Chapter 3: Maself

Maia yelped, jumping out of the bed. The blankets were already starting to blacken at the edges, and the wood frame of the bed was groaning as it weakened under the fire's onslaught. She hurriedly snatched the blanket off the bed, flinging it to the ground and stamping on it until the golden flames dimmed and died. Then, she got rid of the fire still stubbornly burning away at her bed by dampening them with the blanket.

When she was done, she was positively exhausted. The adrenaline had drained out of her, leaving her dazed and tired. Maia hoped her parents hadn't heard her.

She glanced down, hoping her hands weren't burnt and charred. To her surprise, they were unmarked and free of any burns she might have gotten. Hm.

Maia cautiously eased open her door and stuck her head out. The master bedroom, thankfully, was not on the second floor with Maia's. To her great relief, her parents hadn't heard her shriek or bothered to wake up. She sighed, letting out a pent-up breath. They already had enough work-related stress, they didn't need random bed fires to add on to their load, too!

She came back in, and surveyed the sorry state of her bed. The flames had slightly charred her blanket and some of the bed. Fortunately, they still looked usable.

Maia stumbled over to the bathroom. Despite being unharmed, her hands and arms were covered with soot, and she had to wash it off. So she groped her way along until she felt the bathroom door, and pushed it open.

There was a full-length mirror leaning against the side wall. Maia clicked on the light, and took in her disheveled appearance. Her hair was tangled and messy, and her pajamas were smudged and stained with gray. She sighed.

She moved forward to touch the mirror. When her hand had came in contact with the mirror, a small spiral of golden flame had erupted from her finger. It quickly disappeared. The whole thing had happened so fast the teen barely had time to even register it.

Maia frowned at her finger. I'm pretty sure fire coming out of my hand is unnatural, she thought to herself, trying not to freak out. She almost didn't succeed, but at the last moment, she managed to gulp down the second yell that was almost out of her mouth.

The teen took deep breaths, trying to calm herself. In, out. In. Out. Nothing's wrong.

She splashed some water on her face, rubbing her eyes especially hard, and rinsed off her hair as best as she could. Then, she shook out her pajamas, brushed away the ashes on her blankets and sheets and climbed back in shakily.

The next morning, Maia took one look at her blankets, decided that she wouldn't bother her parents about it, and tucked in the slightly singed edges to hide them from view. She sauntered down the stairs, trying to act nonchalant.

"Good morning, Maia," her mother called from the kitchen.

"Morning mom," Maia answered back. She entered the large space and was met by the smell of waffles, and some kind of fruit… blueberry, maybe?

Claire Sylvers bustled over, a plate stacked with steaming waffles in her hands. "Waffle?" she offered. "There's syrup over on the table."

Maia gratefully took one, and headed over to the large, rectangular table. She sat down, picked up the little bear-shaped bottle with the syrup, and began dousing her waffle.

Her younger brother Eric, only nine, sauntered over. He leaned over, observing the shower she was giving her waffle. "Can I have that?" he asked, reaching for the syrup.

"Sure," Maia said absently, handing it to him. She picked up her fork and began stabbing the food. Had last night really been real? Had fire really come out of her fingers?

She didn't really have time to think about it, because just then, her mother came over excitedly.

"I've signed you up for a summer camp! You're going to be out camping in the woods for about two or three weeks! It's supposed to be for leadership skills, and I think you could work on those. And you could make some more friends instead of always staying with those two," she exclaimed.

Maia rolled her eyes. "Mom, I told you, I'm not interested. I'm perfectly fine!"

Claire frowned. "You are not perfectly fine. I can't have you spending the entire summer sequestered away in the house all the time."

"I'm going to be with Summer and Nathan, mom, you know that. I won't be stuck in my room."

"You're not going to be able to learn anything new if you stay here," Claire said firmly. "But I have heard that your friends are going too, so you might as well participate in the camp."

Maia sighed in relief inwardly. She was originally going to suffer in silence alone, but now that she knew Summer and Nathan were coming, they all could suffer in silence together.

"…pack your things. You're going the day after tomorrow."

"What?" Maia hadn't realized she'd zoned out.

"I said, you should probably get started reading about the area you're going camping as well as packing your things. You're leaving the day after tomorrow."

"Oh, okay, thanks mom," Maia waved her off , finishing off her waffle and bounding upstairs. Claire stared after the retreating back of her eldest daughter. She sighed and went back to collecting the dirty dishes scattered around the table.

Upstairs, Maia began rifling through her closet for her duffle bag.

"Where is that darn duffle…" she muttered, shoving aside her jackets. She rifled through the empty shoe boxes piled up against the back wall until her hand brushed against canvas. "There it is!"

Maia tugged the duffle out and began to toss clothes into it. She dumped the messy pile on her bed and began sorting out which ones went where. She folded shirts and squashed them against the side, and then her pants and a skirt. Then, she went to the bathroom, snatched up her spare toothbrush and some dental floss, and a small bottle of lotion.

Maia returned with the toiletries and dropped them in. Then, she began flinging open her drawers.

"Where is it, where is it," she grumbled, her sharp eye searching for the glint of her necklace. There!

Maia gently lifted her good-luck necklace out of the drawer. The bronze, dragon-shaped pendant gleamed in the light of her room.

That's odd, Maia thought. I feel like I've seen this recently, even though I haven't bothered to wear it much. But where? She racked her brains for the memory, but it did not come to her. Frustrated, Maia gave up and settled the necklace around her neck.

She stuffed a few more items into her duffle, then tossed it into a corner of her room, flopped on her (burnt) bed and turned on her phone, scrolling through the latest Instagram posts. She never noticed when her necklace pendant gave a little twitch.

Last chapter's title was "Unusual".