7 Chapter 7: Owen

I woke up in Mac's arms. I felt my face heat up as I looked up at Mac's sleeping face. He was so handsome and looked peaceful in his sleep. I laid against his chest and listened to his heartbeat only for their to be a knock at the door. I looked towards the door only to see my doctor walk in.

"It's time to go Owen." I sighed and shook Mac lightly. Mac groaned and held me tighter, only deepening my blush.

"Stop Owen, I'm trying to sleep. Opera is about to give me a new car." I laughed and pushed Mac off the coach. Mac yelped as he hit the floor.

"C'mon boys, I have to get Owen back to his house. Your parents have news for you."

I furrowed my brows and looked at my doctor. I couldn't think of any kind of surprise that my parents would have for me. Unless it was bad news. My stomach turned and anxiety welled up inside me. We got ready and headed out. The car ride was silent mostly due to Mac being half asleep and drooling on my shoulder. When we arrived at my house, the doctor wished me luck and dropped me off. I stood outside my house biting my nails. With a large sigh I finally walked into my house.

"Mom? I'm home!" I called, surprised no one was at the door.

"In the kitchen honey!" Mom called back, she sounded happy so I assumed their was no bad news. When i walked into the kitchen my mom was cooking breakfast and there was a strange girl with her. The girl glared at me and looked me up and down.

"I see your feeling better?" My mom asked before turning around, she looked like she wanted to give me a hug before looking at my bandages and deciding against it. I was glad because although my voice was back to normal I was still pained whenever anyone touched me. Besides Mac of course.

"Whose this?" I asked pointing to the girl, and smiling kindly. The girl just rolled her eyes and looked at my mom.

"This is Scarlet, she will be staying with us for awhile. She is from the neighboring kingdom." I stared at my mom in surprise.

"Which kingdom, we get along with many." I answered trying to find a sign of what race this girl was.

"The demon kingdom, she's a princess. She's here to find her fire. Demons can sometimes get their powers from witches who are also coming of age." My mom explained. "You will be helping her out and she will shadow you while you train and go to school." I stared at my mom, looking for any sign of humor in her voice.

"Don't look so disgusted with the idea." Scarlet snapped at me. I looked back at her, she looked angry and defensive, I should have known she was a demon before. I didn't like her attitude towards me and wanted to turn her away, but knowing my mom it was already set and I didn't have a choice.

"I didn't mean to, I'm just surprised is all." I replied while smiling at her, it was hard to fake a smile when so much has happened over the past few days. My mom mouthed a thank you and handed me a plate of food which I accepted gratefully. I was starving, I didn't realize until I looked at the food I was handed. Scarlet was also handed a plate and thanked my mom and smiled. How come she only lashed out at me?

"Mac didn't want to come for breakfast?" My mom asked while eating her own food.

"I'm sure the only thing he plans to do today is sleep. we had a hell of a time just getting him in the car." My mom laughed and nodded.

"Whose Mac?" Scarlet asked my mom, not even giving me a glance.

"Oh, it's Owens...Best Friend?" My mom looked at me quizzically and with raised eyebrows. Her face looked playful. I blushed and looked down at my plate.

"Yes mom, Best Friend." I stuffed my face with food hoping that she wouldn't notice my embarrassment.

Scarlet looked at me with disgust but didn't say anything.

"Why don't you show Scarlet where she will be staying honey?" Mom looked at me with a face that said, you don't have a choice.

"Uh Yeah, I will." I wiped my face and got up from the table waiting for Scarlet.

"Thank you for the wonderful food Mrs. Kindsley." Scarlet said politely.

"Oh you are such a dear." My mom said abashed.

Scarlets attitude changed when she looked at me, she glared and crossed her arms expectantly. I turned around and sighed, I walked up the stairs and went to the spare room.

"This is our spare room, you can rearrange it however you like. There is a bathroom attached and if you need help with anything I'm right down the hall." I explained politely. I secretly hoped she wouldn't ask me for anything. She scanned the room and nodded a bit which I assumed meant she liked the room. She turned towards me and looked me up and down. I was uncomfortable and swayed back and fourth on my feet.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"Why do you have bandages? And what are those weird marks?" I looked down and noticed some of the marks on my arms were showing where the bandages didn't cover. I blushed and touched the markings as they glowed softly.

"Umm I was born with them but the bandages are for burns, its a witch thing." I explained.

"Do all witches have those?" She asked abruptly and sort of rudely.

"No, just me." She stared at me, I looked at the floor uncomfortable.

"So I got stuck with a weird one." Scarlet rolled her eyes as I stared at her in disbelief. I mean yeah I wasn't the definition of normal but that still hurt my feelings.

"I'm sorry, I'm not following?" I said quizzically. Scarlet approached me with a scornful gaze.

"I have to shadow you, which means what ever weird label you have I will also get." Scarlet hissed out, she went to poke at my chest in an accusing way but as soon as she even laid a finger on me I cried out in pain. Pain rippled through my chest and I couldn't breath, it felt like a hot iron had just been branded onto me. I gasped for air and collapsed onto my knees clutching my chest. Scarlet jumped back and stared at me in shock. My vision went blurry and then I could breath again. I leaned against the doorway as I caught my breath and the pain subsided.

