Warren was still thinking about Mary when Lexi pulled his shirt.
- Hey! Are you even listening?
- Sorry, I wasn't paying attention.
- I was saying how much I missed you all those years and how happy I am to be with you right now. I really wish the things had ended differently between us. But, you know, you were just a young boy back then. Now…you've become a man Warren.
- Thanks, I guess…
- You know, I was thinking how happy I was with you. I thought that maybe we could…start over, give us a second chance.
- I don't think that's a good idea.
Lexi started to touch Warren's arms and pushed her body towards his. He could feel her breath on his chin.
- Why? Am I not pretty enough for you? I mean, you've grown up to be so handsome, so maybe you're out of my league now.
Lexi was expecting Warren to deny it and assure her that it's otherwise but instead he held her from her shoulders and pushed her away from himself.
- No, because we didn't break up because of my age, you dumped me when I couldn't be of use to you anymore. You made me believe that you loved me, you looked me in the eye and didn't even hesitate to lie. And I did everything you asked me for like a fool and helped you get the guy you actually wanted jealous. I was already going through a lot at that time and you destroyed what was left of me. Now you want me back. Why? Because I'm suddenly handsome? Or maybe you just want someone to pass time with before you go back to college. You mean nothing to me anymore, Lexi.
Warren has been trying really hard not to explode like he just did and never bring up the past that night but he did not regret what he had done. Even when Lexi started crying. As she cried, Warren felt his feelings for her were starting to change. They went from anger to disgust and then … to pity. She was never going to be happy her whole life, he just knew it. She was so empty that no matter how many poor men she managed to fool, they would never be enough to fill that emptiness. He suddenly thought of Mary and a smile crept over his face along with a warm feeling surrounding his whole body. He wanted to go back to her. He lifted his head and saw that they were almost at Lexi's house. He put his hand on her back and gently pushed her to the front door. He unlocked the door and led Lexi inside.
- Alright since you're here I'll just leave now.
- Wait! Don't tell me you're going to go back to that bitch!
- It's none of your business and if you ever call her that again, I won't let it go that easily.
- So she's the reason you don't want me?
- No, Lexi, I just told you…
- No. If you can't be with me, you can't be with anyone else.
Then her fingernails grew longer until they reached Warren's back. They ripped his shirt and left bloody scratch marks on his back.
- What the hell did you just do?
- Just a little warning sign. You're mine, Warren Piece, until I let you go.
- You're sick.
- I just want to protect what's mine.
- Go to hell, Lexi.
Warren wore the jacket he's been holding as soon as he left the house. How the hell was he going to explain Mary what had happened? He could feel the marks on his back as he walked. He was never going to date someone with powers again. Well, at least Mary's powers weren't harmful. Wait, why did he just think of Mary? He smiled again. He knew exactly why.
When he reached his front door, instead of knocking he looked for the spare keys he had hidden in the vase his mother had bought to decorate the garden a bit. Even though he was wearing a jacket, it would be for the best if he went to his room and changed his shirt before Mary began questioning things. This was stupid, he hadn't done anything wrong. He cursed Lexi one more time under his breath.
Mary was lying on the couch when he entered the house. Her eyes were closed, good. She had cleaned her makeup and was wearing the clothes Warren had given her. She was using a green cardigan as a blanket and had curled her body for the cardigan to completely cover her. Warren quietly closed the door and was heading for his room when he recognized the cardigan. It belonged to Drew. His heart began to beat really fast. He was jealous, angry and wanted to break things. His hands were getting warmer and warmer. Only when he saw the flames did he realize what he was doing. He calmed himself down and quietly went to his room. He had other things to deal with at the moment.
He immediately took off his shirt and examined the scar on the mirror. It wasn't that bad, good thing he got a bit of his mom's durability as a ''power''. He wiped the scar with the shirt and decided that he would burn it some other time. He was looking for a new shirt when he heard someone at the door.
- Oh, sorry just woke up and wanted to check if you had co…me.
Her eyes fixated on the scar. Her face went completely white and she looked like she was trying hard to keep herself stable. She looked back at Warren. She smiled. Warren felt his heart breaking into pieces.
- I see you're safely back at home. Goodnight.
- No, wait Mary. It's not like what you think.
- What is, Warren?
- The scar, Lexi did it to…
- I don't want to hear!
She had tears in her eyes now.
- Why are you telling me anyways? I'm not your girlfriend, you can do whatever you want with whomever you want.
- Don't be like this. Well it's not like you were completely alone tonight too, right? I saw Drew's cardigan downstairs. You were curled under it like it was the most precious thing to you.
- He gave me his cardigan because it was cold. I would've asked you but you weren't around, accompanying Lexi to her house, like the gentleman you are. Why don't you bring her over next time? Maybe she missed the waterbed.
- Fine I will, and you bring Drew over, you sure are quite happy around him aren't you? You were laughing the whole night.
- Interesting for you to see while Lexi was hugging your arm like that. And you're right. He does make me happy. He was hitting on me you know, but I wasn't sure about him. I think I'll text him tomorrow. Thanks for showing me the right way Warren. Goodnight.
She left his room without even closing the door. Warren stood there, half naked and stared at the door for nearly a minute. What had just happened? He walked to the door. He was an idiot. He shut it quietly. He had successfully pushed her away from himself. He sat on his bed still not quite grasping the fight earlier. Why did he say that? Why did he provoke her? Why was he so bad at this? He suddenly got really angry with himself and released the fire he had been holding. His whole body was now on fire. He wanted to punch something so bad but Mary would hear it. He gave up after a few minutes and lighted a cigarette. He was such an idiot sometimes.
