Inside the Fire Book One in the Warden's Series by Heather Glidewell

Reaching over I grabbed it and smiled.
    Wesley: Was thinking about you.
    I laughed to myself. He was really turning
on the charm.
    Me: I was thinking about you too.
    It wasn’t a complete lie. In between
answering math problems I had replayed our afternoon over and over
again.
    Wesley: Wish I could see you right now.
    I shook my head.
    Me: *attach image*
    I sent him a quick selfie of me doing my
math homework. I didn’t even make it a pretty one. Instead I had
crossed my eyes and made a gesture like I was stabbing myself
through the temple with a pencil. In response to my image I
received one in return. The phone fell out of my hands. He had sent
me one of him lying in bed in nothing but his sleep pants.
    Me: You look comfortable.
    I hit myself in the face. Man I was starting
to show how lame I was. If he was interested in me now he wouldn’t
be after this conversation.
    Wesley: You look stressed.
    I laughed. Maybe I was wrong about this
boy.
    Me: I have to get this done. Text you before
bed.
    Wesley: Ok.
    I put my phone down and proceeded to answer
the next ten questions on my sheet of problems. I admit I kept
going back to the image of Wesley. Eighteen year old bodies aren’t
supposed to look like his. How was it even possible?
    By eleven I had been home-worked out. I put
down my pencil and rubbed my eyes. I thought I was confused about
religion. Try spending several hours trying to figure out the
American Government. I put my books back in my bag and shut my lap
top. There wasn’t much else that I could do tonight.
    I changed into my sleep clothes and braided
my hair in pig tails letting them hang in the front. I picked up my
phone and opened Wesley’s message taking on last longing look at
the image he had sent me.
    I turned on the camera of my phone and took
a shot of me lying in bed. It wasn’t exposing anything my baby doll
shirt covered every important part of my upper anatomy all it did
was leave a little hint of flesh of my stomach.
    Me: *attached image* Heading to bed.
    Wesley: Lucky bed! See you tomorrow
beautiful. Sleep well.
    I put my phone on my end table and rolled on
my side. My head was swimming with all the images of the day. I
fell asleep welcoming the darkness.

Chapter Seven
    With This Ring
     
    “ Dawn!” My mother called
from the living room.
    It was Friday already and Wesley and I had
spent every day after school together in the park just talking. It
was nice to have someone I could feel comfortable with. Not to
mention someone that seemed to have his own cooling system.
    “What’s up mom?” I asked as I ran from my
room.
    “You have plans tonight?” She asked as I
came into the room.
    “No, not tonight.” I raised an eyebrow.
“Why?”
    “No reason.” She smiled sweetly. She had a
reason.
    “No really Mom. You don’t ask me what I’m
doing if you don’t have plans already.” I frowned at her.
    “Want to start a fire?” She said.
    “The last time you said that I burnt down
the shed at the old house.” I was confused.
    “No. I mean do you want to start a fire and
roast hotdogs tonight.” She rolled her eyes.
    “Oh. Yeah that sounds like fun.” My frown
turned into a smile.
    I loved when we spent time together. I loved
it more when we did it before everything had happened. She was
starting to feel better I could see it in her face. All her work at
the church was paying off. Maybe all we had to do was leave El Paso
for her to find herself again.
    We grabbed the hotdogs and buns from the
kitchen and went outside. She had dug a fire pit in the middle of
the backyard. She must have done this while I was at school because
it wasn’t there yesterday.
    “Do your worst.” She pointed at the pit.
    I rubbed my hands together and closed my
eyes once I felt the warm prickle in my fingers I opened them
willing the fire to escape. The flame hit the pit and instantly
started a warm fire. She put the hotdogs on two spits handing one
to me. We took a seat on the concrete blocks and