The Flame

Chapter Three

When I get home no one is here. Mom and dad are at work and Jenna is at school. I go to my room, where the window is left open. I walk over and sit on the edge. I'm hit by warm air. It reminds me of the simulation. I have no idea what happened. Deep inside I'm scared. It's got me thinking... will this get out? What will they do if they find out? I look at my hands. Fire came shooting from my hands. Will it happen again? Can it? I sit there thinking about it for the next 30 minutes, my mind filled with questions. Then I feel a hand on my shoulder. I jerk around to see Eric standing there. I jump back, thinking I might hurt him.

"Hey, where did you go after the testing?" He asks me, brows raised in confusion.

"Um...I went out the back. " I answer, stepping out the window.

"Oh... okay." He looks at me, "what did you get?"

I look at my feet, thinking about earlier. "I can't tell anyone."

"Why?"

"They said I can't." I answer, still looking down at the ground.

"Did something happen?"

I look at him, trying to hide the fear in my eyes but can't. He grabs my hand gently. I meet his eyes.

"Bella you can tell me anything."

I look him in the eye. "You promise not to tell anyone?"

"Promise."

"Okay," I take a deep breath. "Something happened in the simulation, today."

"Was it the one with the guy and you had to choose a weapon and defeat him?"

"Yes," I answer. Remembering what happened.

"What happened?"

"I didn't choose a weapon in time. He charged and missed the first time and broke his knives. But then I had to fight by hand." I take a deep breath. "When he charged again, I threw my hands up to block or something, then... " I look at my feet. Thinking of how to tell him what happened earlier.

"What happened?" He asks, taking my face in his hands. I look at him with tears in my eyes, begging to fall.

"The next thing I know there is fire shooting out of my hands, everywhere. It runs up my arms and through my body. The woman stopped the stimulation and sent me straight home. She told me to tell no one about what happened."

"Oh, so the fire was coming from you?" He asks with wide eyes.

"Yes."

"Can you do it again?"

"I don't know." I say looking at my hands. "I can try." I try to force a flame through my hands but nothing happens. After about 5 minutes of trying, I see a flicker of a flame. Thank goodness there is a tree between us and anyone who could see it. Eric looks from the flame to me with wide eyes, probably the size of apples.

"Wow." Is all he can say. Then another flame flickers. Then disappears. I try to get it back but can't. I frown at my hands.

"You just... " He looks for words to describe what just happened but fails.

"I know right." I look at him. "I almost burnt the simulation to the ground."

"Wow." He says again, looking at my hands. "This is incredible."

"I know right," I say with a nervous laugh. "But what will happen if they find out?" I ask all of the sudden. Tears well up in my eyes.

He looks at me with worried eyes. "I don't know." He answers, seeing the fear in my eyes. He grabs me by the waist and pulls me into a hug. "But everything is going to be okay." He leans down and kisses me on the head. "Thanks for telling me. I love you." He pulls away and looks at me.

"I love you too." I hug him again.

• • •

That night we ate dinner as a family, at the dinner table. Mom just got home, along with dad and Jenna. Mom is the first to talk.

"So how was the test today?" She says looking over at me.

"It went ok," I lie. Jenna and dad look up at me.

"So... " Mom pushes on. "What happened? What did they say?"

"Um... " I look for something to say. "They said I did a good job." I put on a fake smile.

"What did you get?" Jenna asks with a jump of excitement. They all stare at me, eager to know what I got.

"Um... " They stare at me and I look for words. "I can't say."

"Why?" Mom looks at me with a confused look on her face. "Did something happen?"

"No." I answer quickly. Probably too quickly. "It's a surprise." I lie. Forcing a fake smile.

"Um... okay!" Jenna answers. "I love surprises!" She has a giant smile on her face. But, dad still just looks at me with a suspicious look on his face. He doesn't believe me. He can always tell when I'm lying.

We clean up the table and head for bed. I walk back to my room and slip on a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt. I hop in bed and fall asleep fast, drifting off into the night.

• • •
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A/N: Sorry the chapters are so short. I'll try to make them longer later on. Hope you've liked it so far! Please leave a comment on what you thought. Thanks! 💕