Chemistry

Ember Spills the Tea

"WHAT HAPPENED?!?!"

Bryn screamed. I sighed and flopped onto my bed.

"Weren't you there?"

I asked, discreetly trying to get out of explaining, detail by detail, my incident with Connor. Bryn gave me the death glare, and I smiled angelically back at her. Bryn rolled her eyes at me.

"I'll have you know I was in the special-people box-"

"Don't you mean the VIP box?"

"-and all I saw was you guys hugging-"

"What's so wrong with friends hugging?"

I asked, with a faux-innocent look on my face. Bryn looked at me incredulously.

"There was a bit of chemistry in there, Ember! That was a more-than-just-friends-hug!"

"And who made YOU the love expert?!"

"Wait--do you like Connor?!"

I smashed my face into my pillow and said,

"That's for me to know and you to find out!"

I peeked out from my pillow to see Bryn's eyes as big as Connor's when he saw we were on the Jumbotron.

"You...like...CONNOR!!??!?!?"

I squealed when she pulled the pillow out from under me. I tried very hard to hide my face before Bryn saw it flush, but it was too late.

"OHMYGOSH YOU DO!!!"

Bryn then danced around the room singing 'Ember likes Connor! Ember likes Connor!' I finally clamped my hand over her mouth because I heard someone at the door. I rushed to it, with Bryn trailing me, and I opened the door a few inches and saw it was Connor. He opened his mouth to say something, but then I slammed the door in his face. I whirled around to face Bryn.

"It's Connor. Do not say anything please!!"

"Like I will, Em."

She then made a heart with her hands and skipped off. She can flip her hair to stop time, but she prefers listening to this stuff. I stuck my tongue out at her playfully. Then I turned to my mirror, snapped my fingers, and changed my outfit from my sunset colored dress I wore to the game to the light blue flowy top and my favorite jeans and fuzzy socks. I pulled my wavy, scarlet, just-below-my shoulder-length hair into a messy bun and opened the door, this time swinging it wide.

"Hi, what's up, Connor?"

"Well, I do have a few questions for you-the first one being-why did you slam the door in my face?"

"I had to change."

"Isn't one of your abilities to snap your fingers and change your outfit at anytime?"

"Yes, but it still feels awkward. I mean... I'm still technically changing in front of you, even though you don't see anything. Plus, I feel more comfy in this!"

"Aww you changed just for me! You must really like me."

Connor has been teasing me since sixth grade, but I didn't mind it at all. It was cute, actually, but that didn't stop my blushing. I giggled and rolled my eyes.

"Come sit down, Connor, and you can ask me your questions."

I stepped to the side of the oak door and let Connor in my room. He circled slowly around and continuously said "whoa" and "amazing". I gazed around with him and smiled. My room was a beautiful beach set theme with walls alternating colors of soft blue, to represent the calming waves of the beaches in one of my favorite places in the world-the Bahamas. I'd grown up there, but when I moved into the house with our main FBI team, I decided to take home and mix it with the lofty kind of room I have now. The rugs on my floor are a pretty sandish color, and it's soft and smooth. There was a soft crash of the waves from the beach outside- we were in the Florida Keys, after all. My bed was a Queen size, naturally, and it had a sapphire-blue finish to it, to match the ocean theme. I had seashells scattered across the room, and framed pictures of Bryn, Noel, Camryn, Andie, and I on the walls. I giggled as my puppy, Bubbles, a golden retriever, attacked Connor, gnawing on his socks. He looked down and saw that Bubbles had gotten his sock halfway off his foot already. He yelped playfully and pulled his foot up, but only succeeded in the puppy pulling the rest of the sock off.

"Hey!" Connor said. "Give that back!"

I burst out laughing as Bubbles and Connor had a tug of war with Connor's sock. Finally, Connor won, but took one look at Bubbles' face and said,

"Aww what the heck. Here ya go!"

Bubbles then scampered after it, only to retrieve it seconds later and bring it back to Connor. Connor laughed and threw it again, this time farther. He took my hand and gently pulled me down on the bed to sit with me. Connor gazed into my eyes, and that alone made me warm all over. Bubbles pranced over and plopped down on his lap and he stroked her absentmindedly. Connor took my hand, being as gentle as Bryn when she was handling the baby turtle in Cuba. He inched closer to me, and for the first time in awhile, I got an up-close look at him. He was around 5'6", and his hair was a curly cedar-pecan color with natural highlights. Of course he always ran fingers back through his hair, but to me that made him even more adorable. He had more of a footballer player build, but liked to wear soccer jackets and jeans. Connor had tortilla brown skin, and his irises were such a beautiful walnut brown. Anyway, he opened his mouth to say something, but then the door burst open and Sam, panicking, looked at us like he had just witnessed a murder. Connor jumped up to help his friend to a chair. He collapsed anyway. We shook him, and Bryn jumped out of the closet. It startled Connor, but he paid no mind to it once he realized the dire situation. Bryn took the inside of his wrist and pressed it against her face. Another one of Bryn's powers. To psychologically read a person's inner emotions by the touch of her face against your wrist. She breathed slowly and her eyelashes seemed to stop his pulse for a split second. Bryn carefully pulled her face away, and he instantly began to glow a deep indigo, a sign of anxiety and fear. The glow flickered out within seconds. He jolted awake with cold sweat dripping all over.

"What happened?!"

"Sam speak to me please! What happened?!"

"Sam, buddy, it's going to be ok you just have to tell us what happened."

Sam looked from me to Connor and then finally at Bryn.

"Code Scarlet."