Playing With Fire

Chapter 1: The Surprise of My Life

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

Never mind, I'll be out of here in 3 seconds.

I grabbed my papers and binders that were spread out on my desk, hastily shoved them in my backpack, flung it over my shoulder and ran out the door along with the students trying to get home. I wanted to get to the beach as soon as possible, so I can lose myself in the waves like I usually do.

When I got home, I changed into the first suit I saw, grabbed my board and was about to run out the door when my dad stopped me.

"Hey honey, how are you today?" he asked, concern written all over his face.

"I'm okay," I said with a sigh. "You know that today is always hard for me."

"Yeah, I understand, sweety," he replied. "I want you to be careful out there. Don't let your guard down, that's how people are killed."

"I know Dad," and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be fine," and I walked out the door down to the surf.

I got to the beach, chalked up my board, adjusted my suit, and started running to the water until something strange happened. When I got within two feet of the water, it started to get farther away. I stopped running. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me, I thought. I tried walking towards the water. Same thing. I tried diving into the ocean on my board. All I accomplished was belly flopping onto my board onto the wet sand. I groaned. That really hurt. The last thing I tried to do was trick the water. I turned around and started walking away, then whipped around and tried darting into it, but I tripped over my own feet and landed face first in the wet sand. Again. I give up, I thought to myself. And I probably look extremely stupid anyways. So I sat there and glared at the water.

"Wassup Bri the Queen," Asher called as he came up behind you. I love hearing that nickname, and I turned around with a smile.

"Hey," I said and he came down to sit next to.

"Hey yourself. You lookin' spicy in that suit of yours," he said with a lick of his lips, causing me to blush furiously.

"Shut up," I replied as I turned away to mask some of the embarrassment.

"So, you surfin' today?" Asher asks.

"No, just not feeling it today, I guess," I replied while looking as depressed as possible to see if he noticed. He should know me enough by now to know that if I don't surf, something's usually up.

"Sweet, more waves for me to shred then." With that, he gave a friendly tug one of my dutch braids and grabbed his board and started paddling out into the surf.

I sighed. I honestly don't know why I'm still with him, but I can't seem to leave him at the same time.

"Like I said earlier, you got yourself a real keeper there."

"Really Cameron?" I said and gave him a look as he sat next to me.

"I'm just looking out for you," he said, being his dramatic self and getting defensive, just for the show. "As your best friend, that's kind of my job."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever you say, Cameron," and turned my focus back to the ocean. As I did this, I noticed that his playful smile came off his face as he realized that something was wrong with me.

"You still thinking of Miranda, aren't you?" he asked.

No, I wasn't at that moment, but I can't exactly come out and say that. "Yeah, I guess."

Cameron draped an arm around my shoulders. "I know it's hard, but you should try to take your mind off of it. Go surfing; you'll feel better afterward."

"Yeah," I replied, and turned my gaze back towards the horizon.

"Something else is wrong."

Yep, something else is wrong, but it sounds crazy.

"You know you can tell me anything."

Yep, unless it sounds like I'm losing my mind.

"No matter what, I will always-"

"I can't touch water," I blurted out.

"What?"

"I. Can't. Touch. Water. See," I reached forward, and sure enough, the water moved away. "It moves away from me whenever I try to touch it."

"Bri, we are sitting five feet away from the water, you're obviously not going to be able to touch it."

"No, we aren't."

"Yes, we are."

"No, we aren't!"

"Yes, we are!"

"Fine! Don't believe me! If this is what I get for telling the truth and opening up, maybe I should lie more often." With that, I got up, grabbed my board, and started stomping back to my house.

"Bri, come on, come back!" he called after me, but I kept on stomping. He's probably right anyway; I'm most likely hallucinating.

When I got back to my house, my dad wasn't there. He left a note on the kitchen counter saying he wouldn't be back until eleven; something came up at the office last minute that he had to go to. My mom won't be coming back ever again after her accident, so it looks like I'll have the house to myself for a while.

The most logical answer that I have come up with for today's earlier events was that I was hallucinating, so I figured a nice shower and a nap would do the trick. I haven't been sleeping that well recently, so it might help. But as I got into the shower, the strangest thing happened.

When the water made contact with my skin, I started steaming.

Authors Note:
Hello to whoever is reading this. So this is my first story, so stay with me here I promise it gets better. Also, I don't know what to put in the authors note, so I will most likely leave a lot of them blank. If you have anything you want me to put in, or if you don't want me to do an authors note at all (because I know a lot of us just skip over them anyways), feel free to leave a comment. Also, the picture up there is what I think Bri looks like, except in the picture she is more serious than how I imagine her. Thanks for reading!!