Page 4 of Shadowface 1979

Talia saunters over to my blue Camaro and jumps into the front seat. Ignoring me, she grabs the rearview mirror and fixes her hair, letting it part in the middle with wisps hanging down the sides of her face. She grabs some lipstick from her bag and puts it on, making her lips pop red.

I give Bax a nod as I walk around the car, pausing before turning toward campus. Black smoke rises from what’s left of Smith Hall, and the light from the flames flicker beneath it. I sit in the driver’s seat and glance at Talia, the smoke’s reflection swirling in her eyes, mirroring the surrounding darkness as she looks at the insanity she caused. Her pupils flare at the sight of it.

I run my hand through my hair and try to calm my heartbeat.

Jesus.

I lit that damn match.

I knew what the outcome was going to be before I lit it. Bax expertly left splashes of kerosene in strategic parts of the room. He made it so it would burn slowly and any attempts at thwarting it wouldn’t end well.

I hope everyone got out safely, but I doubt it.

Bax loves fire, obsessed with it, so it wasn’t surprising that Talia drew him out of his shell and involved him in all of this, even though his family isn’t technically part of it. Fire is cleansing, fire is art, and his desire to burn shit is his muse singing to him.

She explained that to him in a way that only Bax’s drug-infused brain would understand. Only Bax would take such precautions to set the kerosene up in a way he thought would be beautiful.

Girls like Talia Vital don’t follow rules; they forge their own path. Talia is sitting much like a cat who is staring at its food right before it retracts its claws and pounces.

She has something to say, but I don’t let her say it. I put the key into the ignition, and the engine rumbles to life.

Down kitty.

The power of the car has her tight body pulling into the seat. She always shuts right up when the car is running. She purrs when the engine is roaring.

Talia is drawn to power.

I peel out of the parking lot, and as soon as we get onto the treelined road, I let her rip.

The windows are down, and L.A Woman by The Doors blazes out of the stereo. Such an amazing highway song, as I drive through the only place I’ve ever called home.

Jim Morrison hits the chorus, and I can’t help but pat the wheel and scream the words. Even Talia has a hard time not smiling as she watches me sing my heart out.

I can’t help it, music excites me. It excites me more than anything…even sex. I have a lot of sex. Just not with the girl I constantly dream about.

I rake my gaze over Talia, remembering her little promise earlier, before images of Didi rush back into my head. Even though I’ve tried so hard to erase her, to annihilate her from my memory, it doesn’t seem to work. I couldn’t save her—I failed her.

Once we get to the popular party spot in the woods, I pull onto the side of the road. There is a fire going, and half the school is already here since classes were canceled for the rest of the day.

More people trickle behind us, and a line of cars pull up on the dirt road deep in the forest.

Talia continues to primp herself with a compact mirror pointedly, wiping ash from her face, ignoring me as she applies more lipstick.

I step out of the car, leaving her to fume, and walk up to Bax, Remy and Lucy, who are waiting for me.

There are five of us total, including Lucy, all just friends who have lived in this town forever.

Nothing suspicious about us.

“Dude, that was radical, man.” Bax does a funky dance, his wavy hair down to his ass.

“Bax, dude, shut up. People can hear you.” I twist my neck around to make sure no one’s alerted. He’s wearing dark round sunglasses, but I can tell by the way he smells that they smoked a joint on the way here.

He leans into me. “Hey,” he whispers with a lopsided grin.

My body bristles. “What is it?” I turn my head in all directions and wipe a bead of sweat off my forehead.

“We’re all gonna call you the burning man from now on. You better run, man. The cops are gonna catch you.”