Flame (Fireborn) (50 page)

Instead, I was spending
the accumulation of the last thirteen years of my life drowning in my
own sweat. When Mr. Taylor handed me my diploma I was going to find
the nearest pool, lake, pond, river, sink, just the nearest water
source would do, and drench myself with its coolness. I could just
envision the cool water pouring over my skin. Maybe if I visualized
hard enough I wouldn’t need the pool.

“You have all worked
hard to reach this day,” Mr. Taylor continued. “Thirteen years-”

Matthew leaned across
to me and snorted at Eddie. “It’ll be another thirteen years
before this speech is over.”

“You’ve got that
right,” muttered Eddie.

Close but not quite. It
was another thirteen minutes. By this point there was a puddle under
my seat composed of my salty sweat. My makeup had long ago melted
off.

Mr. Taylor smiled at us
all, sweeping his arms in a grand gesture, and began to call out the
names.

At least the graduating
class was small.

Mr. Taylor soon made it
to the P’s and I breathed a sigh of relief. Not much longer now. I
could hear the shower calling my name now.

“Matthew Arnold
Pierson,” he called. Matthew bound onto the stage, creating quite a
show, much to the delight of the other football players.

“Mara Hadley Pryce,”
he said next. I breathed a sigh of relief. Me.

I walked up to the
stage, much more graciously than Matthew had, although I had to keep
telling myself not to run. Mr. Taylor shook my hand, handed me my
diploma, and said, “Congratulations Mara.”

Thirteen years for
this
, I thought. It was so… so… so anticlimactic. I mean,
come on, give us some fireworks, some strobe lights,
something!

But no.

All I got was sweat,
cheap polyester, and “congratulations Mara.”

I heard the sound of my
dad hollering and whistling in the crowd. I would have been
embarrassed if other parents hadn’t made a bigger deal out of it.

I shook my head and
shuffled off the stage where Ms. Jones moved my tassel over.

As I was walking back
to my seat I noticed a guy leaning against the bleachers. I had never
seen him before and this was a small town where everyone knew
everyone
.

He was tall and lean
with dark wavy black hair and tan skin. Despite the summer heat he
wore a black t-shirt and black jeans. It looked like he had a few
tattoos. He wasn’t smiling. In fact, he didn’t seem happy at all.
And his bright, gray eyes were staring right at me. Through me. It
was like he was eating me alive. His eyes narrowed.

I blinked and he was
gone which left me believing he had been a figment of my imagination.
And I might have believed that, if I hadn’t chosen that moment to
glance at my dad. He was standing. Stopped mid-clap, and looking at
the empty space by the bleachers, with a horror stricken look on his
face.

I shook my head and all
but fell into my chair. I tried to forget about the dark haired boy.

Mr. Taylor went down
the list and finally called the last person.

Before I knew it our
caps were flying in the air.

Thirteen years of
schooling over in a matter of minutes.

The class cheered and
we all stood in a collective burst of royal blue and bright sunlight
yellow.

“Mara!” cried Dani
crashing into me.

“Whoa!” I said,
steadying us before I fell into someone, and started a human game of
dominos.

“It’s over!” she
sobbed, and I realized she was crying. “We’re all going our
separate ways! What if we never see each other again! Mara, please
tell me that won’t happen!” she pulled on my gown and I worried
she would rip it. It was a rental and there was no way I could afford
to pay for repairs.

“Dani,” I said, in
a soothing voice like a parent would use with a child. “That’s
not going to happen. We’ve known each other since kindergarten. I’m
not going to throw all those years away. Besides, I’ve tried to get
rid of you before. You’re not easily thwarted,” I joked.

She smacked me on the
arm and wiped her face free of tears. Her white blond hair was long
and straight and hung down her back like a curtain. She was small and
pixie like. Her face was narrow and pointed but she was beautiful. I
never understood why she wanted to be friends with plain old me.

I had light, fly away,
brown hair. Freckles dotted my nose and my upper lip was bigger than
my lower lip with a partial gap between my two front teeth. Dani
thought the gap was very vogue. I thought it was annoying. I was
average height, five foot six, and hippy. Not tall and slender like
Dani. Even though I was almost eighteen, I still had a child-like
quality to me and I hated it.

