Phoenix

Chapter 5

Five minutes until the last bell was planned to ring, letting everyone know that school was over for the day. I haven't seen Jackson at all this period since we have separate classes, but he convinced me to at least take him to his class since I knew where it was.

I was thinking about asking my mom if I could take a trip to the store whenever I got home. My locker is almost empty and I need to be prepared for tomorrow, and the rest of the week.

 My mind stopped thinking about that, though as soon as I realized that school is almost over and I was still in trouble with Nick and Blythe. Just because they took a hit at me during lunch, doesn't mean they won't do it again after school.

I only grew more nervous as I watched the minutes on the clock.

4... 

3... 

2... 

1...

Time felt like I was crawling as I stopped counting the minutes and started counting the seconds. 

8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2-

The shrill bell rang and everyone quickly stood up and packed their bags so they could leave as soon as possible. People are always in such a hurry, sometimes I wonder if they really need to get somewhere quickly or if they're just that impatient. 

Maybe a mix of both. Also, a lot of people seem to not like school, including myself, they probably just wanted to get out of here. Who could blame them? I would be trying to escape just as fast if I thought I had any way of escaping the horrors that were going to come after leaving the building. 

I slowly stood up and packed my bag, in no hurry at all, knowing what was coming to me.

One, by one, everyone exited the room, some even in twos if they could fit. As I headed to the door myself, I felt like the weight of the world was weighing me down. I didn't want to walk any further.

But I had to.

Usually, I just get my morning beating and the teasing and occasional shove throughout the day so when it's time to go home, I can.

Not today, though. I'm going to have to walk home.

My mother will be upset. She hates it when I'm late coming home. She always asks a million questions about why I was gone and that next time I better be home one time.

I hate it when I upset my mother, she's the only one I have, seeing her sad or mad at me breaks my heart. I don't want to see the one person that cares about me angry with me.

"So you made it this time?" Blythe said with a grin as I walked out past the back door, to the back of the school, where, unfortunately, nobody was except Blythe and his friends.

All I could was nod in response. My words had been lost after remembering earlier. I was really hoping they wouldn't do that twice in one day. My body couldn't handle that.

I may be able to stop the pain, but I can't heal myself. Even if I could, I wouldn't. It would be too suspicious.

"Here's the thing..." Blythe started speaking again as he took a step forward towards me, grinning. I don't know how anyone can enjoy doing this to someone and enjoy it so much. "You, being your clumsy, stupid self, fell down the stairs."

What? I didn't fall down any stai-

Just then, an excruciating pain shot up through my arm with a loud snap, followed by a blood-curdling scream. I wasn't even sure if it was from myself. But I knew it was as soon as a hand covered my mouth and I saw Blythe's dark amber eyes glaring down at mine, not a single glimpse of remorse in them.

"Don't think that for one second you're safe now that there's a new kid in town. I'm still in control of you and I always will be. Now, you should probably take care of that," He smirked while glancing towards my now broken wrist. "Stairs can be a bitch."

With that, he pulled away from me and walked away as if nothing had happened. All I could do was hold my wrist and try to silence my sobs. He's never gone this far before. I honestly never expected him to do something as far as break my bones. I know he doesn't mind beating me, but to do this..?

I wasn't the only one shocked either, a few of the members of his group stood there for a few moments, looking surprised at their leader's actions. But that didn't last long.

As soon as Blythe called for them, they all went running after him.

It hurts! It hurts! Stop hurting! I screamed in my head over and over. It wouldn't stop and I knew that. The pain consumed my thoughts and I slowly slid down the wall, keeping my hand around my wrist, trying to discreetly let my flames out and cover my wrist to stop the pain.

It was unbearable, it was bent in a way that it shouldn't and it wouldn't stop throbbing, making the pain pulse all the way up through my arm.

What am I supposed to do!?

I can't go to the hospital, it's too risky and my mother would have a heart attack if she found out. I can't heal myself, I can make the pain bearable, but it won't go away for some reason like all my other wounds. Maybe this was too much and not even my abilities could help me.

The taste of blood was lingering in my mouth and I didn't know why until I realized I had been chewing on my lip too hard. I whimpered and let it go, not wanting to damage my body any further than it already is.

Hesitantly, I made it to my feet, keeping my hand around my wrist. I need to find a place where I can focus on relieving the pain from my wrist or get it set, or... something, anything. I have to do something about this. 

