In Chapter 1 we (the reader) Begin to learn about Aly and her family and their characteristics. Such as Rachel being this super popular kid at school Aly being a very responsible kid, and Simon being your average 9-year-old boy. Aly gets to school and gets tripped by a skater boy and he mocks her and bullies Aly. She gets to the lab and then in chapter 2 Aly gets so angry that she supposedly sets the lab on fire! Aly gets home after school and gets mad over he homework and her desk starts burning.
After her desk starts burning she starts screaming and jumps back and he dad starts to come into the room with a fire extinguisher and Aly goes to bed dreaming about fire on a beach. In chapter 4 Aly gets to school with a postive mind and then she gets pulled into the restroom and "Jess" and her friends start making mean comments about Aly and starts bullying her. Jess's backpack starts burning out of nowhere jess stops drops and rolls but it's like there's lighter fluid on the ground! Jess starts to cry and rolls out the bathroom crying.
Aly runs out of the bathroom and starts to hide from everyone in school. Aly somehow makes it to lunch and hears that her brother Simon will get beat up, Aly stands up for Simon and talks down to the bully. Aly tries to use the flames and melts the bullies' shoes. When Aly gets home she starts searching for fire and pyro powers. And Rachel catches her and asks if Aly has fire powers and Aly says she does.
In chapter 7 Aly and Rachel go on a "Special Girls Hiking Trip", but secretly it's to test out Aly's fire powers. Once they get there Rachel punches Aly in her nose and tries many things to get her angry to unleash her fire powers. Rachel starts to say really mean things to Aly to get on her nerves. And then Aly can't take it anymore! Aly lashes out and the tree sets on fire... Rachel extinguishes the fire and the girls get back to the house. Aly starts to think about Rachel's comments at dinner while her mother keeps asking her "You cool hon?" Aly talks back to her but apologizes. Aly realizes that Simon is scared of her and Aly starts practicing her breathing strategies before heading to bed.
Aly heads to school the next day and starts thinking of her emotions as a river, and starts using her breathing strategies. Aly starts to "let it flow" and she notices that everyone at school is talking about her behind her back but Aly just keeps her cool. Aly's day goes well and she makes it to gym class. Aly's teacher tells her to get some equipment out of the closet and Aly joyfully does so. She goes to turn around and then the door slams behind her. There she finds Grace and she slaps Aly right in the jaw. Grace asks Aly if she wants a black eye or a busted lip but Aly says "Burn!" And the whole equipment room was set on fire! Aly realizes that the fire is going to burn her too if she doesn't get out of there in time. Grace and Aly grab some hockey sticks to bust the door wide open. Once Aly gets out she goes to talk to Simon but he is scared of her. Someone in the crowd of people said "WAY TO GO, PRYO!" and Simon was gone...
School gets canceled after the events of chapter 10. Aly's uncle comes over to their house to fix Aly's desk after what happened in chapter 3. Her uncle asks her what happened and Aly comes up with an excuse and says "I-It was the... Light anywhere matches!" Uncle Macro is unsure about the answer but he buys it. After that day Aly and her mom go to the office and the principal realizes that there are a lot of fires starting around Aly. He asks a lot of questions but Aly stands her ground and uses her wits to win the argument with the principal. Aly gets out of the office and goes to tell Rachel about what happened and she sees Rachel using her as a weapon against this kid. Aly gets crushed and walks away in tears.
Aly's head starts spinning for the rest of the day. and she tries to use her breathing strategies to calm herself down but nothing is working. When Aly gets home, she confronts Rachel about what happened in chapter 12. Rachel and Aly get into a heated argument and Aly gets angry but no fire appears. Aly acknowledges that the fire is not appearing, but then a split second later fire appears on the ground Rachel gets scared, and Aly gets pushed out of the room. Aly goes to bed that night thinking about what happened. Aly wakes up the next day and thinks she's late, but her mom appears and they have a mother-daughter day and they talk about Aly's feelings. The next day Aly gets to school and sees a burnt locker but she didn't do it!
Aly after school goes into Rachel's room and confronts her about the locker incident. At first, Rachel denies it and blames it on Aly, She starts to talk to Rachel about the fires "being on cue" almost every time. Aly doesn't think the fires are her and thinks it's her sister that's doing them. Aly goes to tell their parents and then in a snap, all of the room's candles lit up. Rachel threatens Aly and says "I don't think that's a good idea." Aly brings up that Rachel could've killed people, but Rachel says it's under control. Aly doesn't believe her until all the candles go out at once Rachel says she can control it but she accidentally burns Aly.
