Set Me Afire
Title: Set Me Afire / THE 7-DAY CHALLENGE #1
Author: evolutionsgirl
Prompt #: fire
Fandom: original
Rating: PG
Character/Pairing: Lora/Connor
Word count: 1715
Disclamer: These are original characters that I created for use in a WIP, supernatural young adult novel. I own Lora, Connor, and any other mentioned characters.
Summary: Lora and Connor have been best friends for years, and for a while now, Lora has had a crush on him. Now, Connor is making a move, but Lora can't handle it. The fire that she has tried to hard to control since she was a small child is going out of control and she has to do something. She wants to kiss Connor more than anything, but she doesn't want to burn him up in the process.
Lora took in a sharp breath that stuck in her throat. Connor’s hand landed on her cheek and she felt the heat rolling inside of her, turning her stomach into a living clothes dryer, whirling and rolling heat around and around. Lora forced the breath all the way down and another back up, but it did nothing to quell the fire that was already past creation and inching its way toward birth inside of her.
“I don’t think…” Lora’s spoke in a stoccato, her words coming out sharp and crisp. She paused as Connor’s other hand touched her hip. The fire in her belly screamed and shot out in all directions, searching for her blood stream, struggling to get to every extremity.
Lora knew she should have stepped away, that she should get away before it was too late, but she couldn’t bring herself to move. This was what she wanted, for her crush on her best friend to turn into something real. She never thought it would actually happen, though. Connor was the prettiest boy she had ever seen, and for real pretty, not just hot or cute. He was soft features, smooth skin, and soft dark hair that swept down to brush his forehead and act as a curtain from under which his striking blue eyes could peek. And she was… Well, her curls sometimes burgeoned on kinky when she decided to go natural and there was more meat on her hips than what was on the other girls that Connor had dated. And, if she had lived during the time and in the same town that her black mother and white father had met in, she would have been considered a mutt, and that was on the nicer end of the spectrum.
But still, Lora had hoped. Jake kept telling her that she was gorgeous, but what did he know about what a straight boy would consider gorgeous? When she asked him that, he just laughed her, knowing all too well that Lora was just trying to offend him enough to get him to back off. She didn’t even know why she tried. She had learned pretty on in their friendship that Jake was damn near impossible to offend. He said there wasn’t a racial or homophobic slur invented that could piss him off, especially when it came from somebody he knew didn’t really mean it.
“Lora?”
She blinked. He was so beautiful, unnaturally beautiful, and he was staring at her like he actually believed what Jake said, that she was gorgeous and only a guy not in his right mind, or gay, wouldn’t want to be with her. And when he said be with her, he didn’t mean just wanting to tap that. Connor looked at her like he wanted to hold her hand in public, kiss her with people watching, like he wanted to ask her father’s permission to take her on a date.
The heat was rising again, and she could feel it at her fingertips, begging her to be let free. Now, she wished that she hadn’t run from the room screaming, “Ew! Ew! Nasty!” when her mother tried to have The Talk with her. Her mother kept trying to tell her that as a special girl, as a so-called Super, there were things she needed to know when the time came to do anything. She probably wouldn’t have run so quickly if her mother hadn’t specifically said, “When something finally happens between you and Connor, you need to be prepared.”
What didn’t her mother get about platonic friends? She and Connor… There was nothing… But now, there was something and it was staring her in the face. She wanted this to be the moment, her first real kiss, maybe even being felt up a little bit, but she wasn’t ready. Not like, not ready, but like, she didn’t how to control everything else that wanted to play.
“It wants to come out,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“What?”
“I don’t…” She stumbled over her words. She hadn’t said these words to anyone since she was a little girl, warning the bullies to back off before something bad happened. “I don’t want to burn you,” she managed to push out.
Connor’s hand dropped from her face as he realized what she was saying, but his other hand stayed on her hip. She could see the gravity of the situation in his eyes, but he still wanted this enough, wanted her enough, that he didn’t move that other hand. “Can’t you control it?” Connor asked her.
