Up In Flames

Chapter two

Chapter two

The bell rings to signal the ending of lunch time. I quickly walk to English class and then find my seat in the back corner of the classroom. Apart from classes were the seating locations are arranged, I sit alone in all my classes. I pull out my pencil case and exercise book and gaze out the window. I hum a tune as a swarm of students gather into the classroom, followed by the English teacher, Mr Ray. The sound of chewing gum glooping between Susie's teeth signals her entrance. It signals me to keep quiet and keep to myself. This is the only class that Susie takes on her own: without Danny and Margaux. Susie's boyfriend and best friend both take special ed English classes, being a bit challenged in the areas of reading and writing. This usually means that I have a free class from Susie's insults and bullying, because she has no servants to laugh at and praise her every word.

The class goes well. Both me and Susie keep to ourslves as the class discusses a book we've been studying. In the middle of discussion, the principal Mr Barnes enters the classroom to talk to the class.

?Hello, everyone," he begins. "We've had an incident in the E Wing girls bathroom. There seems to have been a small explosion or flame in the sink. If any of you have any information about the cause of this, please speak to me. Not only have they created a mess in the bathroom, they could have also put students in danger."

Mr Barnes smells of whisky and cigarettes, but he still looks sharp in his blue blazer and red polka-dot tie. I bit my lip. I'm the cause of that mess. I could have put people in danger. I want to confess to Mr Barnes, but I decide against it when I remember that the fire created in that sink came from my palms. I bit my lip hoping that my alcoholic principal leaves before any signs of panic appear on me.

"It was Marnie!" Susie shouts. My mouth drops open like a nutcracker. "She's always smoking it up in the toilet." she adds.

"No I -" I shout before she cuts me off.

"She probably got a little bit experimental and created an explosion."

"Now, now, Sus -" Mr Barnes begins before being interrupted by one student...

"Yeah. I always see Marnie smoking in there," says a girl who I attended primary and kindergarten with.

and then another.

"She always smells of tobacco," claims a boy who's mother was friends with mine.

Eventually the whole class joins in the game. They all tell stories and lies of me smoking and using drugs in the girls bathroom. My teeth clam together. My fingers curve into a fist. My hands grip and tense, leaving a subtle scar in my palm from my fingernails. My eyebrows pierce together like stakes. Heat gathers in my fingertips. I storm towards Susie with a glowing hand at the ready. I bring my hand back and then force it forwards directly to her face. My fire producing hand slaps against her cheek.

WHACK!

I bring my hand away from her cheek, and examine her face. My handprint has been imprinted into her cheek. The mark has been burnt into her skin.

"It burn. It burns!" Susie screams. Every girl and boy keep their distance from me and Susie. My glowing hand is throbbing. The light in my hands begins to fade down, but an unnatural glow is still illuminating before my eyes.

"How did you do that? you burnt me? You freak!" Susie shouts at me.

"Freak! Freak!" she screams at me. The other students then join in with Susie.

"Freak! Freak!" they all chant at me.

I hate her, I hate her, I hate her. I clinch my fingers and claw at the air in front of me. Flames begin to form in my palms as I tense my fists. The flame grows untill a ball of fire the size of a small vehicle levitates from my hands. The screams of the students fade out as they race out of the room. The silence left in the room suggests that me and Susie are alone. I reduce the fireball to the size of a soccer ball, and glare at Susie. I intimidatingly approach her with the fireball pivoting in the air in front of me.

"P-p-p-please don't hurt me, Marnie. I was only joking," Susie says.

Sweat seems to roll from her neck.

"We could be the best of f-f-f-friends," she adds.

Her words stutter like mine do. Susie shakes like shes being shocked by a defibrillator.

"I hate you, Susie. I hate you. I hate you," I scream at her.

Susie falls to the grounds and crawls towards a group of tables. She cradles her legs under a desk. Her sobs and cries sound like those belonging to a wolf during a full moon. I grab for the desk with a strength I never knew I had. I hold the desk over my head and throw it towards a window to my right. I hear the smash of glass, followed by Susie's piercing screams. The flame grows to the size of the small vehicle it once was.

"Who's laughing now, Susie? Who's laughing now?" I ask her with a sinister grin painted on my face. I retract my arms back and then throw the fireball towards the cradled figured. I expect to hear screams, but I am treated with silence. The fireball reduces to the size of a plum pip, spinning in a black substance. The substance replaces Susie's body. After examination I realise that the black substance is ash. The cremation of Susie. A strong wind blows in through the smashed window and blows Susie's cremation to the corner of the room.

I walk towards the door of the classroom. I turn around and look at the aftermath of my actions. I fall to the floor and sob. I punch myself in the stomach.

"You idiot," I shout at myself.

A tear tingles from my eye and trickles down my cheek. A stinging sensation overwhelms my cheek. I walk towards one of the unshuttered window and I examine my faint reflection. A scar trails down my cheek down the path my tear followed. A line is imprinted below my eye. A tear drop burnt down my cheek.

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