Page 2 of Burn With Me

I glared at my best friend. “He’s not getting away with this. I mean, it’s one thing to say, ‘no, I don’t want to go out.’ An interesting thing to do—ask you out before he gets help with his project. Now, he has a fucking A plus, and he does that in plain sight for you to see. That’s an asshole move, Beck. So I either do it here, or I can do it at school, take your pick.”

“Vi, please just leave it. He’s not worth it, and I don’t need you making a scene for me,” Becky begged. Her eyes held so much hurt, even though she tried to cover it up. I couldn’t let it go.

“This isn’t just for you. It’s for every girl he tries to pull this shit with.” Grabbing her face, I kissed her forehead. “Trust me. This is going to be good.” I smiled wickedly and walked away.

Marching across the grass, I rolled up the sleeves of my shirt. The people that I walked past stared. I was sure they were wondering whose ass I was going to kick now. To say I had a bit of a reputation would’ve been an understatement. I had an affinity for getting into trouble. What could I say? It found me, and I liked it.

“Hey, Ass-wipe,” I said as I reached the couple in the process of feeling each other up. I got to see way more of Jenny’s naked boob than I ever wanted.

Tyler broke off the kiss and stepped back from Jenny. His eyes were glazed over. He’d obviously already had way more alcohol than he could handle. “Vi? Vi, what do—”

He didn’t get any further before I smiled and stepped in, kneeing him hard in the crotch. The look of pain on his face was instantaneous. He slumped forward and grabbed at his precious cargo.

“Aww, did that hurt?” Making a pout face, I hauled back and gave him a hard right hook across the jaw. He crumpled to the ground, blood seeping from his nose as he cried out in pain.

“You bitch! What the hell is your problem?” Jenny wailed as she dropped to her knees beside Tyler. I kicked sand at the two of them, a good portion of it going into her mouth.

“Call me that again, Jenny, and you’ll join Tyler.”

“There’s something wrong with you,” Jenny said as she spat sand out.

Ignoring her, I pointed my finger at Tyler. “You stay away from Becky. If I even see you look in her direction or ask for help with homework from any of the girls at school again, this will be the least of what I do to you. Understand?”

His eyes were a mix of anger and fear, but the fear was winning out as I stood over him. He nodded, and I smiled. “Now that we have that settled. Have a great night, you two.”

I skipped away and found Becky sitting on the log, covering her eyes. “Oh, come on, Beck, you know you loved to see him get what he deserved.”

She slowly shook her head back and forth. “Honestly, I just want to go home. I only came to see him. The night is kinda ruined for me. Do you mind if we go?”

I sighed dramatically.

“Two songs.” I held up my fingers and stuck out my bottom lip. “Please, pretty please, for me?”

“Ugh, fine. But only if you stop making that stupid face.”

“Deal!” Grabbing her arm, I dragged her to the dance area and kicked off my shoes and socks.

I loved to feel the sand between my toes and squealed as the cold water licked up over them to splash my ankles. Becky was finally smiling again, and I loved to see the smile on my best friend’s face.

There was so much in the world that I wanted to do, and I didn’t care that I was only fourteen. I wanted to start now. As soon as I could drive, I planned on buying a van and traveling the world. If I could, I’d talk Beck into coming with me, and my parents wouldn’t be there barking in my ear about what I should or shouldn’t be doing.

I didn’t know how many songs we danced to, but it was definitely more than two by the time we made our way out of the cove, heading for home. We laughed and giggled as we walked down the quiet road that led to the lush golf estates. We had both moved into the neighborhood the same summer and had become instant best friends. She was the Bat Woman to my Cat Woman, and we’ve been inseparable ever since.

Becky grabbed my arm, pulling me to a halt. “Do you smell that? It smells like smoke.” She looked around.

“Sorta. It’s probably just the bonfire smell in your nose.”

“No, Vi, look.” She pointed through the gap in the trees, and there was a bright orange glow. “That’s a….”

“Fire,” I yelled as I ran for the opening toward my home. My house was the only one near the trees, and with each stride, my heart sank further as panic hit.

Bursting through the opening, I couldn’t even make sense of what I was seeing as I skidded to a halt. I stared up at the structure that looked like a gigantic version of the bonfire we’d just left.

My eyes searched the yard, but I didn’t see my parents anywhere.

“Mom, Dad,” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Mom! Dad!” I ran around the outside of the house, covering my face from the thick smoke. I couldn’t see a way in because the fire was everywhere, and not a single window or door seemed safe. It was unbelievably hot, so very hot that I could feel my skin screaming from the heat when I got too close.

“Violet!” I could make out my father’s face in the bedroom window as I ran around to the side of the house once more to look up at my parent’s bedroom.