Chapter Two

It was Friday morning in the town of New Haven when Xavier woke up in his king size bed, wrapped up in his blankets. He shut his alarm off, and got up before stretching and heading into his bathroom to take a shower. When he walked out of the shower he wrapped a towel around his waist before looking at himself in the mirror at his tattoo of the dark phoenix that was on his chest, thinking about his day to day life.

While he had been staring at his tattoo and thinking about his life, his phone had gone off in the other room. He walked out and checked his phone to see a message from the Organization. “Shit” He said, under his breath as he unlocked his phone to read the message that they had sent him.

The message from them stated “Good job on the last case, be ready for the next one”. He shut off his phone, and began getting ready for school. At the thought of school an image of Vanessa popped up in his head before thinking back to his last case, and how much blood there was on his hands.

He grabbed his leather jacket and his bag before heading out of his room. He grabbed the keys to his Tesla before going outside and driving to school. Unlike any other day he was actually quite excited to go to school, and he didn’t know why. His subconscious knew why though, and the reason’s name started with a ‘V’.

Thirty minutes later Xavier pulled up in the school’s parking lot, as he exited his car he saw Vanessa getting out of her parent’s car before walking up to the school. He sped up his walking so that he could catch up with her before too much longer. It didn’t take him long, and soon enough he was matching her stride for stride.

“Good morning Vanessa.” Xavier said which caused the girl to look at him with a bit of surprise.

“Didn’t I tell you not to waste your time with me yesterday, or are you deaf?” Vanessa asked him in an angered tone as she made her way to her locker.

“Nope, I just decided not to listen. So how are you this morning, did you miss me?” He asked her with a smirk on his face to which she replied to him with a glare.

“Of course I didn’t miss you, I could never miss you since you don’t seem to ever want to leave me alone.” She answered him back with some attitude.

Xavier watched as the girl in front of him opened her locker before putting her binders in there. She grabbed her binder for class and closed her locker. “Well time to get to class, good bye.” She said as she walked away from him towards Mrs. Dutch’s classroom.

Xavier caught back up with her, and walked next to her. “You do know we have the first period together right? Or did you just forget?” He asked her in an amused tone.

“I didn’t forget, I just chose not to think about it.” She said as she walked into the classroom to take her seat from the day before.

“Oh, was seeing me go a painful memory for you, if so I’m sorry I left you yesterday.” He said in an amused tone. He smirked to himself at his teasing and saw that Vanessa shook her head at this.

“Believe what you want to believe, but could leave me alone for a bit, I want to catch up on my reading.” Vanessa told him as she took out her phone.

“Only if I can get your number first.” Xavier said as he sat down at the desk next to her’s. He watched as she looked like she was contemplating giving him her number, but he didn’t know it was all for show.

“No sorry, I don’t give my number out to strangers.” Vanessa said as she turned away from the boy and unlocked her phone. The girl really only wanted to read a book, not have Xavier bother her for the entire morning.

Xavier did not take no for an answer well. “So tell me, what brought you to my town of New Haven?” He asked her, still with a smirk on his lips as he watched as she turned to face him yet again.

“Why so many questions? Writing a paper about me or something?” Vanessa asked him, as she shut off her phone again before placing it down on her desk.

“Maybe, or maybe I’m just very interested in getting to know you.” He told her, as he looked around the classroom before his eyes set on Vanessa again. Unlike yesterday Vanessa had her black hair up in a bun, and covered by a light gray beanie which matched the rest of her outfit. She was wearing black skinny jeans and a black tank top with a blue flannel over her shoulders.

“I’m not interesting at all, you should just stop wasting your time. Like I told you before, I’ll probably be moving again here soon and I don’t need any friends.” Vanessa told him as she looked up into his eyes, what he saw in her eyes was an emotion he knew all too well. He could tell right now that Vanessa was lying to herself, she wanted a friend, but due to her predicament she had decided against it years ago. She probably had lost one of the friends she had made before, and she didn’t want to lose any friend anymore.

“On the contrary I think you Ms. Merchant are very interesting.” Xavier told her as his smirk changed to a genuine smile. She was a bit shocked at his words, and his smile. She thought of him as just another player that tried to get with all the new girls, maybe he was more than that?

“I’m not interesting, and I don’t understand why you think I am.” Vanessa said, turning her attention to the front of the classroom. She wondered why he cared or even thought of her as interesting when she was nothing but ordinary.

“Well if I told you at all why I think you’re interesting I would then have to kill you.” He said in a serious yet amused tone which caused both Vanessa and Xavier to laugh.