“It’s what I’m doing right now,” she said. Sweat beaded her hairline and soaked into her hair. Her body was tight, and now, it wasn’t because Connor was touching her, because he wanted to kiss her. She couldn’t remember ever straining so hard to hold the fire in, not even when she was training with her parents, and they pushed her to some pretty extreme limits.
“I should have listened to my mother,” she muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing.” Lora shook her head, trying to expel the thoughts. The last thing she was going to do was tell him that even her mother thought they were a thing, or were going to be a thing. “I just… I want to, ya know? I just don’t know… God, it almost hurts, holding it in like this.”
“Then don’t hold it in.”
Lora didn’t have time to question him, barely had the chance to widen her eyes in shock, before Connor grabbed her arm and took off running. He pulled her out of the bedroom where planning and hatching plots had stopped a good fifteen minutes or so ago. He pulled her down the hallway, down the stairs, through the dining room and the kitchen. They burst through the back door and only stopped running when they were standing in the middle of the back yard.
Connor spun her around and pointed her towards the big heavy block of wood ten feet away. The wood was spotted with black scorch marks, and burned through in a couple of places. “Connor, what…”
“Let it out,” he told her. “It wants to get out, so let it out.”
She looked at the practice block. The heat was still rising in her, more flames pressing at her skin, begging for release. There would be nothing left of it when she was done. “What am I gonna tell my dad when he asks about the wood?”
“Tell him you got pissed and you had to let it out.”
“I don’t usually lie to my parents,” Lora said.
“First time for everything,” he said with a wink. “It gets easier.” He was used to lying to his mother, of course he would think that way. He didn’t really care all that much, considering his mother had been lying to him for as long as he could remember. “Besides, it’s better than telling him we were about to make out in your bedroom.”
Shock jerked her body and for a second, Lora lost the control she’d been holding onto so tightly. A flame erupted from her elbow. “Connor!” She blinked and forced herself to continue facing the board, because she didn’t want to accidentally burn Connor to a crisp. Her voice softened as she said, “We were gonna like, for real make out?”
“Yeah.” He spoke like it was obvious, like she shouldn’t have been surprised. That was Connor. Very little surprised him anymore.
Her stomach cramped and Lora bent over, holding her midsection. She had to let it out, and she was just thankful that it was Connor that she was having this moment with. What if she’d had it with a normal guy? He wouldn’t have known to take her out to that block. He probably wouldn’t have even cared. He’d have just taken off running, or he’d have gone to school talking about how he was so hot that he set the girl on fire. No one would have dared mess with her about it, of course. The Supers had a popularity of their own, after all. It was their adoring public that had given the small group of friends the nickname in the first place. Lora’s days of being bullied were far behind her, but still… She wouldn’t have needed anyone else to make her feel like crap. She’d have done that herself.
But, it wasn’t a Normal that had seen her almost lose control, and it wasn’t a Normal that was standing there, waiting for her to let it all out. It was Connor, and she wasn’t going to let a little thing like lack of self-control stop her from what she had wanted for so long. Lora pushed herself up straight. She thrust her hands out in front of her as focal points, and from there, she didn’t have to do anything but let go.
The fire shot from her hands in torrents. She always found it odd, the fire was so hot inside of her, burning her up, but as it came out, she felt nothing but the relief of it leaving her body. Her hands felt almost ice cold as the fire passed through them and shot int the wooden block. It only took seconds, definitely less than a minute, and the fire was out of her, and the wooden block was a pile of ashes on the back lawn.
Her hands dropped to her side. Lora didn’t feel Connor come up behind her, didn’t sense him moving, and she jumped when his hands fell on her shoulders. She whirled around and found herself staring right into those bright blue eyes. “Connor,” she said, and then didn’t have a clue what to say next.
“So, is it all gone?”
Lora searched herself for a spark, for any dying embers, and found none. She nodded. “All gone,” she said.
“Good.” Connor grinned. His right hand went to her hip, his left hand went to her cheek. “So, how about we pick up where we left off.”
He leaned in and before his lips touched hers, the only thing in her mind was a song her mother liked to listen to, something from the 80s, Lora thought it was. And then he kissed me.
