Home is a Fire Read Online Free PDF Page B

gaze, wrinkled her brow and gave me that
what the hell is wrong with you?
look. “Not at all! Grab a seat,” she offered, trying to overcome my awkwardness and casting a firm
be nice!
glance my way.
    “Great, thanks.” He grinned and took the seat next to me and placed his tray down: two cheeseburgers, a side salad and two cartons of whole milk. “So, how’s your first week been?” He looked over at me with the kind of smile that dentists place in ads on the subway to attract guys like me. And dimples. Did he always have these perfect dimples? I don’t remember those.
    “Uh, fine.” I looked down at my salad, breaking eye contact. The last thing I wanted to do was talk to Luke Walcott. I speared a carrot stick and shoved it in my mouth, casually staring towards the windows, hoping in my mind that he would go away. How do I end up in these situations?
    “I’m sure you’ll do great here,” he said, picking up a cheeseburger. “Miss B. is a tough act to follow, but the school could use some young blood.” He took a bite, then looked at me, thoughtfully. “Say, I’ve been wracking my brain, did we know each other in high school? When did you graduate?” His blue eyes looked straight at me, with no recognition.
    My god. Is this really happening to me? Him, too? How could he possibly not remember me? Was I really so invisible in high school?
    “Um, yeah,” I sputtered. “Well, we did know each other. We didn’t exactly run in the same circles, but yeah, we actually graduated together in the same class.” I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. I felt like one of those kidnap victims finally confronting his captor, years later.
    “Really? Wow,” he said. “I mean, I kind of remember you doing plays and things, but I don’t think we actually spoke too much, if ever. Did we?”
    “Not if you don’t count me screaming and begging for you to not throw me in the showers after gym class.” I did it. Be brave, Derek. Stand up for yourself!
    “Wait, what?’’ he placed his cheeseburger down on his plate and focused his eyes intently upon me. He actually looked hurt, as if I had wounded him.
    “Oh, come on, Luke,” I said, my anger cresting. “Don’t play that shit. Sorry, but this is a stupid charade. You were a total
dick
to me!” I lost it. “How could you possibly forget that? You tormented me!” I stared at him and I could tell I may have gone too far. Was I acting like a crazy man?
    Luke looked at me as if I had just shot his favorite puppy. He raised his eyebrows and took a deep breath. “Whoa. Listen, buddy… I don’t remember that. But really, I’m sorry if I was a jerk. Kids are stupid, and I definitely did a lot stupid things that I am not proud of. I got caught up in the popularity hustle. But if I did something to hurt you, well, I’m sorry, man. Really I am.” His words rang true, and I felt so confused.
    My heart was pounding, my mind was racing, and no words were forming in my brain. I was staring at Luke, dumbfounded. How could something that was so traumatic to me be so inconsequential to him that he actually forgot it?
    “Listen… I should probably get going,” said Luke, knowing when to cut and run. “We’re running extra practices leading up to the big Homecoming game. You two enjoy your lunch, now, hear?” And with that, he picked up his lunch and lumbered slowly towards the tray return. He didn’t look back, and I started to regret my outbreak.
    “Whoa. Intense shit.” Bammy broke the silence. “You okay?”
    “How many more classes until beer o’clock?” I asked. I’d just confronted a demon from my childhood, and it turns out that not only does he not remember being a demon, but he may actually not be a bad guy. Was the demon mainly in my head? Were my memories wrong? Did I blow it all out of proportion? I was so confused, I didn’t know what to think or feel or believe. I know that when I woke up this morning, Luke Walcott was the enemy. Now, I