Pyrophobia

Arsonphobia -14-

Chapter 14

I was so unprepared when I walked into school. No one had any idea what was going on, no one even expected it. Next week was finals week, it had crept up on us, and kids all around were going crazy. If we fail a final, we fail the whole class. Seniors, like me, had to pass every single final to graduate. There was no back cushion I could fall on. If I could pass all my tests, I would have just enough credits to graduate on time.

Not everything was easy though, I had to study and prepare. Some teachers gave us slack and just made a test the night before over things a second grader would know. Other teachers however, were out to get us. I knew Mr. Hunt was a pretty cool guy, so I wasn’t so worried about his test as much as I was for our Math test.

Our normal quizzes are something to have a miniature heart attack about, but the finals; just pre-buy my grave stone why don’t you. Courtney, the few times I have seen her in the past couple of days, says she wasn’t really worried about passing all of her finals.

I still hadn’t seen Bentley or even Toni, but how could I when my nose was either in a book or researching things online? During class, my hand was writing down everything the teacher said, so I could study it and practice by myself.

No one seemed to be giving me weird looks, or trying to talk to me anymore; or I was just too busy to notice it. Either way, I was glad for the distraction, yet deathly afraid. Sooner or later, something bad was going to happen; and it did.

The day before the finals, which was Thursday, I finally found Bentley; well, he found me. He came running up to me, breathing heavily, and I thought something bad had happened to Courtney.

“He’s back.” He whispered, between breaths. I already knew who was back, but I couldn’t stop the words from leaving my mouth.

“Who?”

“Avery.” Instantly, I felt dizzy, I started to see black spots and I felt something warm drip onto my lip. I could see Bentleys mouth moving, he was clearly talking, but I wasn’t hearing a thing he was saying. He brought his hand up to my lips, lightly brushing them with his fingers, and brought it back. I noticed blood was on his hands, and that instantly through me over the edge; and I passed out. 

My eyes were heavy, and if I had felt tired before, then I have no clue what I would call this. I could hear people softly talking around me; it was hard to make out what they were saying. I felt this small pricking on the top of my hand, it wasn’t hurtful, but I wasn’t comfortable either. I felt my hand involuntarily twitch.

“It looks like sleeping beauty is finally waking up.” I heard a gentle voice say beside me. At first, it startled me; then I just felt too tired to move again. I could hear a soft humming sound and the sound of footsteps as they got closer.

“Sweetie, can you open your eyes?” I heard my mother’s voice. I was utterly confused as to what was going on, and where I was. I heard a deep sigh, and instantly knew it was my dad. I tried really hard to open my eyes, I truly did. It just seemed impossible, I could feel them fluttering, it was almost a workout.