Chapter Text
“Our darling Wednesday is getting married!”
Wednesday grit her teeth refusing to look up at her mother, instead she looked at the photo of cousin It and uncle Fester that the pair had given her before they left for their trip to the Bermuda Triangle. She gave it one last longing look before she slid it into her backpack. If only she’d secured the rope last night, perhaps her escape attempt would have succeeded. Instead, she was forced to sit in the back of her parent’s Herse as Morticia gushed about her impending doom.
“Mother…” Wednesday began through gritted teeth, “I am not getting married. I am being forced to participate in a cruel social experiment.” Wednesday had to commend the insanity of the entire program, although she would prefer not to be a participant.
Morticia simply beamed at her little raven. “My, aren’t you just a dark abyss of misery. It’s a good look on you.” She winked at Wednesday. “I’m sure a tall, dark and handsome young artist will be looking forward to partnering with you for this.”
Wednesday could feel the hairs on her arm stand up. The last thing she wanted was to be paired with her long time stalker Xavier. They had known each other since they were young, but Wednesday felt a thick layer of bile in her mouth when she thought about the narrative that her parents had constructed of them being a pairing set in the stars. Not only did Wednesday not like Xavier in that way, or anyone for that matter, she was sure he didn’t either.
“Looks like we’re here, my gruesome grinch.” Morticia said. Indeed, the car had pulled up in front of the school, leaving Wednesday with few options. She could try subduing her mother and attempt to seize the vehicle from Lurch, but she didn’t like her chances. So, with great reluctance, she sighed and grabbed her backpack.
“I know this isn’t your idea of a terrible time, but don’t close yourself off to the experience. It’s how I met your father, after all. Who knows, maybe you’ll find exactly who you need.”
Wednesday had thought of a comeback, but she knew what her mother hated most was being ignored and Wednesday liked she had a way to hurt her mother. So, without so much as a glance, Wednesday slid over to the door that Lurch held open for her and slipped out into the oppressive sunlight.
Marriage Assignments
Reading the sign posted outside the assembly hall caused an uncomfortable chill to run up Wednesday’s back. She’d known it had been coming. Each class of seniors had to finish up the second half of their year by participating in the mandatory marriage program, but Wednesday had been successful in pushing it out of her mind. At least until this moment. By the end of the day, Wednesday would be living in her new accommodation for the rest of the semester with the person who would be her fake husband. The thought made Wednesday feel physically ill, and not in a fun way.
“Wednesday!”
Wednesday jumped in surprise at the sound of the low masculine voice. She didn’t need to turn to know it was- “Xavier…” Wednesday grumbled.
The tall skinny boy moved to stand beside Wednesday. She could feel his beaming smile despite not turning to acknowledge him.
Xavier had been Wednesday’s friend since she was little, despite her many attempts to dissuade him from the venture.
“It’s uh… well, today’s the day, huh?” Xavier muttered, suddenly losing some of his confidence but none of his enthusiasm.
A long uncomfortable silence stretched as Wednesday refused to acknowledge Xavier’s probe and Xavier waited for a response that wouldn’t come.
“Well… I know this isn’t your idea of fun but, maybe… since it’s going to be so awful anyway we could ask the professors if we could be-” Xavier’s words were cut off as someone bumped into him. A pink notebook spilling onto the pavement in front of Wednesday, causing her to grimace. It was covered in a rainbow layering of stickers.
“Sorry Xavier!” A sugary voice said.
“Oh no, it’s no-I’m good.” Xavier said. Wednesday turned to see Xavier scoop up the notebook in one of his long arms and hand it to its owner, Enid Sinclair. As per usual she was dressed in what Wednesday would describe as a tactical pink device, but someone else might describe as a pink sweater and jeans. Enid smiled sweetly at Xavier, “Todays the day!” She squealed and Xavier smiled back, their shared enthusiasm for the Marriage Assignment causing a thin layer of bile to rise in Wednesday’s throat.
Enid’s eyes moved off of Xavier’s to find Wednesday’s and immediately the brighter girl’s expression soured.
“Hello Addams.” She said, all mirth having evaporated.
“Sinclair.” Wednesday replied curtly.
The two girls stared at each other, Enid’s smile bright and painted on Wednesday’s flat and very genuine.
“Well… Who do you hope you get partnered up with?” Xavier asked Enid, hoping to defuse the uncomfortable tension.
Enid turned from Wednesday, her eyes lighting up with excitement.
“Ajax, definitely!”
Xavier smiled knowingly. “Yeah, that makes sense.”
A faint shade of pink coloured Enid’s cheeks. “Is it that obvious?”
