This Should Feel Something Like Fire.

My clammy, itchy palms rubbed across the knees of my jeans for the fifth time in five minutes. I wasn't nervous or angry or any type of emotion associated with sweaty palms. In fact, I was completely neutral.
That was, until my phone vibrated in my pocket. Vivian is here w/ her sons. Idk what happened, but she needs a place to stay. the text from my mother read. Vivian was an old friend of my mother's who lived in San Diego.
And? I typed back. The answer I didn't want to receive came back two minutes later.
They will stay with us. You can share your room w/ one of her sons. I groaned out loud, receiving a glare from the teacher and half the class. "Mr. Quinn? Would you like to tell us what's so important that you're interrupting my class?" My science teacher, Mr. Gaskarth, glared.
I slouched down in my seat, trying to cover my bright red face. "No thank you, sir." He looked at me quizzically for a minute before abruptly going back to teaching.
Please don't make me. I discreetly responded under my desk.
I would put them both in the guest room, but you know how tiny that space is. You could move to the guest room if you wanted a room of your own... Rolling my eyes, I told her I would do it, but it was going to cost her. I knew she had good intentions, but it would have been nice if she'd at least asked if I minded sharing or giving up my room.
Whatever. Fine. "Mr. Quinn! If you have that phone out one more time I will give you detention!" Mr. Gaskarth growled. I immediately put my phone away. I did not need another detention.
I spent the rest of the day nervous. What if Vivian and her sons hate me? I wasn't used to sharing my house with anyone but my mom. My hands went itchy and clammy again. However, this time it seemed to be more than that. Sweat was literally pooling in my palms. Disgusting.
Thankfully, we were in between periods, and my next and last period happened to be a study hall, so I ran to the bathroom. Sweat seemed to be breaking out all over my body. What the hell what happening?
Rushing into a bathroom stall, I examined my hand closely. Smelling the sweat in my hand, it didn't seem like the salty perspiration that normally came from my body. It was almost like...water, and it was starting to fall over my hands and make a puddle on the floor.
Thrusting my hands over the toilet and turning them upside down seemed to break a dam inside me. Gallons of water flooded out of me. They say your body is mostly water, but what came from my hands was more than any body could hold inside. It was as if a waterfall was inside my hands. I couldn't do anything to stop it. I simply watched as water poured from my hand into the now almost overflowing toilet. Luckily, just as the water was hitting the top rim, about to fall to the floor, my hand suddenly stopped spewing water. Dizziness and exhaustion came over me, and I collapsed, leaning my head against one of the stall walls. Even my voice was tired, and I couldn't even summon the energy to call for help. I could feel shock setting in, and resting my eyes, I fell into a peaceful sleep.
~~~~~
"Kellin! Wake up!" A familiar voice beckoned. As I slowly came around, the fuzzy picture of Mr. Barakat, my English teacher - who also happened to be my favorite teacher - lightly tapped my face. "Are you alright? Do I need to call someone?"
"No...I'm fine...just tired..." I mumbled sluggishly. The words were tied to my tongue, not wanting to escape.
"What happened in here? Did you get sick?"
"Yeah...sick..."
A sharp sting radiated from my cheek across my entire face. "Kellin Quinn. Wake. Up." Mr. Barakat's voice became harsh, disciplinary. His eyes were hard. I have never not seen a smile on his face; it was quite terrifying. "I need to know what just happened."
Laying my pulsing head back on the stall, the memory came flooding back. "Um, water like - I don't know how to explain it without sounding crazy..."
"It's alright. I promise I won't check you into some hospital or think you're crazy." His eyes were back to kind, his demeanor calming from strict to laid back. He was drawing me in, making me want to trust him with anything. He laid a light hand on my shoulder, squeezing it. "It's okay. Now, what about this water?"
My cheeks burned as I whispered it to him. I was going insane, I knew it. "It came out of my hands. Like, I literally poured gallons of water from my hands. This can't be possible."
