was going to do. He hadn’t even mentioned my comment so maybe he had brushed it off. That was what a typical human brain did.

  Remy stood awkwardly and I watched as his muscles moved. He frowned and scratched the back of his head as he said, “Well this has never happened before. Usually the first date goes much better than this. I guess we can at least walk to gym together.”

  He tried to carry my backpack but I yanked it from his grasp throwing an ‘I got it’ look at him. He threw his arms up defensively in response. We walked side-by-side to gym, but received strange looks when we walked in together. He left my side instantly with a quick ‘bye’.

  Pushing any lingering thoughts of Remy away, I met Nova in the locker room. She kept asking question after question about what had happened at lunch, but I kept brushing her off with one-worded answers. That didn’t deter her and I thought back to Remy asking why I kept her around. It was times like these that I had the same question.

  We ran laps again, but this time I noticed the coach watching me intensely. This track thing had to be important to him. I had shoved the pack of papers he’d given me to the bottom of my bag and forgot about them. If track involved running, then I could give it a try. Maybe it would even get Mom to stop hounding me about making friends and trying to fit in.

  When I lapped back around Coach Black, I stopped and approached him. He grinned with amazement at me and I wondered if he enjoyed running too.

  “I didn’t look at the papers,” I admitted. “Can you tell me about this track thing and if it involves running?”

  His smile broadened. “All track involves is running. There are different types like long distance and short, for example. You compete against other runners to determine who’s the fastest. The person who finishes first is the winner.”

  “What do you win?”

  “Not much. A trophy and bragging rights.”

  “Well, I love bragging rights.”

  “Do you need another set of paperwork for your parents to sign? You need their permission before you can start, but let them know the fees will be waived.”

  “I can dig it out of my bag. I’ll do it tonight, so when do I start?”

  “Well, the different types of track run throughout the year, but I hope you’ll join. Practice for the long distance running begins in a few weeks. Not that you need the practice though.”

  “When do you typically have us practice?”

  “After school,” he answered simply.

  I rubbed my cheek in thought, before agreeing to it. Coach clapped me on the back and cheered causing my cheeks to redden. Hopefully, I wouldn’t let him down since he was so happy to have me. Track sounded like a decent way to pass the time while in human school, especially if I could earn bragging rights.

  Coach Black blew his whistle after our discussion and we walked back to the gym together in silence. It felt good to have one teacher that wasn’t disappointed in me.

  Not that I cared. Ugh, was I trying to convince myself now? It was getting harder and harder to think of these people as evil and barbaric.

  Nova questioned me about what I was talking to Coach about, but I countered with, “You’re pretty nosy aren’t you?”

  “I’m only curious,” Nova said quietly. Her hair covered her face as she looked down at her feet.

  I chided myself and bit my tongue in the process. She shouldn’t be getting under my skin like this. We weren’t friends. I’d established that from the beginning. Nova couldn’t expect things to change so quickly. It had only been a day, even though it felt like forever. Things had to change because I didn’t want to make friends. Participating in track was one thing, but actually befriending a human was on a whole different level. That lunch with Remy would also be the last one. I wouldn’t date a human boy no matter how drawn to him I was. I couldn’t lose my focus now.

  Chewing on my lip, I grabbed my bag and headed for art, pleased with myself that I remembered where the class was. I kept my distance from both Remy and Nova, even though they both were shooting me looks all hour.

  On my way to health, Remy knocked shoulders with me and he lingered at my side.

  “Did you and Nova get in a fight?” Remy asked boldly.

  “No, but it’s not any of your business if we did.”

  He caught on to my cold tone because he said, “You’re acting completely different from when we had lunch. What changed?”

  “Why won’t you leave me alone?” My energy peaked with my anger and flames threatened to break free. “I don’t want friends and that includes both you and Nova. I just want to finish this year so I can go back home where I belong. I don’t want any ties to this place.”

  He quirked an eyebrow and tilted his head at me. “Why are you here if you don’t even want to be?”

  “My mom made me. Why else would I be?”