“Well, you did spend the entire geography camp making excuses to sit next to him.” Xavier chuckled.
“How about you?” Enid asked.
It was Xavier’s turn to blush. “Well, I do have someone in mind.”
“I don’t know why I even asked,” Enid chuckled. “Yeah of course.”
Enid’s eyes trailed to Wednesday once again. “And you Wednesday? Although I guess it’s redundant, huh?”
Something about Enid’s presumptuous tone annoyed Wednesday. As if whatever answer Wednesday gave, Enid knew the answer already.
“I’m sure you’ll both have an excellently awful time with whoever you want to be paired with, but I plan to make whoever I get paired with’s life miserable. Maybe then I can salvage this grotesque program.”
Enid’s confused expression was deeply satisfying for Wednesday. The taller girl’s eyes darted to Xavier, his own expression pained.
“Well, this is riveting conversation, but if you’ll excuse me, I think I’d rather get my head chopped off.” Wednesday walked into the assembly hall, leaving Xavier and Enid standing in silence.
“I’m sorry, Xavier…” Wednesday heard Enid say as she entered the building but couldn’t reason as to what for.
Inside, theprofessorss were up on a stage at the end of the long room. A throng of students having gathered on the floor. The tall walls of the hall were abuzz with excited chatter from the students. Wednesday could see couples grouped up, beaming at each other, and could only shake her head at the pointlessness of young romance. There was so much more life to live and people were already committing to another underdeveloped mind before they’d even expanded their own.
“Students! Attention please.” The loud booming voice echoed through the chamber as the chatter died, all eyes turning towards the tall figure at the centre of the stage.
“As you all know, today is the commencement of the Marriage Program. Now, before we start I think I need to clear up some confusion. There has been a change to the program, this year there will be no pre-selected partners.”
The entire hall became a sea of discontented groans and complaining.
“Silence!” The voice boomed again, and the grumbling ceased.
“The program is meant to challenge you to learn to be a valuable contributor within a true partnership. For this purpose, it’s important that everyone get assigned fairly so as not to skew the results of the program. Now, before we reveal the partners, we will go over the rules briefly.”
A large screen extended from the ceiling behind the speaker.
On it was displayed a set of guidelines.
“Each pair will be assigned a base score of 50. This score increases and decreases based on your performance within the program. Updated daily, each group will be ranked on a leaderboard so that you can review your performance in comparison with your peers. Achieving a high score of 90 or above and maintaining it for an entire week will grant you bonus individual points and the opportunity to swap partners. The bonus individual score can only be granted once per partnership, so high performers are encouraged to change partners. Now, your new dorm assignments will be sent to your phones along with your partner’s name. If you could all check now, you will find your assignment.”
The room of students came alive as students grabbed their phones, their thumbs a collective blur. Wednesday smiled at the sounds of pained groans and angry yells as established couples found out they weren’t paired up. Wednesday noted Ajax giving Xavier an excited high-five which Xavier received with a half-hearted smile. His eyes roaming over to where Wednesday was standing. Seeing her eyes meet his, he took it as an invitation to join her, leaving Ajax behind.
“So, who did you get partnered with?” The lanky boy asked.
“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?”
The scream silenced the immediately surrounding students. The source of the noise, a tall blonde girl with pink and blue highlights staring at her phone in utter disbelief.
Enid looked up from her phone, her eyes boring into Wednesday’s, the glare so intense that Wednesday actually smiled, though she didn’t know why she was deserving of such animosity from the usually annoyingly upbeat girl.
“No way.” Xavier said, his voice distant. He snatched Wednesday’s phone out of her hand.
“Hey.” Was all Wednesday managed before Xavier had the marriage program app open and his eyes opened wide.
“That’s hilarious.” He chuckled, handing the phone back to Wednesday. “Well, looks like you won’t have to work too hard to make your partner miserable.” He looked back to Enid, who was being consoled by her best friend Yoko.
Wednesday felt a cold sensation fill her as she took the phone and turned it around, the confirmation unnecessary as she read the name of her partner for the next six months, ENID SINCLAIR.
Wednesday just stared at it for a moment, Xavier watching her reaction.
“Hey Wednesday, maybe you too will find some common…” He couldn’t finish the half-hearted attempt at optimism. Although Wednesday noted a smile on his face. But that smile faded as Xavier saw Wednesday was smiling, and in such a way as he found disturbing.
“Wednesday?” He asked with trepidation.
Wednesday looked at the hunched shoulders of Enid Sinclair and couldn’t help but smile. “This is going to be thoroughly enjoyable.”
