Chapter 20: Fire and Water
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The sound of rushing water soothed Andie's troubled mind. All around her people chattered and laughed and hugged but the water lulled Andie into a peaceful state. The mall hardly seem the place to have this effect on anyone, but just standing on the second floor gazing down on the fountain, thinking of nothing else but the crystal water, Andie felt paradise.
Hope, Max and Ryan had decided that she needed to go be a punk kid again and get away from her thoughts about her brother. So along with the "newbies," Kurt, Bobby, Kitty, Rogue, Jean and Scott they whisked her away to the Bayville Galleria. The boys and girls had split up after lunch due to conflict of interest, mostly because of Max and Anthony who seemed to share one too many things in common.
Andie really liked the girls and appreciated their efforts to assuage her aching heart, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not get Asher out of her head. All she wanted was to know that he was okay. She knew that he could take care of himself, but still, they did live in New York.
At the moment, the other girls were all in one of the little stores to her left trying on goofy colored cowboy hats and sunglasses. She could hear their laughter from her spot by the rail, and a part of her wanted to join them, but another larger part wanted to stay near to something that really captured her mind, something that gave her a strange peace.
Water.
It seemed very strange to her that her brother would have the power to control fire and that she would have that to control water. At times she wondered if it were some kind of cruel joke, but maybe it was only symbolism. Maybe she would be the one to cool the flames of their broken family, and then maybe she could bring them together again. But why would she ever want to speak to her father again? He had been so cruel and closed-minded to Asher's power.
Yes, he had accidentally burned down their house, but he could not stop himself - he had no control, like Ryan. If he had only tried to find help for Asher, if he had only listened. But she decided to stop worrying about the past, and set her eyes on the future.