I wake up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the following day. I come downstairs to eat breakfast and am surprised to see Em still here. It looks like everyone else is out doing whatever teenage girls do on Saturday mornings if they're not at home sleeping in. "Goodmorning. Is this something I should get used to?" I say jokingly, and she looks at me with a puzzled look. "What do you mean?" "Waking up to you being the first face I see in the kitchen... it's like we're married already." She spits out a little of the cereal and milk she had in her mouth, swallows it, and laughs/coughs simultaneously, which makes me laugh out loud. " Ever a dull moment with you, Alex?"
Usually, only my parents call me Alex. When they say it, it kind of annoys me, but when she says it, it feels like it has a special meaning behind it. "So why did you stay behind and not go with everyone else?" "Oh, everyone wanted to rush to the mall and buy last-minute accessories for the dance. I'm just kind of pooped out on all that right now. Plus, I would rather spend time with you a little more. I had fun last night. I don't know why it took you so long to ask me out in the first place." She smiles triumphantly right above her bowl of cereal right before taking another bite. I look at her waiting for her gaze so I can look into her eyes, so she knows what I say next is Un jokingly and from the heart. "I've always liked you, Em but I didn't want to ruin what we already have. I cherish every moment I spent with you in recent years. Sometimes I get a lump in my throat and don't know what to say. Even though my mind is always racing for the right thing to say, I never say it." Her eyes are in shocking disbelief. I see a glint of a tear start to shine in her right eye. I raise my hand to get ready to wipe it off, and I do as it starts to slide down her face. I keep my hand on her face and raise it as I lean in slowly, never reverting my gaze from hers. We close our eyes for a second, right before our lips touch. I taste a slight saltiness from her tears as I focus on her bottom lip as we kiss.
My heart is pounding out of my chest as we part our kiss. Fighting to control her breathing, she looks up at me as if seeing me for the very first time. "That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me, Mr. James...it took you long enough." She adds a subtle wink there at the end. From her reaction, I must be smiling like the biggest goofball because her smile is so breathtaking. It reaches up to her eyes. "It may have taken all this time for me to say something before, but now I can make up for lost time with you."
We hear something which makes us look around. My sister and mother are watching in quiet curiosity. My mother has this proud smile on her face, and my sister seems like she's fighting back uncontrollable laughter. I look back to see Em blush, and now I can feel my cheeks warm up a bit. "Oh, hey guys, I thought we were all alone...sorry." "Good morning Mrs. James, good morning Sarah." "Honey, please, call me Cathy." My mother says, and soon after, Sarah says, "Yeah, it's not like you're here every weekend or anything," and laughs as she slides down and plops on the couch. She flags Em over, and she sits next to her. They giggle together, and both look at me.
I shake my head and go back to my room to get out of my sweat pants and sleep shirt when mom stops me. "I'm so proud of you, Hun. I had no clue you were such a romantic." I can tell she means what she says but with amusement in her eyes. "When you're done being a ladies' man, I need you to run to the store and buy some film for tonight so that I can take some pictures." "Of course, smother...I mean, mother." This earns me a little smack on my back, making me run fast. I turn around to share a laugh with my mother as I head up the stairs and back to my room.
I get into my room and immediately fall back onto my bed. I just lay there, unable to stop smiling. I don't know what got a hold of me. I'm sure it was her, though. She looked so beautiful to me this morning. I can't believe that just happened. Mom's comment was dead on. I've never put myself out there like that, first time for everything. I get back up and head to the bathroom to brush my teeth, then go back to my room to change. After I'm done, I head back downstairs. The girls are still chatting on the couch, I don't see mom, so I'm guessing she's in her room. "Gotta run to the store, ladies, don't talk about me while I'm gone." They laugh out loud. "Too late for that." laughs Sarah. I roll my eyes and walk closer to the couch; Em gets up, and I hug her. "Don't believe everything she says." Sarah laughs. I wave goodbye and head out the door.
The store is only about four blocks away. I take my time walking to enjoy the weather. Kansas is perfect this time of year. Spring and Fall are my two favorite seasons here. As I turn a corner, I start smelling smoke. I run across the street to see if I can see any. There's dark black smoke less than a mile away. Black smoke means something is burning. White smoke indicates that the fire has been put out. Before realizing what I'm doing, I start sprinting toward the smoke. While I'm running, I gather as much water as I can. I can't muster enough to put out a massive fire, but maybe enough to safely get people out. As I turn the corner, I see the Quick Trip gas station on fire, but that's not the thing that scares me. Next to the Quick Trip is a house that might have people still inside. As I run closer, I see a mother being held back while screaming her heart out that her baby is still inside the house. It appears that the back of the house is now engulfed in flames. I quickly think as I sprint down a block and find an alleyway that could take me behind the house.
