Rouge (23 page)

“So... what are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I have
researched this drug. It’s an adrenaline stimulant, found in a dying man years ago
in a hospital. It doesn’t exist anymore thanks to some stupid scientist who
destroyed all the manufacturers-”
Brilliant Joshua,
she thought, “-but
it’s possible the drug could have been passed on, like a disease. If that is
so, Hunter, then the rest is simple. The drug is the heat, oxygen comes from
air and all that’s needed is something to fuel it. That fuel needs to be
powerful though, some form of liquid fire... like lava. I spent a long time
developing a formula for it, and your equation is the answer I’ve been
searching for. It isn’t coincidence Hunter. Have you ever heard of Feucotetanus
before?”

There was a craziness in
Miss Smart’s small doe eyes that Hunter had seen recently upon Joshua’s face in
the lab, when there was a solution to be found and he was on the brink of
cracking it. She wanted to tell Miss Smart that her theories were correct, but
then that would be giving up everything she’d worked for. Every lie she’d told
would be a waste of breath and it would put Miss Smart in danger as well.

So it was for her own good
that Hunter told another lie, and it stung her like a thousand pins slicing
deep into her skin.

“Sorry Miss Smart, I have no
idea what you’re talking about. My equation was probably just a coincidence.”

“But Hunter, you-”

“I’m sorry about my grades.”
She scooped her books up and backed down the isle of the lab. “I’ll try to do
better.”

With that, she left Miss
Smart behind her desk with a gutted expression much like Eli’s the night
before, and she wished that the deceit would somehow get easier.

Hunter threw down her pen in frustration
and watched it bounce twice, roll unsteadily across the hardwood desk and fall
to the floor with a tiny
clink
. Sighing, she leant over the table and picked
it up, turning back to her work.

The library was almost
empty. It was past school hours, but Hunter was desperately behind with her
studies, particularly the physics test Miss Smart had set for next week.
Besides, if she faced Joshua, he’d either argue with her for not coming home
last night when he asked her to, or force her into another training regime.
Since she was tired of everyone getting on her case, Hunter decided to stay
after school and work inside the peaceful walls of the library.

Hunter normally preferred to
do her school work in the comforts of her own home or finish it in class, but
now that her home didn’t feel all that comfortable any longer and she was so
exhausted in class – her mind ever worrying about the flames that burned inside
her – the library was the perfect place to get a little peace and quiet. Even
Clare Holloway, who was staring miserably at a calculus book a few desks down
from Hunter and had been doing so for most of the day, would be gone long
before her. And she was a cheerleader.

As if she could read her
thoughts, Clare’s blue eyes rolled up from the book and rested on Hunter.
Scowling, she flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder and stared at her book
with an air of someone much smarter than she was.

Aside from Clare, the
library was practically empty. It was the largest room in the entire school,
and much more classic. Long stacks made of a deep brown mahogany ran along each
side of the room, which towered high above their heads, bathed in the light
from great glowing shades that hung low. Centering the room were lines of desks
with small golden lamps and comfortable seats to study in. Near the tall double
doors was the librarian desk, where Mrs. Carman - a skin-and-bone, beaky woman
with curling gray hair and old eyes that had read far too many books - stood
flipping through ancient volumes. The only other person in the room was
browsing through the poetry section two columns down from her, but she hadn’t
seen his face yet.

Hunter forced her gaze back
to the five or so text books spread open before her and wished her superpower
could be super-intelligence.
Maybe then you wouldn’t be so stupid all the
time,
said a snarky voice in her mind. It was right; she couldn’t handle
her powers, no matter how hard she tried. She was reckless in kissing Eli last
night and could have seriously hurt him. She’d practically handed Miss Smart
the clue to discovering what she could do on paper without even noticing. And
worst of all, she’d angered Joshua – who deserved much better – by lying to him
about going to school and seeing Eli behind his back. Skipping out on him last
night would have been the icing on the cake. He didn’t even leave her dinner.

What am I doing? I’ve
made a mess of everything, and no matter how hard I try, I continue to screw
things up for myself. I wish there was someone I could talk to who could give
me the answers without scolding me or forcing tedious training exercises upon
me or getting themselves killed. Why is it when I need comfort the most, I’m
completely alone?

Hunter let her head flop
with a loud bang on her textbook. She lay there, her eyes drooping shut, her
world dark, until someone was pulling up a chair beside her desk and tapping
her on the shoulder.

Hunter almost jumped out of
her skin and lifted her head to see Eli’s friend Jack sitting next to her. She
blinked groggily and wondered if she’d been asleep.

“Hey Hunter,” he said. “Do
you have a pen I can borrow?”

“What?” she stuttered. His
question didn’t even process through her mind, it was so immersed in misery.
Coming back to reality, she tried to focus on where she was.
The library,
right.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening.”

His eyes briefly slipped to
the spread of books and worksheets on the desk and then back to Hunter’s. He
had that same innocence in his eyes that she always saw in Eli, but there was
something darker there, as if he too had a secret he was desperate to hide.

“I was wondering if I could
borrow a pen,” he repeated slowly, his deep brown eyes kind and apologetic.
“Were you sleeping...?”

“No,” she replied so
sharply, his eyebrows shot up. She handed him the pen she’d been fiddling with
before, not even caring about her assignment. “Here, take it.”

“Thanks. How are your
studies going?”

“I’m exhausted, as you can
see,” she said, her foot shaking impatiently under the desk.
You have your
pen,
said the fire exasperatedly,
now leave.

“Yeah, I know what that’s
like. Hey, have you spoken to Eli today. He seems a little off.”

