Chapter 7 || Friends Will Help

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- (long chapter, I beg your forgiveness, readers)

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- Kai's POV -

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Oh my Notch. What should I do? There isn't a way to hide this: my eyes were the colour of fire, for goodness sake. And I doubted there was some quick remedy, either. Why don't they drill us about these sorts of things in school? I would much rather know how to avoid situations involving embarrassment then algebratic fractions - but, no. Math trumps all.

I could not handle this. My eyes were flickering like flames, like there was a light behind them being reflected through. Amber was strange enough, but fire? That takes the damn title of 'Not Socially Accepted As a Normal Thing'. What should I do? Notch, I have no idea.

Before I could do anything to cover up, Xavier's face appeared in the mirror. "Hey, bro, what's up?" he questioned, looking concerned.

I dragged my hands down my face. "I don't know. I don't know! I probably have some kind of disease!"

He scoffed. "Yeah, no. Well, I hope."

I covered my face with my hands, groaning, peaking through the gaps between my fingers. "Real supportive, mate. Appriciate it."

Smirking, he saluted sarcastically. "You're very welcome. Seriously, man, it's fine. No one will notice."

"It's not the people noticing I'm worried about, it's the possibility that I'm dying."

"Be more optimistic. Maybe you're just developing superpowers."

"As if," I said, pulling my hands from over my eyes.

"Anything could happen," he stated simply, walking over to punch me lightly on the shoulder. "Now c'mon, the others are worried."

I rolled my eyes at him, following him out of the bathroom, still worried but less, you know, fearing my life. Sometimes words can do that.

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"Kai, what the hell," Tali commented, freezing in her tracks at the gate of her school.

I turned my face away from her sharply. "Shut up, Tals."

She started giggling into her hand. "You are so screwed," she said, holding back laughter.

I relished in feelings of disappointment. "What supportive friends and family I have," I ranted, flipping around to glare at Tali. "Really, I'm so thankful. Truly."

She pressed her hand to her heart in mock gratitude. "Aw, it's okay, big bro. We all love you. Sometimes."

When we got home, Mum wasn't there, and Dad was outside with Aphrodite and Rudy. Dite had been Mum's horse, pale as snow, back years ago; now, she was too old to even allow a saddle onto her back. We all still liked to treat her, though, especially since Aslan had passed on only a few months ago. Dite never really seemed the same afterwards. They'd been best friends for decades.

"Hey, Dad?" Tali yelled in his general direction. "Where'd Mum go?"

"Working late, Tal. She should be back soon."

"But I need her to help me! I have this thing in my room . . ."

They kept screaming out to one another across the length of the house while I headed back towards my room, passing my sister's and Iris's door, which remained shut, as it always seemed to be. I sighed. Notch, I missed her.

Knocking on the door, I forced my voice to sound upbeat and hopeful. "Rainbow, you ready to come out yet? Xav totally messed up our science prac today. I've never seen so much slime in one room before. I can tell you about it, if you'd like."

And, as it always was, silence answered me instead of my best friend's sharp voice.

"Okay, I'll leave you alone, then. I'll be in my room, alright?" No reply.

I bit the inside of my cheek and moved on, slumping down into my pillow, covering my face with my hands. Oh Notch, my face. My stupid eyes. Mum was going to flip. What would I do? Holy, holy Nether, I was so screwed, Tali was right. I need a story to tell them. Quick, Kai, think, before Mum shows up and you have nothing you can say -

A soft knock on the door snapped my attention away. Sitting up, I called out "Who's that?" Can't have Dad finding out before Mum does, lord. His joking would make things even worse.

A soft voice answered. "Rainbow," it said.

I got up and opened the door; Iris was there, in some of the clothes brought back from her house, blue hair oily, eyes somber and tired but still there, in front of me. I wanted to hug her, but she looked so delicate and small that I was worried I'd break her or scare her off.

"You're - hi," I stuttered, hardly moving a muscle; they were frozen anyway. "How - how are you? Are you okay?"