“She’s going to make your life hell.” Xavier said, his eyes also trained on Enid, who was pointedly ignoring Wednesday.
“I can only hope so,” Wednesday replied.
Enid couldn’t believe it. Everything was supposed to be perfect. She and Ajax would be partners for the marriage program. She would be the perfect wife and he would realise how amazing she was and fall in love with her. So what the crackers has she done to deserve this!?
She looked at Ajax, who was beaming with pure delight, causing a pang of sadness in Enid’s heart. She needed to know who they had paired him with and what lucky girl had stolen Enid’s dream.
“Xavier” Yoko answered the unspoken question, clearly reading it from Enid’s longing gaze.
Enid’s eyebrows rose as she turned to look at Yoko, whose own expression looked pained briefly before snapping to her usual disinterest.
“Well, could be worse.” Enid acknowledged. At least it wasn’t someone who would steal Ajax away from her. Xavier and Ajax had been friends for a while, meaning that they would get along well and likely would do well in the marriage program. Enid felt the smile growing on her face as she turned back towards Ajax.
“I just need to score high.” She said to Yoko without looking away from Ajax. “There’s no way he and Xavier don’t do well, so if I can score high as well, then I can swap partners with Xavier.”
Yoko chuckled, “Yeah, sure, and how are you going to convince Ms Sunshine to play along?”
Enid’s hope died as quickly as it had blossomed. She sighed, feeling a sense of defeat. She grit her teeth. She was determined not to be defeated. She would win Ajax.
Enid checked her face in her phone’s camera and then, satisfied, she marched over to Ajax.
“Hey there Ajax!” she said with as much sugar as she could produce.
Ajax turned and smiled at Enid, “Hey Enid.”
Enid smiled, her cheeks burning as she looked into his big brown eyes. “I wanted to wish you luck with your partner. I know you’ll get a high score.”
Ajax smiled widely, “Thanks Enid, I think so too.” His smile was radiant. Enid thought if she could just bottle his charm, she’d spray it on her pillow so she could sleep every night feeling this happy.
“I hope you get a high score, too,” Ajax said, smiling down at Enid.
Enid’s breath caught in her throat. “R-really?” She asked, not wanting to believe.
“Yeah, I know you’ll do well. Anyone would be lucky to have you as their partner.”
Enid could feel her cheeks burning and glanced away. She wasn’t imagining it. Ajax wanted her to get a high score, ‘anyone would be lucky to have you as their partner’, she replayed it in her mind. Well, that sealed it, she would get a high score, even if her partner was Wednesday Addams, she would score high, keep it there for a week and then she would get Ajax as her partner, he was waiting for her. She took a breath to calm herself and turn to find Ajax walking away, Xavier next to him as they followed the throng of largely dissatisfied students as they exited the building. Enid didn’t let the pang of sadness he felt at watching Ajax’s retreating form ruin her mood. She was in battle mode, she was going to kick this marriage program in the bottom.
Turning, she looked at the only remaining student. And just like that Enid’s conviction tripped, stumbled and fell off a cliff, because Wednesday Addams was smiling at her and it sent a chill through Enid’s body.
“I-I guess we should go find our dorm.” Enid stammered.
Enid finally got her bag up the last step to the floor Wednesday and her new dorm was. Sweat glistening from her brow, Enid looked over to where Wednesday, with her smaller pack, was unlocking the door to what would be their home for the next six months.
“Ahem.” Enid declared loudly, “You couldn’t help me at all?”
Wednesday ignored her and stepped into the room disappearing from view. Enid felt her anger rise in her like a typhoon. How was she not supposed to murder this ass of a girl? With a resigned sigh, she dragged the bag down the hallway until she reached the door and went inside. Immediately, she felt her spirits lift. The interior was generously sized, easily three times the size of her old dorm room. Closing the door behind her, Enid left her bag by the door and moved around, exploring her new home. There was a lounge with a plush green couch, a television. An actual kitchen, and a hallway leading to what Enid presumed would be a shared bathroom and the bedrooms. As Enid made her way in that direction, Wednesday came barrelling past her with her bag in toe, her expression particularly grim.
“I’ll sleep on the sofa.” Was all the shorter girl said as she continued to the lounge. Confused, Enid walked down the hallway and stopped at the end. There were two doors opposite one another. One led to an enormous bathroom, equipped with a luxurious bathtub. Enid had to contain her joy. She loved baths, and this one even had jets. Smiling widely, she turned and looked through the other door, and her glee soured immediately. There was one bedroom, with a queen-sized bed. Enid stood there, jaw slack, trying to process this new information. ‘Surely they don’t expect us to share?’ she thought. The idea causing a shiver to radiate along her back. She walked back to the lounge to find Wednesday unpacking a typewriter that she was setting up on the table opposite the kitchen.
