Kiss of Fire (10 page)

“Not my boyfriend,” I reminded her.

“So you hung out in the bushes with a boy who may or may not be your boyfriend?”

I decided to let that one slide.

“I was six and bushes were cool.”

“Well, if I ever see a cool bush, I’ll point it in your direction.” Wyn gobbled up a handful of fries in an obvious attempt not to laugh at her bad joke.

“Gee, thanks. Anyway, once he figured out how to drive, we started going up the canyon, which is where I’ll be going tonight.”
Not to have a make-out session with my best friend
, I reminded myself.

“So, you’re going up the canyon to have pie with your boyfriend…”

“Not my boyfriend,” I grumbled.

“Whatever. So you’re going up the canyon with Ryland to eat pie. What a romantic date.”

“It’s not a date either, Wyn.” She stared at me as if waiting for me to admit it.

I shook my head at her in frustration. No matter what she thought, this was not a date; it was only pie, which was still part of the problem.

“Well, how about tomorrow night then? We could even make it a sleepover!” I had never had a sleepover before, and the idea got me excited; but, I knew with all I had to barter for to get permission for Saturday, and now pie, a sleepover was out.

“I can’t do a sleepover, but I can come over for a movie.”

“And dinner,” Wyn added.

“And dinner. We better get going,” I said. “They are supposed to run through Act Two today with the set pieces.”

“Do you think if we write ‘Cynthia McFadden wears boys’ underwear’ on the side of the castle, she would get offended?”

“I doubt it, but all the boys might get in a fight trying to figure out whose underwear she’s sporting.”

“So, still worth a show then?” Wyn wagged her eyebrows at me in excitement. I knew she wouldn’t, but part of me hoped she would. I could do with the laugh today.

It was the first time I would be seeing Cynthia since our bizarre altercation in the hall. After the first day, the terrified stares and catcalls from the students had died down. I hadn’t seen Mr. Ray since then either.

I opened the door, expecting the worse. Class had already begun. The actors were already in their costumes, so Wyn and I went right into action. Wyn, Jamison and I moved set pieces on and off the stage as the cast worked through their lines and blocking. At least once in every line, Cynthia would forget something, giggle like a maniac, and then proceed to mess up the rest of the line. It wasn’t even worth it to mention that I knew to whole show by heart. Hamlet had always been one of my favorites.

I had thought I was in the clear; the show was almost over and the last of the royals were dying rather poorly-acted deaths in the middle of the stage.

“I know what you did, you little freak.” I spun around to face Cynthia, her face almost maniacal in frenzied excitement.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said with as much confidence as I could muster.

“I think you do. You’re a freak. I’m going to find out why, and make sure everyone knows.”

I just froze, her acidic voice washing around the space.

“Knows what?” Wyn bounced into the conversation. I could have kissed her for arriving with such perfect timing.

Cynthia flinched a bit, her resolve lessening at my added support.

“Freak,” she repeated before strolling off to join the cast for the curtain call.

“Ugh. She bugs me,” Wyn spat. “It’s like she thinks she owns the world.”

“Yeah, well, maybe she does,” I whispered to myself before going to remove a large wooden throne.

When the bell rang, the cast and the rest of the class stormed out of the room, leaving Wyn and me to finish putting the set pieces away. Even the teacher had disappeared.

“You were right, by the way,” Wyn spoke out of nowhere. “Cynthia McFadden is an atrocious Ophelia. How do you think she got the part?”

“No one would pay the price of admission if there were a whole bunch of nobodies in the cast.” It was honest, that’s how all high school shows were cast, no matter how much I practiced in Ry’s room.

“I bet you know every speech by heart, don’t you?”

I paused, holding a large foam block in my hands and looked around me.

“Do you think everyone is gone?”

“Ooooo, yes!” Wyn’s eyes glittered as she dropped what she carried and ran to the first tier of the audience space.

My confidence shuttered for just a moment before coming back tenfold. Wyn’s excited face super-charged me. I moved to center stage and dropped my head. I ran through the entire piece in my mind before I began. I knew how I wanted to hold my hands, how I wanted my voice to sound. I just hoped it came out right.

