The showers hadn't broken him. The whispers hadn't broken him. Even Dre's silence hadn't broken him.
And that scared Spider more than anything.
So Spider lit a fuse. Not a whisper. Not a shove. A real spark—one that could set the whole block burning.
---
The Powder Keg
It started in the cafeteria. Tension was already thick, like the air before lightning. Kids jostled in line, tempers short from too many days locked in gray walls. All it needed was a match.
Spider gave it one.
He stood on a table, grinning wide, voice carrying above the din. "Funny thing about fire-boy—he thinks he's the block's savior. Thinks he's untouchable. But you know what happens when fire spreads?" He swept his arm out wide. "Everything burns. Even you."
The crowd murmured, uneasy. Rico fanned the flames with a shout: "Carter don't care about us! He'll burn this whole place down if he gets the chance!"
The room shifted. Eyes turned toward Jayden—some angry, some fearful. It wasn't about fists now. It was about survival. Spider had made him the threat to everyone.
---
The Riot's Edge
Trays slammed. Voices rose. A fight broke out at the far end—two kids Spider had wound up earlier, fists flying, knocking food and chairs to the floor. Guards shouted, trying to push through the chaos.
Jayden's heart pounded. He knew Spider's hand was behind it. This wasn't random. This was a spark aimed straight at him.
As the crowd surged, a boy shoved Jayden hard, shouting, "You gonna burn us all, fire-boy?" Another spat in his face. The noise swelled, bodies pressing in, fear turning fast to rage.
For the first time, Jayden wasn't just fighting Spider or Rico. He was fighting the block itself.
---
The Choice in the Fire
The fire screamed to be unleashed. He could swing, break jaws, make them all back off in blood and fear. But Dre's voice was still in his chest, even in silence: Control is survival.
Jayden raised his arms, not fists but open hands. His voice cut through the noise, sharp and steady:
"You think I'm the fire? Spider's the one holding the match!"
The words slammed into the chaos. For a moment, the noise faltered. Eyes flicked toward Spider, still grinning from his perch. And in that pause, the guards stormed in, batons cracking, breaking the riot apart.
---
The Fallout
Dragged back to his cell, bruised but unbroken, Jayden's chest heaved. He hadn't swung. He hadn't broken. He'd named Spider in front of everyone.
The whispers afterward weren't the same. They weren't all against him now. Some were uncertain, some even brave enough to say it: "Spider started it."
And Spider knew it. His grin was gone that night. His stare was darker than Jayden had ever seen, hate boiling behind his eyes.
---
The Sketch
Back in his cell, Jayden opened the sketchbook with hands still trembling. He drew the cafeteria as a powder keg, Spider holding a match over it, flames licking at the edge. In the corner, he drew himself as a torch—not burning wild, but burning steady, keeping the flames from spreading.
Underneath he wrote: Fire doesn't destroy. Fire exposes.
The wall stayed silent. Dre was still gone. But Jayden didn't need his anchor tonight. Because for the first time, the block had seen Spider's hand in the fire.
And that changed everything.