A Little Bit Pyro

18: Chemical Deformation on Isle Three

What we have here is a double dedication. I almost forgot to dedicate this chapter to the poor soul who provided the embarrassing story that inspired this chapter. Yay IknowYou2 ! I hope that girl doesn't hate you anymore. :)

Plus: Dedicated to the best husby-wundy in the history of husbands. Case in point: he let me work on this chapter on our anniversary getaway weekend. Love you forever!

Chapter 18: Chemical Deformation on Isle Three

As the new golden boy of the group, George W.’s expertise is constantly in demand as each of us plans our part in the attack. Even now, he is wedged between Anton and Landon with their heads bent together. And since he is the only one of us who can roam freely in public at the moment, he is not only the source of all new information, but all new supplies as well.

I look away from George W. and try to reign in my eyes before they wander back to the dark haired beauty sparring with Abe, but it doesn’t work.  Her dark hair whips behind her as she aims a kick at Abe’s chest.

I know from personal experience that it hurts like a mother when she connects, but Abe blocks her. Unconsciously my hand wanders back to the fading purple memento of her kick to my chest the night I caught them sneaking around the school.

“She’s gorgeous isn’t she?” Jade whispers in my ear.

I’m not sure how long I have been staring at her, but Millie’s eyes happen to meet mine at that moment and her expression immediately sours. My eyes dart back to the beaker with sharp smelling steam in front of me. Instead of responding to my self-appointed assistant, I ease a little bit more of the methenamine into the beaker of one-hundred percent concentrated nitric acid. But that doesn’t stop Jade from carrying on without my participation in the conversation; a habit of hers that has become very apparent in the past three days of working so closely with her.

“She likes you too.”  How she came to that conclusion, especially after the stink eye Millie just blasted me with, I will never know. Jade pauses with the stir wand in her gloved hand for a minute and the temperature of the mixture creeps a little bit closer to thirty degrees Celsius despite the salt-ice bath that surrounds it. “I know you’ve probably heard lots of rumors about her, but as the person who probably knows her better than anybody else on the planet I can definitely tell you that she’s not what she seems.

“Okay, yes, she does like to flirt with guys, and she has a dating record as long as my arm, but she’s more amazing than any of those losers she has dropped in the past even suspect. She can tell pretty quickly if a guy doesn’t make the cut, though. She’s looking for something specific, and if you can make it past this round then you will be absolutely amazed. Seriously. Except, no guy has ever made it past the first week with her—well, except her first boyfriend—and if you value your life, don’t you dare mention him—but don’t let that get you down. I’ve got a feeling about you. You’re different. She’s not really being her usual sunny self right now, but that’s mostly because—”

 “Keep stirring.”  As much as I would like her to explain to me why her friend is giving me the leper treatment, I already suspect that it is because of the poison stunt involving her best friend. Plus the temperature of the solution is getting a little too high for my comfort. Jade has already been working the stir wand for five minutes straight, and will need to continue to do so until fifteen minutes after I finish adding the methenamine. “If you get tired, let me know.”

I hope that she’ll continue with the subject of Millie now that she’s bringing the temp back down, but she falls silent. Since Jade already suspects my feelings I don’t dare ask. I don’t want to appear too interested in the subject matter.