WURLI - Xavier Thorpe

10

"How come you didn't tell me?" Xavier questioned once he found out what happened to Novah.

They hadn't talked once yesterday, so as they were heading into town on their school bus, she had sat next to him, telling him why she hadn't been able to reach out to him as much.

"I don't know. I felt like had everything in control." She said truthfully, smiling softly. Xavier looked over to the girl. "In control? Nov, you were scratched opened by a monster." He said. "And it's been stitched up. I'm fine." She was being honest. Mavis had healed her a little bit. She couldn't do it all the way since her powers weren't as strong as her mothers, but she still was able to heal her to where she didn't feel an uncomfortable amount of pain.

"Anyway, are you ready to be baristas for the day?" Novah wiggled her eyebrows. "That means we have to work with Tyler, you know that right?" Xavier said. "Tyler?" Novah squinted eyes, but they were soon to widened once she realized who Xavier was talking about. "The one who used to...I didn't know he worked at the coffee shop." The brown girl stated as she pushed her curls behind her ears.

They had outreach day, but this time it was a special event. They had put up a new memorial statue in town square. So along with having to do their volunteer jobs, they also had to stay longer.

Xavier was dreading to do this job, mostly because he had to work with Tyler, but he was happy that Novah was going to be there.

Before they knew it, the bus had stopped and everyone started getting off. Novah stood up and got off the bus to catch up with Tristan and Mavis.

"Tell me all about being a pilgrim when we come back together." She teased the two. "And tell me about being a barista." Tristan spoke, pushing her slightly. "Take pictures in your little costume!" Novah laughed at the two. "Shut up!" Mavis laughed as she pinched Novah's arm. "Ouch!" The brown girl exaggerated. "If you keep clowning around we won't get to our jobs at ten sharp." Tristan mimicked Principal Weems voice. "Okay, well, I'll see you two for lunch." Mavis waved as she looked behind her to see Xavier not far behind.

She smiled at him and linked their arms. "Sorry for leaving you behind for a second. I just had to speak with them." She apologized whilst looking up at he. He looked down at her smiling back. "It's okay, Nov. You don't have to apologize." Xavier said as they entered the shop.

When Novah's eyes landed on Tyler her skin crawled.

She remembered last year when Tyler had been bullying Xavier for being an outcast. When she tried standing up for Xavier, she was bullied too. But only once, whereas Xavier had to deal with it more than once.

But she pushed it behind her, Xavier might not have, which she fully understands.

"Hey, uh...we're here for the volunteer job today." Novah spoke, looking at Tyler.

Tyler broke eye contact with Novah as he looked over to Xavier then back at Novah once again. The boy had remembered their faces well, he felt awkward.

Out of all people it had to be them.

He thought.

"Oh, well here's the shirts and aprons you'll need. And all you have to do is sign in, along with putting the time to verify that you were here." Tyler spoke, Novah nodded as she grabbed both of the shirts and aprons and handed one shirt and apron to Xavier.

The girl then grabbed the clipboard and started writing her name and the time.

Tyler walked to the back and Xavier finally spoke up. "I'm gonna dread every moment of this." Xavier signed. "Don't, Xav. This will be fun! Despite all the shitty things that happened last year between all of us. We don't even have to interact with him. Well-maybe we do since we don't know much about making coffee." Novah cringed as she handed him the clipboard. "Speak for yourself. I'm a pro." Xavier scoffed playfully. The girl only laughed.

Tyler walked back out from the back room. It made the tension rise once again.

"You can put your things in the back." Tyler said to Novah, noticing her small bag. "Thank you." Smiling softly at him, she walked behind the counter and entered the back.

🕸️𓆩♡𓆪🕸️

Even though the tension at the cafe had settled, there was definitely some left.

Novah had been wiping down the tables, whilst Xavier had been collecting mugs and coasters. It had been pretty easy for them to comprise their tasks.

Novah wiped down all the tables, Xavier picked up all the mugs and coasters, and Tyler served the coffee since he was more experienced with making the coffees, along with being familiar with the costumers.

It was easy because they didn't have to talk to Tyler so much, and that's what they liked about it.

"I thought you were supposed to be at pilgrim world." Novah looked up from the table to see Xavier talking to Wednesday.

The girl wanted to mind her business so she continued to spray the tables and wipe them down, ignoring any sign of jealousy she had.

She looked back for just a second to see him leaning his elbows down onto the counter with a smile on his face.

He had to be flirting with her.

Novah thought, but quickly pushed the thought away. It was weird how the mind worked. How she was able to think of something or even assume something that gets you to react in either a bad or good way.

So to pull her mind away from the two who were not so far from her, she pulled her phone out of her back pocket. She thought about texting Mavis or Tristan to occupy her until she had more tables to clean.

She sat down at one of the empty tables and placed her phone down. The girl grabbed the rubber band around her wrist and put her curls into a ponytail. After doing so, she grabbed her phone, her thumb then hovered over her messages.

"Shouldn't you be working?" Xavier joked as he sat across from her. "I've done all my work." She smirked as she looked up at him. Xavier smiled as he noticed the change in her appearance. "Your hair's up." Xavier stated. "Your hair's down." She stated back. Xavier only chuckled. "No, I mean I haven't seen you with your hair up in so long. It looks nice." He complimented her.

She could feel her face growing hot. It had been doing that a lot more recently around him.

"Thank you." The girl's cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling so much. Xavier could say the littlest things and she'd smile.

"So, have you thought about that harvest festival offer?" Xavier asked her. Novah could feel her heart pound in her chest. She was happy that Xavier wasn't a werewolf because he would've figured out that she was totally nervous and felt something for him.

"I haven't. So I'll just say yes. Yes, we can go to the Harvest Festival together." She said. "Great, we're gonna have fun."

A/N: Novah, Xavier, and Tyler💀