Thunder and Storm

Her Personal Flurry

SALLY.

I stared out at the water. It was peaceful, tranquil but there was a storm raging in me. A tempest of emotions. I wondered how things would’ve been. I’d probably be preparing to go to college right now.

We’d have been having dinner at home, my mom trying to feed me another slice of her apple pie, my dad would be by her side, laughing at our antics as I rejected her offer.

We’d have gone gift shopping for Christmas. By this time mom would be complaining about having to listen to Uncle Phillip drone on and on about the foreign market like she does every year. I sighed. I missed them.

Knowing I’d never see them again was a constant ache in my chest. I stared at the little bits of ice floating on the water and looked down at my reflection. My cheeks were gone. My collarbone more prominent. There was a scar on my forehead close to my left brow where Petra had hit my head on the table back at the Underground.

Your hair is like sunset fire.

My mom’s voice echoed in my head and I choked on a sob. I felt like screaming, raging out.

Someone perched beside me on the rock. It was Cameron. I wiped away my tears and looked down at the water. Why couldn’t he just leave me alone? I just wanted to be alone. A girl couldn’t even cry in peace around here.

We didn’t say anything for a while, both of us just stared out at the water. And then, he sighed.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry for what I said to you earlier. That was uncalled for. It’s just there’s been a lot of things going on with me lately and I was just frustrated.”

“And I was there to be your punching bag.”

He bit his bottom lip, looking contrite. “I’m really sorry, there’s no excuse for acting like a jerk towards you. Friends?” He held out his hand for a shake.

I looked down at it; he withdrew his hand. “On second thought, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I wouldn’t want a repeat of the hallway incident.”

“What?” I frowned.

“The hallway, remember?” It didn’t ring a bell. “You were coming out of the restroom in school and we ran into each other. You tripped, I caught you and then you did something weird with your eyes.” He pointed at my face.

Oh! I remembered that. That was the day my life fell apart.

“You did something to me that day. I felt weak, drained. I couldn’t use my power.”

He kept on talking but all I saw was the tornado, the lightning, the crash.

All you ever do is take.

That voice whispered in my head again. “Stop!” I shouted.

He looked stunned by my outburst. “Please, don’t remind me of that. You’re not helping.”

“Okay, I’ll shut up then.” He made a zipping motion with his fingers on his lips. I looked away.

“So, teleportation huh?” he said a while later and I rolled my eyes.

“You said you’d shut up.” I pointed out.

“I will but I gotta say this first. I know you’re lying about your powers. You don’t want to tell me what the mark on your wrist means.” I cut him a glance and he smirked. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk but just know that I’m here for you if you need me.”

The smirk vanished; his blue eyes bored into mine. They were warm, reassuring. They made me feel better. I nodded and continued to look out at the water. He didn’t say anything after that. He just stared out at the water in silence.

I didn’t know how long we sat there just staring out at the pool until I heard a bark and the patter of little feet. Cameron sprang up as a red wired dachshund ran towards him. The dog jumped up and he caught it.

“Hey, Maxy. You’re awake.”

The dog barked in response and licked his face. Cameron laughed and patted the dog’s fur. Max stopped licking his face and cocked his head to the side, staring at me.

“You like her?” Cameron asked. “She’s cute, ain’t she?”

Oh my goodness!

I flushed and looked away. He thinks I’m cute. He shifted and brought Max close to me, placing him on my lap.

“Here, pet him. He doesn’t bite.”

I placed my hand on Max’s back tentatively and brushed back his fur. Max barked and stood up on his hind legs, placing his paws on my shoulder and licked my face. I chuckled and held him to me as he licked my face with fervour, getting slobber all over me.

“Help,” I squeaked and Cameron laughed.

“He likes you.”

Max stopped trying to lick my face off and sat on my lap, panting with his tongue out.

“He’s so adorable.” I rubbed his face.

“I know, right?” he smiled.

He looked different when he smiled. His face lit up, his eyes shining brighter. He had a perfect set of teeth. He should display them more often.

