Constance

Eavesdropper

I was awakened by a gentle shake to my shoulders. Naturally, I, a girl who isn't used to human contact, immediately felt my defenses go up. Which may be the reason why Caleb's hand is currently on fire right now.

"Mother-" Caleb cursed and yelled while he ran around, like a chicken with it's head cut off, trying to put it out.

I couldn't stop the giggle that sneaked out of me. He just looked so silly. Carson on the other hand didn't feel the same way. He was yelling,

"Constance! What did you do! Put it out! Put it out!" The look on his face was one of fear and horror, and my giggle died in my throat.

Thinking fast I grabbed Caleb's hand and quenched the flames with a single touch, leaving him with no scars or pain. I flinched a bit as I absorbed his burn. That's just another one of my many gifts; I can control fire. End it, create it; I could do anything I wanted to. I can only heal fire related injuries but when I do the pain they feel gets transferred to me.

Caleb immediately sagged in relief, but not for long, no, then he's shouting at me like Carson.

"What the hell Constance?!? Why did you burn me? That was one of the worst things I have ever experienced! And I have had a lot of bad things happen to me. You could have killed me for crying out loud! Who do you think you are!" He went on.

"Calm down! I didn't mean to burn you, you just startled me!" I say.

"CALM DOWN?! CALM DOWN!? I'LL SHOW YOU HOW TO CALM DOWN ALRIGHT-" Caleb screamed.

"Caleb RELAX! You're fine now, right? I took all the pain away. You won't even have a scar for crying out loud! I really don't see what the big deal is."

"The big deal is you BURNED me!" Caleb retorted.

"GUYS!" Carson shouts to stop or fighting. "Let's just take a deep breath. We're all friends here. Caleb, she didn't mean to. Connie, he doesn't really think you would do that on purpose he just is upset. Now both of you apologize." Carson tells us sternly.

"I'm sorry for burning you. I couldn't help it, you caught me off guard." I say reluctantly.

"Sorry for yelling at you. I know it was an accident," Caleb said in his usual forgiving manner. He sighed. "This is really weird."

"What?" What does he mean by that?

"You being like a star and all..."

"I guess it would be."

"Is there anything else weird about you that comes with being a star?" Carson asked as if he was just expecting anything at this point.

"Well of course you know I can burn people... I guess the weirdest thing would be my age."

"What do you mean?" Carson asked confused. "How old are you?"

"In human years I am 1429 years old."

Caleb's mouth dropped open. "But you look 14!?"

"Yeah. Physically I'm young but time wise I'm 1429." I answered.

"What have you been doing all these years?!" Carson said sounding startled by this information, yet also sounding... worried about me...?

"I don't know... just kind if surviving I guess."

"I wouldn't be able to live that long." Carson said leaning back against the wall. "You're stronger than I would be."

I shrug. "I remember being a star and I lived up there for so long so... living down here sucks sometimes but... I don't know, maybe one day I could be a star again."

"Wait, I thought you were a star."
Caleb sounded so confused.

"I am, I think... I'm a human... but I'm a star too." I sigh. "I don't even know myself, it's confusing."

"Wait, wait, wait," Carson began. "How, in the world, did you come from being a star to a human? That just doesn't happen, right?"

I sighed, not really wanting to explain everything. "It's a long story." I say.

"Tell us." Caleb pleads.

"Hmm, alright. Okay, so, I was a star up in the sky and all that for a very long time, longer than you could ever live, when my own gravitational pull got too strong, and it sucked me inside myself, making me a black hole." I explained while they sat listening attentively.

"Go on." Carson urges.

"Okay. Once I was dead, I guess you could say, I met this unusual- being. It was all very weird and I had grown a different body, a human one. He or she, I couldn't really tell, said to pick a planet that had life. Seeing Earth, I chose it. And here we are." I finished, not wanting to really go into much detail.

"What do you mean by 'being'? Like God?" Nick says coming out from behind a stack of old junk.

Something flared inside me. "You were listening, this whole time." I spit out with my jaw clenched tight. Breathing heavily. Why did Nick have to be such a nosey little prat.

"Whoa there, calm down. We wouldn't want another fire in less than a half an hour happening, would we?" He taunts with a side smirk.

I took a step forward, menacingly. Caleb grabbed me from around my waste to hold me back. It took everything in me to control myself. What's happening to me? I'm never this upset.

"Whoa, there Constance. Let's not get hasty. No one has to get hurt." he tries to reason.

I shrug him off. "Of course you would take his side. He's third in command, right?"

"Connie you know that's not what's happening. I'm not taking any sides, just trying to avoid a fight. Getting burned isn't fun. I would know." he said pointedly.

Damn, he's right. I need to get myself under control. I took a big breath and counted to twenty.

"Fine," I say, turning towards Nick. "But if you dare say anything about this to anyone- I swear I won't be so kind next time. That goes for all of you."

"Relax, Connie. My lips are sealed." Nick says with a big old smile that makes me want to hit him.

I give him my death stare.

"Yeah, Me and Caleb won't tell a soul." Carson chimes in.

"Yeah," Caleb nods in agreement.

"Good. Now is there anything else? Because I have somewhere to be," I say while walking backwards towards the ladder, even though I didn't. I just needed to get out.

"Where are you going?" Caleb wonders.

"Out." I said shortly.

And with that, I was gone.