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Everything that could have gone wrong today, did go wrong. Thank you, Murphy.
Wednesday strives on routine and structure. Most people think she keeps doing things the way she does because she is creepy and stuck-up, wanting to make sure people knew she sets herself apart from the rest.
But in reality those routines and cold interactions simply make her feel safe. Make her feel in control.
The world was as unpredictable as the weather forecast on Mount Everest. Wednesday has spent her life studying all kinds of creatures meticulously. She hibernated with grizzlies, joined a pack of hyenas and even swam with alligators. But no other species are as enigmatic as humans. Their words and actions always in contradiction, they depend entirely on the perception of others in order to form an opinion about something (including themselves) and expect you to decifer their emotional morse code like it was the reason you were born.
When Wednesday was little, she started observing everyone around her, noting down her findings in a little notebook. First by drawing pictures, then using written words once she had learned them. She tried to make sense of why humans behaved the way they did, tried finding patterns in a sea of pebbles. When she started school, her classmates, their parents and the teachers thought she was weird because of the way she would stare everyone down. She wouldn’t even blink, because blinking potentially meant missing out on some kind of data, and data was essential for her research.
But observing was just the first steps. Oberservations lead to hypotheses, which in turn need to be tested to be proven right or wrong. So, Wednesday started doing experiments to see how people would react to it. She has always found it fascinating, how humans seem to fear death and torture so much, when she considered it to be quite enjoyable. She loved hearing stories of people being ripped apart - the bloodier the better. Wednesday finally found use in that little brother of hers, when Pugsley proved to be the perfect guinea pig for her experiments. It was interesting to see, how he reacted to being electrocuted or locked in a coffin for a day.
When kids at school started to become really nasty towards her, she redirected some of her scientific efforts to them instead. Interestingly they seem to be much responsive to her actions, usually resulting in ridiculous and explosive emotional outbursts, like crying or screaming. Wednesday never understood the point of this, as if that would help them.
The only time she had ever experienced the phenomenon herself was the day her beloved pet scorpion Nero was killed by that group of disgusting boys. Sure, they paid for their actions afterwards. A poisonous paste inexplicably added to the sandwiches of their school lunch the next day, resulting in a painful, weeklong stay at the hospital. Nobody was ever able to prove who was responsible, but there were whispers about “that Addams girl”. While Wednesday’s favorite taste was that of revenge, it still didn’t bring Nero back. That night, she truly cried her heart out for the first time.
In the years since, she has learned that it’s best to keep her distance from others. To not let anyone get too close to her. That way, there would be less chances of someone inflicting pain her. Not physical pain, she quite enjoyed that type, but the horrendous one - hurt feelings. Despite trying to convince the world (and most importantly herself) that she doesn’t have feelings, she does. She actually has so many of them that the only way to take control is to burry them as deeply as possible. Because if they are all tucked away safely, she won’t collapse. She won’t succumb to this weakness.
And it all worked perfectly fine - until that dreadful day when she came to Nevermore.
More specifically, until she stepped foot into the room she was supposed to live in and met her rainbow-loving bubbly roommate. Despite some challenges, they’ve gotten to know each other very well over time. So Wednesday had somehow formed a friendship with another person for the very first time. Enid might be the complete opposite of herself, but somehow she managed to conquer Wednesday’s fortress-like walls - one inch of duct tape at a time.
The first real crack in her walls appeared during her first year, when Wednesday mistakenly thought that the normie boy she met could be trusted. For a while she wondered if this was what people meant when they talked about love and relationships. She even went so far as to let him kiss her. Which was admittedly a lot less excited than she had expected. Well, apart from the vision triggered by the kiss which revealed his true nature as a hyde. Of course she would share her first kiss with a monster.
Afterwards, she again tried to stuff all those nasty feelings back to where they belonged. Once again this worked well enough, until that dreadful night, when Enid turned into a werewolf just to save Wednesday from being buried alive, despite knowing it would be incredibly difficult for her to change back. She then spent weeks looking for Enid, leaving no stone unturned until she found her best friend. Somehow, Wednesday managed to help turn Enid back into her human form.
That day, something changed between them. Something Wednesday couldn’t understand or categorize. Because it was a new experience.
