Transition (Rewrite)

Chapter 5: THE ANXIETY IS ATTACKING ME

I was lucky enough to return to school on a day where Ms. Sharp decided to let the students watch a movie, seeing as it was only about ten days into the year, and the biology lab was still waiting on some of its equipment. The movie of choice was Star Wars: A New Hope. I'd been a die-hard Star Wars fan since I was just a little kid, so I was incredibly excited to watch that in place of boring sub-par biology.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten about the scene in the beginning where Luke's aunt and uncle get torched while he's gone. So, when I saw the first glimpse of the charred ruins of their home, I was immediately frozen.

No.

As I watched, the dancing orange tongues shifted to an electric blue. They seemed to suck the light out of the scene as well as the room. I could feel them burn my fingers. I could smell the faint scent of smoke from the first sparks.

Not here. Not now.

I felt the unbearable singe spread up around my hands, climbing my arms. I started to suck in air faster, feeling the hot smoke inside my lungs instead.

I was snapped back to reality from a tap on my shoulder.

"Andrew?" Blue asked, worried. "You okay?"

I just looked ahead and swallowed despite the dryness in my throat. "I...I...I need to go..."

Immediately, I bolted out of the classroom, barely even aware of Ms. Sharp's calls for me to come back to the classroom. I raced through the halls, not actually aware of where my feet were taking me. I just had to get out of there, away from the fire, away from the people. And so, I found myself curled up in the farthest end stall of one of the girl's bathrooms.

I was shoved up in the corner as far as I could, knees held as tightly to my knees as I physically was able, as I rocked back and forth in an effort to ground myself in reality. I was hyperventilating, that I was sure of, but by that point my body had locked itself into position, and try as I might to move in any way other than my rocking motion, I was stuck how I was.

Time passed, though I had no clue how much. All I could do was rock. My hands were locked in a vise-like grip on my legs, and I felt like I would probably have indents in my skin where my nails dug into my flesh. Images danced through my mind, memories and reality blending into a hellish waking-nightmare with every second.

I saw those blue flames engulf my hands and arms, though I didn't feel the pain anymore, only a warm tingle where the fire connected with my skin. I could smell the smoke, but I could still breathe fine. In an amount of time that could've been seconds or hours, everything around me dimmed, turning the oh-so familiar electric blue.

And then I was snapped out of my frozen state. I was hit with a realization: the fire I was seeing was not my imagination. The fire that was engulfing me was real, but it wasn't hurting me.

I jumped to my feet in shock, flailing my arms in a futile attempt to put out the flames. I burst through the unlocked stall door over to the sinks and started vigorously splashing water onto my face, only creating steam that filled the room long before it even touched my hands.

WHAT THE EVER-LOVING FUCK IS HAPPENING?!?!

All I wanted was to have the fire go away. I could hear footsteps outside in the hall, drawing closer very fast.

Great. The only thing that could make this situation worse.

I closed my eyes, trying to imagine the flames away. The pounding steps echoed louder and louder, drawing closer and closer. I was running out of time. I heard the door open...