For You

Firework Accident

Crack! BOOM!

          A colorful burst of light sparkled in the night sky for a few seconds before fading and reducing to smoke. 

          The 4th of July. 

          Fireworks were everywhere and each year bigger and better shows of light dominated the rest. This year, blue fireworks were very popular. Blue, being James' favorite color, he enjoyed seeing them and was even more pleased when dark blue explosions illuminated above him. 

eeeeee......crack! BOOM!

          Jaiden gasped as a purple one flared across the sky. Anything igniting in her favorite color is what she was on the lookout for. The 2 friends sat on her lawn, side by side, watching the skies in silence. Until James tapped the brunette's shoulder, pointed to his left and whispered, 

"Listen. They're gonna launch a firework." 

          She turned her head in the direction he pointed at. Sure enough, her neighbor's chattering had gotten louder and a bright spark shined through their fence. 

"I wonder what color it'll be." She murmured. 

          The talking on the other side turned into aggressive yells and panicked screams. Then everything was quiet. 

eee....

          A streak of orange-white light slowly climbed into the atmosphere. Cheering erupted from right next-door. Jaiden started to lean towards the blonde's shoulder, but her hair hadn't even brushed his shirt when the neighbors lost it. There was shrieking and hollers of, 

"Look out!" 

          Before she could even comprehend what was happening, James grabbed her arm and yanked her up. Despite his scrawny structure, he was actually pretty strong--half tugging and half dragging her to nearly the other side of her backyard very quickly. However, it caused her socket to burn in the short lived agony and her pants became ruined by stains from the grass. Without a word, James dropped to his knees and embraced her, his back turned to the neighbors' direction. 

"James! Why d-" 

fshhhhhhh.....

          The same flare of peach light caught Jaiden's eye as it plunged from the night. The fuming ball resembled a small comet. It crashed down into her backyard and went up in flames in the same spot she and James were sitting at mere moments ago.  Since her backyard was small, the burst covered a wide radius: sending a heatwave over her patio for a fraction of a second. 

          The worst she got from it was on her hands, which were sticking out from behind James awkwardly and had only felt a scorching temperature. The flames had almost touched them, almost touched her. But thanks to the literal human shield James posed as, she hardly felt the heat. At first she couldn't move or speak. She maintained the uncomfortable position she was at for a little longer, then broke out of her petrified state with, 

"Fire! Fire! I-It's spreading!"

          Jaiden looked up at her friend, who was still holding her close to him. 

"Y-you're okay, right?" 

          James opened his eyes and nodded through gritted teeth. Jaiden took it as a sign that he was completely okay and didn't notice the wince on his face when she loosened from his grip. She darted over to her hose and aimed it at the fire. James caught on, swiping an old, thick rug from her porch and heaved it over the growing flames without getting too close. 

          By now, the hose was spraying full blasts of water. In a matter of seconds, the mini-bonfire was extinguished. For good measure, Jaiden kept soaking was was left of the patch of grass and her rug. She shot a cold look at her neighbor's house. 

Idiots. 

          Thanks to them, the middle of her backyard was an ashy blotch where grass would probably never grow again. Not to mention they almost burned her alive along with James! She took in a deep breath to ease her tense shoulders. 

It's not their fault, she thought, anyone could've had a mishap with the fireworks and if it didn't happen here, maybe people would've gotten hurt if it happened somewhere else. 

          She turned off the hose,  dropped it, and turned to the sound of approaching footsteps.  

"James?" 

           Her friend was walking over to her with a stiff back, 

"Are..." James stopped, "are you okay?" 

          Jaiden held a shaky thumbs up. A faint smile formed on her face, 

"Yeah, thanks buddy."   

**********************

Author's note: This is gonna be a collection of moments between Jaiden and James and what lengths they'd go to do things for each other.  The next chapter is coming out shortly. <3

I'm free for suggestions of what the other chapters could be about. 

The whole "a firework landed in my backyard" actually happened to me a few years ago. Luckily, no one was hurt. But since then, my neighbors have never launched another firework.