The Flames that Engulfed Us

Chapter 15: Kassidy Has Audacity

Lincoln glanced over at my face. Did I really look that bad? Did I deserve that look on his face like I was about to shatter again? His eyes filled with concern, and I didn't know how to return that look. So I didn't.

"Hey," one of the Skylars called out from behind us. The girl holding Lincoln stopped roughly, and I slowed to a stop next to them.

"Kassidy," she hissed, "what do you need to say at his exact moment?"

"I," the girl I assumed was Kassidy spoke, "was just thinking that we could drop the disguise now."

They didn't all really look like me. That was a strange relief.

"Yeah. Do whatever," the main girl snarled, tightening her grip on Lincoln.

I turned my head to watch as they all started to morph and change. They all started walking, their hair changing from my dull brown to their own silky hairs that gleamed. Their eyes shifted their colors and their skin tones started to lighten or darken. Soon I was looking at a diverse collection of girls roughly my age, each stunningly beautiful in their own way.

I had no way to tell which one was Kassidy. It didn't really matter anyway. I turned my head back around to walk forwards with Lincoln. Everyone had their own look and style. Except for one. She held Lincoln's arm and I noticed her nails dug into him. He didn't say anything, but I imagined it must have hurt. I imagined he hurt just as much as I did inside, and I looked over at him.

When I met his gaze, I didn't want confirmation of that. When has anyone gotten what they want? I guess at least ten people got what they wanted when the school burned down. It was the thing everyone always said they wanted.

He looked at me, finally seeming to have his own personal pain in those brown eyes I loved so much. Or maybe it had always been there, but I'd only seen myself in it. Or maybe it hadn't. I was dead. Why should I care?

But I did care. I cared so much. I cared about Lincoln and Lincoln cared about me. That was how we were going to survive. I took a deep breath. I straightened myself. I'd been unconsciously hunched over. I felt so vulnerable standing up as much as I was, but I forced myself up. I was strong. I was strong.

My mom had always told me that when she'd found out she was pregnant, she started looking for names. She'd initially tried to come up with something that had some sort of meaning, but she'd given up and named me Skylar. I guess she just liked the way the name sounded.

That night, I looked at the computer. I googled the meaning of my name, not expecting anything to come of it. I'd been surprised that the first google result had said three words. It had told me that my name meant three things. Strength, love, and beauty.

I'd clicked on the article, scrolling down. There were two more words that didn't mean anything to me. That was then. This was now. Eternal life, it said. It was wrong there unless it was referring to where I was just then.

I've always read at the end of my books how authors have trouble naming their characters. I think that's bull crap. It's just a character. People name their children without difficulty every day. Why would characters be any different? It's not like names fit a person particularly well. Occasionally, you'll see a person, and they'll say their name, and it seems oddly fitting, but most times it's just, "oh, her name's Skylar."

Strength, love, and beauty. My mom had picked a lucky name, but I guess I could try to fill it in. I could be strong. I could love. The beauty thing might need work though.

I reached for Lincoln's free hand. He looked down, wrapping his fingers around mine. Have you ever noticed how much more intimate intertwined fingers feel then just holding hands? Holding hands is when its the palms against each other, all the fingers clamped against each other, not in the other person's. Intertwined fingers are exactly what they sound like.

My fingers were intertwined in his.

I looked over at Fake Skylar. She was slowing her pace. We were coming close to the gym. I had bad luck with gyms. I wasn't going to fulfill the strength thing physically. But I did have the superhuman strength thing. I kept forgetting about that.

Fake Skylar opened the door for us. The door to the gym was just, no slightly more, daunting then it had been when I was alive. Only now it was just for a different reason. She shoved Lincoln in and I let myself get pulled in with him.

Five of the other girls, all ridiculously beautiful came in and then the door banged shut. I didn't have to turn to know it locked. I heard it loud enough.

Lincoln pulled himself up. I stared at the girls. One of them walked forwards and smiled easily. She held up her hand and I stared distrustingly down at it.

Her smile faltered. "I'm Kassidy," she seemed nice enough.

I smiled back. Why did I smile back? I reached out and took her hand.

"I'm Skylar."

"That's a pretty name," she chirped. I was starting to like her. That was going to come back to bite me.

She held her hand out to Lincoln. He didn't even look at it. He didn't really look at anything. He was just kind of there.

"What's your name," Kassidy smiled, not seeming to get his reluctance.

"This is Lincoln," I told her, giving him a nudge.

He looked over at me. His eyes asked me if I was alright, pleaded with me to protect him from social interaction with anyone.

I leaned against him, standing on my toes to peck his lips. He kissed back and for a moment Kassidy and the whole mess she was representatively phased out of being. We parted and it snapped back again.