. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ [ EUNOIA ] ࿐ྂ
chapter three.

previously:

"did he do that you?" xavier's voice was thick with anger, barely getting the words out.

margot didn't know how to answer, but her silence was louder than words, practically sending the boy over the edge.

in an instant, xavier had tyler by the shirt, shoving him against the wall. she couldn't tell who threw the first punch, but before she knew it, the two boys were on the ground.

_________

XAVIER had the upper hand, quite literally, throwing punch after punch to tyler's face. margot looked around, but there was no one in or near the cafe for her to call for help, so she stepped back, not intervening. she was afraid that if she did, she would accidentally get hit.

as if on cue, the front door to the weathervane opened with the dinging of a bell as sheriff galpin walked in. seeing the two boys fighting, he ran over, pulling xavier off of the his son before he does any lasting damage. trying to get out of his grip, xavier writhed, lunging towards tyler.

"stop- stop!" the sherif turned, pushing xavier in the opposite direction of tyler, who was still on the floor, covered in his own blood. xavier huffed, his anger still high.

"what is all this about?" the sheriff asked sternly as he helped tyler off the ground.

"he hurt her." xavier said, his gaze boring holes into tyler.

"is that true?" he asked margot, having just noticed her since she had been watching from afar.

margot nodded, hugging herself with her arms uncomfortably while not making eye contact. sheriff galpin paled, "was it him, or the uh- you know..?"

"it was the hyde." she stated, looking over to xavier, who was visibly confused.

"hold on, he's a hyde?" xavier asked, eyes wide.

sheriff galpin turned towards tyler and grabbed onto his arm, leading him to the front door

"wait, where are you going?" margot furrowed her brows.

"look, miss, i am very sorry for what happened to you, but we need to leave." he said quickly.

"you can't just leave! aren't going to do something about this?!" xavier raised his voice, stepping forward.

"i am doing something about it." without another word, the pair left the cafe, the door slamming shut behind them. margot and xavier were left speechless, neither of them knowing what to say or do.

after a few moments, margot spoke up. "should we leave or...? since we're the only ones here?" she said, trying to lighten the mood.

"when were you going to tell me about all of that?" xavier asked, crossing his arms.

"well, i don't know.. i didn't really have much time to-" she was cut off.

"didn't have time? why didn't you come to me right after it happened? i could have helped." xavier's voice raised ever so slightly.

"oh i'm sorry, i was trying to process the fact that i almost died! and i can handle myself. i don't need you to help me all the time." she blurted out.

xavier paused, letting her words roll off of him. "i just don't want to see you hurt. what if he comes back and you can't stop him?"

"like i said, i'm fine."

"you don't look fine." he said, referring to the wounded skin on her neck.

"he's not allowed on campus anyways, so he can't do anything to me again." she shrugged.

"how did you even meet him?"

"i found him in the woods during family day with cuts and bruises all over his body. so i brought him up to my room to clean him up and give him some clothes." margot explained.

"wait wait wait, you led him up to your room? he could definitely go in the in the middle of the night and try something if he wanted to. i have to tell principle weems so she can tell security-" xavier was frantic.

"no! you can't! if she finds out, she'll go crazy and send me away from nevermore. that cannot happen." margot said seriously.

xavier thought momentarily before nodding his head, "okay, fine. but i swear if this happens again, tell me."

"i will. don't worry." she reassured him. looking outside, she saw a group of nevermore students all walking in the direction of town square. "i guess it's time for the ceremony."

"guess so." the two walked out of the weathervane, leaving it unsupervised, seeing as they were the only ones in the whole building.

"oh wait, i forgot enid's snood. i'll catch up with you." she told xavier. walking into the cafe, she started searching for the colorful accessory.

she bent down, looking under the tables, but found nothing. suddenly, she heard the sound of glass shattering. as she looked up, she saw that the window had been smashed and an object was lying on the ground.

shocked, she walked over to the object to inspect it. it was a rock with a piece of paper tied to it. margot reached down, picking up the rock and shaking off the broken glass. untying the knot, she pulled the paper off and began reading it:

"i can give you answers.
meet me at crakstone's
crypt tonight at 8pm."

margot looked around, searching for the one who could've thrown this through the window, but she didn't see anyone out of the ordinary. she quickly folded the note and put in her pocket, acting as if nothing had happened. out of the corner of her eye, she saw the snood tucked into the corner of a room.

she picked it up out of the floor and dusted it off, putting it over her head. making her way out of the weathervane. she filed into a group of students, walking with them to the center of town.

once they had arrived, margot searched for xavier, spotting him by ajax and enid. she walked over, immediately being greeted by the blonde.

"hey! how did working at the weathervane go?" she asked excitedly.

"oh, it was okay. we just cleaned because there were barely any customers." margot explained.

"cool! someone switched envelopes with ajax, so we got to go to pilgrims world together. we got to hand out fudge samples. and oh my gosh, margot, when i tell you that the fudge was so good, it really was so good!...." margot zoned out, debating whether or not she should tell xavier about the note that got thrown through the window.

she didn't want to go to the crypt alone, because she didn't know who wrote the note. then again, if she brought someone, they might get hurt as well. her thoughts were interrupted by enid's voice.

"oh, and, ajax asked me on a date!" the girl smiled widely, her voice dropping to a whisper since the boy was just a few feet away.

"that's great...where are you guys going?" margot asked, taking her attention off of the other matter.

she listened to the blonde go on and on about ajax and about the many plans the pair had regarding their date. their conversation was cut short when mayor walker went up to the podium to begin his speech.

"it is my honor to celebrate our town's history..."

_________

the nevermore students filed back onto the bus, all tired from a long day of pretending to be as 'normie' as possible. margot and xavier made their way to the back of the bus, sitting together. normally, each would sit with ajax and enid, but those two are currently cuddling a few rows up.

as the bus started, margot put her hand in her pocket, remembering the note from earlier. she pulled it out of her pocket, handing it to xavier.

"i wasn't going to tell you about it, because i didn't want you to worry, but i don't feel like going alone." she told him as he opened it up.

"who gave you this?" he asked, reading it.

"i don't know who it was. a rock got thrown through the window and this was attached to it." margot explained.

"and you're planning on going? what if it's tyler trying to lure you into the woods just to kill you?" he said.

"okay, that's a little extreme. that's why you're going to be there. if something happens, you can get help."

"this just seems a little weird if you ask me. what if it wasn't even meant for you?"

"well it won't hurt to see." margot shrugged as the bus stopped at the entrance to nevermore.

"just meet me on the quad at 7:30. don't be late." she said, pointing at xavier. he nodded, saluting.