I hated that I could never go in public and kiss her or hold her hand or look at her in the way that all these other couples could. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that I had this awesome power that I couldn't tell anyone about. It wasn't fair that my sister and I had to go through regular beatings from our parents. It wasn't fair that I was ugly without makeup, that I didn't have any friends at school, that I had to work all summer. Nothing was fair. But I was alright, because I had Clara.
We went with all the teenagers from the high school to an end of summer bonfire in the woods. I argued against it, but Clara wanted to go. Of course, I went with her.
I still couldn't believe these people didn't realize that I had been going to school with them for 2 years. God, I hated this town.
Clara and I walked close to each other but didn't touch each other, which made me mad seeing all the other couples holding hands and walking.
We made it to this giant campground with a reasonably-sized firepit in the middle, with several small firepits dotting the campsite. We watched at the teenagers kept with their groups and separated around the campground.
Tyler jones wheeled a red wheelbarrow with a keg if beer behind him, setting it down by the large firepit and opening the tap. People began surrounding him and the giant firepit was lit up.
Music was playing and people were dancing and drinking, another Tyler jones party. We stayed together the whole night, avoiding looks from the girls and the gawks and hands from the guys.
Around 11:00, we wandered out of the dancing group and sat in front of a small firepit on the edge of the campground. Clara smiled as she opened her hand and a flame burst in her palm. I laughed as I watched her light the tiny bonfire. We sat on a log, staring at it. She took out a cigarette, lighting it with her finger, and took a drag, breathing out the smoke in little puffs.
I rested my head on her shoulder as we passed the cigarette back and forth.
"So can your entire body light on fire?" I asked her after taking a drag.
She took the cigarette from me. "No, just my hands. And surprisingly, only my hands are immune to the flames. Like, everywhere past my wrists, I can get burnt. It sucks." She took a drag and blew out the smoke.
"So can you make other things disappear? Or just your body?" Clara asked after a silence.
"Yeah, if I focus on them while touching them, I can make objects disappear. That's how I can make my clothes disappear. And food. It's pretty nifty," I told her, taking the cigarette from her.
We sat there for a long time.