Burning Sea/Ocean of Flames

Ocean of Flames

 Marella and Linh had been dating for a few weeks, and 'so far so good' was a massive understatement. Linh was the sweetest, kindest, best, and most innocent person Marella had ever met. At first, Linh had appeared painfully shy and closed to social contact, but Marella came to realize that it just took a little patience and time to crack the surface. In less than a month, Linh had become giggly, bubbly, and an all-around happier version of herself.

Whenever she was around Linh, Marella found all of her insecurities and worries fade away, beaten back by the addictive ecstasy of young love. They spent as much time as possible around each other, joking, talking, and laughing. They chased each other for hours through tall grasses, multicolored petals, and fields exploding with the sweet aroma of spring. When it got dark, they collapsed under the stars spread across the darkening sky, flowers in their hair and exhaustion running through their bodies that did nothing to quench their joy. It was pure euphoria, defined in two joined hearts.

And yet...

Marella was still keeping something from Linh, something Marella had bottled up and stuffed in the corner of a locked box in a safe in the middle of a maze inside her mind, so to say. Her feelings. Her emotions. And of course, Marella loved Linh, but only once had she truly opened up to the dark-haired twin-in whispered sobs and confessions under looming shadows. Not much time had passed since then, but it felt like an eternity. Marella had a habit of gossiping and spreading rumors, talking about everyone except herself. This was most likely because of Marella's mother, Caprise Redek, and her situation.

When Marella was little, her mother fell off of a balcony, hitting her head and causing a traumatic brain injury that came with rampant mood swings. Lately, Caprise had been regressing, and only Linh knew. It was easy for Linh to tell whether Caprise had one of her bad days now-Marella would be unusually irritable or dour. Occasionally, the hydrokinetic wondered bitterly who actually had the mood swings-Marella's mother or Marella herself. Linh constantly tried to get Marella to speak about her feelings, but there was no subtle way to try. Every time, Marella would just mutter, 'I don't want to talk about it.'

No matter the situation or time, that was her response, without pause or hesitation. And so Linh was forced into an unwilling stalemate. That was what had happened just an hour ago while Linh and Marella lay on the floor of Linh's room, four or five feet away from each other.

Linh was staring at the ceiling, a mosaic made up of an intricate spiral pattern of emerald-inlaid gold tiles. Marella had fallen asleep within the first five minutes. Linh suspected she was sleep-deprived, seeing as the pyrokinetic had had bags under her eyes for the past fortnight.

Marella's imparter beeped, jerking Linh out of her daze. It was closest to her, and Marella wasn't waking up, so she grabbed it. The message was from Biana Vacker, one of their mutual best friends.

The message read: 'EMERGENCY. COME OVER NOW.'

Linh shot upright with a gasp, making Marella groan and roll over in her sleep. What had happened? Were the Vackers okay? She began to type out several panicked questions when the silver square beeped again. The text was bold and underlined this time. 'BRING MAKEUP.'

Linh laughed out loud, falling back down onto the carpet. Biana's definition of an emergency was not on par with everyone else's. But Biana would still be furious at Marella if the still-sleeping girl didn't come over in the next few minutes. Linh put a hand on Marella's shoulder and shook it gently.

"I'm awake," Marella grumbled, eyes still closed, shifting to face Linh. Linh snickered, poking the grump pyrokinetic in the stomach.

"Come onnn," Linh teased.