Aly feels terrible about her sister having superpowers and starts thinking about all the fires her sister started. She runs downstairs and calls her uncle Marco and he answers some of her questions Aly, Marco tells Aly that the fire's a parasite and it's slowly taking over her. Aly begs to come over to Uncle Marco's house but he says a firm "NO." Marco ends the call and Aly starts to think about what he said. The next day Aly runs into a group of boys at school and they start bullying her, but a kid named Jamal defends Aly and starts to talk about Rachel and realizes that she has powers. Aly goes out to sit on the benches to think about this and the bolts start turning burning hot. Rachel calls Aly a snitch and the flowers behind Rachel start burning. Rachel and Aly start arguing about how Rachel is terrible. Rachel takes the fire from the dandelion and is about to shoot Aly until Rachel screams and she falls to the ground. Aly gets pulled by Simon into the bushes and Simon passes out.
Simon wakes up and looks at Aly and then they both overhear Rachel saying "We both go to the same house so I'll find you!" Aly gets nervous about Simon's bleeding nose but he says that his brain works differently and that he's fine. Aly asks if their parents have powers and Simon says their dad does. He notices that their dad always does stuff without his hands. Aly asks Simon about what Uncle Marco said on the phone and Simon says he can turn Rachel's fire off but it will really hurt her in the process. After all that they get picked up by their parents and have a dreadful look on the way home. That night Aly and Simon started to issue the plan. The kids say goodbye to their parents and Aly sees that their dad closed the door without his hands. Aly and Simon rushes upstairs and Rachel follows, Aly turns around and drenches her sister in Oil. Rachel says she can just go take a shower and burn them alive. Aly talks about what Rachel is thinking right now and asks her if she's hearing herself. Rachel gives up and starts acting nice, but then she looks at the door.
Aly begs Rachel to unlock the door but Rachel declines the offer. Rachel talks about how gullible Aly is and says that she's in control of the fire. rachel talks about how they are going to get burned alive and be on the news. But Simon uses his powers on Rachel and she threatens Simon and is going to find out who is doing that. Rachel makes the door handle hot and Aly jumps back in pain. Aly and Simon get worried about what is going to happen in the April Showers Dance. Aly asks how hard can Simon put an idea in someone's head. Aly and Simon order pizza Simon controls the pizza guy and Aly guides him. Simon gets the dude to the door but Rachel hides the key and then the door starts banging. Simon's nose and head start bleeding until the door comes down. The pizza guy gets confused and Aly makes up a story and starts to threaten the Pizza guy unless he drives them to the school. Simon and Aly get to the school and Aly sees the orange hole in the fence and the pizza guy asks what "stranger Things" stuff are they up to. and he drives off. The kids go inside the school and Rachel jumpsacres them on accident. Rachel was waiting for them and was sipping her coffee. Rachel wonders if Simon is the one who keeps brain-slapping her, and he says "yeah". Aly starts to question Rachel about the teachers and janitors and what is going to be the excuse for the fires Rachel gives Aly "the look" and Aly realizes that Rachel is going to pin it on her. Rachel says Aly's life was boring anyway and then Aly tackles Rachel and is super angry about Rachel betraying her.
After that, Rachel rolls her eyes and burns Aly's braces and Aly jumps back in pain. Aly picks up a soda to drench her burning teeth and the Soda turns red hot. Everything starts to turn a bright orange and Rachel brings up the idea to melt the school down. Aly rushes to Simon to wake him up and to protect him. Simon says he needs to use his powers on Rachel and he starts to look at Rachel. Then Rachel starts to scream loudly! Aly opens her eyes and Rachel's on the floor twitching but the fire is still going out of control. Aly goes to save Rachel and Simon and they get out of there. Aly checks Rachel's pulse and realizes that she's still alive. then sirens start to blare in the background... (A month or so later) Aly gets dropped off by Uncle Marco to go see Rachel in the hospital. Aly goes to Rachel and talks to her but Rachel doesn't respond. Aly gives Rachel one of her candles and Rachel's mind starts flickering once Aly leaves. She can feel everything wanting to burn in the room. The doctor sees Rachel's face and the door handle starts to burn. The doctor cries out in pain and Rachel says she'll be home in no time.