Erin The Fire Goddess: The Beginning (12 page)

“
"Sean?” I heard Kelly shout as she was waving him towards her.

“Not now
."”

“Who discovered their
s first?” I nodded from him to Kelly.

“Good question. My Poppa noticed mine first, then a few weeks later spotted Kelly
's, after she was throwing a paddy over me being distant." He laughed as he looked at his sister “But she says she had been able to do things like that for a long time.” He pointed through the trees, where we had walked through, to the car park. “Which is plausible, cos she has been able to control her powers quicker than me."

“What about the twins?”

“Apparently they
've been like that since birth and they used to fight all the time.”

“Then they met Kelly
.” I said with understanding

“Wel
l, not really. They were in her year at school. Not that she noticed them.” He laughed. “They used to follow her around and fight over her.” He laughed shaking his head like he didn't understand their fascination with his big sister. “But when she figured out her powers, she noticed them.”

“Is she with any of them?” I was intrigued, but this made Sean laugh
. “What's so funny?”

“She
's with both of them.” I stared at him with a disgusted expression, making him laugh even more.

“And they know?” He nodded, trying to control his laughter
. “And they don’t mind?”

“Not at all! It actually made them get on better. Apparently before them there was only one person who possessed both their powers and when he died, Paul and James were born, so the powers were split
.” I was understanding that, but she was with both of them. I shook my head in utter disbelief. “You'll get used to it, and you will see there's nothing gross about it.”

“I don
't know about that. I couldn't share you with anyone.” He smiled at this and leaned over to kiss me.

“
"And I wouldn't share you with anyone either.”

We lay there for awhile, in each other
's arms, until Sean sat up.

“Anyway
.” He pulled the bag he'd taken out of the car onto his lap. “"I brought some food, so we can have a picnic. You hungry?”

“Starving
.”

The next day, I woke up feeling refreshed and happy. It didn't take me long to realise why I was so happy, as my mobile phone buzzed with a text message.

'
Morning baby, I hope you slept well. See you later. I love you x'

He never actually called me baby out loud, and every time I read that one word, I felt all warm and fuzzy.  He always finished by telling me he loved me. That was still going to take some getting use
d to. Only my family ever told me they loved me. I still felt awkward saying it. I expected him to laugh in my face and tell me it was all some big joke. Just the mere thought of that made me feel like my heart was being squeezed hard.

Before the feeling got the better of me, I quickly hit reply and typed out a message.

'Morning. Have fun at practice. I love you too. See you later x'

I still felt awkward giving him a pet name, and thought if I put I loved him, somewhere in the middle, then that would be okay.

This morning Sean was off to football practice and was going to come over afterwards.

Slowly, I climbed out of bed and made my way to the bathroom. After I
'd finished washing my face, I stopped to look at my reflection. It hadn't even been a week and you could see a significant difference in my birthmark. It looked smoother, somehow smaller.

Sean had told me that when I controlled the fire in me, then my birthmark would fade. Only one thing confused me. If Sean
's great grandmother had had the same powers, then why did she still have the birthmark in the picture I'd seen? It was something I would need to ask him.

I felt happiness at the thought of my birthmark disappearing, but if it was a case where it would come back, I wasn
't sure if I could handle that.

Walking back to my bedroom
, I ran into Kasey-Ray on the landing, as she headed towards her room.

“You been for a run?”

My sister was sporty, but she rarely went running. It was mainly on the treadmill at the gym, in our home town. I don't think she'd actually been to Sean's family gym yet.

“Yeah
.” She breathed heavily. “There's something about this place that feels so exhilarating.” I laughed at the use of her big word. “You should try it.” She told me seriously.

“
I don't think so.” I scoffed. I was allergic to any type of exercise.

“I
'm sure you would if Sean asked you.” She winked as she followed me into my room.

“Defin
ately not.” I shook my head. The idea of getting all hot, sweaty and out of breath was not my idea of exhilaration.

“You two are such opposites
.” This hurt! I knew this already and often doubted why he was interested in me. “That's not a bad thing.” She quickly added. "They say opposites attract.” She walked over to sit on my window seat, whilst watching my reaction. I said nothing as I went to look for something to wear.

