I was in some deep, deep water. Which was really bad, considering the fact that I'm the personification of flames. 

I stared at the phone, at that message, and my hand began to shake. I dropped my device in fear that I'd set it ablaze. As soon as the cell phone hit tile floor with a echoing bang, white hot sparks erupted from my palm. That only happens to me under times of great stress and turmoil, in case you were wondering. 

I dropped to my knees, staring dumbly at the floor, a sickening knot forming in my insides. I became fatigued, and couldn't think straight. 

She knows... I thought to myself, gripping the sides of my head. I pulled my hair, groaning audibly at the increasing pain in my head and abdomen. Shit, she knows!  

I stared down at my phone, my brain too overloaded to think of a proper way to handle this situation. So, I did the most obvious, intelligent thing. I ignored the message completely and went for yet another walk in the woods. It seemed like a better idea at the time, it helps me clear my head. 

Night was falling upon the day, the sun dipping below the horizon. The sky shone its wondrous palette, blues mixed within fiery reds of the sunset, just behind the silhouetted trees of the woods. Cool, dusk air gently lapped at my warm skin, the scent of fire and damp logs lingered in the air. I leaned against an oak, and took a moment to breathe. I just listened to the noises around me, chirping of birds, rustling of leaves, the occasional buzzing of insects and drilling of woodpeckers. What concerned me, though, was the sound of footsteps approaching where I was, and fast. 

I turned towards the sound of crunching leaves. I saw a figure of a girl, walking through the brush, whispering curses to herself. She finally emerged, and I could feel my stomach drop once again. I had to grab the tree for support. 

Her trademark smirk was the first thing I noticed. Then her bright, topaz-silver eyes. She popped her hip out, placing one hand on it, like any sassy blonde would. 

"Eira." I growled. 

"Aiden, you didn't answer my message. That's kinda rude, you know?" 

"Why were you following me?" 

"I walk in this woods too, you know. You just never noticed."

"Bullshit. You don't even ride my bus." 

She cocked her head. "So? This woods is big, you know. Anyway, back to the matter at hand..." She smiled, and pulled out her phone. The video was up on the screen, and she laughed wickedly. "I didn't realize you were hiding such a big secret, Locklear. I always knew you were more than you seemed." 

"Stop. Just stop, okay? Delete the video. You have no business with it." I balled my hands into fists, fighting back snappy comments. "Blackmail is so disgusting and cruel." 

She laughed again. "Blackmail? What kind of person do you take me for, Aiden?" She then deleted the video right in front of me. "I just wanted to show you what I witnessed you doing, so you had absolutely no reason to deny it." 

My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe this girl. That she had the audacity to scare me like that. And here she was, sitting in front of me, smiling evilly. She had a secret too, and she hid them behind those topaz orbs. 

"But, you'd probably admit it right up front, wouldn't you?" She chuckled. "It's obvious now that you make fast assumptions. And you're probably gullible, too." 

"Shut it." I felt energy pulsing within me. I wanted nothing more than to set the dead leaves around her on fire, forever knocking the cockiness right out of her. 

"You're just a gullible pyro, hard-headed, and act based on circumstance. It's no wonder people are afraid of how you'll act outside of school." 

"I said shut it!" I screamed, and set my hands ablaze. A sphere of fire energy grew in my right palm, ready to fire at any moment. I growled through bared, grit teeth, and smoke hissed through them. My skin glowed in the darkening atmosphere. 

She took a step back, in awe. Her eyebrows were raised, and she let out a small "Oh". She quickly regained her composure, though, and laughed again. "You really are just a hothead. I would take on this obvious challenge you're presenting me, but I wouldn't want to hurt you." She turned her back on me, and began to strut away. 

"WHAT?!" I screamed in rage, my voice deepening and two-toned from the heat. I couldn't help but throw the ball of flames at her. It exploded at her feet, and she was launched forward. She collapsed on the ground, and was still. 

For a moment, I felt a tinge of pride. Then I realized that I'd just hurt someone. It barely even mattered to me what she was saying earlier. I immediately extinguished my flames and ran to her aid...

Only to see that she was perfectly fine. Not a single burn anywhere. 

She turned her head to the side, and looked at me. She smiled again, and laughed. 

"Gullible." She reared her arm back, and punched me right in the chest. 

It knocked me back, for sure. I hate to admit it, but the girl had a strong hit. 

She was up in a flash, and her fists were in the air. Anger bubbled in my chest again, and I felt another wave of flames explode from my hands. 

"Why are you doing this?" I hissed. "What did I ever do to you? Can you tell me that much?" 

Her eyebrows raised again, and she gently lowered her fists. "Huh. Good question." She raised her arms again. "I dunno what it is about you, but you've always rubbed me the wrong way. The thought of pinning you to the ground always thrilled me. And now, seeing that you have powers, it makes me feel all the better about doing it." 

I wrinkled my nose. "That's... You're so weird. How does me having powers make it more exciting for you?" 

She smiled, baring her teeth. "Wouldn't you like to know?" She advanced, swinging her leg to try and trip me. I continued to step backwards or block, but she just kept coming. She eventually landed a good kick to my shoulder, and I cried out in pain. She rubbed her smoking shoe in the dirt. 

"I could kill you, you idiot!" I yelled, staring daggers at her. 

