Fire Scarred *Un-Edited Version*

Chapter Six

We never met up the next day. My parents had dragged me to some family reunion picnic after church where I somehow unintentionally set half the park on fire, and then totally freaked. I mean I had a full blown drama queen meltdown starting with tears and ending with me fainting. I didn't have matches or a lighter or anything. I didn't really know how it happened. One moment it was freezing. A moment later, the whole park was lit up like the Fourth of July. Everyone went crazy. All the kids were screaming. People ran for the river. My aunt broke down into tears. My grandmother claimed she could see Heaven's lights, that's how close to death she was. The park was in ruins. Trees toppled over, bushes ablaze, clumps of the ground overturned. Luckily, my uber-rich uncle paid for the damage. Not luckily he lost a ton of money, but luckily my parents wouldn't attempt murder… more than once. I was grounded and totally confused. What had I done? I kept asking myself. Monday morning couldn't have come soon enough. I was dying for outside communication and I'd only been trapped in my room for half the day. How would I last the rest of the week? School, then homework, chores, filing duty where I rearrange my parents' mess of filing cabinets, shower, and bed. Also, all my meals would have to be eaten at home. All my electronics had also been removed. Where does my punishment end? Can they really ground me for setting a wildlife part on fire when I had no clue I was doing it or how I did it? It has to be illegal somewhere. I heaved a sigh as I brushed my hair. At least I can use my downtime to figure out how I did that. When I was finally let out of the cabin to walk to school, I spun in a circle with my arms out at my sides and head tilted back. The air felt warmer, lighter. I wanted to laugh in delight, until I felt the eyes. "What?" I shouted to the trees. In response, a breeze rustled my hair. I smiled despite myself. "I should not be this happy." "You should be happy if you want." I whirled around searching for Leo. His voice was so faint, but I had definitely heard it. When I didn't see anything, I began to wander if I had just imagined it. "Where are you?" Nothing. My eyes scanned the trees once again. Coming up with only blank space and trees, I shrugged and continued walking down the path to the cabins that held the classrooms.

"I can't believe you're grounded," Raylynn groaned. "Will you be able to go to Game Night?" "I think so." "Thank goodness." Georgia asked, "What did you do?" "I set a wildlife park on fire." Everyone's eyes widened. "What? Had you gone crazy? What the heck inspired you to strike a match to light up the world?" Josh questioned. "Matches weren't exactly involved. I don't know how or what happened, but I did something," I confessed. I didn't know how it was possible, but their eyes got even bigger. "You did something?" Georgia repeated. Her eyes flashed in that way they did when she couldn't understand something. "A magical something?" "Yeah." "How?" Raylynn asked. "How was it possible, or how did I do it?" "I mean, I guess it's possible because of what happened during the Incident, but yeah, I wanna know how you did it. Explain." I shook my head. How could I explain to my friends if I couldn't even explain it to myself? "I don't know. I was cold and just was thinking how it'd be nice if I had a small fire and hot chocolate. Then, bam! It was blazing and everyone was totally freaking out." "This is the second time you've done something without trying," Noah finally spoke up. I was completely confused. "What are you talking about?" His eyes darted around the table. He lowered his voice, "Saturday night when I was walking you home. Don't you remember?" I remembered our mud fight. I remembered sensing my stalker. I remembered us nearly kissing, and that's about as magical as it got. "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about." "You made the trees move." "You made the trees move?" Raylynn bounced excitedly in her seat earning herself a stern look from Ms. Guava, our English Lit. teacher. "No." My eyes stayed focused on Noah. "I don't think so." He sighed and leaned forwards in his seat toward me. "Yes, you did. I could feel the magic. Right after you said you felt exposed, you moved the trees." You already know everything, it comes naturally to you. You even do things without even realizing. "Oh, my gosh." My hand rested over my mouth. A steady ache filled my gut. "Oh, no." My head spun. Tears spurted into my eyes. My throat ached. Noah's eyes filled with worry. "Cor? Cor? What is it?" My body seemed to lurch a little. I couldn't speak. I wanted to stop it so bad. In his eyes, I could see Noah knew what was about to happen. It hurt so bad. "Calm down." He rubbed my back lightly. Josh whispered, "What's wrong with Cora?" "She's getting overwhelmed–" Noah stopped and looked away so I could have at least a little bit of privacy. I barely heard him mumble under his breath as all sound dulled in my ears and I began to shake. The smell of my vomit filled the air as my body tried to release tension. "Oh, gosh," Ray said, backing away from me. Josh stared. Georgia looked stunned. Noah resumed rubbing my back. Ms. Guava briskly walked towards our little group. "Cora, are you okay? Do you need the trash can?" I shook my head softly. "No. I'm okay." My teacher looked uncertain. "Mr. Flynn, please take Miss Ashhurst to the nurse's cabin." Noah nodded and helped me to my feet. "And, on your way back, find someone to get this cleaned up." He nodded again, then led me to the door. When we had escaped the vile smelling classroom, he asked, "Are you okay?" Throw up was all down the front of my shirt, and I had wiped what was on my face on my sleeve, but I knew it was still clumped in my hair and I reeked. Not my finest moment. I burst into tears. I fell to the ground and rocked myself back and forth. "I can't handle this. I can't control whatever this power of mine is. I don't even know for sure what I am. Just look at me! I'm a mess!" Noah crouched on his knees next to me. He turned my face towards him with the tip of his finger on my chin. "It's all gonna be okay." He leaned in and kissed my forehead like my dad use to after I'd had a nightmare. "I'm here for you. So are Ray, Josh, and Georgia." "I just get so stressed and totally spazz out. I'm sorry." "You have nothing to apologize for." I sighed. My tears finally slowed to a halt. "That was so embarrassing. I've never vomited in front of anyone but you or my parents. It's humiliating." He chuckled. "You'll be okay."