She continued to sit there, turning to look out of the window.

“I will say one thing though.” I raised an eyebrow waiting for another kick in the stomach. I just had to tell myself not to get angry. I wasn't ready to tell her about these powers, or whatever they were, especially when I didn't understand them myself.

“He looks at you like you are
...” She paused as she tried to find the right words, “like you are the most important and most beautiful person alive. He looks at you with complete adoration.” She sighed and at first I took it as though she was disgusted or she couldn't understand why. “I'm jealous.” She finally said, stopping my anger dead in its tracks.

“Why?” I turned to her in confusion. I was always jealous of my sister
, she could have any boy she wanted. Everyone wanted to be her friend.

“You
're so happy and have someone who loves you for you.” She sighed and turned back to look out of the window. “I've never had that. I wish I could find someone who looked at me like Jacko...... I mean Sean, looks at you.”

“What are you talking about?” I
'd seen the way all the boys looked at her, like they wished she was theirs. “"Most lads would give their right arms to be with you.”

“It
's not the same.”

“What about Matt?” I
'd seen the way he looked at her and to me it seemed like there was only one person for him.

“Ah
, Matt.” She grimaced at the mere mention of his name. “I was more of a trophy.” She rolled her eyes. “When people were around he was very attentive. Opening doors, arms around me, kissing me, but as soon as we were alone it was like a whole different person. He went quiet, gave me one word answers and the only time he got excited was when the subject was about him.” She laughed, but not a full hearty laugh that normally reached her eyes.

She shrugged and stood up. I didn
't really know what to say. I'd always seen Kasey-Ray as my happy little sister, who could have anything she wanted.

“You look really happy and I am happy that you are. I am also happy that someone else has seen how beautiful you are, rather than judging you on your birth
-mark.” She smiled as she started towards my bedroom door, leaving me standing there, open mouthed. “You know I've always wished I was like you.”

“Me?” This comment floored me.

“You've always been happy with who you are on the inside.” She nodded.

“But you
’re beautiful and everyone wants to be like you." I scoffed.

“All superficial
.” She waved as though brushing my comment away. “You know who you can and can't trust.” She pointed out. This was true, in a way. I could trust my family, as I'd never gotten close enough to trust anyone else, and I was now slowly trusting Sean, even though most of the time I felt like I kept a ten foot wall up around me.

“What about Claire?” She seemed to have a good friendship with her, even though I didn
't like her.

“Hmmmm
...” She leant on my door frame. “Before we moved here, Claire wasn't popular. Don't get me wrong, she hasn't done anything wrong, but sometimes I feel that if I wasn't popular then she wouldn't give me the time of day.”

To be honest, I actually agreed with Kasey-
Ray, but it wasn't something I would have voiced.

“Anyway.” She sighed, “I'm off to get a shower.” She waved, leaving me reeling from our conversation.

After a couple of minutes I shook my head then continued to get dressed. I pulled on a knee length beige skirt with a white vest and slipped on a pair of corked sandals.

Standing in front of the mirror, I played about with my hair, trying to decide how to wear it. I still wasn't brave enough to have it all tied back, but I decided to compromise and put the top part of my hair back off my face into a clasp at the back of my head.

Smiling at my reflection, I turned to head downstairs to find something for breakfast.

The house seemed empty, apart from the sound of music blasting from Kasey-Ray's bedroom. I walked into the kitchen and decided to settle for a bowl of cereal. Half way through eating, my mum appeared from outside.

“Hi
.” I mumbled with a mouthful of cereal.

“Hey
.” My mum cheerily sang as she put the empty washing basket in the cupboard. “Where you off to today?” She asked as she busied in the already pristine kitchen.

“No idea
.” I shrugged.

“You are seeing Sean today aren
't you?”  She looked up from the worktop she was wiping for the third time.

My mum was a bit of a clean freak. My dad always joked that she had OCD. The house was always immaculate and if someone so much as moved a grain of salt, she would know, even if we thought it was back in the exact same place.

It was understandable that she cleaned people's homes for a living. She often told us that why would she work in an office when she could do a job she really enjoyed.

