The Woe We Deserve

Chapter 36

Wednesday stared out the black dress stretched out in front of her. It had arrived from her mother on the night before the Dark Prom. She hadn't asked for it, and she had no intention of wearing it. Although Enid was starting to wear her down.

"It would be just SO wrong to wear the same dress you wore to the Rave'n when this one is perfectly good, new, and STUNNING might I add. It's black! You like black! And Xavier hasn't seen this one yet, the other one will probably just give him flashbacks to that last dance, if you know what I mean. And oh, my God, he is going to FREAK when he sees—"

"Enough!" Wednesday begged. "I'll wear the stupid dress. Please, stop talking. Preferably forever."

Enid grinned and pretend to seal her lips shut. After less than two seconds, she unzipped her own lips to say, "We are going to have SO much fun! Okay, I'm done."

Wednesday's eye twitched. "I should go shower."

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It was 8:05, and Enid was still touching up he hair. She'd received a text from Xavier a few minutes earlier letting her know they were waiting for them outside of Ophelia Hall.

"Would you please just hurry up?" Wednesday asked.

"I'l almost ready!" her roommate replied.

"You've been saying that for the past half hour!"

"Have you never heard of being fashionably late?"

Wednesday groaned and plopped on her bed unceremoniously.

"You're going to wrinkle your dress!" Enid protested.

"And you'll have only yourself to blame."

She rolled her eyes and turned on her heel. "There. I'm ready. Happy?"

"Extremely."

Wednesday looked at her friend, who wore a floor-length bubble gum pink satin dress. Somehow she managed to pull it off, but the sight of it made Wednesday ill—even if she had built up her tolerance to color after living with Enid for so long.

When they walked outside the dorm, there were about a dozen Nevermore students mingling or waiting for their dates, but her eyes were immediately drawn to Xavier. He stood with Ajax at the edge of the crowd. His black suit—tailored to perfection—made him tall and elegant, and his slightly disheveled hair made him look effortlessly cool. In the past, she had seen him tie his hair back for more formal events, but it was no secret she preferred when he wore it down.

Xavier's face lit up when he saw her. She looked stunning in her black silk dress, which hugged her figure perfectly; it was a halter neck with an open back that would have been much more indecent if her hair wasn't covering most of it. Her dark locks were pulled into a half-up half-down hairdo. He'd rarely seen her hair outside of its normal braids, and it was doing some weird things to his heart.

"Will you kick me if I tell you how beautiful you look?" He joked as he kissed her hand.

"I'll let it slide." She gave him an infinitesimal smile and eyed him up and down. "Your suit is good enough to be buried in."

"Thanks." He chuckled. "Here. I got this for you." He retrieved a flat, square box from the inside of his suit and placed it in her hands.

"This better not be a corsage."

Xavier rolled his eyes. "Just open it."

Inside the box was a corsage, just as she expected. But it was a single dark flower—her favorite flower— a black Dahlia.