As the full view of the house comes into sight, I mutter profanity under my breath as I see the condition of the entrance I will have to walk through soon. I then try to evenly distribute the water I have gathered all around my body until I am fully cloaked. I cover my face last as I take a long deep breath, then quickly use compressed air to hold it all together. I have to move fast because one, I am holding my breath. Two, if I don't hurry, this water can boil me alive, or it can evaporate, and I end up getting burned anyways, depending on how hot this fire is. I bolted through the doorway, where the door had already fallen off its hinges. I can't see very much, but I can find stairs leading up. The good news is that I can hear the baby still crying. I'm careful to walk on the very outskirts of the steps, the area closest to the wall, so my feet do not cave in on weak points of the steps.
This slows me down, but it's better to be safe than sorry. This takes me about 15 secs to reach the top, and my lungs are already starting to burn. When I get to the top of the staircase, I follow the baby's cries to the east side of the house and rush to scoop it up. I don't see as much black smoke on this portion of the house, so I risk uncovering my mouth just enough to take in another deep breath and am rewarded with somewhat clean air. I then cover that back up as I hold the baby tight against my body and allow the cloak to surround him. Judging by the clothing, I conclude that it's a boy. I only cover his mouth every time I have to vault through a high concentration of black smoke. I use air to make sure he does not swallow any water and only quickly uncover his mouth as soon as I am in the clear. I slightly panicked because I realized it would be too risky to exit the way I came in. Being called a hero frightens me, but I have no idle time to deliberate because my lungs are starting to burn again. I kick a charred chair out of my way and make it out the front door in time to hear the ceiling collapse, causing the 2nd floor to give out. I rush to the nearest firefighter and thrust the baby into his arms, and run away in a dead sprint as fast as my legs can carry me.
While I do that, I release all the water and let it splash onto the pavement and take grateful breaths of clean, fresh air. Before I am out of earshot, I think I hear someone cheer out my name, but I fight the temptation to look back. I was hoping that the cloak could help conceal my identity as I handed the baby off. I take a moment to sit on a city bus stop bench to catch my breath and calm down the surge of adrenaline still coursing throughout my entire body as I cannot stop smiling. I start to hear shouts from around the bend of the street as people begin to point at me. "Hey, that's him! The kid from TV, the one that rescued that baby from the burning house!"
I panic, stumble to my feet, and sprint across the street away from shouting and cheering. What do I do! Think, think, think...I can hear my heart thumping in my chest as I run down another alleyway between a Mcdonald's and a Subway onto another street. I can't go back home! I see no one and place my hands on my knees as I fight to catch my breath and think of what to do next. I can't go to the spring formal. People are going to ask too many questions. What did I get myself into? I feel embarrassed because I did save a life, and I would still do it again, even knowing what I know now. I picture Em's beautiful sweet smile in my mind. Everyone is so proud of me. Then the police officers questioned me. How did you make it up the stairs and out of the house in one piece? No smoke inhalation, no burns, how?!
I have to run away from home. But go where?! I feel a tear run down my cheek as I begin to mourn over the sudden loss of all my family and friends. Em, and I was finally going on our first date, and God only knows how that would have turned out. Falling in love, married with children?! I take more time to gather my thoughts and just think of what to do. How did I not see the news vans and cameras piled everywhere on the streets as I ran out? What am I going to say? 'I was just lucky, I guess.' Either way, I have to sneak home and gather up a few things if I decide to run away. I walk towards my neighborhood block with my head down, deep in thought, and my hands in my pockets. I kick little rocks as I take my favorite alleyway as countless memories rush through my mind of me practicing and honing in on my techniques. I am in no hurry to get home, so I stroll, still having not made up my mind as I reach the last block to get to the back of my house. I cut through to get to the main street and stopped dead in my tracks at the view in front of me. News crews and police cars litter the road right in front of my house. Red and blue lights flash and light up the whole block as it gets dark. I see my parents being interviewed on our front lawn. I see my sister's face as she keeps looking around, searching for me. Someone is going to see me! I quickly crouch down behind some bushes and keep watching. I can't turn my eyes away from the scene. I hear footsteps behind me and someone clearing their throat. I am frozen in fear as I hear chatter from a radio behind me as the person sputters into his handheld. "Alright, kid, everyone is waiting...stand up." I stand up and feel his arm on my right shoulder, guiding me closer and closer to my demise.
People begin to notice me and rush over to me. "You did a remarkable thing back there. You were brave but stupid too." He says the last part with a chuckle. Microphones with news channel numbers are thrust to my face. "Are you hurt?!" "How did you make it out alive?!" "What made you want to risk your life?!" Before I can answer one question, another is asked. "Backup...Backup! You're all scaring the poor young man, for God's sake!" They part way just enough for us to pass by and make it to my front lawn as my mother and father hug me in their arms. "We were worried sick about you, Hun!"