"I have to see Leo," I confessed to my reflection. "I have to find him, and talk to him, and get some answers." My reflection gave a sharp nod in agreement. "He can help us. He knows things you and I don't. He may not be right about our being dead, but he was right about whatever kind of magic we have." We both released a heavy sigh. "And then, we can forget he ever existed. Deal?" I pushed away from the vanity. My chest hurt, and my throat still stung, but besides that, I was physically okay. My mental state was a whole other question. Considering I was talking to a mirror about going to find some guy that I was a hundred percent sure was stalking me, claimed I had died, snuck into my room, was dangerously good looking, and had claimed a space in the part of my mind labeled "Hazardous!", my sanity wasn't looking too good. It's like I'm asking to be raped or molested or something. My face in the mirror was pale and framed by some crazy hair with two widened white eyes. I'm such a freak. Sighing, I flopped onto my bed. The ceiling fan turned round, and round, and round. My curtains billowed out at me from my open window. The evening was just setting in along with the chill it brings. My head began to swim as I was lulled to sleep by the sounds of the wind. I tried to fight away the dreams, but they came anyway. They always came.

"What about the pink?" Ray asked emerging from her closet. I was sitting on the edge of her bed while she dug through her closet for something to wear. My parents caved when I begged them to let me get ready for Game Night with Raylynn and Georgia. They said it was only because I had been good, but I could tell they were really getting tired of me moping around the house all day. "Pink's fine. It accents your hair." Ray looked in the mirror to assess the way the pink blouse looked with her gold-red hair. Her nose scrunched up. "I look really girly." Georgia paused by the door. "You are girly." "Oh, be quiet," I threw a pillow at her head. "She looks great." Georgia caught it and tossed it back at me. "Never said she didn't." I crossed my arms over my chest. "If you're not gonna wear that, what are you gonna wear, Ray?" Raylynn retreated back to the closet. "What about…" her voice trailed off as she pulled a new outfit on. "This?" "You look nice." She had put on a green flowing dress that ended about mid-thigh. It had cap sleeves and a small butterfly design around the trim. It was no less girly than the previous outfit, but Ray seemed to approve. She put her hands on her hips and turned to me. "What are you wearing?" I gestured at my jeans and T-shirt. "This." "No way are we letting you wear that." Georgia stepped back into the room wearing a short black skirt and red top. "Everyone's going to be dressed up tonight, you included." "What do you want me to wear?" I sighed. "It's a game night, I want to be comfortable." Raylynn jumped up and dashed to look at her selection of clothes. She tossed things behind her nearly missing me every time. Georgia also left to explore her closet. Georgia came back first with a black and purple lace skirt and fitting black top that'd hug my imaginary curves. "Put this on." She tossed it at me. The skirt poofed around my legs and ended slightly above my mid-thigh. The shirt clung to me and made what little bit of a chest I had more pronounced. Georgia nodded her consent. "You look good." Raylynn appeared beside me where I was looking into her mirror. "Josh will be falling all over you." I stepped back. "It's not Josh I care about." I still hadn't told them about me and Noah nearly kissing. I wasn't sure if it meant anything. He hadn't mentioned that night sense the day of my breakdown, and neither did I. "Oh. Right. Right," Georgia said. "But Josh likes you. Why not give him a chance?" I rubbed my feet together in thought and shrugged. "I just can't pretend like that." "Hmm." "Makeup time?" Raylynn asked.