Sequel: Earth to Me ›
Generation Why Bother
You Set My Insides on Fire!
The first thing I did was what any normal kid my age would do: I took advantage of the technology I had on hand. Whipping out my phone with shaky-as-hell hands and dialing Tegan’s number, I prayed for the first time in years that nothing was as bad as my pessimistic side was making it out to be. The whole time my eyes were glued to the building. Chuck and Riley didn’t even bother asking any questions – they were likely just as confused as I was.
“Yeah?” she picked up, gasping the word as almost a statement rather than a question.
“Tegan! Why is the apartment on fire?!”
“It’s a long story that started when Andy and Anthony fought again, and Chance is working on putting it out,” she explained in a rush. “Something big happened though. You’re gonna wanna come up.”
“Well, is it safe?”
“Safe as it’ll ever be. Chance has it under control.” Nobody was speaking behind her. There was just the quiet whoosh of water flowing from Chance’s hands.
“Alright, we’ll be there as soon as possible,” I told her, then we hung up.
Chuck and Riley stared at me and looked like fish as they did it.
“Okay – we gotta get back to the apartment. Apparently it’s safe, but something big just happened,” I told them, deciding to skip over the whole Andy-Anthony fight over God knows what. They’d figure it out on their own and I didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news.
“Wait – is everybody s-safe?” Chuck whimpered.
I shrugged. “According to Tegan, yeah.”
Any more time spent not in the building would have been considered lollygagging, so we crossed the street and speedwalked back to the band’s flat. The fire was only contained to their room and only looked that bad because it had happened right at the window, so we took the chance and thus took the elevator. (That’s what I told myself, anyways, because I really wasn’t in the mood to use stairs. Like, at all.)
When we ran to the end of the hallway where their room was, Tegan popped out of the door and closed it before we even got there. Flapping her hands and putting a finger to her lips, she ushered us to shut up even though we hadn’t said a word.
Her voice squeaking from being contained, she whispered, “We just saw Anthony discover his power – he controls fire!”
“Um, I think we could’ve gathered that just by looking at the building,” Riley snipped.
Ignoring his attitude, she went on. “They were fighting and then all of a sudden, Anthony just shot a big wad of fire at Andy, but he was standing in front of the window and dodged it, and then the curtains caught on fire and spread outside.”
“Oh my God,” was all I could choke out. What if he hadn’t gotten out of the way?
“Everyone’s fine, the monitor is okay, there’s no real damage,” she explained. “The couches got fried when Anthony grabbed onto them in shock, but that’s…that’s nitpicking.”
When we had the details in our heads, Tegan sneakily opened the door like we were walking in on a room full of sleeping babies. Even though nothing was truly in terrible condition, it still felt like we were coming into a post-apocalyptic environment. The carpet near the window was scorched, one half of the couch was blackened and ashy, and the flames around the window were only partially dying down as Chance stood by, whistling a happy tune while dousing them with his bare hands.
He turned around at the sight of us and nodded cheerfully. Just another day at the office, I guess.
Mick was sitting on the non-damaged half of the couch, looking at the two culprits of this mess worriedly. He hardly even smiled at us when we walked in.
Anthony, gawking at his hands and pulling at his hair, was pacing furiously around the scene, his deep-set eyes wide and terrified as he mumbled foreign words and had to catch his breath every other second. Of the words he said under his breath, I caught “sorry” several times. His lightning scars, bright red, snaked down his trembling arms.
He walked near to Andy, who sat at the wall nearest to the intergalactic monitor with a knee pulled up to his chest. Andy looked like he just saw the world end and was scarred for life by it, his face slack except for his huge eyes. He brushed over everything Anthony was saying to him, no matter how sincere it sounded. At one point Anthony kneeled next to him and tried to put a hand on his shoulder, but Andy flinched big time and shot him this look of complete betrayal, wordlessly rejecting him.
As that happened, Mick got up from his seat and rushed over, whispering, “Tegan explained to you guys?”
We all nodded, too scared to speak.
“I pretty much walked in right as it happened,” he continued. “I’ve learned to tune out their fighting, but this time it got real, and then…”
Anthony sat next to his trembling friend and dug his hands deep into his eyes. “I swear to God I got stuck with the worst fucking power.” His voice kept cracking and giving out as he said it.
Andy side-eyed him and grumbled, “Well, maybe if you learn how to control it, it might actually help us.”
“No shit,” he whispered.
Standing up on wobbly knees, Andy began to walk away from the scene and towards Riley and Chuck, who still looked like they just got off the plane to Crazyworld. As he got up, Anthony apologized again with a clear voice; Andy just glanced at him, blank faced.
