Little Spark

11 - The Powerhouse

"Where did you get this, B?"

I gulp. "It was my mom's."

Taking notice of the hole I burned through the article with my fire-fingers, she picks it up to examine it more closely. When she finally looks back at me, I can practically see the wheels spinning in her overactive brain. "When was the last time you felt tactually thermogenic, Bliss?"

I look at her like she's speaking Greek.

She places a hand on my forearm and leans over the table. "Has your skin ever felt really hot to the touch?"

The intensity of her stare overwhelms me. I feel the familiar tingle that starts in my palm and then surges through my fingertips, but she has my arm pinned to the table, so I can't hide my hand.

Crack crack crack crack crack

Candis' eyes light up when she sees the sparks. She lets go of my arm, and I quickly slip it into my lap. For a second, I think she's about to scream, but then she stands and hands the pin back to me. "Put this back in your jacket and don't show it to anyone else," she says. Once I get it reattached, she grabs my still sparking hand and pulls me up. "Now come with me. There's something you need to see."

********************

After making a mysterious phone call, Candis leads us away from Common Grounds toward a wooded area at the end of the street. She pushes aside the branches of a small tree to reveal a well-worn footpath. "It's a shortcut," she says, urging me in.

I count my steps as we zigzag through the woods in case I have to find my way back alone. After a while, the trees thin, and we come to a clearing behind a dilapidated industrial park. We cross the weed-fractured pavement to the only building with unbroken windows and an actual sign: Caldwell Lighting.

"Took you long enough," Apollo says as Candis pulls the door open—phone call mystery solved. He and Luca are waiting inside what I discover is a light warehouse: a random assortment of dust-covered light fixtures dangles from the ceiling, and aisles overflow with lamps and bulbs of every shape and size imaginable. It's quite warm inside, so I toss my jacket onto what was once a checkout counter.

"You were right, Luc," Candis says, pointing to me with her thumb.

Luca's eyes get big. "Seriously?"

"No way..." Apollo says.

They're making me really nervous... which in this building full of light bulbs is about as dangerous as giving a five-year-old a loaded machine gun. "Okay, where are we and what are we doing here?"

Candis smiles at me. "Temper your turbines, B-diddy," she says. "Your queries will be addressed, but first, let's discuss those sparks emitted by your fingertips at Common Grounds."

As if on cue—crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack

"HA!" Luca shouts. She rushes over and takes my face in her hands to examine my eyeballs. "I knew it!" she says. "Xing xing zhi huo ke yi liao yuan."

"Uhh... what?"

"It's an ancient proverb of my ancestors. A single spark can light a prairie fire.... I told them you were a Spark!"

I jerk away from her. "How did you know that?"

She grins. "Same way your cute little snaggletooth cousin does."

"Huh? You haven't seen me glow..."

The note she gave me in Mr. Casey's class pops into my head. She seemed to know she would meet me there despite the fact that I hadn't shared my schedule with anyone. "You knew I would be in your class English class..."