Chapter 7: Fire

Jane made the beers and I walked over, setting them down. Mr. Jackson happily took all of them, giving them out around the table. “Do you want anything to eat?” I asked them. I heard Jane putting Because of You by Neyo on and I looked at her in frustration. She laughed at me and put two thumbs up, acting like she didn't just beg me to swap places. I quickly sent a message to the bar via my KDS saying I didn't like her very much and she laughed even harder at that. I also had a laugh on my face and when I turned around I had all six teachers staring at me. Oops.

“I'll have the hamburger, dear. Give me the works!” Mr. Jackson said loudly with his hands in the air. Knowing him, he would be asking for shots in a minute and then he would be too drunk to eat his food and his wife had to pick him up again. Ms. Melissa, who sat next to Mr. Hayes, ordered a pasta and then immediately turned around to chat with him. She was wearing a -very- low cut top and even I could almost see her nipples. Mr. Hayes was next and I looked at him with a question in my eyes. He didn't say anything but just stared at me. “What would you like, Mr. Hayes?” I asked him with a smile. His nostrils widened a bit, just like the first time we met. ‘‘What do you recommend?’’ He responded. ‘‘Hmmm, my favourite here is the paella but the risotto is pretty good too, and I know Mr. Jackson loves the hamburger,’’ I said and Mr. Jackson gave a thumbs up at that. ‘‘I'll take your favourite then, I trust your judgment,’’ He said while still staring at me. ‘‘Okidoki,’’ I said. Okidoki? Get yourself together, girl. I wrote down the orders from the other teachers and went to Jane to help get drinks ready for other tables.

‘‘Hey Tris, is your mom dating anyone right now?’’ P asked me who was cleaning glasses. I turned around, hitting him on his arm with a tea towel. ‘‘No, and nobody will. I don't want you as my father in law, that would be weird.’’ I said with a laugh. ‘‘You're trying too hard P, you need to learn the act of seduction.’’ Jane said to P. P turned to Jane and raised an eyebrow. ‘‘And you're the master of seduction?’’ He asked her with an I-don't-believe-you look on his face. ‘‘I might know a trick or two, if you let us leave early I might teach you,’’ she answered with a cruel smile. Jane looked at me, put Dandelions by Ruth B on and we both started to sing loudly.

I think that you are the one for me

'Cause it gets so hard to breathe

When you're looking at me, I've never felt so alive and free

When you're looking at me, I've never felt so happy

I looked at the teacher's table, finding him looking at me with a small smile on his face. I smiled back, not caring now that he was my teacher. He was the hottest guy I had ever seen, it was normal to look at him. Every other woman in this pub, and luckily there weren't a lot, were gaping at him. Ms. Melissa was openly flirting with him, actually knocking her drink over. I think she did that on purpose. Not that he even looked. He was only 28 but something told me he was mentally a lot older. The dominating aura he had made him into an alpha male, demanding the attention of every room he entered. He had dark hair, almost black and his stubble was shaved to perfection. He was wearing a smart black t shirt and jeans, not being in his work clothes now. I could tell he had a set of abs under that shirt and I wouldn't mind touching them right now. With my hands. Or tongue. He was the definition of yummy in a male. Maybe I shouldn't have drunk that glass of wine. Or maybe I should have another one.

BOOM

An ear deafening sound. The ground shook. All the windows exploded, raining glass everywhere. Jane and I dove under the bar, not knowing what just happened. Jane looked at me with wide eyes and I dove towards her, shielding her from the raining glass. I heard people scream far away. My ears were peeping loudly and every sound was slowly repeated. I suddenly smelt the burning of material and saw everything coated in orange light. No. I looked outside, finding my mom's restaurant on fire. I ran. I didn't care there was fire and chaos everywhere. I ran into the burning building across the street, desperate to find my mom. Panic seized me, smoke filling my lungs. Everything around me was on fire, burning away and boiling hot. Suddenly Mr. Hayes was beside me, grabbing me almost painfully with a panicked look on his face. '“Beatrice, what are you doing?! You need to get out of here.” “NO! My mom is here.” I tried to dislodge myself from him, not caring about anything else but my mom. I looked around me, trying to see anything other than smoke and burning wood. Mr. Hayes pulled me to his chest, just in time before a burning beam fell on me. I didn't even scream, the situation too unreal.

The smell of fire was all around me but the scent of cinnamon washed over me, calming me down. ‘‘You have to go. I will find your mom.” He promised me. ‘‘You don't even know what my mom looks like. And no, I'm not leaving without my mom, she's here.” I said while half choking on smoke. I tried to step away from him but it was like fighting against rock, holding me solid in place. He looked around, his eyes turning into black slits. His arms held me in place, flush against him. He wasn't moving, not even breathing. If I wasn't in this situation, I might have found that weird but when I heard a scream in the corner, I whirled around and saw a hand waving for help. “Mom!” I screamed.

Suddenly we flew through the rubble, me on Mr. Hayes his back. He put me down and we were in the corner on the other side of the restaurant. What the hell? Mr. Hayes pulled my mom out from under a stack of pallets which were smoking, not even fazed by the heat. I helped him get my mom upright, the fire around us getting bigger and the smoke thicker. The sound of crisping wood filled my ears. My mom was half unconscious and had a bloody wound on the side of her head. ‘‘Someone attacked me.’’ She rushingly said. ‘‘What?’’ I looked at my mom with open eyes. ‘‘Mom, you must've fallen down and hit your head, why would someone attack you?’’ I said and gave her a hug.

Mr. Hayes was trying to make a path for us, touching the hot beams without even flinching. I started to cough from the smoke and black spots filled my vision. Mr. Hayes looked back at me in panic and suddenly he was right in front of me, touching my face in concern. ‘‘We have to go, right now.’’ He said in a dominating voice. ‘‘Get my mom out first.’’ I said to him. '“No.” Was his curt answer, trying to lift me up. I stopped him, grabbed his arms and pleaded. ‘‘Please. please get my mom out, please,’’ looking into his eyes. A look of pain crossed his features and he grabbed my mom, flew her out with his superhuman speed and then I was alone. I looked around me, taking in the destruction of this once beautiful place. In the corner of the room I saw a red sort of paper with rope in it. I walked towards it, thinking it would be important. It looked suspiciously like something I had seen on tv before. But then my vision went black, not being able to breath anymore due to the smoke and the last thing I saw was the burning floor meeting me.