She raised an eyebrow, a rare talent that brought her back to life again. "I'm fine, Dare, although you don't exactly look it."

I groaned, loudly, knocking the back of my head against the wall behind me. "It's bad, isn't it," I questioned despairingly.

"Nya will explode."

"Uuuugh."

"It could be worse. They could be hot pink with a touch of red."

"Those colours do not work together."

"Exactly. Now move aside, Dare, before I elbow you in the face."

I was plainly shocked; I hadn't seen her in over a week, and Nya had just said that her improvement was slow, not randomly peaking. She appeared back to all she used to be, rudeness and sass the like. I was a little confused.

She sat down on my bed, glancing around the room. "Dude, learn to pick up after yourself."

I blushed. "Shut up, Rainbow. At least I know how to shower."

"You shut up. I've been in the same room for a week," she bit back, lying back down onto the bed, stretching out.

"You guys sound like a pair of bickering six-year-olds," said Tali's muffled call.

"Shut up, Tali," Iris and I said in union. Tali scoffed in reply.

"Anyways," Iris started, "we need to sort out what the hell happened to your eyes, Kai. Let's begin with an explanation."

"It wasn't my fault," I said.

She glared. "I'm sure it wasn't. I'm sure your eyes just spontaneously decided to turn bright orange, because it made them feel pretty."

I began a hasty story. "I was hanging under the Oak Tree, thinking about fire for some reason, and then Xav was like 'Dude, something's up,' and I was like 'Yeah, okay, tell me,' and he was all 'Your eyes, man,' and I was really confused but I listened to him and went to the bathroom and when I got there and looked in the mirror, bam, orange eyes, which was weird as hell but I gotta admit, a little bit cool, since, you know, as you said, it could be worse, I mean they are a sort of badass-ish fiery colour -"

"Kai, take a breath," Iris said.

"Right, right." I took a deep breath. "Anyhow, Mum's about to get home and she'll wonder what's going on and I'll have nothing to tell her because I don't even know what's going on. Do you know? Please tell me you have some vague idea," I begged.

She shook her head. "I have absolutely no idea. Zero."

"I am so screwed."

She nodded. "Yes. Yes you are."

I gave her a small smile. "But at least you're here to witness how screwed I am."

She grinned back. "Just the sight I've been looking forward to."

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"Kairen Steve Ethan Dare, you mean to tell me that you have absolutely no idea why your eyes are orange?"

I nodded. "Absolutely no idea."

Mum groaned. "Alright. Well, then we'd better get it checked out. We'll go see a Medic tomorrow morning."

"You got it." At least she didn't explode like I expected. I wondered why - it was exactly the sort of thing she'd usually fuss over. A spontaneous situation like this was something I never expected her to, well, overlook and underestimate.

Before she broke her attention away from me, she asked a soft questions, meant for my ears only. "And what happened to Iris?"

I whispered back to her, worried that Iris'd was close by and could hear us talking about her. "I don't know, one minute she was deadly quiet, and the next, normal."

Mum bit the inside of her cheek, like I do. "Let's just take it as a good thing and move on. She should get back to school as soon as she can."

"Agreed. Everyone misses her." Well, except for the kids who are scared of her. And the ones who are jealous of her. And the ones -

"Will she be okay there? Completely safe?" Mum asked, nervous. "I don't want her back there if she isn't ready."

I raised my hands and leaned back. "It's all good, Mum. I've got her back."

She gave me a lopsided grin - small, but still there. "I'm sure you do."

Quiet followed again as I helped Mum clean the empty glass bottles of her potions store, but I broke it quickly, too curious and in need of advice. "Hey, Mum," I started, trying to put the words together nicely, "did you ever, uh, have to help your friend through ... grief?" I stopped polishing for the moment, and so did she.

I don't know what I was expecting her to say, but it wasn't "Too many times."

I dropped my gaze and spoke hushed, trying to feel my way through Mum's stain on her memories without making anything worse. "Who were they?"

