By any other name
All in all Enid had expected Thursday to be a pretty ordinary day. Said illusion had however disappeared when Cameron, Her pain in the ass younger brother, had woken her way before her alarm went off with the news that Principal Weems had called a school meeting before school. This alone would have been fine if not for the fact that Jeremy, her only slightly less pain in the ass older brother, had kept her up way into the night. And also that Cameron had chosen to wake her by sneaking her bedroom door open and chucking a sofa cushion at her head while screaming at her to get the fuck up
Fair to say Enid wasn’t in the best of moods as she trudged her way towards the school entrance. Her only real consolation that Yoko looked just about as half dead as herself. Although Yoko quite literally was half dead so it wasn’t much of consolation
“Any idea what this is about?” Enid half yawned as she walked up to Yoko who acknowledged her presence with a small nod and a half shrug
“only that Weems made it extra super clear that it was mandatory” Yoko said sounding about as tired as Enid felt “she even called people’s parents to make sure everyone showed up”
“yeah Cameron took the call” Enid nodded
“your parents out of town again?” Yoko asked shooting Enid a small worried glance that Enid promptly ignored
“it’s just for a couple of days. They got some kind of offer up north” Enid hurriedly explained already done with that particular topic “plus Jeremy is home for a while so we’re fine”
“you know you can call if you guys need anything right?” Yoko said carefully, fully aware that she was treading on thin ice
“I know” Enid said a bit too quickly “now can we go see what this thing is about? I have english with mr Carter later and I’m already not looking forward to that”
Yoko just nodded in response knowing from experience that pushing the other girl wouldn’t do anything other than make her dig her heels in deeper. So instead of asking anything else she just followed as Enid sped up towards the gym
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The energy in the gym more or less matched what you’d expect after pulling about 200 middle and high school students out of bed ahead of time. Most seemed too tired to do much else than sit and wait for the assembly to begin, and any talking was restricted to quiet mumbling between the small groups of friends who’d sat down together
The only real exception being Bianca Barclay and her posse who were audibly talking and laughing every few minutes. All of them somehow looking like they’d gotten a full nights sleep and also had time to do their hair and makeup before getting here. Enid more than wanted to curse them silently but considering she’d probably end up sitting with them for lunch later it seemed a little pointless to get too mad at them
However every bit of chatter cut out as soon as people noticed principal Weems make her way towards the microphone that had been set up in front of the bleachers. Everyone going quiet in a mix of fear of the abnormally tall woman and fascination about why they’d all been asked to be here. Which was fair considering Enid had been in middle school the last time anything like this happened and it had resulted in most of them being under a strict curfew for most of the year
“I would like to start off by thanking all of you for coming” Weems voice carried through the speakers. Each syllable enunciated clearly as she looked out at the assembly with a smile. Enid pretty sure the woman was taking some kind of pleasure in the way everyone quieted down at her mere presence
“now as I’m sure most of you have figured out you’ve been asked to come because there is a situation that requires all of your attention” Weems continued as her eyes slowly moved from one end of the assembly to the other. Enid feeling like the woman was staring straight at her at one point
“I’ll cut to the chase. As of today there will be a new student attending our school. A human student”
The reaction happened almost as soon as the words had left Weem’s mouth. A myriad of students gasping or otherwise expressing their surprise before several people started either loudly protesting the news or talked heatedly amongst each other. Although some, like Enid, were merely frozen in silence as they tried to process the news as the assembly started to explode around her. Though the explosion didn’t last long as Weems quietly lifted her hand which brought even the loudest present to silence once again within seconds. And Enid once again swore she caught a smirk at the corner of the woman’s lips
