The Fire That Keeps Us Together

Chapter 1: Fire

Fire; furious and feisty. It never should have belonged to me.

I can never forget the story of how I was born. From time to time my mother would tell me just to remind me of how special I am...but... the rest of the town made sure that I would never forget what I really am in their eyes. My name is Saya Annabelle Luis. I live in a small town named Riverwood with a population of just about 4, 139. Nothing much goes on in this town except that I am everybody's topic. You see, I was born on December 19, a Saturday, around 8 in the evening. At that exact time, a fire star called Aden descended down to Earth and crashed just outside the borders of Riverwood. Some say that the star was the reason for my curse but my mother always told me that I was born with a gift. She said that from the moment she held my fragile little body, I was slowly engulfed by flames that didn't burn any part of me. She could only watch my blazing body for such a time until Aden quietly disappeared. As soon as the star vanished, the fire embracing my body slowly began to fade as well.

Instead of the term special, the people of the town saw me as a threat and labelled me as cursed. They were afraid so they began to hate me. Soon enough, my mother and I became outcasts in Riverwood.

Growing up was difficult for me. Of course I had to do normal things like go to school and stuff but being an ordinary normal girl was beyond my reach. There were certain times that my body would light up into flames without my control. How does this happen? Well first, I would usually feel a burning sensation coming from inside then followed by the heating and trembling of my whole body—that's the time when I would run home. In my house I can be who I am in front of my mother who showed me that she wasn't afraid of me, instead, she accepted and loved me even more. Everyone else knew what happens to me so they kept their distance. In school, no one but the teachers would talk to me and even then, they still sounded cold. They were only forced to acknowledge me because I was a student.

At the age of 12, my mother became sick and later on I lost her. She did tell me before she died that I shouldn't be afraid of what I am or what the other people think about me. She told me that I needed to live for her and for my father whom I never knew. She said that he was a great man who loved us but had to go away for a certain reason of which she wouldn't tell me—probably bailed because he was scared of me. meh!

I changed a lot after losing my mother. I pretty much became a loner and I grew up used to the lonely feeling. People were cold to me and I, to them. I continued life all by myself in what I call an empty ghost town because although there were people living in Riverwood, none of them acted like one.

Reaching high school wasn't such a big step for me. I was 16 years old when I started middle school and it wasn't as different as my primary or childhood years. People were still the same and so was I. The only thing that had changed was the place. I was enrolled at Riverwood High. It was just a normal school that had bigger grounds compared to my old school.

I can never forget my first day in high school. The halls were filled with loud and annoying students who kept on yelling and screaming excitedly at each other even if they were just beside the person they were talking to. They kept on playing practical jokes on one another and laugh about it. They were all very hyper but I couldn't feel what they were feeling. What was excitement? Nobody even noticed me when I walked through the halls of the school. They knew I was there but they pretended not to see me at all. Of course, I'm used to it so I didn't mind. The students continued to cheer and have fun and I minded my own business, as usual.

I continued to walk through the crowd, shunning out their noise and burying myself in my own thoughts.  I kept thinking that things were just going to be the same—mean townsfolk, loud students, ignorant teachers, more studying (harder now) and living the same invisible life. Yep, No changes! But then, fate has a way of teasing us in the most inconvenient of ways. I didn't realize it at first but then it just hit me (literally too!) as I collided with something and fell on the floor. There was this boy who was holding a book and I guess he was really into what he was reading that he didn't see where he was going and bumped into me.

As I looked up, I saw short black hair and crystal blue eyes. He reached out his hand for me and I didn't know what to do. I'm not sure whether he was serious or whether he knew me or not. He seemed to be at the age of 17 and he must have been new in Riverwood to have acted that way. The loud noises that had been echoing through the halls suddenly fell into a dull silence as everyone's gazes turned to me and this new boy. I was in complete shock.

"Are you alright?"

His soft voice suddenly broke the silence. This time I was able to come back to my senses but because of confusion, I absentmindedly took his hand. I felt myself being hoisted up and the moment I was on my feet, whispers began to surround me and this person. 

"I'm terribly sorry, I got so deep in my book that I didn't notice where I was heading." he said, smiling.

A smile. My eyes slowly widened in surprise. That was the first time somebody else smiled at me. This was very strange for me and I guess that feeling made me forget that our hands were still locked. The students around us couldn't believe what they were seeing. They were all cuddled up with one another, watching and exchanging whispers. It was as if they were expecting me to hurt this guy.

"I-it's fine." I quickly pulled my hand away from his.

I forced myself to snap out of that trance and go on my way as if nothing happened. I hastened my steps away from them and the moment I was distant, the other students rushed to him and checked to see if he was okay.

"Are you alright?"

"What did you think you were doing?!"

"Do you realize who that was?!"

“Don’t you know anything?!”

"You're lucky she didn't do anything to you."

"You ought to be careful!"

"That girl is cursed!"

I heard everything. I just closed my eyes and pretended not to hear it. Everybody else stepped aside as I passed through. They feared me as if I was some kind of monster. I knew that this fear had hate but it was alright—for now.

That was the first time I met Hero. 

AN: So this is it! XD The first chapter out of 7. :) The characters and places in this story are purely fictional as they appeared in my head when I was dreaming 2 years ago. Nyahahah So what did you think? Watch out for the next chapters because Saya's world is going turn upside down! 

Btw,  

ADEN: Anglicized form of Gaelic Áedán, meaning "fire." 

Tata! Cheerio!