Burning Sky

Chapter 5

After her fourth class of the day, Sora realized that she was going to have to do some serious studying when she got home, since she was unable to pay attention to anything her professors said. She tried once again to focus, but her eyes drifted over to the window as her mind replayed the morning's conversation. It didn't help that Drake was sitting in front of her, either.

After Mo and Katie told her what the article was about, she refused to help. She assured both of them that she had no idea who the perpetrators were, and she didn't feel the least bit guilty in doing so. Katie seemed ready to believe her as she always did, but Mo was not.

His eyes darted over her face suspiciously. It was as if he was suspecting a different answer. His eyes bore into hers, more serious than usual. Suddenly in one swift move, he closed the space between them and drew his lips up to her ear, whispering a fervent message to her.

I will find out who it was, you can be sure of that , she heard his words in her mind for the millionth time. She shook her head, hoping to rid it of the memory. Mo was the one guy she didn't care to go up against, he was also the one person she would never have on her side. At least not completely.

A few memories of them playing together as they grew up filtered in. She remembered they had once laughed under sunny blue skies. Quickly, she closed her eyes to make them disappear, and a familiar bitter taste immediately crept across the tip of her tongue.

When the bell rang signaling the lunch break, Sora was startled. She had spent the last few hours sitting at her desk doing nothing but thinking, she hadn't even moved at all. She was surprised she hadn't forgotten to breathe all together, while the time had gone by abnormally fast. She bent to shove all of her books in her bag, and when she raised her head, all she saw was black.

She was staring right into Drake's eyes. He had turned in his chair and slumped his elbows across her desk. A massive and sudden feeling of fear washed over her. She jumped off her chair and took a step back, dropping all of her books on the ground.

"Is everything okay?" a voice called out.

Sora turned and saw Alicia standing by the door. She was the only other lingering classmate, aside from Sora and Drake. Sora was never more grateful to see her than at that moment. "Wait up," she said as she grabbed her lunch money and flew to the door.

Drake didn't even move when she passed beside him, but when her hand accidentally brushed his bare arm she felt another electric jolt. She jumped in alarm, freezing at her spot and stared at him.

He was now on his feet with his hand stretched out to grab her, his eyes disturbingly cold. Before he could touch her again, she slapped his raised hand, feeling another brief jolt.

"Leave me alone," she screamed. She was as surprised by her reaction as Drake seemed to be. She felt her cheeks flaming to red and decided it was the perfect time to start running the other way.

Walking down the hall, she couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with him, he was getting creepier by the minute, and the fact that he was now living right next door didn't help matters, either. Something deep inside screamed to her that she must stay away from him. It manifested in that irrational fear she felt every time she gazed into his eyes. But on the other hand, she wanted to know if he was the one. Not the one in the romantic sense like Katie thought, but the one who pulled her from the fire.

When she and Alicia finally reached the cafeteria, Sora immediately spotted Katie at the beginning of a long line. She grabbed Alicia by the hand and jostled past half the school to stand next to Katie. The majority of students didn't even notice her, but the ones who did, weren't so happy about it. She accepted the insults with a smile, it felt more normal than anything else lately.