“now your parents have been aware of the possibility of this for some time. But were asked to keep it a secret as to not cause any panic while the faculty attempted to prevent this from happening” Weems explained still very calm considering what she was saying had almost caused a riot just seconds earlier “unfortunately this was not possible and the student will be joining our senior class for a yet unknown amount of time”
“now as I’m sure you’re aware measure must be taken. First and foremost there will be a complete ban on the carrying out and discussion of any non-mundane activities on school grounds”
There was a sudden rush of energy as most of the people present made to object to the news. It however dissipated even faster than it had appeared as protests died in people’s throats due to a warning glance from Weems. Who had more than perfected the art of the threatening raised eyebrow in all her years at the school
“the same will apply as when you are out amongst the humans in town” Weems said her tone reflecting that there would be no discussing this fact “you’re all aware of these rules and have shown yourself capable of following them within reason so we’ll expect the same of you now” Weems said with a final warning glance out towards the assembly
“and to pre-empt some of the many questions I’m sure you all have. Since we don’t want all of you running around making it obvious that we’ve discussed this matter beforehand we will not be announcing the student's name at this time. She will introduced in class at your teacher’s prerogative in order to maintain the idea that there’s nothing abnormal about her presence here”
“now although I am certain all of you have questions I ask that you save them until after school today. Your parents have been fully informed of the situation at hand and will have answers. We cannot have a myriad of students approaching teachers and faculty about the arrival of a single new student” Weems raised a final eyebrow as to hammer her point home. Not that anyone really had the guts to challenge her on this
“you will all please go to your first scheduled class. Your teachers will have some final information for each class before the school day starts” Weems said before pulling a small note from her pocket and glancing at it “you’re all dismissed but will Bianca Barclay, Theresa Mayhiew and Eugene Ottinger please come see me before going class” Weems finished with a small smile and as if released from a spell the entire crowd started murmuring amongst each other. Yoko being no exception as she was inches away from Enid’s ear the second Weems finished
“A fucking normie? Here? What the actual hell is going on?” Yoko attempted to whisper but her sudden rush of nervous energy meant she more or less ended up shouting it instead making Enid flinch at the sudden noise
“jeez!” Enid yelped holding a hand up to her ear and shooting Yoko a look
“shit sorry” Yoko said and actually looked apologetic for maybe half a second “but seriously. There hasn’t been a normie here like ever”
“not since 1912 at least” a voice suddenly piped up making both of the girls turn around as they walked. Seeing that Kent had parted from Biancas posse and had made his way up to them “that’s when we kicked the last of them over to their own school. Though that one closed down ages ago”
“nerd” Yoko deadpanned making Enid giggle although that might be mostly a stress response considering the situation
“excuse me for actually paying attention in class” Kent shot back
“hey don’t look at me. I haven’t been paying attention since 5th grade” Yoko held her hands up in front herself “not like it’s worth anything anyhow”
“always the pessimist Tanaka” Kent shook his head while tsking away
“Yeah but not even I predicted that our senior year was gonna get fucked by a normie joining class” Yoko said obviously still trying to lighten the mood. Even if her attempt had the opposite reaction as both Kent and Enid’s faces fell at the reminder
“no you did not. I’ll give you that” Kent sighed as they walked the last few feet out of the gym and mentally resigned themselves to saving any non-normie talk till later when they had a better handle on who and where the new girl was
___________________________________________________________________________
The fact that there was a human at the school unfortunately didn’t mean that everything was suddenly exciting. In fact with the exception of the younger kids who were excitedly talking in hushed voices, there seemed to be a general aura of melancholy amongst the student body.