“You smile good,” I found myself saying and regretted it the moment it left my lips.

His lips lifted in a smirk. “Is that your way of saying you think I’m cute?”

Oh God! Kill me now.

My cheeks were so hot, I bet they were as red as a tomato and very visible despite my dark skin tone.

“Come on, I wanna show you something.” He tapped my thigh and I jolted.

“Oh! Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay.”

“Come on.” He jumped down from the rock and Max followed. I got down and dusted off my butt.

“Where are we going?”

“Don’t ask any questions. Just follow me.”

He led me through another part of the cave. It was hidden behind some rocks, I never noticed it. This part was a bit brighter; it led outside. I could feel the chill from the weather and I shivered. We made it out to a meadow with tall pine trees covered in snow.

“This is where we train but we don’t use it anymore because of the weather,” he said as we walked to the middle of the field.

I was starting to feel more than a little chilly. I was still dressed in my plaid shirt and jeans which was a bit thicker than what he had on. He wore a grey threadbare shirt that was too flimsy to keep him warm.

“Watch this,” he said with a grin on his face. He looked like a little kid about to show his friends his Christmas gift.

He closed his eyes and when he opened them, they were as white as snow. He spread out his arms and the snow started to move up. A gasp escaped me. They were gathering in mid-air forming a shape. A giant snowflake. The weather changed, a dark cloud formed above our heads. Lightning struck the snowflake and it became a crystal blue. It shone like icy shards with little bits of snow falling off it and onto my hair. Max barked, jumping up in excitement. He opened his mouth and bits of snow fell on his tongue. It looked so beautiful. My mouth fell open.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“I love it.” I smiled. I reached up to touch it but it was too far away.

“Let me.” He raised his hand and brought it lower. It was smooth to the touch and cold too.

“Now you have your personal flurry just like Olaf,” he said and I laughed.

“You watch cartoons?” I found it surprising. He didn’t look like the type to watch cartoons.

“Sssh!” He placed a finger on his lips. “Don’t tell anyone but I love cartoons. I think they’re cool,” he winked and I chuckled.

I sniffed. It was starting to get too cold for me yet he seemed perfectly comfortable out here. “Aren’t you cold?” I asked pointing to his attire.

He looked down at himself. “I don’t feel cold.”

Oh!

“Are you?”

I nodded. “A little.”

“Let’s go back in then. I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking bringing you out here like that.” He looked down, bent and patted Max on the head.

“It’s okay. I loved it,” I smiled.

He looked up at me; his blue eyes twinkled as he smiled. It felt like a punch to the stomach and I gasped. He straightened and reached for my hand but paused and placed his hands in his pockets.

“I’ll get Ryan to warm you up.” He walked ahead of me and I followed with Max trailing behind me.

He was quiet again and it gave me an ill-feeling. He seemed upset, I wasn’t sure if I was the reason. I wasn’t sure why I was concerned that he was upset. We made it back to the pool; the silence was starting to make me feel uncomfortable. I opened my mouth to say something but I felt something else. I heard a heartbeat beating fast in excitement.

I frowned and looked at Cameron. I couldn’t see his face but somehow I knew he wasn’t the one. Where was it coming from then? More importantly, why could I hear it?

I looked around but there was no one else in here other than Cameron, Max and me. Yet, I could still hear the heart beating.

We got to the group and I could feel it instantly that something was different. There was a buzz of excitement in the air and some new faces too. Maybe it was their heartbeat I heard earlier. But even as the thought occurred to me, I knew it wasn’t plausible. Mainly because it was one heart beating and besides I couldn’t hear it anymore.

I caught a glimpse of a boy with cropped hair and thick brows and my stomach flipped. I ran to him and threw myself on him.

“Hakeem!” I squealed in excitement.

“Sally!” he exclaimed as he held me tighter.

We let go of each other. “Oh! Thank God, Sally. I thought you weren’t able to get away from there.”

“As you can see, I got out.” I smiled.

He managed a small smile and mine vanished. We were both thinking about the same thing, Margot didn’t make it out.

