The Board

Saturday

You awoke to the sound of birds chirping and the sun beaming in your window. You had to take a minute to remember where you were. Oh right, Nevermore Academy. You got up and opened the window as you stepped out onto the balcony. There was so much potential for the day. It was warm, quiet, and you had time to yourself. You frowned, all you wanted was to go back to bed. You didn't know why you got like this, some days were just bad. Some days you woke up fine, and then all of a sudden, you weren't fine. Crawling back into bed, you mourned the loss of the day that you knew you were losing to your own dismay.

Waking again, your room was oi longer bright, the sun was setting. It wasn't totally dark, but it was getting there. You looked to your phone, 6pm. You literally slept the day away. Groaning, you pulled yourself out of bed and got a shower. You unpacked your suitcase, you figured you could be here for a bit. Looking at your cream colored pants and white corset draped over a chair, you wanted to cry. How were you going to get the red out of that? You weren't. Whoever pulled that prank owes this school a lot of money. You stepped out onto your balcony once again, it was as quiet as it was earlier this morning.

Lighting up a cigarette, you hoped no students would see you. You didn’t want to be a bad influence, no wonder you couldn't be a teacher. You heard a distant knock on a door, you froze. Was that your door? Larissa was the only one who knew you were here. You further opened the window to outside so that it would be visible to her, and you backed up into the corner of your balcony. You figured if it was her, she would let herself in. After a couple minutes, you heard the door open and close. You heard a few steps and then nothing. Flat shoes today? "Anura, are you in here?" you heard her call, her voice so soft and unsure. You held in a giggle and took a drag of your cigarette. Hearing her steps again, you could tell she was getting closer to the balcony. Slapping your hand over your mouth, you saw her crouch and emerge through the window. She was only a few feet away from you. You were planning on jumping out and scaring her, that's what a normal person would do, but you were frozen in place, you didn’t want to move. You stared at her as she looked up at the night sky. She was wearing a three piece satin night set, the green color contrasting against her skin so beautifully. Her hair and makeup were still done up though, was she turning in already? You smiled watching her, she was so ethereal. You wanted to tell her that she was beautiful, you wanted her to know that she was. Not thinking, you took another drag of your cigarette. She quickly turned in your direction at the sound and caught you lurking in the shadows. Your eyes widened as you realized you were caught. "Anura Ricci what are you doing hiding in the corner? You scared the shit out of me!" You laughed, stepping over to her to lean over the rail. "Me? You’re the one on my balcony" you said with the cigarette between your lips. Larissa walked over to you and smiled, "I haven't seen you all day, I didn’t know what you were up to." Slowly she reached up and took what was left of the cigarette out of your mouth. You looked at her annoyed, you knew what she was going to do. She threw it on the concrete and stepped on it. Yep. You turned away from her, gaze dropping to the ground, "I slept all day, I don't know why. I just do that sometimes." Larissa frowned, she knew that feeling. "That's quite alright, it was a beautiful day though" she said with a sigh. You were silent for a minute, then you looked her up and down. You couldn’t keep the grin from coming to your face as you turned away to hide it. "What now" she said with a laugh. "I may have missed the beautiful day, but it doesn't compare to the beauty in front of me now.. and I'm not talking about the night." You were flirty, bold sometimes. You figured she'd either get annoyed and hate you for it, but whatever, you didn’t work here anyway, or she would appreciate it. You prayed for the ladder, but you really didn't know which it was. She brought her hands up to cover the blush on her face as she turned to go back inside.