Enid had homeroom along with Yoko during first period and much like Weems had said their teacher took her time to reiterate for the time being the same concealment rules applied as when they were in town. Which for the teachers meant that no one would even mention anything supernatural and for everyone else meant that they’d be sure to word anything they said that they’d at worst be taken for human weirdoes and not actual monsters
It wasn’t until Enid’s English class, after she’d taken her usual seat near the back and was absentmindedly doodling away, that anything remotely interesting happened
Enid had more or less been zoning out and waiting for class to start when she suddenly caught a whiff of an unfamiliar scent. Which wasn’t exactly unusual since her fellow students often changed soap or perfume which Enid couldn’t help but notice. But unlike those times this new scent was... earthy rather than soapy and reminded Enid of a wet day in autumn. Furthermore said scent also seemed to emanate from the girl who’d sat down in the seat in front of Enid. Who was slowly realizing that she did in fact not recognize. The girl seemingly having entered the classroom without anyone having noticed except from Zane, one of Yoko’s clan, who’d probably noticed the scent along with Enid and was now trying to catch Enid’s eye in a not so subtle way
Enid herself was trying to figure out what she was supposed to do (should she welcome the new girl?) when mr. Carter entered the class meaning that any chit chatting was now impossible on threat of serious detention time. Which Enid did so not have the energy to deal with right now
“good day and goodmorning everyone” Carter said as he set down his usual massive document binder on his desk and looked out across the class with the usual angry grimace that Enid had learned over the years was actually just the way his face looked “now as certain you’ve all picked up on through your online chats and whatnot we have a new student joining us”
Carter quickly scanned the room before his eyes landed on the new girl and his expression changed into a small content smile “yes mrs Frump why don’t you stand and introduce yourself to the class?” he continued everyone in the room turning to follow his gaze towards the girl which Enid thought might be a suspicious amount of interest in a single new student in an english class
“if it’s all the same to you I think I’ll remain seated” the new girl spoke, her voice calm and eerily cold in a way that made the hairs at the back of Enid’s neck stand on end along with a sudden unexplainable urge to move further away from the girl
“as you all heard my name is Wednesday Frump. I’ve been moved here on short notice and I... I’m looking forward to spending my senior year with you” the girl, Wednesday, continued with everyone listening along. Some of other students seeming to be getting the same weird vibe that Enid was picking up on “and in case you’re planning on making me participate in the same childish games I’ve already been subjected to my favourite animal is the emperor scorpion despite it’s inferior venom and I like the colour black” Wednesday finished without explaining what kind of games she was talking about. Although if Enid had to guess someone had probably tried to welcome her with the usual “get to know each other” stuff. Especially considering that Eugene Ottinger was somehow involved in the welcome committee from earlier
The rest of the class was entirely uneventful with Carter running through the assigned reading and introducing what they’d be going over during the next few weeks. The only difference being that Wednesday was there and actively participating in the class. Her voice still sending shivers down Enid’s spine while she also had to almost fight to stop noticing the girl’s scent which was nigh assaulting her throughout class. All in all Enid was infinitely thankful when class ended and she was able to hurry out of the room and towards the cafeteria for lunch
___________________________________________________________________________
“okay so has anyone seen the new girl yet?” Yoko asked as she sat down at the table carrying a tray despite the fact that all she had on it was a bottle of water. Enid shooting her a questioning look but Yoko was to busy raising her eyebrow towards Bianca to notice
“don’t look at me” Bianca said stabbing at the solid black of veggie lasagne they were serving for lunch “Weems just wanted to make sure we kept any swim team activity strictly human” Bianca punctuated the last part by stabbing at her food particularly angrily. Enid getting the gist that the sirens had more or less been banned form using the swim team as an excuse to have fun in the school pool “she told Mayhiew to do the same with the track team”
“wait what about Eugene?” Yoko asked clearly ignoring Bianca’s foul mood “did Weems want to a fully normie bee keeping club? Or is his D&D group getting a little too into character?” Yoko giggled at her own joke and was clearly dissapointed when noone else joined in. The rest of the table being more than a little bummed out now that the actual consequences of having a human on campus were catching up with them. Although Enid was mostly bummed about having to endure Carter’s class for the rest of the year along with the girl who was seriously giving her the heebie jeebies
“oh no Weems wanted Ottinger to be the normie’s welcome committee” Bianca said making not effort to hide what she thought about the idea “probably wants the guy to show her all the stuff to do here when you don’t have any friends. Since I’m sure no one is jumping to hang out with the normie”
“Eugene has friends” Enid protested knowing full well that Bianca was only being foul because she was in a bad mood but still not wanting to have to listen to it
“ugh sure but my point still stands” Bianca sighed not really taking what she said back but at least halfway acknowledging that she’d crossed the line “no one here is going to hang out with a normie unless they’re just super ready to break the accords”
“yeah... plus she’s like really creepy” Enid said silently a bit surprised when everyone at the table turned to stare at her “uhm.. She's in my english class” Enid offered up as an explanation to the unsaid question
“oh shit that’s right they put her with Carter” Yoko exclaimed which she’d probably picked up from the rumour making their way around campus
“not like they could put her in Silva’s class” Divina scoffed from her spot next to Bianca “that woman can’t go an hour without starting a rant about monster oppression. I’m honestly astonished she managed to keep herself in check today”
“so new girl is creepy?” Bianca asked ignoring Divina in favour of her newfound interest of milking Enid for information
“her name is Wednesday” Enid said growing a bit tired of the new girl monicker. Even if she’d been guilty of referring to Wednesday as such in her head
“who the fuck name’s their kid Wednesday?” Yoko half laughed before falling silent after Bianca shot her a glare. The girl being second only to Weems herself in making people shut up without having to say a word herself. Enid quickly finding herself at the receiving end of said glare as Bianca waited for her to tell her more
“I mean yeah I guess” Enid shrugged feeling a bit bad about having insulted a girl she barely even knew “I just had this really weird feeling like I had to get out of the room whenever she spoke?”
