Prologue
3rdGrade
Keebler Hills Elementary
“Blayze, how about you?” Mr. Henderson asked from behind the podium at the front of the classroom. “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“I want to be a firefighter, just like my daddy,” she blurted without any hesitation.
Colton Burns kicked the back of her desk, nearly falling out of his seat with laughter. “Girls can’t be firefighters. That kind of job is for boys.”
“That’s not true!” she cried out defensively and turned around in her seat to stare him dead in the eyes. “Girls can be, too. And that’s exactly what I’m going to be. A lady firefighter.”
Instead of Mr. Henderson coming to her defense, he just kind of stood there, speechless, allowing the animosity to thicken between Colton and her.
Colton didn’t let up. “Yeah, I’d like to see you run with a firehose or climb one of those ladders with an air tank on your back.”
“What makes you think I wouldn’t be able to do that?” she asked assuredly.
“Well, could you carry someone on your back from a burning building? Huh, Blayze? Could you?”
His words stung, and she immediately felt her cheeks redden. Those were difficult tasks foranyfirefighter. During extreme circumstances, anyone could do anything they set their mind to.
At eight years old, though, her determination was fierce and no boy, not even Colton Burns—whose father just happened to be the town mayor—was going to tell her what she could or couldn’t do when she grew up. Nope. Not even Colton. If her daddy said she could be a firefighter, then that’s exactly what she was going to be.
“Why do you have to be such a mean person, Colton?” she asked, fighting back tears. “I can and I will be a firefighter when I get bigger. You’re…you’re just jealous.”
The other students shuffled in their desks uncertain what was about to go down. If Colton only knew how bad her heart yearned to protect people and to keep them safe.
“Jealous?”Colton rolled his eyes. “How does that makemejealous? I’m not the one who wants to be a stupid fireman.”
“It’s not a stupid job, Colton,” she said between gritted teeth. “It’s a very good job. Without firefighters, oh, never mind.”
It wasn’t a secret that she’d had a crush on Colton since kindergarten, but after this little episode, she was officially done with him. Colton Burns could go jump in a lake for all she cared. She no longer thought he was cute, and those freckles that dotted the tops of his cheeks, she hoped they turned into big, ugly zits. As for that time he kissed her on the cheek out on the playground, well, she couldn’t wait to tell all his friends what a horrible kisser he was. That he’d drooled and slobbered all over the place. That’d teach him to make fun of her!
She stood up from her desk then looked back at Colton. “One day, you’ll be sorry for saying such mean things.” Then, she reached out with her right hand and smacked him squarely across the cheek.
The class broke out in a rage of laughter. The palm of her hand immediately began to sting, but the pain was totally worthit seeing so many of their classmates holding onto their desks to keep from falling into the floor.
Colton sat in his seat stunned, his hand pressed against the side of his face.
“Why’d you do that for?” he asked.
Instead of answering him, she stormed out of the classroom and headed straight for the bathroom where she hid in one of the stalls until school let out for the day. She couldn’t believe she’d actually slapped him.
Colton Burns was no longer her friend. She’d show him that she could be just as good if not better than any male firefighter when she got bigger.
*****
Senior Night
Keebler Hills High School
Blayze Jenson had exactly five days, sixteen hours, and thirty-two minutes before she got the hell out of there. She’d already packed most of her things, she was just waiting for graduation to be over with. Senior Night tonight followed by the commencement ceremony tomorrow morning where she’d get her diploma. Then it was goodbye Keebler Hills, hello Gorman Valley.
She was going to miss her parents something fiercely, but truth be known, they were just as excited as she was. The opportunity was nothing less than incredible especially for someone right out of high school.
As she brushed her long, dark brown hair, she caught a glimpse of her turnout gear in the mirror. A ruddy pair of boots and a stained fire coat that was easily three sizes too big for her. Her daddy had given them to her a couple of years ago right after she’d completed her volunteer firefighter certification. She’d treasured the ensemble like it was made of gold despite having belonged to someone else previously. She didn’t care that the suspenders were a little stretched or that she was constantly having to pull them up on her shoulders. She’d personally stitched a three-inch hole that had formed on the side of the left pants leg, but the uniform still had lots of life left in it.
