Firebug: Ch. 23 - ...There's Fire

Roman's head had been in the clouds all morning, daydreaming about the night before. From the moment he'd dropped Theo off at his dad's place, the Brit was the only thing on Roman's mind. The ghost of Theo's body was still warm in his arms. Roman wanted to hold him again so badly, they actually ached. Every time he shut his eyes, all he saw was Theo's face: pale, freckled cheeks, glowing pink from exhilaration; wide blue-green eyes, shining with desire; and those soft, ruddy lips... begging to be kissed. The image was so vivid and clear. Roman was positive if he thought hard enough, he could actually reach into the memory and-

"Yo, did you hear about Theo Quill?"

Roman crash-landed back into his body like he'd been hit by a speeding Mack truck. He peered around his open locker door instinctively, looking for the student who'd mentioned Theo. What he saw was a small group of underclassmen at the other end of the hall, crowded around the water fountain. He didn't know any of them, and there was no way in hell any of them knew Theo. So why were they talking about him?

"You mean that British kid?" A freshman girl with braided pigtails asked. "What about him? I heard he was a nerd... and a hopeless loser."

"You can add pyromaniac to that list," a sophomore boy answered.

Based on his voice, he was the one Roman had heard first. Roman already decided he didn't like him. Even if he wasn't spreading rumors about Theo, there was just something about his personality that rubbed Roman the wrong way. And that red hair of his was... uncomfortably familiar.

"We talking about the same Theo Quill?" a short-haired sophomore girl asked, her eyes narrowed and full lips pursed in a skeptical frown, "The one who broke out in hives when he thought his library books were half a day overdue?"

"Yep," the redheaded sophomore boasted, "he set fire to Old Man Hastings' class this morning. True story."

Roman couldn't believe his ears. He knew Theo was upset after his Curse had flared, which was why he'd sent Theo home. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect the reason behind it to be that serious.

"Bullshit!" Pigtails squawked, echoing Roman's thoughts.

"Is not," Redhead grinned, "my brother was there; saw the whole thing. Go on, Bro, tell 'em!"

Roman's gut twisted when Jasper's head raised up from the fountain. Although his face was partially hidden by his hoodie sleeve as he wiped his lips, he was clearly smiling.

"It's true alright," Jasper insisted, "Hastings almost blew a gasket when he caught him. You could still smell the smoke after the bell rang."

"Theo Quill did that?" the second girl's deep brown eyes were as big as saucers, "I don't believe it! He always seemed so nice, and... well, normal."

"Believe it, Francine," Jasper Junior sneered, "my brother's not a liar! Besides, is it really hard to believe Quill's unhinged after what happened at the dance? I mean, you saw how he was!"

"Quill's a headcase," Jasper confirmed, "just look what he did to me, during a friendly game of dodgeball."

He smiled wide, showing off his teeth. Even from several yards away, Roman could see his dental implants clearly, three shades whiter than the teeth surrounding them. Once he'd given the underclassmen a sufficiently big case of the ick, Jasper dramatically looked over his shoulder before continuing in a loud stage-whisper.

"You didn't hear it from me," he said, "...but Quill's done stuff like this before, at his old school. Apparently, he burned the whole gym to the ground... and someone died in that fire."

Unable to take anymore, Roman slammed his locker shut. The underclassmen all jumped in surprise, whirling toward him with looks of shame and guilt as he stormed over. Like a band of toddlers caught pilfering the cookie jar by their mother. The only holdout - of course - was Jasper, sneering at him with pompous disdain.

"The hell do you want, Queer?" Jasper spat, "Nobody invited you to this conversation!"

Roman's hands tightened around his backpack straps, but he held his composure well. Unfortunately, it wasn't his first time hearing such a slur at school. Having that word in that context hurled at him so viciously, though, was a new experience. And Roman was shocked by how much it hurt. Still, he was determined to play it cool.

"I think I heard the bell," he said, directing his comment to the underclassmen, "Get moving; you don't want to be late to class."

The other students shuffled off without another word, leaving Jasper and his little brother to face Roman alone. Jasper Junior probably would've hung around all day, itching to watch the scene unfold. A moment later, though, Jasper slapped the back of his brother's head.

"Scram, Jed," he ordered, "If there's any juicy deets, I'll fill you in later."

"Aw, Jas... c'mon-"

"Now, Dipshit," Jasper snarled, "...before I tell every girl in school you're a chronic bedwetter!"

The sophomore sprinted away so fast after that, Roman's hair fluttered in the breeze coming off him. With no other prying eyes or ears around, Roman didn't waste another second speaking his piece.

"Stop gossiping about Theo," he warned. "None of that garbage is true, and you know it. If I catch you doing it again-"

"You'll what?" Jasper scoffed, "Tell a teacher? Send me to detention? Ooh: I'm shaking."

He laughed at his own joke - which wasn't even funny - before suddenly advancing. Roman backed up at the same pace. Not because he was afraid, but because he didn't want to be tempted by staying within striking range of Jasper's shiny new teeth. It came as a shock when his back suddenly hit the lockers, leaving him with no retreat... and a bully with skunk breath inches from his face.

"Let's face it," Jasper jeered, "you're not gonna do jack shit. Because that's who you are, Durant: a spineless, useless, dick-sucking coward."