Dani could have hung
out with the popular crowd but instead she stuck by me. I had yet to
figure out what was so great about me.

“Are you going to go
to Jules party?” she asked.

“I don’t want to,”
I whined.

“Pretty please?”
she pouted. She had been pestering me all week to go to Jules’
graduation party tonight. I wasn’t the party type but Dani enjoyed
them and always wanted me to go with her.

“If I give in will
you leave me alone?” I asked.

“Thank you, thank
you,
thank you!
” she squealed and hugged me.

“You owe me,” I
laughed, her good mood rubbing off on me.

“I know! But I’m
too happy to care!” she cried clapping her hands.

The parents were now
making their way down to us from the bleachers. Many of them were
fanning themselves with programs. I could feel my hair fuzzing around
my head from the humidity.

I saw my dad heading
towards me, and Dani’s parents were behind him.

“Congrats kiddo,”
dad wrapped his arms around me. His brown hair was receding from his
forehead leaving a bald patch and his brown eyes sparkled with
happiness.

I had his light brown
hair; it was the only piece of resemblance we shared but I still
wished I had my mom’s beautiful auburn locks.

“Thanks dad,” I
said.

“I sure wish your
momma coulda’ been here to see this.”

“Me too,” I said,
even though it didn’t make a difference to me. My mom had died when
I was a baby. All I had to remember her by was one lone picture and a
mysterious box I wasn’t allowed to open until my twentieth
birthday. It was all very twilight zone to me.

“She’d be so proud
of you, baby girl,” he kissed my forehead. “I know I am. I’m
proud of you too, Dani,” my dad called to my best friend where she
stood a little ways over with her parents.

“Thanks Mr. Pryce.”

“How many times have
I told you, Dani? Call me Steven,” he said. “Mr. Pryce makes me
feel old.”

“Dad, you could never
be old,” I said.

He chuckled. “That’s
what you think. You’re young,” he said. “Where do you want to
go for dinner?” he asked me.

Before I could answer
him Dani came over. “Uh- Mr. Pryce, I mean Steven, Mara and I are
going to a party,” she said sweetly. “We could really use this
time to get ready.”

My dad sighed. “I get
it. You don’t want to be seen with your old man. It’s okay,
Mara,” he said.

I glared at Dani and
turned back to my dad. “I have plenty of time to eat and get ready.
I don’t take five hours like
some
people,” I pointed over
my shoulder at Dani.

My dad instantly perked
up.

“Good, good,” he
said. “Shall we go?”

“Yeah,” I said.
“Dani, do you want to get ready at my house or do you want me to
come over?”

She eyed me. “My
house. You have no fashionable clothes. I’ll need to dress you.”

“Great,” I said,
with false enthusiasm.

She laughed and danced
away calling, “Ta, ta,” over her shoulder.

“Come on kiddo,”
dad said, and slung his arm around me. “Let’s get rid of this
thing,” he tugged on my blue gown, “and get something to eat. I’m
starving,” he patted his stomach.

I laughed. “Sounds
like a plan. Why don’t you go wait in the truck and I’ll meet you
there?”

“Alright, kid,” dad
said and left me.

I followed the mass of
student into the school to the gymnasium where we would return our
gowns. I found myself unconsciously looking for the mysterious dark
haired boy. I’d have to remember and ask my dad about him during
dinner.

Once in the gym, I had
to wait in line to return the cumbersome gown.

“Hey, Mara?” said a
voice behind me.

I turned around. Eli
stood behind me. Eli was a football player, tall, broad shoulders,
brown hair, green eyes, and the school hunk. But he liked me for
whatever reason. Maybe it was because I was ‘hard to get’ when
really I just wasn’t interested. I mean, Eli was a nice guy,
especially for a popular football player, but he wasn’t my type. In
fact, I wasn’t sure I even had a type.

“Hi Eli,” I said.

“Man, was it hot
outside or what?” he said.

“Yep,” I said,
nodding my head. I tried to send out not so subtle
go away
,
vibes.

“Uh-” he glanced
around nervously. “Are you going to Jules’ party?” he asked and
rubbed the back of his head.

Apparently, my vibes
weren’t working.

