Friends and Stalkers
Wednesday had a weird dream last night, but it ran away from her as soon as she sat up on her bed by the morning. It was one of those pests you try to chase around for hours among memories of past dreams but the pursuit never ends amounting to anything. Even though she couldn’t remember it, she just knew it felt like one of her visions, she hadn’t gotten one since the Hyde had been put away, but concluded it would make sense for her to start getting them again now, hence the stalker mystery.
After recovering from her morning grogginess, Wednesday got up to an empty room. Enid was never gone in the mornings, but Wednesday didn’t get bothered by it, it was still their first day living together again and she expected for them to have settled on a familiar schedule by the end of the month. Changing the subject of her thoughts, she gathered her uniform clothing pieces and headed to their shared restroom, taking a cold and sluggish shower to jumpstart her day.
Not over 10 minutes later, she walked out of the shared restroom to find a cup of coffee laying on her desk beside her typewriter, and her roommate setting the bed all the way over to the other side of the room.
"I brought you coffee. Don't worry, it's to your taste." Enid said without turning back, but Wednesday knew she had a warm smile on her face.
"Lukewarm and bitter. My gratitude.'' She thanked her roommate, picking up the cup with a delighted expression on her face, which would be unrecognizable to anyone but Enid, who had turned around and now smiled at her instead.
Wednesday enjoyed this dynamic between the two, they complimented each other like a Yin Yang. Wednesday being the yin obviously, the dark one. She also enjoyed being back in the dorm with her, the lighter one. She turned to face their shared round bay window instead, reflecting on the Yin Yang analogy. They were sort of like a married couple in that way. What the heck. No.
She stopped chugging her coffee after this bewildering thought, widening her eyes. She observed Enid for a minute, picking up on the different way she did her hair today, her bangs pinned to the back of her head with a half pink and half blue ribbon that matched the colorful dyed ends of her hair, which had grown quite a lot during break, draping past her shoulders now. Enid caught sight of Wednesday’s staring, frowning back at the girl.
‘’Something wrong with your coffee?’’ Enid asked, uncertainly.
‘’No, it tastes as doleful as possible. I was just noticing your hair- Your ribbon, particularly.’’ Wednesday clarified herself, gulping.
‘’Really!? Did you like it? Ajax gave it to me, isn’t it soooo cutee!?’’ Enid jumped, almost startling Wednesday with the sudden cheerful intonation and smiling widely.
‘’Sure, it fits you thoroughly.’’ Wednesday commented, tasting the rest of her coffee afterwards and resenting the name of the damned boy mentioned by her roommate, whom she had grown to dislike due to past events of him letting her down tremendously.
Enid grinned, happy to be complimented by someone she cares about, that’s if what Wednesday just said to her even counted as a compliment, which she hoped did. She glanced at the clock that hung on the wall, marking 7h47AM.
‘’Are you finished with your coffee? Class starts soon, we should get going.’’ Enid asked her roommate, lightly brushing her hand on the smaller girl’s arm as to get her attention.
Wednesday nodded, restraining herself as to not bolt back due to the blonde’s touch, which made her feel awkward again. Enid always made her feel awkward, there was no other word for describing it, depending on the level of closeness of the contact they shared, it made her feel embarrassed, even. As she walked through the hallways beside her roommate, she dared to wish she understood more of her feelings and what they meant, maybe it could help her crack down what her awkwardness meant.
‘’Do you think it could be possible that we sat together during every lesson?’’ Wednesday said turning to her friend.
‘’Oh my god yes! We’re gonna have so much fun!’’ Enid answered enthusiastically.
‘’Alright. But I’ll beg your pardon if I don’t engage back in your usual banter as much as you wish me to. I’ll be focusing most of my attention on trying to figure out who’s been acting suspicious around us, the stalker could be a serious threat to our safety and I plan on neutralizing him.’’
‘’Um. Then why do you need me around?’’ Enid sulked.
‘’Because I trust you.’’ Wednesday answered, not looking back at Enid this time. Just admitting this to anyone was a great mistake according to Wednesday’s philosophy of life, let alone admitting it while looking into their eyes, but it was true, she did truly trust Enid. Wednesday might be a coward, but she’s not a liar.
‘’That’s nice to know.’’ Enid’s voice softened and her lips turned into a smile.
‘’I plan on approaching anyone that seems suspicious and touching them, see if I get any visions.’’ Wednesday continued, ‘’But if the stalker is not a moron, which I assume he isn’t, he knows about my visions and won't let me touch him easily.’’ she concluded, taking her seat beside Enid.
‘’I see.’’ Enid agreed, thoughtfully.
