Fire & Water & Earth & Air

7: Fire

Juliette

           I roll my eyes at the stranger sitting next to me. "I'm Juliette. But I have a boyfriend. You really shouldn't be hitting on me." It's a lie, but he doesn't have to know that.

           The stranger laughs and it's the kind of James Franco laugh that wrinkles your entire face. It's attractive, but then, so is Edward.

           Actually, Edward is a lot more attractive.

           "Well, what's his name? Maybe I know him?"

           Edward James, I want to say. But what if he does know him? Then that'd make things weird.

           "Edward," I finally say, because there has to be a hundred Edwards in the city. Again, the stranger laughs, except this time, it is a mean laugh. "What kind of stupid name is Edward?"

           I think Edward is a great name. It is. It's nice and elegant and I love how it feels when I pronounce it. So I think of this as an excuse to get away from the weirdo. I get up after giving him a glare and walk towards the front of the bus muttering, "Excuse me; pardon me; out of the way, please."

           "Hey! Hey! It was a joke!" he calls behind me. I just keep on walking towards the front of the bus and find an empty chair. The only downside is that it's next to a lady with a crying baby. I sit down and correction! a lady with a crying baby that has a full diaper.

           I sit uncomfortably until the next stop. I shouldn't get off because it's still far from home, but I get off anyway. There is something about the stranger that felt off. And not even I want to mess with him. When the bus pulls to a stop, the stranger yells, "You'll regret rejecting me!"

           I snort and roll my eyes. He makes me uncomfortable, but he can't scare me. I walk away quickly, accidently bumping into a girl. She gives me and ugly look and I just apologize quickly. Still, she doesn't acknowledge the apology and rolls her eyes. The bus doors close behind her and I begin my journey home.

           After a tiring half hour of walking, I arrive home. When I get there, I slap my palm on my forehead. I left my car at the bonfire!

           The door to my house is close, too close to go back. I sigh, and keep walking. My parents are already asleep so I decide not to wake them. Instead, I plop onto my bed, avoiding a shower for today.

           I don't sleep, though. I close my eyes, count to one hundred, count sheep, stay still, and do everything else to try and sleep. Still, I stay awake. When the light begins peeking through my window, I groan and complain about my lack of sleep. Figuring it's too late for my comfort, I sigh, get up, and go to the bathroom.

           After freshening up, I head into the kitchen where I plan to make my specialty: cereal. My mother is talking in a hushed voice with my father. When she sees me, she smiles, but she's not happy.

           She's terrified.

           I smile at her as nicely as I can, in an attempt to -once again- reassure her that my goal is not to kill her. My mother still tenses when I walk past her to get to the fridge. I sigh in defeat and open up the refrigerator to find that we don't have any milk. "Guys, we don't have any milk. Want me to run to the store and get some?"

          I turn to my parents who have wide eyes. "No," my father blurts. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I'll go get it myself."

           My mother nods. "I-I'll go with him," she stutters. Then she grabs the keys and follows my dad out the door, throwing a not-so-genuine "I love you," over her shoulder.

           Great, I scared off my parents.

           Again.

           I settle for dry Frosted Flakes in a cup and sit in front of the t.v., hoping I can find something good. After unsuccessfully finding my favorite television show on cable, I turn to Netflix and begin my search.

           After I click 'play,' I move in and out of concentration, remembering yesterday's life changing event.

          Was it all a dream? Because that's what happens when something good occurs: I wake up. Fate has dealt me a losing hand, and, no matter how I play it, I'm destined to lose. Good things never happen to people like me, so it's very likely that Edward was simply a figment of my imagination.

           The idea makes me angry. Everyone gets their happily ever after, and I can't even make a friend that knows what I am?

           I growl in frustration and then remember my mother's face.

           She pretends to be happy, but doesn't want to have another child in fear they'll turn out like me?

           I turn to punch the pillow then remember the laughing girl and boy I heard earlier.

           Why can they be happy when my life is so horrible?

           I scream into the pillow until my throat hurts; punch the wall numerous times, waiting for the anger to stop; run to my room and slam the door until I'm afraid it'll break....

          But it's all useless. The anger remains. The feeling that I've been robbed of a proper life only fuels my frustration until it becomes too much.

           I dress up in old clothes, clothes I won't ever need again. I take a walk into the woods and find the lake, which is smack dab in the middle of the woods. I wade in the lake until the water reaches my chest, then I do it: I release all my anger in one big blast.

           The upside? I probably won't get angry for the next month or two, and my powers will be weak, slowly regenerating for about three weeks until they're normal again.

           The downside? I'm standing naked in the middle of a burning forest and evaporating water.

           In one last rush of power, I kill the fire to prevent a horrible burning.

           Once the fire and smoke are gone, I feel the ground shake slightly. Standing beside a burnt tree, is a girl my age. Her jaw is open, like she can't believe what she just saw. Then her eye starts twitching, which leads me to believe that she is very angry. Her face turns bright red, then she turns to me.

           "And what the hell was that for? Do you realize how difficult it is to make these woods what they are?! I don't perfect them just so you can burn them when you feel like it!"

            The girl doesn't even seem to care that I'm not wearing clothes, or that I just released a blast of fire through every pore in my body.

           "Well, I'm sorry," I say. I sound annoyed and not at all genuine, which doesn't surprise me since I'm feeling a little annoyed with this stranger.

           "No, you're not. I'd like to see you try and build something instead of destroying someone else's work!"

           Well, Juliette, it seems like you just encountered the witch of the woods and managed to piss her off in record time.

           Oops.

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