Fire Scarred *Un-Edited Version*

Chapter Twelve

     We left pretty quickly after that. Breakfast and first period had ended by the time we arrived back at the center of camp. The wind, a swift column of air, licked at our skin. Whether it was me, Leo, or nature itself causing the force around us I wasn't sure. We left Josh and Noah at the Hall, then proceeded to the cabin. We'll meet up with you at lunch for our afternoon classes, we told them. Sitting across from me at their table, Georgia and Raylynn waited for me to start talking. Their silence and unwavering gazes made my skin itch. It was like they already knew what I was about to stay. I felt like I was already being accused for something. I couldn't contain myself.

"We kissed!" My palm slapped over my mouth.

"You and Leo?" Georgia asked even though she nodded her head like she already knew.

I sank in my seat. "Yeah."

"And you're still with Noah? Does he know?" Ray asked, her mouth slightly agape.

Georgia snapped, "Of course not. If he did, he would have killed Leo today." She took a deep breath. "How'd this happen?"

"I. . . It, uhh. . . Y-yesterday, after me and Noah got i-into a fight, w- umm, I left and I was in the woods. A-and," My chin was trembling so much now that it was getting hard to talk. Don't cry. Please don't cry. "Leo came and a-asked what was wrong. T-then we k-k. . ." the tears started then. "I feel like s-such a bad girlfriend. I-i wasn't thinking. I didn't even know if me and Noah were still together. A-and, I don't know. I-it felt. . ."

"Amazing?" Georgia offered.

I nodded.

Ray scooted around and tucked me under her arm. Her hand rubbed my back in slow, smooth circles, her head resting on my shoulder. The look on her face seemed helpless. She looked to Georgia to conduct the conversation.

"Cora," she took my hand across the table. Here's the thing about Georgia: she may seem like a total jerk and act selfcentered sometimes, but she had a way of making you feel like everything will be okay with just one word.

A whacking noise echoed through the room as my forehead fell against the table top. I focused on my breathing until the tears slowed to the point I could speak again. "What am I going to do?"

She sighed, long and deep. "You're going to have to tell him. He needs to know. You can't keep something like this from him. You like him, right?"

"Yeah, I do. But-"

"You want to stay with him, right?"

"Yes, of course," I said it quickly and without allowing myself much thought.

"Okay. Good. Then you should tell him and try to fix things. It'll be all good."

I nodded, still unconvinced. "I guess I'll be going."

"Promise you'll tell him?"

I gave my head another shake. "Yeah. I promise."

"Good." After a moment, "Everything will be okay, Cora. Really."

"I hope so."

I stepped out into the gusty air. My mind swirled with my various thoughts. How was I going to tell Noah me and Leo kissed? I really didn't want to mess things up between me and him again. But you already did mess things up, a little voice whispered. I pushed that thought aside and kept walking down the path. The trees towering above me seemed menacing, like they were vultures waiting for me to keel over and die. My pace picked up speed. Soon, I was standing before the sight of the wreckage.

I shivered impulsively. Everything around me seemed more haunting and dead now that I was alone. The glass once again crunched under foot making me cringe at the sound breaking the silence. My head buzzed, feeling light headed.