Fire in the Veins: A Novella (On Hold)

One

The ride around the town after school was still freshly painful. The tires of Selene's bicycle screeched when she brought it to a sudden halt to wipe away her tears. Alone on the rocky road, under the familiar street lights that illuminated yet another Friday evening, she felt as if no time had passed at all—as if her life had never changed. She sniffled and took a deep breath, resisting the urge to fall apart again. Clasping her hand over her gold and red dragon-shaped pendant, the one Phoebe had always worn around her neck, Selene prayed that she would find peace wherever she was now.

She shuddered at the wind that suddenly rose and covered her skin with goosebumps. The huge, dark clouds looming over the honey and lilac skyline of the city, which stood tall on the other side of the great lake, caught her attention; they looked like a monster's wide open jaws, slowly devouring the half-light of dusk. A hideous storm was approaching. Rain was usually a rare occurrence in Wellspring, but the weather had been quite surprising of late. Selene thought it was best she headed home. Though she wouldn't mind the rain if she went on another tour of the town, she wasn't a fan of lightning bolts. She steadied both hands on the handlebar and pressed her feet onto the pedals, continuing her ride.

Upon reaching the familiar, tumbledown, one-storey house with faded-blue siding—someday, Selene swore it would collapse over her head and her father's—she dragged her bicycle up onto the deck. She fiddled with the pockets inside her jacket for her set of keys, then inserted one into the lock of her front door, twisting it. Phoebe had always found her own key first. Selene sighed at the memory and pushed the door open, expecting the darkness inside her home to welcome her.

"Surprise!" voices cried out in unison as colorful balloons and paper streamers floated in the air.

Selene froze upon seeing her friends surrounding the dinner table with party poppers in their hands. Her father was among them, holding a candlelit chocolate cake garnished with whipped cream and strawberries—her favorite—on a wooden tray. When they started singing her happy birthday, Selene attempted to reach deep within herself for the strength to appreciate the effort but found none, and she hated herself even more than she already did for merely trying to.

Selene remained immobile until the song was over, an expression of disgust mixed with sympathy that no one seemed to notice crumpling her face. Megan waddled through the balloons and confetti strewn over the open concept towards Selene. Selene faked a smile as Megan took her bicycle to lean it against the wall below Phoebe's, suspended on the indoor rack beside the front door. Selene's eyes lingered there for what she felt to be an eternity, until Megan grabbed her by the wrist and led her to her father.

"Come on! Make a wish!" Megan smiled from ear to ear and clapped her hands.

Selene made one that she didn't have to think about. She blew the candles, and everyone cheered as if her wish would now come true.

"What did you wish for?" Benjamin asked and kicked a red balloon upwards. "Some new book by... what's his name... Gay Man?"

His name's Neil Gaiman, you nosey prick. Selene caught the balloon as it was slowly gliding above her head. "No, a million dollars."

Her father spun on his heel and set her birthday cake down onto the dining table. "What do you need a million dollars for?" he grumbled as he began cutting it into slices and serving them to her friends. "We've got everything we need."

Selene rolled her eyes and tossed the balloon across the open kitchen. Well, maybe you do, Dad, she thought, if all you need to be happy in life is a crate full of beer.

"I'm surprised to see you here," Alice told Selene as she fidgeted with her party popper, wrapping the string around her finger, "thought you'd never show up. Where do you always run off to?"

"Nowhere," Selene answered with a shrug of her shoulders. "It's Friday. I've got nothing to do, so I take the longer route home."

"The longer route home?" Alice chuckled and hit her in the shoulder with her party popper. "I think you just go in circles."

Selene sighed, already overwhelmed. "Sometimes I do. Though I have to say I'm surprised to see you here too."

"Dad's home now. It's his turn to look after Mom."

A familiar pain burgeoned in Selene's chest. "Is she better?"

"Much better," Alice smiled, relieved. "I should start going to school again by tomorrow."

Selene nodded her head slowly. "Good."

"She had us worried sick, you know?"

"I know."

"I have no idea what I'd do if something happened to her."

"Nobody does."

"Selena!" Emmett yelped and passed her a slice of cake.

"It's Selene," she said, exasperated. 

"I call my babe how I like," he said under his breath so her father wouldn't hear him.

"I'm not your babe," she told him as heat assaulted her cheeks, but he had already turned his back on her and vanished into the crowd.

Alice elbowed her in the ribs. "You're too hard on him. He deserves a second chance."

Selene gingerly rubbed the spot where she had hit her. "I don't even like him anymore..." she mumbled in embarrassment, as though instantly regretting her words.

"I don't get what's not to like."

Selene slammed her eyes shut in an attempt to contain her irritability. Well, then, she thought, why don't you have him instead, Alice?

"Alice!" Emmett called out from across the dining table. "Come get your slice!"

Alice darted towards the crowd like a startled doe, and Selene mindlessly watched them all as if she wasn't even part of whatever was happening in this moment; this wasn't her party. Despite the tumult of hysterical laughter and endless conversations, Selene could hear nothing except one thought buzzing in her ears: Fuck this. She only wanted to disappear, to lose herself in a world where nothing reminded her of home. Slowly, Selene took a step back, worried someone might notice a change in the backdrop. The next time her father looked over his shoulder to search for her, she had already gone, her slice of cake intact in its plate on the coffee table behind him.

Word count: 1044