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When Wednesday first found out about the nightshades, she was extremely disappointed in their lack of actual mystery, instead replacing it with dull social gatherings where they had mojitos and clichéd high school parties. Yet here she was. At a party thrown by the nightshades, disguised as a quote-on-quote “chill get-together,” she took a sip of Yoko’s virgin Mojito and put it down immediately. It tasted like sugar. Wednesday was hoping it would taste like blood, especially considering Yoko was a vampire, but even that was too much to ask for.
She inched away from a yammering Kent and closer to her boyfriend.
“Enjoying this?” Tyler teased. Wednesday nodded as convincingly as she could, as it was his birthday after all. “Pfft, you don’t have to pretend you are,” he reassured. “Thanks for coming to celebrate, though,” he said, pulling her into his chest with a small hug. Wednesday had a strong distaste for anything that involved affection in public, but she accepted it today, only because it was his birthday and she knew everyone here.
She briefly conversed about deadly insects with Tyler (much to his disgust, but Wednesday wasn’t a talker, so he took what he could get) before Tyler joined the circle of people sitting on the floor. Wednesday dragged herself over slowly. This crypt was made for mystery and great literature, not for celebrating her boyfriend's birthday. She sat down between Enid and Tyler, wondering what would happen if she set fire to the place and ran.
“Shall we give Tyler our gifts?” Bianca suggested, tossing a gift into the middle. Everyone agreed and collected thiers too, placing them into the ever-growing pile. “Wow, you really didn’t have to.” Tyler blinked. “Go on! Open them.” Bianca nudged.
Wednesday watched him open them one by one, saving hers for last. Either he was an excellent actor, or he was genuinely excited about boring gifts. A jacket from Divina, some books from Yoko, A new video game from Ajax, a wireless speaker from Bianca, and some board games/puzzles from Enid.
Suddenly, Wednesday’s gift seemed awfully personal and pathetic, before she could stop him, He opened her wrapping paper and took out the card before seeing the gift, preparing to read it aloud. Wednesday’s eyes widened. She snatched the card out of his hands and told him to open and read her gift in private. Everyone buzzed around her. Wednesday realised what they thought it was.
“It is not sleepwear, or lingerie or anything like that,” she sighed. Before anyone could react, the door to the crypt was dramatically, almost cartoonishly slammed shut.
“Why was I not invited?!” Xavier asked, trying to sound brooding and dramatic, but he sounded more like Pugsley when their mother had to talk to him about voice cracks. Everyone stared at him blankly. Tyler tried his best to look unbothered, but Wednesday could tell he was upset by the fact that his eyes went dull. She even gave him a hand squeeze, which was rare for her.
Everyone looked around and decided silently who would explain.
“Err, it’s Tyler’s birthday, so, um, yeah, sorry,” Enid offered feebly. “Tyler didn’t invite me?” Xavier stared, his face tight. “No, it was a surprise party thrown by us,” Bianca corrected. Even Wednesday chimed in. “Poor little Xavier,” she said sarcastically. “Now scram,” she snapped. “Yeah, we already had one rat infestation here; we don’t need another,” Divina added, to Enid’s giggle. Xavier laughed too, as if they wanted him here. He sat down between Wednesday and Tyler in the circle. Tyler looked horrified at the audacity. He was asking for it now.
Wednesday scoffed and scooted around him to be next to Tyler. Xavier’s jaw shifted in Tyler’s direction. “So, I brought the bottle. Let’s play spin the bottle,” he practically yelled. It was funny how right before he came, the room was loud and lively, and now you could hear a heartbeat.
“I’ll go first,” he said, glaring into poor Tyler’s soul. The whole room was tense as it landed on Wednesday, just as he calculated. Tyler’s face fell. “I’m not playing,” she said, feeling the sigh of relief from Tyler. “That’s not how it works,” Xavier said, leaning toward her. Enid yanked him back by the man bun.
“Don’t you dare,” Enid growled. Bianca started coming at him too, and soon it was coming from every direction. “Jesus Christ, it’s the rules of the game,” he defended in vain. Poor Tyler looked devastated. Wednesday would be lying if she said his sad expression didn’t hurt her slightly, too. She sat on his lap as they continued arguing with Xavier.
Xavier’s face went as pale as a sheet. Normally, Wednesday thought looking dead suited everyone, but clearly she was wrong. Xavier looked utterly ridiculous. “Why are you sitting on his lap?” Xavier asked, his poorly concealed anger issues bubbling. Something snapped in Tyler. He was not letting some Wednesday-obsessed idiot ruin his birthday. “Dude, we’ve been together for a year,” he said, his voice rising in tone. “Can you just lay the fuck off me and my girlfriend?” he said, rolling his eyes.
“SHE’S NOT GOING TO BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND FOR LONG,” Xavier shouted. Wednesday stared at him. “You are right,” she started, and Xavier got excited. Tyler’s heart dropped. What?
“I will be his bride,” she said piercingly as she stood up, grabbed the bottle, and smashed it over his head. The whole room gasped as Xavier yelped. Wednesday hoped it was about the bottle thing and not the bride thing. “Fine, I’ll go then. You all are pieces of shit,” he spat. Wednesday watched, smirking as he left. She looked insane and deranged, but just why Tyler fell for her.
The room was silent for a moment before they all started cheering. Before she could change her mind, she snatched her gift and told Tyler to open it. “You sure?” he asked, giving her his signature grin and puppy dog eyes combination. “Do it before I decide to say no,” she suggested. She sat back into his lap, ignoring all the swoons from the room, and watched Tyler open it.
“Is this a scrapbook?” he asked, flipping through the black book with pictures and words pasted in. “Enid helped me make it,” Wednesday said, eager to make this less mushy. It didn’t work. Tears welled up in his eyes. “Don’t you dare cry-” she started, wiping away a tear, not romantically. A bit more violently, to be honest. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“HA!” Bianca exclaimed. “Did you seriously sign the card off with ‘Not that lovingly’ even though you pretty much promised to marry him?” she sniggered. Tyler grinned. “Oh yeah, what was that you said about being my bride?” he smirked. Wednesday scowled and kissed him to shut him up.