“O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown! The courtier's, scholar's, soldier's, eye, tongue, sword, Th' expectancy and rose of the fair state, The glass of fashion and the mould of form.” I recited each line with all the purpose and emotion I felt, my body and hands moving as I pleaded to myself and the invisible characters around me. Even though I was no good, my body still felt alive.

“That unmatch'd form and feature of blown youth Blasted with ecstasy. O, woe is me. T' have seen what I have seen, see what I see!”

I finished as I was taught, head down, arms to the side; but I was jolted out of my closed position by not one but, two pair of clapping hands. My head jerked up just as Wyn’s hands stopped their furious applause to see Ryland. My heart calmed for just a moment, glad that it wasn’t Cynthia or some other irritating senior, before going into turbo-drive at the sight of Ry standing in the doorway.

“See! I told you! You were amazing!” He rushed in and swept me up in a giant bear hug, his arms crushing me against his chest. “Wasn’t she amazing?” He turned enthusiastically to Wyn who only nodded at him.

“You must be Wyn.” He dropped me before rushing over to her, his big hands outstretched.

“How did you know about Wyn?” I asked, interrupting the enthusiastic handshake Wyn had been sucked into. I hadn’t mentioned her to him at all.

“Well, see, someone has been avoiding me all week, and I have to hide from my father somewhere, which means that your mother and I have become the best of friends. And, I know where the cups are kept in the kitchen now.”

“No!” I shrieked, my hand flying to my chest. Wyn stuffed her hand to her mouth in an attempt to stifle a laugh.

“Yes, it’s true. I can now tell you where cups
and
plates are to be found in my own kitchen. I know it’s a shock, but soon I may even be able to locate a bowl.” Ryland spoke seriously, like he was announcing a death, his voice causing Wyn’s laugh to come unplugged.

“It’s a scandal,” Wyn said between laughs.

“Not about that! Have you really been talking to my mom this whole week?”

A wide smile spread across his beautiful face, verifying the truth. My mom knew that Ryland had been calling me without even looking at my phone. She was up late this morning on purpose, knowing that Ryland was going to take me to school. I don’t know why this bothered me so much, but it did.

“No,” I whispered. “What did she tell you?”

“Absolutely everything! She even showed me your naked baby pictures.” I yelped in horror and did what any other logical girl with a crush would do; I slugged him in the shoulder. Unfortunately, my hand was weak and his shoulder was very strong. My hand exploded in pain as the muscles and bones separated from the rough impact.

“Ouch! Darn it, Ryland! Not fair.” I shook my hand, waiting for the sting to go away, stomping my foot in the attempt to distract my mind from the centralized pain.

“Oh, you’re such a baby. Come here.” Ry grabbed my hand and placed it in between his big, warm ones. The warmth of his hands grew and moved into my hand as the pain melted away. It was comforting to have him hold my hand so tightly, his warmth moving through me like it was something tangible.

“Better?” he asked. I could only nod.

“So, Wyn,” he didn’t release my hand from his grasp as he turned to her, his wide goofy grin back in place, “are you coming with us? Pie in the mountains?”

“I take it my mom said yes?” I asked, perfectly aware that my hand was still clasped inside his.

“Of course, she did.” He flashed me a wide, perfect smile before turning back to Wyn, waiting for an answer.

“I probably shouldn’t.” I could see the reluctance on her face triggered by Ryland’s false invitation, but I also saw a way out of being alone with Ryland.

“Please come, Wyn! It’ll be fun!” I removed my hand from the warmth of Ryland’s grasp to move toward her. I tried to make my eyes as pleading as possible, but having never done it before I wasn’t sure the attempt worked. I stared her down for a few moments longer, pleading until she sighed in defeat. I jumped in the air in celebration as she nodded her head in agreement.

I led the way out of the drama room, now eager to get up the canyon and enjoy some time with both my friends. Wyn breezed past me, texting something on her phone to her brother, I was sure. I followed her until I felt Ryland’s large hand on my back, his warmth spreading through me.

