Anything For You

Tripp - Chapter 1

I'm Tripp, a 17-year-old kid. I'm nothing special. I get by in school and make sure to be polite, that's it. I'm the sweet little kid that can barely be seen in the backdrop of a crowd.

I was born with a fire gift. Everyone is born with a gift. Some are more helpful than others. There are a few elements, fire, ice, power, nature, etc. You are randomly assigned a gift at birth and that's that. My mother's gift is stone, it doesn't sound like much, and it isn't. My father's gift is electricity.

I can light small things on fire and heat things up. Gifts usually get stronger with time. Emotions can also spark the gift. I don't really care about all that.

Today I walk out of my house with a small smile so I don't seem sad. I'm not sure why I do that, to reassure my mother I guess. As a mindlessly walk to school I see Tony, he's another fire who lives further down my street and goes to my school. He routinely sips his protein shake as he drags himself to school. He's the type of asshole that doesn't give a shit about anyone. But I would still make out with him. I'd still have sex with him. It's the spark in him. The raw hotness of it all. I hate myself for being atracted to asshole guys, but I can't help it.

You see, the stereotype is that people gifted with fire are supposed to be sexy, reckless, energetic. I'm obviously not.

Once I'm in class, my notebook open in front of me with a pen neatly aligned with it. I like my life to be like this. Everything in a system, with a purpose... like a factory. It all makes sense. Don't get me wrong, I'm not antisocial, I've just got no one special in my life, no super close friends. So I joined the swim team instead; I drown the spare time in exercise.

I'm in class and today's the day we'll be assigned a buddy. My town has this program in place to give teens help. Teenage years are much more hectic when there are gift's involved. I'm a little bit curious to see who I have. Part of me wants to get a really hot guy and another part of knows it won't do me any good. It's not like there's much potential anyways.

As I walk out of class, I get an email with my buddy's info.

Name: Kenny Ripley

Gift: Ice

His address, email, and number all attached. I hear people in the halls gossiping about their buddies. Most buddy matches are from different school, Kenny is too. I feel a warmth in my stomach. I feel a little uncomfortable meeting this stranger. The town doesn't structure the meetings but they make it very clear it's compulsory.

I get a text from an unknown number. I quickly check to see if it's Kenny but the phone number is a school staff number.

"Hey Tripp, I'm Kenny's- your buddy's supervisor. I just wanted to give you a warning, Kenny was born dysfunctional. You'll be completely safe but I just wanted you to know. I'm sure you'll get along great."

I immediately start overthinking. Dysfunctionals are people who are born with gifts that aren't quite right. Some are born with no limits to their power, some have little to no power. And they often are quite unpredictable. Great. I'll have to take care of him.

I check his address and take an Uber to his house. On the way there I imagine how Kenny will be. Ice gifts are known to be calm and sweet- I feel like I'll get along with him. As the car pulls up in front of his house, I text him. The house seems fancy enough for him to be upper middle class. I see him walk out. He's wearing black skinny jeans with an intentionally ripped white t-shirt covered with a black leather jacket. His hair has been bleached to a platinum blonde.

I'm lost, I'm in what he's wearing, I'm lost in his dark eyes, I'm lost in the mysteriously inviting grin he shoots at me. He seems satisfied or amused... I can't tell. He's far from the Ice gift stereotype. As he walked towards me, he casually says,

"hey, I'm Ken"

and leans in to loosely hug me. I'm taken aback and awkwardly reply,

"Hi, I'm Tripp"

We walk to a Starbucks and he doesn't seem to notice I'm there. He's gazing ahead with a slight grin. We order ice coffees at the Starbucks and wait for the pickup. As the barista hands Kenny his coffee, he sadly asks him something. I can sense an awkward tension between the two men. As we walk away I ask Ken and he explains,

"That's...

(he hesitates)

my ex, we broke up a couple months ago and he wanted to know how things were going."

I'm internally celebrating, HE'S GAY. And he's hot. But also I'm also lost, he acts like a bad guy but then he's done nothing bad. I spend so much time contemplating what kind of person he really is, I forget to reply,

Kenny let's out a sign,

"Urgh, you're one of those straights. I'm sorry if this is comfortable for you."

He seems a little annoyed but not sarcastic.

My minds races, shit. I don't wanna seem like that asshole. But I don't wanna out myself. I guess I'll have to do that anyway, he's my buddy.

"I'm gay too"

"I'm not gay" He replies dryly.

I'm so lost. That was his ex-boyfriend. Is he trans? is that a dysfunctional thing?

"I'm bi."

"Oh, sorry, right." there's an awkward atmosphere as we sit down at a table outside.

"So you're not the typical fire guy are you?"

"No," I don't know what else to reply.

"So what's your gift like?" I ask puzzling to find something to say.

"You mean what my dysfunctional is like? It's actually not bad. I just can't sculpt things out of ice or anything cool... I just lose control and make the air cold. I'm a glorified airconditioner."

I laugh, thinking I could use some air conditioning in this heat. I spit the last of my ice coffee

"Oh, cool,"

"So what fire like?"

"I don't know, It's helpful for making meals, not much else. I cup my hands around the clear plastic Starbucks cup and melt the last of the ice."

I extend my arms for him to see the water that I made at the bottom of my cup. He puts his hands around mine. I feel a comforting chill flow through my hands as I watch the water turn to solid ice. I gaze into his eyes as his hands are still on top of mine. I feel him concentrating on the cup and I feel the cold flow through my whole body and it's too much I pull my hands back. I want to run away, but I have no control over myself. I feel my brain clouded by the adrenalin and shock and all I can do is collapse to the concrete. I feel this cold energy inside me, I feel it like a thick blanket over me. I look up and see Ken who's stood up. His eyes are lost. They're vulnerable. I feel the blanket is covering him too. I try to use my fire to warm this blanket feeling away. As a do, I feel a massive shock. Pure energy jumps out of us. It was like being hit by a car in reverse. As if this car was jumping out of your whole body. I can feel the energy jump out into the air. I feel houses around us shake a little bit. Everything seemed to stop as if we had drained the life out of everything.

I'm a stray on the warm ground outside Starbucks, feeling nothing but empty. I jump to my feet. My eyes meet Ken's and we exchange our confusion. I feel him give into my eyes as I give into his. I want to feel him hugging me but I can't. I feel like I shouldn't. So I walk away. I want to run but my legs won't take me. I don't know where I'm going but I find myself in a park, only minutes later, and I hear Ken's voice call behind me,

"Tripp"

His voice is broken and vulnerable. I turn to see him. Everything feels so abstract, so surreal. I feel as though I'll wake from this dream any second. And as I think about waking up. I feel his lips against mine. Ken is arms around me as he kisses me.

I feel the burning ice burst up against me once more.