Fireworks {ON HOLD}

Some Answers

"Are you sure you want to go to school today?" My mom asked for the billionth time. "Yesterday, you were definitely about to faint, and your...fireworks were about to lose control."

"I'm fine, Mom," I answered cheerfully, smiling at her as I paused briefly from my hunt for my favorite sweatshirt. "Yesterday was a temporary sickness."

She shook her head fretfully. "I don't know..." She trailed off. "Just call me if you want to be picked up from school early, okay?"

"Alright, but I won't need to," I replied confidently, finally locating the light blue hoodie I'd been searching for. As I slipped it over my head, I thought about the previous day's events. Strange events. As soon as my mom had driven home as quickly as she could (after I'd convinced her I didn't need to go to the hospital) I'd retired into my room, and fell unconscious for about three hours. I mean it. I really was shocked.

After I'd woken up feeling a little better, I went through all the events of the day in my mind carefully, pondering over each one. The make-over incident, going to Maya's house, the voice in my head, and my mom's crazy assumption that I'd actually called her and said I'd stayed after school. They all made no sense, but they all had one thing in common.

Maya was at the center of it all.

Which meant she had the answer to it all. And I wouldn't get the answers by sitting around being shocked and afraid of her. Sure, I was still I bit cautious of Maya now (wouldn't you be?) but I disliked the idea of her messing with me, and the fact she had answers when I didn't. And that fact made me brave--or maybe reckless. Maya didn't seem like a dangerous person who wanted to harm me, but she did seem like the type of person who kept secrets.

"Just keep it in mind," My mom said, her brow furrowed as she opened the door for me to leave. "And try not to get too...emotional, today."

"Yeah, Mom," I replied, smiling, then bursting out the door, almost running into my best friend.

"Dude!" Montana exclaimed, straightening her glasses. "I didn't know you loved me so much that you had to give me a head-butt to show it!"

"Sorry," I grinned. "And, actually, that head-butt was meant for someone else. You're not important enough." I joked.

She raised her eyebrows as we walked to her waiting car. "I beg your pardon? Would you rather walk to school?"

"I'll give you your own bonk on the head later, okay?" I laughed, taking her arm in mine.

She scowled in mock anger. "You better, or else I--"

"Or else she'll give you an essay on the gray wolves population!" Wyatt's voice floated from the car. "Can we go now?"

***

As I felt the presence of someone watching me while I was opening my locker, I turned around, expecting to see Iris. I must have been in luck (or maybe I wasn't) because Iris and her goons were nowhere in sight. However, Maya was.

"Hey," She said, her dream-catcher earrings swaying a little as she smiled and greeted me. "Are you feeling better? Yesterday, you seemed like you were--"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I interrupted, examining her closely. She looked relaxed and normal-- well, as normal as you could look for Maya. She was wearing a faded T-shirt with the image of a gray wolf on it, and a pair of gray yoga pants, seeming calm and relaxed minus the concern in her gaze as she looked at me. "Just a bit tired."

She smiled, ignoring my rude cut-off. "That's good," She said. "I was worried Annie might have accidently given you a fever--she's just gotten over the flu."