“How do you do that?” I asked sweetly.
“Do what?” her smile widened.
“Make me smile.”
“Just returning the favor,” she said. I laughed and took another drink quickly hiding behind my giant red plastic cup. Her eyes followed mine and her hair trickled down her shoulders. Her body was wrapped in a light green top, with long sleeves and a hood. Her shorts were white and exposed most of her little legs. The sprinkles of rain seemed to stick off her hair like colorful crystals.
“You look…nice,” I spit out and it sounded as stuttered as I had feared. She just laughed and nodded.
“Thanks.” She softly took a drink and stared at me as the music raced around us. Without even realizing it we were both gently rocking back and forth to the rhythm of the music and we were much closer to each other than when we started talking. I was close enough to smell her strawberry conditioner that she loved. One of her hands caressed the top of my arm lightly and time seemed to fall away. I could barely hear the pounding music anymore. I took that as a chance to apologize and I leaned in slowly to whisper in her ear.
“I’m sorry,” That was all I could get out before Asia was standing right behind her. She didn’t look upset at the closeness Sam and I were sharing but she did look dangerous…almost primal. My heart started to pound. This was going to be awkward.
“What’s wrong?” Sam asked. Asia strutted past her, watching her closely as she walked. She cuddled up behind me with her head on my shoulder and her right arm extended itself across my chest and rested on the opposite shoulder. Her soft curls rustled along my neck and my body tightened up.
“Samantha Summers,” Asia said with the venom of a snake. Her left arm slowly crawled up my left side.
“Great...you’ve met...” I winced.
“Thanks for keeping my place warm for me.” Her left hand came to rest on my chest and an evil smile filled her face. My heart pounded and she stared into Sam with daggers in her eyes.
“I finally got him to smile again. Try not to chase this one off this time,” Sam said as calm as I have ever heard her and walked off slowly. She faded into the crowd and I found my emotions spinning. I was so proud of Sam for not letting Asia get to her. I was flattered by the jealousy in Asia’s tone. But most of all, I was mad again.
“I thought you left,” I said coldly.
“Not yet,” she said and turned to face me. “She’s a little short for you, don’t you think?” she asked cocky.
“Funny…I could say the same about sister psycho!” my anger boiled over. Her face fell cold like ice. The storm overhead gurgled to life.
“Is that supposed to be a joke?” she demanded.
“It seems that’s all I am to you.” I was beginning to burn up inside and I wasn’t sure how long I could keep it under control. Her eyes filled with hurt and the rain started to fall thicker. She stepped into me ready to do more damage as Kai flew from the crowd and in between us.
“Max…there’s trouble. I need your help,” he said urgently. He shot Asia a worried look and grabbed my arm.
“What’s going on Kai?” I asked as he began pulling me through the crowd.
“Just hurry,” he called from in front of me. Asia was not happy and followed closely behind us.
“Wait!” Asia huffed. I glanced back toward her as my feet stumbled away. I was so angry with her but my over-heating hands wanted to reach for her.
We were bobbing and weaving within the wall of bodies and my temper was at its limit. I was just about to stop Kai and demand to know what was going on when my eyes finally focused on the trouble. My heart sank and my hands began to steam. I was hoping my eyes were playing tricks on me. For Asia’s sake. But they weren’t, and the awful truth hit me like a locomotive.
“Oh no...” I mumbled.
This was going to be ugly.
High Tide_13
~Break The Ice: Britney Spears~
Devon and his friends had decided to pick on a fellow classmate at the end of the beach. My first impression was that they were all very drunk or on the path towards it. They stumbled around laughing and mocking their fellow classmate. Anyone who was in sight of the situation kept his distance and watched with nervous eyes. That angered me immensely. I wondered why no one would stand up to these five guys. I didn’t care how rich or important a person’s family was, there had got to be a line drawn.
“No more!” I growled through the new falling rain. It was time to draw that line.