"First the news crews and then the cops." "We thought you had robbed the store we sent you to with all the commotion!" I found myself crying in tears as I kept saying I was sorry. "I panicked. I thought I would get into trouble for breaking into that house." "Nonsense, boy!" My father says as he holds me tighter. "We're so proud of you." They guide me into the house, and I sit down on the couch, still in disbelief. No one says a word. My eyes feel bloodshot as I don't risk raising my head to look at anyone. I hear someone mutter, "How did he get that baby out alive?" in the distance...maybe down the hall. "I have no idea, but that kid has guts. I can tell you that much...and at only 14?!" I feel someone sit next to me and grab my hand. "It's ok, Alex. We're all here for you." I look up to see my sister Sarah. "Thanks, Sis. I love you." I lean my head down on her shoulder and say I love you.
A police officer pulls up a chair from our kitchen, sets it down in front of me, and sits down.
"I just have to get a quick statement from you, son, and we will all get out of your hair and go on our way." "Now, walk me step by step about what happened." I swallow a big gulp of mountain dew out of a can. Dad handed me to have something to drink before I started to talk. "I was heading down the back-alley way towards Quick Trip. I saw the smoke, but I was busy thinking about tonight. Suddenly, I hear a baby crying through an open window on the second floor. So, I knew exactly where the baby would be in the house if I could only get in there. I grabbed a two-by-four off the ground and cleared the doorway of the debris before going in. I saw a puddle of water on the ground, soaked a rag I had found on the back porch, and covered my face with it as I ran in. I quickly found the stairs, and I was careful not to step on the middle of the steps so my foot wouldn't cave in." I briefly looked around to see the shock on everyone's faces as they all listened. "Then what happened, son?" "I wasted no time getting to the baby's room. He still had half of a bottle of formula in his crib. I dumped it into a baby shirt I found on the dresser. I placed the shirt over the baby's nose and mouth as I worked my way carefully back down the stairs—one arm carrying the baby as I kept his face covered with my hand. I used my other hand to keep my face covered. I was again careful climbing down the stairs. As soon as my foot hit the bottom floor, I bolted out of the house just in time to hear the 2nd floor of the house give in." I can hear everyone's gasp of amazement. I kept my head down and let the tears flow down my cheek without fighting them back. "Am I in trouble, sir?" "Nonsense, son, you're a hero."
As soon as everything calmed down, they walked me outside to an EMT truck to ensure I wasn't suffering from smoke inhalation. After I was cleared, I then realized it was getting darker. The spring formal! I quickly ran upstairs to get ready. After I finished changing into my outfit, I met with everyone downstairs. My sister and some of her friends all pitched in to rent out a hummer stretch limo to take us to the spring formal, which looked freakin' awesome sitting in our driveway. I see Em take her hand into mine and give it a light squeeze. She looks up and smiles at me. I smile as we gather in front of the hummer stretch so all our parents can take all their pictures.
After the paparazzi got what they wanted, we piled into the hummer, and off we went. All the laughter and conversation are just background noise as Em and I look into each other's eyes as I still hold her hand. I lean in again and close my eyes at the last second as I kiss her...lightly at first. Then I found myself kissing deeply as our embrace tightened. We break off at the sounds of the cheering and laughter from our friends who couldn't help themselves. We exchange another look as we pull up to the school gymnasium parking lot. I am the last to get out of the hummer. I release my grip on Em's hand and stop dead in my tracks.
I feel this tickling sensation on the back of my neck as if my body is warning me of something. I taught myself never to ignore such things like this. It might lead to an unfounded new power that I have yet to unlock.
Em looks up at me to ask what's wrong." I left something in the hummer. I'll meet you there. I duck in and wait until she turns around before I quickly bolt out and quietly close the door. I look around as I burn spirit behind my eyes, slowly scanning all around the parking lot but seeing nothing suspicious. My eyes passed over another stretch limo, but something caught my eye, so I went back to it. I narrow my eyes and try to see who's inside. There is nothing but dark red auras in the limo; I quickly gather air and earth in preparation. I hear the screeching of tires as the limo bolts forward straight towards me. I counted five people in the limo, including the driver. A window rolls down, and I am quickly cut off from my powers. I look at my hand in puzzlement, not knowing what is going on, and look up in time to see four burly men hop out and grab/hood me and yank me into the limo. I hear "GO GO GO," and we all fall back towards the back of the limo as we hear screeching again as the limo lurchers forward.
I try my hardest to break this shield or barrier, or whatever this is that's surrounding me, keeping me from using my powers. I hear someone chuckle and say, "This kid sure is trying to break free" "No point, kid," another voice says. "He can keep you cut off for days." I refuse to show my fear. I close my eyes and cross my legs and begin to meditate.