Tapping my pencil against my desk I lean into my sore palm using all my inner strength to keep my eyes from fluttering shut. I watch from the corner of my eye as the clock ticks away edging me closer and closer to the freedom I've been longing for ever since I stepped into this classroom. Gazing toward the front of the room I tiredly watch as my chemistry teacher hastily scribbles an equation on the chalkboard.

"So, we can therefore state that the formula for dilution is M1 V1 equals M2 V2. Now M in this formula stands for morality with M1 being initial morality and M2 standing for final morality. The letter V in this equation stands for volume, specifically volume in liters. So V1 is the initial volume in liters which makes V2 the final volume in liters," after writing out the equation he slams the small piece of chalk onto the metal holder and dusts off his hands, "Now if you'll all turn to page one hundred and ten in your textbooks we can start our deep dive into these complex calculations."

Just as we all reach for our textbooks the bells around the school turn into wailing banchees. The distant screech of the bell fills me with a sense of joy and for the first time since this morning, I allow a small smile to grace my lips.

"Okay, that's class dismissed. Please don't forget to write your essay on the importance of dilutions."

Sliding my chemistry textbook into my bag, I rush out of the classroom into the bustling hallway anxious to escape this place, the long and boring lessons, and the multitude of people who kept asking me about the burns on my arm.

After making a quick stop at my locker to unload some books I pop in my earphones and scurry toward the nearest exit. 

"Oh my God! Vega, are you all right?" Sandy, a girl from my chemistry class calls out to me having only now noticed the long burn trailing down my arm. 

I yank the sleeve of my jersey back over the burn and continue walking not giving her any sort of answer or even a sideways glance. I'm sure she's whispering to her friends something along the lines of 'what's her problem' or maybe 'she's such a freak'. Either way, I don't care, after all, what's one girl's opinion over the fact that some psycho girl who can manipulate the element of fire has a grudge against me? And, on top of the fact that I might be going insane. And, if I didn't have enough to think about I now know that Seth has been hearing stuff too, or at least he was on the night I had my breakdown. 

Shaking my head I laugh at the insanity that is my life. Almost two months ago my biggest worry was the fact that I was going to move to a different city and start my last year of school in a new school filled with new people. Now I wake up every morning wondering if my powers are going to explode on me or if the voices in my head will become too overbearing and I'll freak out in front of even more people. I can't forget about the crazy dreams I'm having which now contain Seth the boy I feel unnaturally drawn to and my father's friend who is disturbingly interested in me. Last but not least I have to worry about being summoned by a council and shunned for a possible relationship that I might have. Life used to be so simple. I miss my simple life. I never thought I would say that. 

The hum of a car slowly driving beside me brings me out of my train of thought. I briefly glance to the side sighing when I spot the familiar black Mustang slowly approaching me. 

Taking out my earphones and sliding them into my pocket I turn around to face him. Seth stops the car but doesn't get out. 

"What do you want?" I yell at him. 

He stays seated in the car with his arms crossed over his chest. 

I sigh and roll my eyes. "Fine," I whisper. I storm over to his car which to my luck is unlocked. 

"What are you doing?" he yells as I pull the door open and get into the passenger seat closing the door behind me. 

"What do you want," I repeat. 

"For you to get out of my car you psycho!"

"Why were you following me?" I ask. 

 "I wasn't following you," he chuckles. He shifts in his seat and clears his throat. "My house is this way." 

I roll my eyes. "Seth, your house is in the completely other direction. Why are you following me?"

Dead silence fills the car as I wait for him to answer my question. Anger bubbles within me as I watch him try and ignore the question by looking everywhere but at me. 

"I wasn't following you," he whispers while looking at his dashboard. 

Allowing my rage to swallow me whole I smash my fist against the dashboard covering it in a thick sheet of ice. 

"Don't lie to me! I've had a shit day, my arm is covered in this horrid burn, your ex whatever might come after me or might report me to the council. And on top of all of this, I might be going insane with these fucking voices in my head! So please just tell me the truth," I beg as tears pour down my face. 

The ice cracks as he lightly taps his finger against it. He sighs and shakes his head. "This is going to ruin my car when it melts." I shoot a glare at him which immediately eliminates the smile that was gracing his lips. "Sorry, I'm just trying to lighten up the mood. You're right I was following you and I was doing it because... because I wanted to explain what happened that made Carla come after you."

"You don't have to explain anything I know what happened," I say. 

He shakes his head. "No, you don't."

"You were at training and everything was going well until suddenly voices started to fill your head. You were then suddenly sucked into a vision where two men were arguing. One man threw an ice stickle at the other but it didn't hit him because a woman jumped in front of him taking the hit for him which resulted in her dying. You kept hearing the voices and then you called out a name... in your case, it was my name." 

A look of pure horror fills his face and I can see the wheels turning in his head as he tries to figure out what to say. 

"How... what... how do you know that?" he stutters. 

"It happened to me too. That's why I wasn't at school for the last couple of days." 

Even though he's nodding I can see that he still doesn't fully believe what is going on. 

"And the name you called was..."

"Yours." 

Laughing, he shakes his head. "What the hell is going on?" 

"I don't know, but I... I think we should stay away from one another."

Just as I'm about to reach out for the door handle he locks the car. "What do you mean stay away from one another?"

"I just think we shouldn't hang out anymore."

"You literally just told me that you and I experienced the same I don't know what to call it and instead of teaming up to try and figure out what is going on with us you want us to pretend like nothing is happening and never speak to each other again. Do... do you hear how fucking stupid that is?" 

"I can't risk being shunned from the community that I just joined, Seth! If you and I started working together and someone saw us my life would be ruined and I'm guessing yours would be too. I can't," I shake my head as tears start pooling in my eyes again, "I just can't risk it. Do you even know how much I embarrassed my family that night? I can't bring them any more shame than I already have!" 

"So you're just going to push aside the fact that you're struggling so that you can get accepted into some stupid club?"

"They are my people okay? At the end of the day, I need them. And I'm sorry but you're just not worth the risk."

My heart shatters into millions of pieces as I watch all of his pain come out. 

"Seth..."

"Get out of my car," he snaps swiftly followed by the sound of the doors being unlocked. 

"Seth-" 

"Get the fuck out of my car, Vega!" he yells and his hands burst into flames causing me to scream and jump out of the car. 

Extinguishing the flames he pulls the door closed and without sparing me a glance he races down the street like a bat out of hell.

Tears race down my cheeks as my feet give in and I crumble to the ground. The cold shoots through me freezing everything around me but I don't even care. My friends would tell me that I shouldn't be upset about chasing Seth away. If anything they would congratulate me or tell me it's the best decision I'll ever make in my life. But if that was the case then why is my heart breaking? Why do I feel like I've chased away the one person I need the most in my life? Why do I feel like I chased away the missing part of my soul? Seth is my enemy and that is what I should see him as. Then why don't I? Why can't we just be enemies?