This story is the sequel to Taming Fire. To those of you who wanted me to continue on with Taming Fire: I'm sorry but it was completed in my mind and there was no way I could expound on it. To solve this problem, I interwove a little of Tessa's story in with Jessie's. There still might be a few errors in this story, but at least it wasn't as rushed as Taming Fire. Please enjoy and remember to vote and comment!
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They pointed at him and called him monster. Danny Baker was just like any other twelve-year-old boy. He was gangly, unsteady on his feet as if unused to the body he was given, and he had the mysterious attributes of a metal spring, elastic and durable. There was only one physical trait, not of his body's doing, that earned him the name of monster by his fellow eighth grade peers.
He had burn scars on the left side of his face and body. His unruly dark, brown hair covered up the minimal scaring on the back of his skull. Yet the left eyebrow on his face was missing, the beginnings of ravaged, puckered skin replaced it going from his forehead down to his temple, spreading out across his cheek continuing down his neck, and disappearing into the collar of his shirt which hinted at more damage underneath his clothing. It was all courtesy of an unfortunate accident that happened when he was eight, an accident that took the life of his father.
It was a sad fact he was use to the name-calling, the looks of horror and revulsion. Danny continued eating his lunch at the back of the gym; it had been his preferred secluded lunch area since he arrived at the school. He had several such spots, but this one had a great view of the forest beyond the fence that marked the perimeter of the school grounds. Unfortunately, it was now compromised.
The leader his taunters must have seen the general direction of his escape, grabbed his buddies, and followed Danny to the spot just to call him monster repeatedly like a skipping record. He was saddened at the thought of never eating lunch at the picturesque spot in the future.
There was a commotion among the jeers. It grabbed Danny's wandering mind, dragging him firmly back to reality. He saw a girl, short even for her age, pushing her way through the crowd to the leader of the group. A bow was perched on her springy, strawberry blond curls. Her pretty green dress sparkled like emeralds. The shirt, distended by many frilly petty coats, swished as she walked. The buckled black shoes, with the lacey cuffed white socks, clipped violently on the pavement as she walked. She looked like an enraged porcelain doll.
She finally made it to the front of the crowd, to the leader who didn't notice her standing right behind him, hands on her hips, and a daggered glare coming from her beautiful green eyes. The boy continued his taunting, until the girl's hand clamped onto his shoulder and turned him around.
"Robby McDonovan, you're a heartless boy! Stop calling him a monster! I don't ever want to hear you call him a monster again!" Her voice was raised in anger; agitation enforced the steel behind every word she spoke. It had a stunning effect on Danny.
"You can't tell me what to do, Jess. My dad says the man's the boss in a relationship. So you have to do what I say, and I say either join in or back off!" The boy put his fists on his hips, and stood straighter in a bid to try and intimidate the girl.
Jess balled her fists, her glare turned to pure loathing. The boy stayed smug, sure that his dad was right and she had to capitulate to his wishes. She turned away from him, to his friends that stood well away from them.
"Leave!" The yell reverberated off the wall of the building making her voice sound like it belonged to a giant. The children turned tail and ran for their lives. Danny thought it odd that they should be afraid of her.
Jess whipped around, her fist in the air. It connected with the boy's nose and he went flying. He landed on his butt, his hands cradling his offended nose. Blood streamed down his face to stain his t-shirt.
With haughty disdain, she straitened the lose strand of hair that fell in her face and fussed with her dress. "I don't want to see you anymore. I don't like bullies and boys who think they're better than girls." She stepped over the shocked boy heading straight toward Danny.
Danny couldn't stop staring at the oddity, the porcelain doll that could punch like a boy. With both hands, she flattened her dress in the back and sat down next to him. She sat so close to him that her dress spilled over into his lap like froth spilling over the confines of the lip of a cup. He went to scoot over, to give her and her dress the space they seemed to need, but she latched onto his arm with a gentle yet firm grip.
She gave him a welcoming smile. "I'm Jess. What's your name?"
He took the time to scrutinize her to see if she was defending him and introducing herself out of pity. Only honesty and a hunger to meet the new kid sparkled within her eyes. Warmth from her touch spread from his arm and headed immediately to his heart. It was different from the type of warmth he felt from his mom whenever she hugged him. This was just as special as that, maybe more.
"I'm Danny. You didn't need to defend me like that. My mom always told me that if you ignored them, they would get bored and go away." His voice was scratchy from a day of disuse, causing him to clear his throat.
She looked at him as if he just popped out of nowhere. "Your mom's probably right, but I got rid of them faster and I made sure they're not going to bother you again." Without warning, she leaned in and started to trace the burn scar on his cheek with a finger.
Danny stiffened. No one, other than his mother, had ever touched his scars. The fact that he could FEEL her touch astonished him most. Ever since he was burned he hadn't feel much of anything on the left side of his body, but now he could acutely feel the lightness of her touch. He didn't know what to make of it.
"There you are!"
He tried to jerk away at the sound of the voice, their solitude intruded upon, but she only followed him. Jess didn't turn to look at the girl in the softball uniform, black hair in a ponytail, and blue eyes shinning with curiosity strolling toward them. She seemed to be fascinated by the different patterns his scars made.
"What do you need, Tess?" Her murmur puffed feather light onto his scars and he felt it. Everything that came from her, he felt. What did it mean?
The intruder sat on the other side of Danny, setting the burden of her baseball bag down at her feet. "I ran into your ex-boyfriend. He is your ex, right? You hit him and all."
Jess stopped touching him and turned her attention onto her friend. He missed the contact, yet was distracted by the fact that the stranger was sitting just as close to him as Jess was.
"Yeah, you were right. He's a jerk. I'll tell you what he said to me later," she made a face in remembrance. "This is Danny." She nodded her head in his direction.
Tess's eyebrows rose as she took in Danny. "You're cute. I can see why Jess dumped the retard. What did he do for the bloody nose?"
Jess shrugged her shoulders. "Called Danny a monster."