She observed some strange bodily reactions whenever her roommate was around, like an increase in her heartbeat or her mouth suddenly going as dry as a tumbleweed. And it only seemed to get worse over the weeks. But apparently she wasn’t the only one affected by this mysterious change.
Enid also started to behave strangely, she was jumpier than usual, sometimes even struggled to meet Wednesday’s eyes, and spent more evenings in Yoko’s room. Wednesday assumed it was aftereffects of her transformation and time alone hiding in the woods. That maybe Enid regretted putting herself through all of that, just to save Wednesday. That the girl now tried her best to keep her distance, as to not put herself at any more risk by associating as much with her roommate. During that time Wednesday wasn’t able to write a single chapter for her new novel and her cello just gathered dust.
It turned out Wednesday was completely wrong. Due to some circumstances she realized, that these insufferable feelings didn’t want to be locked away anymore and that she was helplessly in love with her best friend. Luckily for her, Enid felt the same thing. One thing lead to another and they officially started dating during their third year.
Being in a relationship was harder than expected though. There were so many new rules to learn, so many new expectations, emotions and situations to deal with. Wednesday despised the mere thought of becoming like her parents, but she also wanted to do right by Enid.
It didn’t go completely smoothly, there have been multiple arguments as well as misunderstandings, but both girls have consistently tried their best to learn and grow. After all, it was Enid’s first serious relationship as well. The ones she had with Ajax and Bruno she now considered simple teenage flirtations (which included a lot of make-out sessions that were nice, but nothing compared to the real-deal she knows now). But being with Wednesday was the first time that she envisioned a whole future together. Which is good, since her wolf chose Wednesday as her mate.
But this entire develoment had a different consequence as well. Wednesday has a much harder time keeping her emotions under control. The world suddenly seems so much louder and brighter and…more alive, but not necessarily in a good way. She noticed that everyday things are often a little bit harder to deal with now, noticed how she even started reacting emotionally to situations or interactions.
So far, she still found a way to manage it. To hide it from others. To try and convince herself that this is merely a fluke of character strength. She would be fine again, she could get everything under control again.
Until today.
Because today is the day that hell swallowed earth in one large gulp, drowning Wednesday in scorging fire that left her in ashes. Because today, everything went wrong.
It all started when Wednesday got up in the morning.
Usually she would set her alarm to 5:30am and once awake, turn it off quickly as to hopefully not wake Enid. Then she would walk briskly to the communal bathroom to shower and get ready. Back in their room, she reads for one hour sitting in her reading chair, throwing the occasional glance at a sleeping Enid, before walking downstairs to grab a quad for herself and a sickeningly sweet drink and chocolate chip muffin with sprinkles for Enid. Carrying the goods back to their dorm, she would then wake up Enid, drink her coffee while Enid gets ready, give Enid a Good-Morning-Kiss after the girl brushed her teeth and then walk to class with Enid, holding Enid’s hand.
Only this morning, for some reason, her alarm did not work. And her internal clock failed as well. So instead of waking up to her beautifully crafted morning routine, she woke up to Enid carefully shaking her.
“Wends, are you all right? Why aren’t you up already?” Wednesday opened her eyes and saw Enid’s concerned look.
“What time is it?”
“Seven-thirty, we need to leave for class in ten minutes”, Enid scrunched up her face, already knowing that the situation would leave Wednesday in distress.
With her heartbeat pounding in her ears, Wednesday quickly jumped out of bed, almost tripping over the blanket, and grabbed her clothes to run down to the bathroom. But the thing was, because her routine was messed up, she forgot half the things she needed, but picked up two shirts. At least she got to shower and brush her teeth in time.
“Wends, we need to go,” Enid stressed, already waiting by the door.
“But my coffee”, Wednesday looked at her desperately.
“We don’t have time for that, I’m sorry. If I had known you would sleep in today I would have gotten up earlier to get it for you,” Enid gave Wednesday a sympathetic look. She took Wednesday’s hand carefully, before adding, “how about I get you a quad during the first break? Would that be okay?”
Knowing there was no other solution anyways, Wednesday stayed quiet, gave a tiny nod and then lead Enid out of their room.
The second tragedy took place during lunch.
Wednesday has never been the biggest fan of Nevermore’s food. Her family enjoys a rather unusual diet: animals and animal parts which other people didn’t like to consume, not a lot of colors and most importantly: the primary taste of decay and bitterness. On top of that, Wednesday was always considered a picky eater, even for her family’s standards. She didn’t like for food to be hot, couldn’t stand certain textures and heaven forbid someone tried to feed her anything with the color green.
