1

16 1 0
                                    

My alarm rang in my ear like a siren. It signaled me to get up, and only today did I give in. I swung my feet over the edge of the mattress onto the plush white rug. After wasting five minutes rubbing my toes in the threads, I headed to my bathroom across the hall. The hot water ran over my body, rinsing of the remainder of rose scented body wash. I blow dried my golden mess of curls and tied it off into a side braid. The neutral eye shadow, eyeliner, and mascara brought out the brightness of my pure gold eyes. Everyone always says how unique and magic they are, but eyes are just eyes. My outfit consisted of a white tank top with a floral cover-up, shorts, and gray converse. I walked out to the bus stop where Sophie, my best friend since 1st grade, awaited me.

"There you are. You took for-freaking-ever! I could have starved and died. The news headline would be 'Girl Waits For Best Friend, Tragically Dies, World Devastated By The Loss.' Then they build a solid gold statue in my honor!" she dramatically states. 

"Okay, Soph, okay," I manage to say between fits of laughter, "I will build you a gold statue of yourself when you die, I promise."

 We step onto the bus and take a seat somewhere in the middle. So far the morning had gone off without a hitch....then the bus over-heats and Sophie and I have to walk to school the rest of the way. 'At least it's good exercise' is the mantra I keep repeating in my head. It wasn't really working. As for Sophie, let's just say she was a very unhappy camper with a temporary sailor's mouth. We get to the front door when Trayton, a friend from band, runs up to us. 

"Hey guys, how was your summers?" He smiled.

"Inquisitive as always I see," I reply, "Pretty good, how about yours?"

"Good, but I wa-" He tried to say.

"Well, I had to help Mom with the flower beds, Dad with the garden, and Gabe with his first summer reading. So not bad. As for Nathan, he had it pretty bad. He still can't convince his aunt to let him come to our school, despite me helping him." Sophie continued to rant to lunch.

The school cafeteria food was disgusting as always so Sophie and I brought lunches while Trayton suffered greatly. So to cheer him up, I offered up Sophie's bag of popcorn.

"Uh, no," Sophie protested, "Even though I don't want it, I don't want it going to Trayton. You know it'll give him gas all day. I can't suffer from your 'kindness'."

"Oh come on, Soph," I pleaded "Just let him have it."

"Fine but you're the one who's gonna sit by him all day." Sophie says.

"Okay, thanks. Love ya!" I say, walking to the microwave. I unwrap it and put it in when I hear someone yell. 

"Yeah, run away whore!" Catherine laughed. The young girl facing her wrath ran into the hall bathroom.

"Hey, Catherine, before you start calling people whores, maybe you should check to see if your one yourself." 

Everyone stares, blankly at the voice that put Catherine in her place. It was me. All of the sudden the popcorn stares popping without the microwave being on. Then the microwave starts powering on and off. I quickly unplug it and take the partially burn popcorn back to my table. 

"What the hell was that?" Sophie asked. Trayton just sat there. 

 I shrugged. "The heck if I know," I say, "I'm surprised I said it myself." 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm proud, but I meant what happened that possessed microwave?"

"No idea, maybe it was a circuit breaker that broke."

"Maybe, it was super weird none the less. But that doesn't explain the popcorn."

We all shrugged in unison.

5th period passed with the gossip spreading like wild fire. By the time 6th period started, the whole school knew what went down in lunch...all of it. 

"Alright, clear your desks. You're going to be taking a test to see how high your IQ is for after summer break for the board of education." the English teacher drones.

I clear my desk when the stack of papers makes its way to me. It only takes 10 minutes before people start turning their papers in. I'm only half way through do I start to panic, but calmly finish the test a few minutes later. As I make my way to the teacher's desk, Catherine shoves her way in front of me. I know it's small and insignificant, but that witch gets on my last nerve. I lay my test on top of the small, disorganized stack. I turn my back, that's all I did. 

The stack bursts into flames.

The teacher, a small petite woman, shrieks and immediately pulls the fire alarm. The fire alarm ushers everyone out of the building. I find Soph and Trayton. 

"What did you do this time?" Soph asks.

"Nothing, I swear all I did was turn in a stupid IQ test," I shouted. No one looked over because the fire alarm had yet to be turned off.  I have no idea what happened or how to possibly explain it, and neither did the school, so we dismissed early. They say the cause of the fire was spontaneous combustion in a hot, not well ventilated room.

 My gut was telling me it was something else though. Things like spontaneous combustion don't happen in my town. Ever.

 When I got home, I closed my door and locked it shut. I grabbed the nearest candle and set it on my desk. I stare at it for a few minutes seeing what would happen in an actual non-ventilated, hot room. Nothing, as I thought. My phone starts to vibrate in my pocket.

"Hey honey, I'm not going to be home in time for dinner. Make sure Clair gets home at a reasonable hour. Love you, bye." My dad rushes. He hangs up before I get one word in. Great, I get to babysit my 26-year-old sister. I wish Daren was still here. A few tears slip down my face. As I reach my hand over the candle to get a tissue, the candle lights, flickers, and goes out. 

You've reached the end of published parts.

⏰ Last updated: Aug 18, 2017 ⏰

Add this story to your Library to get notified about new parts!

Girl On FireWhere stories live. Discover now