“Something tells me you’re scared to be alone with me.” His breath buzzed through my hair as he spoke; he was that close.

“It’s not that,” I began. “It’s just…” He moved in front of me, placing his hands on my arms and stopping me in place.

“It’s okay, Joclyn. I know. It took me a while to realize you were worth more than my father’s commands, too.” His face filled with a happy light that made my heart spin in pure joy. Ryland leaned down before I could stop him and placed his lips against my cheek.

I was overcome with his smell as his lips lingered there, the warmth of them spreading throughout me and making me dizzy. Far before I was ready, he ran away from me, running to catch up to Wyn and leaving me sputtering alone in the middle of the hall.

The fire pit was in a large clearing that you could only get to by parking off the side of the road and hiking for about twenty minutes through uncut forest. Some time ago, someone had dug a giant hole in the middle of the space, giving people a reason to call it the fire pit. I never knew how Ryland found this place, but I knew we weren’t the only ones who came here. Every once in a while, we would come across crumpled chip wrappers or beer cans.

Ryland led us as we trudged our way through the undergrowth, pie in hand. I could smell the delicious chocolate fragrance drifting back to me, and it made my stomach jump in anticipation.

I stayed back by Wyn, thankful for her company. After what Ryland had said to me as we were leaving the drama room, I didn’t need to be alone with him. I needed to think—and somehow prepare myself for Saturday night.

We entered the clearing and I went to go look for firewood. The cool mountain air was already starting to get a bite to it and being this far up the mountains, it was sure to get chilly quickly.

The clearing was surrounded by what appeared to be a perfect circle of giant oak trees. They all had to have been planted at the same time because each one was about the same height. They towered over us as we walked through them, much taller than the smaller beech and brush oak that lay behind them. I couldn’t help but touch the trees as I passed; just being this close to them sent a live current through my veins. I loved the way they made me feel.

Ryland was already working on preparing to start the fire when I dumped all the dried kindling and twigs I could find in to the make-shift hole. Ry smiled at me before turning back to the fire; he had always been amazing at getting the fire started. Even the first time we came up here, he had made a roaring blaze in minutes. He had tried to teach me once, but all I had managed to do was burn my fingers with his book of matches.

“1…2…3…4…5…6…”

“Why are you counting?” Wyn interrupted me.

“To see how long it takes Ryland to light the fire. Watch.” We both turned toward him just as a blaze ignited in the pit.

Wyn’s eyes widened in surprise and her mouth formed a giant O.

“How’d I do?” Ryland asked, wiping his hands on his expensive slacks.

“I don’t know. I lost count,” I admitted.

“Oh, great.” His sarcastic voice echoed through the clearing. “Now how am I supposed to know if I beat my record?”

“What’s the record?”

“Twelve seconds,” I answered Wyn, causing her jaw to drop even further.

“Can you do magic or something, because that was wickedly fast.”

Ryland balked at her question, his face falling pale to a ghostly shade of white like he had been caught at something.

“Ummm, no. I just like to light things on fire.” He shook his curls, his uncomfortable face disappearing so fast I wasn’t even sure if I had seen it.

“Too bad, that would be way cool if you could. You could pretend to fly and make things disappear!”

Ryland laughed at her. I guess magic wasn’t cool to him. Then again, I couldn’t see Ryland pulling rabbits out of hats with much flair.

“Well, for losing count, Jos, you owe me a race.” Ryland leaned close to me, his face full of eager anticipation.

“You’re on,” I answered him, already standing tall; trying to meet him at his full height, which only brought me to his shoulders. I tried to look intimidating by squaring my shoulders, but it looked rather silly, and both Ryland and Wyn laughed at my poor attempt to psych him out.

“Oh, fine,” I said, giving in and grabbing Wyn’s hand to pull her over to the line of trees that surrounded the clearing. “You can play referee.”

“You gonna cheat, Jos?” Ryland asked as he took his place at the tree next to mine, stretching his arms out in preparation.

“Nope, I am going to win.” I gave him my biggest smile and then looked up to the tall branches above me. I knew I had a problem. Although I loved the feel and the smell of Ryland’s sweater, it was way too big to be effective during a tree-climbing race.