“They gave us one bed. That’s disgusting.” Enid said, shaking her head in disbelief. Wednesday ignored her, her hands working furiously as she began typing away at the keys of her ancient looking word processor.
Enid looked to the sofa where Wednesday’s bag was resting. ‘Well, if Wednesday has already agreed to sleep on the sofa…’ Enid had to admit, she did feel a pang of guilt about it, but she didn’t want to give up her beauty sleep and it wasn’t like she’d ordered Wednesday to volunteer… If anything taking the bed was a sign of respect to Wednesday’s self-imposed couch banishment. Enid nodded, she was doing the best thing really. Besides, Wednesday likely didn’t even sleep. Walking over to the sofa Enid moved Wednesday’s bag and reclined on the sofa. She pulled out her phone and pulled up her chat with Yoko to find a message already waiting for her.
Yoko: OMG, these new apartments are amazing! Did you see the size of the baths!? And the bed 💋
Enid grimaced. She thought about it and realised she hadn’t asked yet.
Enid: Yeah, not happening for us. The creature gets the sofa.
Yoko: Ouch, laying down the law already, huh?
Enid: Whatever. Who did you get for your partner?
Yoko: Divina. She’s cool, she’s the pretty brunette who hangs on Bianca’s coattails.
Enid: I know Divina, she’s cool. Are her and Bianca… 😘?
Yoko: Don’t know.
Enid lay her phone on her stomach and looked at the ceiling. This wasn’t fair. None of it was. She should be living with Ajax, getting him to fall in love with her. She blushed. The thought of living alone with him had her feeling flustered. Just then, her phone buzzed and Enid looked at it. Yoko had sent another message.
Yoko: I wish it had been us. We would have been a good pair for this.
Yoko: Just you know hanging out and stuff and being with friends is better than strangers and it would have been more fun that you having to be with Wednesday.
Enid: What do you think Ajax is doing right now? Do you think I should call him?
Yoko: Sure.
Enid: What should I say? I don’t want to look weird.
Enid looked at her phone for a few minutes, waiting for Yoko to reply, but gave up. Yoko probably had to go do something with Divina. Enid shrugged and look up and practically leaped out of her skin.
“Ah! Wednesday, what the crap!” Enid shrieked. The short, dark-haired girl had been standing there glowering at her.
“Don’t touch my stuff.” Wednesday said, her voice icy.
“What are you talking about?” Enid growled back in response.
Wednesday pointed to the bag that Enid had moved off of the sofa. It was lying on its side.
“It was on the sofa. I wanted to sit on the sofa. I moved it,” Enid shrugged.
Wednesday just glowered at Enid, and it made her shrink back. The grim girl walked over and picked up her bag and straightened it before opening it up. She pulled out a stack of books and a framed picture of her and an older bald man. The glass of the frame was damaged with a crack across its surface.
Enid gulped, expecting a tirade. Instead, the shorter girl grabbed a small wallet and walked out of the dorm with the frame in one hand, leaving Enid alone staring after her.
She couldn’t help it. Enid felt a sliver of guilt. She really could have been more careful with Wednesday’s things. ‘No.’ Enid thought, ‘I definitely should have been more careful.’ With a snap of her fingers, Enid launched herself to her feet. She could cook dinner! She was an excellent cook and she could use it as a peace offering. Nobody could resist her father's meatloaf recipe. With a spring in her step Enid set about in the kitchen. Thankfully, she had packed her essential food stuffs.
Wednesday was going to gut Enid Sinclair. She’d thought to torture the girl. Slowly break her over the course of an entire month. But now she was going to put a knife inside her stomach and get it over with. Her feet attacked the pavement as she made her way towards the shops. She looked down at the framed photo in her hands. The photo was taken before Uncle Fester went away on his expedition to the Amazon. Wednesday had tried to smuggle herself onto the ship, but Gomez had discovered her.
She was deep in thought about what kind of knife to use when she bumped into something.
“Oof” Uttered the person.
Wednesday glared up into the face of Ajax, who looked down at her apologetically.
“SorryWednesday,y” He said, rubbing the back of his head. “Are you okay?”
Before Wednesday could tell Ajax he looked like a confused seal, a familiar voice said from behind Ajax, “She gets lost in her own world.”
Wednesday turned as Xavier appeared at the shorter boy’s side, holding two bags of what looked to be groceries. Although the ‘groceries’ largely appeared to be confectionary and soda.