"There's a difference between cowardice and self control," Roman argued, desperately trying to keep his temper in check. "Back off. Now."

"Make me," Jasper spat.

Roman definitely could have taken that asshat apart if he wanted. And he really wanted. They'd started drawing a crowd, though, so losing his cool was not an option.

Instead, Roman tried to slip around Jasper and walk away, planning to go straight to V.P. Vasquez's office. He didn't make it two inches, though, before Jasper grabbed his jacket lapels and slammed him back against the lockers. The impact was so jarring, it made every locker shake and rattled the pipes under the water fountain. While Roman shook his head, trying to chase away the stars swirling around it, he could still hear the pipes gurgling loudly in the wall behind him.

A new sound quickly engulfed the noisy pipes, coming from the other students. Within a minute, they'd formed a tight circle around Roman and Jasper, howling and jeering and chanting, "fight, fight, fight!". Roman wanted no part of it, but Jasper wouldn't let up. He just kept shoving Roman into the lockers, laughing and calling him names... and no one even tried to stop him.

Finally, Roman had enough.

"Leave me alone, Jasper!" he growled.

"Or what?!" Jasper threw him against the lockers again. "You gonna hit me?! Go ahead! Try it! I dare you!"

Both Roman's hands balled up in fists, but still he resisted the urge. The pipes groaned louder in the wall behind him, echoing the building rage within him. As tempting as it was, Roman held his ground. No matter how badly he wanted to beat the bully to a pulp, a waste of space like Jasper just wasn't worth getting in trouble over.

When he seemed to realize that Roman wouldn't be goaded into throwing a punch, Jasper changed tactics. Before he could blink, Jasper's knuckles cracked against Roman's jaw. His head snapped back from the impact, hitting the lockers with a deafening, skull-splitting bang.

...And after that, everything happened faster than lightning.

The wall exploded behind Roman before he even realized Jasper had hit him. In a blink, the redhead was swept back by a massive wave of pressurized water, slamming him into the opposite wall. The floor cracked and broke half a second later, spewing a geyser of liquid sewage right in Jasper's face.

The crowd of students all ran for cover, trying to avoid the two-foot waves of water and human waste flowing down the hall. Poor Jasper, meanwhile, couldn't do anything except stand there. He was pinned in place from the force of both jets, gargling the stuff and shrieking like a little girl with her finger caught in a mousetrap.

The school's plumbing system must've had an emergency shut-off feature built in, as the pipes suddenly ran dry a minute later. Most of the watery sewage mixture found its way to the drains in the boys' and girls' room floors near the stairwell not long after. There was still plenty of it in the hall, though, and the smell would probably linger for weeks to come. When Roman looked over at Jasper again, the bully was curled up on the floor in the fetal position; soaked to the skin, shaking like a drowned rat, and whimpering incoherently.

About that time, a handful of teachers finally came out of the woodwork to investigate the scene. They looked from the damaged walls and floor to Jasper and Roman and back, doing their best not to gag from the stench. Coach Guff was the only one with a strong enough constitution to voice what they were clearly all thinking.

"What the Sam Hill happened here, Durant?!"

Roman just stood there, flapping his jaw. As hard as he tried, no sound would come out at all. He had no clue what just happened, even though he had a front-row seat. Nor did he have any idea how he hadn't gotten wet. Roman was right next to both water explosions... yet his clothes, hair, and skin were all bone dry. Not even his shoes were the slightest bit soggy.

"I'll check the restrooms," Ms. Kincade sighed, lifting her long, plaid skirt a little as she stepped over a puddle. "I'll bet a week's pay somebody raided my chem lab and flushed a handful of potassium... again."

Coach Guff pushed back his cap, massaging the throbbing vein in his forehead with a grumble. "I hate Halloween," he muttered. In the same breath, he peeled Jasper off the floor by his hood. "C'mon, Pierce, snap out of it! You'll be fine once we get you to the nurse."

As he started to lead Jasper away - at arm's length, obviously - the coach paused a moment and looked back at Roman. After his beady eyes studied Roman from head to toe for a few seconds, his usual steely gaze softened. Whatever he saw, it clearly worried him.

"You good, Durant?" he asked, "You look like you're gonna barf... and that bruise probably needs ice."

In all the chaos, Roman had totally forgotten he'd been punched in the face. He recovered in a snap, though, rubbing his aching jaw with a wince.

"Huh? Oh... n-nah, I'm okay. I'm good. Thanks anyway, Coach."

Once the principal got wind of what happened, he immediately declared the entire school a major hazard to public health. All classes were cancelled for the rest of the day, and they would remain so until every inch of the place was scrubbed clean and the damage was repaired. Not that any of the students were complaining, of course. Roman should've been stoked, too, but he wasn't.

While he waited for the bus to take him across town to the apartment, Roman replayed the scene over and over again in his head. This wasn't the first time weird, freaky things involving water had happened around him. First was the faucets attacking Chris the night he'd tried to assault Theo; then there was was that time the sprinklers went off in the locker room; and of course the incident at the Homecoming Dance.

Before, Roman had written them all off as what they'd appeared to be: accidents. Ever since he'd developed feelings for Theo, though, these "accidents" seemed to be happening much more frequently. And each event was worse than the last. It was impossible... unbelievable, even. After what Theo had told him about Elementals, however, Roman couldn't help but wonder all the same.

Was he responsible for all of it?