"You're even weirder than I fucking thought." Scarlet exclaimed. My mom came rushing up the stairs and noticed me on the floor panting.

"Oh Gosh honey are you ok?" My mom looked at me in worry but didn't dare to touch me.

"I don't know what happened, I just poked him-" Scarlet started before my mom cut her off.

"It's alright dear, I should have warned you but it slipped my mind. Owen can't be touched right now, we don't know what's wrong but we are trying to figure out what happened during his burning." My mom explained to Scarlet as if she were the sweetest thing in the world. I was able to calm my breathing enough to stand up. I tried to walk to my room.

"Honey, are you ok? Do you need anything?" My mom asked me. I turned and smiled weakly at her.

"No Mom, I'm ok. I'm going to go rest." I glanced at Scarlet who was still making weird looks at me. I slowly walked to my room and shut the door. I sank to the floor and lightly tapped my head against the door. What did I do to deserve this? I asked myself.

Not only was I going to be seen as a freak in the school, not that I wasn't already but now i had to have this girl follow me around who I'm 100% sure hates my guts. I curled my knees up to my chest and sighed. Maybe mom would let me skip, I doubt it but it's worth a try. I slugged to my bed and laid down, I sat on my phone and wasted time.

I stared up at the large building I called school. I had to walk into there, not get touched by anyone and somehow try to get Scarlet to the office. Not to mention Scarlet was glaring daggers at the back of my head.

"Are we just going to stand out here all day or what?" I rolled my eyes and looked around for Mac, maybe the universe would cut me some slack and have him help me. Scarlet must have caught on because she decided to antagonize me.

"What? Looking for your boyfriend?" My face flushed with embarrassment, this girl really had it out for me.

"Best friend, and yes I was hoping he would help me today." I scanned the crowd of people.

"Oh great, I'm getting shown around by Mr. Overdramatic weirdo and his lover." Scarlet grumbled. I felt a stab in my chest as she said that, yeah she was nothing important to me but I was already self conscious. Not to mention she made it pretty clear she thought I was faking the whole No touch thing. I spotted Mac in the crowd and he also was looking for me. I hoped he would spot me because I couldn't push through the crowd like normal. Magically he did and made his way over.

"Well howdy." Mac said in regards to Scarlet, I had already informed him of her.

"This is gay boy number two I assume. At least he's far better looking than you." Scarlet made a jab at me and I looked at the ground sinking more into myself.

"Excuse me?" Mac said, I could here the anger in his voice but anyone else wouldn't have been able to tell. I looked up pleadingly at him hoping he wouldn't say anything to offend her. He got the message and backed down.

"C'mon Owen, we have to take her to the office." We walked in silence other than Scarlets occasional comment about the school or me. We arrived at the office, everyone else was already in class since I had to try and avoid contact at all times.

"Ill wait out here."

I brought Scarlet in the office where we had to wait a few minutes before the principle came out.

"Ah yes! The princess." The principle smiled at Scarlet who returned it with equal politeness. "I'm sure you will have a great time here, Ill have my secretary get all your details out to you and I hope Owen will treat you with the utmost respect." The principle looked at me and his smile faltered. "Your father has made me aware of your...circumstances. Of course this is no excuse to fall behind or not show up to class, and I expect Mrs. Scarlet here to be well taken care of." I looked at the ground and admired the rug that was on the ground.

"Yes sir. Of course." I answered quietly, for some reason he always had it out for me.

When Scarlet got her locker combo and some supplies we left the office. Mac was still waiting while playing some game on his phone. He looked up and smiled at me. We headed to class and the morning went well. Scarlet attracted a lot of attention and made lots of friends. I was grateful because it got her off my back. I thought that the schooldays wouldn't be so bad if everyone else kept her occupied. I was so wrong.

Lunch time came and Scarlet sat with her new found friends while me and Mac sat alone. We were having fun until Scarlet came over with her little group. They were whispering to each other and giggling. I gulped and watched as a giant smirk came over Scarlets face. Suddenly I was pulled out of my seat by some upperclassman that I had never seen before. I cried out as pain filled my body. This time it was worse, I felt as if my skin was burning off and I was once again left with no air. My vision blacked out and my ears were ringing. I could faintly here the kids laughing and sneering.

"See? I told you he was a freak." I could hear Scarlets voice through the ringing. I whimpered and collapsed on the ground as I was let go.

"Get away from him!" Mac yelled and ran to my side. He was blocked by the same upperclassman who had grabbed me. They let him go to me as Scarlet explained Mac couldn't help anyway. Then suddenly the pain was gone and I could breath again. I coughed and gasped for air. Mac grabbed my face and forced me to look at him.

"Breath." I stared at him and my breath calmed down. That's when I noticed the room had gone silent. Mac shielded me from the crowd.

"What's wrong with you guys?!" He yelled, I blushed and looked at the ground. I was a freak and everyone knew it, as if the birth marks weren't enough ammo for them.

"I guess true love does conquer all." Scarlet sneered, everyone bursted out laughing. Mac growled as I buried my face in his back. Mac's image was being affected by being around me. I knew my days in school would be hell when I saw the principle in the doorway not doing a damn thing about the whole situation.

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