Flame Thrower

Chapter 2

When I awoke, I was at my house, lying in my bed. WTH? How’d I get here? I thought. I looked down at my finger, which was now slightly throbbing. Oh right, I had gotten kidnapped and sent to my house; right. I rolled my eyes and got up out of bed. I wondered where Mark had gone and why he had put me to sleep. Usually when I need a lift home, I hop into a car and they drive me home. It never involved sleeping until now. I looked up into the mirror and almost shrieked at my appearance! I needed a shower before the neighbors saw me like this or worse; my brother with a cellphone!!! I dashed down the hall and jumped into the bathroom before anyone saw me. Locking the door, I began to undress and turned on the water. I stepped under the warm rain shower and sighed. This was feeling like heaven. After a while, I hopped out, feeling a whole heck of a lot better and decided to get online. I didn’t really go to school so if we had homework I didn’t know what it was and didn’t feel like investigating. I checked my email first. Tons of emails from my old friends from middle school flooded my inbox. All of them pretty much said the same thing; so how was your first day? Well, to be honest, it sucked and I can only remember half of it and I’m pretty sure a lot of it I made up because I got whacked in the head by some dude with tanning issues! I had met Mark though, I thought smiling, then remembering what he had done last, the smile faded. Man, he sure was weird! I really wished I had his number so I could call him and figure out what the heck the sleeping stuff was for! Then I remembered that he said he lived near me! Where exactly? I thought, trying really hard to remember. Oh yeah! The end of the road! Since one end of my street ended with a park, I could assume he lived on the other side and one house was now empty because the owners had moved whereas the other had just been sold! Perfect! I know where he lives! Man, I am such a stalker! Not really caring whether he thought I was one or not, I logged out of my email and bounded down the stairs to the front door with a spring in my step. Maybe it was my new sense of purpose, I thought.

 “I’ll be back in an hour or so!” I screamed to my mom, who, I hope was listening and slammed the front door behind me. It was a short walk down the road and in less than a minute, I was standing out in front of his house. I walked up the manicured driveway seeing that the grass was all cut and the lawn was orderly and clean-looking. I got up to the front door and knocked. Mark answered the door with a look of surprise on his face. Well buddy, I thought, if you’re going to knock a body out, you better be ready for the questions that are sure to come afterwards!

“Trisha, what are you doing here?” Mark asked.

“Oh nothing much I was just wondering why the HECK you knocked me out and then suddenly I am lying on my bed!” I said, not caring that my voice was a little bit loud.

 “Ok look, calm down. You probably just fainted. You had a big day and the heat was too much I guess.” He said calmly. I looked at him thinking, what a bunch of bullcrap!

 “Do I look like the type of girl who faints in the heat? If anything, I would faint from cold weather! I hate cold weather whereas I could probably touch a fire and think, ah nice and warm! Perfect!” I said, staring at him.

“You sure could.” He muttered, probably not wanting me to hear that but I have some dang good ears.

“What the heck is THAT supposed to mean?” I asked.

 “Nothing, forget I said it.” Mark replied, “Wanna come in?”  He said looking calm.

 “Uh sure,” I said, “If it’s ok with your folks.”

“Actually, I kind of live alone.” Mark said sheepishly, as if he had stolen a lollipop from the store and was now admitting it to his mom. I blinked.

 “And you are how old?” I asked.

“I’m 15, duh. Just like you and just about every other freshman in the world.” He said.