Chapter Text
The door to the dorm room opened with a creak as the principal of Nevermore ushered in a family of monochromatic taste. The immediately apparent colour streaming through the large glass window set a glaring contrast and slowed their cumulative footsteps. The daughter of the family came to a grinding halt as her eyes took in the surroundings, sweeping over the half of the room taken up by fabrics and charms before eventually settling upon a girl sitting amongst the mess as colourful as she was.
"It's so...vivid," Gomez Addams, her father, remarked unsurely.
Bounding over, the room's resident excitedly greeted the new arrival.
"Howdy, roomie." For those with synesthesia, these two words matched the rest of the room perfectly.
"Wednesday," Principal Weems announced to the daughter now standing frozen, "this is Enid Sinclair." Her long black braids didn't so much as sway in front of this new spectre.
"Are you feeling okay?" Enid asked, concerned. "You look a little pale."
"Wednesday always looks half dead," Gomez tried to explain.
"Oh." A brief pause was all the exchange elicited before Enid rushed forward for a hug. "Welcome to Ophelia hall!"
It was now that Wednesday reacted, taking a step back.
"Not a hugger. Got it," Enid said with disappointment clear on her tongue.
"Please excuse Wednesday," her mother chimed in. "She's allergic to colour."
"Oh wow. What happens to you?" A genuine look of concern settled on Enid's face.
"I break out into hives and then the flesh peels off my bones," Wednesday responded, her expression as steady as stone.
Cutting in, Principal Weems offered, "Luckily, we've special ordered you a uniform. Enid, please take Wednesday to the registrar's office to pick it up along with a copy of her schedule. And give her a tour along the way."
Wednesday left first, pausing only briefly to send a non-verbal death threat to her parents before being closely followed by a skipping Enid.
"You are going to absolutely love it here. Nevermore has such interesting outcasts and some really great clubs. I can introduce you to some!"
"I'd rather not," Wednesday responded as she glared at her general surroundings. A handful of students passing by took care to give ample clearance. Enid, noticing the invisible bubble,posed the question that had been simmering in the back of her mind.
"I know we just met, but perhaps you can clear something up. Rumors have been swirling around that you killed a kid at your old school, and your parents pulled strings to get you off."
"Actually, it was two kids, but who's counting?"
A simple 'hmm' escaped from Enid's lips before she began moving again.
Approaching a wooden staircase, Enid's pace didn't falter, bounding down the steps in a serendipitous sashay before turning to look back at Wednesday expectantly. She paused at the top, observing Enid curiously before picking her way down the steps after her. Enid smiled widely before launching into her spiel.
"Nevermore was founded in 1791 to educate people like us. Outcasts, freaks, monsters, fill in your favourite marginalized group here."
Wednesday stopped walking. "You can save the sanitized sales pitch. I don't plan on staying here for long."
"Why not?"
"This was my parents' idea." Wednesday glanced to her right at a trophy cabinet. "Oh look, there's my mother smirking at me. They've been looking for any excuse to send me here. It's all a part of their nefarious, yet completely obvious plan."
Enid shimmied excitedly, now intrigued. "What plan?"
"To turn me into a version of themselves."
"So they were part of a club?" Enid asked, observing the multiple trophies on display.
"Multiple," Wednesday scoffed back. "Though I'm not interested in trying to fit into their concrete shoes."
"Ya never know. They've got a bunch of different kinds. There's a dance club, one for film, a beekeeping club, a fencing club, a rowing club, and even one for plants." She kept count on her fingers, her bright coloured claws flicking out with each new item.
Wednesday glanced briefly at the rainbow murder weapons before turning back to continue her forward march, her platform heeled boots clicking rhythmically against the linoleum floor. "Your enthusiasm is sickening."
Enid deflated a bit at this with a huff. "Okay."
"That was a compliment."
"Oh..."
Continuing on, Enid greeted numerous people, each with their own comment along the lines of "Hey Tiff, hope your tourney went well" or "Harry, I heard about the club, congrats!" or even just a simple "Get it!" If Enid was the sun that these students orbited around, Wednesday was the black hole everyone avoided lest they get too close and sink into a dark ruin.
Eventually, the pair came upon the central courtyard. "Welcome to the quad!" Enid exclaimed, throwing her arms wide. Various students bustled around, some sitting around the large, stone fountain in the center, others at various tables scattered across the grass.
"It's a pentagon."
Enid turned to Wednesday with her arms crossed. "The whole snarky goth girl thing might have worked at normie school, but here things are different. You're going to need a different attitude if you want to survive. Here, let me give you a wiki on Nevermore's social scene." The pair followed the cobbled colonnade around the edge of the quad.
Wednesday clicked her tongue. "I'm not interested in participating in tribal adolescent clichés."