She knows the staff at Nevermore tried their best to cater to the needs of all outcasts, from blood cocktails for vampires to mountains of steak for werewolves. When she first joined the school it took her a while to get used to the food here and find options that worked for her. It was all very different from what she was used to. Thankfully, there was a rotating menu, so Wednesday knew exactly what meal to expect for each day. Today was Tuesday, so she knew she would have steak and kidney pie. She never had this dish before coming here, had never even heared of it really, but Wednesday has gotten used to it by now. She did opt out of the peas and mashed potato that usually came with it, though, and let it sit for a good 15 minutes before it had the correct temperature to eat.
Only today, when she walked up to the counter behind Enid, the guy serving their food gave her an apologetic look - something went wrong with the pies, so she couldn’t have one.
Wednesday froze on the spot, desperately trying to think about what to do now, her nails digging into the empty tray in her hands. She saw the guy’s mouth moving, but didn’t really hear the words he spoke. She guessed he told her all of the other options. Eventually she choked out, “a burger with no sauces or extras”. This situation threw her off so much, that she even forgot to grab her usual water bottle and skinless apple slices. Enid didn’t witness any of it, since she had already headed out to find a table after grabbing her own lunch.
When she saw the look on Wednesday’s face as the girl approached her, she knew things must have gone from bad to worse.
“What happend?”, asked Enid softly, tapping her hand on the spot next to her, indicating to her girlfriend to sit down by her side. Wednesday did exactly that and placed her tray on the table.
“Oh, you didn’t want a pie today?”
“Out,” was all that Wednesday could mumble.
“What do you mean?”
“They were out of pie.”
Enid immediately felt sorry for Wednesday, she new how hard these unexpected changes were. Noticing the other missing things on the tray, she grabbed her own bottle of water and placed it on Wednesday’s instead.
“Here, at least have my water,” she gave Wednesday a soft kiss on the cheek, before returning to her food.
Wednesday did take a few bites of her burger, but ultimately decided it was just not the correct taste for a Tuesday, as she only had burgers on Fridays, so she pushed the rest away.
Things did not get any better in the afternoon either.
They had been working on a project in science class over the last three weeks. Everyone had to choose some type of experiment they wanted to try, then they had to document their oberservations and write an essay about the results to hand in at the end of today’s class. Wednesday had rather enjoyed this project and was satisfied with her finished work. For once, it was not a shared project with a partner, so she could get lost in the work by herself.
She loved Enid more than death, but working with this girl was testing Wednesday’s self-control like nothing else. Wednesday was methodical and precise in her work, Enid was…chaotic. And messy. And oftentimes forgetful. So it was a nice change for Wednesday to get to do this by herself.
Her paper was placed on the table infront of her, ready to be handed in by the end of class.
Unfortunately, this never happened. Because one of their classmates, a gorgon named Matthew, decided to carry his self-mixed potion through class and ultimately tripped over something which caused him to spill the liquid all over Wednesday’s table. And with that, all over her finished paper. Wednesday forgot to breath for a second. She just stared at the mess infront of her, blinking a few times to get rid of that burning feeling in her eyes. The bright green potion smelled horrible and when it touched the fingers on her left hand, her skin started reacting viciously.
“Oh my god!” Ms. Howe, the science teacher, exclaimed, staring at Wednesday’s fingers.
“She is allergic to color,” Enid explained quickly, pulling her girlfriend away from the table so she wouldn’t touch it anymore.
“Okay, can you take her to the nurse’s office, Miss Sinclair?”
Enid nodded quickly, but then Wednesday spoke up, her voice sharp and edgy, “I have pills, I don’t need to go see the nurse.”
So Wednesday went up to her room, took some of her pills and also applied the cream her mother made for her. The skin healed instantly, but her mood didn’t. She would have to spend the night retyping her essay, because her original work was completely destroyed. Luckily she has a fantastic memory, so she could just replicate the original one.
Dinner was the final straw. To be specific, what happened before dinner.
Wednesday had beekeeping club on Tuesdays, which she always enjoyed. She hasn’t seen Eugene a lot this year outside of their little club, so it was great to spend some time together, working alongside her friend. Enid had dance on Tuesdays. Therefore the girls always met up at the cafeteria for a shared dinner.