“Hey grinch. How’s your marriage going? Have you figured out how to dissolve the body yet?” Xavier said, grinning while Ajax looked genuinely alarmed.
Wednesday couldn’t help but smile. The thought of boiling Enid down with acid made her feel good.
“Bit grim,” Said Ajax as he made to take the bags from Xavier.
“No, no, you paid, so I’ll carry the groceries home. And I’ll cook us dinner tonight.” Xavier said, moving the bags away from Ajax’s outstretched arms.
“Heating ramen hardly counts as cooking.” Wednesday interjected.
Xavier grinned at her, “Well, it is when I do it.” He paused in thought before saying, “You should come over, you could bring Enid and we could have dinner together.”
Ajax gave Xavier a look that Wednesday couldn’t place. “I thought we could hang and watch a movie, just us,” Ajax said, giving Wednesday a bizarre side-eye. He sighed, the tension in his shoulders dissolving. “But I guess it wouldn’t be so bad.”
Xavier shook his head, “No, it’s cool, dude. I shouldn’t have sprung that on you. Let’s hang tonight.” Turning back to Wednesday, “Let’s do it some other time, okay?”
Wednesday just walked past them without responding. She’d wasted enough time and needed to get her picture frame repaired before the shops closed. As she walked away, she made out the fading voice of Ajax, saying, “You were joking about the body, right? Right?”
The rich smell of herbs and beef filled the apartment as Enid busied herself in the kitchen. She chucked the most recently used pans into the sink and grabbed her phone to check the meatloaf recipe her father had texted her.
“You’re a lifesaver, dad” Enid said as she doubled checked she had missed nothing. Satisfied, she turned back to the oven, checked her watch and watched the timer count down the remaining seconds.
As Enid placed the Meatloaf on the kitchen’s island she couldn’t help but wonder if this was stupid. She didn’t even know what Wednesday liked to eat. But this was her father’s famous meatloaf. It was the ultimate peacemaker for her family. Enid glanced to the sofa and grimaced. She’d been so thoughtless. Despite how awful Wednesday was, she shouldn’t have been so careless with her backpack. Maybe this could be the bridge to at least an amicable existence between them. Or at least she would receive a good-Enid’s thought was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. She looked up to see Wednesday, the small girl’s features a miserable scowl. Enid felt her face configure into a mirror. Wednesday’s eyes roamed over the kitchen, the full sink, the remnants of food preparation strewn across its surface, and finally her eyes locked onto the meatloaf. She said nothing, just scoffed loudly and walked past Enid, down the hall and into the bathroom.
Enid stood there staring at the now empty space of the open door. Her confusion giving way to a heat that threatened to burn her with its fury. She took a step towards the hall and then her shoulders sagged. ‘What’s the point?’ she thought. Enid looked back again to the open door and picked up the meatloaf before heading out the door.
Wednesday was seething. It wasn’t enough for that blonde-haired cretin to break her picture frame, now she was treating their apartment like her personal laboratory. Wednesday had no idea what monstrosity Enid had created, but it looked like a sheep’s stomach. She put her bag down and undressed. A cold shower would help center her and wash away the stench of whatever that was.
A few minutes later, Wednesday exited the shower, dressed and ready to go for a very long walk. That way, at least she could come back when Enid had gone to sleep and get some writing done. But, as she walked down the hallway, she noticed that the kitchen mess was still there, but no Enid. She turned to the open door and rolled her eyes. ‘Of course, she just left the mess.’ Wednesday refused to clean up after the blonde girl and walked out the door. As she made her way down the hallway, Wednesday stopped, hearing the sound of laughter. There was an open door only several down from her’s and Enid’s. As she made to walk past it she heard the unmistakable voice call out to her.
“Wednesday!”
“Xavie-” she’d started to say as she turned but stopped. Inside the room was Xavier, Ajax and Enid sitting around a table, plates before them, with Enid’s now half-eaten creation between them.
Xavier beamed at Wednesday. “Come on in, join us.” He said, waving her over. Wednesday thought of nothing she wanted to do less, and as her eyes moved to Enid’s, she saw the other girl look away, confirming that she wasn’t really invited, anyway. Not that it mattered. Wednesday shook her head and walked away without another word.
Enid turned back around to Ajax and Xavier as Wednesday left.
“She really hates me.” Enid said, no longer able to contain the mysery in her voice.
Xavier sighed, placing a large hand on Enid’s shoulder, “It’s not you. Wednesday’s just like that with everyone.”
Enid looked up into the taller boy’s brown eyes, “You’re a terrible liar Xavier.”
Xavier smiled back half-heartedly, “Sorry Enid, she’ll get used to you and then she’ll come down… hopefully.”