He sighed as he put his hands on their shoulders and coughed. “We’re still trying to iron out all the wrinkles, but this is what you’ve been reeled into. Welcome to the group, guys.”
“Yeah?” she picked up, gasping the word as almost a statement rather than a question.
“Tegan! Why is the apartment on fire?!”
“It’s a long story that started when Andy and Anthony fought again, and Chance is working on putting it out,” she explained in a rush. “Something big happened though. You’re gonna wanna come up.”
“Well, is it safe?”
“Safe as it’ll ever be. Chance has it under control.” Nobody was speaking behind her. There was just the quiet whoosh of water flowing from Chance’s hands.
“Alright, we’ll be there as soon as possible,” I told her, then we hung up.
Chuck and Riley stared at me and looked like fish as they did it.
“Okay – we gotta get back to the apartment. Apparently it’s safe, but something big just happened,” I told them, deciding to skip over the whole Andy-Anthony fight over God knows what. They’d figure it out on their own and I didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news.
“Wait – is everybody s-safe?” Chuck whimpered.
I shrugged. “According to Tegan, yeah.”
Any more time spent not in the building would have been considered lollygagging, so we crossed the street and speedwalked back to the band’s flat. The fire was only contained to their room and only looked that bad because it had happened right at the window, so we took the chance and thus took the elevator. (That’s what I told myself, anyways, because I really wasn’t in the mood to use stairs. Like, at all.)
When we ran to the end of the hallway where their room was, Tegan popped out of the door and closed it before we even got there. Flapping her hands and putting a finger to her lips, she ushered us to shut up even though we hadn’t said a word.
Her voice squeaking from being contained, she whispered, “We just saw Anthony discover his power – he controls fire!”
“Um, I think we could’ve gathered that just by looking at the building,” Riley snipped.
Ignoring his attitude, she went on. “They were fighting and then all of a sudden, Anthony just shot a big wad of fire at Andy, but he was standing in front of the window and dodged it, and then the curtains caught on fire and spread outside.”
“Oh my God,” was all I could choke out. What if he hadn’t gotten out of the way?
“Everyone’s fine, the monitor is okay, there’s no real damage,” she explained. “The couches got fried when Anthony grabbed onto them in shock, but that’s…that’s nitpicking.”
When we had the details in our heads, Tegan sneakily opened the door like we were walking in on a room full of sleeping babies. Even though nothing was truly in terrible condition, it still felt like we were coming into a post-apocalyptic environment. The carpet near the window was scorched, one half of the couch was blackened and ashy, and the flames around the window were only partially dying down as Chance stood by, whistling a happy tune while dousing them with his bare hands.
He turned around at the sight of us and nodded cheerfully. Just another day at the office, I guess.
Mick was sitting on the non-damaged half of the couch, looking at the two culprits of this mess worriedly. He hardly even smiled at us when we walked in.
Anthony, gawking at his hands and pulling at his hair, was pacing furiously around the scene, his deep-set eyes wide and terrified as he mumbled foreign words and had to catch his breath every other second. Of the words he said under his breath, I caught “sorry” several times. His lightning scars, bright red, snaked down his trembling arms.
He walked near to Andy, who sat at the wall nearest to the intergalactic monitor with a knee pulled up to his chest. Andy looked like he just saw the world end and was scarred for life by it, his face slack except for his huge eyes. He brushed over everything Anthony was saying to him, no matter how sincere it sounded. At one point Anthony kneeled next to him and tried to put a hand on his shoulder, but Andy flinched big time and shot him this look of complete betrayal, wordlessly rejecting him.
As that happened, Mick got up from his seat and rushed over, whispering, “Tegan explained to you guys?”
We all nodded, too scared to speak.
“I pretty much walked in right as it happened,” he continued. “I’ve learned to tune out their fighting, but this time it got real, and then…”
Anthony sat next to his trembling friend and dug his hands deep into his eyes. “I swear to God I got stuck with the worst fucking power.” His voice kept cracking and giving out as he said it.
Andy side-eyed him and grumbled, “Well, maybe if you learn how to control it, it might actually help us.”
“No shit,” he whispered.
Standing up on wobbly knees, Andy began to walk away from the scene and towards Riley and Chuck, who still looked like they just got off the plane to Crazyworld. As he got up, Anthony apologized again with a clear voice; Andy just glanced at him, blank faced.
He sighed as he put his hands on their shoulders and coughed. “We’re still trying to iron out all the wrinkles, but this is what you’ve been reeled into. Welcome to the group, guys.”