“that’s just natural preservation instinct when you’re that close to a normie” Bianca scoffed which Enid didn’t argue even if she never felt the same way when she was around humans in town “anything else?”
“I guess she smelled kind of weird?” Enid tried “like rotten leaves and rain?”
“ugh don’t go around sniffing people Sinclair. You’re house trained” Bianca rolled her eyes almost making Enid protest before she gave up on the idea. Already knowing that Bianca was going to be impossible to deal with for the foreseeable future. Or until Weems let her get her swim on again
The rest of lunch was spent with all of them complaining about the various restrictions that were likely going to be introduced in order to keep Wednesday in the dark about what kind of school she’d joined. Enid being particularly annoyed by the fact that PE was most likely going to be much more human oriented now instead of being the one time each week where Enid had a chance to let loose and clear her head
After lunch the girls split up again. Bianca and Yoko having to go to their algebra class while Enid had history which Divina happily announced she was skipping. Meaning Enid was making her own way towards the other end of the school hurriedly pushing her way through students. Some maybe a bit harder than necessary judging by the glare Jenny shot her way after getting an accidental elbow in the ribs
Enid however felt a lot less guilty about her slight pushing once she saw two guys from the wrestling team quite literally run down the hallway tangled into each other while screaming something unintelligible. The sea of students parting to let them through while Enid was just seriously hoping that neither of them were one of her brothers.
However it wasn’t every student who noticed the moving ball of teenage stupidity moving down the hallway. Enid noticing Wednesday standing with her back turned moments before calamity struck and a stray arm downright clotheslined the other girl and sent her sprawling to the floor with an audible bang
Half running Enid was quickly at the girl’s side kneeling down to get a better look at Wednesday who was already starting to get up although she looked more than a bit confused about suddenly finding herself on the floor surrounded the contents of her bag which had spilled out at the impact
“you okay?” Enid asked offering a gentle hand to steady Wednesday who in turn flinched away at the contact which Enid thought was fair enough considering the last physical contact that girl had felt was 200 pounds of teenage boy. Followed by the floor “those guys are idiots”
“very much so” Wednesday mumbled her eyes finally focusing on Enid who again offered her hand for Wednesday to steady herself with. The girl however still declined, although this time less aggressively, and instead started gathering up her stuff
“I’m fine” Wednesday said flatly before standing up and looking down at Enid “but thank you” she added before almost speed walking down the hallway leaving Enid sitting on the floor looking a bit silly
Enid was about to get up herself when she suddenly noticed something laying on the floor halfway wedged underneath the lockers which she quickly reached out and plucked from the ground. Enid didn’t need more than a half a second to recognize that it was a credit card which she held up to inspect the name on. Frowning ever so slightly as she did so turning to look down the hallway hoping that she could still catch Wednesday but of course the other girl was long gone
Instead Enid pushed herself up from the floor and again made her way towards her history class. Which she was probably going to be late for now
_________________________________________________________________________
A little over an hour later Enid managed to track down Yoko, Bianca and Kent chilling out behind the new building. Yoko being a good part into a cigarette that she quickly put out when she saw Enid approaching trying to waft away the smoke while shooting Enid an apologetic look
“you know I can still totally smell that even when you do that right?” Enid said with a teasing smile. She did appreciate Yoko trying not to offend her senses too much with her nicotine addiction. Which Enid was like 90 percent sure was psychosomatic since human drugs really shouldn’t be able to affect the undead
“sorry Eens” Yoko said making Enid shake her head before sitting down next to the girl only scrounging her nose ever so slightly at the harsh tobacco smell
“so history is now officially free from any mentions of monsters” Enid said to no one in particular
“ugh don’t remind me” Bianca sighed “I was going to do my essay on the Brooklyn dryad rebellions and now Myers is probably going to make me change it”
“you have history with the new girl?” Yoko said not turning to actually face Bianca but instead seemingly focused on cloud gazing
“mackenzie said she isn’t with her and Sinclair so seems like it” Bianca shrugged
“oof” was all Yoko offered in response which Bianca scoffed at but didn’t complain about
“I mean Wednesday totally has two different names” Enid offered wanting to share what she’d found out earlier
“wait new girl?” Bianca said sitting up more straight and looking at Enid seeming suddenly much more interested “how would you know? The two of you all buddy buddy?”