  He shrugged his shoulders and stopped outside of the classroom. “You could still make the best out of a bad situation.”

  “Why don’t you just leave me alone and go back to hanging with your snotty friends?”

  “Snotty?” He sounded offended, but I didn’t respond and darted into the classroom.

  Remy still took the seat next to me, but didn’t say anything. Not even when the bell went off. He left quickly with the other students and I watched him go. Regret seeped into the pit of my stomach. These were idiotic humans. Their emotions didn’t matter, but why did it still feel wrong shoving him away?

  Chapter Eleven: Remy

  Unbelievable.

  That was the only word that kept repeating itself in my mind. Kyler could feel the pull between us, but she was fighting it with all her might. It was clearly written on her face. It was most likely because she thought I was human. That, and she thought my friends were snotty. She needed to take a look in the mirror.

  Kyler was stubborn, proud, opinionated, and intolerable at times. Yet, I still wanted to get to know her, so what did that make me? I was some kind of masochist or something. I was drawing the line now.

  If she didn’t want to talk to me, then I was going to ignore her. Two could play that game and she wouldn't be the victor.

  Crap.

  I was in such a hurry to get away from Kyler that I’d left my health textbook on my desk and of course we were assigned homework for tonight that required it. Turning on my heel, I bumped into a few people that were rushing to get home.

  I kept an eye out for Kyler and ducked behind some people when she came into view. Upon seeing her, I realized I could’ve strolled right by her and she would’ve never known. She was walking with her head down and her face was contorted into a thoughtful, sulky expression. Good. She felt bad for what happened. I would definitely win this round then. Her head remained bowed and I told myself to stop staring.

  My textbook was still on my desk where I’d left it and the teacher was already gone. She was always in a hurry to get out and I was surprised my lingering book didn’t even attract her attention. It made me wonder what the teacher had to do every day after school.

  I tucked my book back into my bag and left, but I wasn't in as much of a hurry this time. Well, I wasn’t until Isabelle came into view. She was shutting her locker and I hoped she wouldn’t see me as I quickened my pace. It wasn’t but a few seconds before she fell into step beside me.

  “So, I saw you eating lunch with that new girl. I thought Ethan called dibs on her already.” Her lips smacked toge
ther unattractively as she chomped on her gum.

  “Ethan took too long to make a move, so I did.”

  “She’s only been here for two days. How about tomorrow you eat lunch with someone who has been here longer.”

  “I’m eating with the group tomorrow.”

  “You are?” Her mood instantly brightened. “I’ll save a seat for you then. Until tomorrow.”

  She planted a kiss on my cheek before dashing across the parking lot to her car. A storm cloud hung over my head and I hurried to my car too before it decided to open up. As I drove home, not even a single drop fell, so I made it into my house dry.

  Looking in the mirror before I jumped in the shower, I noticed Isabelle had left her mark on me with lipstick. With a wash cloth, I rubbed at it until the color was gone. I wished Kyler had left that kiss instead. Isabelle knew exactly what she was doing with that lipstick and I was just happy that Kyler wasn’t there to see it. She definitely would’ve taken that the wrong way.

  I wanted to smack myself in the head.

  Kyler and I weren’t talking at the moment. Not until she got herself together and stopped judging people for what they were.

  It seemed that my parents were right about other elementals so far and I hated it. I was hoping they were biased from one incident, but they weren’t. Elementals sucked and I was happy that I was raised in the human world.

  Chapter Twelve: Kyler

  A frustrated groan escaped my parted lips as I exited school. The walk home was even more intolerable as the thoughts kept eating at me. Grey clouds hung above me, but it thankfully didn’t rain. The house came into view and I’d never been so happy to see it.

  After saying a quick hello to mom and dad who were sitting in the dining room, I dashed to my room to call Jeremiah. I couldn’t be more grateful that Westville had installed phones a couple years back. One was placed in each student’s room for them to contact their parents while away. It had been my mom’s idea so she could keep in touch with me and Mr. Jay had agreed.