“Uh-huh. He
's playing football this morning.” I finished my cereal and walked over and put my empty bowl in the sink.

“Well, whilst you are waiting, can you go make sure your bedroom is tidy please.” I nodded and did as I was told, even though I knew that she would be in my room later cleaning it herself.

Luckily I only had my bed to make, which took less than a minute to sort.

When I'd finished I did another check in the mirror, just in case one thing was out of place, and then I headed downstairs, bumping into Kasey-Ray on the way.

“What are you up to today?” I asked her as we walked side by side down the stairs.

“I haven't decided yet, I may give Claire a call.” She shrugged. “You?”

“Not sure yet. Sean said he was coming for me after football. I don
't know if he's going home first or not.”

I didn
't even think to ask him what we were doing. I was just happy that he wanted to spend time with me.

We were about to sit down on the sofa when we noticed our mum had pulled the hoover out.

“Why don't you girls go outside and enjoy the sunshine.” She told us with a smile which translated as, 'Get out of my way, I’m cleaning.' I almost laughed at this translation, as I followed my sister out the back.

We lay down on the grass, not bothering with blankets.

“What do you want in a boyfriend?” I asked my sister thoughtfully, as I started picking daisies to make a daisy chain.

“Mmmmmm
...” She propped her head up on one arm to look at me. “Obviously he has to be good looking.” She laughed. “Errrrrr, he needs to want to be with me for me, not how I look.” I laughed this time, as it was similar to what I looked for but we were on different levels. Whereas she wanted people to see past her good looks, I wanted people to see past my birthmark.

“He has to make me laugh, and be the same with me no matter if we are alone or there's a million people around us.” She sighed. “It feels like I'm asking for a miracle at times.”

“
I don't think you are.” I said, as I leaned forward to put the daisy chain around her neck. “I never thought it would happen to me, and I still feel like I'm dreaming.”

Just then I squealed in pain as Kasey-
Ray punched me.

“What was that for?
”

“If you were dreaming then you
'd have woken up by now.” She smiled with a laugh.  “It's all real. Sean is real. The way he wants to be with you is real.”

“But I
'm scared!” I almost cried, making my sister quickly sit up and look at me, as she reached over to touch my arm.

“Why? What are you scared of?
”

“It seems too good to be true. Why would he want me? He could have anyone he wanted. I keep expecting him to say he
's with me for a bet.” Tears were now starting to fall from my eyes, as Kasey-Ray pulled me into her arms.

“You
're beautiful.”

“And you
're biased. I'm a hideous freak!”

“Hey
!” Kasey-Ray held me firmly at arm's length. “Don't you dare say that. Yes, you have a birthmark on your face, but so what? You are beautiful both inside and out.” She lightly shook me as I tried to control my tears. “Look, if I thought for one second that Sean was doing this for a stupid bet, then I wouldn't let him anywhere near you.” She spat. “You may be my big sister, but I feel it's my job to look out for you and if anyone was to hurt you, then I'd kill them.” She sighed as she pulled me back into her arms. “You know what's funny?” She quickly moved back to look at my face.

“
What?” I sniffed.

“I'm not sure if my eyes are playing tricks, but...” Her voice trailed off as she tilted her head to one side.

“But?”

“But, it looks like it's changing.” She pointed to my birthmark. “I can't decide if it's shrinking or fading or if I need glasses.” She laughed. I laughed too, I didn't want to tell her it was both and why. “Have you not noticed?”

“I can
't say that I have.” I lied. I hated lying, especially to my sister, who I thought of as my best friend.

“Must be my eyes then
.” She laughed, but she didn't look convinced.

“Hey
.” The sound of someone else's voice broke her stare.

“Oh hi Jac.... Sean
.” She quickly looked back to me with an apologetic smile.

“Hi
.” I beamed as I stood up and went to walk towards him.

“Your mum let me in
.” He pointed back into the house, and then turned to pull me into his arms.

He was sweaty and still wearing his football kit, which I had to say was making my heart go crazy. He looked so, well so sexy.

He was about to kiss me when he paused to look at me quizzically.

“Are you okay?”
He asked concerned. I quickly nodded “You look like you've been crying.” He stroked my face, like he was searching for traces of tears.