14 Fire

School ended the next day, and Jade slowly walked out the front doors while other students ran excitedly down the steps, the air filled with lively chatter. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and yawned.

She couldn't seem to focus at all today, as she kept thinking about the past events in the last two days. After Milo dropped her off at her home last night, she felt...alone. Jade didn't really think much about it at first, but she found that she liked their company.

Two mages, a future-doctor, and normal teenage girl like herself...though the series of events may have been strange, the many different things they've experienced in the last two days together seemed to hold a much more significant place in her heart than the times she'd spent with her school "friends", who only seemed to like gossip and waste their time on trivial things.

Besides, they've never really talked to her, other than Manning.

"Jade! Where did you go yesterday?"

Jade stopped and just barely turned before someone knocked into her and tackled her into a tight hug.

"We missed you," Manning whined. "How could you suddenly disappear just like that?"

'We'? Yeah, right. Maybe just Manning, but not the others.

Jade waved Manning's golden curls out of her face and pried her away. "S- sorry. Just...something came up and I needed time to finish my homework," she answered truthfully.

Manning cast her a suspicious look and crossed her arms. "Really?" she asked, dragging out the word.

Jade laughed nervously. "Yeah..."

Manning chewed on her lower lip. "Well then. The girls are going to go shopping at the mall, you should come with us!" she squealed, getting a sudden burst of energy.

Jade glanced up to see four of her friends clustered in a circle, waiting for Manning in the distance. A few made eye contact with her and looked away, uninterested, just as always.

Her shoulders sagged. "Eh- well, uh..."

A dark shadow cast over them and the two girls looked up in surprise to see a tall boy looming right next to them, his expression dull and blank.

The whole campus seemed to be looking at them as Manning gave a small yelp and backed away nervously. "C- class Prez!" she stammered.

But while everyone else backed away, a huge smile broke out on Jade's face as she stepped forward. "Emrys! Where are you going?" she burst, glad to be saved.

Manning's jaw dropped as she darted her eyes between them. "W- what?!"

Emrys ignored her and turned to face Jade. He no longer had the bandage wrapped around his forehead, and only a little stitched up scar ran diagonally above his eyebrow. After going back to school, he had turned back to his usual cold self, only talking when he needed to.

But yet here he was, staring down at her, giving her a clear view of his godly-looks.

"...Gray is at the store, want to come?" he offered, his voice low.

The amount of joy and relief that Jade had started to feel couldn't be described. She had thought that after they parted yesterday, that everyone would just forget what happened and move on.

"Yeah!" she said almost breathlessly.

The tiniest smile appeared on his lips before it disappeared as he took a step towards the gates. "Well, you better hurry, or else the storekeeper would've screamed his head off before we even arrive. He hasn't gone to work in two whole days, you know?"

Jade started after him, her eyes twinkling.

"Ah, I forgot!" Jade stopped and turned to smile at Manning. "I won't go shopping today, you can go first! Maybe I'll go next time."

Manning didn't answer, but she gawked at them as she and the other students watch Jade leave the campus with Emrys.

Did she miss out on something when Jade was absent?

_______________

Gray ducked as a bottle of juice flew over his head. "Look, I'm sorry! I forgot to notify you!" he said frantically as he held his hands up in surrender. "It was an emergency!"

Althea shook her fist at him, her blood boiling with rage. "Why don't you have a cellphone, damn it?" she hollered. "I thought you ditched me and the store! If you had a cellphone you could've let me know instantly!"

"I'm sorry!" Gray said, hiding behind the snack aisle.

Althea huffed and grabbed onto the shelf, her face red from all the screaming. "Just...just promise me you won't do that again," she urged.

Gray took a glance at her over the top of the shelves to see if she was going to throw something again. "I- I can't promise that," he said.

Althea whirled in his direction, her hazel eyes burning. "Fine! Then can you at least get a cellphone?"

"I- I can't do that either," he said, lowering his head just in case another item was to be hurled in his direction. Geez, he didn't expect her to be so violent.

Althea opened her mouth to shout again but relented as she noticed the dark circles underneath his eyes. She softened, feeling bad for yelling at him when she didn't even know what happened to him in the last two days.

She cleared her throat and straightened up, taking a breath to settle herself. "Why not?" she asked, calmly.

Gray's head popped up above the shelves. "...I'm broke."

The corner of Althea's mouth twitched as she tried not to retort. "Are- are you really...?"

He blinked and nodded.

She turned around and sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. "Well, I guess I can't do anything about it then," she muttered. She exhaled and brushed down her clothes. "Clean that up," she instructed, "and get back to work."