“Yeah,” I said.

He smiled. “Me too.
Maybe I’ll see you there?”

I was saved from
answering by one of the teachers calling me over to take my gown. I
handed the blue fabric to her, she checked my name off the list, and
I dashed out to the parking lot before Eli could find me and continue
our conversation.

Dani thought I should
just go for him. But I didn’t see the point in wasting my time or
his.

Dad’s old Ford Ranger
idled outside the front of the school. The old red paint was more of
a brown color now thanks to rust and chipped paint.

He had the windows
rolled down and a country song playing on the radio. I opened the
door and climbed inside. “Where to kid?” he asked putting the
truck into gear.

“How about Mammies?”
I asked, naming off a local diner.

He grinned. “You read
my mind.”

He finagled his way
into the line of exiting vehicles and honked his horn and stuck his
head out the window to yell at various drivers that he deemed either
too slow, too fast, too arrogant, or too something.

My dad’s driving
antics always made me laugh. It was always and adventure when he was
driving.

“I declare,” my dad
said, now safely cruising down a main thoroughfare, “people do not
know how to drive these days.”

I laughed. “Dad,
maybe it’s
you
who doesn’t know how to drive.”

“Nonsense,” he
waved his hand. His gold wedding band reflected in the sunlight.

My mom had been dead
for almost eighteen years and in that time my dad had never dated
anyone. Whenever I asked him why, he would look at me thoughtfully,
and say, “Your momma was the love of my life. I’ll never find
another love like hers.”

Sometimes I wished he
would date; get any kind of social life, so he wouldn’t be so
involved in mine. But other times I was thankful that my dad was so
present in my life. We were close and had an unbreakable bond.

As the truck cruised
down the road my hair swirled around my face. I had to keep batting
it away and pulling it out of my mouth. My dad thought it was funny.

He pulled into Mammies
and parked the truck. He took up two parking spots, but in dad’s
book that was okay. I hopped out and followed him inside. He picked
our usual booth and didn’t even bother opening a menu.

Jessica, the lone
waitress, came over and leaned against the booth.

“The usual?” she
asked.

My dad grinned. “Of
course.”

Jessica grabbed the
menus off the table and disappeared into the kitchen. A moment later
she returned with a Dr. Pepper for me and a Bud Light for my dad.

I slurped the brown
liquid down. I was so thirsty from sitting out in the Arkansas heat
for the last while. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and secured
it with a band off my wrist. Little wisps of hair still managed to
escape and hang in my face. Oh well.

Jessica came back to
the table with a refill of Dr. Pepper and a basket of fresh rolls. I
grabbed one up and slathered it with butter, before devouring it. I
hadn’t realized I was hungry until we got here.

“Slow down, Mara.
You’re going to choke yourself,” dad chuckled.

“Hungry,” I mumbled
around a mouthful of roll.

Dad laughed. “That’s
very ladylike Mara,” he said.

“Bite me,” I
growled.

“Girls,” he
muttered. “Why couldn’t I have had a son?”

“Because I’m
awesome and way better than any boy,” I swallowed. I added a flip
of my hair for emphasis.

My dad laughed. “Mara,
Mara, Mara,” he sighed.

“Oh,” I said,
swallowing a bite of bread. I took a swig of soda for good measure.
“Did you know that guy, the one with the dark hair and clothes,
leaning against the bleachers?”

“I didn’t see
anyone,” he said, way too quickly.

I narrowed my hazel
eyes at him. “Really? I saw you looking at him.”

“No,” he said, “I
saw no one.”

I swallowed some more
soda and stared at my dad. I knew I saw the boy, and he had
definitely been looking at him too. So why was he acting like the guy
didn’t exist? It was peculiar to say the least.

Jessica came out with
our food. A B.L.T. and fries for me and an artery clogging cheese
burger for my dad.

My dad bit into his
burger, chewed, and said, “I don’t know what I’ll do with you
off at college next year. I’ll sure miss you baby girl.”

“Dad,” I whined.
“Don’t make me cry. I have all summer with you. Don’t say
goodbye yet. Besides,” I added, “I’m still going to be living
at home and working around here. I’m only taking one class.” One
class was, sadly, all I could afford.