“what? No" Enid defended herself without really knowing why “the name on her credit card is just different than what she said in class”
“shit Sinclar. I know your family is poor but isn’t it a little early to start lifting wallets?” Bianca laughed making Enid flinch back in response as Bianca looked between Yoko and Kent clearly expecting them to laugh along
“fucking hell Bianca” Yoko said shooting up from the ground and sending Bianca a glare that was evident even from behind her shades “we all know you’re pissy about Weems not letting you swim but don’t fucking take it on Enid” Yoko finished almost hissing as everyone present looked shocked at how violently she reacted
“...shit. You’re right” Bianca sighed pinching her nose “sorry Eens. I’m just... being a total bitch as per usual”
“it’s alright” Enid said pointedly not correcting Bianca but also not wanting to further the disagreement even if the comment had felt a bit like a slap to the face
“it’s not but I can appreciate you being the bigger person here” Bianca said with a small smile in an obvious attempt at an olive branch “so Weekday has a fake name or what?”
“I don’t know if it’s fake” Enid shrugged “she said her name was Frump in class but her card says Addams. And she dropped it after getting tackled by Tyler by the way” Enid explained just to make it clear that she hadn’t actually stolen anything
“the wrestling team continuing the proud tradition of being a freaking menace” Yoko laughed elbowing Enid in the side obviously willing to let her anger towards Bianca slide for the time being. While Enid was not about to acknowledge Yoko’s allusion to her family legacy at the school
“did you say Addams?” Bianca suddenly cut in looking between all of them as if she was waiting for the penny to drop as Enid just slowly nodded not understanding what Bianca wanted her to realize
“goddess do none of you ever read?” Bianca sighed which Kent just responded to with a shrug as if to say it was a lost cause with them. Not divulging whether he knew what Bianca was talking about or not
“oh just come with me you idiots” Bianca sighed before she started making her way back around the building. The rest of them scrambling to follow
“I did not sign up for spending my free period running around the school” Yoko complained as Bianca let them down the main hallway making a beeline for the central courtyard
“I’ll buy you a pack if you shut up” Bianca shot back which Yoko seemed to accept since she picked up the pace slightly as the four of them walked through the doors and back out into the fresh air of the small open courtyard that sat in the relative centre of the old school building. Bianca walking over to the fountain where she knelt down and started running her hand over the side
“okay so what exactly are we here for?” Yoko asked apparently willing to risk her free cigarettes in order to be sassy. Which in no way surprised Enid
“This” Bianca said leaning to the side and pointing to one of the inscriptions on the side of the fountain. The rest of the girl leaning in to read it “Addams” Bianca said which was engraved on the fountain even if the writing was so faded that the first name was no longer visible
“okay so?” Yoko said after a few seconds
“what do you mean so?” Bianca hissed “her name is on the fountain”
“and I repeat. So?” Yoko shot back
“you don’t find that a little weird?” Bianca raised an eyebrow and looked between them “a human suddenly joins the school with a fake name and it turns out her actual name is engraved here?”
“I mean it kinda makes sense that her family has ties to the town?” Enid said not really sure she was buying whatever theory Bianca was hinting at
“yeah but on... on the fountain?” Bianca asked after pausing to make sure that there were any too human ears around to hear her
“there’s a guy named Jebediah Rogers on there as well” Yoko said “but you don’t see me coming up with any wild theories about mr rogers do you?”