As much as I felt the gentleness was necessary, Mum kept speaking with normal tone; but she didn't look up from the glasses in her hands.

"We had a group of ten friends together in uni. Emerald was there, and your dad, and me, Emily, Vent, Mackenzie, Ethan, Jordan, Gemma and Clare. Now, only six of us are left."

I froze up a bit, shocked. "Emily and Mackenzie," I said, "the two girls Tali was named after?"

"Tali was named after three girls. Emily and Mackenzie, yes, but also my sister. Tali Analove was too young when she died." The grip Mum had on the glass was getting tighter, her knuckles turning white.

Mum had told us about Tali Analove, the aunt I never got to meet. Once our family and Harry, Dad's good friend, had gone to Bloquear to lay flowers on her grave. That had been the only time I'd seen tears in Mum's eyes, until only a week ago, when we'd stumbled into Emerald's house only to find that Emerald wasn't there anymore. She wasn't anywhere.

"What happened? To all of them?"

"Emily was attacked on the streets, Tali was caught in a fire. Clare and Mackenzie, they ... died for what they believed in."

There was a quick silence, before Mum kept speaking again. "Jordan was distraught after Mackenzie's death. As Gemma. Emerald ... Emerald felt guilty about Clare. I did too." Mum shut her eyes. "Emily and Mackenzie, Clare and Tali and Emerald; they're all gone, now. I remember when Jordan cried at the funeral. He loved Mackenzie more than he ever knew. Neither did she." Her heavy sigh made her hands tremble a little. "Emily's death we all felt, which made it easier, I suppose; your friends have and will help you with that. It's always easier with friends."

I could scarcely be able to imagine not having any of them around. Eve and her pranks, Xav and his jokes, Flora and her kindness, Scott's daring attitude, Zoe's lazy laugh. Iris and the bright life in her eyes. "Yeah," I said. "Yeah, I get that."

Still, something perplexed me. "What happened to Clare and Mackenzie?" I inquired cautiously. "How did - how did they die?"

Mum's hands were trembling wildly now, and I immediately regretted asking. "Mackenzie took an arrow when I could have stopped it," she said, voice oddly steady compared to her limbs, "and Clare - Clare, she saved us all. I should have stopped that, too."

The glass started to melt in Mum's grasp, the bottles loosing their shape and concaving in red liquid. But Mum kept speaking.

"Kai, there's a reason you have those eyes. They're the colour of fire, the colour of my heart, the colour of your soul." The glass continued to melt, and I stared uselessly as she kept on speaking calmly to me, her blue eyes clear even though they should have been filled with burning pain as the glass burned. Flames licked up her arms but didn't catch her clothes alight, flickering from the molten glass, now red as lava. I was getting panicky.

"They are the colour of fire, Kai, because you were born with the fire inside you."

I couldn't take it anymore. "Mum!" I yelled. "Your hands!"

She glanced down, and, as if it were simply a bother, dismissed it, turning back to me. For a second, she looked insane, fingers dripping with red. It slowly started to glow dimmer, I noticed in relief. It was cooling.

She sighed and looked down, a frown on her lips. "I'm so sorry about that, Kai. Sometimes it happens."

I blinked. "Sometimes it happens?"

She flashed me a warm smile, but when I thought of warmth all I could visualise was fire. "I have a lot to tell you about. But not right now, when Tali and Iris are around. I'd rather not let the world know. Don't tell them anything."

"I - I, uh - okay." I finished lamely, forgetting for a moment what words were.

Mum's hands were covered in cooling glass, but it was soft enough to remove without mess. She disposed of it and turned back to me before she left.

"Remember to feed the pets," she said, walking out of the room.

She left me with my thoughts, but they were in turmoil. Fire? What was with everything and fire? The colour of my soul? My soul doesn't have a colour, it's a soul, for Notch's sake! There must be a double meaning about this. Yeah, maybe she's just creatively telling me to do my homework. I've never been much good with metaphors.