Wednesday saw Xavier turn back and pierce through her with a deadly stare, she stared back at him, making no facial expressions whatsoever. She asked herself how did she end up with a pathetic maniac like him coming after her when it was clear she was never romantically interested in him nor in any other way that didn’t involve the murder mystery she was working on. Sometimes she wished she could just get rid of him, with a magic spell or whatever, she was sure something like this existed somewhere within the bounds of the Nightshades library, but it was certainly illegal. Meanwhile, she caught sight of the new teacher briefly taking a look at her too, and took a mental note to visit him after class was over and figure out what he was on about. It was time for a new pin board of suspects, and Enid would certainly let her keep it in their dorm this time since no one had been murdered yet.
She figured he would be designated in the same room that Miss Thornhill - or Miss Gates - was designated at when she was a member of the school board, so she rapidly grabbed lunch with Enid and headed there before it was time for her beekeeping club activities, leaving Enid to go hang out with Ajax. And there he was, planning his next classes, as Wednesday had concluded he would be. He took notice of her presence and tossed his papers aside, warmly inviting her in. He had loads of books about the most diverse interests lying around his office, but he searched his drawers for a particular one and handed it to her as she came closer, it was a book about insects.
‘’Wednesday, you’re in the beekeeping club aren’t you?’’ He asked, extending his arm which held the book to her.
She nodded.
‘’Thought you might be interested in other insects as well.’’ He observed, laying his hands on his table, his fingers touching after she picked the book from his hand.
‘’My thankfulness.’’ She said to him, inspecting the book in hand.
‘’Don’t worry ‘bout it, heh. I’m responsible for Ophelia Hall now, just like Marilyn was. You girls can come to me about any troubles you have and I’ll take care of them for you, I’m your ‘’dorm dad’’ as some people might call it.’’ He explained to her, gesturing with his hands in the process.
‘’I’ll make Enid aware.’’ Wednesday said back.
‘’Sure you will pal. So why are you here? Do you need any help?’’ He asked, scratching his chin.
‘’I was just wondering about what they had done with Marilyn’s old office.’’ Wednesday gave the excuse she had planned on giving beforehand, ‘’Anyway, I should be going now. I have beekeeping.’’ she finished. Turning around and leaving after he gave her a dismissing nod. Even though he was one of the main suspects, she had taken a liking to him, it was like they related to each other, somehow, he reminded her of her brother. She placed the book inside her bag and continued her walking through the corridors, sulking at Thing’s absence inside her backpack and being excited to see Eugene again. She still hadn’t met him after all, their schedules were very different, only coinciding at beekeeping. As he was a year below her still, they didn’t have any classes together, and now Thing couldn’t come to school anymore due to a stupid ‘no pet’ rule Amelyne had implemented, leaving Wednesday to go on her adventures alone when Enid was with- Ajax.
She just about resented their relationship. Really. It was like he was constantly taking Enid away from her nowadays and she didn't get what her friend saw on him. They had nothing in common besides being teenagers full of hormones and an empty necessity to form shallow and purely transactional relationships to elevate themselves in the social hierarchy that existed in this school. When it came to that sense, Wednesday enjoyed Eugene’s presence more, as he could not be bothered by such frivolous things. Her excitement to see him grew more as she approached the shack and entered it, meeting a very joyful Eugene, who welcomed her warmly.
They took care of the bees together and Wednesday listened to Eugene enthusiastically talk about the trip he took to Morocco with his moms, who took him to visit the biggest apiary in the world on his birthday. She was happy he seemed to have gotten over his foolish crush on Enid, not having mentioned her once. Soon after, Wednesday told him about the new mystery she was investigating, and he listened patiently in return. Wednesday worried this new mystery could affect Eugene as well, she could not bear to have him hurt again because of her. The stalker seemed to know everything about Wednesday and how to lurk flawlessly through the people around her. She had no leads so far, just a big list of suspects who didn’t seem to have any loose threads, the investigation had come to a stoop earlier than she expected it to and it bothered her.
The hours went by and they were done with the activities for the day, it was 5pm now and the sun was about to set. She went back to the school and wondered if she could have a one on one with Amelyne, but she couldn’t think of an excuse to drop by the principal’s room unannounced and not cause suspicion, since she now had a history of being some sort of troublemaker inside the school and Amelyne was surely aware of how rocky Wednesday’s relationship to principal Weems used to be. She lurked through the corridors for a while, looking for any suspicious behavior from anyone until she felt followed. She quickly turned around after pacing through a small corridor with stained glass windows around it, noticing a shadow immediately turning around and going the opposite direction, so she ran after it.
