I̶n̶f̶a̶t̶u̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n

Chapter 13-- Chanse

I awoke to the sound of sirens, the putrid stench of smoke burning my lungs. Practically jumping out of bed, I threw on my sweats, a t-shirt, and ran downstairs, thinking it was my house that was going down in flames. Forgetting my shoes, I raced across the lawn, hugging my body from the chill of the night air.

There was smoke billowing from a house two neighborhoods away. Quickly going back into the house and throwing a pair of converse on, I trekked towards the commotion. There were 2 firetrucks already there when I arrived, along with an ambulance, EMT, and a police car. Peering around heads, I saw that the fire was already mostly put out.

It was a small mobile home with a white Kia parked outside. The entire left side was burnt beyond restoration with bits of the right slightly singed. I had no idea whose home this was, but I had a feeling I would find out eventually. There was no doubt that New 13 would be on the scene shortly to cover the story. It would be all over local news by noon tomorrow.

I tapped a middle-aged woman with greying hair on the shoulder and asked, "Excuse me, ma'am, but do you happened to know who's home this is?"

She nodded, saying, "This is the Chandler's place," before turning back to the pillars of smoke.

I choked and had to fight back the panic rising in my chest. Surely she couldn't mean the Chandlers, right? Evan...

I started pushing my way through the mass, ignoring shouts of protest as I pushed people aside. The smoke and all of the people were starting to take its effect and I felt as if I was going to suffocate. People were whispering--some were giving panicked shouts--and there was a baby crying in the arms of his mother next to me, shouting along with the others I shoved past in my quest to the smoldering house.

Arriving in the center of the chaos, I found Evan and his dad talking to one of the firemen. Evan had his head in his hands, his body shaking with a ferocity I'd never seen before. His dad, on the other hand, was stone. He showed no emotion on his face, his eyes staring straight ahead into the eyes of the fireman.

"Evan!" I shouted, panting as I reached him and his dad. The fireman quietly excused himself as both Evan and his dad turned to face me.

"Chanse, what are you doing here?" Evan asked me with equal amounts of confusion and anger in his voice.

I was taken aback by his tone and opened my mouth to explain but, before I could utter a sound, Evan's dad interrupted me.

"Evan, who the hell is this girl and why is she here?" He sounded even angrier and Evan had and I began to understand where Evan got his temperamental tendencies.

"This is Chanse and I have no idea why she's here," he replied, giving me the once-over. "Chanse?" he asked warningly.

"I live a few neighborhoods over and the sirens woke me up," I said quickly. "At first, I thought it was my house. When I realized it wasn't, I walked over here to see who's house it was. When I realized it was yours, well, I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Evan took a deep breath and exhaled, looking like he was on the brink of tears.

"Yeah," he replied, "I am okay."

"Well, that's a good thing, isn't it? You're okay and your dad seems to be as well. No one was hurt."

Evan shouted and kicked a nearby pebble, causing me to jump.

"No! It's not a good thing!" he shouted. "Maddy is dead because of me! She's dead and it's my fault."

And then something happened that I had never seen before, nor ever expected to see. Evan broke. He dropped on the ground, shaking. Tears pooled in his eyes and streamed down his face, dropping from his cheeks and soaking into the dirt beneath him.

"I begged her to stay the night," he whispered. "Just one night. Just this one night and I wouldn't ask again."

I could feel my own tears clenching the back of my throat as he continued.

"She was so nervous about staying, but I told her not to worry. I told her I would keep her safe. Now I've lost her. I've lost everything; my house, my food, my clothes, my sister, and, maybe, my will to live. Maddy was everything to me, and now I have nothing."

Suddenly, something burned in my gut and made its way up into my throat.

"So what?" I said, stepping forward. "So what if you've lost everything? You still have the clothes on your back and you still have me. Today, that will have to be enough." It all came out braver than I expected, but it was what I felt, and I knew I didn't--and wouldn't regret those words.

"It is," he said, finally meeting my gaze. Fresh tears had fallen from his cheeks and I felt my heart break for him.

"Good," I replied, setting my jaw to cover the quiver in my lip, "because it's all you've got."

With those final words, I was shoved out of the way by paramedics and police. My head was still spinning as I started to walk away from the commotion. The air smelled even heavier of smoke and people continued to arrive, no doubt annoying Evan and his father. People whispered around me and gave me strange looks. I felt nauseated and hot, suddenly claustrophobic. Leaning over into the grass, I dry heaved, earning me more strange looks from the never-ending stream of passerbys. I felt an arm loop into mine, pulling me from the ground and wrap around my waste. Stumbling a little as I walked, I looked to see who was guiding me, but my vision was too blurred from ash that had made its way into my eyes. People continued pressing into me, their murmurs never wavering.

"... the boys' fault, he did it... teenage prank... firebomb that went wrong.... his mom..."

My head continued to sway as the strong arms set me in one of the police cars, saying, "Take her home, please. 23 Malbrooke Lane." I recognized the voice as Evan's.

My sleep came almost instantaneously once seated in the back and I was still half so when I was escorted back into my house, my parents still asleep. They didn't bother to wake them to speak to them but simply left me at my front doorstep, bidding me a good rest of the night. All but crawling to the comfort of my bed, my mind recollected the events of the day and a smile came to my face as I slid under the comforter.

"It is."