Yet still, she had melted hard, steady glass with her hands. That part could hardly be denied attention; nor could it be given reason.

I went to sleep that night with images of fire burning in my mind, and they followed me into my dreams.

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"Ice! You're back! We've missed your cold butt around here," Xav called to Iris and I as we headed towards the Oak Tree. For once it seemed as though he got to school on time.

Iris smirked. "What's up, Merch?"

"My ego. It has soared into the sky since you've disappeared," Xav said, ruffling up her hair. She ducked away and glared at him, and I smiled. Everything seemed back to normal. I remembered Mum's words: It's always easier with friends.

He gave me a strong fist bump and walked in between us, arms around both our shoulders. He was always the one to invade person space with that no-care, lazy air of his. Flora waited in the grass, and waved to us enthusiastically when she saw us coming. Iris scowled.

Xav ran ahead and I leaned over to my best friend and whispered to her. "Don't be rude," I warned. "She's only going to try to be nice. Just be patient with her questions."

Iris sent me a sharp sideways look. "You don't need to tell me how to socialise, Dare."

"Sometimes I feel like you were never taught," I returned, shoving her lightly, grinning.

When she turned her head away from me, I realised I'd said the wrong thing. "I was taught fine," she spat, walking fast away from me, blatantly ignoring Flora, sitting down against the thick trunk. She didn't look at anyone, just lifted her head, avoiding the stares she was receiving. "She's back," I knew they were saying. "Ice is back."

"Great, now you've got her in a bad mood. Awesome going, genius," I muttered. Sometimes, Iris seemed to mimic a bratty child in her mood swings. As much as the day might be beautiful, with birds singing and the sun shining, nothing could stop an oncoming Ice storm. There was little that could be done to avoid her sulks.

We all knew it and didn't care much about it, though; Flora and Xav and I, Scott and Zoe and Eve. It was just part of being her friend.

And man, was I thankful to be her friend.

The bell summoned us all to class with repetitive sharp rings, and all four of us save Flora groaned in despair. "You guys should be more optimistic," she scolded. "School can be great if you give it the chance."

Iris groaned again, louder.

Flora smiled at her. "It seems optimism isn't achievable for everyone," she joked. Her green eyes danced, amused. She was pretty and very sweet; Xav was a lucky dude. Back in middle school, Flora had given me the heart eyes, but they turned pretty quickly towards Xav once she started hanging around with us. They'd been together ever since, and not once have I received any more heart eyes. Not that I'd really be interested, anyway. I didn't have time for that stuff. It all seemed way too hard to manage. I'd rather eat and sleep.

"Let's go," Iris declared, grabbing my shirt and dragging me off towards the classrooms. I tugged it out of her hands and skipped around in front of her.

"Hey, Rainbow," I said.

"What?" She replied, sounding annoyed at the world in its general state of being.

I grabbed her shoulders and leaned in to whisper beside her ear. "Are you ready ... to lose?" I yelled, leaping back, and with a swift grin she ran after me, like we always do in the mornings. Call us kids, but it kept us lively.

We raced to our lockers and chucked our bags in, grabbing our books with haste and rushing to be the first to get to the classroom. In the end, she won by a second.

"You're not fast," she commented, doing her best to control her breathing. Her face was flustered.

"Good observation," I retorted, slinging an arm around her shoulders. She did the same. She wasn't cold, like the name Ice suggested. She was very warm, like - Notch, Kai, no more thinking about fire.

Our natural studies teacher reached the door about the same time you did. He gave us a curious look. "You two look out of breath," he said. "Haven't been doing anything inappropriate, have you?" If he noticed my eyes, he didn't mention anything.

I laughed. "Don't worry, Mr Hayes, I've never gotten involved with illegal substances before, and I certainly don't intend to."

Iris nearly choked. "We raced here." She added.

Mr Hayes looked us up and down. "Good thing you keep your fitness up, then. Now come inside."