“Oh, great,” I mumbled.

“Losing confidence, Joclyn?” His taunts were pointless; he hadn’t beaten me since the first time we had tried this.

“No, but I swear you’re going to be in big trouble if I rip any of my clothes.” I shed the large sweater and let it fall in a heap at my feet. I looked down to make sure my green shirt was lying flat before looking to Ryland who had fixed this strange look of happiness on his face.

“I like that shirt, Joclyn; it looks very pretty on you,” said Wyn.

I turned to her and smiled in thanks. She gave me a big thumbs-up, which made me smile more.

“Don’t worry, Jos. If you tear any clothes, I’ll just buy you new stuff. I still owe you a pair of pants anyway; we’ll have to go shopping.”

“You wouldn’t owe me anything if you would stop ripping my clothes off, Ryland.”

Ryland’s face blanched before spreading into a wide grin. Wyn laughed behind me. It took a moment for the reality of what I had just said to click into place.

“No! I didn’t mean it like that.” I rounded on Wyn, silently pleading, but she didn’t even see me through the tears of laughter that rolled down her cheeks. “Ryland, tell her!” All my pleading was for naught, even Ryland laughed gleefully.

“All right, Wyn,” I loudly interrupted the laughing, causing them to stop. “You tell us when to go. First feet to hit the ground again wins.” She nodded in agreement, wiping the tears from her face.

I looked to Ryland, who winked at me before turning to his tree, still chuckling. My stomach twisted, whether with joy or nerves, I couldn’t tell. I turned and faced my tree, nonetheless, stretching my fingers in excitement.

“On your mark,” Wyn said. “Get set. Go!”

I lunged toward the tree, my hands pulling me up into the tangle of lower branches. The second my hands touched the bark, a fire ignited within me. It always did this every time we raced. I felt a strange energy surge under my skin as I vaulted up the tree, propelling myself higher and higher. The familiar feeling of flying took over me as I moved up, my arms propelling me faster and faster.

I looked to the side to see Ryland keeping pace with me, although still behind. I grabbed the next branch and pulled myself up even harder, my legs kicking off to raise me up. I didn’t look down; although I wasn’t afraid of heights, I knew we were at least twenty feet up in the air now. I could see the deep notch we had placed in the tree all those years ago and knew it was almost time to make my descent.

“Goal!” I yelled as I pressed my palm to the large gash in the tree before turning to speed my way down the tree.

“Goal!” Ryland yelled from above me.

If I was fast climbing up trees, it was nothing to how fast I was going down. I knew Ryland didn’t have a prayer. There was a movie I had watched when I was a kid, that had a man and boy climbing out of a tree as a car fell down on top of them. They swung and jumped and leaped in their frantic attempt to beat the car out of the tree and not be crushed to death. It had scared me senseless at the time; but in all reality, that’s how I felt when I climbed down trees.

I continued to drop, not bothering to look at where Ry was beside me. Branches flew past me as I swung from one to another, dropping, only to catch myself on a large outstretched branch at the last moment. I could hear Wyn mumble below me, making me smile.

I released the branch that I had just grabbed, to fall to another one a few feet below me. I realized moments after I let go that I was going to overshoot and miss the branch I was aiming for. I looked down; there was still another ten feet to the ground. Wyn cried out in fear, which broke my concentration for a minute.

I pushed Wyn’s panic from my mind as I twisted in the air to grab a branch that was next to me. I knew my timing was off because of the distraction. My leg slammed into the tree, and I felt a small branch poke into my skin through my pants. I continued my descent, gravity pulling me down headfirst. As I reached for another branch below me, I could feel the twig grind against the skin on my calf as it ripped through my pants. Great.

I grabbed the last branch before swinging my legs down all the way, my feet coming in contact with the ground. I let go of the tree, my burst of energy dissipating as I released the tree branch and dropped to the ground to pull my leg around to inspect the cut. My skin was slightly scraped, barely even bleeding. My pants, on the other hand, were a lost cause. The fabric was cut from my knee all the way down to the hem.