The pursuit took her through some of the oldest and darkest corridors of Nevermore, all of them were empty and confusingly built, she stopped running at a point where the corridor divided into three different ones, looking around for any sign of movement. She was in full fight mode, expecting to be hit from behind at any moment, that’s until she heard faint tapping on glass, turning around to see Thing waving at her from a round stained glass window just above her.
‘’You little shit. I thought someone was following me.’’ She cursed at him, extending her hands so he jumped on them.
‘Glad to see you too.’ He signed.
‘’You can’t be here, you know the rules.’’ She scolded him.
’I thought you might be missing me.’ He shrugged.
‘’I’m being followed by someone again, we can’t be seen together, it’s dangerous. You can drop by my dorm at any time, but you have to enter by the window. Go now, we’ll speak later.’’ She lowered her hands into the ground so he could walk off.
And there he went, squeezing himself into the unknown hand sized secret paths of Nevermore. She went back to the main parts of the school and all the clocks pointed some minutes past 6pm, alerting Wednesday she should get back to her dorm now. She made her way back, hearing distinct voices and laughs as she approached the door and knocked on it, waiting for it to be opened by someone inside. Yoko opened the door for her, letting her into the room. Enid’s side of the dorm had pillows and snacks scattered all over the floor while Wednesday’s side remained untouched.
‘’Hey Roomie! We’re having a girls’ night!’’ Enid stood up and walked over to her, giving her a quick hug and Yoko and Divina smirked at each other. ‘’Do you wanna join in? Me and the girls would love if you did!’’ Enid smiled, waiting on an answer.
‘’I suppose I could. But not for long, I have things to work on.’’ And by things, she meant her investigation board.
‘’Super!’’ Enid celebrated.
‘’But I’m sitting on a pillow from my side of the room.’’ Wednesday added, making her way over to her bed and grabbing a black and white striped pillow.
‘’Sure. You got the whole ‘allergy to colors’ thing going on.’’ Enid commented, still taking in the weirdness of it.
Wednesday brought the pillow over to where the others were lying and sat beside Enid, facing Divina and Yoko. The night went by and they chatted about countless things, Wednesday was amazed at how fast they could switch a subject and keep up with each other. She was mostly quiet, not sure how she would ever fit in those conversations, but Enid seemed very happy with the fact she was participating. She would eventually grab Wednesday’s arm when she was very excited about the new direction the conversation took or if she had ‘very hot tea to spill’ about it, she thought it was Enid’s way of keeping her included, still she widened her eyes at the contact every time it happened. Divina and Yoko seemed to make note of it between themselves about it too, Enid being the only one clueless as to what was going on. Yoko smirked at her, and Wednesday knew she was in trouble.
‘’So, Wednesday, I wanna ask you something.’’ Yoko said, almost threateningly.
Wednesday tensed up. ‘’You might go ahead then.’’ She answered.
‘’What’s your deal with that Xavier guy?’’ Yoko smiled and Wednesday clenched her jaw.
" There's nothing.’’ She answered, but it didn’t seem to satisfy the group of teenaged desperate for gossip girls in front of her. ‘’We were never a thing and I never liked him. To assume I do would be simply incorrect.’’ She was assertive as she completed her sentence.
‘’So you’re single then?’’ Yoko leaned back.
‘’I suppose I am.’’ She answered, and the room fell uncomfortably silent.
‘’Guys, I think you’re making Wednesday uncomfortable.’’ Enid added.
‘’I don’t think she should have any problems with-’’ ‘’No. Shut up and leave.’’ Enid interrupted Yoko and Wednesday never had seen her look that angry, besides that one time they fought.
Angry looked good on Enid, she should get angry more often. Now that Wednesday stopped to think about it, any emotion would look good on Enid, except when she was sad.
‘’What the hell? I’m just trying to-’’ ‘’Doesn’t matter, Yoko! Wednesday is not like us okay? You should not be pestering her. And it’s getting late too, you guys should leave.’’ Enid said, getting up and heading to the door, opening the lock Wednesday had installed. Yoko stared at Wednesday in disbelief, who made daring eye contact.
Both left without saying a word, and Wednesday and Enid went on to clean the place up and place all the pillows back where they belonged, sharing an understanding silence in the process. When they were done, they headed outside for some fresh air. Enid had set pillows and a blanket on the floor, so they could sit and talk if they wished to.
‘’I really like this place.’’ Enid said, trying to strike up a conversation. Wednesday agreed and Enid spoke again. ‘’Listen Weds, you don’t really have to tell them anything, doesn’t matter how much they pressure you, ok? They’re not that trustable, I don’t tell them everything myself.’’
‘’Hm. I thought you guys were best friends.’’
‘’First of all, how dare you!?’’ Enid scoffed. ‘’You know you’re my bff. Secondly, we are kind of like best friends, but not really in a best friend way, you know?’’ Enid explained.