"Well then use it to fill your obviously bottomless pit of disdain. There are many flavours of outcasts here, but the four main cliques are Fangs, Furs, Stoners and Scales. Those," Enid gestured towards a group of sunglasses-wearing students drinking blood-red liquid at a nearby table, "are the Fangs, AKA vampires. Some of them have literally been here for decades." They continued to walk.
"That bunch of knuckleheads are Furs, AKA werewolves. Like me!" Wednesday glanced over at a rowdy group swarming over a table, too many bodies per seat, and constant howling erupting during their roughhousing. "Full moons get pretty loud around here. That's when Furs like to wolf out; I suggest you pick up noise-cancelling headphones."
Enid and Wednesday now paused in front of the next group, who were clustered around the central fountain. "I'm assuming Scales are sirens?" Wednesday observed.
"You catch on quick. And that girl, Bianca Barclay, is the closest thing Nevermore has to royalty. Although her crown's been slipping lately. She used to date our resident tortured artist, Xavier Thorpe. But they broke up at the beginning of the semester."
"Fascinating," Wednesday responded, unenthused.
"I know, right?" Enid quickly responded, very enthused. "My blog is, like, the number one source for Nevermore gossip.”
"Yo, Enid! You're not gonna believe the dirt I heard about your new roommate." Enid twirled around to face a tall, beanie-wearing boy who was now excitedly telling her the news. "She eats human flesh. She totally chowed down on that kid she murdered. You better watch your back." Enid, whose silhouette was hiding the diminutive size of Wednesday, stepped aside.
"Quite the contrary," Wednesday glared, and the boy turned with a dumbfounded look. "I actually fillet the bodies of my victims, then feed them to my menagerie of pets." Enid did a quick double take before smiling softly at the stunned boy.
"Ajax, this is my new roommate, Wednesday."
"Woah. You're in black and white. Like a polaroid."
Enid quickly waved him away before turning to leave. "Ignore him. Gorgons spend way too much time getting stoned. He's honest, but clueless. But you know, it's such a small school and there wasn't much online about you. Oh! You should really get an account, and maybe follow my blog?"
"I find social media to be a soul-sucking void of meaningless affirmation." Wednesday ended her sentence by turning around to walk away.
Enid gave a slight nod, lips pursed, before calling out to her, "You know, the registrar's office is this way."
Wednesday pivoted on her heels without missing a beat. "Then stop spewing useless information so we can finish this tour and I can get back to leaving this prison."
A voice rang out across the courtyard and a girl with long, dark brown hair and sunglasses sauntered up to them. "Hey Enid, who's the bundle of joy beside you?"
Wednesday rolled her eyes. "Great, another useless distraction on legs."
"Yoko, this is Wednesday, my roommate. Wednesday, this is Yoko, a... friend."
Yoko stuck her hand out promptly. Wednesday accepted and gripped firmly. "Better watch it Wednesday, Enid snatches up girls like they're her dinner. She leaves a trail of broken hearts."
"Yoko!" Enid exclaimed while Wednesday gave her the side eye.
Yoko pulled her hand back to massage it after the death grip it received.
"Yoko is with the Fangs. And is clearly still angry I once dated her now girlfriend for a summer."
"Thank you for the advice but I am quite capable of handling myself. I keep multiple knives about my body to deter anyone determined to make me their..." Wednesday glanced at Enid again, "dinner."
"Ugh. Whatever. Come on," Enid huffed and stomped away. Wednesday followed without so much as a backward glance.
Making their way back inside, they continued on in silence before reaching a set of doors with a brushed aluminum plaque reading: "Registrar's Office".
Taking a deep breath and brushing herself off, Enid politely knocked four times before entering into a well-lit room. Filing cabinets lined the walls with a heavy wooden desk at the far end. A single, large window overlooking the exterior garden sat behind the person perched at the desk. She was a woman of moderate age and stature, fitting neatly into the role of student moderator.
"Welcome in, what can I do for you two ladies?" she warbled in a mediating tone.
"Here to pick up Wednesday's new fit. She needs a special one... cause of her allergies," Enid said the last part in a not-so-quiet whisper, covering the side of her mouth in a not-so-subtle gesture.
"Wednesday...Addams. Ah yes, of course. Please have a seat, you two." She stood and approached a set of cabinets. "I actually went to school with your mother." She gestured to Wednesday.
"And you survived the ordeal? Commendable."
It was at this that the woman's modest movements faltered, slipping into a slight frown. She quickly recovered before continuing her steady rifling through drawers.
"Were your parents famous?" Enid asked, eyes going wide and claws wrapping expectantly around the armrest.
"They were well known across the school," the temperate woman answered. "Not a day went by without talk of what they got up to. But now it's your time to shine here at Nevermore Academy." She held up a black and grey uniform, differing from the typical purple displayed across the school.
"You're sorely mistaken if you think you can keep me here. And it's best for your health if you don't try to stop me." Wednesday grabbed the uniform from her hands. "Goodbye."
With her black braids bouncing, Wednesday was already halfway out the door before Enid hurried to catch up with her.