You followed her and watched as she sat on your bed and pat the spot beside her. You sat looking at her, there was a serious expression on her face. "Why are you here, Anura?" Valid question, you thought, but you really didn't know how to answer it. You did, obviously. You remembered exactly why you were here, word by word, you just didn’t want to deal with this. You didn't want to get anyone in trouble, but you also didn't want to lie. "Larissa, I'm here because the board knows of the murders. They know the Sheriff suspects Nevermore, and they know about the statue in Jericho. Mr. Martell is absolutely pissed about that. The only reason I'm here and not him is because I acted mad about it too, and said that I would get some answers." She looked to the floor, concern overwhelming her. Wednesday has been in the middle of some shit since she got here, and she had only been here for a month and a half. How and why was Larissa going to keep covering up her shit. Remembering that these were principal duties, Larissa straightened up and stood. "I understand that they want answers. Tell the board that our students safety is our biggest concern. Tell them that one of our students was expelled due to using his telekinetic abilities to attempt to harm another student. This student is rather willful and is in the middle of everything, which is why she was responsible for burning down the statue in the square. She is new here and just testing the waters, but I will get her under control. Tell them that I apologize for using their funds, but I will support normie-outcast relations for as long as I live." You admired her confidence, the way she had a plan for everything. She was so sure and on top of everything, she acted like it anyway. You didn't know if it was true, but it was as though she had rehearsed her lines over and over again. Maybe she had. Standing before her you smiled. "Is that the truth, the holy truth, and nothing but the truth?" you asked, holding your right hand up to god. She looked at you with a frown, clearing her throat and mumbling a "Yes". Ah, so it wasn't. Nevertheless, it was believable. "Are you going to write that down in your report?" she said, unsure if you believed her. "I have it all stored safely, word by word" you stated as you pointed to your brain. She half smiled now and looked to her feet. You wanted her to tell you the truth, as a friend, not a board member. You didn't know if she trusted you though, it would make sense if she didn't. "Larissa?" you spoke softly and lifted her chin up with your finger. She looked at you through her eyelashes, nervous about what you were going to say. "Did you eat recently? Because I didn't eat all day, and I am soooo hungry."

On the balcony, you and Larissa opened some burgers you had delivered. "I can't believe you got a veggie burger, weirdo" she said in all seriousness. "Oh shush it Larissa, I can't believe you eat cute cows" you say shaking your head in somewhat fake disgust. After eating, you looked at her with a sly grin on your face. Her brows furrowed as she stared at you questioningly, and you slowly pulled out another cigarette. You still didn’t know why, but getting reactions out of Larissa was so very amusing to you. Keeping eye contact with her, you slowly put it in your mouth and lit it. "I don't know what's going to kill you first, those, or me" she said rolling her eyes and looking away. After a minute, you spoke. "Larissa, I know I work for the board, and I honestly wish I could be as professional as you, but for some reason I don't care about conveying the truth to them." She looked in your eyes, trying to figure out if you were sincere. "I know you probably don't trust me and I don't blame you, but I don't want you to get in trouble, or for Nevermore to get shut down. I can only help you if you tell me the whole truth." You said your last sentence softly and with all seriousness, hoping she would believe that you cared. She sighed and stood tall once again, reaching for your hands. You took hers and stood with her, looking into her eyes. She stared into your soul for what felt like an eternity, but you gladly let her. You didn't know what she was looking for, maybe something to tell her that you wanted only to betray her. You knew that wasn't what you wanted. For whatever reason, you just wanted to help. "How did you know I was lying?" she said in the saddest tone you've heard from her. "Oh, don't beat yourself up, it's a good lie, and you told it so confidently. The board won't like it, but they'll believe it." She raised her hand as if to cup your face, but swindled you and took the cigarette right out of your mouth. You grabbed at her when you realized what she did, but she turned toward the railing and leaned over it, taking a drag. "Ah, ah, missy, just because they're going to kill me doesn't mean they have to kill you too" you said in a serious tone, but the irony. She ignored your eyes on her as she finished it off, then she threw it to the ground. "I sure hope no students saw you do that" you said as you watched her mouth drop open. Laughing, you stroked her cheek with your hand and guided her back to sit.

