The Tales Of Crowboy The Incredible: Of Ink and Power

Chapter Twenty Nine

       "Hey, Felix. You look like shit." Taylor said, and laughed. I was at school today, and not even 30 minutes in people were commenting on how disgrunteled I look. How absolutely fucking wonderful. My temper was short today, and that comment was starting to burn it closer and closer to the bomb.

    That night had been scary. Mama had been scared. Really scared, but also overjoyed that she had a child that was magic. That she had a child that was not normal but in the best ways possible. And then I texted Owen. Owen, of all people, to do one of the worst things possible to my mother of all people. My mother. She was absolutely giddy this morning, giggling, so proud of me, winking and making jokes about my wings. 

      "Yeah, wow, how incredible. I'm so glad that you pointed that out and that you decided 'Wow! My friend looks like he's having a terrible day and that he really needs someone to talk to or someone to help him! And I'm going to say he looks like shit, because that's what a friend is!'" Taylor just shyed away and got quiet. I didn't feel bad though. Why can't everyone just leave me alone and go away? Why can't I just talk back everything that I told Mama last night?

       "Dude. Chill. Taylor is just joking around. You don't need to take it personally." Alex said, and stared at me over their phone. 

      "Whatever." I replied, and rubbed my eyes. "Sorry. I didn't sleep much last night. Or the night before. It's been a long, long weekend. Plus, Celestial training has been kicking my ass." All of those were true. Not the truth truth on why I was upset, but true. Everyone groaned, and the librarian shushed us. 

      "Stop talking about being a Celestial! We get it! That's all you and Owen seem to talk about anymore. It's annoying." Gabriel groaned. I flicked him off. Who was he to judge? He had basically ignored me all year, and now he wants to comment on my magic? Man, fuck him.

      "Fine. What can I talk about then? AJR? Percy Jackson? Hudson?" A collective sharp inhale of breath at the last name. "Or, I don't know, maybe when I got kidnapped? Oooh, here's a fun one! Zain." 

     "Fletcher, stop it. You're being a dick." Elijah said. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my backpack. I couldn't deal with them anymore. Yeah, I was being a dick, but why do they always have to be where I am, all the time, 24/7? 

     Fuck that. That was my fault. I was mean. I shouldn't have walked out of the library like that. Taylor was just joking around. But I didn't have the heart. Or the energy. I needed to smoke. This was becoming a crutch. Fuck

      I passed the section where all the popular kids had lunch. Fuck them. I heard Lex cackle, a sound that made my skin crawl. Owen was over there too. I needed to talk to him. But right now, he was next to Lex, and Lex was fucking horrible, so, you know what, I'm not going to deal with it. I did make eye contact with him though, as I walked into the bathroom, and smiled at him in a menacing, sly way, wiggling my fingers. I hoped he saw how badly my other hand was shaking. I hoped he saw upset I was. I hope. I hope. I hope. 

      I walked into the bathroom, and took a few hits. I stared at my vape, and held it in my hands. This was dumb. Why was I doing it. I dropped it in the toilet and saw some smoke fizzle out of it. Dammit. That was $20 dollars. That was also really impulsive. Shit. I was doing everything wrong today, wasn't I? 

      I walked out of the bathroom and tried to go find my other friends. Maybe I could chill with them. I was hell touch starved. This would be good. Maybe I could hold Vans hand. Or I could lay in Gingers lap. That might calm me down a little bit. A reminder that I was still alive, in this planet, no matter how badly I fucked up. I really hope I didn't yell at them. 

       "Hey guys." I said. Normally Van and Madeline sat with a couple other kids from band sat. Sometimes I sat with them. I should probably do that more often. I liked eating lunch with them more anyways. "What's up?"

      "Not much." Van said. I tried to sit down, but stumbeled a little. I was a little buzzed, and whenever I got buzzed, walking became really difficult. Madeline and Van exchanged a worried glance, and then looked at Juli. Today, Juli and Ginger were sitting with us, and I was happy about that. I liked when everyone sat with eachother. "Are you okay?" Haha. That was code for are you high. 

