Finals

8: ignite

For a moment, she was back in the streets of Reneva, watching her parents burn.

"Asher!" she screamed, but there was no sound beyond the echoing blast. She squinted against the brightness and tried to make out his figure amongst the fire and smoke. "No, Ash, please!"

The old nickname burned like acid on her tongue.

In that moment, she couldn't be certain whether she was mourning the loss of her chance at the presidency or the loss of her best friend. It was all too confusing. All she could feel was a twisting knot of pain and despair in her stomach, so excruciating that she fell to her knees with the pain. Her dreams at the Academy had lasted seven years. Her friendship with Asher had lasted seven years. And somehow, losing him for the second time was even more difficult, even though she knew she was supposed to hate him, even though she was supposed to have forgotten him, even though--

A hand grabbed on to the ledge of the platform.

As the fire faded in the distance, Kalista cried out and crawled forward. "Ash?" she whispered. She felt like she was hallucinating... and then she saw his golden, slightly blackened hair.

"Can't get rid of me that easily," he coughed hoarsely, clutching the ledge for dear life. "A little help here?"

She grabbed his other hand and pulled him up, shaking. "Come on, we have to go."

He seemed unhurt, save for a few burns on his arms that didn't look too serious. He must have leapt at the last second. Without thinking, she made a strange noise and wrapped her arms around him in a brief hug.

Just as quickly, she pulled away.

Oh, God, what had she just done? Her cheeks flamed. This was Asher Wayland. Her enemy. Her betrayer.

Her best friend.

No! No. He had lied. He had buried that knife into her shoulder, and there was no going back. How could there be? Her parents had died at his hands, and no matter what he said with those beautiful lips and the eyes she had known for her whole life... he was a liar. He was dead to her now. He was--

He had saved her life.

But she had saved his right back, hadn't she? This was all a part of Finals, all a part of this power game that she needed to win. She could tolerate him. She could work with him. But she could never, ever, get attached to him. She could never, ever--

Love him.

And that was the moment that she knew she was done for.

Kalista snapped herself out of her traitorous mind and looked away. She couldn't see his reaction, but she could feel the slight warmth of surprise and hope emanating off him. They were still so close together. The platform was so horribly small. She had the sudden urge to touch him, and had to lace her fingers together to resist it. What was she doing? What was going on?

"Wow, thanks," Asher said. She could tell he was trying to make a joke, but his voice shook a little at the end. "Nice to know that I'm still of some value--"

She slapped him. 

Not hard, but hard enough to make her mind stop spinning. "Don't push it."

Even as his cheek began to turn red, a smile emerged like the first peek of daylight from the rising sun: hesitant but hopeful. She would have slapped him again if not for the figure that appeared behind him.

It seemed that Sawyer and the other boy had been left behind. Kalista recognized Alina Rostova's slim figure and long blond hair as she swung from one hoop to the next, eyes narrowed in concentration. There was a giant gap in the course where the grenade had gone off, blowing some of the hoops to pieces, but Alina seemed determined to cross it. Swearing, Kalista pulled Asher to his feet and turned to the last part of the course: the zipline.