She told you about the harvest festival events, and how Wednesday was making things worse with the sheriff. She told you in shame how she shapeshifted into Rowan, and that she felt bad about his death. She told you about Wednesday and Joseph Crackstone, and how she admired Wednesday for her bravery and ability to do what she believes is right. You realized that this Wednesday person was draining all the fight that Larissa had, and that the board was only making it worse. You fell into a silence, taking in everything she said. "So, you're a shapeshifter huh" you questioned, already knowing that she was but trying to lighten the mood. She expected you to say something about shapeshifters not being trustworthy, so she kept her gaze on the concrete and nodded at your question. "Isn’t it cool how some shifters can shift between human forms, and some can shift human and animals? And that when you shift, your internal organs stay the same. Oh my god, when you shift to a man do you get man parts? Only on the outside though right? Does it feel weird when you change form, like does it hurt? I remember reading about how shifting works through changes in elemental composition of the-" you got cut off when she put a hand over your mouth. She looked at you chuckling, she had been laughing at you for the last minute. You knew she had been, but you continued, wanting to cheer her up. You did believe shifting was super cool, but you knew others didn't trust it. "What, why are you laughing at me?" you mumbled into her hand. She took her hand away and leaned in, wrapping her arms around you. She was overjoyed with your interest in her, and her hugging you caught you off guard. She paused and dropped her arms to pull away, but when you realized she just wanted a hug you embraced her and gave her a light squeeze. She laid her head on your shoulder and you rested on her. You both let silence surround you for a minute, just basking in each others embrace. "You" you whispered into her hair, not caring if she heard you or not. Lifting her head to look at you she quietly spoke, "what about me?" "Earlier you asked what would kill me first, the cigarettes, or you. I'm betting on you" you said with a wink, pulling her back into you and burying your face in her hair.

The next day you had to call your boss to give him an update. You told him exactly what Larissa had told you the day before. He was reluctant, but believed your reasoning. Well, her reasoning, her lies. Your boss wasn't hard to deal with, thank god. You were to hold a staff meeting Monday to tell all Nevermore staff about the board's concerns, as well as to discuss some solutions and safety measures.

Monday

You were the first one in the staff room, setting up your short presentation for the staff of Nevermore. You hadn't seen Larissa yesterday, you figured she was busy dealing with or sorting something out. She was the first one in the room. She set her things down on the table and made her way over to you. "Anura, I wanted to talk to you. I don't know why you seem to care about me or Nevermore, but I-" she was cut off by an influx of staff. Smiling and nodding at her, you knew this was probably a private conversation. She went and sat down, not saying anything further. When everyone was seated, you started with all the events that Wednesday Addams had been involved in, and discussed everything that went wrong. You discussed ways that they could help keep an eye on her, watch out for her safety, and prevent her from running away or causing harm to other students. "I totally understand that this is a pain as well as extra time for you all, but we want all outcasts to have a fair shot with their education. She deserves the same as every other student here." Some staff didn’t agree with this, but you understood why. You only had to partially deal with Wednesday Addams' shenanigans. If you had to teach her, that would be another story. One of the older teachers spoke up. "I'm tired of seeing and hearing about her messing things up. It's been nothing but chaos since she got here, and it's only been a couple months." You wanted to reassure them that the board would only allow so much, but that wasn't really something they had a say in. Not to your surprise, Larissa spoke up. "I understand how this has affected us all, and I appreciate you all doing what's necessary. I do, however, believe Mx. Ricci is right. Wednesday deserves an outcast education just as much as others. She deserves to feel included, no matter how hard she is to deal with." You were proud of Larissa for being so brave and standing up for what she believed in, even if she had to fight or go against others opinions. "Alright Larissa, I get that you want to normalize normie-outcast relationships, but can we be honest here. You're making our lives hell. The only reason you accepted Wednesday is because of Morticia. Old roommates, am I right?" the teacher chuckled as she nudged a teacher beside her. You didn’t know who Morticia was or why this was a joke, but you didn’t like them prodding at Larissa. You looked to her, she was quiet now, sadness evident on her face. She looked like she had lost all her fight. Like she was tired of trying, tired of sticking up for people, tired of things not going her way. You couldn't let her go down without a proper fight. "Listen everyone, don't go after Principal Weems with your immature assumptions. The board agreed to allow Wednesday Addams admission to Nevermore, and Principal Weems is only doing her job, very well, might I add." The older teacher scoffed, but you ignored her and continued on with the rest of your discussion. As you were talking, you looked at Larissa once again and saw that she was not paying attention. She was looking down at the table, lost in her own world. You knew this wasn't like her, even if you hadn't known her for that long. You looked around the room, nobody else had noticed that she was acting out of sorts or was feeling down in the dumps. Damn staff, you thought they would care about their boss when she needed support. Ending the meeting early for the sake of Larissa, you watched her as she rushed out of the room. You didn't dare go after her, she probably just needed some space.