“Why are you dating her, then?” Enid asked. She was genuinely curious. Xavier and Wednesday had been attached at the hip since she could remember, even though they didn’t seem that affectionate.
“They aren’t dating.” Ajax said, his tone surprising both Xavier and Enid. A faint red colored his cheeks as he coughed nervously. “I just mean, people think that, but it’s not true.”
Enid looked back to Xavier.
Xavier nodded, but his eyes seemed less bright. Enid left the question she wanted to ask on the table. Looking back at Ajax, she couldn’t help but feel that maybe she and Xavier shared something in common.
Enid looked over to Ajax and smiled. He glanced at her and smiled back. Enid could feel it, like a battery inside her was charging just looking at him.
“I think I’ll go for a walk.” Xavier said, “I need to keep fit.”
Enid felt her cheeks warm as she glanced at Xavier and he gave her a wink.
“I’ll come with you.” Ajax said, standing from his chair.
“What? No, that’s cool dude.” Xavier began to say, Ajax was already over to the door and putting on his shoes. Xavier gave Enid an apologetic look before following suit.
“Thanks, Enid, for the meatloaf. It was amazing.” Ajax said, returning Enid’s smile to her face.
Xavier added, “Leave the dish and we’ll wash it and return it to you when we get back.”
They left and Enid sat there in the apartment feeling very alone. She pulled out her phone and pulled up her chat with Yoko.
Enid: How’s married life?
Enid saw the message status change to read, waited one, then two minutes and finally gave up. Standing, she traded one empty apartment for another.
The night was dark and quiet, the bench was cold. Wednesday should have felt at peace, but instead, she felt disquieted. That putrid girl had spoiled her apartment just so she could go flirt with her crush and leave the mess to further polute their shared space. How could anyone be so selfish? Well, no matter. Wendesday pulled the knife out from the harness sheath and turned it over in her hand.
“Don’t kill me?” Wednesday looked up to see Xavier smiling down at her. A few paces behind him stood a miserable looking Ajax.
“Go away Xavier.” Wednesday said, looking back to the blade.
Xavier sat down next to Wednesday.
“You’re a terrible listener”
Xavier smiled at that. “Sure I am. I’m good at translating Wednesday-speak.”
Wednesday raised an eyebrow as she looked up at Xavier.
He continued, “You’re miserable, and not in a usual Wednesday way.” He quickly added.
“You don’t want to be Enid’s partner. I get it.” He placed a hand on Wednesday’s. She looked down at it, her features set in a mask of indifference.
“I wish we could have been partners.” He said, leaning closer.
Wednesday was up on her feet in a flash. She didn’t turn to look at him but she could hear him rise to his own.
“Look, I’m going to do my best with Ajax, get a high score. But it doesn’t matter if you don’t get one too. We both have to get a high score and maintain it for one week if we want to swap partners.” Xavier said.
As Wednesday watched Ajax staring at her with unmistakeable hostility she replied, “Who says I want to be your partner?” And then walked away before Xavier had a chance to answer, but that didn’t stop him yelling after her, “One week Wednesday!”
Back at the apartment, Wendesday stopped outside the door. She could hear the sound of movement inside and palmed the knife. She could just put it right in her esophagus and then this nightmare would be over. Centering herself she opened the door and as her hand came up she stopped. Enid’s back was to her, a perfect target… as she finshed putting the last dish into the drying rack.
Wednesday sniffed, the smell of cooked meats and herbs had been replaced with the unmistakeable stench of damp earth. Wendesday watched as Enid put the drying towel back on the rack and sighed, her shoulders slumped.
Cautiously, Wednesday slid the knife back into it’s sheathe and closed the door behind her, alerting the blonde girl to her presence.
The two stared at each other.
“I’m sorry.”
That was the last thing Wednesday had expected to hear coming from Enid’s mouth. She didn’t know what to say.
“About your picture, I-I should have been more careful with your things. And I’m sorry I didn’t invite you to have dinner with me and the guys, but I didn’t plan it.”
Confused at first, Wednesday realised that Enid must have thought she was upset about being left out of sharing in the consumption of Enid’s monstrosity.
“I wanted to eat it with you, but you just, you were still…” Enid said, letting the awkwardly paced sentence fade away.
Her perspective began to shift and Wednesday re-examined events.
“You made that-creation-”
“Meatloaf, my father's famous recipe.” Enid said. She hopped onto the balls of her feet and rushed to the fridge, retrieving a plate withe what Wednedsay could only assume was a survivor of the early feast. Enid put it in the oven, “It’ll just be a minute. You didn’t have dinner did you.” Enid’s face fell slightly and Wednesday found herself shaking her head.
