Chapter Text
Enid sat at her desk, her breath was short and in her stomach, a slight tingling.
She closed her eyes and breathed, attempting to quiet the incessant voice in the back of her mind.
She tapped her claw on the desk, scratching the wood slightly as she counted.
“Ninety nine, one hundred,” she whispered to herself, closing her eyes and breathing deeply, her claws retracted.
Refocusing her attention back to her laptop, she began to continue typing her blog post, painted nails dancing across the keyboard, some gossip she’d heard from Yoko, who’d heard it from Xavier, who’d heard it from Ajax, all about Bianca.
It wasn’t even anything particularly interesting to Enid, but she thought some of her readers would be.
But as she typed, her mind continued to wander, she was finally going to get a roommate.
The school had given her one of the best rooms on campus, all because she hadn’t wolfed out and they wanted to give her space to do so, but the downside had been preventing her from rooming with anyone.
Enid wasn’t quite sure why the faculty had suddenly changed their minds, but it didn’t matter, she was finally going to have a friend she could room with.
Someone to stay up late with gossiping, doing nails together, styling each other’s hair, and maybe even, if they felt like it, studying.
A knock on the door and Enid heard it creek open.
Turning to face it, she saw the tall figure of their principal, Weems, clad in a white suit, leading in the girl who was surely going to be her new friend.
She was raven haired, with it pulled into two tight braids. Brilliant, Enid thought, there would be so much she could help with, brushing, braiding, already she seemed brilliant.
Enid stood, trotting over to both better see her, and more importantly, greet her new roomie.
The girl was flanked by two people who must be her parents, one tall and pale, with long black hair and a dress which emphasised a certain part of her body, and the other shorter, squatter.
The short man pondered, “It’s so… vivid,”
Enid planted herself in front of the girl and exclaimed, “Howdy roomie!” The widest grin she could muster, looking down slightly as the girl, even wearing lifts, was shorter.
The girl was wide eyed, glancing around the space, and Enid faltered at her lack of reaction, a voice that sounded suspiciously like her mother’s echoed through her mind.
“Why would you say that? You’re coming on too hard Enid, you’re just annoying, you’re going to annoy her and she’s not going to want to be your roommate. You probably annoy Yoko and Divina and they secretly hate you and—“
“Wednesday, this is Enid Sinclair,” Weems’s announcement interrupted Enid’s train of thought.
So she was called Wednesday, that’s good to know, a bit unusual Enid thought, but kinda cool, quirky, which fit with her overall style.
By the moon she seemed so cool to Enid.
She did seem a little pale though, and the look in her eyes, she looked almost unwell to Enid.
Her stomach dropped, she hoped her roommate wasn’t ill on her first day, that would suck for sure.
“Are you feeling ok? You look a little pale,” Enid asked.
“Wednesday always looks half dead,” the man who must be her father said.
“Oh…” Enid blinked, that could be difficult, how would she be able to tell if her friend was ill or not? She’d need help, caring for, medicine, hot soup, blankets whatever.
“Well,” Enid forced a smile onto her face, “welcome to Ophelia hall,”
She reached out her arms and stepped foreword.
The girl flinched.
“Not a hugger. Got it,” Enid said as hot needles began to piece her skin. She quickly looked down, not bearing the eye contact.
She’d just tried to hug someone she didn’t even know, why had she thought that would be ok? She was going to ruin everything.
“Please excuse Wednesday,” the tall woman started, “shes allergic to colour.”
“Oh wow,” Enid replied.
She didn’t even know someone could be allergic to colour of all things.
That would make their life… difficult but Enid was sure she’d manage, she’d have to.
Making a mental note to google colour allergy at some point, though she knew it was likely pointless as she wouldn’t remember the note, she continued.
“What happens to you?”
“I break out into hives and then the flesh peels off my bones.”
Enid opened her mouth, and then closed it.
She felt like something was crawling up her spine, this girl was… not what she was expecting.
Her blasé way of describing her own painful injury, and that being a result of colour, it wasn’t really what she’d been hoping for.
“Luckily we’ve got a special uniform for you,” Weems said, again pulling Enid out of her mind, “Enid, please take Wednesday to the registrar's office to pick it up along with her schedule, and give her a tour along the way.”