I made my way away from the school, not following the sidewalk in case I ran to anyone who knew me. Not that anyone did really, and if they did, they probably wouldn't stop and talk to me. Nobody cared. The walk was going to be long and extremely painful for my wrist. I was just glad it wasn't my leg or ankle.

It didn't hurt any less, though, and I couldn't cover my wrist in my flames anymore and risk someone seeing. I was able to mellow out enough that I could focus on getting home instead of trying to heal it.

~~

Almost, I thought as the familiar house I call home came into view. The sun was setting now, but I could still see the blue walls and the grey roof from the distance. My arm had grown numb and I could hardly feel anything anymore. I couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. At this point, I didn't care either way, as long as the pain had stopped.

It took longer than expected to walk home. I guess my mind was so focused on my body, I didn't really care too much to get home. The gravel road seemed to go on forever the closer I got to the house. I could already feel my mother's worry.

I probably could have called her, if I had a phone. She doesn't think I need one since I'm always at home or school. And I've never really asked for one.

The front door swung open as soon as I walked up the wooden set of steps.

"Phoenix!" My mother yelled, worry and anger clear in her expression. "Where on earth have you been?! I've been worried sick! Do you-" She paused as soon as her gaze fell upon my broken wrist that was now swollen and completely red.

"Oh, Phoenix, what happened?" Her voice softened as she gently pulled me inside the house, examining my arm.

"I slipped down the steps while heading to the bus. I didn't know what to do because if I got on the bus someone would notice and try to take me to the hospital, so I decided to walk home. I'm sorry I worried you," I lied, but I knew she'd believe it. What else could she have assumed? My mom knows I would do anything to hide my secret. She wanted it to be that way, too. Taking me to the hospital could risk that secret. Not that I really think anyone would have cared enough to try to take me to the hospital.

"Alright, let's see what I can do about your wrist. Tomorrow, you will have a phone so you won't have to walk home again if something like this happens," She said as she led me to the first aid kit in the kitchen.

The thought of getting a phone excited me a bit, only distracting me from my pain for a moment before my wrist started pulsing again and I winced in pain.  I wished that I could try to relieve the pain completely before she tried to bandage up my wrist. I knew I couldn't yet. She would have a fit if I used my abilities in front of her. Talking about how I'm just as careless as my father and she hates being reminded of him.

I sighed at the thought of having to bear with the pain for whenever she bends my wrist back into place, but at least my mother has an idea of what she's doing. Hopefully, when it does heal, it will heal properly with no problems.

But I'm going to help it along just in case.

~~

About an hour had passed and my mom finished wrapping up my wrist in a homemade cast after she had relocated it in the right sitting position. It almost hurts worse than when it was originally broken and I cried most of the time. Call me a baby for being a teenager crying all the time, but it hurts. I'm not strong and I'll admit that. 

My mom gave me pain reliever, but it didn't do anything compared to what I could have done for it. I sat on the floor of my room with my eyes closed, trying to clear all of my thoughts.

The ache throughout my entire body, my fear of Blythe, everything that had happened today, every emotion I had felt. Everything started to disappear from my mind.

I started to focus on one thing. Red. Beautiful red and orange flames, dancing around one another in sync.

I imagined it engulfing my entire body in its warm glow. The warmth enveloped around my entire body, my skin tingled in delight, feeling comforted by the familiar feeling that I only feel when I'm alone. The flames grew more intense the more I focused on it and the bright orange flames that changed colors when the temperature grew.

Whenever I thought that it was enough, I focused all of it on my wrist, careful not to burn anything around me. My flames weren't meant to hurt, they're gentle and comforting. As long as I can stay calm and focused, the heat would stay where it should be and do as I wished. It didn't burn unless I wanted it to.

Slowly, all the pain subsided from my wrist, the only sign that it was broken was the fact that it was still swollen, but I could no longer feel it.

I opened my eyes and watched the flames disappear into nothing, leaving me in the dark of my own room. I felt a little lonely without it being there, but I couldn't hold it for a long time anyway. I couldn't practice on holding it for long times either. My mother could see the light if she walked past my room, it wasn't consistent like the lights on the ceiling, so she would know what I was doing.

Once I was content with my work, I got up and headed to the bathroom connected to my room to get ready to go to bed and get lots of rest. After a long day like this, I want nothing more than to get a good night's sleep.