Phoenix

Chapter 10

Phoenix's POV

What did I just do!? He saw me! I can't believe I freaked out like that!

I screamed in my head while struggling to keep Jackson's limp body from collapsing to the ground. He's a lot bigger than me and holding him up with my noodle arms isn't going to last very long.

Very slowly I lowered his body down to the ground, my arms shaking from trying to keep his weight from dropping straight to the ground. But my muscles failed me and Jackson slipped out of my grip. I winced whenever he hit the dirt with a small thump.

Ah! I dropped him!

I immediately crouched down beside him and checked out his head for any wounds, but there were no bumps or scratches. I sighed in relief and examined over his body again just to make sure he wasn't burned anywhere. I just meant to knock him out, that doesn't mean it couldn't hurt him though.

I knocked him out!

I began to panic again, realizing what I had just done... For the second time. What was I supposed to do? He saw me, he saw the one thing about me that he wasn't supposed to. No one was supposed to. I glanced around the area just to be sure that no one else was around.

What if he wasn't the only one who saw? Was he here alone? I sure hope he was, this would be an even bigger mess. Wait, what am I supposed to do about him? 

I looked down at Jackson who was laying on his stomach, out cold.

I should probably move him...

How? He's huge and what should I do with him when he wakes up? Should I just leave and hope he thinks this was a dream? No, he doesn't seem like the type of person to just conclude this too a dream. I shouldn't take that kind of risk. It's too dangerous.

I groaned and cover my face with my hands. I'm in so much trouble. What am I going to do?

~~

Two hours later, we had only moved ten feet. Well, more like I could only drag Jackson ten feet away from the small creek and to the nearest tree so I could sit him up against something.

He still hadn't woken up and I started to worry about when he would. It'll get dark soon and getting out of here in the dark is nearly impossible.  Unless I used the only sort of light I had on me, but I am not making that mistake again. Besides, it would attract a lot of unwanted guests.

At the same time, though, I don't know if I want him to wake up yet. I've had plenty of time to come up with something, anything, to tell Jackson, but it all resulted in the same thing. Nothing. I had no excuse. I'm a terrible liar.

I know I should have a backup excuse in case I ever got caught, but to be honest, I never thought I would get caught. Yet, here I am. What will my mother think if she finds out?

No, she won't find out. I won't let her. I'll just have to figure it out, somehow...

"Mm," Someone groaned and I jumped, looking over to Jackson who began to stir. His eyes fluttered open and he looked around with his eyebrows knitted together. "Where am I?" Jackson questioned then his eyes fell on me.

I stayed where I was, not moving a muscle, too afraid to move. What if he attacks me? I can't knock him out again.

"A-Are you alright?" I asked warily. He blinked a few times, just staring at me.

"Right, I went on a walk, and then I saw you..." He trailed off and his eyes looked down at my hands that were resting in my lap. I tried my hardest to stay still under his gaze, but it was hard and I started to fidget with my fingers. "What was that?"

"What was what?" I reply with another question, playing dumb even though I know he knows. Or does he?

He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. Oh, maybe he'll be calm about this, or maybe he had forgotten. "What the hell was that?! You knocked me out for no reason! And what was that fire, were you trying to burn me? How in the world were you holding fire in your hand!? Why'd you attack me like that!?"

I flinched and inched backward from him slowly. Okay, so maybe he won't be so calm about this. Understandable... I just wish I could disappear. Him being angry and yelling hurts me more than I thought it would.

"I-I um... I j-just panicked, I'm sorry," I stuttered, my voice just barely above a whisper. It's hard to find my voice in these types of situations.

Jackson sighed and ran his fingers through his dark hair, looking directly at me. "So you're not denying the fact that you were holding fire in your hand?" He asked and I couldn't find my words anymore. My eyes couldn't look at him anymore, I just stared at the ground.

"What are you?" Again, I responded with silence to his question. "Is that why everyone at school thinks you're a freak? Because you play with fire?" He asked and I winced at the word 'freak' coming from his mouth.

"N-no! Of course, they don't know, no one can know!" I said quickly, in a panic that brought me back to the original reason why I was worried. What if he tells someone what he saw?

"Hmm, so tell me, what was that? If you don't, I'll tell everyone," Jackson said, his eyes turning a little darker as they narrowed at me. I shuddered, he can be scary. I can't tell him.

"Tell them what exactly..?" I asked with caution. He could just be playing with me about everything he saw for me tell him something that I shouldn't.

"That Phoenix can hold fire without getting burned and he's also a badass that's playing the victim card because he knocked me out with a single blow," He said, not wavering once as he spoke.

"I can't tell you, Jackson," I say quietly and look down at the ground.

"Alright, suit yourself," He said and stood up, walking away.

"W-wait!" I called out to him and he stopped in his tracks.

"Yes?" Jackson asked as he turned towards me with a smirk. I know I shouldn't tell him, but he already saw, and if he tells everyone at school things will only be worse.

