Friday Addams || Xavier Thorpe

5

My sister and I made our way to fencing class. She wore a specially ordered black lamé while I wore the usual white. Wednesday pushed open the large doors and made a dramatic entrance as walked inside. She stalked slowly through the rows of people to where Bianca was fencing with a frail boy. He fell and grunted from Biana tripping him. "Coach, Coach, she tripped me," he spoke as he took out his inhaler.

"It was a clean strike, Rowan," A man, who I assumed to be the fencing teacher, replied. Bianca sighed and looked down at the boy before turning to the coach.

"Maybe if you whined less and practiced more, you wouldn't suck. Seriously, Coach, when am I gonna get real competition? Anyone else want to challenge me?" The siren asked, looking around the room.

My sister stepped up to the girl with a fierce look appearing on her face. She was definitely ready to challenge the fencing queen and I had no doubt she would win. We had been fencing since we were young, after all. "I do," she challenged.

"Oh, you must be the psychopath they let in."

"You must be the self-appointed queen bee. Interesting thing about bees. Pull out their stingers, they drop dead." I felt the presence of someone else growing near as a crowd formed around the two. I turned around to see Xavier filling the spot next to me. "My bet's on Wednesday," he spoke softly.

"Yeah, Bianca might as well give up," I muttered.

"Rowan doesn't need you to come to his defence. He's not helpless, he's lazy."

"Are we doing this or not?" Bianca cocked her head in answer to my sister's question. They both walked to opposite ends of the mat and waited for the match to begin.

"En garde," the Coach declared, setting the two girls into motion. Their blades clashed and feet danced as they fenced to determine who would win. I turned away from the match to look at Xavier when I noticed he had been staring at me. I quickly blushed and turned away slightly.

"Wednesday and I have been fencing since we were very young. Our father taught us how to use a blade and various other weapons for protection. She always won against me but I often let her, knowing she would attack until she did."

"Then it sounds like you might be a pretty good fencer. Would you want to go for a match against me sometime?" The brown-haired boy rocked back and forth on his feet as he asked.

I was about to respond when Coach announced, "Point Wednesday." My eyes drifted back to the match to see my twin holding the point of her blade near Bianca's throat. They continued the attack until the siren evened out the score. This point was shorter as she used her anger from losing a point to Wednesday.

"The score is even."

"That first point was clearly beginner's luck. Let's finish this," the siren declared as the two circled each other. I began to get nervous about Wednesday winning this match, Bianca seemed to be great at fencing.

"For the final point, I would like to invoke a military challenge. No masks. No tips. Winner draws first blood." My sister stared at Bianca with an assurance that she would defeat her.

"It's your decision, Bianca."

"Let's see if you bleed in black and white." The two continued their battle, moving as the other moved and dodging each other's attacks.

I faced Xavier once more, "Sometime, we will have that match. I won't go easy on you though."

He chuckled, "I don't expect you to." I got distracted, lost in his complex brown eyes. They told a story of pain, sadness, and perseverance. I longed to figure out what had caused him to feel that way and help him out. I didn't realize I had been staring until I heard Bianca's blade slice above my twin's left brow. She let out a disbelieving breath, unable to comprehend that she had lost.

"Your face finally got that splash of colour it so desperately needed." I walked away from Xavier, grabbing my sister's arm and dragging her to the infirmary before she could do anything rash. She glared at Bianca, and then at me as we left. The nurse placed a bandaid over the wound.

"You're Wednesday, right?" The boy from before asked from behind, causing my sister and I to turn around. He nervously moved his mouth open and closed as the nurse checked him for injury. "Rowan. I know how you feel."

"I guarantee you don't," I responded, knowing my sister was far too complex for him to understand. He was a simple outcast who was lazy, had an inhaler, and seemed a bit more wimpy. Which was difficult for me to even think of describing him as.

"My mother promised me I'd finally fit in somewhere. I never thought it was possible to be an outcast in a school full of outcasts. But it looks like you're gonna give me a run for my money. Uh... Sorry about the... nick."

"No good deed goes unpunished," Wednesday remarked. I trailed after her as she briskly walked out, upset that she had been defeated by Bianca. The water jug gurgled while we passed and my sister turned to stare at it, thinking she heard something. She shrugged it off and pulled an umbrella out to cover us from the rain.

"You can beat Bianca next time. We both know you're better than her." I did my best to comfort her as we silently crossed a courtyard when a scraping was heard. I saw a gargoyle statue begin falling and believed it would either injure or kill us. I wasn't ready to die and was terrified but couldn't move away fast enough. My twin seemed to be relishing in the fact that she would be hurt by it.

"Friday! Wednesday!" We were pushed to the side by a strong force. My head hit the stone at the same time as my sister's and I blacked out.