Once Vanessa had stopped laughing, she spoke the truth. “If you were to kill me you would probably get caught, my parents are cops and they wouldn’t allow anyone to kill me.” She said in an amused tone as well. As she had said that she thought back to her parents who were probably busy at work right now, they definitely wouldn’t allow anyone to get away with killing their daughter.

“So your parents are cops? Is that why you move around a lot?” He asked her in a curious tone. Her just saying that made him wonder about what she had said yesterday. He had never once heard of cops moving around so much, but maybe they were special cops. If they were then what did they investigate? His mind began to wonder, but that was soon cut off when Vanessa answered his question.

“Yeah they both investigate into crooked cops, we move around whenever they get a new case. We don’t live anywhere for more than like six months.” She told him the truth, hoping that afterwards that maybe he would leave her alone.

“That kind of sucks then doesn’t it? Always moving around, leaving behind friends and people you had grown close to?” He asked, he already knew her answer to this though.

“I don’t get close to people, moving around as much as my family has made me change so that I don’t get close with anyone. The only person or thing I’m close to is my dog Max.” She said, picking back up her and turning it on to show him a picture of a dog that looked like a husky but he could definitely tell it was mixed with something.

“What type of dog is that?” He asked her, looking from the phone and back to her.

“It’s a husky german shepherd mix, they are adorable puppies. Max is about three years old now, almost four.” She told him, putting her phone away in her pocket this time.

“Well could I ever meet the doggo? He is cute.” He told her to which she just shook her head.

“I’m not sure how he would react to new people, my parents had him trained well when he was younger.” She told him, now looking at the clock to see that class would be starting soon.

Their conversation continued even during class up until the moment that Xavier’s phone started going off in his pocket. Vanessa could also hear his phone vibrating in his pocket, and as soon as it had started he had quieted down. She wondered why this was, and her mind thought that maybe it was an important phone call.

Xavier raised his hand and got himself excused from class so he could go to the bathroom. Vanessa knew he was going to answer his phone, and immediately knew that it was a very important phone call if he was leaving class to answer it.

After about a minute since Xavier left, Vanessa had herself excused as well and she heard talking coming from one of the hallways. She hid behind the corner and heard Xavier talking to someone on the phone. “Yes, I’ll be taking the job, I’ll do it after school. Make sure that person pays up though.” Xavier said in a serious tone. Vanessa wondered who he was talking to, or what job they were talking about. Surely he wouldn’t leave class just to answer a call from a possible employer, they would know not to call him during school.

She made a mental note to ask him about it later when she got time to, and quickly and quietly she went back to the classroom she had left just a minute earlier. She sat down in her seat, and started taking notes that were on the board.

A couple minutes later Xavier walked back into the classroom, and the teacher looked at him briefly before continuing with what she had been saying. Mrs. Dutch started talking about group projects, and the fact that by the end of the class she would be splitting us up into pairs of two for this project.

Xavier sat down, and he didn’t seem too happy. Vanessa turned to look at him to see he wasn’t paying her any attention at all, and his fists were clenched. Vanessa could tell he was angry, and she wondered why.

“Hey, everything okay?” Vanessa asked him concerned, and Xavier turned to look at her with a not so happy look on his face.

“Everything is fine, don’t worry about it.” Xavier told her in a hard tone, that he didn’t fully mean to give her. It wasn’t Vanessa’s fault that the Organization had called him while he had been trying to get to know her.

Vanessa was slightly hurt by this, but shrugged it off. He didn’t need to be mean about it, damn. Vanessa turned back around to pay attention to the teacher who was now listing off the pairs for the project. Mrs. Dutch had paired everyone else together besides Xavier and Vanessa so Vanessa knew what was going to happen.

“Ms. Merchant and Mr. King you will be working on this project together, and take your time people you have until next Friday to complete, so nothing half done.” Mrs. Dutch told the class, looking over at Vanessa and Xavier before turning back around to sit at her desk.

Everyone got up to go talk to their partners besides Vanessa and Xavier who sat at their desks, and didn’t say anything to each other. As they sat there the class soon ended, and everyone got up to leave. Unlike how they both had begun class they left the class going opposite ways.

Xavier didn’t mean to go off on Vanessa back there he was just stressed, but now thanks to the project he had a reason to hang out with her, and get to know more about her. He made a mental note in his head to ask her for her number later that day since they were partners, he also knew that he should apologize for the way he had acted towards her.

Xavier went to his next class, brainstorming ideas of what to tell her. On his way there he ran into Axel. Axel was his best friend since grade school, he had dirty blonde hair and had blue colored eyes. Axel also worked for the Organization; he wasn’t a mercenary like Xavier was, but he did a lot of weapon deals.

