a new beginning, wavier

10. centennial ball

"come, my dears. it's time to go," morticia told pugsley, wednesday, and xavier. gomez was already in the car with lurch. they were driving, so it would take over sixteen hours.

xavier smiled. if wednesday's mom was calling him one of her 'dears' her family must like him a lot. he just had to wait until wednesday was ready.
even at 2:00 in the morning, xavier found wednesday irresistible.

the family had rented a camper for the day so they could somewhat function as they did normally, even though it was extremely small compared to their regular home.

xavier stayed with wednesday most of the day except when the family ate. wednesday stayed isolated from her parents and brother.

finally, the addams family and their guest made it to florida.

wednesday introduced xavier to almost all of her family, all she had left was cousin itt. xavier was star struck when he met him. "you- you helped train a whole generation of nightshades. you're incredible."
"thank you! how do you know about the nightshades?" iggy zooed.
"xavier is a nightshade himself," wednesday replied.
that over excited iggy. "wonderful! my own child will be a nightshade when they're older! it was incredible meeting you, xavier!" he zooed.
xavier smiled as iggy walked away.

when the night was almost over, wednesday pulled xavier away and out of the ballroom. "you should go to sleep now. you won't get much rest the rest of the trip," she told him.
"thanks, wednesday. do you know what we're doing tomorrow?"
"visiting with the family and having a mush-making competition."

xavier laughed. "goodnight, wednesday," he said, attempting to give her a hug.
this time she didn't fight it. "goodnight, xavier," she whispered back.

_________________________

the first week in florida at the party castle flew by, and the second week had fell upon the large family.

xavier had found wednesday's family to be uniquely beautiful.

on the second to last night, there was a dance. it was called the centennial ball.

"hey, wednesday," xavier whispered while she was reading in the castle's largest library. "can you come here for a second?" he asked. wednesday looked up from her book and reluctantly went out to meet the boy. "what is it, xavier?" she asked.

he swallowed nervously, looking at the ground this couldn't be good. "will you go to the dance with me?" xavier asked, finally making eye contact with the girl.

wednesday frowned. "yes, but not as a date. my family will immediately assume marriage is in the plans." she was then glaring at xavier "and i have no plans for marriage," she told him boldy.

xavier chuckled nervously. "great, me either. we're in high school, wednesday. it would be the stupidest thing in the world to even think about marriage." wednesday nodded in agreement. "yes, unfortunately i agree. i will see you tonight. goodbye, xavier."
"bye, wednesday."xavier smiled, falling even harder for wednesday as he watched her walk away.

xavier thorpe was in love with wednesday addams.

...................................

later that night, wednesday heard a knock on her bedroom at the castle. she opened it, already anticipating the dance. this was going to be a night to remember. she hoped the centennial ball would scare xavier away, and he wouldn't be able to find the tune to her heart strings anymore.

"xavier," she said. the boy smiled back. "wednesday, you look uhh.... evil," he said, trying to find a way to compliment her in a way she would enjoy.

wednesday glared daggers at him because he'd just melted a part of her heart. "that is a strange thing to say, xavier," she commented. a light chuckle came from the boy's lips. "that's great, wednesday." he lent out his arm like a hook to her and she stared. did she... actually want to be his date?

two minutes had passed and wednesday was still lost in her own thoughts. xavier waved his hand in front of her face. "wednesday, helloooo. anyone home??" he asked with a small smirk. wednesday blinked, snapping out of whatever hellish fever dream she had just been in. as soon as she snapped back to reality, xavier unapologetically took her hand and lead her to the dance. she was in some kind of daze as he lead her, watching his every movement, not knowing what to expect, and hesitant to pull away.

however, as soon as they reached the enormous doorway into the ball room, she quickly separated her hand from his, but not fast enough to whereas her parents did not see them holding hands. they walked right behind the two friends. "oh, my wednesday. have you finally found a boy worth your time and affection? what a glorious addition he will make to the addams family! pugsley will be thrilled!" morticia cooed.

"no," wednesday snapped back angrily at her mother. "xavier and i are not dating. we are strictly friends." gomez frowned, for he too had wanted wednesday and xavier to become something more than friends. xavier, on the other hand, just watched the bickering between the two addams women. "yeah, we're just friends. believe me, nothing is happening between us," he chimed in, pointing to himself and wednesday.

as the night went on, the two friends conversed with many addams family relatives. xavier hung out with cousin itt most of the night because he was a great admirer of his work, and wednesday hung around pusley and lurch. she decided not to be too social.

finally, it was time for the couples dance. one of wednesday's other distant relatives, fairler, was the announcer.
"and now it is time our our couples dance, the death parts us jubilee!" fairler shouted from a microphone. the enormous family cheered.
"this year, we have a very special guest joining us. the one and only, xavier thorpe!" another cheer from the crowd. some women whistled. "which one of you lovely folks would enjoy dancing with our vicious guest?" fairler asked the crowd. countless women and a good amount of men raised their hands high in the sky.

this will be the death of me wednesday thought to herself. none of them are dancing with xavier. he is not their guest. he is mine.

she boldy stepped forward with a loud, impactful voice. "he is my guest. i will accompany him."

"wonderful!" fairler cried with glee. "let the jubilee begin!" xavier, who was over the moon that his 'friend' had decided to dance with him, immediately dragged wednesday onto the dance floor.

"come on! we get to let loose and have some fun!" he yelled over the noise. wednesday stared at him. "you are a fool. this is a slow dance, xavier." a small smile crept onto his lips. "i know," he told her confidently as he pulled her closer, holding her right hand and putting her left on his shoulder. his other hand was on her waist.

the two swayed to the music in sync, both not daring to say a word, afraid of ruining the moment.

towards the end of the dance, xavier leaned down, slowly inching closer to wednesday's face. no wednesday thought. i can't let him kiss me here. not in front of everyone! i want to stick pin needles into my eyes and make them bleed for everyone to see.

she glanced away from her dance partner now focusing on the floor to ceiling windows, but speaking directly to xavier. "don't close your eyes, xavier. our lips can not collide. not here. not now." she told him. xavier didn't lean any closer, but didn't dare go back to his original stance. she wants me to kiss her.

then the music stopped. the dance was over.
and so was wednesday and xavier's romantic moment.

xavier cleared his throat, slowly processing what had just happened between the two of them. he looked wednesday directly in the eyes. "can i see you tonight?" he asked.

"no. i won't be able to see you the rest of the time we're here," she responded instantly. as the two walked off the dance floor, xavier hesitantly touched wednesday's arm. "hey, did i do something wrong?"

"no. i did. goodnight, xavier. sleep well." she told him before walking out of the ballroom to her bedroom.

wednesday had dared to infer she wanted xavier to kiss her.

she knew something had gone terribly wrong.

dark, delirious bats flew around in the pit of her stomach.

she had feelings for xavier.

and she needed to find away to get over them.