But of course, that’s not what happened today.
Wednesday arrived at their meeting point at 6:30 precisely. As always. Enid usually arrived sometime between 6:30 and 6:40, depending on when her dance class ended. It was 6:45 already, when Wednesday started to get a bit antsy. Where was Enid?
At 6:50 she decided to get the phone out of her bag to call her missing girlfriend. She has owned it for more than a year now and still despised it. Being able to communicate with Enid in moments like this, was convenient though. Which is the only reason she still kept that thing charged. Just as she turned it on she saw a message pop up on the screen. Enid had sent it half an hour earlier.
Enid Sinclair 6:20
Hey sorry wends i wont make it in time
Adler is making us stay longer because the routine is still not perfect
So sorry
Go have dinner already ill join u asap
Enid wasn’t coming. Wednesday kept staring at the phone in her hand as if willing the message away. Hoping for everything to disappear on the spot. Someone turned up the volume of the noise around her, the smells of different foods attacking her nose. She felt her chest squeezing really tight, her breaths only consisting of short gasps. She stood there frozen on the spot for a full minute, before fleeing the scene as fast as her feet could carry her. She dashed up the stairs, threw the door open and headed straight to her closet. Wednesday shut the door behind her quickly before falling to her knees, hiding away in the dark room underneath her hanging clothes. It was quiet in there. Cold. Dark. It was the break she desperately needed, because today was not it. Today was her own, personal hell.
And that’s where she stayed. That’s where she still is hiding.
Some time later, Wednesday doesn’t know how much time has passed, she thinks she can hear Enid’s mumbled voice on the other side of the door. But Wednesday can’t move. It’s like her body isn’t connected to her soul, like she has lost it’s remote control. So she just stays where she is, he back resting against the wall, hugging her legs tightly, with her head placed on top of her knees.
“Thing, do you know where Wednesday is?” Enid asks Thing the second he crawls in through their large window.
No, outside all day, he signs.
What wrong?
“I can’t find her anywhere. Miss Adler made us stay longer at dance so I couldn’t join her for dinner, but I sent her a text before and it looks like she’s seen it. When I finally showed up at the cafeteria she wasn’t there and I’ve already been looking everywhere. I can’t find her,” the girl tries to keep her voice steady.
The day has been awful for Wednesday so she was sure her girlfriend was struggling. Enid hopes that she didn’t go somewhere unsafe, like the forest. She nervously chews on her bottom lip, thinking about what she could do.
You not smell her?, Thing asks.
“Not really, her smell is really strong here, of course, but that’s because she lives her. All of her stuff is here. I picked up some lingering scent of her throughout the school, but nothing that would indicate where she is.” Enid grabs her phone again, sending Wednesday another message.
You 7:55
Wends please let me know where u are im rly worried
Then added an “i love you” before switching to the group chat.
You 7:56
Guys has anyone seen wends?
B Barclay 7:57
No, is she missing again?
Ajax 7:57
No sory. Evrthing ok?
Yoko Loko 7:59
Nah but saw her running from the caf earlier
You 7:59
When was that? Did u see where she went?
Yoko Loko 8:01
Shortly after i got there so just before 7 i guess
She rand towards oph hall but didnt see anything else
You 8:02
K, thanks
If anyone sees her please let me know
With that she puts her phone into her pocket, then pulls on her hair in desperation. Where could she be?
Maybe outside? Wednesday hiding cold and dark when overwhelmed, Thing suggests.
Looking to the window Enid bites down on her lip again, then nods.
“I think you are right. I should go look for her outside. Can you come with me? I don’t like walking around by myself in the dark.”
Of course, Thing signs quickly. Even if it wasn’t Wednesday they were looking for, Thing would always help Enid out. That girl was family to him.
Enid is already at the door, when a thought comes to her.
“You know what, I’ll bring Wednesday’s coat, she probably isn’t wearing anything warm enough for this weather.”
So Enid rushes over to Wednesday’s closet to retrieve said item. She grabs the coat when she sees two feet poking out underneath the clothes.
“Wends?” Enid asks surprised, then drops to the floor to get closer to her girlfriend.
