Unspeakable Crew Oneshots

Hand Prints (James x reader)

All my friends were lucky. Their soulmarks were on the palms of their hands. They were just itching for that one fateful handshake or high five. That wasn't the only place people got soulmarks, though. Sometimes people have their soulmark on their knuckles and they accidentally brush hands with their soulmate when walking down the streets. Though, sometimes, people get them in interesting places.

I guess I should explain the soulmarks. They are a black stain on a person's skin where their soulmate first touches them. When that skin contact is made, the mark starts burning with various intensities of pain before it changes into a unique color combination. The intensity of the pain received while the mark changes depends on how faithful you'll be to your soulmate.

Me? I never wanted to meet my soulmate. Why, you might ask? My soulmark was a full hand print on my right cheek. I've heard the worries of those with soulmarks on their knuckles that they will punch their soulmate. But, may I ask, what's worse: punching your soulmate or being slapped across the face by your soulmate?

That was my biggest fear. So big, in fact, that I tried to cover it up with makeup.

As a result of my bizarre soulmark placement, I got bullied. The main antagonist was Mackenzie, the most popular girl in school. She was the girl who slept with almost every guy in the grade. It seemed like no one was able to say no to her charms.

Mackenzie's soulmark was in a unique spot, too. Hers was a full hand print on the small of her back. Unlike me, though, she never got teased because that would just get you into a beating from her posse. Because of this, she often wore crop tops and other clothing to show it off. She always had her blonde hair styled with brown streaks placed in. She always tried to look like a fashion model. Man did it annoy me.

The hottest guy in the grade, by far, was James Amendola. He had his soulmark covering the entirety of the palm side of his left hand. And, as far as I knew, he was one of the few boys who hadn't succumbed to Mackenzie's charms. He liked to wear t-shirts of varying designs, though he mostly sported shirts that had the word Unspeakable emblazoned across his chest to help promote his friend's fledgling YouTube channel. He often wore shorts, but there was the odd occurrence where he wore long pants. His dirty blond hair was cut relatively short, but I heard him say before that he wanted to grow it out. His brilliant blue eyes were so stunning. They captivated the hearts of every girl in the school. Even my own. Especially my own.

One day, I was running so late to school that I didn't have time to put makeup on my soulmark. Still, I looked like my typical self in black jeans and a dark colored t-shirt with matching black sneakers. Apparently, though, I wasn't late enough to avoid Mackenzie.

"Well, well. Look who it is," Mackenzie said, walking up to me with her posse of jocks and fakes.

"Back off Mackenzie. Shouldn't you be making out with someone in the janitors closet?"

"Watch it, loser. You don't want to make me mad, do you?"

"Wow, Mackenzie, you seem to be in a good mood. Did your most recent one night stand turn out to be your soulmate? Bet you didn't even feel anything with how your relationships are."

"You're treading on thin ice, (L/n)."

"I'd rather fall through the ice than continue listening to your bs."

I never saw the slap coming.

It came out of nowhere and struck me on my left cheek. My mouth was agape, a hand resting on my cheek from shock. Mackenzie had both of her perfectly manicured hands covering her mouth. I could tell in the eyes she was sorry about slapping me. Normally it was her followers that inflicted the pain. Still, not my ideal way to start the day.

That started everything else.

I still stood there, not moving but one of the jocks that followed her around like lost puppies shoved me into the lockers. The force of that knocked the air out of my lungs. That jock, Mark, picked my up by the collar of my shirt and slammed me into the lockers again. My hands grasped the wrist holding me up, hoping it didn't suffocate me.

"Apologize," he growled through clenched teeth.

"Not until I get one for everything she's ever done to me."

That wasn't quite a satisfactory answer because he dropped me and I crashed onto the floor. A few kicks and punches came flying at me and soon I was curled into a ball on the floor. Tears started streaming down my face. Something else I was aware of was that no one else slapped me. I guess they didn't want to risk a slap signifying us as soulmates. My eyes were squeezed tight due to the pain. That's why I didn't immediately recognize my hero.

"Hey, cut that out!" a masculine voice interrupted, putting the punches and kicks to an end. Looking up through teary eyes, I saw James Amendola standing over me.

"Hey James-y," Mackenzie cooed with a sickly sweet smile on her face. She wrapped her arm around James, resting it near his waist. I guess she was hoping he would put his hand on her back, right where her mark was.

Instead, he shoved her arm off and kneeled down in front of me.

I had managed to sit up now, but I was still crying. James reached his hand out, the one with the mark on, and placed it softly on my cheek, presumably to brush away my tears.

When his hand made contact with my skin, a searing pain spread through my soulmark. James pulled his hand back, a grimace marring his handsome face. He gripped his hand tightly, his eyes squeezed shut in pain. Both my hands covered my cheek and I closed my eyes tightly because of it.

When the pain finally disappeared, I slowly opened my eyes to see James staring back at me. I saw the hand that originally showed his soulmark and it was beautiful. His hand was covered in swirls of many different shades of blue in a sort of tie-dye pattern. I can only assume my cheek matched.

He put his hand back on my cheek and tried to wipe my tears away with his thumb. A smile burst out on my face and I started crying tears of joy. I grabbed James and pulled him into a hug.

"What's wrong?" James whispered in my ear.

I pulled back and gazed into his eyes.

"All my life I thought my soulmate would slap me when we first met. I couldn't be more happy to be proven wrong."