"Ya know, you're kind of intense. Do you give out death threats to every person you talk to?"
"No, only those who deserve them. Now, are we done with this tour or do I have to include you in this group as well?"
"The whole deadly goth girl thing won't make you any friends. You have to be more..." Enid struggled to find the correct word, "friendly."
"Satre said, 'Hell is other people.' He was my first crush."
"Then I take that as a challenge to be yours," Enid confidently blurted out. Wednesday came to a stop and twisted her head to stare at the blonde girl. Making quick hand motions, Enid stuttered out, "Your friend! I meant your friend."
"It will be your demise." Having now acquired her uniform, Wednesday strode back towards the dorm, carving a path through the bustling student body.
Returning to the dorm to change into the black and grey pinstripe uniform, bidding her family farewell, and unpacking her things took up the majority of her day. It was not until evening that she saw Enid again, who walked back into the dorm room after spending her day doing social rounds.
"What the hell did you do to my room?" Enid immediately accused Wednesday, who had spent the last hour scraping away half the colourful plastic sheets stuck to the circular window.
"Dividing our room, equally." The contrast was now doubly apparent, with a line of tape dividing the room like a looking glass. One half was cast in shades of black with antique furniture clad in leather, while its counterpart remained its brightly decorated foil. "It looks like a rainbow vomited on your side,” Wednesday observed.
"I-"
"Silence would be appreciated," Wednesday interrupted as she sat down before her dark wood desk, a typewriter waiting upon it. "This is my writing time."
"Your writing time?"
"I devote an hour a day to my novel. Perhaps if you did the same, your blog might be coherent. I've read serial killer diaries with better punctuation."
"I write in my voice. It's my truth. It's what my followers love."
"Your followers are clearly imbeciles. They respond to your stories with insipid little pictures." By this point, Wednesday had abandoned her desk and walked across the room to stand at the tape line, facing Enid.
"Uh, you mean emojis? It's how people express their feelings. I realize that's a foreign concept to a psychopath like you."
"When I look at you, the following emojis come to mind. Rope, Knife, Blood. By the way, there are two D's in Addams. If you're going to gossip about me, at least spell my name correctly." Wednesday turned around, content with having the final word.
Pop music suddenly filled the air as Enid hit play on her boombox and began to dance in place. Wednesday spun around and locked eyes with Enid, who inflated her cheeks in defiance; shoulder-length, blonde hair dyed with streaks of pink and blue bouncing to the beat.
"Turn that off," Wednesday commanded urgently. Enid wiggled her fingers at her in response. "This is your final warning," Wednesday said as she stalked to the other end of the room.
Suddenly, Enid put up both her hands, her nails extending into claws in full rainbow presentation. Wednesday stopped in her tracks. "Rawr! Don't mess with me. This kitty's got claws, and I'm not afraid to use them."
A quick knock at the door interrupted the standoff and a woman with glasses and red hair entered carrying a black potted flower. "Good evening, girls. Oh, sorry about the mud." She glanced down at her dirty, red boots. "I wanted to make sure that Wednesday was settling in." Noticing the line of tape running down the length of the room, the woman scoffed quietly. "Ah. Is this a bad time? I'm Ms. Thornhill, your dorm mom. Apologies, I wasn't here to greet you when you arrived. I trust Enid has given you the old Nevermore welcome?"
"She's been smothering me with hospitality. I hope to return the favour... In her sleep."
The smile dropped from Ms. Thornhill's face before returning more nervously. "Well, here's a little welcome gift from my conservatory. I try to match the right flower to each of my girls." She handed Wednesday the black flower. "And when I read your personal statement in your application, I immediately thought of this one."
"The black dahlia," she replied.
"Oh, you know it?"
"Of course. It's named after my favourite unsolved murder. Thank you."
"Okey-dokey. Before I leave, I want to go over a few house rules. Lights off at 10:00, no loud music, and no boys, ever."
Wednesday turned to stare at Enid who returned with her own glare.
"Whats the story about going into the local town?" Wednesday asked Ms. Thornhill instead. Enid visibly relaxed.
"Passes to Jericho are a privilege, not a right. It's a brisk 25-minute walk, or there's a shuttle on the weekends. The locals are a tad bit wary about Nevermore, so please don't go making any waves, or perpetuating any outcast stereotypes. That means keeping your claws to yourself," she said toEnid, "and no smothering people in their sleep," she said to Wednesday." Are we clear?" No response was given from either. A small chuckle from Ms Thornhill and she finished with a "Great talk!" before leaving the room with a wave.
"Just stay on your side of the room." Enid harumphed and flopped down onto her bed. Slipping pink headphones on and pulling out her phone, she decidedly ignored Wednesday while her feet kicked back and forth behind her.
"Ya veremos," Wednesday quietly muttered as her gaze lingered on Enid. Eventually, she moved to return to her typewriter, hands poised to begin writing.