Acquaintance

The next day, Heat stood before a school with some classrooms missing. He would've been questioning himself as to why they were still asked to come to school, but he lived in Zion, where students get online school on days the weather is too bad for them to come to school.

"Hey, Heat!" a familiar voice called. Heat watched as the familiar figure drew closer.

"Hey, girl from yesterday, whose name I have forgotten," he replied.

"Actually, you never asked."

"Oh….Heat Fury."

"Wow, two angry names, fancy. Zainab Mira Lumen. I wanted to thank you for saving my life yesterday."

"I heard I'm to say the same to you, I understand that you helped me."

"You talk weird."

Heat chuckled. "I, uh, I try to minimize that."

"I just found you beside me; I don't even know how that happened, but it was a relief."

As she spoke, flashbacks of the whole incident ran through Heat's mind. His body froze and his muscled clenched.

"Heat?" Zainab said in a low tone.

"Oh...Yeah?"

His body slowly resumed normal function.

"Didn't you hear? There are no classes today. Why aren't you jumping about like the other guys?"

His face lit up. "Not even online classes?!"

"Nope."

"Heck yeah! I'm going – actually, since you don't have to be home or at school yet, wanna hang out?"

Zainab was taken by surprise.

"Uh, sure, why not; can't say no to the savior of Tupou high."

Heat chuckled at that mention. It was working so far; he had managed to hide the fact that he spent the whole night working out and studying. Now, instead of having to go home to face what kept him awake, he could walk around with someone and keep his mind occupied.

"Great! How does the park sound?"

Zainab chuckled. "Quite far. But, that covers my workout for the week so yeah, let's go!"

Intent on making sure his mind never went ideal, Heat quickly sparked a conversation.

"So, I don't know anything about you. Do you have any siblings?"

"Yeah, my sister's in a University outside the country, and my brothers have moved out, all five of them."

"Wow, that much? I have only two younger ones; Daniel and Deborah."

"How long have you lived in Zion?"

"Sixteen years."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"Ha." Heat paused momentarily. "That explains your lack of a Middle Eastern accent."

"How could you tell?"

"People from around the world are distinctive in very tiny ways, and since Zion is made up of people of different ethnicities, I've been able to observe the subtle differences. It took me quite some time, but I eventually figured it out."

"That's impressive. People usually think my family's been here long; they only moved here just before I was born. My dad is Arab and my mom is a Jewish."

"I don't think I want to ever be at such a family gathering," Heat joked.

They walked together for about an hour before arriving at the park. When they did, a car pulled up beside them. It hard tinted windows and an expensive all-black appearance.

Zainab knew who it was and why they were there.

"Sorry, Heat. I gotta go. We'll continue another time."

"Very well. See you later."

As Zainab's car drove off, Heat admired the view before him. Children playing, at one section, adults reading books at another and people scattered around doing different things. From playing Frisbee with their dogs to just lying on the ground.

Heat heard the bushes close to him rustle. He moved closer to inspect. When he got closer, he saw a small green snake. At that moment, their eyes locked onto each other, and Heat was frozen once more. His heart began to race, he tried looking away, but he couldn't. The dark abyss with a sea of flames slowly reappeared, but before it could engulf him, he heard the number 2200. Once he heard that, everything ceased. He was free to move and the snake was gone.

"Two thousand, two hundred. What?"

Heat continued to ponder over the meaning of what he heard.

"Two thousand, no. Twenty-two…twenty-two hundred. Twenty-two hundred? Time? Maybe. That's 10PM. Crap."

Despite all his mind advised against, Heat decided to wait till 10PM to see if anything would happen.