Heyo guys :) I'm really sorry for this being three months late. Freaking exams man. I'm half stressed because I think I'm gonna flop and the other half of me is calm AF. Mainly cuz if I do fail, aint nothing in the world that could change that fate. *Wipes tear* Anyways, you didn't come here to read that nonsense (good stuff below the dotted line - feel free to skip)

Lol I may need your help. The name of this chapter sucks but I can't think of anything good. Please throw suggestions and I may just use it *-*

Thank you to everyone who has been following my story. It means the world to me. I love every single person who has read and commented/ voted on my story. I am so privileged to have such amazing people read my work xx

This chapter is dedicated to xoxosmileyface1234because she is the first one to read each chapter I post, no matter how long it takes. I just wanted to personally thank you for all the support you have shown me x

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I stumbled out of the closet in a daze, hands shielding my eyes as the harsh florescent lights of the hallway temporarily blinded me. Looking up, I noticed Kat skipping towards me, appearing from what appeared to be mid-air. A large smile graced her lips.

"What's with the smile," I asked her once she approached me.

"Nothing," she replied innocently. I pursed my lips as I took in her flushed cheeks, tousled hair, and rumpled clothing.

"If I had to guess," I said, "it would have to be- what's his name? Oh yeah, Romero," I finished with a smile.

Kat let out a peal of laughter. "Now why ever would you think such a thing?"

"Come on, I'm right aren't I?" I shoved her playfully in the shoulder. She laughed again and shoved me back, but kept quiet.

"Oh, no! Don't hold back on me know," I said. She linked our arms, dragging me to our biology lesson, and I teased her mercilessly all the way there. I was not going to let her worm her way out of telling me what happened between her and Romero.

Sure, I was curious as to what went down between the two of them but really, I was still shaken up from what had just happened with Hunter moments earlier and I needed a good distraction before my mind exploded from confusion. Our freaking flower things matched, but more importantly, it glowed.

When I was much younger, I used to sneak into my grandmother's shop and rummage through her stack of ancient books. Most of the time they were boring, but there was this one that just looked different from the rest. I'd opened it to a random page, and it had a flower, just like the one on my arm. There was writing on it, but back then I had no interest in that. I remember thinking it was pretty, which it is. I'd just prefer it not to be some creepy witchy thing attached to me.

I needed to find that book, my life depended on it. If I could just locate it, maybe it could tell me what the mark is and how I could remove it. Hunter seemed a lot less pissed off at me now that we'd cleared up that the other was not a part of the evil organization. Nevertheless, I didn't want to approach him and ask for help. This was something I had to do alone. And then rope him into doing whatever it took to get the other half off him.

I felt a light prod to my left cheek. "Hey, are you alright in that head of yours? I've been calling you for ages." Kat frowned at me, her large eyes filled with worry.

"I'm fine. Let's talk about you," I said, trying my best to distract her so that she didn't question me.

Her shoulders drooped in defeat. "Fine, I'll tell you."

I let out a squeal. Kat raised a finger to halt me, "But only if you promise not to act weird when he's around."

My hands slapped against each other like a retarded seal, and my grin was about to split my face. "Hell yeah. I'll be so normal he'd never even think to look at me twice."

I sure as hell had to pretend that all was good. After he barged into the closet to get Hunter and saw me, there was no doubt going to be a lot of questions about what we were doing together in there.

The truth sounded nuttier than the lie, and the lie sounded down right disturbing, so I had no clue how to respond if I was ever posed with that question.

Pushing open the door to the biology lab, Kat and I took our seats next to each other at the back of the room. The teacher called everyone's attention, then set a small task for us to complete. While we were working, Kat proceeded to tell me what exactly went down between the two of them, but before she could get to the juicy part, we were interrupted.

"Miss Winters! Stand up."

At the sound of my name, I looked up to find Mr Mandez standing in front of my desk, a deep scowl etched on his withered features.

Silence descended over the class as they stopped what they were doing to watch me. I felt the heat rise to my cheeks. Swallowing my embarrassment, I pushed the chair back and stood up.

"Miss Davis?" he said, not taking his eyes off me, "Please swap seats with Miss Winters here."

"No-" Kat started to protest. Mr Mandez cut her off with a shake of his head.

"Would you like to move as well, Miss Carrillo?"

Kat looked at me, defeated, and slumped back in her chair.

