Shades of Life || Wednesday Fanfiction

Chapter 4

On the night of the Harvest Festival:

As I stroll through the festival, the sights and sounds of carnival-goers fill the air. I scan the crowd in search of Galpin. Meanwhile, my eyes wander over the many attractions, and I can't help but notice the many people struggling to hit the balloons with darts. It's almost as if they never learned the proper technique - or perhaps they are just not very good at playing darts.

I make my way towards one of the dart stands and pick up a dart. I hold the dart firmly in my hand and take aim at the balloons. I line up my shot and let fly. The dart soars through the air and hits its mark, popping the first balloon. I repeat this process until all of the balloons have been popped.

"Jeez, you get any better this, you'll be taking home a whole pack." Xavier says, gesturing to the pandas lining the wall of the stand.

"Pandas don't travel in packs." I tun my head towards him, "They prefer their solitude."

"Alright, subtle hint taken."

The atmosphere was thick and oppressive, weighted down with a palpable silence. He hadn't left, but rather stayed, his presence lingering like a heavy fog. The air was charged with anticipation, as if he was waiting for something to happen.

"You should know I'm waiting on someone." I finally said.

He seemed to lose some hope in whatever he wanted. "Oh yeah? Who's the lucky guy... or girl?"

"What does it matter to you?"

Before he could answer, Tyler walks up next to me. "Didn't mean to interrupt."

"You're not." Xavier says with a tone of annoyance.

As he walked by, he bumped my shoulder firmly, seemingly out of anger, leaving me perplexed and confused. One moment he was desperately trying to make conversation with me and then the next, he was walking away as if he was going to throw a temper tantrum.

I had no idea what had happened to cause this sudden change of mood and I wasn't sure why he was so upset with me. I tried to think back to what he had been saying to me and I couldn't recall anything that could have made him so angry. In the end, I just shrugged it off as I wasn't particularly bothered by his behavior.

"This is going to be harder than I thought, my dad gave me a curfew, we'll have to leave soon if we are going to make it in time."

"I've got some dead weight to lose first." I respond, looking over at Weems. "Meet me behind the parking lot when the fireworks start."

He nods and walks away. I kept an eye on Weems, trying to think of a way to distract her while I slip away. The guy running the stand handed me a large panda as a prize for the darts.

"You see that sad, lonely woman over there?" the man looks over at Weems. "She needs this pathetic validation more than I do." I handed the man a 20 dollar bill and he walks toward her.

As he hands the bear to her, I walk between the attractions and toward the parking lot.

"Hey, you ready to go?" Tyler says when he spots me.

I nod and we head to his car. The three boys I had previously seen at the coffee shop come out of behind a truck next to us, each of them holding a baseball bat.

I walk toward them, ready to fight them again before Tyler pulls me back. "Come on." I resist his pull. "Wednesday! We can loose them in the crowd!" I finally follow him and we run through the festival.

As we ran passed the people, I felt an unexpected jolt that caused me to lose my balance and stumble. Tyler had been paying attention and he caught me before I hit the ground. I quickly regained my footing and stepped away from him. When I looked in the direction from which the jolt had come, I saw Enid on the ground, her leg bleeding.