“Oh, my gosh! Joclyn, that was amazing!” I heard Wyn come up right beside me, her voice in awe.

“You think so?” It seemed so natural to me; to hear it described as amazing was kind of odd. I heard Ryland drop to the ground and then turn to make his way over to us.

“Yes!” Wyn squealed. “And, when you almost fell, I thought my heart was going to stop.”

“You almost fell?” Ryland asked with something beyond alarm in his voice.

“Yes! She dropped from one branch to another, but missed the one she wanted, so she kind of twisted around to catch a different one. I was so scared.” Wyn provided actions and everything like she was retelling the plot to an exciting action movie.

“Are you okay?” Ryland asked, while looking me over.

I ignored his appraisal and pulled the hoodie back over my head as I moved to stand next to him. It was then he saw my ripped jeans and the long scratch, his sharp intake of breath was a little exaggerated for the situation.

“It’s a scratch, Ry,” I said as he once again swept me up in his arms and carried me to a rock in front of the fire. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“I guess I owe you a new pair of pants,” he sighed as he inspected the rip and the cut.

“Two,” I reminded him.

Wyn plopped down on the rock next to mine and mouthed the word “boyfriend” with heavy exaggeration.

I scowled at her before turning my attention back to Ryland.

“Does it hurt much? We can go if we need to.” His concern was evident in his voice.

“No!” I responded a little too loudly. I wasn’t in the mood to be carried through the woods for twenty minutes. “I just need pie,” I provided at Ryland’s affronted look which turned into a wide grin.

“Boyfriend,” Wyn whispered after Ryland went to the other side of the fire to grab the pie.

“Will you knock it off,” I hissed.

Ryland sat on the ground between us, opening the top of the box that held the delicious chocolate crème pie and about five plastic forks. This was one of those times when his “grab a fistful” system worked to our benefit. I dove in, and smiled as the chocolate mousse hit my tongue. Mette made the best pies.

“So,” Wyn began and I glared at her, terrified that she was going to start the boyfriend crap again with Ryland right in front of us. “How long have you guys been doing that tree-climbing thing? You both moved so fast; I couldn’t believe it.” I sighed in relief. At least this was something we could talk about.

“I think the first time we went up the trees was the first time we came up here. I was ten and you were twelve, right?” I asked Ryland who swallowed his bit of pie to answer.

“Yep. Two days after your tenth birthday. We stole Father’s Vanquish and came up here. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that; it was the only time I have ever been able to beat you.”

“You stole a car?” Wyn shrieked with her mouth full of pie.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yep.” Ryland puffed his chest out proudly. “I had to sit on a phone book and could barely see out the window, so Joclyn had to steer most of the way.”

I shook my head in irritation. I knew why Ryland was exaggerating. While I had driven most of the way—and been terrified, I might add—it wasn’t because he couldn’t see out the windshield; it was because he was crying.

That day had been one of the first days that Edmund had ordered Ryland to leave me alone. They had gotten in a fight and his father had hit him. He had run into the kitchen and pulled me with him into the large garage. We had left before anyone had even realized we were both missing. I still remember the bright red hand print on his cheek.

Without thinking, I reached out and ran my fingers through his dark curls near the base of his neck, wanting to wipe the memory from both our minds. He turned toward me and smiled, his gaze piercing into me.

“And you didn’t crash the car?” Wyn asked, oblivious to our exchange.

“Well, we did,” I provided, “but not that time. They didn’t know we were taking the car for about a year.”

“Jake was very nice to keep that secret for us.” Ryland forced a laugh.

“Jake?”

“The butler,” I provided.

“So… when you crashed the car…?” Wyn prompted.

“We more like cruised into a field…”

“And hit a cow,” Ryland finished for me. We both laughed at saying it out loud.

“And you didn’t get in trouble?”

“Oh, we got in trouble,” Ryland answered. “I was confined to my room for a week.”

It probably wasn’t even worth mentioning that I had been grounded to school, my house, or the kitchen for a month. Even after Ryland was “released”, I was still doomed to play fort under the staff table.