Author: evolutionsgirl
Prompt #: fire
Fandom: original
Rating: PG
Character/Pairing: Lora/Connor
Word count: 1715
Disclamer: These are original characters that I created for use in a WIP, supernatural young adult novel. I own Lora, Connor, and any other mentioned characters.
Summary: Lora and Connor have been best friends for years, and for a while now, Lora has had a crush on him. Now, Connor is making a move, but Lora can't handle it. The fire that she has tried to hard to control since she was a small child is going out of control and she has to do something. She wants to kiss Connor more than anything, but she doesn't want to burn him up in the process.
Lora took in a sharp breath that stuck in her throat. Connor’s hand landed on her cheek and she felt the heat rolling inside of her, turning her stomach into a living clothes dryer, whirling and rolling heat around and around. Lora forced the breath all the way down and another back up, but it did nothing to quell the fire that was already past creation and inching its way toward birth inside of her.
“I don’t think…” Lora’s spoke in a stoccato, her words coming out sharp and crisp. She paused as Connor’s other hand touched her hip. The fire in her belly screamed and shot out in all directions, searching for her blood stream, struggling to get to every extremity.
Lora knew she should have stepped away, that she should get away before it was too late, but she couldn’t bring herself to move. This was what she wanted, for her crush on her best friend to turn into something real. She never thought it would actually happen, though. Connor was the prettiest boy she had ever seen, and for real pretty, not just hot or cute. He was soft features, smooth skin, and soft dark hair that swept down to brush his forehead and act as a curtain from under which his striking blue eyes could peek. And she was… Well, her curls sometimes burgeoned on kinky when she decided to go natural and there was more meat on her hips than what was on the other girls that Connor had dated. And, if she had lived during the time and in the same town that her black mother and white father had met in, she would have been considered a mutt, and that was on the nicer end of the spectrum.
But still, Lora had hoped. Jake kept telling her that she was gorgeous, but what did he know about what a straight boy would consider gorgeous? When she asked him that, he just laughed her, knowing all too well that Lora was just trying to offend him enough to get him to back off. She didn’t even know why she tried. She had learned pretty on in their friendship that Jake was damn near impossible to offend. He said there wasn’t a racial or homophobic slur invented that could piss him off, especially when it came from somebody he knew didn’t really mean it.
“Lora?”
She blinked. He was so beautiful, unnaturally beautiful, and he was staring at her like he actually believed what Jake said, that she was gorgeous and only a guy not in his right mind, or gay, wouldn’t want to be with her. And when he said be with her, he didn’t mean just wanting to tap that. Connor looked at her like he wanted to hold her hand in public, kiss her with people watching, like he wanted to ask her father’s permission to take her on a date.
The heat was rising again, and she could feel it at her fingertips, begging her to be let free. Now, she wished that she hadn’t run from the room screaming, “Ew! Ew! Nasty!” when her mother tried to have The Talk with her. Her mother kept trying to tell her that as a special girl, as a so-called Super, there were things she needed to know when the time came to do anything. She probably wouldn’t have run so quickly if her mother hadn’t specifically said, “When something finally happens between you and Connor, you need to be prepared.”
What didn’t her mother get about platonic friends? She and Connor… There was nothing… But now, there was something and it was staring her in the face. She wanted this to be the moment, her first real kiss, maybe even being felt up a little bit, but she wasn’t ready. Not like, not ready, but like, she didn’t how to control everything else that wanted to play.
“It wants to come out,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“What?”
“I don’t…” She stumbled over her words. She hadn’t said these words to anyone since she was a little girl, warning the bullies to back off before something bad happened. “I don’t want to burn you,” she managed to push out.
Connor’s hand dropped from her face as he realized what she was saying, but his other hand stayed on her hip. She could see the gravity of the situation in his eyes, but he still wanted this enough, wanted her enough, that he didn’t move that other hand. “Can’t you control it?” Connor asked her.