Enid gulped slightly, and nodded.
…
Enid led her gloomy roommate through the busy halls of nevermore.
She practically bounced in front of her, rising up and down on the balls of her feet.
She spun round to glance at her new friend, knowing the route well enough to be unbothered by her inability to see where she was headed.
Wednesday by contrast, was different, walking heel to toe, she glided through the corridors, her hands clasped across her front.
“So,” she began reciting the script she had prepared, though thinking about it now it probably wasn’t best suited for the roommate she had gotten.
“Nevermore was founded in 1791 to educate people like us. Outcast freaks, monsters, fill in your favorite marginalized group here—“
“Save the sanitised sales pitch,” Wednesday interrupted.
Enid’s stomach fell, a jolt of dread consuming her.
“I don’t plan on staying here long”
“Oh,” Enid breathed, a burning sensation forming behind her eyes.
The voice began again, in her mind.
“Youve done it Enid, she hates you, she hate you so much that she doesn’t even want to stay at nevermore, all because you had to get too handsy and try to hug her,”
Enid stuttered, “W-Why not?”
“This is my parent’s plan. They’ve been looking for any excuse to send me here. It's all a part of their nefarious, yet completely obvious plan.”
Nefarious plans? Enid didn’t really understand what her roommate was saying now, Wednesdays parents had seemed perfectly charming in the small amount of time she had seen them.
And what about Nevermore would require a plan to convince someone to come? It’s by far the best and safest place for people like them.
“What plan?” Enid asked, curiosity overwhelming the voice in her mind.
“To turn me into a version of themselves.”
Enid blinked, she really didn’t think her new friend was making much sense, but surely once they got to know each other better she’d understand.
They arrived at a courtyard, and Enid took a deep breath, preparing to continue with what she had prepared, lying awake late the previous night.
“Here’s the quad” she said, watching as Wednesday took in the surrounding area.
The girls ages narrowed very slightly, almost imperceptibly.
“It’s a pentagon,” she stated, firmly.
Enid span round, quickly counting the walls. Wednesday was right, how on earth had she noticed that? Enid thought that the small girl probably would be a better study buddy than Yoko.
Shaking her head slightly, Enid continued.
“So, let’s give you a rundown on the different social groups—“
“I have no need to participate in tribal adolescent cliches” Wednesday interrupted.
Enid deflated slightly, folding in on herself, her knees bent slightly as she grasped her left hand in her right, her claws peaking through.
“please just humour me,” Enid practically whined, her blue eyes bulging.
Wednesdays dark brown eyes rolled slightly, and she let out a sigh.
Taking this as acceptance Enid continued, letting an excited squeak as she shot up, flexing her hands as excitement flooded her.
“So,” Enid flicked her hand and clicked her fingers, “there’s obviously a lot of different outcasts here, but generally they form four big cliques,” Enid reached her hands in front of herself and drew a circle towards her chest.
“Fangs, Furs, Stoners and scales,” for each one she punctuated with a flick of her hand.
Enid turned towards one of the groups.
“Fangs are the vampires, and much to their annoyance some have been here for decades,”
She waved shyly at Yoko, who was sitting in the table drinking a bag of blood.
“Then the furs are werewolves,” Enid hesitated for a moment, a sinking feeling in her stomach, “like me,” she added.
The other wolfs could be so, so horrible. Enid sometimes wished she wasn’t one at all, and she didn’t want her new friend to think she was like them. Or that she couldn’t wolf out.
“But don’t worry, I don’t really sit with them,”
Enid glanced at Wednesday, her pallid face unreadable.
Breathing in again, Enid continued.
“The scales are sirens, and that one,” she pointed towards one of the sirens, “she is Bianca Barclay, shes the closest thing nevermore has to—“
“Enid,” Wednesday interrupted. “You are rambling,”
Oh, Enid thought.
She had been rambling, she was barely even thinking about what she was saying.
Enid stood there, somewhat blank until a voice she recognised, one that made her stomach drop, but her heart soar.
“Hey Enid,” Ajax said, “you’ll never guess the gossip ive got on your new roommate, she seems totally insane, apparently she ate a kid at her old school, you’d better watch your back,”
For some reason, this irritated Enid slightly, she clenched her hand at the passing hint of anger.
