Playing with Fire

e p i s o d e | t h i r t y - t w o (pt. 1)

Anna runs up to me breathlessly, placing a hand on my shoulder as she composes herself.

"How was it?" she asks, through gasps of air.

I stare at her in amusement. "It was absolutely fine, Anna. Stop stressing so much."

She shakes her head. "I still don't know if I crammed well enough."

"You have half an hour until it starts. Just relax." I put my hands on her shoulders this time. "Inhale."

Anna takes in a deep breath and then slowly lets it out. "Okay, I got it." She stares at her phone screen for a second, before nervously tapping her foot against the floor. "Why do they hold these exams after school, anyway? It's like they want us to be scared about it all day. How are we supposed to focus on class?"

There she goes again, being her usual, overly-academic self. She'd started off doing schoolwork just to pass time and just so that she'd be ahead of her peers, but now, I guess she's gotten obsessed enough over it that she's actually worried about her scores.

She bounces on her toes as she starts muttering to herself. "So, a particle with a well-defined wavelength will have an infinitely uncertain position, thanks to the –"

"– Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle."

Anna swivels around to see Rowan Hawthorne walking casually towards us. His left arm is still in a cast, but he swings his right one around Anna's shoulder and smiles lightheartedly at me. I roll my eyes at his attempt to piss me off.

"Silver," he acknowledges me. "How was the physics exam?"

"Perfectly fine, Hawthorne," I respond simply. "How do you think you did, with that messed-up arm?"

He waves his right hand at me. "Right-handed."

Anna ducks out of his grip and faces him intently. "Okay, Rowan. You're a physics person. You can help me go over all of these points briefly, right?"

He blinks at her. "Seriously? I just walked up to you after I finished my exam, and you're going to ask me to help you with yours?"

She ignores his question. "Okay, so according to de Broglie –"

Rowan's hand covers her mouth, and I have to suppress my brotherly instincts to get in between them. I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing both of my sisters dating. And at the same time, I'm strangely okay with it – even if it's ironic who they both chose.

Valentine, with the child-like Benjamin Knight. Anna, with the notorious Rowan Hawthorne.

God, what have I been doing?

I suddenly spot someone turning the corner behind Anna and Rowan, and recognize the person as Sawyer Rivera – Anna's close friend. I motion with my chin for Anna to look behind her.

"Sawyer!" Anna exclaims excitedly, immediately leaving Rowan's side to throw her arms around her friend.

Sawyer hugs her back and then looks over at us. "Well, isn't this a party? I just drove here after my exam to see how you guys were doing, and none of you look as annoyed as I did after the test."

"It was easy," Rowan says.

Sawyer smacks him on the arm. "Don't patronize me." She gives Anna a small smile. "Sorry, Anna. I didn't mean to hit your boyfriend. But you might have to get used to it, because we probably won't get along."

Anna just grins back at her. "You have my permission."

"I feel personally attacked," Rowan mutters.

Anna looks down at her phone again and nearly jumps. "I only have twenty minutes left," she whines nervously, and then starts tugging on Rowan's arm. "Okay, you need to help me cram." She suddenly glances at Sawyer and then at me, as if she's gotten a bright idea into her head. "Sawyer, talk to Kai for the time being, would you? He's in desperate need of female presence."

I stare at Anna in shock, before she shoves me towards Sawyer and bounds down the hall with Rowan. Since when did she get so pushy?

"Sorry about that," I apologize to Sawyer through a nervous laugh.

She shrugs, glancing over her shoulder. "Anna's just the cutest. You're really lucky. I would love to be her sister."

I smile in agreement. "Well, it's definitely worth the trouble she puts me through."

Sawyer cocks her head at me in amusement. "So, you're in desperate need of female presence, are you? You don't look like that type of guy."

I immediately feel a rush of embarrassment. "Let's just say that she's been trying to set me up lately." I roll my eyes at the memory of conversing with Anna about Sawyer previously. "Don't mind what she says; it's all for good fun."

Sawyer just laughs and points over her shoulder. "Well, if you're done with your exams, do you want to head out somewhere? I don't think Anna or Hawthorne are going to come back any time soon."

I'm used to these types of comments from other girls, but I guess I'll agree to this one, just for Anna's sake. "I'm down," I agree.

Who knows? Maybe something interesting will come out of this.    

I've decided to make this the last chapter! (Well, there are two more parts on their way xD) Just because I think it needs to come to an end somehow. 

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you've enjoyed the journey *_*