      "I'm just a little buzzed." I said, and layed down. I wasn't gonna ask for anyones attention now. I just felt bad. "It was a bad fucking weekend. Really bad." Madeline bit her lip. Dammit. I had ruined the mood here too. Was this one of the days that whenever I touched anyone or walked into a room something would get totally and entierly ruined so bad it would never be fixed again? I think it was. How wonderful. "But don't worry about it. Just talk amoungst yourselfs and I'm going to sleep." I closed my eyes, but didn't go to bed. I didn't want to tune out the world. Not just yet. 

     Eventually, conversation sped up again, and now kids were laughing and jumping around and playing. That made me smile. It had gotten warm. The warm that tickled and kissed my skin and promised me happiness in the morning. I liked that type of heat. 

    Just when I started to go to sleep, I heard someone say my name. Conversation screeched to a stop again, quieting down. I forced myself out of that sleepy buzzed state and tried to listen to what everyone was saying. I almost debated pretending to wake up. What were people saying? I WANNA HEAR! 

     Someone kicked me in the head, and I jolted up with a bolt. Rubbing my eyes, I looked around, trying to find the reason everyone was now ceasing their conversations. Oh. Owen. Owen was here, for no reason. Why was Owen here, for no reason, impromptu? Oh wait. It wasn't impromptu. It was because of what I texted him last night.

     Ginger shot me a look, which I took to interpret as "what the actual jesus christ did you do to make Owen not even look at you in a weird way, but to actually go out and FUCKING look for you?" I just shrugged. 

     "Yo. Dipshit. Do you need me to go talk to you?" I smiled. If I was going to be a dick to anyone, it was going to be Owen. I don't care what anyone else says, Owen is the perfect person to be a dick to, despite what anyone else says. It's just so fun.

     Owen pinched the bridge of his nose, as if just those words were enough to envoke a nose bleed upon him. Or at least a skull-shattering head ache. Either way, mission accomplished. "Yeah. Yeah could you please come with me? I need to talk to you. About what you texted me last night." Heat painted my cheeks with embarssment, but I got up, my knees scraping the ground and getting stained by the grass in the process. 

      He pulled me away until we were in a certain spot, covered by trees. "What did you tell you Mom?" He asked me. "What happened between when I dropped you off at Caitlins and you getting home to make you freak out so badly?"

       "Someone stormed into my house and wouldn't leave and threatened Mama. They told Mama I wasn't human. And so, my mom was really confused, and so I explained it to her. It was dumb. It was really dumb and really stupid but I panicked and I didn't know what to tell her, and so I told her the truth. If it makes you feel better, I didn't tell her who else had magic in specifics. I wouldn't do that." I explained. Owens face stayed cold, without any emotion. 

     "There are so many things to unpack in that sentence. Let me just.... think about that. For a little while. I need to think about what I'm going to say." He paused for a few seconds, collecting his thoughts. "Do you know who was in your house?" I shook my head. 

       "It was while I was at Caitlins house. Mama seemed really upset about it, so I didn't want to push. I will later though." 

       "Okay. Sounds good. And this is my last questions, so think really hard about this. Are you sure you want to do this? I know your mom is difficult, and might not listen, but don't you think that having her forget is a little drastic? I would kill for the oppurtunity to-"

      "Owen. Please. I'm sure about this. I can't have her running around knowing. She's going to tell the wrong person at the wrong time, and I'm going to get hurt, or Lennon is going to get hurt, or Papa is going to get hurt, or she's going to get hurt. It was a bad opportunity, and a bad way to tell her, and I just wish I could take it back. I know you used your powers on me, but once, please, use your magic for good. For me. I need it." I pleaded. This could be the end of my life. This could ruin it all. I needed Owen now, more than I've ever needed him before.

      He paused, considering his actions. When I looked at him, his blue eyes glowed, the dark blue of his wings. "I'll do it."