Seekers of Fire

Chapter 4 - Seekers

Drake squirmed in his seat. He always found it uncomfortable when his parents talked about him to one of his friends. It made him feel vulnerable. As much as he hated to admit it, he did not like being seen as weak

"But my Dad can't possibly be a Seeker of Fire! He seems ordinary to me. In a good way, I mean." Amelia had added in that last part defensively.

"How about your mother?"

"I never knew her. She left us when I was born." Amelia's eyes dropped to her feet. "I don't know why she left."

A silence followed soon after, and Drake felt the urge to say something. Anything. Anything that would break the sad awkwardness that now gripped the atmosphere. But it was his mother that saved the day.

"Well, looks like dinner should be ready by now." His mother walked back to the kitchen and opened the lid of her pot, releasing a wondrous smell that caused his stomach to rumble. "Chicken casserole anyone?"

"Yes please!" he and Amelia said at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed.

After dinner was over, Amelia thanked Mrs Lee and followed Drake to his room. His room was big but messy. Although there was no sign of dirty clothes lying around, his desk was filled with devices, multiple computer screens and various candy wrappers. X-Men comics were also sprawled all over his bed.

"Uh, don't mind the mess," he said before sitting himself on the corner of his bed.

He watched as she plopped herself down on his comfortable desk chair. "I'm used to your room being messy. Not like it's ever neat when I'm around."

Drake chuckled. One thing he really liked about Amelia was that he could really be himself around her. Unlike the people in school, she never struck him as someone judgemental. Although she sometimes teased him, he knew he could still trust her no matter what. "So, you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Yeah." Her eyes dropped briefly to the ground before meeting his. "I can be honest with you right?"

"Of course."

"It's about today. Well, not about the Seekers of Fire thing. I'll admit I'm still shocked at the whole thing that had happened but I don't want to talk about that right now." She paused as if thinking carefully about what to say next. "I want to talk about us."

"What about us?" Drake gulped. He knew something was up when she had not waited for him after school today.

"It's just that..." she sighed.

"What?"

"Ever since you met that new girl at recess today, it just seems like you're ignoring me."

What is she talking about? he thought. Is she upset that I did not meet her at lunch? "Amy, you make it sound like I've been ignoring you for a week or something. You're not mad about me disappearing during lunch time, are you?"

"And what if I am?"

"Look, I'm sorry Amy. I was going to meet up with you, honest. But Rachel needed help with her school laptop and—"

"It's fine. Forget it," she cut in sharply.

Forget it? Drake recognised where this was going. It was leading to another one of those petty arguments between him and his best friend. He knew he should have just dropped it, or at least try and change the subject. But his ego prevailed. "What do you mean forget it? You're the one who wanted to talk about it in the first place."

"I said forget it."

A voice told him to tread carefully but he ignored his conscience. "What's your problem, Amy? You know I hate it when you leave me in the dark. Just tell me what's wrong for goodness sake and maybe we can sort it out!" he regretted it as soon as the words came out. He cringed straight away when he realised he had raised his voice out of impatience and anger.

Amelia's amber eyes flashed dangerously at him and he nearly looked away in fear. He recalled how she had given other people in school death stares when they had ticked her off, but never him. He braced himself for a rebuttal and felt like punching himself for not letting it go when she had asked.

But the anger in her eyes suddenly disappeared, replaced by a rare emotion in Amelia's case. "You're right, I shouldn't have told you to just drop it like that. The truth is, I found you with Rachel in the computer room today and I guess I just felt... jealous, and betrayed. So, I left."

"Amy, you know you'll always be my best friend. Why would you ever feel jealous over that?"

"I can't help it!" Amelia closed her eyes momentarily. "The truth is, I like you, Drake. I like you a lot."

"Hey, you know I like you a lot too."

"That's not what I meant. I mean I like you... in that way. I have feelings for you Drake."

Drake felt his heart skip a beat, he had not suspected this at all. That was when it hit him. All those times Amelia showed signs of affection, like when she would randomly rest her head on his shoulder, or when he would catch her staring at him a little too long. I'm such an idiot. He had always considered himself socially-perceptive, and yet he had been blind to Amelia's developing crush on him.

"Drake?" she asked with concern.

"Oh, right." He shook his head. "I, um..."

"You don't like me the same, do you?"

"I... look Amy, you've always been like a sister to me. An awesome sister too, I just wasn't expecting this."

Amelia looked away immediately, but he had seen the disappointment in her eyes in that split second. He felt terribly guilty but unsure of what to say next. "I'm sorry," he finally managed.

"I should go." She picked up her school bag that was sitting near his desk and began walking out of the room. She paused at the doorway. "Thanks for dinner. It was nice," she said quietly before disappearing into the hallway.

He knew he should have stopped her. Try to cheer her up or something, but he felt clueless on how to do that. He heard the front door close and walked to his bedroom window. He could see her walking away with her head hung low, and he felt even worse. He sighed and laid in his bed, covering his eyes with his arm.

I should've seen that coming, but I didn't. And even if I did, could I have changed how she felt about me without hurting her? He heard his phone buzz and he instinctively reached for it with his free arm.

His phone sat on a small table beside his bed, and when he had grabbed his phone, he turned it on and a text message popped up. Hey Drake! Steph's having a beach party this weekend. Wanna come? It was from Rachel.

He could not help smiling a little and texted her back. Sure thing :) see you there!