Truyen is stealing this so imma just hope it's copying all of this (as in they copy it all and then paste it) and say: IT IS A PLAGIARIZING WEBSITE. FIND @AShizTonOfShip on WATTPAD not TRUYEN.

I don't know what set me off, either the body, or the stench. I was hurling at Qibli's feet, emptying my breakfast, grimly thinking about the cupcake Lynx had shoved into my mouth earlier.

My stomach heaved as Peril disappeared into the building, the body lying next to us. I averted my eyes and tried to not think about the grotesque object before us. Object. Not person. She was dead.

Fear rose up in my throat, an unfamiliar feeling. I fought my will and rested my gaze on the girl. Her body wasn't crippled like I thought it was. Her arm had been reduced to ashes, and a coating of burnt flesh drifted across her entire remnant. Her auburn hair was now a pile of soot, and her amber eyes were opened in a horrible way, showing her last thoughts in every possible emotion.

I heard more shouts, and Clay came running out with another person—only this one was alive. The girl lay in his arm, pale eyes rolled in the back of her head, arms around his shoulders.

Lynx and Peril were right behind him, panting. I flicked my eyes at her black spotted body. A long burn ran down my friend's arm, and she held it carefully.

"Anymore?" Coughed Clay, keeping the girl at his chest.

"Yeah—another dead." Peril informed him. How was she so calm! Someone was dead. The gleaming sun bounced off her copper hair, which was mixed in with soot.

"How's Tamarin?" Asked Lynx, jerking her head at the girl in his arms.

"Alive," He said grimly. I saw the angry red lines that ripped her skin, flakes of black settling over them. Blood poured from her face, and Clay cupped a hand over her eyes. I tugged on Qibli's sleeve. He made his way over to them.

"Will she be okay?" He questioned.

"I suppose," he sighed wearily. I felt a shadow cross my back, a temporary reliever from the scorching sun. It was Kinkajou and Moon, who had completed the journey of stairs. Moon was squeezing Kinkajou's arm tightly, worry creases pinching her expression. When she saw the girl named Tamarin, she gasped, running forward. Another boy stalked forward.

"We should get her to the ocean," he tried to take the girl, but his scrawny arms did nothing. Lynx hoisted her on to her back, mouthing to me that she'd been and be okay, asking if I was.

I just stared blankly at her, wondering if this day would ever erase its imprint from my mind. I felt a sleeve wipe over my lips, taking with it the strings of bile that still sat there. I slumped to the ground, hating every moment. I then remembered I lived in a house and had a spiteful family who would lecture then torture me because of this late homecoming. But that was, currently anyways, the least of my worries.

I learned a lot that day that I shouldn't need to. Like that Carnelian and Bigtail, the other late student, had both suffered fourth-degree burns, which meant that the heat and flames had reached their unfortunate tendons, muscles, and bones.

Bigtail's eyes, cheeks, forehead, and mouth had been burned away. All that was left was a shallow cavity where his face was. That nearly had me vomiting again, except there was nothing left to bring up. The water Qibli has offered me threatened to rise up my throat again, though.

The noon sun blazed furiously, glaring down at us. It just hit me. It had been twelve hours. Well, more, seeing as the party started at five and it was...a glance directed towards my wristwatch. Eight nineteen. Yup, more than twelve hours.

My parents wouldn't care that I had been in a fire, or hurt, just mad that I brought sympathetic attention to us all, and that I represented weakness within our supposed-to-be perfect family. Also that Icicle had been in danger. Why she was invited still was yet to be unveiled, though. How was it set, anyways? I turned to the blond boy steadying my shoulder and asked him quietly,

"How did it happen?"

"Bomb."

Of course it was a bomb! Did he think I was stupid?

"Yeah, I know, but what type?"

He glanced around, before grabbing me by the shoulders, claiming I needed a bathroom break, and dragged me behind the wreck of the building. Lowering his voice, he whispered so softly I almost missed it.

"Special type. My mom knows all about it, called Cactusflame. It burns real fast, then scatters out and repopulates. Only reason we're alive is that something in that room killed it. It's the reason Carnelian and Bigtail are dead, and Tamarin is injured."

"Who exactly is Tamarin?"

"Blind girl. Managed to wriggle her way into JMA, with some legal help." I made my way over to Kinkajou, who was staring out after where Clay and Pike had taken Tamarin. Her arm was slung around Moon's shoulders, and her eyes were distant as they tracked the horizon blankly. I shook her other arm lightly, and she snapped up to attention.

"Yes?" She actually sounded...annoyed. That was a first.

"Qibli. He knows what it was." She gasped, then broke away from Moon, beckoning her and Turtle over.

"So?" She asked.

"Cactusflame. Smells like burnt rubber."

"How'd you know?" Turtle asked fretfully, and suspicion crept into my mind. That maybe he set it.

A stab of guilt immediately ensued that thought.

"Mummy Dear. She's a criminal, a thug." His eyes were cold and hard; no sign of emotion cast itself across them. He continued.
"She was building up a stash of those. On the run from the law."

"Don't you have older siblings?" Moon shyly asked. Jealousy flared within me as he turned to her, face softening.

"Yeah. My sister's a part of the business."

"Can't you, like, report them?" Innocent Kinkajou asked.

"No. If I did, they'd be after my blood. But it's okay. You know Thorn, Sunny's mother? She had me transported to somewhere else, to a friend. Ostrich, she's in fifth grade, I'm staying with her and her parents, Kindle and Six-claws. It's all good." I could tell his reassuring smile was strained.

"So why would someone put that there?" Turtle asked thoughtfully.

"A trap..." I said slowly. "For—" I was cut off by screams of frustration. I saw my sister, Icicle, shouting at Tsunami. "IT WAS ME. I KNOW IT WAS!" Her voice was hoarse from yelling. "I said I would just stay in the storeroom with my friends because parties are dumb, just like my dumb brother, who wanted to go. But I was going in there when it went off. Someone is trying to kill me!"

Tsunami sighed wearily before bellowing.
"NO ONE IS TRYING TO KILL YOU." She stormed off, whipping past Sora. She froze. "You. I only told you where I was! It was her!" She roared, pointing an accusing finger. All eyes turned to the two girls, fitting themselves on Sora.

"Well?" Asked Starflight, gripping his own arm tightly. And she didn't deny it.

Sorry for the slow updates.