Quickly I made my way past the last few kids in the crowd. Instantly I realized who the young girl was that they were harassing, I didn’t even need to see her face. My heartbeat doubled as my eyes focused on the blue streaks hanging in her hair.
“Lucy...”
At first I thought by her position, that she had been getting sick. She had drunk her share of the party favors after all. She was on her knees; face down in the sand with the waves from the increasing tide closing in.
“Max...she’s hurt,” Kai warned. His eyes filled with worry.
“What happened?” I asked without stopping my advance. His hand caught my chest and he froze when he felt the heat I was generating.
“Someone said that one of them hit her...” his voice sounded distant. His eyes were locked on my warming torso and then Asia’s approach. I knew Asia was close behind me, but I wasn’t sure just how far back and I hoped that she hadn’t heard the gruesome detail. Even if she hadn’t…I had and my ears popped from the building pressure in my head.
Jason, the biggest of the four horsemen, was standing behind her and simulating a sex act. His big hips thrusting back and forth as the others cheered him on. Their beer bottles in hand, waving in the air like spears and drunken smiles plastered across their faces. My hands felt like fire and my vision began to blur as I locked onto Jason’s face. His little ponytail was flipping from side to side, making my muscles tense and crack with heat. The word had spread that Mad Max was on the warpath again and the beach filled in behind me with excited fans.
“Max!” Asia screamed and lightning split the sky with an ear deafening crack and the waves grew larger. I ignored her warning and embraced my rage. Steam billowed from my shoulders and hands as I raced for Jason. My hand found the back of his head and I threw him backwards in one quick motion. His shocked body flew behind me, sliding like a rag doll and coming to a rest at Devon’s feet. Devon looked up at me surprised.
“My hair!” Jason bellowed but the sound from the rising tide smothered his cries. The smell of burning hair filled the air as I looked down at my fist and found his scruffy ponytail still in my hand. The tiny hairs were still burning on the ends. They quickly faded to black in the cooling air. The rain pounded the beach much more severely now and I tossed the chunk of hair into the water.
Devon’s eyes filled with disgust as he threw his bottle to the ground, shattering it into a thousand pieces. Brian and the twins just stared at Jason as he flailed wildly, cursing about his new haircut. Lucy groaned from below me and I could tell she was in pain.
“Lucy, can you get up?” I asked, never taking my eyes off of the boys. She coughed and Asia stepped toward us. I quickly shot her a look not to come any closer. She watched me hard but stopped and glanced down at Lucy. Devon motioned for the horsemen to surround me and I stepped in front of Lucy, completely blocking her from the oncoming attack.
The waves crashed on my left side and the rain was falling thick now. Asia stood about fifteen feet from us and Sam was directly behind her. Her eyes were filled with shock and terror, but Kai and Marcus were right beside her too. It seemed to ease her slightly as she used Kai’s broad shoulder as her guard.
Devon and Brian approached slowly, staggering a little as they did and the twins mirrored their every move until all four of them were fanned out in front of Lucy and I. As they slowly circled us, I turned along with their movements, to shield Lucy as best I could. But now we were cut off from the beach, with our backs to the ocean. The air rus
hed off the waves quickly cooling my back and bringing Lucy to shivers. Her teeth chattered from below me.
The rain was falling thicker and thicker, making it harder to keep my heat up. That’s when I noticed just how much steam was coming from my shoulders but in this thick downpour, the only one who could really see anything was Lucy. She stared up at me with tears running down her face, and confusion setting in. I doubted that any of the crowd could see me as clearly as she did and that’s when it dawned on me…
“Very clever Asia,” I whispered. She may be completely upset with me and this situation but she still did what she could to protect me. My chest filled with proud fire.
“You’re going to play the hero?” Devon taunted. “Or is the new kid just trying to make a name for himself?”