“Hey, so what’s the deal with the new girl? Thought she wasn’t going to give into you.” Axel said as he caught up with Xavier.

“Her and I are just getting to know each other, that’s all. She isn’t giving into me or whatever you call it, we are only friends.” Xavier told Axel as they made way to Xavier’s next class.

“So far at least yeah, but you want to be more than just friends with her don’t you?” Axel asked him to which Xavier turned to look at him with a bit of a curious look on his face. “Come on dude, I saw how you looked at her back there. I’m not sure exactly what you want from her, but I know it’s definitely more than just friendship.” Axel told him, being completely truthful.

Xavier took a few seconds to think this over before getting back to his friend. “I mean you are correct, she is pretty cute. I wouldn’t mind being more than friends with her. I’m just not sure if I want anything more than friendship with her right now.” He told his friend as they had reached his next class.

“Well you do have that project with her now for class, you should be able to get closer to her through that since you two will have to hang out alone.” Axel told his friend, before he remembered something. “Also what happened when you left the classroom? When you came back into class you didn’t look too happy.” Axel brought up, knowing his best friend would always tell him the truth no matter what.

Xavier let out a sigh. “Headquarters called, I have a new job to do after school. I kinda also went off on Vanessa, but I’m already thinking of a way to apologize of course.” He told his friend being truthful with him.

“She followed you out into the hallway I think cause after you left she asked if she could get a drink because of her throat being dry. Kinda weird how you leave, and then she leaves right after you.” Axel said, hoping that Vanessa hadn’t heard anything that Xavier had said while he was on the phone. He knew that Xavier was always careful not to say too much, so if Vanessa ever asked him about it he could easily come up with a fake answer to it.

“Well I’ll tell her a fake story later when I meet her at her locker so that I can get her number. I’m always careful so she shouldn’t have been able to hear anything that could possibly get me into any trouble.” Xavier told Axel just as the bell rang for the second period to start.

At the sound of the bell Xavier went into his class without another word said, as his friend headed to his own class. Xavier came up with a good fake story to tell Vanessa so he could explain why he had acted the way he had towards her. It was a good story, so he knew he should be able to get away with it.

The rest of the day Xavier looked around for Vanessa in the hallway whenever he wasn’t in class, he never saw her though. Whenever he was in class he wouldn’t be paying attention at all, he would be watching the time tick down on the clock. He just wanted to apologize for his behavior towards her, and hopefully she wasn't too mad at him.

When the last bell finally rang he walked right out of his last class, and headed straight towards where he knew Vanessa’s locker was. He was going to apologize, and then ask for her number before he went to go and deal with the job that he had to do.

When he got to her locker he saw Vanessa stuffing her bag with her binders so he walked over to her. “Hey Vanessa, I wanted to say sorry for my attitude towards you earlier. I didn't mean it at all.” Xavier told Vanessa, which made the girl in front of him turn around to face him.

Vanessa looked up into his blue eyes before responding. “What was that phone call about?” She asked him, curiously wondering if he would tell her or not.

“It was my dad, he called me to let me know that my grandma hurt herself so this weekend I’ll be going over to her house to help her out.” Xavier told the girl to which the girl’s eyes softened.

“Oh I’m sorry to hear that, is she okay?” Vanessa asked him, concerned now for the health of an elderly woman.

“Yeah she’s fine she just needs someone to help her around the house for a few days until she feels better.” Xavier said, answering her question.

“Well I hope she feels better soon, and doesn’t get herself hurt again.” Vanessa said in a hopeful tone.

“She’s a strong old lady so she’ll be fine, but since I have to do that this weekend I was wondering if I could get your number so that over the weekend we could brainstorm what to do for our project if you want.” Xavier told Vanessa in a suggestive tone.

Vanessa took a few minutes to think this over before answering. “Sure, but only for the project.” She said as she took out her phone, and handed it to him.

Xavier put his number in, and texted himself before he gave the phone back to Vanessa. “Thanks, that will make it a lot easier to get a hold of you.” Xavier said, to which Vanessa just nodded before closing her locker and heading towards the door.

They both walked towards the door together, both going the same way. Before the two parted ways Vanessa turned back to him, and wondered if he was really telling the truth. What had that thing about the person having to pay up been about? Surely he wasn’t charging his grandma for his help, right?

With these thoughts in mind Vanessa turned away, and walked down the sidewalk towards her house. She decided not to worry too much about it, it was his life he could do whatever he wanted with it.

Xavier watched as Vanessa walked away from the school before getting into his car, and sighing. He turned on his car, and started driving back home to go and get his weapons before doing his job.