We were standing on the lit up stage, ten of us, in a circle. Our drama teacher loves this improvisation exercise! She picks out two students at a time who have to go inside the circle and invent a scene. It had been going on for about five minutes, short scenes that felt like they could last forever! Lily and another girl were right in the middle of playing gossiping teenagers when I caught Eric's eye. He glanced at me from the other side of the circle… Smiling... I got that funny feeling in my stomach and didn't smile back, which he noticed. You could see how occupied his mind was trying to get a grip around why. (I didn't know why either!)

"Zoe!" the teacher cried out, making me jump. "Winslow! GO!"

It was our turn. I had barely taken one step forward when Eric hurried towards me and kissed me! His hands were placed on my back, gently insisting on our bodies to remain close. I felt the heat travel through my skin (literally!) and I couldn't hold the fire in...

Eric gave away a shout and backed off, putting a hand over his mouth. He burned himself on my lips!

"Did you just bite me?" he asked.

My thoughts didn't want to cooperate. It's good that he believes I bit him and not the hard-imagining truth... I can relax… But in the moment I was in shock, so instead of taking it easy I wanted to ask him a question in return.

"Why did you do that?!" I exclaimed, piercing him with my widened eyes.

He exhaled and said that he wanted to. In fact he's wanted to for a long time, he continued, but if I thought it was wrong I did the right thing to hurt him. I knew he was teasing me.

"Oi with the poodles already!" I cried. "You can't just go and kiss someone without taking that someone into consideration! What if I…"

I stopped myself.

"What if you didn't want to kiss me?" he finished for me and shrugged his broad shoulders. "I took a hunch. You haven't really been yourself recently."

Sure I have! It's the circumstances that have changed on a supernatural scale! But I can't possible tell him that… No, I won't.

"Well done!" our drama teacher said and clapped her hands together. (She has to be really ignorant if she thought that was an improvised scene.) "Gonzalez and Martin! GO!"

I avoided bumping into Eric again when class ended. I didn't even take a shower, like I'd planned, only went straight for the subway.

When I entered the nice and modern coffee shop, Iris and Barry were already waiting for me.

"Good morning, y'all!" I greeted a little too loud, making all the other customers turn their heads. Barry and Iris giggled, cause they thought I was embarrassed.

"Sorry I'm a little late." I said as I walked to our table, having trouble with keeping my Harry Potter tote bag on the shoulder.

They stood up one at a time and hugged me.

"The line is crazy today, Olivia, so hope you don't mind that we ordered for you." Iris said. "Coffee good?"

"Like you had to ask!"

A book was lying on the table with a dark cover: The Monstrous Minotaur by Jack Walker. Apparently, Iris (being a journalist) has had a little trouble in finding things to write about since she found out that Barry is The Flash. Especially when he's the topic everyone wants her to write about.

"The plan was to review this but I don't know if I can." Iris explained as I got to browse through its pages. "It's so horrible!"

A man came and handed us three cups. I instantly wrapped my hands around the warm material and shivered with joy.

"Bless you!" I commended before he left and then I sighed. "This is exactly what I need."

Barry smiled.

"Tough day?"

"Well…"

I put the coffee down and leaned closer to them both.

"There's this guy at the Academy…"

Iris shone up with curiosity.

"Oh, this I have to hear!"

I told them about Eric's drastic move this morning and they were quite shocked. Almost as much as I was.

"He kissed you?" Barry repeated. "Why?"

Iris hit him slightly with her elbow.

"I mean... That seems impulsive… Bold, in fact."

Iris rolled her eyes, turned to me and wanted to know how I felt. I answered that I usually get a funny feeling in my stomach whenever Eric shows sign of liking me.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Barry tried to establish.

"No!" I exclaimed. "Cause the feeling doesn't necessarily scream OMG, I'm in love. It feels more like a defense mechanism. He actually got burned on my lips!"

Barry let out a short laugh as his mouth was hidden behind his cup. I looked meaningly at him as he tried not to grin.

"Let me guess, he knows now too?" he assumed to my utmost dislike.

"No. He thought I bit him, that's all!"

Iris intervened.

"Maybe you like him, but you don't like him-like him yet and that makes you uncomfortable." she said. "You don't want to encourage the wrong thing."

I realized how simple it all was. It does make a lot of sense, actually, Eric is too forward and I don't have time to understand my own feelings. (Or even develop them, cause they are not there yet... I think?) I thanked Iris for her advice.

"To change the subject," I began. "how did you guys meet?"

Apparently, Barry and Iris have been best friends since they were kids. They went to the same school and lived under the same roof after Barry's mom died and his dad went to prison for her murder. (Too much drama for one boy to handle! I'm just saying.)

"I was in love with her even before I knew what the word meant." Barry confessed. "But it took me a long time to grow the courage to say it to her face."