Immediately Enid smiled back and Wednesday sat at the table. She wasn’t sure what was happening but perhaps she had to admit, her stomach was empty and she needed her energy to write.
After a minute Enid pulled the piece of meatloaf out and placed it in front of Wendesday along with a fork.
She stood beside Wednesday, waiting no doubt, for her to tell the taller girl it was delicious. Groaning internally Wednesday picked up the fork and seperated a piece of the grim brown mass. She speared it with her fork and lifted it to her mouth. It smelt, terrible, like cooked meat and basil, but Wednesday found herself putting it in her mouth under the pressure of Enid’s expectant stare. Wednesday’s eyes shot open-It was… incredible. She found herself savouring the rich flaour. Despite looking like a melted organ it tasted like, nothing, nothing that Wednesday had ever tasted before. Sure, it was far from the likes of granny’s wolf liver pate but it was good.
As Wednesday finished up the last of it she begrudgingly looked up at Enid and nodded. It was all she could commit to. But the effect was immediate, Enid beamed down at her and collected the plate and fork from Wednesday and took them to wash in the sink.
Wednesday sat there stunned, where was the hostile, selfish girl she’d been prepared to murder? This was… unsettling.
Enid returned from the kitchen, taking the seat opposite Wednesday, “I’m glad you liked it. I really wanted to make something you’d like but I wasn’t sure what you would so I went with my dad’s meatloaf.” She said, still smiling from ear to ear.
“It was, better than I was expecting.” Wednesday conceeded. Much to her chagrin Enid’s smile only seemed to get bigger.
“Is that a compliment from Wednesday Addams?”
Wednesday resisted the urge to roll her eyes and instead stood up and walked over to retrieve her typewriter.
“Hey…” Enid began, “I was thinking, maybe we could invite Xavier and Ajax over for dinner tomorrow night? It could be a double date!”
Wednesday froze, feeling her jaw clench. “Why would we do that.” She said, leaning down to pick up her typewriter off of the lounge table.
“Well, aside from it being fun it could be a good chance to get closer to the boys, you know…” Something about how excited Enid sounded annoyed Wednesday. Like a bee sting.
Wednesday walked back over to the kitchen table and put the typewriter down, she didn’t look at Enid as she spoke.
“A double date implies two couples. Except there are none in that scenario.” She said, keeping her voice calm. ‘Why is Enid pushing this stupid Xavier thing on her, too?’ Wednesday hadn’t expected that. She knew that some people made jokes about her and Xavier but she ignored them. Besides, she’d never done anything to reciprocate Xavier’s annoying attempts at… she didn’t want to even think about it.
Enid took a moment before she responded, “Sure, but maybe a little proximity, under the right circumstances, could change that.”
“No, no, it won’t.” Wednesday replied as she slid a fresh piece of paper into her typewriter.
Wednesday could practically hear Enid’s petulant stare.
“Maybe…” Enid began, her voice betraying a hint of annoyance. “People just need a change in perspective to see how right they would be together.”
Wednesday was feeling the good will eek out of her body the longer Enid spoke. Finally, she looked up at the other girl and noticed the tears at the edges of the blonde girl’s eyes. ‘Why is she so invested in this dumb notion?’ Wednesday had long since stop caring about other people’s feelings. She would not spare Enid’s. Xavier needed to get a reality check, and Wednesday would not let Enid live in some dumb illusion that his persistence would be rewarded.
“Enid, this isn’t some contrived romance novel. Just because someone is persistent, just because they keep making the effort, keep finding ways to be close to someone and hope against all the odds that the other person will finally see the real them.” She paused, “It’s not going to happen, that behaviour is sad and pathetic.”
Enid wiped away the tears, but couldn’t stop them from falling. She glared at Wednesday and the dark-haired girl looked back to her typewriter. It was a kindness, Enid may not see it now, but Wednesday and Xavier were not a thing and Enid needed to get over it.
“You-You’re awful!” was all the blonde girl managed before she stormed off down the hallway to the bedroom. Leaving Wednesday to sigh and get back to her writing, finally alone again. Wednesday mused at how quickly things could change. She’d gone from committing to killing Enid, to begrudgingly accepting her presence, to suspecting she was now the one to be targeted for assassination.