When he turned away, Iris smacked my head. "Hey, what'd I do?" I complained, rubbing my hand over where she'd hit me softly, but sharply.

"You idiot," she said, sounding embarrassed. Weird, she hardly ever gets embarrassed. "Now you've made us sound like drug dealers."

"Hey, you know that I'd never get into toadstools," I said, flicking her forehead. She glared at me. "Besides, Eve said they're gross."

Instead of glaring like I'd expected from her, she dropped her gaze. "Notch, Kai, that wasn't even what he was even asking about. Just - Notch, just - never mind." She was sounding embarrassed again. Why was she blushing? Wow, the mood swings of fury have hit a new level.

When we got into class, we sat in our seats, ones in the middle of the classroom. Luckily we weren't late. As soon as we pulled our books out, Mr Hayes clapped his hands. "Right, now, we're going to be starting a new section on realm mobs. Anyone know what they are?"

When no one raised their hand within the first few seconds, Iris lazily spoke up. "They're mobs who come from a realm, either the Nether or the End."

"Very good, Ice. And does anyone know what, specifically, these mobs are?"

Voices starting popping up around the class. "Ghasts," said one, belonging to Lysa, the pale nerdy girl who sits at the front. "Blazes," said another, this time being Tony, the dark-skinned dude who sat a few seats down from me. "Wither skeletons," added June, the black-haired and olive-skinned class president. Man, June was annoying. Always going on about rules all the time. "Zombie pigmen," Renee called. "Herobrine," said Helix, causing the class to break out in laughter.

"The joking is unappreciated, Helix," Mr Hayes said, clearly unamused. Herobrine was some lame kid's story about some creepy dude who would burn down villages and lived deep in the Nether. I'd never actually heard the full story. Mum had refused to tell it to me, now matter how much my kid self used to beg. I have a better one instead, she would always say. I still wondered about it sometimes.

The class's laughter died down, and everyone turned silent again, devoid of ideas.

"Endermen," Iris said.

I flinched inwardly, and the class's quiet turned even more deep. Everyone had heard of Emerald and Jonathan McKinnon's death. Everyone had mourned over the loss.

Finally, Mr Hayes spoke up. "Correct," he stated, tone clear. "Everyone, correct. Ghasts, zombie pigmen, blazes and wither skeletons all lie within the Nether, a place hopefully none of you will have to see. Only the bravest adventurers and mappers travel to that realm. Endermen come from the End. I'd teach you about the End itself if I could, but as luck would have it, no one has ever set foot within it. We know nothing of its whereabouts, nor of its features. We do know, however, that Endermen are spawned there. That stands as the limit of our knowledge, unfortunately."

I kept glancing sideways at Iris. She looked normal, staring intently at Mr Hayes, but I had to watch out for small signs. I couldn't have her storming out of class on her first day back. Biting the inside of her cheek was always a good clue. It meant I had to throw a piece of paper at her.

"As a class, we're to start learning about the Endermen as of today. To begin, let's read through chapter -" A knock on the door interrupted him. "Excuse me," he apologised, opening the classroom door.

In stepped Mrs Harley, the principal, a middle aged woman with hair, skins and eyes coloured a deep brown. She had three students trailing her tail; everyone in the class analysed them immediately.

There were two boys and a girl. Her hair was brown and cut at her shoulders, skin lightly tanned and eyes a pretty aqua blue. Her mouth was a confident smile as she gazed around the room.

The two boys both shared the same purple eyes; an odd colour, but then again, they were similar to Ethan's shade, and I'd seen eyes like that in crowds along city sidewalks on occasion. One had black hair and skin so pale in almost glowed, and his lips were pressed into a hard line as he surveyed us. The other was a lot more interesting to look at; his blond hair was wild and spiked, the tips dyed the same purple as his eyes, and his skin was tanned and golden. His face was in built more similar to the boy's beside him; but his smile was as bright as the girl's. I guessed them all for siblings, maybe. Actually, it's probably just the two boys. The girl looks pretty different overall.

