Love is the lot of the weak

Xavier Thorpe loved jogging in the morning. He especially loved jogging on weekends when the students at Nevermore School were still nestled in their warm beds. So began his day this Sunday morning. Xavier has many routes to run, but every one of them was through the apiary. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he often saw the object of his affection, Wednesday Addams, here. She returned to Nevermore this year, and Xavier was overjoyed. But his joy was quickly extinguished when he realized that Wednesday was avoiding him. She had not been a model conversationalist before, but now Xavier could count the days when they had had even a few words together. He was very angry with Wednesday. She didn’t give him a chance to communicate, but she gave that chance to the insignificant Tyler Galpin. Xavier grimaced in disgust. Even the thought of Galpin spoiled his mood for the day. What did Wednesday see in that bastard? What could she possibly see in that monster? It remained a mystery to Xavier. A mystery that apparently would never have an answer. He slowed his pace. There was a fork in the road ahead: one leading to the apiary, the other to the forest. The image of the girl in black appeared in his mind. Her cold eyes looked at Xavier with a trace of disgust. That look made Thorpe feel a sharp pain in his chest. It was the way Wednesday had looked at him the last time they had met. No! He certainly doesn’t want to see her! She’ll brush him off again like an annoying fly. Xavier rearranged his route toward the woods. He ran along the narrow path, not knowing the road. He wanted to get lost in the woods. To run so far away that no one could find him. And then scream for a long time until the soul was terribly empty. It’s a pity Xavier can’t run away from himself. Before he knew it, he was at Crackstone’s crypt. Xavier stopped to get his breath in order. A thick fog lay over the damp ground, blurring the outline of the old structure. Crows cawed anxiously in the silence of the forest. Typical picture for a horror movie. Quite creepy. Wednesday would have appreciated it. Xavier grinned. There she was in his head again! The sudden crack of a broken branch broke the silence of the forest. Xavier looked around slowly. “Damn it, did you sneak up on purpose?” He jerked in surprise. Wednesday appeared behind him. She was so elegant and alluring in her black coat. “If I had crept up on purpose, you would have died of a heart attack by now. What I did was innocent fun.” “You think scaring people is fun, Wednesday?” “Everyone has as much fun as they can, Xavier.” She glanced at the boy’s bewildered face and turned to leave. “Wednesday! Wait,” he said, blocking her path. “What are you doing here?” Her dark emotionless eyes met his pale green ones. “What does it look like, Thorpe? Moving one’s feet relative to the ground in the fresh air implies walking.” “Wednesday, you don’t have very good memories of this place,” Xavier said. He swallowed nervously. “You were almost killed here.” “Exactly. I find this place very poetic. I have the most horrible memories of my life with it,” she said, a mischievous twinkle in her eye for a moment. “Now leave me alone. I want to enjoy the smell of the grave alone.” “Please, wait. Let me ask you another question.” There was determination in his eyes, but his voice wavered slightly. Meanwhile, Wednesday’s face remained impassive as always. How does she always manage to keep such equanimity? “Thorpe, are you interviewing me?” There was a note of irritation in Wednesday’s voice. “Then why are you asking me a million of these insufferable questions today?” “In case you haven’t noticed, that was only the second question I’ve asked you.” “Which leads me to conclude that you have an unbearable desire to know a lot about the people around you. People who have a lot of information are the first targets for any criminals because they are good informants. I don’t want to upset you, but professionals are unlikely to let someone who has already had their tongue untied live.” She was about to slip away from Xavier again, but he grabbed her shoulder and held her in place. “You will not leave here until I have all my questions answered,” he said, looming over her. A storm was brewing in his pale green eyes. He gave her a rough shake by the arm. “Do you understand me?” Wednesday raised her chin in defiance. Respect flashed across her haughty face for a moment. “Why are you avoiding me? " Xavier asked in a straightforward manner, taking his silence for agreement. “Next question.” “Seriously? Are you serious right now, Wednesday?” Xavier moved so close to her that he could smell the subtle scent of a perfume. He took her by the shoulders and stared intently into her dark eyes. “What’s happening between us? I don’t understand.” “There’s nothing going on between us,” she interrupted him brutally, throwing his arms off her. “I gave you no reason to think otherwise.” “But you and I have been communicating!” “Don’t be deceived. It was necessary for my investigation last year.” Xavier froze for a moment. There was indifference on Wednesday’s face, as there always was. She never chose her words, but said whatever was on her mind without worrying about offending the other person. But today Wednesday surpassed herself. Her words, like a bullet through the rib cage, pierced his chest. Too bad it was only a metaphor. Xavier would really rather bleed and die now than live with a hole in his chest that would