Child of Fire

New Friends

Eighteen-year old Saint lifted his face for a moment to drink in the warmth of the early morning sun. He confidently navigated his way on his cruiser board as he gained speed. Standing straight and feeling the breeze, it was like his body was caressed by gently-moving clouds. He closed his eyes for only just a second when somebody suddenly yanked him to the side. Saint's carelessness caused him to fall from his skateboard and collide with a hard body. Eyes wide in surprise, Saint let out a faint gasp as his world tilted. If not for the strong arms that wrapped around his torso, his palms would have probably kissed the rough sidewalk.

Black was all he could see when he heard the sharp sound of splintering wood and screeching of tires. Saint closed his eyes again as the entire scenario became clear to him in his mind. He unconsciously inhaled sharply and his nose was filled with the smell of fabric conditioner but there was an underlying scent he couldn't describe.

"Are you okay?" a deep and gentle voice asked from above.

Saint quickly straightened up and stepped away from his savior. Two thick black eyebrows was the first thing he noticed about the guy who helped him avoid an accident. Underneath them were gentle and kind-looking eyes. But before he could say anything, Saint heard a panicked voice behind him asking the same question.

"OH MY GOD! ARE YOU OKAY? I AM SO, SO SORRY!" 

The annoying screech prompted Saint to turn around and he saw a girl with long black hair and fair skin, her face clearly agitated.

Saint winced as he viewed the scene properly. He saw the painful remnants of his beloved skateboard around the front left tire of the girl's shiny white sedan. The girl followed his gaze and once again let out a stream of apologies.

"It's fine," Saint forced his lips to curve because that was better than hearing her screech again. There were a few other students who saw the accident but seeing it wasn't much, continued walking and ignored them.

"No, it's not," the girl said firmly. "I'm sorry I broke your..." she gestured to the scraps of wood. "And I nearly killed you! OH MY GOD!" the girl's small almond-shaped eyes widened in distress as if realizing only now how bad it could have been.

Oh god, here we go again.

"It's okay," Saint interrupted the girl and turned towards his savior, intending to thank him but the guy was nowhere to be found.

Huh. 

Saint felt a twinge of disappointment. Where did he go?

"Look, how about let's just forget it, huh?" Saint suggested, turning back to face the girl. "My board was old anyway, in a few months or so it would have broken by itself. It's not a big deal," he lied. "How about you? Are you okay?" he asked politely.

"I'm fine," the girl said off-handedly. "I was just scared. Like, shit, my dad's going to kill me! Don't tell him, okay?  Please don't report me!  I'll pay you!  I swear I'm not a bad driver. I just... I just I thought there was a cockroach in the car," the girl grimaced.

"..."

The girl introduced herself as Janis, who's also a first year college student taking up communication arts. Guess what? It turns out they are going to be classmates! 

Great....

After clearing up the mess and throwing his broken skateboard in the nearby garbage can, Saint reluctantly accepted Janis' offer to ride together to the CommArts building where they were both headed. He even helped her check the vehicle for any suspicious looking insects but Saint couldn't find one. 

Seeing Saint's nervousness as he sat quietly in the passenger seat, Janis giggled. "Don't worry. I'm really not that bad... well, as long as there are no insects around."