“It’s what I’m doing right now,” she said. Sweat beaded her hairline and soaked into her hair. Her body was tight, and now, it wasn’t because Connor was touching her, because he wanted to kiss her. She couldn’t remember ever straining so hard to hold the fire in, not even when she was training with her parents, and they pushed her to some pretty extreme limits.
“I should have listened to my mother,” she muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing.” Lora shook her head, trying to expel the thoughts. The last thing she was going to do was tell him that even her mother thought they were a thing, or were going to be a thing. “I just… I want to, ya know? I just don’t know… God, it almost hurts, holding it in like this.”
“Then don’t hold it in.”
Lora didn’t have time to question him, barely had the chance to widen her eyes in shock, before Connor grabbed her arm and took off running. He pulled her out of the bedroom where planning and hatching plots had stopped a good fifteen minutes or so ago. He pulled her down the hallway, down the stairs, through the dining room and the kitchen. They burst through the back door and only stopped running when they were standing in the middle of the back yard.
Connor spun her around and pointed her towards the big heavy block of wood ten feet away. The wood was spotted with black scorch marks, and burned through in a couple of places. “Connor, what…”
“Let it out,” he told her. “It wants to get out, so let it out.”
She looked at the practice block. The heat was still rising in her, more flames pressing at her skin, begging for release. There would be nothing left of it when she was done. “What am I gonna tell my dad when he asks about the wood?”
“Tell him you got pissed and you had to let it out.”
“I don’t usually lie to my parents,” Lora said.
“First time for everything,” he said with a wink. “It gets easier.” He was used to lying to his mother, of course he would think that way. He didn’t really care all that much, considering his mother had been lying to him for as long as he could remember. “Besides, it’s better than telling him we were about to make out in your bedroom.”
Shock jerked her body and for a second, Lora lost the control she’d been holding onto so tightly. A flame erupted from her elbow. “Connor!” She blinked and forced herself to continue facing the board, because she didn’t want to accidentally burn Connor to a crisp. Her voice softened as she said, “We were gonna like, for real make out?”
“Yeah.” He spoke like it was obvious, like she shouldn’t have been surprised. That was Connor. Very little surprised him anymore.
Her stomach cramped and Lora bent over, holding her midsection. She had to let it out, and she was just thankful that it was Connor that she was having this moment with. What if she’d had it with a normal guy? He wouldn’t have known to take her out to that block. He probably wouldn’t have even cared. He’d have just taken off running, or he’d have gone to school talking about how he was so hot that he set the girl on fire. No one would have dared mess with her about it, of course. The Supers had a popularity of their own, after all. It was their adoring public that had given the small group of friends the nickname in the first place. Lora’s days of being bullied were far behind her, but still… She wouldn’t have needed anyone else to make her feel like crap. She’d have done that herself.
But, it wasn’t a Normal that had seen her almost lose control, and it wasn’t a Normal that was standing there, waiting for her to let it all out. It was Connor, and she wasn’t going to let a little thing like lack of self-control stop her from what she had wanted for so long. Lora pushed herself up straight. She thrust her hands out in front of her as focal points, and from there, she didn’t have to do anything but let go.
The fire shot from her hands in torrents. She always found it odd, the fire was so hot inside of her, burning her up, but as it came out, she felt nothing but the relief of it leaving her body. Her hands felt almost ice cold as the fire passed through them and shot int the wooden block. It only took seconds, definitely less than a minute, and the fire was out of her, and the wooden block was a pile of ashes on the back lawn.
Her hands dropped to her side. Lora didn’t feel Connor come up behind her, didn’t sense him moving, and she jumped when his hands fell on her shoulders. She whirled around and found herself staring right into those bright blue eyes. “Connor,” she said, and then didn’t have a clue what to say next.
“So, is it all gone?”
Lora searched herself for a spark, for any dying embers, and found none. She nodded. “All gone,” she said.
“Good.” Connor grinned. His right hand went to her hip, his left hand went to her cheek. “So, how about we pick up where we left off.”
He leaned in and before his lips touched hers, the only thing in her mind was a song her mother liked to listen to, something from the 80s, Lora thought it was. And then he kissed me.