Hand clenched, target at reach. I was ready to knock Candice the hell out, but a firm grip around my arm prevented that from happening. “She’s not worth it,” Tyler said.

“Candice, you will be spending your afternoon in detention,” Ms. Walters informed her. “Aliyah, take your seat before you join her.”

We both sat and waited for Ms. Walters to continue her announcement.

“As I was saying, the Board of Education and the National Mathematics Committee have organized a paired assignment that all senior students are required to complete to graduate. You and your partner must answer every question in the packet. It’s worth sixty percent of your grade. If you don’t do it, you’ll fail my class and have to attend summer school.”

Ms. Walters’s announcement brought about tiny whispers and groggy complaints from the students in the room.

“Do we get to pick our own partners?” Tyler asked.

“No. I’ve already decided the pairs for this assignment. It is due at the end of the semester. I will announce the pairs now so that you can get up and introduce yourself to your partner.”

Ms. Walters went down the list of several students in the classroom, eventually calling out my name.

“Aliyah Dawn, you’ll be paired with Janet Jones.”

I turned to the back of the classroom and smiled at Janet, who returned the gesture before her expression melted into a frown. I got the feeling she wasn’t happy working with someone.

“She transferred to the school two weeks ago,” Tyler whispered. “It’s weird. Who transfers this late in the school year?”

It was strange, but nonetheless, I took a deep breath and rose from my seat before taking the packet out of Ms. Walters’s hand. Candice’s irritating giggle infected my ears after I sat down next to Janet.

“Bad idea, Ms. Walters,” Candice jeered. “One of those girls tried to kill her friend, and the other I saw walking into a mental health center. They’re cuckoo bananas. They’re gonna kill us all.”

“Candice, why don’t you just shut the hell up?” Tyler snapped. “I had to hear your self-absorbed, materialistic mouth all year, and I’m sick of it. People like you are what’s wrong with this damn world. Get a life and leave them alone.”

His loud, aggressive voice silenced everyone in the room. Candice’s jaw hung low, shocked that he spoke in such a way to her.

“Really?” she scoffed. “Do you know who I am? I can make your entire life a living hell, loser. Don’t you ever talk to me that way again. I—”

Boom.

An explosive sound resonated near Candice, who jumped out of her seat in a panic. The entire class looked on in terror as her magenta purse was engulfed in flames. Smoke filled the air quickly.

“Class, everybody out into the hallway,” Ms. Walters ordered. The students appeared flabbergasted by the sudden eruption.

“No, my bag,” Candice cried out in exaggerated fashion. “My phone. Why me?”

Even I was a bit spooked by the blaze, but that was before I saw something far more terrifying: Janet’s hypnotic trance at the incineration. Her inflamed pupils gazed at the burning fire as if she were dazzled by its beauty.

“D-did you do that?” I questioned her. The negative emotions pouring out of her ranged from sorrow and grief, to self-hatred and enmity.

“Does it matter? She deserved it.”

Ms. Walters doused the fire with an extinguisher. “Didn’t you two hear me? I said go out into the hallway.”

Janet stood up from her seat and grabbed the packet of papers off the desk where I was sitting. Tyler approached me after I had walked into the hallway.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Are you alright?”

“Janet caused the fire,” I told him, watching her walk down the hall and into the library. “She has powers too.”

I had never seen a person who could conjure flames or manifest such a powerful desire without a demon’s manipulation, and that alone gave me shivers. What’s scarier is that I knew I’d have to confront Janet sooner or later.

***

The struggle was real. Mentally exhausted with thoughts of Janet, I sat in science class with my pen in hand and eyes trained on the assignment sheet in front of me, but no matter how hard I tried to concentrate, the only thing I could think about was the fire in first period.

“Screw it,” I whispered to myself while scrawling answers on the paper without care. When it came to math and science, forget about it—I totally sucked—and probably would’ve failed anyway even with a clear head. Now English and history, those were my specialties.

The bell had rung soon after, with every student in the room jumping out of their seats and leaving their worksheets on the teacher’s desk. Following suit, I stepped out of my last class of the day and walked down the crowded hall filled with my frantic peers.