Mrs Harley stepped to the front of the desk, the new kids lined up beside her. "Class 10A, these are new students," she started, and I could feel the class's excitement; new kids always meant new drama.

She gestured towards each one as she introduced them. "These are Kylie Jacks, Ember Black, and Phoenix Black." She beckoned them forward, one by one. "Introduce yourselves," she encouraged. Mrs Harley was nice, always fretting like a mum.

The girl, Kylie, stepped forward first. "I'm Kylie Jacks, of Dargon," she said loudly and clearly. Dargon? Wow, all the way from the far north. "Fifteen years old. Overall, I'm pretty cool," she finished, making a few people giggle.

The next one stepped up - Ember. "My name is Ember Black, of Dargon. I'm sixteen." Although he had seemed hard and tough at first, he really just was shy. He looked down from the class quickly.

"I'm Phoenix Black, this dude's brother," he said, slapping Ember on the back. Phoenix's smile at him was returned by a glare. He turned back to the class, eyes bright and smile brighter. "I'm fifteen, turning sixteen on the morrow."

On the morrow? Weird way to speak, I thought. Somehow the strangeness suited him. Then, he flicked his head around and caught my gaze. And Holy Lord Notch, I blushed. Wow, okay, no, I'm just embarrassing myself. Quit it, dork.

He smiled at me. He appeared friendly, even in the way he stood. I glanced away to avoid further embarrassment. His brother had looked away from him with a huff, instead staring at the ground. Kylie was starting to awkwardly hang in front of the class, the silence gone on a little too long. I was way too aware of how red my cheeks were under Phoenix's smile. Oh my Notch, this is terrible. Time seemed to stretch on forever.

Finally - Notch, finally - Mrs Harley clapped her hands together. "I see three spare seats, Mr Hayes, so continue on with your class with these students as new arrivals. Enjoy your lesson, students!" She called cheerily, and we all waved her off. It was a crime to not be nice to Mrs Harley.

Kylie grinned and seized Ember's wrist, pulling him to the right hand corner a row from the front, where two empty seats lay. Phoenix glanced around and found the only other spare; the one beside Iris, on the opposite side to where I was seated next to her. When he leaned down to pull his books out, I hastily stared downwards, realising too late I'd watched him cross the front of the class and stroll to his seat. Watched him with pink cheeks, most likely. Curse human body functions.

The lesson continued with talk of ghasts' power and what could be reaped from their remains; tears, used in potions. Not really my stuff. I leant back, a bit bored, and glanced over my shoulder again. Bad, bad idea, because Phoenix must've had the same thought. His eyes were a mysterious, deep purple, deeper than Ethan's were, and brighter. I looked away immediately. This was so awkward.

"Kai, what's the main power source a ghast can draw from its surroundings?" Mr Hayes called on me suddenly, and then all eyes turned on me.

I knew what it was: heat. A simple word, only one syllable. Yet I couldn't say it.

"Unable to answer?" The teacher questioned, raising his eyebrows.

Heat, fire, fire, fire - flames, oh Notch, no, not again -

And then the world blacked out.

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Yes, I know what you're thinking. And no, Kai isn't gay. I ship Kairis too, y'all.

(Gold star to anyone who can name a sexuality that is neither gay nor straight.)

Sorry for the long update. Action and FIRE will be happening next chapter, alongside the return of many characters from Herobrine's Revenge. I'm quite excited for it, actually! Long live plot ties.

Thanks to @Astroblaze for Ember and Kylie!

(Also, I promise, no more drug references, as fictional as they may be. Many people on this website seem to get mad at me whenever I curse *rolls eyes*)

QOTC: What's your favourite hair colour on a person?

(mine is brown, i think. i've found i crush on people harder if they have brown hair *cough* various fictional characters *cough*)

See y'all next update!

- Jazz

Bonus: So far I've crushed on Zach, Mackenzie, and Clare. I'm in deep crap.