Enid stepped back a pace, and Ajax jumped, seeing the very roommate behind her.
“On the contrary,” Wednesday spoke, smoothly, a slight something in her voice different that made Enid blink.
“I actually fillet the bodies of my victims, then feed them to my menagerie of pets.”
Ajax stood there gormlessly, while Enid looked down, not wanting to make eye contact with either of them.
“Err,” she began, cupping one hand in the other and scratching lightly, the fizzing in her stomach appearing again, “Ajax, this is my new roommate, Wednesday.”
“You’re in black and white, like an instagram filter,” he added, before scurrying away.
Enid bit her lower lip, “ignore him, gorgons like him spend half their time getting stoned,” Enid managed a giggle, “he’s cute but clueless.”
He was cute, wasn’t he? Enid thought, that’s why she put up with him, even if he was a little dumb. But he’s sweet, and kind, even if he is too dense to see her oh so obvious attempts to flirt.
Wednesdays eyes narrowed slightly at her, but then turned to see her parents.
“I’ll just, err go,” Enid spluttered, and scampered off towards Yoko.
…
Skipping slightly, Enid approached the door to her dorm.
She knew she hadn’t made a particularly great first impression with her roommate, but she hoped to smooth everything over in the evening.
Plastering a grin on her face, and breathing deeply to try to quench the building anxiety, she opened the door.
Everything was wrong.
Well not everything, technically, just half of everything, which really wasn’t much better to Enid.
Half the room had been completely stripped of colour, a perfect dividing line down the middle.
The feeling came roaring back, and Enid’s breath caught, small and shallow.
“What, what the hell are you doing?” Enid yelped.
“Dividing our room equally,” Wednesday stated, calmly, “it looks like a rainbow vomited on your side,”
“But,” Enid’s voice wavered as her roommate stood up and sat at her desk.
Enid’s head was wrapped in cloth, she couldn’t breathe, every inch of her skin was on fire.
Enid placed tow of her fingers on her neck, taking her pulse and breathing deeply, inhaling quickly to try to force the tears to stay put.
“And I’d appreciate it if you were silent, it is my writing time,”
“Your what,” Enid stumbled the words.
“I devote an hour a day to writing my novel, perhaps if you did your blog would be coherent.”
Enid pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle a sob, “it’s my voice, it’s how i… it’s how I communicate… it’s what my readers like,” she added, venom in her tone as anguish turned to rage.
Who did this bitch think she was? She came here, a guest, finally someone Enid could be friends with. For the first time Enid had a roommate, but principal Weems just had to partner her with the worst person in the world.
“Your readers are imbeciles, they respond to your posts with insipid little pictures,”
Enid sniffed, “you mean emojis” she spat. “It’s how people express their feelings, and that’s hard for some people, so you shouldn’t belittle them.”
Enid’s breathing was increasing, a rushing was building in her ears, and she felt an energy building, deep inside her, a slight snarl escaping.
“When I look at you, the following emojis come to mind. Rope. Shovel. Hole.”
And Enid deflated, spinning round she held her face in her hands as she tried desperately to hold back the pain in her eyes.
As she trotted back over to her side of the room, all she’d wanted was a friend, all she’d ever wanted.
Enid rummaged through her draw and pulled out her favourite jumper, orange and pink striped, Yoko had gotten it for her with a promise that she’d work it out at some point.
Enid knew what she was getting at of course, she wasn’t completely naive, despite what her mother said, but she was wrong.
Pulling it on, she sat on her bed, turning to glance at Wednesday, back at her desk typing away on her typewriter.
Enid pulled her noice cancelling headphone’s on, and turned her music up high.
🎶 I know, you wanted me to stay, but I can’t ignore the crazy visions of me in LA🎶
All her life, she’d never been enough, she was her mother’s only daughter, but the runt of the pack, a disappointment who would never find a mate.
🎶 I'm just having fun
On the stage in my heels, it's where I belong, down at the🎶
Nevermore had been a shining beacon, somewhere that she could belong at, but even there she was an outcast among her peers.
As the chorus of her song cycled around for the third time, she stifled a sob, as salt filled her mouth.
🎶 "God, what have you done?”🎶
And Enid felt a weight settle beside her…