"Okay-"

"Fire!"

The two of them looked up as they heard faint screaming coming from outside their store.

"There's a fire!"

Althea rushed out of the store in a hurry and noticed the people running about at the intersection. "What happened?" she inquired an elderly woman standing under the street sign.

"Dear, look!" She pointed up to where the black smoke billowed up into the sky just a street away from them, red flames licking dangerously at the building tops.

Althea covered her nose as the wind blew the smoke in their direction, and she panicked as she saw the flames flicker and lean towards them. "It's going to spread!"

Gray appeared next to her, looking up at the fire as the people around them screamed for help. Students held up their cellphones in the air as they recorded the scene.

"Holy crap!" he muttered, darting his eyes around. Was it that fire mage from last week that liked to mess with shopowners? But didn't Gray scare him off already? Did he really have the guts to start the trouble while he was still here?

"Stay here," he told Althea before he ran off.

"Hey! Wait! Where are you going?" she called after him. But he was already gone. She cursed under her breath as she dug out her phone from her pocket, dialing the number for help.

Gray ran into the next street where the air was thick with smoke. He covered his nose and headed for the blazing fire as others ran the other way, escaping.

"Hey! Kid, get away!" a man shouted at him over the rumble of the fire. "Are you crazy or something?"

Gray turned his head to see a man with brown hair and a scorched jacket stumbling his way, waving his arms at him. Gray didn't leave, instead, he asked, "Did you see who did it? Who set the fire?"

"I don't know!" he said. "But we did see some suspicious-looking people earlier. They were just standing around, whispering to each other! Do you think they started it?"

Gray paused. So it wasn't the student?

A high-pitched scream was heard, followed by the cracking of wood. Gray and the man turned their heads to see a lone girl standing in front of the burning building, her expression frantic and fearful. "Someone help! My friend is still inside!"

Gray cursed under his breath as he started forward.

"Mister Gray, behind you!"

He whirled around to see Jade and Emrys rushing towards him. "What the hell are you two doing here?" he scowled at them.

"To help, of course," Emrys panted, wiping the sweat from his brow. "What do we do?"

Gray pursed his lips as he stared at the two highschoolers in disbelief.

They stared back at him, waiting for an order. It didn't look like they planned to stand back if he told them to.

He sighed. "Jade, go get the girl that's standing over there out of the way," he ordered. "Be careful."

Jade nodded and hurried over, waving the smoke out of her face. She was scared, but she was determined to help. Emrys and Gray were mages, after all, she trusted that they had a plan.

She grabbed the girl by the arm and dragged her away as she flailed in her tight grip. "Come on, it's dangerous!" she urged.

Gray waved at Emrys to follow him. "We don't have water, but we have ice. We're going to freeze the whole building over," Gray decided. "You stay on the outside, start from the top. I'm going in to get the girl's friend and help you when I'm out."

Emrys hesitated at first, but quickly nodded once Gray shot him a firm look. It sounded like a bad plan with lots of holes, but there was nothing else they could do at the moment.

He raised his arms in the middle of the street, his chest thumping rapidly. "Ah, sh*t, please work...," Emrys murmured uncertainly. He clenched his jaw as he forced the power within him to move.

Could a fire even be put out with ice?

A bright blue stream of ice crystals formed between his hands and shot straight at the burning building, breaking through the fire and sticking onto the outside walls. He watched in disappointment as the patch of ice started to melt.

Gray motioned for him to continue. "Don't stop!" he shouted. "Keep it going! I'm going inside!"

Emrys nodded as Gray kicked open the burning door and disappeared inside.

Gray burst into the shop, the ceiling and the walls burning away at a rapid speed. He clapped his hands together and summoned a black flame that quickly grew and surrounded his whole body like a shield.

The fire crackled in his ears as a tile from the ceiling fell and crashed onto the ground.

"Hello?" he called out loudly, searching through the smoking aisles. "I'm here to get you out!" He gritted his teeth and kicked at the ashes forming on the ground.

Where is she? He could stay in the building as long as he'd like with his black flame shield, but if he couldn't find the girl's friend in time, then she'd probably be dead.

"Hello?" he yelled again.

He turned as he heard a rustle behind him and headed towards that direction. "Are you there?"

"Right...here...," a voice said weakly. A trembling hand rose into view behind the counter, and a wave of relief washed over him.

He jumped over the counter to see a girl cowering in the corner, her face and messy hair covered with soot. Hot tears ran down her face as Gray took her by the arm and helped her up.

"Okay, now. Let's get the hell out of here..."