Fire & Water & Earth & Air

5: Water

Edward

           I turn the doorknob and Juliette sucks in a breath. It's amazing how nervous she is to meet my parents. What's even more amazing is how she thinks they'll think she's weird.

           They obviously won't, considering the fact that they raised me.

           I open the door to my house and yell, "Guys, I'm home!"

           Juliette is looking around nervously so I take her hand and give it a quick squeeze, letting her know I'm here.

           She squeezes back, although I'm not sure if it was as reassurance or a nervous spam.

           "How was the- who is this?" My mother changes her question when her eyes land on Juliette.

           "She's-she's a friend," I stutter.

           Dad comes down the stairs and sees us standing in the entrance of the house. He stares at me then at Juliette then back at me and says, "You did know we were home, right?"

           I roll my eyes because my dad says this with every girl I bring home. I turn to Juliette, ready to apologize like I do to every girl. But instead of turning beet red or yelling at me for embarrassing her, Juliette starts laughing.

           "Sorry, Mr. James, but Edward didn't get lucky today. I'm Juliette, his friend."

           Before I can come up with something witty that'll make her marvel at my existence, Juliette gets very serious. "But we do have something that we need to tell you. I mean, I need to tell you. But only because Edward insisted."

           She takes a deep breath then just blurts it out. "I'm like your son. I have a special ability. I can control fire."

           My parents look at each other, then look at me, then look at Juliette, then at each other. Finally, their gaze lands on me.

           "Ed, Juliette, let's take a seat," my mother says, motioning to the couch.

           We do just that.

           After everyone is settled, I see something move out of the corner of my eye. I turn my head in that direction and I see the twins: Silas and Eva are staring at Juliette, who is sitting next to me to my right.

           "Kids, go back to sleep," my father tells them. The twelve-year-olds laugh then say, "Dad, we weren't asleep," at the exact same time.

           Eva is taller than Silas, which he finds embarrassing because he's a minute older and Eva is, well, a girl. She's also smarter than him so it gets me nervous when she starts staring at Juliette. Her eyes find mine and her lips curl into a smile that shoots fear from my head to my toes.

           I'll find out what's going on, she's trying to tell me.

           Eva yawns and says, "Yeah, I think I'll go to sleep now. 'Night Julie. Goodnight, big brother." Naive little Silas turns to his sister and says, "But we still don't know who she is." Eva shoots him a look that tells him to shut up and follow. He does this.

           They walk away and Juliette smiles a little. "I never had baby siblings. It kinda sucks." I shake my head. "You're lucky, Juliette."

           She laughs and I laugh. I catch Juliette's eye and she smiles at me. We stay like that, smiling at each other until her eyes widen, her cheeks blush and she looks away. I look away too, confused as to why she reacted like that until I realize: my parents are in the room.