Burn || 5sos (discontinued)

Chapter 13

"Hey mom," I said nervously. She ignored me and continued to glare at Luke. His visibility power was unfortunately still in place.

"Who is this?" She asked.

"This is um, Doug." I said motioning to Luke. I knew that if I told her his real name, she would soon find out what really happened to him.

"Hello Doug. Why are you with my daughter in my house?" She asked suspiciously.

"I-uh. I-"

"I ran into him at the store. He went to Katport last year." I said interrupting Luke.

"Yeah, she was struggling with all these groceries so I offered to help out," Luke added on.

Mom nodded, "And now that you helped, what are your so called 'plans' afterwards?" She said cocking her eyebrow.

"Oh my God, Mom!" I scolded.

"I'm just trying to make sure he isn't just after the v," She replied.

Luke chuckled, he raised his hands while slowly walking backwards towards the door, "I was just helping ma'am. See you later Riley," He said while halfway out the door.

"Bye... Doug." I giggled. As he shut the door behind him, I turned to face my mom- who was casually walking towards the living room with a cup of coffee in her hands.

"Mom what the heck was that?" I yelled.

"Watch your tone young lady. I was just being protective."

"More like over-protective," I mumbled.

"Shush, my show is on." She said while waving me off. I groaned and made my way to my room, slamming the door behind me.

"I can't believe her!" I yelled, startling Luke who was laying down on my bed.

"I can't believe you. Doug? Really? You couldn't have come up with a better name?" He asked.

"It was the first thing that came to mind, okay?" I defended myself. It wasn't my fault I had watched the Pixar movie, Up, last night.

"So what makes your mom think I'm after the 'V'," Luke said using air quotes. "Did someone do that to you before? Use you like that?"

"No," I shook my head, "When I was eleven, my mom and I got into some sort of accident. It was apparently all my Dads fault, I lost my memory from before the accident and my mom took me and left my dad. She said he wasn't capable of being a father. I know she misses him, every night she always sleeps with a picture of them on their wedding day. She holds onto it like it's the only thing she has left of him. I wish I could remember what he was like, I can't remember anything about him. My mom never talks about him and she feels like it's her job to be the mother and father role in my life. So the whole overprotective thing is part of the dad role," I chuckled and continued, "I feel like I could go see my Dad if I wanted to, but I don't know if I'm ready. Part of me wants to just run into his arms while the other part wants nothing to do with him."

I was now sitting on the bed next to Luke, he listened closely to my small rant and after I was finished, he put his arm around me and rubbed circles in my shoulder, "One day everything's gonna make sense, Ri."

"I hope that day is soon."

-

-

-

"Riley wake up! You're gonna be late for school!" My mom called from the kitchen.

I shot up out of bed and scurried to the bathroom, it was already seven thirty and I had to be at school by eight. I didn't bother with makeup today and quickly braided my hair. I kept my leggings on from the night before and slipped on a red 'Mayday Parade' t-shirt. I shoved on my black vans and ran downstairs.

"Bye mom!" I called as I ran out the door.

I made it to my truck and climbed into the drivers seat, I'm going to be late. I was about To start the truck when Luke's voice echoed though my head.

You have powers you know.

"Shut up Ghost Boy." I mumbled.

I checked the clock on my dashboard. I had two minutes. Maybe I could just transport there, what is there to lose?

"Okay Riley, You can do this," I encouraged myself. I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing. Katport High School, Girls bathroom. I thought to myself. My ears started ringing and everything became bright before dimming down again. I opened my eyes and I was no longer sitting in my truck, I was on the cold tile floor of the High Schools girls bathroom.

"Sweet!" I exclaimed in the empty bathroom. I quickly rose to my feet and dashed into my calculus class right as the bell rang. I made my way to my usual seat in the back of the classroom, and I got out my binder just as the teacher walked in giving his usual boring welcome speech.

-

"Riley!" I heard a voice call. I turned around to see Calum trying to push his way through the crowded hallway. My eyes went wide, I quickly slammed my locker shut and bolted down the hallway. I ignored Calum's persistent calls and kept rushing down the hall until I collided with a small girl with vibrant purple hair and blue eyes.

"Hey," she snapped.

"I'm sorry! I'm just trying to hide from my, uh, ex boyfriend." I rambled.

The girl looked past me, she nodded as she saw Calum looking through the windows of the classrooms trying to find me.

"Here, hide behind me," she said while pulling me by my forearm behind her.

I held my breath as Calum got closer, but I soon let it out as he passed us without a second glance.

The girl turned around and I thanked her, she just shrugged in response.

"I'm Riley by the way," I said awkwardly.

"I'm Haley," she replied while slamming her locker shut. We bid our goodbyes before I ran to my next class.

I walked into class and sat in my usual seat in the back of the room. The seat beside me which was usually occupied by Nathan remained vacant for the first twenty minutes of class. I began to relax only to see Nathan stumble into the classroom. He made his way to his seat hastily, his gaze on me. And if looks would kill, I'd be a goner.

I kept my head low and turned my body away from his and tried to focus on my work, but it was hard. With each passing second it felt like the temperature of the room had increased dramatically. You know how during the summer and you drive down the road and you see heat waves along the road? Well, when I couldn't stand the heat any longer, I turned my head towards Nathan who's gaze was still on mine. I looked down toward his hands and I saw the same heat waves radiating off his body.

Riley listen, you can control this. Breathe, calm down, think of something cold, like snow. You have the same power as him and if you don't want this school in flames because of him then you need to do something.

The sudden sound of Luke's voice startled me at first but I quickly focused on calming myself down.

I shut my eyes and thought of winter, the snow, Christmastime, Ice Skating, and building snowmen. I smiled to myself and I felt the intensity of the heat quickly fade. I looked over to Nathan again only to see the look of pure rage on his face.

My smile instantly faded as I saw a spark come from his hand, his hand was next to a piece of paper which instantly caught fire. The fire spread from the paper to the textbook and then to his backpack. A student screamed in horror as the fire stretched around the classroom, the fire alarms blaring in our ears. The students quickly evacuated the classroom, but I couldn't find the strength to move.

Nathan's hand glowed red as he held it out towards me. I didn't know what he was trying to do considering you can't kill a zavener with fire,

or at least I hope you can't.