Mr. Barakat nodding understandingly. "I know what you're going through."
A sob unexpectedly forced its way out of my mouth, and I clapped my hand over my mouth in surprise and embarrassment. "How?" I asked through my hand.
He sighed. "It's probably better if I show you. Come with me." He pulled me off the floor, dragging me out of the bathrooms not caring who saw or what we looked like. I just tried to keep my head down.
"Wait, Mr. Barakat, don't you have a class right now?"
"Nope. It's my planning period. And you can call me Jack." He smirked, pulling me into the old teacher's lounge. Our school had recently built a new one, but hadn't had the time to renovate the old one into a classroom or something yet. "You might want to sit down. I'll answer any questions you have once I show you."
"Show me wh-" I was cut off by brilliant blues and teal greens curling around each other animatedly. Breathing in, I could smell the salt water from where I was sitting. I felt as if I were drowning in the ocean, but the water seemed calm as if it didn't want to hurt me. "Whoa." I gasped. It was impossible for all of this to be coming from Jack's upturned hand. "This isn't real. I'm dreaming, right?" I rambled as Jack seemed to suck the water back into his hand without batting an eye.
"Nope, you're definitely awake. Sorry."
"But, how - what are we?"
"Look, I know this is insane, but let me talk." I nodded for him to continue. He began talking very fast and very quietly. "So, basically there's this prophecy. It's really old and there's only ever been like five copies of it ever which is why you've probably never heard of it. Basically, there's two parts of a whole: fire and water. Together, they can probably bring down a continent single-handedly. Here's the thing: fire and water were split up by pagans and put in two separate beings so they would spend their lives doomed to find their other half. This was done out of fear and spite for the powerful elements. You're water, obviously, but there's someone out there that is fire. And you're supposed to be their partner. Whether it be a romantic relationship or just a friendship, you and whoever is your fire are meant to stay together for the rest of your lives to protect each other. There's only ten of these pairs to ever exist. They call us Elementals, and if you aren't careful, there are people out there who would kill you if they knew your power." He said bluntly.
I sat, silent and shell-shocked. This was real. I just saw the proof.
"Who's your 'other half'?" Now it was Jack's turn to look embarrassed.
"Um, Alex. Or Mr. Gaskarth, I guess." My jaw dropped.
"No way! You guys are so different from each other!" I gushed.
He laughed. "With Elementals, it's literally opposites attracting. Fire and water, calm and energetic, all that kind of stuff. But, if your powers are starting, that means your partner must be nearby. Powers stay dormant until you get near your partner for the first time."
"How far is 'near'?"
"Uh, I'd say probably within five miles." Five miles! Within five miles of me was the person I'm meant to be with for the rest of my life.
"How will I know it's him?"
"Oh, you'll know."
"How though?"
Again, Jack glared at the ground and his cheeks went red. "Well, there's many ways, but the most prominent one - well, at least it was for me and Alex - is uncontrollable lust."
I stared at him for a minute, processing. "Uncontrollable lust. So, that means..."
"You'll basically want to - for lack of better term - fuck his brains out."
I choked on air, not sure whether to laugh or awkwardly leave the room. "Good to know?" I phrased the statement like a question.
Yeah, well. Moving on..." He started, and I was happy to oblige. "The bell's gonna ring in like five minutes. Hand me your phone." I did so hesitantly, and he put his number in. "If you have any questions or you're just freaking out, call me. I know I'm your teacher and everything, but above that I'm here to help you and your partner, whoever that is. As is Alex. That's actually kind of why we moved here. We thought there was an Elemental in here." I gave him a weird look, and he explained. "Sometimes Elementals give off signals to other Elementals. I can't really explain it, but I knew we had to come here."
"Right...Thanks, Jack."
He grinned as the bell rang and the halls began to get louder as students rushed to escape. "Of course."
I left the room with wet, shaking hands and a confident attitude.