Get Fired Up

We sat down in the classroom as the bell rang, signaling the start of what would be the most exciting, yet terrifying, class any of us had ever been in. Mr. Frank, our so-called “teacher,” who hadn’t taught us anything the entire year, except how not to handle high schoolers, walked in two minutes late, like usual. He was never on time; not because he was always busy, but because he always talked to Mr. Block, a teacher down the hall. No one knew why the school system hired him, but he was the only shop teacher, and we couldn’t do anything about it. He immediately told us to get to work, so most of us took out our notes to study for the test we would take two days later. This unit dealt with cutting metal with an acetylene torch and some oxygen.

Katie, who never paid any attention to what teachers said, was the unlucky one to take the physical portion of the test that day. Many of us had already done so; there were only two more people to take it, including Katie. She walked out of the classroom and into the workshop, soon followed by Mr. Frank. After they left, Dean, my best friend, started making jokes about how poorly she would do on her test.

“Bet you five dollars we’ll hear one of them scream.” he began. “Watch, she’ll probably be like, ‘I know what I’m doing!’ as she turns on the oxygen and blows up the canister. I doubt she’ll make it three seconds without dropping, breaking, or burning something.”

“You’re probably right.” I said with a laugh. “Nothing against her, but she obviously doesn’t know what she’s doing, and doesn’t care either.”

“Would you two stop?” Rachel asked with an annoyed look. “You’ll jinx it! I’d rather not look like a rotisserie chicken after this.”

“Too late, Rachel. You already do. Although, you also resemble a regular chicken too. Especially when they’re running around with their heads cut off. Now that is definitely how you sound.” Dean joked, trying not to laugh.

Dean and Rachel had been friends since middle school, and maybe even before then. I hadn’t really known Rachel before high school, but I’ve known Dean for a few years, and he was one of my best friends. Everyone always assumed they were dating, because they would always joke around and pick on each other.

“I still look better than you do! And if you don’t stop playing around, we’ll all look like burnt chicken. Some of us, anyways. Others will look like burnt asparagus.” she said, staring directly at me.

“It’s not my fault I look like a twig!” I retorted back. “I didn’t have a say in what genes I got when I was born.”

We joked around for a few more minutes before we realized Katie was still in the shop. She hadn’t been back yet, but neither was Mr. Frank. All we could hear was the faint hissing of the acetylene and oxygen tanks, but no flames were coming out of the torch. After about a minute, they walked back, Mr. Frank fuming, and Katie rolling her eyes.

Mr. Frank had Ally, Katie’s best friend, go next. Ally never paid any attention either, so we all expected the same result. They both walked out into the shop, and Rachel looked at Dean and I with a confused look.

“Does anyone else smell that? It’s a sweet smell, but not that sweet. Like a sickly sweet smell.” Rachel asked.

“I can’t smell anything.” I told her. “Are you sure there’s something there? I’m not really sure what it cou—“

I launched myself out of the chair as I ran to the shop. As I rounded the corner of the dividing wall, I saw Ally with the striker in her hand, about to light the torch. By now, Rachel and Dean realizes what the smell was, and everyone in the classroom was watching me as I tried to stop Ally from blowing all of us up.

“Don’t light the tor—“ I yelled.

That was all I could get out before she lit the striker, instantly igniting the gas that had spilled all throughout the shop and the classroom. I instinctively shut my eyes and raised my arm up, trying to brace myself for the flames, even though they would be all around me. Seconds passed, and I didn’t have any burns. I opened my eyes to see the entire class in the doorway between the classroom and the shop, staring at me with eyes as wide as saucers. My left hand, the one I had raised, was emitting a strange glow. This glow started out dull at first, but was slowly getting brighter. I looked at the acetylene tank, the flames only an inch away from it, threatening to make the gas combust.

“Jack? What… how are you doing that?” Dean asked, simultaneously horrified and curious.

“I… I’m not sure… I didn’t even know I could do this. Whatever this is.” I responded.

“Well now was the perfect time to find out. Do you think you could keep it up until we can get the tank out?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe, but I’d rather not risk it. The glowing on my arm is getting brighter, and I don’t think that’s a good thing. I think that whatever it is that allows me to do this is running out, and we’re all gonna go up in flames soon. Dean, you and Rachel get everyone out of here.”

“We’ll get them out, then I’m coming back for you. There’s no way I’m letting you sacrifice yourself for this. If you sacrifice yourself, then I’ll sacrifice myself too. We have a better chance of getting out if there’s two of us.”

“No, Dean. You need to take all of them outside, and get back. At least to the gate. I’m not risking anyone else. We don’t have a better chance of getting out with two people, we have a better chance of getting us both killed. Layla needs you. No one should have to hear that their boyfriend or girlfriend is gone. Not this early in life. You two are perfect together. You’re going to make it out of here, and I’ll see to it that you do. Just tell Lilith that I love her. I may not make it out of here, and I want her to know that no matter what happens, I’ll always be there, watching over her.”

“You’ll tell her yourself when you make it out of here, Jack. We’ll get you out of here, and you’ll tell her yourself, okay? Layla may need me, but Lilith needs you too. You said it yourself. ‘No one should have to hear that their boyfriend or girlfriend is gone.’ It’ll destroy her if you don’t make it out.”

He blinked away tears that were welling up in his eyes, trying to keep up his facade. We both knew that it would require a miracle to get me out, but that’s what we were hoping for. The glow from my arm was getting too bright; we had less than a minute to get everyone out.

“Dean, you need to get all of these people out of here. I don’t know how much longer I can hold the flames back.” I told him, trying to keep my voice from breaking. “I’ll meet you out there after this is all over, man. Just get everyone out first.”

“Make sure Dean isn’t in the back. I don’t want him to run back in here and try to save me. There’s no guarantee I’ll make it out, and he knows that. Just please keep everyone safe.” I whispered to Rachel as she walked past.

She nodded, and started to follow everyone to the door, taking one last look at me before walking out. I waited until they were all by the gate to talk some sense into myself, coming up with the best plan to try and make it out. There wasn’t much that I could do. My only hope was to run fast enough to make it out. If that was even possible.

Taking a couple of deep breaths to calm my nerves, I let go of whatever force inside of me was holding back the flames. Trying to sprint as fast and as far as I could, I felt the flames shoot past me as the canister exploded. I had only made it a couple of yards as the explosion launched me forward. Shrapnel flew past me as I lay there, barely alive. It was then that the rest of the tanks went off as well, not only the oxygen tank. Six different tanks of acetylene and six tanks of oxygen went off, one after the other, fueling the next.

Smoke and soot filled the room as everything went up in flames. The ceiling was ablaze, as was the wood around me. I could barely breathe, my lungs burning almost as much as my skin. I slowly started to drift into unconsciousness, when I heard a voice calling me. It was unrecognizable, but rang clear. The voice said something I couldn’t understand, not because it was unclear, but because it was in another language. As if a wave of pure oxygen washed over me, I took a sharp breath and could feel the smoke leave my lungs.

All of the memories of what Dean had told me came flooding back, and I knew I had to get up and get out. Rolling back on to my stomach, I put my hands out to brace myself. I pushed myself up, coming to my knees. Then I got to my feet, using everything I could as a crutch so I didn’t fall, unable to get back up. After what seemed like hours, but was only really a minute or two, I came to the door, the bright light stinging my eyes.

I was met with cheers and surprised screams as I exited the room, spot covering the entirety of my body. The second I stepped out of the doorway, all of my strength left me, causing me to collapse. I was exhausted. I was drained. I was in pain. I was dirty. But above all… I was alive.