“I already have a name,” I said as calmly as I could, which wasn’t very calm at all. My eyes were locked again with his and I couldn’t believe how much I wanted this to happen. Not the suffering that Lucy had been through, just the aftermath. This moment was calling to me on an instinctive level. My body grew impatient with all this talking and filled with more heat. The rain dripped from my bangs blurring my vision for a moment.
“No. What you have is a big problem,” he screamed through the drenching rain. A small smile slipped onto my face.
“Eddie…Alex…grab him,” he ordered. They looked at each other and back toward him with hesitation and his face twisted in anger. I stepped forward growing even hotter.
“Bring it!” I demanded. Water flew from my mouth as I screamed and waved for them to do like they were told.
“Max stop!” Asia called out and the power cut off with another streak of lightning. Sam jumped and watched Asia closely. Thunder replaced the pounding music and the crowd began to panic in the dark. Many kids retreated back to the parking lot as the wall of falling water doused the bonfires. They all burned out at almost the same moment, leaving only fading embers.
“Just take care of Lucy,” I yelled back at her. My eyes stole a quick glance at Lucy who was trying to stand now but not having much success. Her hands and knees were covered in muddy sand.
“Let’s do this!” Devon yelled at me. He motioned for his buddies to attack again but they were in no mood to be wrestling around this close to an angry ocean and beaching storm.
“Come on Devon…let’s get out of here,” Brian pleaded with him.
“Yeah, there’s a hurricane coming,” Jason said from behind the other four with his hand along the back of his neck. I guess he had found the courage to stop crying about his hair and join the party. The twins watched the sky nervously and started to back up. Jason shook his head in annoyance and followed. Brian held his ground but positioned himself away from the blowing wind and away from my view. They were giving up. All except their precious leader. That infuriated Devon.
“No!” Devon screamed and his voice cracked with the strain. Lightning flickered all around us, lighting every inch of the beach, but only for a second. But that was long enough for me to see the red and swollen eye on Lucy’s face. It had already begun to turn purple along her left temple. Time slowed as my hands balled into fists at my sides and I focused my wrath toward Devon’s spiteful face. His eyes returned the rage and he brought his arms up ready to strike.
“Lucy! Get out of here! Now!” I yelled out. She stumbled to her feet and made her way to Asia who caught her in her arms. She was safe now but it was too late for me, I was past the point of return. I felt a burning from deep within me, calling to be free. An evil grin grew larger on my face and I let it out. Devon lunged forward with rain splashing off his charging body and I let go.
“No!” Asia screamed out.
Just a few feet from me he attacked like a bullet with his fists ready to swing and my hands ignited in a flash as I burst forward. In the same split second, a five foot wave slammed into my back, washing itself over the top of me. Its weight was undeniable. My flames disappeared as quickly as they came to life as my body was slammed into the sand. With my arms at my sides to brace the crushing force, I barely stopped my head from bouncing off the beach. Devon was thrown backward but managed to stay on his feet.
“Nice try hero,” Devon said pointing at me. Thunder rumbled over me and the sound was joined by the growing laughter coming from Devon and his boys. The other kids left along the beach joined in making my face burn from embarrassment. Everyone quickly collected themselves and stumbled off into the darkness. Devon saved me a final ‘I told you so’ look as he stumbled away with his friends.
“Hero,” I spit out as the ocean water receded and the rain started to fade. Asia and Lucy glared at me and I found my head spinning again. I was so embarrassed and angry.
“Let’s get you home,” Asia said to Lucy. The rain came to a complete halt and the last few party goers left on the beach looked around in amazement before loading into their cars. Asia disappeared in the darkness and the clouds pulled back revealing the full moon.
“Well, that was fun,” I coughed out and pulled myself up. I was still unnaturally hot but gaining control again. Kai and Sam ran up to me and tried to help me to my feet but I wanted nobody’s help. Not now, not ever.
“That was quite a show,” Sam said sarcastically. I only looked at her annoyed and started ringing out my drenched clothes.
