a new beginning, wavier

28. fresh start

the next day, enid and wednesday headed to botanical sciences together.

they ran into xavier, who offered wednesday a reassuring smile. "hey, don't worry, okay? i know it'll take time for your memory to come back, but it's normal. just breathe, wednesday." the noirette looked up at him, both grateful and annoyed. "i understand you are trying to be helpful, but you aren't. i feel like a child."

the boy gently rested his hand on her back and said, "come on, we can go tell mrs. venus about what happened. she'll let you off easy." the girl glared at him. "nothing about losing my memory is easy, xavier."

xavier chuckled and walked in unison with his friend to the front and explained what had happened to the teacher. mrs. venus gave wednesday a sad, hopeful smile. "is there a certain area you'd like to sit, dear? i can't imagine how lost you must be feeling."

that statement left wednesday a bit puzzzled. "i'm told i don't have feelings."

xavier silently and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "she can sit with me in the front. i'd be more than happy to help her catch up on any work and if she's in the front row it might help her focus in class better."

mrs. venus smiled and nodded. "of course, mr. thorpe. thank you for being so willing to help." he smiled. "of course, it's my pleasure."

as soon as class started wednesday was confused. xavier scooted in the middle chair, closer to the girl, to try and help her. instead, she just ended up distracted by him. "i know you're trying to help," she whispered to the boy. "but nothing is making this easier. maybe i should go home for a few weeks and my parents can help aid my memory."

xavier stared at her intensely. "no, we need you here, wednesday, remembering things or not. believe me, it's not the same without you." her eyes flickered to his and they made eye contact immediately. that meant something deep to her.

then the bell chimed and class was over, and so was their moment. they moved apart and as xavier was gathering his books, he glanced over at wednesday again. "hey, if you're not busy later, can we take a walk around campus? i can show where stuff is, if you want."

"yes, that sounds tolerable. thank you, xavier. i will see you later." he couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "wednesday, we have next class together."

she frowned. "i didn't know that. what class is it?" she asked. he wrapped an arm around her shoulder as they walked out the door together. "doesn't matter, i'm gonna go with you."

that confused the girl even more. "you can't miss your classes to come to mine. that would be brainless and a waste of time." xavier pulled wednesday in closer to his chest and whispered into her ear, "nothing about making sure you're okay and getting back to normal is a waste of time. you're worth everything to me."

a dark rosy color flushed her cheeks. wednesday addams was blushing. "you sound like you're in love with an evil villain," she commented.

that made xavier blush. he had to make sure he didn't full on admit his feelings to her again yet. "nah, just helping out a good... friend."

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

later on, the two met up to go on a walk. they passed by the archery range, hummers club, quad, and where xavier went on his daily runs. xavier pointed out everything to her and gave detailed descriptions of things that had occurred there.

finally, they reached the art shed.

wednesday gave xavier a strange look. "why did you bring me to an old abandoned shed?"

he chuckled at how cute she looked when she was confused. "principal weems-" he stopped and shook his head, bringing himself back to reality. "uh- our old principal said because i fixed it up i could use it. it's my art studio."

wednesday frowned. "why did she leave the school? she sounds fond of nevermore students."

xavier couldn't meet her eyes. "i- i must've forgotten that part. laurel gates killed her when you guys confronted her about not being who she said she was."

that wasn't a fun thing for wednesday to hear. "that's an unfortunate ending, but at least she died a hero." xavier nodded. "yep, just like you."

the girl stared at him as if he were the stupidest person alive. "i did not die, xavier. i am right here."

he looked up, realizing he mistake he made. "oh, shit. that's not what i meant. i meant you're both heroes. not villains, wednesday. you've never been the villain."

wednesday let out a hmph for a laugh and opened the shed door. "is this your special ability?" she asked, looking at the countless paintings decorating the messy walls. "is this why you are called an outcast?"

xavier let out a slight chuckle. "kinda, but not really. i'm a psychic, like you, but i can make my paintings move and come to life."

wednesday found herself almost... impressed. that horrified her. "show me."

xavier peeled off one of the tarps to reveal a beautifully painted, large dog-sized spider. his fingers spread apart and he pointed his hand at the painting, intensely concentrating. the spider slowly climbed off the canvas and scuttled freely around the room.

wednesday smiled at the small creature and squatted down to pet it. "what is its name?" she asked xavier. he shrugged. "doesn't have one. it's not a real spider."

"you should call it stephen," wednesday said, looking up at the xavier. he let out a heartily chuckle. "oh, really? why should i name a painted spider stephen?"

"don't act like i am foolish, xavier. name it after the author, stephen king." xavier's eyes lit up. "hey, you remembered something! that's great, wednesday!"

wednesday looked back at the spider. "no, i only saw it on bookcase in my room. something called pet sematary."

xavier squatted down to her level, making eye contact. "still, you're learning more things about yourself. you'll be remembering the big things in no time. i'm proud of you, wednesday."

wednesday found it impossible to look away from the boy. they leaned in closer, lips so close to touching, but then...

BANG BANG BANG