A short girl in the middle row picked up her books and walked over to my table. She dropped her work and looked at me, waiting for me to move. Instead of picking up my books and moving away, I looked her up and down. Her short brown hair ended at her chin and her framed glasses perched on the bridge of her pert nose. She looked a lot like Velma from Scooby- doo, and I was burning with the urge to voice that opinion. However I doubted she would appreciate my amazing eye for detail, so I simply grabbed my things and moved, shooting Kat a forlorn look on my way.

My feet froze in shock when I saw who I was supposed to sit next to. The boy turned around and glared. "You," he snarled. The class tittered at Nate's outburst, unsure what to make of the new developments.

The sharp sting of rejection washed over me. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, I begged myself. That was the last thing I needed.

In my first biology lesson, I was forced to sit next to Nate, who moved as far away as possible from me and commented quite harshly that I stank. I'd slyly moved next to Kat at the back of the room after that. Thankfully, Mr Mandez wasn't terribly observant so he hadn't pointed out I wasn't sitting in the right place. Velma over there used to sit next to Kat but she was easily bribed away. I say easily but really, I had promised to do her homework for a month. I guess I won't be doing that anymore.

"Mr Howe," the biology teacher said, "do you have something against Miss Winters?"

Nate turned to me then, a glower on his face. "I don't know, do I have something against you, Miss Winters?"

My heart beat furiously in my chest as I slowly edged my way to the seat. There was only twenty minutes of the lesson left, I could make it out alive.

When I sat down, Nate moved his seat as far as it would allow, a deep scowl permanently etched on his face.

"What happened to your face," he sneered. It wasn't like he hadn't my scars before. I knew the reason why he was saying that was just to get a rise from me.

It worked.

My hand automatically rose to cover my scars. The tears threatened to fall again but I managed to push them down. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole as the humiliation washed over me. My first instinct was to let my hair fall in between us and create a curtain. This was why I did the exact opposite. It had been long enough with me eating myself inside out with hatred for myself. It was time I loved me for who I am now, scars and all.

I took a deep breath and swung my hair to the other side of my head so that Nate could see my three scars clearly. "I was going for the tribal theme," I said dryly, "and I think I like it."

His eyes widened in surprise at my remark. Ha! Take that. A smile pulled at my cheeks and I let it, feeling like a weight had finally lifted off me. Nate shuffled his chair closer to me and got to work, ignoring me for the rest of the lesson. He didn't say another word, not even to cuss me. But somehow that felt like a good thing, a step in the right direction. I did nothing to warrant his hate, I just hoped he saw that.

When the bell went he picked up his books and stood up. Before he left, he gave me a small smile and said, "See ya next lesson," and walked off.

My mouth fell open in surprise; he was nice to me. I didn't know what to make of it considering I didn't do anything to him in the first place for him to be horrible to me.

With a shrug, I picked up my books and shoved them in my backpack. My mind instantly flew to Hunter and I wondered what he was doing right now. He was friends with Nate, that much I knew. Would Nate go and tell him that I was his lab partner? Not that he had reason to, but still...

Kat bumped her shoulder into me. "Hey, let's go home."

I nodded, hefting my bag over one shoulder and following her out the room.

"Do you want a ride home?"

I walked her to her red Honda parked across us. "No thank you, Damien is going to get us a car." I blew her an air kiss and she was off.

As much as I hated the idea of Damien bunking school, I hated having to use my dead mother's car more. I didn't care what Nana said; nothing in the world could get me to drive that.

He texted me earlier to say that he was going to be in a blue Chevy. I couldn't miss it, was what he said. Moments later, a truck came roaring to a stop about a meter away from me. Damien shot me a twinkling smile from the driver's side. "Do you like the new wheels?"

Really? This was what he got us? I voiced that opinion quite loudly. Damien simply shot me another smile and opened the passenger side for me to jump it.

We kept a light conversation going on between us, talking mostly about how the others' day went. I missed him, even though I just saw him this morning. Damien was my other half and it felt weird for us to be apart, no matter how long.

When we got home, all was quiet. Normally, Nana would be in the kitchen cooking, or even in her shop, getting it ready to open again. We walked through the silent house to her shop. Damien weaved his hand through mine, knowing that I would need his support.

He pushed open the creaking door to her shop and let out a horrified gasp.

I pushed my brother to the side to see what drew that reaction. My eyes immediately fell on my grandmother, sprawled on the cement floor, herbs and potions littered around her.

"Nana!" I screamed, dropping my bag and rushing to her side.