Living With the Enemy

Chapter 6: Opposites DON'T Attract

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello again! Yes, I am still alive. And now you get a chapter! So, after this, I was thinking I was going to do a short intermission of sorts, with some questions that I think are interesting and also related to this story and my other works, and maybe even a playlist of songs that go along with this story and its characters. What do you think? Anyway, here you go!

P.S: To a few certain people: I'm sorry.

After that little ordeal, Dylan took me to the nearest pay phone so I could call my parents and let them know that I was okay. They responded with their usual mix of "We're so proud of you!" and "Seriously, would you please tell us before you go off and do something potentially life-threatening?"

Then, I decided I needed to call Ava, since she was sort of the leader of our little group.

"Hi Ava!"

"Ember, what happened to you? You extinguished the fire, then you blacked out and-"

I could hear the concern in her voice.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. I was abducted by a crazy girl, but now I'm free because some guy rescued me."

"Some guy?" Dylan interjected.

"A person from my old school."

"Better." he said.

"Anyway, do you want to come over?" Ava asked. "We're going to be having a big sleepover at Cam's place. Even Zoe is coming."

"Sure. I'll be right over."

Then, I hung up.

"Do you want me to take you over to your friend's house, or can you get there yourself?" Dylan asked.

"I am perfectly capable of going places all by myself, Mister I-Control-Dolphins, thank you very much."

"Alright then. I've got to get home. Later, Ember." Then, he left.

I made a quick stop at my house to pick up a sleeping bag and some other stuff, then I went to Cam's house.

When I got there, I was instantly bombarded by questions, since of course they hadn't realized what exactly had happened to me and of course Ava hadn't told them.

"What happened to you?"

"Are you okay?"

"Who was that guy on the phone with you?"

"Do you like him?"

...And, of course, they wanted to know about Dylan. Our heroes, ladies and gentlemen: A bunch of teenage girls who care more about the relationship status of their teammate than their teammate's wellbeing.

"First of all, let me put my stuff down before you start asking me anything. " I said. "And the answers are:I got kidnapped, yes, a guy from my old school, and NO! Not in that way, at least."

"Aww." Kat said. "But he sounds so cute! And he saved you!"

"No way, it'll never work." I said. "I'm fire, he's water. We're not compatible."

"But opposites attract, you know." she countered. "Look at Hector and Faith, for instance. What kind of girl- even someone as nice as Faith- could love a guy with the power to cause bad luck? Especially if this bad-luck-causing person was as creepy as he is. If two extremes like them can work it out, why not the two of you?"

I rolled my eyes.

"I already told you, there is no way we could ever be compatible. And also, were I so inclined, I could destroy him if I wanted to. How is that perfect?"

I frantically tried to change the subject, because I knew the current conversation would go on for hours if I didn't.

"Let's just watch TV, okay?"

And, of course, it just so happened that a news story on me and Dylan was currently dominating every cable channel.

"Great. Just what I need." I said, going towards the TV so I could turn it off.

"No!" Max said, using her power of super-speed to stop me instantly. "I want to watch this."

"Fine." I grumbled. I went back to the couch, sitting down hard and drawing my knees up to try to hide the violent shade of cherry-red that was quickly covering my face.

The news story was terrible, of course. It insisted that Dylan must be a villain, as nobody had ever seen him before, and that my name was "Empyraen".

My friends thought, naturally, that it was the cutest thing they had ever seen.

"Don't you see? This is terrible!" I cried. "We barely interacted, and now all the news channels swear we're together! I don't even know the first thing about being in a relationship!"

"Kat does." Cam pointed out.

"Sure, if 'knowing about a relationship' means 'having a nearly year-long crush on a guy who hardly even talked to you, and you only got together with him in a story that you wrote." Ava said.

"Hey!" Kat protested. "Mick and I are friends, at least. And I'm not the only one. May I point out that Zoe is also in a relationship- a real one?"

"Yes, yes I am." Zoe said. Zoe is in the same grade as Ava, Kat, Cam, and Max (I'm in 10th grade, and they're all in 9th) but she doesn't go to our school anymore. She stands at nearly six feet tall, has blonde hair and blue eyes, and can control time itself. "I've been going out with Ben Colten for about a year now, and the best advice I can give is just to be yourself. I know it's cliche, but it's good advice nonetheless."

"But I just can't be with him! We can't be together!" I said.

"No, no, that's the best part!" Kat said. "Forbidden love! So romantic."

"What do you mean, forbidden? We can be together. It's just that we shouldn't."

"Ever heard of 'opposites attract'?" Max asked.

"I don't see how that's relevant. This argument is just going around in circles!" I yelled. "Listen, I'm not even attracted to him, not even a little bit. We're not going to go out together. That's. FINAL."

"You're in denial!" Zoe chides.

"No, I'm not. Now, can we please talk about things that actually matter?"

(That was a lie. I did like him, very much, in fact. But they couldn't know that. Yet, anyway.)

Everyone rolled their eyes. "Fine." Ava said. "What did you find out from spying on your chosen targets?"

Everyone began to speak, and it became clear that our foes were planning something. Something big.