"I'll tell you, just please, please promise me you won't tell anyone," I pleaded and he walked back over to me before crouching down.

"Promise," He said as he held out his pinkie towards me and I tilted my head in confusion. "Pinkie promise." His hand grabbed mine and he pulled my pinkie away from the rest of my fingers and wrapped it around his. "If I break my word, you can break my pinkie."

Is he serious?! I stared at him in horror. I wouldn't break his finger, that's brutal.

He chuckled, "I won't break my promise, so you won't have to worry about actually doing it."

"Okay..." I said, still very wary about the idea of the promise and telling him about me. What choice do I have? Let him tell everyone or knock him out again? The second one was a little tempting, but definitely not a good idea.

"Alright," Jackson started as he sat down in front of me. "Start talking."

I let out a small sigh and looked down at my lap, unable to look at him still. "I can control fire with my mind."

"Well, no s**t. I kind of already witnessed that. How can you do that?" He said, but his voice wasn't as harsh as earlier.

"I-I don't know... I just always have been able to. I can't really explain that," I told him truthfully and he hummed in though. 

"So are you like one of those fire people in books? Pyros or whatever?" He asked, raising his brow at me.

"I guess you could call me a pyrokinetic, yes," I said, but honestly, I was a little unsure myself. I don't know exactly what I am, though that does sound like the only explanation from what I've searched on the internet and read. It's all fiction to everyone else, but not for me.

"Show me," He demanded and I looked at him in shock. What?

"What?" I asked.

"Show me to prove that you really are one of those people," Jackson said, crossing his arms. Didn't he just see it earlier and that's how this all started?

"B-but didn't you just see-"

"Yes," He interrupted. "I want to see it again, just to make sure I'm not going crazy."

Alright, I guess he has a point.

"Okay," I mumbled and hesitantly raised my hand up from my lap and imagined a bright orange flame appear in my hand, and it did. Like it always did whenever I summoned it.

"So this isn't a trick," He said under his breath as he reached out towards the flame, but quickly pulled back with a hiss of pain. "Damn, that hurt!" Jackson asked while and cradled his finger in his hand. Why'd he touch it in the first place?

"Well duh, it's fire," I replied and closed my hand, making the fire disappear. 

"Then how come I wasn't burned earlier when you threw a literal fireball at me," he scowled.

"Because I wasn't trying to burn you earlier, just knock you out," I answered, feeling bad that it burned him.

"Were you trying to burn me now then?"

"Wha- No, of course not, I just didn't expect you to touch it," I explained, but he rolled his eyes.

"How does that even work?" He asked and I paused for a moment, unsure how to answer that. I honestly don't know. It just does whatever I want it to.

"I don't know," I said and he raised his brow at me again.

"You don't know?" I shook my head at him, there he goes with asking a bunch of questions again. "Alright, I guess you told me what I wanted to know." Jackson then stood up and I quickly got to my feet as well, letting the fire disappear.

"Where are you going?"

"Home, where else?" He asked, staring me down. Well, in my view he was anyway. He's too tall.

"I-I don't know... You aren't going to tell anyone, right?" I asked, still extremely worried that as soon as he's out of my sight he'll go running to the first person he sees and tell them everything. Though, he was a lot calmer about this than I thought he would be.

"You really don't trust me, do you?" He asked and I looked down. He's right, I don't really trust him. But how could I? I barely know the guy. In fact, I don't know him at all. "Fine, I guess you'll just have to stalk me to make sure I don't tell anyone."

"What?" I asked, my eyes widening at him in surprise. Stalk him? I can't stalk him I don't have the time. Okay, maybe I do, but that's creepy!

He chuckled, "I was kidding, calm down. You really don't know when I'm being sarcastic. Anyway, if you really are so worried, why don't we become friends? Friends don't spill each other's secrets and we made a promise, double the assurance. Deal?"

I stared at him in disbelief. Friends? I've never been "friends" with anyone before. Part of me really wanted to, but... Having a friend like him would dangerous. Especially with people like Blythe and Jewl telling me to stay away from him. I guess I would be a little less worried about him telling everyone, though.

He could be tricking me. He doesn't seem like that type of person though. This is such a hard decision.

"Friends?" Jackson asked again and he offered his hand out to me. My eyes switched from his hand to his eyes. His deep blue eyes seemed so sincere. I shouldn't trust him, but something about him just makes me believe what he says anyway.

"Friends," I agreed a little reluctantly and took his hand in mine. He smiled and shook my hand back.

"Just so you know, friends usually answer other friends' texts. So I expect to see a message when you get home," Jackson said as he pulled away, his smile turning into a grin. "I'll see you later, Nix."

With that, he walked away from me, heading in the direction he came from earlier. Opposite of where I lived. I watched his back for a moment as he disappeared into the trees.

I have a feeling I'm in for a lot of trouble, I thought as I let out a sigh and headed in the direction