Bea waited patiently at the front entrance to the Harvest Festival, Enid was beside her, she was hoping to get a little up close and personal view of Tyler and Bea. Mainly because she'd only been told stories about the boy from Bea and hadn't seen them together since the first time they (re)met at the Weathervane.
"Are you sure you can trust this normie?" Enid asked, she was a little skeptical when finding out that the boy was the son of Jericho's sheriff.
"I'm sure, I'll pay you if I'm wrong." Beatrix teased.
"Sounds good to me, oo I see Ajax, I'll see you around." Enid smirked, she ran off to meet up with the boy who was currently waiting in line for a hotdog on a stick.
"Look I didn't know she was going to be here." Tyler protested
"I don't want you talking to that Nevermore girl." Galpin began, "And you're back home at 12."
"1:30." Tyler pleaded
"12:30." Galpin said sternly, Tyler sighed and walked away from the man who was watching him oh so carefully.
Tyler quickly disappeared out of the man's sight and searched for any sign of Bea. She was hiding from sheriff, hoping to avoid any unnecessary run ins with the cold hearted man, she was already under his radar, she didn't need the man to put a restraining order on her.
"There you are." Tyler said, Bea jumped up in fear from the sound of his voice, only because for a moment she believed it to be the sheriff's, instead it was the man's son.
"Jesus." Bea chuckled, she turned around to look at the boy, he had the usual smile on his face and pure look in his eyes, he was wearing that tattered carhart jacket that he always wore which was a burnt pale looking color. His hands were tucked away in his pockets in a poor attempt to try and keep them warm.
"Sorry, were you expecting someone else?"Tyler said in a joking tone, Bea folded her arms and sighed at the boy.
"You just scared me." Bea responded.
"I didnt realize I was so spooky." Tyler noted. "I like the apology gift by the way, you're really talented." Tyler said, he sounded genuine in his tone and it put a smile on Bea's face, but she couldn't help but feel a little sheepish about her work, she was beginning to regret giving him that painting.
"I'm alright." Bea said modestly, she was solely being modest and not trying to invoke compliments from the boy, it was simply that her self esteem was rather low and she couldn't accept the fact that she was genuinely talented.
"I mean it, like you could go to art school painting like that." Tyler said, he sounded so excited about it, he was always so engaged in their conversations. Tyler was the type of person to always mean what he says, and you can tell because of the look in his eyes and that big smile of his.
"It's kind of a hobby, and artists don't make shit." Bea teased, the hobby part she meant this time, she couldn't see herself pursuing a life in art, that was purely Xavier's thing. She couldn't really picture life after Nevermore, Bea had to just get through life first before even thinking of the future.
"That's understandable." Tyler said, by now the pair had reached the center of the festival, it looked more like a carnival with all of the rides and food stands.
"So what now?" Bea asked, she also placed her hands in her pockets, though she was smart in placing hand warmers inside for maximum warmth and comfort.
"Wanna try the Ferris Wheel?" Tyler asked, the line was pretty short, mostly because of how rackety and shaky the old thing looked. "On second thought, maybe it's not such a good idea." Tyler said, he'd picked up on the shakiness of the ride and opted not to attempt it.
"What about that thing." Bea said, she pointed to a rapidly spinning cylindrical looking ride (its those ones that spin a circle and like glue you to the back of the backrest from gravity idk), it had vibrant flashing lights that illuminated in a coordinated pattern.
"Sure." Tyler said, he followed after the girl who had nearly jolted to the front of the line in a hurry, there were some familiar faces in the line for Bea including some of Bianca Barclay's fish eyed friends and a stoner couple.
Bea and Tyler were sadly separated, though by choice since the only way on was to be single riders, somehow it worked out since they were able to face each other, one being across from the other.
Bea waved to Tyler and waited for the worker to tug on the seatbelts one by one. There was an automated robotic voice that came on to warn the riders of any potential dangers and to remain where they were. Shortly after the ride began to spin and that strange feeling of being sucked backwards began, it was a lot of pressure, in fact it was a sort of otherworldly experience. Bea wondered if this is what astronauts felt while doing their training, it had to feel similar to this.
The girl glanced at Tyler who had been shooting occasional glances at her, she tried lifting her hand up to wave at the boy but failed in doing so. The ride slowly began to come to a halt, and Bea was able to wave to the boy at last.
The pair regrouped at the exit and took a moment to catch their breath.
"It's different when you're younger, that seriously messed me up." Tyler stated, the feeling was mutual as Bea was trying to prevent the world from spinning, she nearly tripped over her own two feet, causing her to grab a hold of Tyler's arm, she nearly brought him to the ground with her.
"Yeah I kind of feel like shit." Bea said, she was finally able to snap out of the frenzie, but she was left feeling a little famished and surprisingly hungry.
"Should we grab a bite?" Bea asked, she spotted a Xavier approaching them in the distance and felt the need to evacuate the situation. She grabbed Tyler's hand and rushed away from where they were standing.
"Woah woah, what's the rush." Tyler said, he was expecting the girl to kiss him or something, but instead she shushed him and tried to catch her breath.
"Xavier." Bea muttered. "I didn't want to run into him." Bea added.
"Is he giving you a hard time or something." Tyler asked, his voice was some what paternal sounding, and the care in his voice was quite evident.
"No no, it's not like that, I mean it is but in a friendly sort of way. Our friendship works like that, we just make fun of each other." Bea said, she hadn't done much to alleviate the situation because Tyler was now led to believe that Xavier was potentially bullying Bea.
"Got it." Tyler said, his tone wasn't the slightest bit reassuring, but Bea was just going to have to take it, her thoughts of food quickly resurfaced again and it easily took over her mind.
"How about some food."
...
