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Sometimes Larissa would reminisce about the old days. A Nevermore long gone. She’d sit at her desk, in her office, and wonder what life would've been if she had just been honest. Because in all honesty? Larissa Weems was a liar. She lied to the city, she lied to her students, and she lied to herself.
She justified it of course. This school was hers to protect, its children hers to guide. Its halls hers to walk. Its secrets, hers to keep. Hiding the dark shadows that lurked in the decades old campus was best for everyone. She did as she must, and life went on. Until they arrived.
The email was unexpected, and brought up demons and devils Larissa had kept padlocked in her mind. Yes she reminisced on her youth, but only a very select few moments. It had worked wonderfully until Morticia Addams had sent word. A daughter. And a son. Larissa, as any good principal would, replied promptly and arranged a meeting.
However Larissa the woman, was a storm. That night she stared at her ceiling in her chambers, the light of the moon spilling through her curtains and onto the duvet. She couldn't sleep. Not with them on her mind. With her on her mind.
Morticia. A wicked woman, a temptress and trouble maker, Larissa had known it the moment they met. Larissa walked into her dorm and found the other girl running a comb through waist length black hair, as dark as night. If her hair was the night, then Morticia was herself the moon.
And Larissa? Larissa was the ocean. Helpless against the pull, falling faster than she ever had for anyone or anything before. The moment Morticia opened her mouth and introduced herself, Larissa Weems was a goner.
She wrote their names in her notebooks, Morticia’s always came first. She always came first. Larissa followed. It was how things were. When Morticia wanted to join a club, Larissa did too. When Morticia wanted to sit outside for lunch, Larissa did too.
When Morticia wanted to ask a boy on a date…Larissa almost confessed on the spot. But Larissa was the ocean. Morticia was the moon. Morticia led, she followed.
Gomez Addams was a kind enough boy. Larissa was smarter than him. Taller than him. Better than him. Perhaps that was why it hurt so bad to see them walking together. Gomez was energetic and kind. Loud and funny and popular in a way Larissa could never be. She could see the love in Morticia’s eyes. It gnawed at her chest like a wolf on an elk bone. It eroded her away.
Every day Morticia loved Gomez was a day Larissa loved harder. She helped Morticia pick out clothes for a secret rendezvous. She helped her ask him to go steady. She listened every night to something new about the man Morticia liked. It could've been anything. His hair that day, his attempts at wooing her with black roses only for him to prick himself on the thorns…The way he laughed. It made Larissa want to cry.
When Morticia started hanging with his friends, choosing him over her, Larissa worked harder. If Morticia was leaving her behind for Gomez, so be it. She was already better than Gomez, but she would become better than Morticia too. That would solve everything. She started rising. She was a tsunami. She aced her exams, she joined all the clubs. She danced her heart out with a boy she couldn't remember the name of at a dance she didn't want to be at. Hoping Morticia would see.
It was Gomez who did. He approached her one afternoon and congratulated her on her achievements. Started rambling about how impressive his girlfriend's best friend was. At how he admired her intellect and thanked her for helping Morticia get the courage to ask him out. He was genuine. He meant every word. And for it Larissa could not find it in her to hate him.
Morticia was the moon. Larissa was the ocean.
Gomez was the sun.
And sometimes, when the moon was up and the night was quiet…Larissa would look like her. She’d stare at herself, at Morticia Addams in her bedroom mirror, and mouth to herself the words: “I love you too”.
Just so she could feel what it was like.