THE FIRE SAGA

SPARK 2 - SOCIALIZATION

The relief is short-lived.

I should notice we're going in the wrong direction sooner than I do. My father isn't prone to sightseeing. Even if he was, he could've gone for his jaunt after dropping me off. The fact we're traveling north instead of south means he's on a mission.

In the confined space of the car, I take a deep breath. My keen sense of smell developed when I hit puberty. It's both distracting and annoying. Worse, I can't shake the compulsion to categorize people in terms of their scent. My father is licorice candy. Sweet, borderline cloying. I earn my second disapproving scowl of the day by cracking the window.

He turns left onto Shore Road, clearly taking me to the cove. There's only one house there, and that house belongs to Ryan Keane, father of Tally and her twin brother Declan, who started at CCHS the beginning of our senior year. The freshness of their arrival warranted immediate attention. While she's the social butterfly of the two, he's equally enthralling. They acclimated full tilt, rising to a position of hierarchy in the popular clique.

"Are you telling me where we're going?" I ask dryly.

"The Keanes."

Every Friday night, Tally hosts a huge bonfire bash. Most people are flattered to be invited. It's bigger than a party invitation. It's an elitist conclave induction. "Hard pass," I decline.

"Not optional," he volleys. "I confirmed for you."

"Shouldn't you have confirmed with me first?" The idea is wrong on a few levels. One, I don't socialize. Two, there's going to be a fire. Given my history of flame-induced misfortune, this is epically unwise.

His grip tightens on the steering wheel. "You would've said no."

You should've gone to the Rec Room, Superego chides.

I slowly reach for the door handle. Jumping is more appealing than being dumped at the bonfire. "Just turn around," I order.

"No," he refuses.

I let out a frustrated groan.

I could ask why he hates me so much, but I already live and breathe that answer daily. "Can you at least tell me why you're making me do this?"

He dodges. "Were you aware Ryan Keane is a doctor at the hospital?"

"Why would I be aware?" I lean my face against the cool window glass. It offers minimal reprieve from the heat increasing inside me. "I don't spend time there aside from..."

You put people there, Superego reminds me unnecessarily. You don't go there of your own volition.

I'm blessed in the sense nothing bad has ever directly happened to me. The people around me, well, they're fair game. My blessing is also my curse because others suffer to even the scales. Karmic balance and all that.

"He's been caring for your mother."

I shrug.

"Tally and Declan are in your class," he persists.

"Cool."

"He stopped by her room tonight."

"Arctic."

He'd better get to the point. Jumping out of the moving car is becoming more and more tempting. The roads aren't great, a black ice byproduct of spring's thaw melting the thick compound of winter's handiwork. With any luck, the Buick will slide and get ditched before we go much further.

"They have no mother."

While setting my anger free isn't an option, nothing is stopping me from unleashing his. Perhaps he'll take me home as punishment, which wouldn't be punishment at all. "It's a dead mom club?"