Tyler and Bea walked away from the corn dog stand, they'd snagged two perfectly golden brown corns dogs and a basket of thin fries to share. Bea immediately began eating because she'd remembered that she slipped breakfast that day (overslept) and never went to lunch (busy). So she was nearly ravenous by the time she was able to reach the festival.
"Woah woah slow down, you'll choke to death." Tyler teased, he sounded very motherly in the way he spoke, though it was all a joke of course, he never seriously spoke like that, unless he was genuinely concerned for Bea, then he would use the motherly tone unironically.
"Eoficjssfkmc." Bea mumbled, she was slightly mortified for pigging out in front of Tyler, but she was beginning to get queasy from not eating, she vowed never to skip breakfast again, she understood why it was the most important meal of the day.
"Never met a Nevermore kid who would stuff their face." Tyler said, he certainly hadn't met very many Nevermore kids as plenty of them stuffed their faces at the eating hall, they just chose to act all high and mighty in public.
"You should see the werewolves." Bea teased, she had a fair point, Enid had noted on the rabid and strange actions of the furs at Nevermore, Bea was glad that Enid was more independent and not as wild or high spirited as her brothers.
"No kidding." Tyler said, the boy looked down at his phone and sighed, he folded his arms and watched as Bea finally began to slow down.
"I'm sorry, that was so gross of me, I just didn't eat anything today so-." Bea began, Tyler's expression immediately changed and a rush of concern overtook him.
A/N: TW, eating disorder mentioned, she does not have one but it's mentioned
"Is everything okay, do I need to be concerned." Tyler began, Bea hadn't realized how badly she scared the boy, but she wanted to reassure him that it wasn't like that.
"Yeah it's not like that I just literally forgot, I mean it you don't need to worry." Bea reassured the boy, Tyler nodded and loosened up a bit, Bea was all the more head over heels for the boy, he was just so considerate and attentive to such small details, it showed how much he really cared for the girl and how far he'd go for her.
"If it ever becomes like that just know that i'm here for you." Tyler said, Bea nodded and smiled at the boy.
"Of course." Bea said, she stuck out her pinky for good measure, which Tyler didn't hesitate to shake.
"I have to go, but I promise I'll be right back." Tyler said, he gathered his trash and walked away from the girl, Bea turned around and waved goodbye before watching as the boy began to disappear in the upcoming crowd.
She was sure that he'd be back soon enough, for now Bea had the chance to be the cool mysterious girl, who was she kidding, she knew she was slightly too awkward to play that role.
Of course Tyler had to leave right as Xavier was approaching Bea, for some reason she could handle the face of being alone and facing Xavier, but having Tyler at her side seemed so difficult, maybe because seeing the two boys in the same space felt so wrong to Bea.
"Look who's all alone." Xavier teased, he came and sat across from the girl, replacing Tyler's spot.
"I swear to god you caught me in a bad moment." Bea said, she placed a hand to her forehead to showcase her disappointment and shame.
"Oh was someone sitting here, it just looked vacant yknow." Xavier said, he was pointing at the place where he sat. His voice was so extremely sarcastic that it was almost difficult to tell if he was even joking or not.
"As a matter of fact someone was sitting there." Bea said, she wished that she'd taken a picture of something as proof to rub in the boys face, but for now she was left with nothing and had to deal with Xavier's chilling remarks.
"I'm only kidding, I saw you two running away from me." Xavier teased, so Bea hadn't managed to escape the boys gaze after all. "You should work on avoiding people, you're not the best at it." Xavier added.
"Well at least i'm not alone, or was." Bea said, she wondered why Xavier hadn't chosen to take someone to the festival, she was learning more and more about him everyday. He was popular, but not in the sense that he was always with someone, he seemed very fixated on his solitude, and also fixated on a certain girl, Bea was almost certain who it was.
"Where is your barista boy anyways?" Xavier asked, Bea shrugged her shoulders and began munching on the last of her fries, which had now gone cold.
"I don't know." Bea mumbled, Xavier could sense the girls disappointment and opted not to make another joke.
"C'mon, let's look for him." Xavier said, he stood up and held out a hand for the girl to grab on to, Bea took it reluctantly, she wasn't so sure about this idea, but she didn't feel like spending any more time at the sad wooden table.
"Fine." Bea said, she stood up and followed after Xavier, they first began by the rides, there was no sign of him there. Next was by the games, and once again he was nowhere in sight. Bea and Xavier finally scanned the food stalls, and they were left empty handed yet again, causing Bea to feel an icky feeling in her stomach.
Had Tyler ditched her? It seemed so unlike him. Here he was raving on about her health and his concerns for the girl and now he was nowhere to be found?
"No Galpin." Xavier said, he placed his hands in his pockets and carefully examined the girls expressions.
"Maybe his dad got mad or something." Bea said, she eventually convinced herself that it was the sheriffs doing for Tyler's disappearance.
"He is a papa's boy." Xavier teased, he was just spewing nonsense at this point, but he'd managed to get the girl to smile again, and that was all that mattered.
"Well we've both lost our dates so-." Xavier began, Bea's eyes widened at the boys words.
"You mean you came with someone?" Bea asked confusedly, Xavier looked down at his shoes and back up to the left of Bea, he was finding it difficult to make eye contact.
"Well no, but I was just watching her." Xavier said.
"I'm going to pretend that that didn't sound creepy at all." Bea chuckled, she was sure that he was referring to Wednesday, Bea had spotted the boy following the girl around here and there.
"Fuck it, let's do something." Bea said, she smiled and took Xavier's hand, the two of them sped off to the ferris wheel, hopefully they wouldn't die on the tipsy contraption.
What Bea about that night after Tyler's disappearance was that a group of vengeful boys had taken pictures of her and Xavier, and god knows what kind of horrible things they would do to paint the girl in a bad light.