White Washed

Chapter Eleven | Don't Play With Fire

“Is it hot in here or is it me?” Alix asked, smirking at me while I practiced lighting magazines on fire. They were spread haphazardly across the metal floor.

“It’s certainly not you.” I replied, stopping my current fire and starting a new one.

“Lying is a sin.” Alix fired back. He was sitting in one of the chairs across the room, watching me but not actually trying to teach me anything. It was more than a little distracting, especially the way tha my stomach flipped every time he talked. Clearly, Bridget hadn’t cooked her pancakes all the way through and now my stomach was upset.

“Ever heard of promiscuity?”

He snickered. “Don’t be such a prude.”

“Don’t be such a manslag.”

“Virgin.”

“Egotistical dick.”

“Crazy bitch.”

“Misogynist.”

“Tease.”

“Narcissist.”

Someone cleared their throat. “As much as I love hearing you guys throw big words at each other, or at least Amelie throwing big words at Alix, I need something.” Cass said. I snickered and he barely contained his own laughter. He looked to me. “Amelie, could you cool this down for me?” I’m hungry, I don’t want to wait.”

He handed me a hot pocket, which I laid in my hand. I concentrated hard on sucking the heat out of it, one what it would feel like in the air and on my palm. I gave it back to him before it had gone completely cold.

He smiled gratefully and started climbing back up the ladder. “Don’t kill each other.” He called before shutting the trap door.

Alix and I stared at each other for a minute until I bit my lip and tried to focus on my training. Since he obviously had no intention to help me, I was going to ignore him.

For a while I just experimented with my fire. I hadn’t really learnt any of the other elements well enough to enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making fire.

It was a little like making life. The fire actually had to be created, it needed oxygen or it would die out. When I played with water or air, it wasn’t nearly as enjoyable because it was already there. I could channel my energy into it but I couldn’t actually create it from my energy.

“Didn’t your parents teach you not to play with fire?” Alix smirked. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him and continued practicing.

I hadn’t really played much with Earth. I suspected that would be the best of all, based on the connection. I would really be creating life with my energy, then, but it just took too much energy. Instead of having fun, I just felt tired afterward. However, that’s what practice was for.

I let my fire die out and sat down, trying to focus hard on creating a flower from a tiny pebble in my hand. Luckily for me, Cass had stocked the room full of things I’d need, like pebbles, water, leaves and more.

I felt my hand fill slowly with a wet, mushy soil and then something moved in it. I opened my eyes to watch as a tiny daisy sprouted from the dirt. I grinned like a child on Christmas while Alix chuckled at my reaction.

Within seconds after the flower blossomed, I began to feel light headed. The flower started to wilt, the petals falling off and the stem browning before falling as well. The soil all dried and crumbled, falling to the floor as I shook it off my palm.

I walked to the chair next to Alix and took a seat, surprised when I realized that I was panting with exertion. “You shouldn’t push it so hard. Take it slow.” Alix advised.