“That was friggin intense brother,” Kai sounded excited but relieved.
“Where’s Marcus?” I asked not really worried about it.
“He headed back to the car when the power popped off.”
“Why?” I asked.
“He figured if things were to get much worse, we’d probably need a quick get away,” Kai smiled.
“Funny,” Sam nodded. “I take it you need a ride home?”
“No thanks,” I said pouting. How could she just leave? Especially after helping her precious Lucy. My head was officially throbbing now.
“I’m not asking Max,” Sam said boldly. Her confident tone only made me angrier.
“I’ll walk,” I grumbled. I wasn’t even really mad at her, just at my stupid illusions of this doomed night. She walked up to me and slowly caressed my cheek with her hand. It was still very hot and she noticed immediately but said nothing of it. Her touch was cool and calming and soothed me easily.
“Come on…let’s go home,” she sounded sweet and safe. But I didn’t want to let go of this anger yet and if she stayed, that’s exactly what she would make me do.
“Just leave!” I snapped. Her smile disappeared and she leaned into me, looking up in my eyes.
“Hey! Don’t be that guy!” she spoke forceful and direct. This hit my already raw nerves hard and I wanted to get even angrier. Her hands found my wet bangs and she gently brushed them to the side and smiled.
“Okay.” I gave in.
“Okay,” she agreed.
Kai watched us closely before finding a nervous Marcus back at his old car. Kai slid into the driver’s seat. Marcus anxiously watched Sam and I from the side mirror.
“Well?” Marcus asked impatiently. Kai smiled and turned on the stereo.
“Round one goes to Sam!” he announced. Marcus shook his head and laughed.
I collected myself and walked back to the parking lot. Sam walked by my side the entire way, not saying a word. Slowly I felt peace settling back into my mind. She even held my hand the last thirty yards or so. My fires cooled inside me as the simplest of thoughts comforted me…Sam was there for me when I fell. She picked me back up. She healed me.
Sunburn_14
~Sunburn: Fuel~
Monday morning – 8:01 a.m. – August 21st.
“Two weeks,” Kai said with the biggest smile.
“What happens in two weeks?” I asked still tired from the long weekend.
He removed a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to me while he turned down the volume of his car stereo. He drove faster as his nervous excitement took over.
“Two weeks from now we will be performing in all our glory.
It’s the beginning of the world dominance known as KID EGO.” His arms rose above his head like some silly wrestler on a pay per view event.
“A night with KID EGO,” I read the flyer aloud. “Music and dancing at Club Tsunami.”
“Yup!” he smiled even bigger.
“And we’re KID EGO?” I asked looking down at the same two words tattooed along my left forearm. It was a tattoo I had gotten a few years back, just before I started healing myself. My former band members said it fit me perfectly. They were probably right about that at the time but now I wasn’t too proud of it.
“This is it my friend,” he sighed as he leaned back in his chair.
“You think we’ll be ready in two weeks?” I asked.
“Silly rabbit, tricks are for kids,” he laughed. “You know we’re ready.”
“It’s been over a year since I have been on a real stage,” my voice sank with nervousness. Kai slowly leaned over to me, placing his hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head about that. You have got much bigger things to worry about that night.” He looked at me serious and pointed out the front of the windshield as the car pulled into the school parking lot.
“Uh oh,” Marcus whined from the back seat. The cool familiar scent of rain rushed through the cars open windows just as I realized what my new best friend was pointing at. Asia’s Jeep was parked right next to us in the parking lot. My stomach turned over on itself.
“Uh oh,” I mimicked Marcus’ tone.
I stepped from the car crumbling under the weight of my nerves as Asia’s scent found me. She stood tall and beautiful under a giant tree on the campus lawn. Her arms were folded tight with her heavy blue eyes on fire. She was anything but happy to see me.
“Uh oh,” Kai whispered to himself and walked up to me.