"Oh, you wish." She charged, and tried to uppercut me, but I jumped back. It took every fiber of my being to not touch her. Instead, I sent hot sparks her way, allowing them to graze her skin. She flinched whenever I did so, but recovered quickly. 

"Stop..." I said, shrinking away from her. As much as she was pissing me off, I didn't want to hurt her. It wouldn't be right. 

"Why? Have you already had enough? You haven't even touched me. I'm honestly disappointed." She twisted her torso with her fist raised, as to finish me off. 

"STOP!" I slammed my hands against the dry ground, the flames cascading off my arms into the ground, rippling on it as though it were water. The flames blasted against her uncovered shins, and she shrieked, jumping backwards. She crouched down, and gently rubbed them. 

I stood back up, and looked down at her. Her bright hair seemed even whiter somehow, and it covered her face. She continued to nurse her shins. They were bright red, and I cringed at the sight. 

"Look... I..." My voice trailed off. I didn't even know what to say. I couldn't help but feel guilty. She stayed silent, not saying a word. It was strange... She was just... Mute. 

"Hey... Hot-head..." She finally spoke, but her voice was a mere whisper. "You know what?"        

"...What?" I hesitated. 

"You really need to chill out." She suddenly shot her arm up, and the most unbelievable thing followed. 

Ice. 

Stalagmites of ice blasted out of the earth, knocking me onto my back. Luckily, their deadly edges just barely missed my body. I sat there, staring up at the sky, trying to catch my breath that was lost. I only got back up when I felt tendrils of burning cold lapping at my arms. 

I looked back at Eira, who stood once again. Tiny specks of snow danced around her, and it was only then that I realized how cold it had gotten. She had a light blue glowing aura around her, and white speckles of white shined on her skin, breaking through the mask of the night. It was as though her freckles turned into LED lights. 

"Damn... I didn't want to give you the pleasure of knowing the truth about me. Well, to hell with it." 

"Y... You're like me..." 

"I'm nothing like you!" She snarled, throwing shards of ice my way. I jumped out of the line of fire, just barely missing them. 

"Eira, listen-" 

"Fire and ice were never made to get along, Aiden. You know this. Do you understand now why you've always hated me? Why I've always had it out for you?" 

"I don't hate you, Eira!" 

"Bullshit!" She threw more freezing particles at me, but I dodged again. My skin began to re-heat, retaliating against the cold winds. 

Orange and blue lit the dark woods up, pushing against each other with their contrast. The winds constantly switched directions, pushing around in different temperatures. I knew then that if we continued to fight, it would be a never ending stalemate. 

"Ice and fire don't have to fight. We can coexist just fine." 

She laughed coldly. "You're cute, boy. As though you don't want to dominate me." 

"I have no desire to do so, not this way. We have some things in common, Eira. I know it. So what's the point of fighting? We both have these gifts. Why not use them together, for our advantage?" 

"Advantage? You make it sound like we're in some sort of war." 

"We could be. So why make things worse?"

She took her eyes off of me, looking to the side. She stared off into space for a moment, and I could feel her tense energy begin to dissipate. "You say we're alike. That we can get along. Well, Aiden, tell me this. Can you hold a snowflake in your hand without it melting?" 

I scrunched my eyebrows together. "No one can do that." 

"No one except for me." She looked at me again, and I could see a single, tiny snowflake sitting on her index finger. "When you can do this, then you prove we're alike. And I'll consider a friendship with you. Until then, forget it. It will never work." 

"You idiot." I muttered. 

"What?"

"So what? We have differences. Big whoop. You're letting your powers take control of your life. Like a cold, icy, outer shell, keeping the real you locked away. You shouldn't let it be that way." I looked down. "I fall victim to the same thing. I allow myself to feel only based on my surroundings. Stupid, huh? I allow myself to be a hot-head, like having fire in my soul is some excuse. Well, it isn't. We don't have to live based on these gifts. We're our own person. So don't you dare let some ice tell you how to act, and who you can or cannot be friends with." I sighed, and looked back up at her. She looked back at me with an unreadable expression. "I want you to make that decision. So, Eira, do you really hate me?" 

She looked awestruck all of a sudden, and huffed. "No..." She whispered. Her aura began to dissolve. "No, of course not. I don't hate anyone. I can't-" Her voice cut off, and she turned away from me. "You asshole. Speaking like that to me. Why do you have to make so much sense?" 

I chuckled. "Sorry. Force of habit to speak the truth, you know?" 

"Sure. But yeah, I see where you're coming from. And I'm sorry for being a bitch all this year. That's not how I really am, I swear." 

"Yeah, and I'm not some moody prick." I took a few steps towards her. She looked back at me again, and I saw a single tear stain her pale cheek. "Hey... Can we bury the hatchet and quit this useless arguing?" 

She sighed, and for a moment, I thought she was going to decline. Then she gave me the brightest, most heart-warming smile I'd ever seen from her. 

"Yeah, you seem cool. Or, hot, in this case. Get it? Wait... Dammit, no! You know what I mean!" She covered her face with her hands as I laughed. She gave me a hard shove, then stuck her hand out. "Just shake it, butthead." 

"Yeah, yeah." I grabbed her hand gingerly, and we both winced and pulled away instantly, steam from the temperature difference cascading off of our skin. 

We then took our leave without another word, but I was happy that the night was filled with our laughter, rather than our angry war cries.