A Multi-ship Story **in Editing*

Playing with Fire

A few weeks later

~~~

Rachel is picking me up from school today and we are going to the mall. Now I just have to make it through school. Michael and I have been talking more and more. He has taken me out a few times. I think we are officially dating.. I'm not sure really how it officially started but it was amazing. I go to school, wearing a cheap little necklace he got me from one of those candy machines at the front of the store. He had a quarter left over from the pizza on the first Friday and he used it in the machine. Out came a heart necklace that is plastic but it's a really good memory. I wear it to school today.

As I step on the bus, I look for a good seat, but most are taken near the front, so I have to sit in the way back. That means it will take me forever to get off the bus. I finally reach my first class and go through the day. Second period, Language Arts, is the one where Michael and I are in. It's a really small class that consists of 5 people including me. When I walk in, Michael isn't there.

I sit at my seat. Mrs. Yenzi stands at the front of the class and clears her throat. "Class, I have some news..." Everyone looks up front and she continues, "Michael Treeman was in a car accident last night, and I am sorry to say that the doctors did everything they could, but... he died last night."

My heart drops to the floor and I have a nauseous feeling in my stomach. A knot forms in my throat as Mrs. Yenzi continues talking but it all ends up a blur. I stare at his seat and am completely out of it for a few minutes.

"Alexis?"

I look up at the sound of Mrs. Yenzi calling my name. She wants me to answer the question... I didn't even hear it. "Um, What?"

"Mmm.. Someone wasn't listening. You're just going to have to try to answer the question as best you can." I wonder how long she's been teaching because I have no idea what anything on the board is.

The nausea starts to grow because I think about Michael... My face goes pale and I stand. "Mrs. Yenzi, I really need to go home... I'm not feeling so..." and before I can even finish my sentence, I puke all over the aisle between the desks. Mrs, Yenzi, who has a huge fear of germs, tells me to just go on down to the nurses station and tell them that I need to go home, and also to get the janitor on the way. I nod and just go. My mind races as I go down the hall.

I go to the nurses station and have the nurses call Jenny. When Jenny doesn't answer, I have them call her Cynthia's desk. She answers and says that Jenny and Gibbs are not available. Then I have them call Rachel, who answers and comes right away, even though she had to leave work early.

She comes in and picks me up and takes me home. She gets me all comfy on the couch and gets me some soup and crackers to settle my stomach.

"There, need anything else?"

I look down at my hands and kinda squint so she won't see any tears. I shake my head, but she knows something is wrong. She rubs my arm. "Hey, what's the matter? I'm your sister, you can tell me anything."

I look up at her with tears. "It's horrible! There's a guy who I really liked and he really liked me and we went out on like 3 dates but it was real and he DIED last night!" It takes a second for her to comprehend what I just said but she then hugs me and lets me spill all my emotions. It's kinda awkward seeing that I still don't know her very well, but it feels really nice to know someone is there who truly cares about me.

Then I look up randomly, "Oh my gosh.. you have to get away now. Get away from me!!" Rachel stands, fearing that she made me angry. "Get away! Get out of here! Get away from me! Please just go! get out of my life!!!" I cover my head with the blanket that she had given me earlier. Rachel steps back and walks out of the room, confused at what just happened. I lay under the blanket, upset about all this.

~~~~~~~~

Later on, Gibbs and Jenny come home. Rachel tells them about my little flip out earlier. I can hear them, but I just stay wrapped up in the blanket. They offer for Rachel to stay for dinner, but Rachel declines and just asks for them to call her if they find anything out. Then she takes Lily to drop her off at a friend's house.

Jenny comes in a few minutes later. "Hey.."

"You can skip the lecture... I know what you're gonna say... 'Alexis, Rachel is your sister. Why did you push her away?? What would give you the idea to make her get out of your life when you just met her?'"

She sits and sighs, "And?"

I stare for a minute, and then glance up at Jenny. "Everyone who gets close to me, gets hurt. Mom, Dad, Michael... I don't want her to get hurt, too... I'm like fire. And ya know what happens when you play with fire? you get burned..."

"She told me what happened with Michael... Listen, honey, things are going to get better. It is NOT your fault that Michael died. You're going to realize that this is what life does. It throws things at you to knock you off track. You shouldn't push people away from you because you think they will get hurt from you. Your sister is here to help you through this time. She wants to be with you. Please don't push her away."

I just stare for a minute. Then I nod and whisper, "Okay... Okay." I feel so bad now about how I acted with Rachel. She must've felt so bad.

Jenny half smiles. "Wanna eat?"

I shake my head. "Not hungry."

She nods. "Okay." Then she walks away to go eat.

I sit and think about everything. What she said is true, Rachel just wants to help. But what I said is true, too. I'm like fire. And playing with fire gets you burnt.