Nearing my locker, my vision was suddenly covered as the pressure of an unknown figure pressed against my back. I turned around and pushed the person with force before shouting, “Get off me.”

With my sight uncovered, I realized the person was Lucas. A breath of relief was let out as I held my chest and looked around at the few students gossiping near their lockers.

“Ali, whoa. Why’re you so jumpy? You almost made me drop these.” He presented a bouquet of roses in his hand.

“Oh, wow. Thank you, Lucas. Sorry. It’s been a weird day.”

We held hands and walked down the staircase leading to the first floor. “Well, if you’re good, I want you to come to practice with me now and tell me about your day,” he requested after we made it to the front of the music room. “It’ll feel good having you there. The band is already hyped because our popularity is skyrocketing.”

“Yeah, I can’t today. My mom wants me home right away after school. I found her stupid audio recorder in between two of my video games consoles. It’s ridiculous. It’s like she thinks I’m gonna confess to a crime or say out loud that I want to kill myself.”

“Damn, that does sound extreme,” he agreed, pulling me close with his arm around my waist. “But c’mon. I promise if you come inside, I’ll call your parents and tell them that you’re here with me. They’ll say okay, trust me.”

Ugh, why was he so convincing? It had to be those sapphire eyes. They got me every time.

“I guess. But is Robyn in there? You know how I feel about her. I’m letting things slide and giving you time to kick her out the band, but I’m not gonna wait much longer.”

“I know, and I totally get it. I told her not to come to rehearsal and that we’ll need to talk soon.”

I smiled hearing that until someone approached us.

“Excuse me.”

My heart skipped a beat. It was her. Janet.

“I don’t mean to intrude, but can I speak with you for a moment?”

“Uh, sure,” I replied before pulling Lucas a few feet away and telling him, “Wait right here.”

“Um, okay?” He leaned against the locker and took out his cell phone.

Taking a deep breath, I walked over to her with a fake smile and avoided eye contact. “What’s up?”

“Why are you looking all over the place? Stop being weird.”

She called me weird, but she was the one setting purses on fire. Okay.

“Anyway, if you’re not busy today,” she paused and glanced over my shoulder at Lucas, “I would like to get that math assignment over as soon as possible, preferably in one day. Can you meet me in the library in twenty minutes?”

“The packet is going to take longer than one day, and I have to get straight home. Moms, you know how protective they can be once they’re worried.”

“Yeah, I know about that,” she said, looking down.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I like getting things done early so I don’t have to worry about them later. I’ll stop by your house in a few hours so we can get this done in one sitting. You’ll thank me later.”

Inviting her over to my house was not a good idea. Not after what I saw she could do. My family was at risk if she got out of control, but damn was I curious to know how she could conjure fire so easily with just her emotions and not from demonic influence. I figured asking a few questions could help me to understand my own powers.

“Alright, Janet. I’ll give you my number and address.”

After we exchanged information, I walked back over to Lucas, who was transfixed by whatever was on his phone.

“Lucas,” I called out. “Lucas.”

“Yeah, sorry,” he yelped, now fully attentive.

“What are you so hooked on?”

“I was reading all the positive comments about the band’s performance on social media and saw Cassandra Blackwood followed me. She’s a producer and model with over two million followers. If she’s following me, her fans probably will too.”

“Yeah, great. I bet a lot of her fans are girls.” I rolled my eyes with a smile. “Just as long as they’re following you ‘cause of the band and not ‘cause you’re the cutest guy in the world, I’m happy for you.”

He chuckled. “That’s all it’ll ever be. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

After a quick embrace, he pulled away from our lip lock. “You ready to go inside and check us out?”

“I can’t. That girl, Janet, is coming over to my house later, so I have to clean my room. I literally destroyed it last night.”

He sighed. “Alright, but you owe me some quality time.”

“Why don’t you just come over tonight? My mom’s cooking a fancy dinner, and hopefully, I’ll be done working on the project with Janet by then.”

“Cool. Maybe after, we can sneak upstairs and be alone.”

I bit my bottom lip. “Mm-hmm.”

We kissed one last time before going our separate ways. I hurried down the hall toward the exit of the school to catch the bus, eager to get home and prepare for the most interesting guest I’ve ever had.