He woke up to the sound of the alarm clock. What a day. He remembered all the stuff he had done the other day. He groaned and rubbed his eyes. Alright, he might have screwed up, big time. But he was going to make it up to her. He was going to make a wonderful breakfast and apologize to her for the last night. Maybe he could learn if she was serious about Drew too. But not so fast, no need to provoke her again. And not when she still didn't know how he got the marks on his back. Alright first things first. He got out of his bed to wake Mary up. He silently opened her door, feeling slightly nervous. She wasn't there.
Her bed was made up and on it were the clothes Warren had given her. He went downstairs and looked around until he saw the note on the counter. '' I'll be at Sue's ''. That was it. He could sense the coldness between them from this simple note. How the hell was she supposed to apologize to her now?
He looked for Mary as soon as he got to school. He knew that she might have lied to him and gone somewhere else. He sat on the stairs on the entrance and started looking around. He was relieved when he saw Mary getting off of a bus 5 minutes later. She was indeed with Sue, who was an Asian girl with short red-dyed hair. He then met Mary's eyes and she quickly turned her head to Sue like she hadn't seen him. Well, he expected that much. He got up and went to his class, he would talk to her later when she was alone.
At lunch Warren was sitting at his usual place, alone like always. He looked at Mary's table. She was telling Anne something and she was nodding and making comments. Then the girl started smiling and clapping her hands but Mary stopped her and kept talking to her. After a couple of minutes she was furious. Then Sue said something and both girls started yelling at her. Then she saw Warren looking at them. Warren knew that she understood what was actually going on by the look she gave him. That was good, at least one friend was –somewhat- on his side. Warren checked if he remembered her school bus, he did.
Sue was walking to her bus, with some annoying commercial jingle playing in her mind. God, she hated her power sometimes. Remembering everything helped you with the tests but a simple rhythm someone made with their pen could fill your brain with some stupid jingle from ten years ago. She was thinking about the pros and cons of her talent when she saw him. Shit. So this was how she was going to die. By the strongest guy in the school, Warren Peace. Why did Anne tell Mary to go ask for Warren's help anyways? Now she was going to get roasted alive, great. Why couldn't her bus park in a more crowded place? There was no one around besides them.
- Hi, you must be Sue, right?
- Why? Do you want to find Sue? Did she do something bad to you? I'm sure she didn't mean to, I mean she's just a weirdo, it's not like she could defend herself if anything happened to her which would be an unequal and dishonorable fight, don't you think?
- I was going to ask for her help.
- Her help? What for? She's a good for nothing tiny girl. What would you even need her for? She doesn't have a useful power…I have a cat to take care of, mercy.
- What? Relax, I'm not going to do anything bad to you.
- Oh, umm…I knew about that, I mean why would you? You're a good person. I mean, if that's what you're going for, if not you're a very bad person. I mean…
- I was going to ask you to help me fix things between me and Mary.
- Oh...that's a bit hard to do though, she's furious.
- I know and she has every right to be. I was being a jerk. But she didn't let me explain what happened between me and Lexi, and she came home wearing another guy's cardigan on top of that.
- Why did you get mad at that? I mean the guy just gave her his cardigan.
- Yes, but the same guy also asked if she had a boyfriend and flirted with her. And she came home with his cardigan. His.
- Oh he did that to….wait…are you jealous? Oh my God go you like Mary?
- What? No. Why would I like her, I mean she's just, we're just… Will you help me if I say yes?
- Hell yeah. I mean I'm still a little scared of you but I will. For sure. But why did you sleep with Lexi if you…
- I didn't. But she wouldn't let me explain. Lexi's a maniac. She used her powers to leave marks on my back when I rejected her. Just to show Mary and any other girl that 'I belonged to her'. Nothing happened between us.
- Oh, so that's what happened. I knew it! I knew there was another explanation. So do you want me to tell this to Mary?
- No, no, no, no, no she'd just get mad at me for getting you involved. I just want you to be on my side, you know, tell me how she feels and tell her that I probably didn't mean what I did. You know, soften her a bit.
- I know exactly what you mean. And I'll do it. For sure. Like my life depends on it. I mean, it doesn't though, right? Or does it?
- No. Stop being so scared of me. Why would I hurt you?
- I don't know you just look very angry.
- Oh, yeah I forget how I look like sometimes. It's just my face. I was pretty much born looking aggressive.
- I see, well I have a cousin who was born without eyebrows, so I get exactly what you mean.
The bus driver honked the horn.
- I should go now. And you too. I'll definitely help you don't worry. Have a nice bye.
Warren went to his bus which has been waiting for him for some time now. But of course, no one said a word. Sue was a little weird, but she was going to help and that's all that mattered. He actually struggled not to laugh at how nervous and scared she was. He told the bus driver to stop at his house after stopping at his workplace. He sat next to Mary who was looking out of the window and listening to music, trying her best to ignore him, apparently. Her face twisted in pain when the bus took off. He wanted to hold her more than anything that moment. He wanted to ease her pain. But it would have to wait. He hated this. He hated not being able to touch her.
He got up when the bus stopped at Paper Lantern. Mary took out her headphones and looked at him questioningly. He leaned in and said that the bus would drop her off at his house. Then he got off the bus and went to work. He took a deep breath and went in. His boss started yelling at him. He apologized to her over and over again for not coming to work the other day. She finally told him to quit wasting time and go back to work. He had no idea that Lexi was headed to his house to pay Mary a visit.