constantly throb with pain in Wednesday’s presence. “God, Addams. I couldn’t have imagined you so calculating and callous,” he said quietly, hoping that Wednesday didn’t hear the slight tremor in his voice. “Thank you for the compliment, Xavier. I hope we’re done for the day.” “Finish me off, Addams. Come on! Tell me how much you hate me, how much I disgust you. Don’t hold back.” Wednesday exhaled noisily and opened her eyes wide. “Let’s make a bargain with you. I’ll answer all your questions as honestly as possible, and you, in turn, will stop getting under my feet. " After thinking for a few seconds, Xavier agreed. Better to find out now and be completely disillusioned with Wednesday than to live in constant torment. “So, what’s the reason for you avoiding me?” “Why are you following me?” “No, Wednesday, that won’t do. We agreed that I would ask the questions here,” he emphasized the last words in his voice deliberately. “Manipulation and evasion won’t help you. Play by the rules.” “You’ve been after me since the first day I came to Nevermore. Feelings and emotions aren’t my specialty, but I’m good at analyzing information. Using the deductive method, I’ve come to the conclusion that you have some interest in me. And it is more than just a friendly feeling. An attraction? A weakness? Perhaps you even like me. Xavier, I’m not the kind of girl who’s interested in that side of communication,” Wednesday finished, staring with her heavy gaze into the longing eyes opposite. “Well, you’ve got me figured out. I do have a liking for you, but how does that keep us from being friends? I mean, we can communicate.” “I didn’t realize you were such a masochist, Thorpe. I’m surprised for a sissy like you,” Wednesday said, a hint of a slight smirk appearing on his face. “I love to hurt other people, but I’m sorry, I’m on too tight a torture schedule right now. There’s not a single window left for recording.” His eyebrows furrowed and his thin lips were firmly pressed together. “Yeah, I’m not a goddamn Galpin!” Xavier spit out his name like an obscene swear word. “You always had time for him in your schedule. And you trusted him unconditionally while he went behind your back to plan your murder.” For a second, Wednesday’s face tensed, and her pupils dilated, black as pitch, for the first time in the entire conversation. “Don’t talk about things you don’t know,” she hissed ominously. “Hey, does our drama queen really have a heart?” Xavier said with a sneer on his lips. “Maybe you’re still madly in love with the nice fellow. It all happened in a flash. Before Xavier knew it, he was on the ground. The impact was so strong that it seemed as if all the air was instantly knocked out of his lungs. He could hardly take his first full breath, but he coughed heavily. Maybe that’s why he didn’t immediately realize that the frail Wednesday was sitting on top of him. She was gripping his waist tightly with her legs. In her hand was clutched a small folding knife. The sharp blade dug into Xavier’s cheek. “Shut your filthy mouth, Torp, or these words,” Wednesday gently stroked the point across his skin, “will be the last of your life. I’ll cut off your filthy mouth with this knife. And believe me, I’ll do my best to prolong that pleasure for you.” “I hit the bull’s-eye, didn’t I, Addams? You love him. It wasn’t a question, it was a statement of fact.” She looked intently at his weary face. Her grip on his knife tightened. “Love is for the weak, Xavier.” “The weak are those who deny their feelings, who cannot admit even to themselves that they are in love. You’re weak, Wednesday,” Xavier whispered in her ear. Wednesday’s face remained unchanged. The edge of the knife cut into Xavier’s cheek, but he only smirked back. “You can kill me, but I still say I love you, Wednesday Addams,” Xavier’s voice was full of tenderness and adoration. “I’m willing to accept all your oddities in full. I know there will always be the specter of Galpin between us, but I am patient. One day you will forget him as if he were your worst dream,” he gazed lovingly over Wednesday’s impassive face. Xavier gently ran his hand through one of her silky black braids. His heart pounded frantically against his ribcage. He didn’t know what he was hoping for himself, but suddenly Wednesday would capitulate to his sincerity. After all, that was exactly what she’d missed in her interactions with Tyler fucking Galpin. Looks like Xavier was wrong. His words had the opposite effect. Wednesday immediately stood up, holding the bloody knife in front of her. “You and I will never be together,” she said in an irreconcilable tone. “I’m not going to apologize for that. It is high time you left me alone and found another object to lust after, one that you will smother with your care and tenderness. None of this is for me. " Xavier rose leisurely from the ground, shaking the dirt off his sweatpants and windbreaker as he went. He took a step closer to Wednesday. “I wasn’t going to smother you with care and tenderness. You’re different. I’m aware of that. But, Wednesday, I don’t want anybody but you. “Torp, you annoy me, and when someone annoys me, they don’t count their fingers,” she put an angry wrinkle between her wide brow. “Wednesday, Galpin’s a monster, but I’m not him. I won’t hurt you. Just give me the fucking chance you gave him.” Wednesday’s frail body twitched unnaturally for a moment. Her pale face became pensive and her eyes glassy. Wednesday slowly stepped aside. “That’s the problem, Xavier. You’re not him.”