{m a y a}
It was a ruse. I didn't really need to use the bathroom. But I couldn't just think about things like this in front of my friend, could I? If anybody saw me in a vulnerable state, it would be the end. For them, I mean; I'd punch their teeth in if they told anybody. The system worked well, and I didn't really want my best friend to have chipped teeth.
Riley hadn't seen me at my worst. I'd always hidden that side of me, in fear that she would underestimate me and label me as 'weak'. I wasn't weak...at least, I wasn't most of the time. It was only when the inevitable thoughts of my past came up, when I really was weak. The weight of the world was placed upon my shoulders in the form of the atmosphere. My old physics teacher had given us a few lectures on the atmosphere, and I wasn't too keen in remembering all of the information, but one fact in particular stuck out to me.
The atmosphere reaches out to a distance of three hundred miles. Everyone has three hundred miles of air above them, weighing them down. Add some of life's problems to this and some additional stress, divide by the amount of people on the Earth, and you get the mean amount of pressure you face in a lifetime. Apologies for talking Science, but if everyone else could live on with their day without any breakdowns, why couldn't I? It had been two months, and I still wasn't okay. I had a loving guardian who was most probably boarding his flight and thinking of me simultaneously, and I still wasn't okay.
I wasn't sure how it was for most people. How were you meant to feel after the death of the most important person in your life? Was I acting weakly compared to others who shared my experiences? If it was deemed as 'normal' to be this crushed, how did anybody bear the pain?
At this point I was clasping the slightly wet bathroom sink with clammy, sweaty hands, and trying to picture what I would do when I returned home. Usually, my mom would be out working at some wealthy person's house as a maid, and come back around four, before leaving at eight to tend to the diner business. That was then, though. This is now.
I imagined arriving home, with nothing to look forward to; not my mother's hugs or Shawn's smile. Reality was so dull and empty that it could potentially destroy you. I was realising it now, for the first time. Dead. She was never coming back. Could I have prevented it? Saved her? Maybe I could have tried.
A cacophonous blaring interrupted my thought process (thankfully. I wasn't sure where they were going to take me.) It was a sound I hadnt heard since the sixth grade: a fire alarm.
On the first day of school? I understood drills were important (though they totally skipped them in seventh and eighth grade for a reason unbeknown), but the first day was meant to be relaxing. I sighed, and washed my sweaty hands before starting to head out.
Except, I couldn't. The door had seemingly been locked and from the outside too. Nothing would do the trick. I twisted the knob around a million times, only to achieve sweaty hands once again.
I was attacked with a chilling thought: what if it wasn't a drill? I'd never considered that possibility before. Was there an actual fire? What would happen if I didn't make it out?
No, I told myself. There was no use getting myself even more worked up. That would result in even more panicking. I would just take a deep breath in and--
Smoke. It wafted through the miniscule spaces between the wall and the door hinge, engulfing the entire room, wrapping its hands around my neck and choking me.
I looked at the door once more in anguish, hoping this was all just a prank, or better, a dream. But it couldn't be; the smoke was too much to be anything but real. A small note that I hadn't noticed before caught my eye, lying on the floor, having been pushed through the gap.
Instead of fending for my life, I unfolded the piece of paper, all while coughing out smoke.
'How hot can it get before you evaporate? -xo'
If I'd been in my right mind, I would have ignored something as tacky as this note, but alas, my mind was far from right. They were right--it was getting extremely hot and with every half-degree added to the current temperature, came whole handful of danger. An anonymous note in the middle of this did not help me. In fact, my condition was quickly worsening. I probably had minutes until the fire devoured me as well.
All the possible escape ways were blocked or broken. And of course, the main gate to freedom, the door, was still completely shut.
Maybe this was what I deserved. For not caring enough. For taking life for granted. But a part of me couldn't help fighting against it. Most of me wanted to succumb to the flames, but the idea seemed...wrong. I couldn't do that.
I wish I could tell you that I'd stripped my shirt off and changed into superhero clothing. I wish I could buff and elaborate on my endurance against the inferno.
No such thing happened. But something did. Little did I know, that something would mean everything to me as time went on.
----
{l u c a s}
In all my life I had never seen a fire as strong as this one. There had been many instances back in Texas such ss this. Normally, anything that reminded me of my old home would make me terribly nostalgic, but how could anyone want for this to happen to them? The flames illuminated the surroundings, spreading uncomprehendibly quickly throughout the building.
I was just glad I wasn't trapped in there. It was hard to imagine, and I didn't especially want to.
Mr Lewis, a usually carefree, happy man, looked tormented and I couldn't blame him. The raging thought that someone could be stuck in that, alone scared me to bits. As he took the roll call, people recorded the sight on their phones or yelled things such as, "we're all going to die!" Principal Yancy had given up on trying for silence eons ago. Now we were just anticipating the arrival of the fire brigade.
Her name came somewhere around the middle of the register: "Maya Hart?"
No answer. My heart skipped a beat.
Again: "Maya Hart?"
"Where is Maya?"
An audible gasp escaped from Riley's mouth. My brain started going into overdrive as I thought about all the possible locations my new friend could be in. Fists against my waist, I remembered: she'd gone to the bathroom and never returned.
I thought of what she would say if she was here. Probably something terribly sarcastic with a hint of worry. I'd gotten good at reading people after leaving, as opposed to my past self (that I didn't feel the need of bringing up. My past self was a whole other sad story). Maya liked to think she was an emotionless, invincible queen and she could be; but emotionless, invincible queens did not have that slight sentimental tone when talking about things. They were stoic and cold.
It had been twenty-four hours of knowing her, but I still wanted her to live. I just wasn't sure how far I would go for anybody but myself.
Then I pictured her stuck in the school somwhere, choking on thick, black smoke. Being devoured by evil flames. And something changed inside of me.
Ignoring pleas to not do what I was about to do, I carelessly leapt through the cafeteria door into the now extremely heated room. It was too late to back away now and I had a friend to save in here.
"Maya?!" I screamed, not caring about the fire inching closer and closer to me. A muffled yell could be heard coming from the bathroom. She was in there.
"I'm coming, just wait a second!"
"I've been waiting ten minutes! Hurry the hell up!"
I ignored that.
Suddenly I was five years old and the floor was pernicious lava, bubbling and sizzling, ready to beseige me and take away my life. I was not about to surrender.
By now, I could sense that door had been locked from the outside by somebody. It would have been stupid of them to leave the key lying around the place, but there had to be another option.
Could I remove the door? No. It wasn't possible even if I had a screwdriver. Break it? Even less of a likelihood.
The air vent. It was round the back of the building, introduced to me specifically by Maya in her hope to show me all of the ways to escape the school. I couldn't break the door, but maybe the vent was a possibility. It could also fit a human inside of it.
"Air vent!" I shouted, hoping she would get the message.
The process was tricky. Somehow, I managed to break off a portion of the blocked part and Maya miraculously found something to break the other part with. She escaped with burning lungs and I did with a burn on my leg.
What mattered was, we were alright. She was there with me. She was okay.
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turning a two part chapter into one because y not lol
I ain't getting any work done because of BTS and this fanfic i swear i'm throwin a party when i'm done with this