Steam (Kleinsen)

Jared

I sat in the bathtub alone. There was no water in it. Just air. It was empty, except for myself and the few drops of beer that fell to the side, along with the blood that trickled down my wrists. No, i wasn't killing my self. I was reviving myself.

After I felt like I had enough, I wrapped my wrists in gauze and threw on a hoodie. I was going to have a monster hangover tomorrow but I really didn't give a shit. And why should I? It wasn't any different from the migraines I already got, thanks to my hair. I waved the flames away from my glasses as I sat on my bed. I turned on my side and stared out the window.

Across the street. I caught sight of a boy with s blue polo on. He had an unzipped grey hoodie on, with the hood pulled tightly over his head. I saw water dripping from his forehead. I thought it was sweat until I saw him swat at it. My jaw dropped. An elemental? I jumped off my bed and ran outside.

"Hey!" I called out. I saw him freeze. I walked towards him, careful to walk in the straightest line possible. I didn't want to appear drunk, especially in front of this kid. I was kind of an expert at hiding my intoxication at this point, my parents still don't know about my alcohol problem. I tapped his shoulder. "O-Oh, you w-were were talking t-to meAAHHHH!" He must have jumped back at least a foot as he stared at my hair.

"Yeah, yeah. My hair's fire. Get the fuck over it." I said, trying my hardest not to slur my words. He seemingly relaxed. I saw more water drip down his forehead. He was visibly uncomfortable, constantly shifting his gaze around us. "Do you want to come inside?" I asked while gesturing to my house. He nodded nervously.

"¡Bienvenido a mi casa!" I announced as I escorted the boy into my house. I mentally cursed myself out, remembering that I only speak different languages while drunk. Luckily, this boy didn't know that. I led him to the couch. It was covered in burn marks and ash. "I'm Jared Kleinman." I said as I reached out my hand. "Ev-Evan Hansen." He said as he shook my hand. "Ouch holy sHIT!" I exclaimed as I yanked my hand away from his. I then noticed his hand was slightly damp, and steaming. I looked down at the inevitable burn on my hand only to see no burn, just steam. "I-I'm so s-sorry, th-that's never happened be-before."

I stared at Evan. "No problem." I said. "Why do you keep your hood up?" I asked stupidly. He looked at me worriedly. I brushed a flame away from my glasses. Evan slowly revealed his hair, which was completely water. My eyes widened slightly. Some waves fell slightly over his right eye as he looked down. It's pretty cute, but not like I'm a gay way, just in a 'wow his hair looks really good' kind of way.

Evan started blushing. Shit. He caught me staring. "Oh, sorry. I've just..." come on Jared, think of something. "I've just never seen a water elemental before. I mean, I've never seen a fire elemental either, I just know they exist because I've done research and-" I was cut off by Evan's laughter. "You ramble almost as much as I d-do." Blush tinted his cheeks. Wow this kid's cute. "Uhm... Th-thank you?" Evan said nervously. Shit, did I say that out loud?

We stayed and talked for hours. I learned that he'd just moved here this week and he was homeschooled. That explained why I'd never seen him around. Evan had a great sense of humor. My laughter caused my hair to blaze and burn the couch further. "Oh, shit." I said as I touched the new burn mark on the couch. "S-sorry." Evan said. "Nah, dude. It's chill." I assured him. Evan looked at his phone. "O-Oh! I have to go, my moms probably worried."

"Oh yeah, sorry for keeping you." I said. I began to get up when Evan grabbed my arm. I winced slightly as he grasped onto the place the gauze was. I felt the warmth of the steam against my hoodie. "Wait." He said. "C-can I maybe have your n-number?" he asked. I pulled out my phone as he gave me his.

After we exchanged numbers, he handed my phone back and smiled. "It was nice me-meeting you, Jared." Evan said with a smile. "You too, Evan." I showed him to the door and waved him goodbye. I looked at the contact Evan made. Evan Hansen :). I smiled at the contact. I also learned of Evan's obsession with trees. It was cute. Dorkish. I leaned back onto the couch, hearts in my eyes and mistakes in my future.

The couch erupted in flames. I jumped up at the sudden warmth. I cupped my hands and tried to maintain the fire. I'd managed to move most of it to my arms and off the couch, where I quickly pressed it to my chest to smother the flames. The small bits of fire that remained on the charred cushion danced as I twirled them in my fingers. The weird thing about my hair was that it didn't burn what was already on me, so like none of my clothes caught fire, nor did the gauze that commonly wrapped around my arms. That was a good thing because my mom and Jace would kill me if I'd burned off my clothes. Not like they didn't already hate me. I looked back at the mess of ash that was now the couch cushion. I stopped caring about what I burned awhile ago, though. So, I just sat on the couch and played with the flames in my hand.