stay, Inez ~ xavier thorpe

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I awake to a pounding in my head. The rope around my wrists are so tight I can feel my heartbeat from my fingertips.

"Who dare breach our inner sanctum?" A deep voice says while I feel the cloth over my face lift.

The voice is so obviously fake, I almost laugh.

"You can take the mask off now Bianca." Wednesday says from beside me.

Slowly, all of the hooded figures take off their disguises.

"Oh wait, I think I preffered you with it on." Wednesday says sarcastically, making me laugh loudly.

This only made me remember the pain on the back of my head.

I start to inspect the room. Why the hell would Kent be here? He literally has the IQ of a potato.

One particular face catches my eye.

Xavier?

Why would he help Bianca and her friends knock me out and tie me to a chair?

Before I can say something about it, I feel a pair of cold hands touch mine, slowly untying the bonds on my wrists.

"How did you get down here?" Xavier asks, avoiding my eyes at all costs.

"Rowan showed me. Left pocket." Wednesday says, motioning to her pocket.

Xavier hesitates, but slowly approaches Wednesday, taking the drawing and unfolding it.

"Inez tracked down the watermark at the top of the page, leading us to the statue. Then, she solved the riddle in seconds." Wednesday says, giving me credit.

"Wait theres a riddle? I thought we just snapped twice?" Kent says confused.

"Well aren't you the brightest of the bunch." Wednesday says.

I remain mostly quiet, mostly concerned with the wound on the back of my head.

"The nightshades are an elite social club. Emphasis on elite." Bianca says.

"Is it really that elite if even Kent is here?" I say under my breath.

I hear a small giggle come from Yoko.

Even my best friend?? Why is literally everyone here and not me?

"We have roof partys, camp outs, the occasional midnight skinny dip." Yoko says.

I laugh to myself. Skinny dipping? With Bianca? That was a scary thought.

"Yokos an amateur mixologist. She makes a killer virgin mojito. We can get pretty wild." Ajax adds.

I cant even imagine Xavier drinking alcohol.

"Wow. Do you guys even have a bedtime?" Wednesday asks, making the group give her a weird look.

"Last I heard the nightshades had been disbanded." I say, wanting Ajax to stop making that weird face.

"Yeah the group kinda lost its charter thirty years ago after some normie kid died." Xavier says, looking away from me.

I was just ready to forgive him, but knocking me and Wednesday out with his friends? That was way too far.

"-but we have a lot of wealthy alumni, so Weems decided to look the other way as long as nobody makes any waves." Yoko adds.

"Someone like Rowan?" I ask.

"We booted that loser last semester." Bianca replys.

I don't like the way everyone talks about him. He doesn't deserve to be made fun of, especially because there is a chance that hes dead, and that I killed him that night in the woods.

"Question is, what are we going to do with those two?" Bianca says, looking around the room.

"Only members are allowed in this library." Bianca continues.

After what feels like forever, Xavier breaks the silence.

"I say we invite them to pledge. Wednesday does have a legacy." He says while pointing to the painting.

"What about this weirdo? I dont see any of her wacky relatives on that wall." Bianca says, making my face turn sour.

"After the crap they pulled in the Poe cup, theres no way in hell. You talk about not making waves, these two are a tsunami." Bianca says.

"Just because we beat you at your own game?" Wednesday asks, annoyed.

"Let me save you the trouble. Both Wednesday and I don't want to join your weird library cult." I say, annoyed that Bianca would have the nerve to talk about my family.

Xavier looks down at me, confused.

"Your seriously turning us down?" Yoko asks.

"Can you believe it?" Wednesday says.

"Untie them." Bianca orders Xavier.

"I freed us both five minutes ago." Wednesday says, standing up.

I take the picture back from Xavier, joining Wednesday by her side.

Kent stands in front of us, blocking the stairway.

"You want a matching black eye?" Wednesday asks, pushing past him.

After we are almost halfway up the stairs, Wednesday stops in her tracks.

"Its amateurs like you who give kidnapping a bad name." She says, joining me at the top of the stairs.

I couldn't help myself from bursting out laughing, which only made my head hurt more.

After Wednesday and I part ways, I make my way back to my own dorm room.

"Hey! Nez! wait up." A voice whisper-yells from behind me.

Without a word, Xavier grabs my arms, inspecting my wrists where the rope once layed.

"Oh my god. I knew he tied it too tight. Look Nez, it's bruising." He says, worried.

"Yeah you should see my head. Thanks a lot for knocking me out. That was the cherry on top of a great day." I say.

"Your bleeding! I'm so sorry Inez. Kent got scared and hit you two with a baseball bat."

"How could he be afraid of two people that are literally five feet tall? Whatever. Why did you ignore my text? Now I know you were definitely awake." I say, annoyed.

"What text? I thought you blocked me." Xavier says while pulling out his phone.

"It's dead." He says blankly.

I feel like an idiot. I was getting worked up when he literally didn't even see the text.

"What did you text me about, anyways?" He asks.

"I wanted to apologize. I know about Bianca using you, and I'm sorry for not believing you. All you've ever done was love me and take care of me, but I couldn't even use my brain, and I just jumped to conclusions and-"

I was quickly interrupted by Xavier's warm embrace. I missed him so much.

I quickly hug him back, never wanting this moment to end.