We got in the car and Mrs. Stiliano drove us to the game. None of our
parents could stay for the game, because they all had other things to do.
That was okay, though. I mean, they rarely missed games, so we could let
them slide with missing one or two every once in a while.
"Thanks for the ride, Mrs. Stiliano," I said as we climbed out of the car.
"No trouble at all, Rina. Have fun, kids!" Then she drove away. We went inside together and made our way to the gym. It was really crowded in the hallway, but we managed to get through the crowd with a lot of "Excuse me"s and "Sorry sir"s, and we still managed to get there on time.
Randy and I waved as Gwen went with the cheerleaders and we wished each other good luck. I tried to listen as the coach gave us a pep talk, but I couldn't focus. I even forgot about all the weird things that had been happening. I was too busy thinking about the game. I was already getting an adrenaline rush and we hadn't even started yet! The Griffins, whom we were about to take on, were the only team in the county that gave us a decent challenge. In fact, they had won the last three games we played against them. Not by much, mind you, but they'd won. This time, we were going to put an end to that if it was the last thing we did! They were our rival team, and we had practiced thrice a week and worked our butts off to prepare for this game, and there was no way we were going to lose!
Randy, being the tallest on the team, did the jump-off, but he lost it. It went to the Griffins' left wing. Fortunately, I was playing right wing, and snatched it away as soon as he started dribbling. You see, he had done one of the worst things anyone could possibly do, besides breaking one of my "rules." He had underestimated me. So had everyone else on the court. It probably had something to do with the fact that I was the only girl on the court. But I'd show them!
As the game progress, no one was winning or loosing. It was a very close game! Right up until the last quarter! This score was tied: 8 to 8. There were 13 seconds left. Randy passed me the ball, and I started down the court, since I had no one to pass to, and decided to go for a lay-up.
No one got in my way, but I stopped anyway. I just, sort of, froze when I saw what was happening. There was smoke coming from my hands, and my nostrils filled with the smell of burning rubber. I saw the ball beginning to char where my fingers were touching it, and my skin began to glow, like embers in the bottom of someone's fireplace.
So then I did what just about anyone else would do in my place: I panicked. I wanted to get out of there. I wanted to get rid of the ball and run for my life! I threw the ball to the first person on my team that I saw (who just happened to be Randy) and bolted!
All the observers stood up, and strained their eyes to see what was going on. I heard them whispering and shouting all the way down the hall. "What's going on?" "Where's she going?" "Rina, wait!" "She's on FIRE!" There was mass confusion in the gym as everyone tried to follow me at once.
Randy kept looking from the door that I'd just run out of, to the ball and back again. The ball had burned spots in the shape of my hands right where I'd touched it. It was beginning to deflate, too. He dropped it to the ground and took off after me.
Gwen was absolutely terrified when she saw what'd happened! She took one look at the ball Randy had just dropped, and remembered what had happened before we left for the game, when she shoved me. She ran after Randy without any hesitation at all and helped him to look for me.
I knew Gwen was trying to think to me, but I blocked her out. I wanted to get away from everyone. I didn't want people to see me freaking out like this! Especially since I really was on fire. Looking back on it now, I realize that I didn't feel any pain. The fire wasn't hurting me. I was just panicking, and I wanted to get to someplace private so I could figure out how to fix my little dilemma without a whole crowd of panicking people surrounding me.
I flung the doors of the school open and ran into the woods faster than I ever knew I could. They were the same woods that I "walked out of" when I was little. I had never been in there since. I ran through the woods for three whole minutes without stopping. Then I came to a clearing and sat down on a fallen log to catch my breath. I just couldn't run anymore. The flames started to shrink, until eventually it was just a glow.
I was still breathing harder than ever, between being so freaked out and having run for such a long time. While trying to catch my breath and get my thoughts together, I looked around me, to take in my surroundings. Something about this clearing seemed to pierce into my memory, like a splinter. I had been here before.in this very clearing. Something had happened here that had changed my life. It was an eerie feeling. Whatever happened to me here was not a good thing. But it was so long ago that I couldn't remember.