"...And then he told me when I was with someone else, which wasn't exactly ideal."

But things apparently started working out when a message from the future said that Iris and Barry will be married one day.

"Because of that my ex-boyfriend ended things and I didn't stop him. It's always been Barry."

They gave each other a soft kiss and the memory of Eric's popped up inside my head. It made me wince and I tried to focus on the people in front of me.

"I'll never be able to breathe easy without knowing she's safe." Barry finished.

Somehow that sentence didn't make me jealous. His description made me think of suffocation rather than devoted love. Still, I smiled and said that was sweet.

The suit is AMAZING! I'm completely in love with it, like every good aspect of my personality is multiplied when I wear it! Cisco is an artist as well as an Einstein.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Cisco announced in his theatrical voice as he was trying to hide me from the others. "I give you…"

He walked off and just for the fun of it I conjured two fireballs in my hands. Barry, Caitlin, Iris and Lauren looked happy.

"Supernova!"

I turned my head to Cisco (not convinced) and said that's not a good alias for me.

"But I'm the one that comes up with the names around here!" he contradicted and seemed slighted.

I smiled and closed my fists.

"Then pick another one!"

Lauren came up to me and gave me a hug.

"You are so beaut…"

Cisco interrupted her.

"Fire Girl!"

It became clear that I wasn't alone in disliking that name as well.

"You're not exactly a girl, are you." Barry said. Our eyes locked and I bursted out laughing. He realized how wrong it sounded and laughed as well. "You know what I mean!"

I had to pull myself together quite forcefully, but the process went through several stages: 1) Hard laughing. 2) Giggling. 3) Smiling. I stayed at the third stage for the rest of the meeting.

"I'd like my superhero name to have the word Heart in it." I confessed.

Cisco got another idea.

"Fire Heart! It has to be Fire Heart!"

"I thought we'd established that Olivia's powers consists of 50% fire and 50% light?" Iris pointed out, quite correctly. "Then it makes no sense to name her for only one half."

"Does the name have to go with your powers anyway?" Caitlin added. "We do not fully comprehend them as it is now."

The others began talking at the same time and analyzed the options with more energy than the subject needed. Suddenly, the name hit me like a laser beam from above.

".. Little Heart." I said.

They went numb and watched me closely.

"Little Heart?" Barry wondered.

"Yeah. That's what Lauren used to call me when I was growing up."

Lauren looked at the S.T.A.R Labs team with a friendly smile.

"It's Native American." she explained.

Cisco wasn't satisfied at all. (The unbelievably cute smile was missing from his face!)

"Well you can't still use that, right? Like Barry said, you're not a little girl anymore. Why not spoil yourself with Big Heart or Golden Heart?"

Because it has nothing to do with myself being small. But about me always caring about the little things - children, for example, or anything else too small or neglected to fend for themselves. I've always seen joy in moments that tend to pass most people by and I've grown used to following my heart, despite what others may say. This makes me who I am.

"Little Heart!" I concluded. "Without being pretentious, cause I really don't want that."

Barry smiled first.

"I like it!"

Adam wasn't in when I got home, so I boiled some pasta for us to eat when he arrived. It was good (pasta is always good!) and when we were full and tired, the TV was naturally turned on. I was surprised to sit next to him on the sofa, watching a couple of Friends episodes, while his head was stuck in a book! He never reads! By the time for commercial break, I leaned over and read the title.

"Are you also reading that minotaur book?" I asked.

He plainly answered yes and continued reading.

"Since when have you been into horror fiction?"

He looked up and was obviously disturbed by my inquiries. (Being a younger sister, disturbing him has always been my goal!)

"It's a bestseller." Adam said. "Everyone at work are talking about it."

I grinned.

"I've heard it's rubbish."

Adam contradicted me by saying that it's different and not a little grotesque, which some people find hard to handle. (Myself for one! Isn't there enough violence in this world as it is?) I spent the next few hours painting in my room, cause I felt obliged to give Adam some first time reading-space.

I washed the last paint stains off my hands the morning after. When I got out of the bathroom, the TV Morning News was on.

"I've made pancakes." Adam said as he put on his grey coat and tied his black shoes. "I have to go to work earlier today. Madeleine needs my help…"

"Ooh, Madeleine!" I teased. "And there is nothing you wouldn't do for her!"

Madeleine is his boss. A 62 year old woman.

"Cut it out, Olive."

I guess I deserved that. I poured some orange juice in a glass when the properly dressed woman on the TV screen informed about something that caught both our interests...

"...the widely popular writer Jack Walker has disappeared. Walker's house was broken into sometime last night and he is nowhere to be found. The police are keeping the investigation confidential as for now, but hopefully…"

My phone buzzed on the kitchen counter. It was a text from Barry: CODE RED.

Olivia Zoe

2nd of May 2015