“...okay that’s it no smokes for you” Bianca said clearly pissed off as she straightened herself back up and brushed her legs free from dirt
“no take backsies!” Yoko yelled as she pointed an accusatory finger towards Bianca who was already walking away again ignoring both Yoko and the myriad of people who glanced her way due to Yoko’s screaming
“to be fair it is a little weird” Kend said out of the blue smiling at Enid when she looked over towards him “I mean first human here in a hundred years and she’s related to one of the founders?” Kent continued. Walking off after the two others before Enid had a chance to reply
___________________________________________________________________________
Enid was bopping her head along to her music while texting with Jeremy about dinner plans for later. Enid sighing slightly when he sent a message saying that supplies in the kitchen were running low and he’d have to do a run to the store with whatever cash he could scrounge up back home. Enid didn’t want to admit it but if their parents didn’t get home soon she might actually have to take Yoko up on her offer. Something she’d always hated doing
Enid was momentarily distracted when she caught sight of one of the missing person posters that had started popping up around town recently. She hadn’t paid them much notice since the missing girl was a normie meaning she didn’t go to Enid’s school and that their parents definitely didn’t run in the same circles. But a quick glance at this version of the poster let Enid know that the girl had been missing for a little over a month and she couldn’t stop her heart for aching at the way the girl stared out at her from the picture.
Suddenly Enid felt someone grab her shoulder and she was spun around so fast she didn’t have time to dig her heels in. Instead Enid’s claws almost shot out before she realized she was face to face with Wednesday and she got ahold of herself before doing something monumentally stupid
“I would advise against stealing from me” Wednesday said shooting a glare Enid’s way that could compete with even Weems
“wha-what?” Enid said finding herself more than a little flustered by the fact that Wednesday was about an inch away from her face and her nostrils were currently being floodded with the smell of rotten leaves
“your theft disguised as an act of kindness earlier” Wednesday explained the glare not letting up even though it didn’t help Enid understand at all which her blank look must have obviously made clear with the way Wednesday sighed at her
“my Credit card” Wednesday said making it clear she felt like she was talking to an idiot “don’t pretend like you don’t have it. I asure you that you can’t hide what is mine from me”
“I wasn’t freaking stealing it” Enid muttered as she threw Wednesday’s hand off her shoulder with perhaps a bit more force than necessary and stuck her hand in her back pocket to retriece the card “I was going to return it. We kinda have class together remember?”
“the sensible thing to do would have been to turn it in at the office” Wednesday said as she snatched the card from Enid’s hand and inspected it before shooting Enid a suspicious glance
“yeah well I didn’t really feel like dealing with Weems today” Enid snapped back genuinely having had enough of people accusing her of stealing on top of having to deal with her parents shit
“the secretary would have sufficed” Wednesday said raising an eyebrow at Enid’s reaction which Enid didn’t respond to as she just wanted this interaction to be over so she could get home and away from this stupidly overpowering scent
“for your sake I hope you haven’t used it for anything” Wednesday said as she returned the credit card to her bag
“I. Didn’t. Steal. From you” Enid said having to stop herself from snarling at the other girl who right now seemed to be bringing out the worst in her despite her best efforts
“duly noted” Wednesday said after regarding Enid for a few seconds “on another note I don’t suppose I could borrow your copy of our assigned book?”
“...are you for real right now?” Enid asked after staring at Wednesday utterly flabbergasted who just stared at her in return “you just accused me of stealing from you and now you want to borrow my book?”
“you assured me you hadn’t stolen from me and I’m currently in need of the book” Wednesday said as if this entire change of pace was the most logical thing in the world
“you know what?” Enid said as she swing her bag forward and dug the book out of it “you can even keep it. I’m not doing homework for that class anyhow” she finished thrusting the book towards Wednesday who took it from her hands
“hardly advisable” Wednesday said as she looked down at the book
“so didn’t ask” Enid muttered before turning around and popping her earbuds back in so she wouldn’t have to listen to whatever Wednesday said in return.
Worst part? Enid would still have to make dinner once she got home unless she wanted to eat whatever burnt mess Jeremy could manage to throw together