‘’No, I don’t. Fortunately, I think.’’ Wednesday answered.
‘’Fair enough.’’ Enid added and they fell into silence again, until Wednesday broke it.
‘’What kind of things do you not tell them?’’ Wednesday inquired, curious as to what the blonde could be keeping from her.
Enid sighed. ‘’Well, it’s mostly stuff about Ajax that I don’t trust them to know and I don’t want to fill your ears with, you probably think it’s useless teenager stuff anyways lol.’’
Wednesday gave her a compassionate look. ‘’You can confide in me with anything you desire.’’
‘’Really?’’ Enid was surprised, in a good way, of course. She smiled faintly at Wednesday, her blue eyes looking beautiful under the moonlight.
Wednesday nodded back at her, and for a moment, Enid didn’t really know what to say. The black haired girl gave her a piercing stare, and Enid felt like she would be sucked into another universe if she looked into her eyes for too long. Wednesday looked like a ghost. And Enid meant it in a flattering way. Her pale white skin contrasted very well with her freckles, the red rings around her eyes, her dark pupils, eyelashes and hair altogether, creating a sickly appearance. The girl was like a character out of an opera theater piece, staring at her and puzzling the blonde. Her eyes fell to the girl’s plump and rosy lips and she felt her cheeks heat up, she averted her eyes down to her hands, fidgeting with her fingers. ‘What the hell Enid. What are you thinking? Am I gay panicking right now? Because of WEDNESDAY ADDAMS!? No. I’m not gay. That’s completely normal, everyone gets nervous around pretty women. And my roommate is exceptionally pretty. I don’t know how she doesn’t have the whole school running after her. What the fuck. Get your shit together Enid, you have a boyfriend. Just vent to her like a normal friend. Ok. Here we go.’ Enid’s thoughts raced back and forth and she started speaking.
‘’I just feel like I’m more of a trophy than his girlfriend sometimes. You know Yoko and Divina are like, a thing, right?’’ Enid confessed.
‘’I wasn’t aware.’’ Wednesday answered.
‘’Yeah, they’re pretty lowkey about it when it’s not just me and them. But like, they’re really sweet to each other and it feels like it’s really real and not one sided or for show, you know? While I’m with Ajax he’s always like yoo that’s my girl she’s really bomb brooo brooo.’’ Enid mocked her boyfriend, which got a smile out of Wednesday. ‘’I don’t know if it’s because they’re both women or if that doesn’t have to do with anything. But it kinda bothers me, the fact that he is a man, but not because he is a man, because he has the psychological traits of ‘a man’ you know? It really annoys me!’’ Enid continued and Wednesday seemed thoughtful. ‘’What do you think Weds?’’ She asked her best friend.
‘’I don’t know, my father still remains to be the only man in my life who has never failed me.’’ Wednesday added.
Enid smiled, ‘’My dad is really sweet too.’’ she said.
‘’My father is completely and utterly committed to my mother, he adores her more than life itself.’’ Wednesday scoffed. ‘’They haven’t spent a night away from each other since they got married, not even when he was arrested.’’ She continued.
‘’It must be nice, to love like that.’’ Enid daydreamed for a bit.
‘’It certainly requires a level of courage I do not have. Or obsession, I wouldn’t know. I was never actually in love.’’ Wednesday concluded and they fell into silence for a moment, ‘’I suppose there’s still time for me to set up my investigation board, I would not object if you wished to join me.’’ she invited.
‘’Happily.’’ Enid answered, and they went inside.
They closed the window and changed into more comfortable clothes. Time went by as Wednesday briefed Enid on all her suspicions and the blonde listened in both adoration and fascination for the brunette’s intelligence, gluing pictures and connecting them with lines and keywords as the other girl instructed her. They decided to not go for dinner, as it was safer to stay inside the dorm at night and they weren’t hungry from all the snack eating. Past 11PM, they went to sleep and as each laid in their own bed, they thought of each other and the moments they had shared during the day. The coexistence in this dorm brought out sides of them they would never get to know if not for each other, making them grow into more complex people together. Wednesday wished for a moment that this would never end but then revoked that wish when she realized this implied she would be in high school surrounded by pubescent beings her whole life if it was ever to become true. The real part of this wish was that she remained to share her days with Enid as she does now. Enid in turn was conflicted with thoughts about the contrast between the way both Wednesday and Ajax made her feel, which made her question things she didn’t even have the courage to admit to herself. They both remained lost in the privacy of their heads before falling asleep to a certainly busy day tomorrow, unaware of a presence looming outside their doorstep who left after they became unconscious in a deep slumber.