Burning Passion (Open)

“Disgrace.”
No, I'm not






I woke up with nothing but the words from the nightmare. It was a familiar nightmare, one I had almost every night and the only thing I remembered each time were those words. I didn’t blame my father for his words, though my poor mother had. The divorce had been immediate. My father hadn’t gone to jail even though he had tried to commit murder. He had been given a bail and his side of the family had been willing to pay it. They had always considered us witches so they had deliberately mentioned how disappointed they had been when I hadn’t been burned.

A shudder rippled through my spine as phantom flames licked their way around my body. I wouldn’t be rid of the feeling, ever, it was just one of the many scars I would wear to my grave.

I rolled over with a soft sigh, glancing at the little alarm clock that was precariously balanced on stacks of cards. The cards were in their respective boxes standing upright. I smiled, tapping my nightstand to watch the creation sway for a moment before remaining the way it was. It was then that I actually read the clock. Crap, I was late. Bolting from the bed, and knocking my two cats to the floor, I hurriedly got ready for school. I wore my usual torn t-shirt and jeans. The elbow length gloves came next and then the rings. I chose a simple lip ring before dashing from the room.

Mom was awake and waiting for me as I opened the door. I found her struggling to sit up. I sighed as I watched her small frail frame shake with effort. I smiled softly when she realized I was standing in the doorway. I grabbed the cup that appeared beside my face and shut the door on the nurse. I took care of her when I was home. The nurse was only there for when I left.

“What were you doing, Ma?” I asked as I walked to her bedside with the hot tea. She took it carefully. The cup still shook violently in her hands, it’s why the cup was half full. “You know I like taking care of you while I’m home. I’d drop out of school if I wasn’t terrified you’d chase me after me with a wooden spoon. I’d have to jump a fence just to get away from you.”

I laughed as she rolled her eyes. She knew I was teasing. It was our morning ritual. She would always try to do things on her own before I got there and I would always tease her each morning after giving her, her tea. We would usually have a scribble war if there was time.

Mom had lost her voice and most of the mobility in her body after a car accident a few years ago. She might have recovered from the ordeal if she hadn’t been fighting cancer. The doctors were all so depressing with their grim news. Each saying she wouldn’t last more than a month. Those words had been spoken a year ago. I was proud of my mom. She had always been frail but my birth had taken a heavy toll on her body. It was one of the many reasons my father blamed my living. He loved my mother, just not me.

I smiled softly as I watched Mom’s dark brown hues sparkle with happiness. Even if her naturally dark skin was pale, she still found happiness. Mom was ½ Native American. She loved to be in nature, so I took her through the park. It was also because of this reason that we moved to the country rather than remain in the city.

I felt a tug on my sleeve and returned my attention to Mom. ”Shouldn’t you be handing the nursing duties back to Sara and be off to school? Also I believe I won our war, Agoyoanye”

“I could always skip school.” I mumbled, knowing she could hear me anyway. She glared at me, earning her a chuckle as I leaned over to kiss the top of her head. “I’ll see you when I return from school. I will win the war.”

I left room to enter the kitchen where Sara sat. “I’m off to school.”

Sara gave me a guarded look and opened her mouth. I walked out the door. I didn’t want to deal with her questions or lectures. It was none of her business and I didn’t feel like elaborating. Shoving my hands into the make-shift pocket from strands in my torn shirt, I decided to walk rather than take the Impala my mom had bought for me when we moved. I hadn’t the heart to tell her that she shouldn’t have wasted the money. It wasn’t that I couldn’t drive, quite the contrary, I just wish she had used the money on something for herself.

I found the school rather quickly, realizing it was much closer to my house than I had previously thought. Well, damn, what to do now? The school doors weren’t open yet, much to the complaint of the students standing outside. I felt like laughing. I was in torn jeans and shirt with gloves. They were wearing sweaters and heavy coats. I wasn’t cold. Ignoring the glares that were shot in my direction, I jumped onto the stone wall. It was cold and the ‘playground’ was nothing to look at, just benches to sit on. I decided to stay on the wall since it was rather comfortable.

I leaned against the school with my headphones in and the volume all the way up. Metal flared through the electrical currents and made me oblivious to everyone else that was a waiting entrance to our eight hour prison. Eight hours that I could be spending making sure Mom was comfortable. A soft sigh escaped, not that I noticed, I knew why she wanted me to finish high school and go onto college. She didn’t want me to be disappointed later in life being stuck working a fast food cash register. She had said so.

“I’M TALKING TO YOU!”

The voice cracking, probably due to the cold, but when I looked at who it was I couldn’t help commenting on how he hadn’t hit puberty, which only served to make him even angrier. It was the school bully and his little gang of ‘friends.’ Jared was short, fat, and filled with nothing but meanness. He knew I was gay, which instantly made me his primary target, damn homophobes. The school didn’t know I’d almost become a roasted marshmallow.

“Yo, faggot, show some respect when someone’s talking to you.” Ace yelled up at me, Jared’s right hand man. Why was he speaking? I don’t know, however, the derogatory term caught my attention.

I glared at them causing one of them, probably someone new, to step backwards. The others usually jut fidgeted or glared back, but they refused to move. It must be some southern pride thing.

“I don’t speak moron.” I kept my voice cold as I glared at the group. I only riled them up. I sighed, mom was going to yell at me for fighting again.

The first punch landed nowhere close to me since I was still sitting on the wall. The guy yelped as his hand connected with freezing hard brick, which had me laughing. I yelped as I felt myself pulled off the wall, grunting as the concrete rushed up to meet me. I didn’t have a chance to get up as someone decided it would be a good idea to kick my jaw. The metallic taste of blood hit my tongue as my head hit the ground from the force of the kick. My entire head hurt and I wondered if they had cracked my skull open. It would get me out of school. A sharp pain eminated from my ribs as someone punched or kicked me, I wasn’t sure how they were hitting me really. I kicked blindly, smirking as I felt my boot connect with flesh. My satisfaction didn’t last long as I was straddled and a fist connected with the side of my face. Damn it, I couldn’t move when the others decided to hold me down. I may be thin and strong but damn it even Superman had a weakness. Wow, I feel bad for using such a reference, oh maybe that’s from the pounding I’m receiving.

I didn’t register the pain anymore as I fought to keep memories of the past locked away. I couldn’t deal with both past and present, not at the same time. Mom was definitely going to kill me. I would probably be black and blue tomorrow, not to mention littered with cuts. I felt like passing out when the hitting stopped followed by shouts and grunting. I didn’t really bother to look to see if someone had come to my rescue, choosing instead to roll onto my back with a groan and cover my eyes. The concrete actually felt good, what with it being cold and my body feeling …very hot.

(((OOC: Alrighty~ I actually wrote a lot O_O I know shocking xD Anyway, I'd like for your character to come 'save' Hadrian. The person could have always had a crush on Hadrian, they could just hate bullying, or they could have just felt pity for the guy. They can be upperclassman, same grade, or underclassmen. Hadrian is new to the school and it's only his fourth day. It's already known that he is in fact gay. They don't know that his father tried to burn him. I do require that they have at least one class together. If their upper then it's just a class they didn't get in lower grades and need to graduate. Underclass, their simply just that smart xD I want them to get stuck doing a project of some kind. That's how your character finds out about his soft side when he's with his mom. Any other time, well you can figure out how they keep 'bumping' into each other)))