A surge of guilt ran through
her. If she knew Eli – which she could confirm with confidence – he was
probably blaming himself for her freak behavior.

“We sort of had a bit of a
falling out,” she admitted.
Wait, why am I telling him this? It’s none of
his business.

“I figured it was something
like that,” he said. “How come, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“Maybe he figured out how
much of an unstable freak I am,” she said, more to herself.

“Personally, I never thought
you were any sort of skank,” he said genuinely.

Hunter’s eyebrows shot up.
“What?”

Jack went suddenly pale. “
Uhh
… I mean, you know… the rumors in this school, they’re-”

“Complete bullshit, yeah, I
know.” Hunter slammed one of her textbooks shut and Jack jolted in his seat.

“But uh… you know the truth,
right?”

Hunter frowned at Jack, whose
eyes were glimmering with excitement. Pure curiosity moved her to ask him what
he was talking about.

“That rumor, about you and
the principal’s son?” He leaned in closer to her and whispered, “It was a cover
up.”

Hunter’s eyes widened. She
always knew the rumor wasn’t true - obviously - but all this time she thought
Benny was just a wanker and made it up for fun.

“What?”

Jack nodded. “I’m surprised
Eli hasn’t told you this yet.”

“He knows?”

Jack bit his lip, glanced behind
him at his sister Clare who was carefully inspecting her split ends, and
whispered, “Okay, let me tell you the whole story first. You know Benny the
quarterback? Yeah, it was actually his ex-girlfriend who was banging the
principal’s son. Benny couldn’t bear the humiliation of being cheated on and
having his reputation trashed, so he blamed it on you. He threatened anyone who
knew the truth that he’d kill us if we ever told anyone.”

“Us? Who else knows?” All
these years she’d been subjected to jeers and taunts and name-calling, and all
because Benny wanted to protect his stupid reputation? The fire flared up
inside her, and she had a mental image of herself stalking into Benny’s house,
her hands like flaming torches, her hair snaking around her and her eyes
brighter than the sun. She could inflict a pain on him ten times worse than the
humiliation of having been cheated on.

“Just you, me, Eli, Benny,
Benny’s ex and the principal’s son,” Jack went on, completely unaware of the
bright glow coming through her shirt that she hid under the desk. “Benny
threatened to kill all of us if we ever told anyone, but I know he’s a coward
and he wouldn’t do shit to me. It’s their business who they tell though, and I
respect that at least. I just think it’s unfair you had to take the blame for
it.”

“That’s a goddamn
understatement,” she replied. “That bastard. I ought to-” She stopped herself
before she lost control and swallowed the flames that threatened to burst from
her mouth. “How did you and Eli get yourselves roped into this?”

Jack gave her a small smile.
“We were on our way to talk to the principal about starting up an animal rights
campaign for a school project - because Eli loves that shit - when we walked
right in on it. The principal’s son agreed because it made him a legend,
obviously.”

“Why would Eli keep this
from me?”

Jack looked down at his
fingers and bent them back and forth awkwardly. “I
dunno
.”

Hunter felt hurt for the
first time since she met Eli.
He must be really scared of Benny.
She
remembered the scene in the corridor when the quarterback had knocked him down,
called him names and laughed with his friends. Eli was too afraid to stand up
to his own father. He’d been bullied for a long time, and that left him with
little courage. Eli had no idea how threatening he was to Benny, and still he
did the right thing and kept quiet about it, even when he knew how much it hurt
Hunter every day. Even though he didn’t tell her, he still had a good reason.

Then it occurred to her. If
Eli could keep secrets for her own good, would that make it okay for Hunter not
to tell him about her powers?

Jack was looking at her
school work again. “Maybe you should ask him. But anyway, I guess I thought you
had a right to know.”

She smiled gratefully, and
he smiled back. It made his eyes glow and dimples appear on each cheek. He
wasn’t as covertly handsome as Eli, but there was a mirrored kindness and a lot
more pain there. She wondered what was so terrible about his home life that
could be any worse than hers or Elis.

“Well thanks,” she said,
turning back to her work.

“You’re welcome. Say, I was
wondering,” he nodded to her ponytail. “Is that your natural hair color?”

“Yes it is,” she said,
wondering how many times in her life she’d have to answer that question.

“Cool,” he nodded. “Did your
mom have red hair? Eli told me she died when you were really young.” His face
paled again. “Oh, I-I’m really sorry, sometimes things come out of my mouth and
I-” He made gestures with his hands, as though he were vomiting, and went very red
in the face. Hunter would have found it rather cute, had she not wished he
would leave her alone.

“It’s fine.” She waved it
off. “Don’t worry about it.”

“What... what actually
happened to your parents?” he asked hesitantly. “I mean Eli said-”

“Jack,” she sighed. “Please,
I just want to finish my studies. I’m really behind.”

He nodded. “Yeah, sorry, I
was just... making conversation. So what are you studying?”

“Jack-”

The fire flared in Hunter as
though she’d thrown a splash of alcohol over it and she locked eyes with Jack,
praying he would have enough time to run before it exploded just like it had in
Eli’s bedroom, but then two things happened:

A darkness flashed across
Jack’s face. It was as if a gray storm cloud had inhabited his deep brown eyes,
making them blaze a stone-gray, then blink back to bright and sunny again.
Hunter didn’t have time to wonder whether she’d imagined it, because in that
exact moment, a loud explosion and distant scream echoed through the quiet
library from somewhere in the building.

She and Jack froze and the
fire vanished instantly.

The school library was
located on the outskirts of campus, connected to the computer rooms and science
labs. As a bad feeling crept over her, Hunter prayed that the scream didn’t
belong to the teacher she cared most about, not after their unpleasant talk
earlier.