10: Partners or not?

Owen's POV

The paintbrush I was painting with stilled on the canvas smudging the lines a little bit.

"Thinking about the new girl?" Ulric, my wolf teased.

"Don't be silly. Why would I think about her?" I retorted as I continued painting.

"You seem to have forgotten that I'm in your head. I can hear your every thought. She's quite pretty, isn't she? Which was why you vehemently insisted on dropping her off at her home," he said.

"Have you gone crazy?" I inquired.

"If I'm crazy that would also mean you are crazy too. Admit it, you like her. She might be our mate after all," Ulric replied.

"I don't like her. I was just trying to pay her back for making her miss her ride. I don't like owing people and you know it," I responded.

"Deny it however you want but the canvas is enough to prove what I'm saying," he insisted. I sighed when I saw the smudge on my canvas. Whenever I started painting, I would never make any mistakes but I made a mistake today because of Audrey.

"This is probably because Audrey bumped into my hand," I said.

"Oh my goodness! The painting got ruined," Audrey exclaimed.

I sighed. "You made this happen. Why were you pestering me?" I inquired harshly.

"Pestering? I just came to check up on you. Why are you blaming me for the ruined painting? Did I ruin it with my own hands? You smudged it when I spoke about the new girl Genevieve. Does she affect you that much?" she asked.

"Who the hell is Genevieve?" I retorted angrily like I didn't know who that was. She stared at me in surprise.

"You really don't know? The girl you insisted on driving home," she said.

"Do you think I have time to think of such trivial things?" I asked coldly. She looked at me incredulously before giving me a wide smile.

"Of course not. This was just me being silly. Forget I said anything. It's just you were all over the school blog along with her, the kids all think you have something going on," she responded. I had also heard about everything. Nothing could be kept a secret for long in this school. A friend will tell a friend and that friend will in turn tell another friend. It was a vicious circle of lies that kept going on and on. It never seemed to end. She left the part about Nolan out. She knew it was a sour topic that definitely won't end well.

I found Audrey annoying at times, persistently annoying but at other times, I actually liked her company. We've been friends since we were kids so we knew each other very well. Although I spoke coldly to her, she never left my side. That was how I was. I spoke coldly to everyone around me. I didn't know how to be nice or speak softly. I knew no warmth.

"You can paint me now since your other painting got ruined," she said with a wide smile.

"I'm done for the day," I responded, picked up my bag, and slung it over my shoulder. I headed outside with Audrey right beside me. The students all parted, giving me more than enough room to walk through.

"I'm going out shopping today then after that, I'm heading to the club. You should come along," she offered.

"Everything you just said, totally not my scene. I'd rather sleep in," I declined her offer and walked toward my next class. A girl bumped into me on my way. She hurriedly evaded my gaze.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bump into you," she pleaded, trembling from fear.

"It's okay. Everyone is bound to make mistakes," Ulric replied to her in my head but would I say that out though? Definitely not. I glared at her coldly and she shrunk under my gaze. I walked past her and I felt her body fall onto the floor with a heavy thud.

"Anna? Are you okay?" her friends asked her worriedly.

"It wouldn't kill you to be nice for once Owen. She was such a cute-looking girl," Ulric grumbled.

"I can't bother myself with such worthless things. You should have said nice things to her," I retorted.

"I should. I will consider taking control of my body and speaking nicely to everyone someday. It would make one hell of a headline," he said. I ignored him and continued walking. I stopped when I caught sight of Genevieve entering the school laboratory. The exact same place I was headed.

"Why? Is your heart fluttering? Is it love at first sight?" Ulric teased.

"Shut up," I grumbled before walking in. I took my seat far away from her at the back. As usual, everyone sitting there vacated their seats.

"Good afternoon students," the teacher greeted enthusiastically. A few of the students mumbled back a response.

"Okay? I can see we are all in a good mood today. I won't take much of your time because I am equally as busy. Since we have new students amongst us, we won't be able to maintain the old list. Therefore, I wrote all your names on different pieces of paper. You are to each come forward to pick a single piece. Whoever you pick, will be your laboratory partner for the rest of the school year," she instructed.

"What if we end up picking our own names?" someone asked.

"I doubt that will happen but if it does, I will resolve it so don't worry," she assured. I placed my headphones in my ear, losing interest in whatever they had going on. Everyone picked a piece of paper except for me. I simply just watched them with a blank expression on my face.

The girl that had bumped into me earlier went last. Immediately, she saw the written content, she looked at me with fear as her face paled. I saw tears streaming down her pale sick looking face which prompted me to remove my headphones.

"I have a heart condition. If I really get paired with him, I might slump and die due to fear. Please help me. I won't be able to take been paired with him" she muttered as she burst into another fit of tears. Everyone stared at her pitifully, including the teacher. I crossed my legs in front of me.

"I got my name back," Genevieve said calmly. The noise died down and the girl stopped crying except for a few sniffles.

"I also got my name back," another student said.

"Really? This is going to be a problem," the teacher said helplessly wondering who she could pair me with. I faced this predicament all the time and I always ended up working alone. This was just a waste of their time.

"In that case, I wish to be paired with Anna," the other student who had gotten her name back hurriedly walked over to Anna, almost tripping. She held onto her hand firmly. Anna wiped her red cheeks and held onto the girl as her life depended on it. The teacher glanced from Genevieve to me.

"Then, Mr. Dawson and Miss Gonzales should be paired together since they are the only two left, right?" she inquired. I could feel Genevieve's gaze on me but I didn't glance towards her direction.

"Since there is no objection, you two are paired together for the rest of the school year," she said. I glanced at the teacher and then towards Genevieve, surprise flitting through my eyes for a second. Why didn't she refuse to be paired with me like the others? I had never had a laboratory partner since that ugly incident. And I actually preferred it that way. The bell suddenly rang and everyone walked out including the teacher except for me and Genevieve.

She picked up her books and walked towards me. "I know we haven't spoken much except for a few encounters but now that this has happened, we need to work together..."

"Encounters?" I inquired calmly.

"Yes, the other time when I refused to allow you to take me home after you insisted..."

I chuckled darkly, cutting her off for the second time. "Insisted on taking you home? Don't be delusional. I only did that because I hate to be in anyone's debt. And now, I've finally found a way to repay the debt. Forget about this stupid pairing. We can both work individually."

"Why would I work alone? We were paired together by the teacher," she insisted. Does she really want to work with me? Is she in her rightful senses? I thought to myself.

"Suit yourself. But, don't talk to me or come close to me. We can be partners from a mile away. I hate associating with people like you," I spat and walked away. She stared at my retreating back in disbelief.

"I know what you are about to say but this is for the best. We are not good for her. We might only end up bringing her into our dark world," I said to Ulric before he could start giving another one of his speeches.