“Hey, what are you doing in here?” she asks with the softest voice, carefully placing her hand on Wednesday’s arm which is still wrapped around her legs. But her girlfriend doesn’t say anything, so Enid drops the coat and sits down next to Wednesday, facing her. She carefully takes her face into her hands, encouraging Wednesday to raise her head.
“I was looking everywhere for you, honey,” usually Enid refrains from calling Wednesday by nicknames, since the girl hates it, but seeing her girlfriend like this she couldn’t hold it back.
“What happened?” Enid tries, even though she is certain she won’t get a reply.
“I know the day has been quite shitty for you. I’m so sorry. And then I had to cancel our dinner plans. Miss Adler is a maniac about that stupid performance.” She hopes the explanation will soothe Wednesday, in case her hiding was triggered by Enid’s absence. She places a soft kiss on Wednesday’s head before suggesting, “how about we go back to the room and you can do something that you like? Maybe play cello while I listen? Or get cozy in your reading chair with a book? I could see if I can get a cup of coffee for you?”
“I-“ Wednesday’s voice is all scratchy, “I want…can…can we lay down in my bed?”
“Yes, sure, of course we can!”
Wednesday nods, then let’s Enid help her up to her feet. They walk to Wednesday’s bed, which is now placed in the corner next to their big window, right across from Enid’s, so that they are a little bit closer to each other every night. That way, whenever Wednesday can’t sleep, she can at least look over to Enid, watching her sleep peacefully (accompanied by the occasional performance of exquisite, deep snores).
Wednesday climbs in first, slipping under her blanket and laying on her side. Enid gets in right behind her, holding Wednesday close to her chest and dropping little kisses to the back of her head. They stay like this for quite some time. Enid loves cuddling with Wednesday and this was the first time Wednesday actively asked for it. She just wishes it would have been under better circumstances. But to see that her proximity seems to comfort Wednesday, makes her heart soar. They have come such a long way together.
“The alarm did not work”, Wednesday eventually murmurs.
“I know, it was a bad start to the day, huh.”
“And then I had no coffee.”
“I know, honey.”
“And then no pies.”
This time Enid just squeezes Wednesday tighter.
“My work got destroyed.”
Another kiss on her head.
“And then…then you couldn’t come.”
“I’m sorry Wends.”
“It just…suddenly everything got too loud. And I just needed it all to stop. So I came in here to hide.”
“It’s okay Wends. The closet was a good place to hide. I’m just glad you didn’t go outside.” Enid tries not to think about the likelihood of Wednesday spending all night in the freezing cold if she had done that.
“Next time I know to look in here for you.” Wednesday moved her hands up to hold on to Enid’s.
“Did you have some food before you came up here?” Enid asks gently. Wednesday shakes her head.
“Yeah, I thought so. Wait, I’ll be right back.” She climbs out of the bed to get something from her drawer. She uses the opportunitly to quickly send a text to the others.
You 9:14
All good found her
B Barclay 9:14
Glad to hear, hope she is alright?
Yoko Loko 9:14
Good
Did she go out to kill someone?
You 9:15
She had a pretty shitty day so it all got too much
She was hiding in our room
Took me almost an hour to find her though
Divi 9:16
[sad face]
Yoko Loko 9:16
Gotta hug her better sinclair
Wait
Does addams even cuddle or is this on her reasons-to-kill list?
Enid rolls her eyes at this, knowing she will not bother with a reply. Wednesday is still conscious of other people perceiving her as “soft”, so she likely wouldn’t want Enid to send texts about what they did or didn’t do behind closed doors.
Once back in Wedsnesday’s bed Enid shows her a chocolate bar.
“I got your favorite.” It was 100% dark chocolate with dried crickets inside.
“I asked your brother to buy a few of those for me, I don’t even know where to get them from. But I have a small emergency stash now.”
Wednesday’s heart makes a weird squeeze, but unlike earlier, it feels good.
Enid breaks off a piece and holds it out for Wednesday to take. Slowly, Wednesday manages to eat her way through the chocolate bar. Once finished, Enid went back to hug Wednesday tightly.
“Can you stay here tonight?”, Wednesday asks quietly.
“Yes, of course!” Enid tries not to sound too excited, but this was a huge deal for her. Sharing a bed for the night was next level.
“I love you Wends.” She leaves a soft kiss on Wednesday’s neck.
“I love you too, querida.”