I felt eyes on me and looked back to see Cameron staring at us with a scowl. He shook his head, walked away and entered his tent.

Suddenly, Hakeem grabbed my hand. “Don’t look now but you’re not going to like who else is here with us.” 

As expected, I looked in the direction he was staring at. Petra was leaning against a wall. Our eyes met and she smirked, then waved at me.

Great!

I groaned internally. She was like a plague I couldn’t get rid of, she was everywhere. A short girl with black hair packed in pigtails bounced towards us with a bright smile on her face.

“Hello, I’m Ash, short for Ashlynn but everyone calls me Ash.”

“I’m Sally. This is Hakeem.”

“Oh I know who he is.” She giggled, “We’ve met.”

I glanced at Hakeem and he had a shy smile on his face. I frowned.

Okay, that wasn’t weird at all.

Ash had olive skin just like Hakeem and had freckles on her face with lip gloss on. She had almond-shaped hazel eyes and pouty lips. She left a few loose curls of her hair to frame her face. She looked beautiful. I could see why Hakeem liked her.

“Is this little girl bothering you?” Another girl spoke up. She was tall, thin and had platinum blond hair. She wore thick leather boots and a brown leather jacket. Her light brown eyes were surrounded with dark eye shadow, her lips painted black. She had a septum piercing on her nose. She looked intimidating, like an ice queen.

“Who you calling a little girl?” Ash snarled at her.

“You.” The girl bumped her nose and Ash gasped.

“I’m gonna kill you, Rayne.” She clenched her fists and jumped on her. Rayne laughed as they both crashed to the floor.

Rayne.

This must be Ryan’s sister whom he couldn’t stop talking about. She howled with laughter as Ash pummelled her stomach. She certainly looked like him and acted like him too despite her intimidating appearance.

“Will you both get up and stop embarrassing yourselves?” Ryan scoffed as he sidestepped them, acting like they were beneath him.

A girl was with him. She had green hair cut in a bob and wore glasses. She smiled shyly as she looked at me.

“Hi, I’m Gail.”

“Sally,” I replied and she nodded.

Gail kicked Rayne and they both got up from the floor. Rayne dusted off her clothes and smiled.

“Sorry about that.” She held out her hand, “I’m Rayne.”

I bit my lip. I couldn’t touch her but I also didn’t want to seem rude.

“Sally has a thing about touching people,” Ryan explained. I looked at him and mouthed a thank you. He winked in reply.

“Oh! Very well then.” She dropped her hand. “It was nice meeting you. I love your hair.”

In reflex, I touched my hair. It had loosened from the braid I’d kept it in for so long and fell around me in loose curls. It must’ve loosened in the snow earlier.

“I would so love to work on them for you. I can touch your hair, right?”

I wasn’t sure. I shrugged.

“Cool. Come on, let me help you with it.” She motioned for me to follow her.

“Be careful, she’s a barracuda,” Ash whispered as I followed her and I hid a smile.

“I heard that, Ash,” Rayne said over her shoulder as she got to her tent. I heard Ash giggle as Rayne pulled the tent flaps aside and stepped in, I followed her. There were piles of clothes on the floor just like last time.

“Sorry about the mess, Ryan likes to throw his clothes all over the place,” she said.

Wasn’t that the same thing Ryan said about her?

She moved a pile of clothes aside and took out a stool and a makeup box.

“You have a makeup box?” I asked in surprise.

“I saw it lying around in a store and I took it. A girl gotta look pretty.” She winked.

She took out her brush and combed through my hair. It snagged and I winced.

“Sorry. It must’ve been long since you last combed your hair,” she commented.

“Yeah,” I said remembering the last time my mom had brushed my hair. I’d give anything to have her brush it again.

I heard it again, the heartbeat. It was less excited this time. I looked around, it was dark in the tent but I knew it was just Rayne and me in here.

“Do you hear that?” I asked her.

“Hear what?” She continued brushing my hair.

It was obvious she couldn’t hear it. She was meeting me for the first time; I didn’t need to make her think I was crazy. “Never mind.”