6 5: The Next Day

My alarm blared next to me. I picked up my phone and quickly turned it off, scratching my head in confusion.

When did I fall asleep?

"Good morning, sweetheart." I heard a voice chime. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. "Good morning." I yawned in response, sitting up to stretch. I looked in the direction of the voice, finding Bari kneeling at my bedside. Immediately, I screamed. When I gazed upon him, memories of the night before came rushing back. I remembered everything, the book, the summoning, the contract... Everything.

"Damn it..." I groaned. Bari laughed. "You're grumpy already? Wow, what a temper."

"Shut up. Who said you could be in my room? Get out!" I yelled. Bari pouted. "To think that I made breakfast for you too." He then walked out of the room. I rolled my eyes and sluggishly got out of bed. I went to my bathroom to get ready. While in the shower, I thought over my situation.

There was no way I could get out of this, was there? It was to help me get over Ethan, but I would have to marry someone of Bari's choice. How was I to be sure that he wasn't going to hurt me, anyway? Maybe I could try falling for any of the other guys at school instead? As if that was going to be easy. I haven't socialized much with anyone other than the teachers and Ethan. Just talking to others was going to be difficult, to say the least.

I stepped out of the shower, a bit cheerful from the feeling of cleanliness. To add, I had always enjoyed the smell of my strawberry soap and shampoo. It brightened up my mood a bit.

I wrapped my towel around my body, returning to my bedroom. I picked out a random outfit from my closet, slipping on a t-shirt and jeans. I shoved on my socks and shoes before looking in the mirror.

Watching myself, I put my hair into a ponytail. My glasses came next, the thin wires framing my face. I then walked downstairs, my nose greeted with the smell of eggs.

I glanced into my kitchen, finding Bari standing at my stove.

"Oh? There's Miss Grumpypants. Go sit at the table to eat. I didn't cook this for nothing." Bari said, temporarily looking to glance at me. I sat down as my stomach growled.

I looked over at Bari and watched him in the kitchen. He wore a light pink apron, the one that I would always cook with. Upon closer inspection, I could see that he wore a grey t-shirt that hugged his physique. His arms were filled with tattoos. I couldn't tell what they were from a distance.

Bari slipped off the apron and put it to the side. He picked up a plate and began to walk towards me. He sat next to me, placing a plate in front of me. He also placed a fork and a knife beside it, along with a cup of orange juice. On the plate was an omelet. I looked down at the food, poking it cautiously. "It's not poisoned." Bari assured me.

"I don't trust you," I said, cutting open the omelet. When I cut it open, I was greeted with tomatoes, green onions, cheese, and mushrooms that were encased within the egg. I pushed some of the food onto the fork and held it towards Bari. "You eat it first."

Bari chuckled and nodded, grabbing the fork. He took the bite and chewed. Afterward, he looked at me and flashed a smile. "See? It's not poisoned." He then put another bite onto the fork and put it inside of my mouth.

My mouth burst with flavors. It was enough to bring tears to my eyes. "This is good!" I said, grabbing another fork full. Bari rolled his eyes. "All demons learn how to cook. An omelet is nothing special." I continued to gorge on the omelet, finishing it up. Bari watched as I did so.

I looked up when I was finished. "You didn't make any for yourself?" I asked. Bari shrugged. "Demons don't need to. Plus, just watching eat you dissolved any appetite that I might have had." He brought his thumb up to my lips, wiping them softly. "So messy..." He muttered, shaking his head. Then he licked the leftover residue off of his thumb. "But cute." He smirked. I rolled my eyes, feeling my face heat up a slight bit.

"I-I thought I said to stay away from me?" I asked. Bari chuckled lightly, then stood. "Don't you have school or something, pipsqueak?" He questioned, ignoring what I had said. My eyes widened. I had completely forgotten! Quickly, I grabbed my backpack and phone and rushed to the house door.

"Thanks for the food! I gotta run! You..." I looked over to Bari. "You stay here. I'll be right back, okay? Don't ruin my house while I'm gone." Bari nodded. I gave him one last concerned look before running out of my house. Off to school, I went.

~~~

I sat in the lunchroom, scrolling through my phone. I took a bite out of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich, cringing at how warm it was. Since it was the only lunch I grabbed at school, I continued to eat it.

"Did you do it?!" I heard a high-pitched voice in my ear. I jumped, almost choking on my sandwich. I looked over to see who had spoken, finding Madeline. She sat next to me, pulling out her lunch box. I swallowed my food and turned to her. "What?" I asked, in confusion.

Madeline sucked her teeth. "I said," she lowered her voice and leaned in. "Did you do it? Did you summon the demon?"

"How did you know about that?" I asked. Madeline pulled food out of her lunch box. I noticed two turkey sandwiches, two bags of chips, two fruit cups, two juice pouches, and two chocolate bars. She took my sandwich out of my hand and placed one of each food in front of me. "I was the one who gave you the book, duh! And eat these. I know you don't eat much for lunch."

"How do you-"

"I watched you eat yesterday. It was sad. Like seriously, you need to eat more!" Madeline glared at me a bit. "Now eat!" I slowly did as I was told, taking a bite out of the sandwich she had given me. Madeline was a bit intimidating. She watched as I chewed, her face lighting up. "Good job! Now, did you do what the book said to?"

I hummed in response. Somehow, I ended up telling her everything about the summoning and Bari. I even explained to her what happened with Ethan. As I spoke, Madeline listened intently.

When I finished, Madeline smiled. "Hey. You wanna be besties?" She asked me. I looked at her.

A friend? It had been a while. The idea of being her friend didn't seem so bad, honestly. She seemed like a nice girl. I nodded, saying yes to her question.

Immediately, Madeline wrapped her arms around me. "Yay! My first friend here! Just call me Maddie, mkay? Or bestie. Whichever you want! We are going to be unstoppable!" She exclaimed. I smiled softly. "Okay uh...bestie..?" Madeline squealed in excitement.

Suddenly, the bell rang. Lunch was over just like that.