East

East | Chapter 13

Chapter 13

TIME PASSES QUIETLY, almost in a daze. One day when I remember to check the calendar, I see that almost three weeks have passed since the night Jem threw me out of the house, since Ash found me, since I arrived at this strange house, full of fire...

I've hardly talked to Ash since the professor left. I'm beginning to relax around him, even if I can't forgive him.

The boys and Maggie are easy to get along with; I even told Andrew about the fire, about Mom, about Ash. He didn't believe me any more than Jem had. "I'm sure there were reasons," he assured me. "He was probably trying to help, but messed up... He'd only just activated that summer..."

Even Callia is a little more bearable. I might have disliked her at first, but she's a good teacher. She knows what to say to goad me, to push me to push myself, to not give up.

Which is important, because even after the long weeks, not a single spark of fire has sprung from my fingertips.

"It's useless," I say to Andrew one night. The dishes are done and he's lounging on the couch, eyes glued to the TV, as always. I pace back and forth behind him. "Nothing's working. Callia promises she's still got other tortures lined up for me, but I think she's saying that just to be nice."

"Are you even hearing yourself, North?" Andrew yawns.

"The professor was seventeen when she activated. You were fifteen. Parker was twelve. Ash was eighteen."

"Callia was almost seventeen," Andrew adds helpfully. "That was really on the late side. No wonder they're golds."

"Right, well, I'm way past my seventeenth birthday." I round the side of the couch and plop down, barely missing Andrew's head. "Oh, sorry. And the professor said that the two kids she knew who'd spontaneously combusted—one was twenty-three, but the other one was twenty. That's not 'early twenties'! That's soon! I'll be twenty by the end of the year! Achoo!"

"Bless you," Andrew says, still staring at the TV.

"East, calm down," Parker says, coming into the living room. "Really. I know you're scared, and I would be, too, but you are in the best position possible."

"You mean, to spontaneously combust?" I say incredulously.

"You're here with the professor. You're here with Asher and Callia, the first two golds in generations, and their mentor, who knows more about our history, our powers, than anybody alive. They'll find a way to help you. They will."

"You really trust them," I realize, sniffling.

He shrugs, pushing Andrew's legs out of the way to sit down. "They helped me a lot. I activated too early and... I hurt people."

"Dude, it's fine, that's all in the past now," Andrew tells him, raising a hand to pat his shoulder without looking away from the TV screen. He ends up slugging Parker in the chin.

"Dude!"

"Fuck, I'm sorry."

"Careful," I warn, looking around for Maggie.

"I put her to bed," Parker rubs his face, then he shoves Andrew, making him fall half on top of me.

I yelp, trying to push him off, but Andrew sits up suddenly, waving his hands frantically and shushing us. "Shut up, shut up, listen."

"...Edgecliff High senior and two-time MVP Russell Lee, is still missing. Following an anonymous tip, the police force raided a farmhouse off Yew Street, but could only find the boy's car, which has seen a significant amount of damage. Police now fear that Lee may be dead or in grave danger. Lee is described as having dark brown hair, usually styled..."