Repairing Cracks

He opened the door; the visitor held in her hands a box of pizza. Heat stepped outside and closed the door behind him.

"What do you want?"

"To bring you food; clearly you need it."

"But we don't want it."

"I saw your siblings' faces, trust me, they do. This is a peace offering."

"You're making a peace offering to someone you're convinced tried to kill you?"

"Yup."

Heat hesitated but eventually opened the door for Mel. "Guess what you guys are having for dinner today!" Mel said

"No way!" Dan exclaimed with a glowing face radiating gratitude and intense joy.

He ran to the kitchen and took out plates and cups. As Mel gave the two youngsters slices, the level of gratitude and joy written on their faces amazed her. From that reaction alone, she could tell that this was a special treat to them. When they finished eating, Debbie got rid of the trash and plates.

"Thank you so much, um..." Dan Paused.

"Mel. Call me Mel," she said.

"Thank you so much, Mel."

Dan ran into his room to finish his homework.

"Thanks a lot, Mel." Debbie thanked as she ran past and entered the same room.

"Wow, you have some really sweet siblings. Are you sure they're yours?" Mel paused. "Why didn't you eat anyway?"

Just as he did the first question, Heat ignored this one too. After a while he spoke, "Why did you really come back here?"

"Who said I had any plans of leaving in the first place?"

"I did."

"Oh yeah, turns out this really is your house."

"Well you're free to get out now."

"Nope, not going anywhere."

"Yes, you are!"

"Make me." Mel stuck her tongue out at him.

"Fine, it's late. You may sleep here if you want to. On the couch, that is."

"Isn't there any other room?"

"They're out of bounds for you."

"Fine, whatever."

Heat headed for his door.

"One question," Mel said. "What if the food was poisoned?"

"I have heat vision, I know what temperature the pizza and the drink should be. If any was slightly different, I would've concluded you added something to it."

"That's impressive."

"Ok, well when I wake up tomorrow morning, I don't want to see you here."

"Or else?"

"You don't wanna know."

Heat entered his room.

****

Morning arrived. The first thing Heat did was rush to his door; the stranger called Mel was no longer there. He barely slept all night, extremely uneasy from all the questions he couldn't answer, including whether she was going to do something. Throughout the night, his ground reception detected her motionless on the couch. She kept her word, leaving before dawn broke.

There was a different feeling in the air when he went to school. For the first time in a while, it felt welcoming again. The whole of yesterday, he hadn't heard the voice. He walked into the main hallway; a ray of light hit him. He took in a deep breath, relishing in the moment.

"How long are you gonna stand there?"

"Oh hey, Supido! Thanks for yesterday."

"You're welcome. I see the tattoo is still there."

"How are you able to see it?" Heat covered his sleeve.

"Does me being a wolf amen mean nothing to you?"

"Right. So, do you know anything about the tattoo?"

"It is a sign that someone has taken some of your spa."

"Could you please tell that person to take everything?"

"You're a blockhead, aren't you? Spa is your life force, your energy, it's the reason why you're alive, every living thing and even the earth itself contains spa. Your spa is fused with Hebi's, meaning if someone takes all your spa, or Hebi's, you'll die."

Heat's expression faded to a terrified one.

"Does that mean I have to scrape this tattoo off or something?"

"Nope, it won't work. When the person is done, it'll disappear," Supido answered.

"You know, sometimes I wonder why I seek help from you. You're really good at comforting people, you know that?"

"You don't need to tell me, it's the reason why my table is having those flowers." Supido pointed at two roses that were on his table.

Heat looked at them and let loose a short laugh. "Another not so secret admirer."

"Why do they keep attaching their names to the flowers?" Supido sounded frustrated.

"That's a question for them, don't you think?" Heat laughed.

"Heat, Supido, have your seats," a teacher said to them when he entered the class. "Today we're having someone join us for the first time."

A girl walked into the class and Heat's jaw dropped in disbelief.

"Everyone, meet Mel," the teacher continued.

"Hi."

"Hello."

"Sup?"

Mel took a seat to the left of Zainab, who was seated to the left of Heat. He looked at her angrily, but she smiled back at him.

"Heat, don't make it so obvious that you have already crushed on the new girl.��� Supido said with a chuckle. "Here, you can have one of the roses." He put them on Heat's table.

"Shut it, Stupido," Heat replied; the bell rang to signal the start of class.

The bell rang for lunch. Like a cavalry charging into battle, students rushed to the school's cafeteria. Meanwhile, on one row in one class, all the students remained. None of them liked the commotion, but one remained mainly because he was worried, worried about what someone was planning. After a while, the subject of his worry stood up and walked out. He had his eyes firmly stuck on her as she moved through the hallway to the cafeteria.

"Heat!"

A sudden shiver run down his spine, but he calmed down immediately his name was followed with a smack to the back of his head.

"Ursus."

"Didn't ya know that looking at a girl's butt so intensely is now classified as a form of sexual harassment?"

"What?"

"Ya, it's BS. but, I can guarantee that'll be the case in a couple of years."

"Shut up, you pervert."

Ursus chuckled. "Don't try to deny it, ya know it's true."

Heat paused momentarily. "You're no longer mad at me?"

"I was never mad at you."

"Really? Tell that to the bear fist you threatened to shove into my mouth."

Ursus chuckled. "Ya, I was a bit mad, but I'll admit that I miss the only person who's just as pathetic as me in…."

"What?"

"That's expected. I'm not pathetic at anything, unlike a certain someone."

Heat sighed. "My fault, should've seen that coming."

"Of course y—hey! Hey! That's my spot!"

Ursus abruptly abandoned the conversation to secure his spot in a queue. Heat looked around the cafeteria. Tables, benches, students, cooks, food, drinks, they were all present, but the reason he ended up there wasn't—Mel.