Enid slammed the door behind her as she entered the bedroom. She threw herself onto the bed and screamed into a pillow. As she pulled back, her lungs spent, she could see the wet stains on the pillowcase. She rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. ‘How could Wednesday be so cruel?’ She thought. ‘So what if Ajax didn’t see her the way she wanted?’ She wasn’t pathetic. She was trying. Enid wiped away more tears. Maybe she was pathetic. A pathetic little girl with a crush. In truth, Ajax had always been polite, but he’d never started conversations with her or tried to be near her. Thinking back, Enid remembered all the times she’d put in the effort just to be near him. Enid wasn’t an idiot. She knew that hope wasn’t enough, but she’d put in the work. She’d listened, found out what music he liked, and loaded up a playlist just in case she got the chance to show him. Enid had made friends with Xavier just so she could have an excuse to sit with them at lunch. Did Ajax even think about her at all? Enid sat up. Her body felt like lead. ‘How could Wednesday be so cruel?’ The thought rattled around her head.
Enid’s phone beeped, and she pulled it up to see a notification from the marriage program app. It read: ‘Score updated: -50, new score of 0.’
Enid grit her teeth. At this rate, they’d fail the course. If only she had anyone as her partner instead of-Enid shot up to a sitting position. If she could just get a high enough score, she could swap partners, but how? Wednesday seemed as interested in this program as she did about making friends. So Enid would have to do all the work. She’d be the perfect partner to compensate for the dead weight she was stuck with. Starting tomorrow, she would begin plan ‘Get rid of Wednesday Addams’. Rolling over, she pulled out her phone and pulled up her chat with Yoko. The other girl had replied to her last message with a single word, “Whatever”. Enid looked at it, perplexed. ‘Was Yoko mad at her?’ She couldn’t think why. She should hang out with her, see how she was doing.
Enid: Wanna grab breakfast tomorrow? I feel like I’m drowning here.
Enid waited, hoping for a reply. Her message status changed to read.
Yoko: Sure, I’ll see you then.
At least Enid had something to look forward to.
Wednesday awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs. She sat up on the sofa and felt a pair of eyes looking at her. She ignored it as she stretched out her stiff back. The sofa had not proved to be a comfortable bed.
“Morning!” came the alarming bright voice of Enid Sinclair.
Despite her surprise, Wednesday swiftly did the mental calculus. That was it! Enid was attempting to lure her into a false sense of security. Well, Wednesday wasn’t so easily fooled. She turned to look at Enid, who was standing by the table holding a plate of what Wednesday presumed was Enid’s version of breakfast food. To Wednesday, it looked like cholesterol and sodium.
“Good morning Enid.” Wednesday said. She tried to smile back at Enid but based on the other girl’s grimace, Wednesday surmised she had been unsuccessful in the attempt. She got up and walked over to the chair Enid had pulled out for her.
“Now, I’m really sorry but I can’t stay to eat breakfast with you but I will be back and then I thought we could hang out, maybe watch a horror movie or something?”
Wednesday looked up at Enid. She really was laying this act on thick. It was more unsettling than deceptive.
“What are you doing?” Wednesday asked. She couldn’t help it. This entire act was too bizarre.
“What do you mean? We are marriage partners, right? I’m just being the best wife I can be.” Enid smiled at her.
Wednesday mulled this over. She was trying to get her score up. Okay, Wednesday could play that game.
“Well, I’ll be off then. I’ll see you later.” Enid said as she made for the door.
“Wait.” Wednesday called out, standing up and walking over to Enid.
Enid instinctively backed up to the wall, fear clear on her features before she could snap the mask of a dutiful wife back on.
“Oh, did you-” She was cut off as Wednesday planted a hand on the wall next to her head and leaned in, her lips close to Enid’s.
Wednesday could feel the other girls’ breath on her lips, could see the goosebumps on the girl’s neck. She leaned up and kissed Enid on the cheek before turning away. “Have fun.” She said, walking back to her chair before helping herself to the eggs and bacon.
Wednesday heard the door close shut and immediately spat out the grotesque food. She looked up at the space where Enid had been. Her pulse was racing. ‘what was I thinking?’ She’d meant to throw Enid’s little ruse back in her face, but somehow Wednesday felt like she’d been the one who had been the victim of the maneuver. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Was she having a heart attack? She closed her eyes, and an image came to her mind of Enid’s lips, her breath, her smell… Wednesday stood up and began pacing back and forth along the apartment. Clearly, she was allergic to whatever perfume Enid was wearing. ‘She’d smelt… amazing.’ ‘WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?’ Her eyes opened wide as realization hit her. ‘Enid had poisoned her.’ How could she be so foolish? Was it while she was sleeping? Was it the food? She couldn’t be sure, but whatever the method of distribution, she wouldn’t be so easy to fool next time. Wednesday heard a beep and looked at her phone. It was the marriage program app. The notification read ‘Score updated: +5, new score 5.’