"Thanks for the ride, Mrs. Stiliano," I said as we climbed out of the car.
"No trouble at all, Rina. Have fun, kids!" Then she drove away. We went inside together and made our way to the gym. It was really crowded in the hallway, but we managed to get through the crowd with a lot of "Excuse me"s and "Sorry sir"s, and we still managed to get there on time.
Randy and I waved as Gwen went with the cheerleaders and we wished each other good luck. I tried to listen as the coach gave us a pep talk, but I couldn't focus. I even forgot about all the weird things that had been happening. I was too busy thinking about the game. I was already getting an adrenaline rush and we hadn't even started yet! The Griffins, whom we were about to take on, were the only team in the county that gave us a decent challenge. In fact, they had won the last three games we played against them. Not by much, mind you, but they'd won. This time, we were going to put an end to that if it was the last thing we did! They were our rival team, and we had practiced thrice a week and worked our butts off to prepare for this game, and there was no way we were going to lose!
Randy, being the tallest on the team, did the jump-off, but he lost it. It went to the Griffins' left wing. Fortunately, I was playing right wing, and snatched it away as soon as he started dribbling. You see, he had done one of the worst things anyone could possibly do, besides breaking one of my "rules." He had underestimated me. So had everyone else on the court. It probably had something to do with the fact that I was the only girl on the court. But I'd show them!
As the game progress, no one was winning or loosing. It was a very close game! Right up until the last quarter! This score was tied: 8 to 8. There were 13 seconds left. Randy passed me the ball, and I started down the court, since I had no one to pass to, and decided to go for a lay-up.
No one got in my way, but I stopped anyway. I just, sort of, froze when I saw what was happening. There was smoke coming from my hands, and my nostrils filled with the smell of burning rubber. I saw the ball beginning to char where my fingers were touching it, and my skin began to glow, like embers in the bottom of someone's fireplace.
So then I did what just about anyone else would do in my place: I panicked. I wanted to get out of there. I wanted to get rid of the ball and run for my life! I threw the ball to the first person on my team that I saw (who just happened to be Randy) and bolted!
All the observers stood up, and strained their eyes to see what was going on. I heard them whispering and shouting all the way down the hall. "What's going on?" "Where's she going?" "Rina, wait!" "She's on FIRE!" There was mass confusion in the gym as everyone tried to follow me at once.
Randy kept looking from the door that I'd just run out of, to the ball and back again. The ball had burned spots in the shape of my hands right where I'd touched it. It was beginning to deflate, too. He dropped it to the ground and took off after me.
Gwen was absolutely terrified when she saw what'd happened! She took one look at the ball Randy had just dropped, and remembered what had happened before we left for the game, when she shoved me. She ran after Randy without any hesitation at all and helped him to look for me.
I knew Gwen was trying to think to me, but I blocked her out. I wanted to get away from everyone. I didn't want people to see me freaking out like this! Especially since I really was on fire. Looking back on it now, I realize that I didn't feel any pain. The fire wasn't hurting me. I was just panicking, and I wanted to get to someplace private so I could figure out how to fix my little dilemma without a whole crowd of panicking people surrounding me.
I flung the doors of the school open and ran into the woods faster than I ever knew I could. They were the same woods that I "walked out of" when I was little. I had never been in there since. I ran through the woods for three whole minutes without stopping. Then I came to a clearing and sat down on a fallen log to catch my breath. I just couldn't run anymore. The flames started to shrink, until eventually it was just a glow.
I was still breathing harder than ever, between being so freaked out and having run for such a long time. While trying to catch my breath and get my thoughts together, I looked around me, to take in my surroundings. Something about this clearing seemed to pierce into my memory, like a splinter. I had been here before.in this very clearing. Something had happened here that had changed my life. It was an eerie feeling. Whatever happened to me here was not a good thing. But it was so long ago that I couldn't remember.