The moment he saw them walking through the library doors, Sam’s eyes widened like saucers, and he practically leapt from his chair.

“Hi guys!” he beamed, waving so enthused Lewis thought his arm might just fall off.

“Jeez, Sam,” Lewis frowned, “How long have you been waiting here?”

“Well I got here two hours ago to return some books,” June said, “And he was here. So, at least that long.”

Lewis took a good look at the smaller boy. He liked to be modest, but Lewis always prided himself on being observant, and he noticed, with a shock, there were shadows under Sam’s eyes. He wondered if he wasn’t the only one to have had a restless night.

“Early bird gets the worm!” he chirped, “That’s what my parents always say. They’re uh, highschool teachers though so they’re kind of obligated to think like that.”

He cleared his throat.

“So. How’s the… The… Uh, fire situation?”

Eden shrugged, and held out her palm. Instantly, a wisp of orange flame burst from the centre, and Sam jumped.

“I could probably roast a marshmallow.” She said offhandedly ,focusing now on making the fire jump from fingertip to fingertip, “Better than yesterday, I suppose.”

“Let’s not trip the fire alarm, please.” June hissed, hurriedly grabbing a magazine from a stack, and fanning Eden’s hands furiously.

“Or trigger some mass hysteria. We’re in public, come on.”

As if. It was a Sunday, everyone was at church. The only other person in the little Rosewood Public Library was the librarian, who was at least ninety, senile, and currently so absorbed in a knitting newsletter it would take nothing short of an apocalypse to move her.

Sam practically squealed, clasping his hands together and admiring Eden’s hands like they were some exotic beetle in a jar.

“Awesome,” he breathed, before retrieving that ratty notebook from his bag and thrusting it towards her.

“Do you, do you mind writing down what you saw yesterday in this journal -? Thanks. It’s kind of a habit.” his voice went soft, and he tried for a smile.

“Our goal was always to fill it completely up, one day.”

Then there was a silence in which there was nothing but the sound of Eden’s pen scrawling on the paper, and four strangers growing heavy with the realisation, they were part of something bigger than themselves.

***

“Ok, so here’s an idea.” began Samuel, as they walked out into the library parking lot. It was another dry, hot day.

“We don’t know the full extent of your powers yet, Eden. We don’t know what exactly it can do, or if there are any side effects. So, we should approach this logically. If Tob- If a scientist were in this situation, they would say we need to perform some tests. Experiments, if you will.”

Eden grinned with a glint in her eye. Alarm bells rung in Lewis’ head immediately.

“So you’re saying I should... Set stuff on fire?”

“In the name of science...I guess so.”

“Controlled! Controlled tests! Please!” June exclaimed, flapping her hands, “Somewhere with no trees!”

“What about my place?” Sam suggested, “No trees. Just some grass and a waterhose in case of...Incidents.

Eden rubbed her hands together.

“Alright!” 

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Hi! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's a bit more chill.

Anyway, school is back for me so this will be updating less frequently, and they'll probably be shorter. Leave a like if you liked it....? :)