Figuring things out

Xavier and Jayden had finally arrived at the "studio", Xavier was now sporting a black hoodie which he had gotten from Jayden to hide the blood on the clothes he wore earlier. 

No words were exchanged during the rest of walk towards the gym making the journey an awkward one.

They had finally arrived at the front of the building as Xavier used his eyes to scan the building's exterior as this was the first time he was seeing it.

The gym was indeed a run down one, its once-vibrant red brick facade had weathered decades due to years of exposure to the elements, leaving it mottled with patches of faded paint and streaks of grime. A neon sign that had once proudly proclaimed 'metal muscle gym' now flickered uncertainly, casting a feeble glow into the sidewalk below.

Jayden opened the door of the building after inserting the key into the rusty padlock. Entering the building they were assaulted with the smell of dust as Xavier looked around. Dust and the smell of aging wood hung heavily in the air of the dimly lit gymnasium, dust motes danced lazily in the feeble shafts of sunlight that managed to pierce through the cracked windows, casting irregular patterns on the worn, scuffed hardwood floor. The walls were filled with motivational posters that were peeling and discolored, revealing the ghost of forgotten slogans. 

Scattered on multiple areas of the gym were exercising equipment which surprised Xavier as he didn't expect the previous owner to leave it behind. Their original goal of coming here was to do a little clean up and final touches on the costume she was working on which were in her bag, but now was not the time.

"Well… talk to me." Jayden spoke as her voice echoed pulling Xavier out of his thoughts.

"Really cool building you have here." Xavier spoke alongside a chuckle

"Don't change the topic Xavier. you recently started acting strange lately but I just brushed it off going through something you didn't want to talk about, then you freaking went all Jakie Chan at the alley, to top it all off and I'm not even sure I'm going crazy or not I freaking saw you self-heal from that stab wound." She stopped taking a deep breath before continuing cutting Xavier off from his chance to speak she was obviously panicking.

[A/N: I purposely spelt 'jakie' wrong, for obvious reasons.]

"What are you?"

"An alien?"

"Mutant?"

"Cyborg?"

Xavier tried to speak but he was cut off.

"You've joined the illuminati?"

"I'm a werewolf! At least I think I am" he yelled as his voiced resonated through the entire gym.

But unlike the reaction he was expecting, what he got in return was absolute silence at first then sounds of her laughs resonated. "REALLY? A werewolf, those things doesn't exist." She said with a voice filled with slight ridicule.

"The fact you asked me if I was either an alien, mutant, cyborg or if I've joined the illuminati clearly shows you believe those things exist so why not a werewolf?" Xavier replied in an exasperated tone.

"Well you do make a valid argument, so… were you always like this or…" 

Xavier proceeded to explain what had transpired that night without missing any details, starting from how he had issues sleeping every night and ends up taking strolls at night.

After hearing Xavier's story Jayden was quite amazed but still a bit skeptical although she could tell her best friend wasn't lying but it still seemed like something from a lite novel or comic.

Xavier could tell that Jayden still had doubts so he decided to fix that, he looked around the gym before coming across a small dumbbell picking it up he headed back to where Jayden was.

"Wow you lifted a small dumbbell." She said in a sarcastic manner.

"Just watch will you."

He held on tightly to both ends of the dumbbell, adding more pressure to it…

*Crrreeeaakk*

The sound of metal bending resounded as Jayden's shock filled eyes stared at the dumbbell that was now bent in a 'V' shape.

*****

Many minutes after Xavier's demonstration and revelation of his newfound identity, surprisingly she had taken it well as he watched Jayden in amusement paced back and forth while she spoke.

"I can't believe this, my best friend has actual super powers!"

"I-I don't think it's that simple." Xavier tried to correct, but was interrupted by her.

"So what else can you do, you already got healing and super strength covered, so what else can you do?" she asked with full blown enthusiasm. Xavier was honestly happy at least his only friend didn't treat him any differently.

"I think my senses are heightened or something, at least assume so since I can hear your heartbeat as we speak and can tell you had an omelet for breakfast from your breath even though you're like four feet away from me and I can assure you that this building is infested with rats, I can spot them from time to time squirming around." Xavier summarized all his senses were telling him.

"That's so awesome! It's even better than I expected!" Jayden couldn't help but yell, she had always been a fan of fiction and to her this was like Christmas coming early.

Although Xavier would have loved to entertain her more they had more pressing issues to handle, it was now time to talk about the problems he was going to face. Xavier procced to tell her about what he had found out when he searched the internet about werewolves, since she was the expert he was hoping she may have an idea of what could help maybe even know about a cure.

"I'm sorry but I've never heard of some kind of cure for werewolf both in fiction and well, anything else." Jayden said with a crestfallen look she knew that although Xavier looked calm and collected, he was obviously scared deep-down everything had happened so fast for him, and she felt she had been insensitive so she hoped that her next set of information will actually be able to be of help to him.

"While I don't think a werewolf cure exist, I do know that there are ways to adapt at least we aren't sure if what are out there about werewolves are even true but since they all emphasize on the fact that self-control is possible."

 Jayden paused to see his reaction first, seeing his mood lighten she continued. "The best I can do for now is to tell you to keep your temper at bay and avoid get angry at all cost. And most of all no fights with Dylan and he's peanut gallery." She concluded after remembering that they'll be going to school tomorrow.

For the rest of the day, they talked about their future plans concerning the gym along with a few demonstration of Xavier's powers from time to time.

*****

The sun had gone down as only the illumination from the street lights and buildings illuminated the street at nighttime. Xavier and Jayden were seen walking back home although they were a bit more cautious due to what had transpired earlier.

Xavier was still wearing Jayden's hoodie to hide the blood on his shirt, alongside her pink headphones to help him with his sensitive hearing since they were by the roadside.

While walking back, Jayden sneaked a glance at Xavier who was busy listening to some music on her headphones. Her eyes fell on his stomach area before she proceeded to tug his sleeve gaining his attention.

"hmm..?" 

"Does it still hurt?" she asked as she pointed at where he was stabbed earlier.

"Nope like you saw it's healed." Xavier replied with a smile, because he knew she was worried about him. 

"Well in that case…"

Jayden immediately sent out a right hook to his face, although he had enough cognitive prowess to see it coming and dodge but he was too confused to do anything. 

*Thwack!*

The sound of her fist connecting to his face grabbed the attention of the people around as he fell to his backside while holding the side of his cheek.

"You idiot don't ever jump in front of a knife again!" she yelled before storming off.

The people who witnessed this felt sorry for him since at the moment he looked like a guy who just got dumped unknown to them they were just friends.

Xavier: ('; Ꙍ ;`)