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Nevermore’s high rock walls were beaten by the merciless late autumn rains. The downpour had lasted for days, making the gravel walkways into small rivers and stopping all outside activities.
The first few days had been fine, everyone in the castle enjoying the cosy time they could spend indoors, the fireplaces lit and the lights dimmed. But as day four rolled around, the air was heavy with discontentment. Everyone could feel it but it was the teachers of Nevermore that really took the brunt of the children’s ever changing energies.
It was lunchtime on day four and Larissa was sitting in her office, working on her computer as always. She herself wasn’t the biggest fan of the rain, but her wife and daughter adored it so over the years she had learned to tolerate it.
While she got to do a lot less teaching nowadays she was still amongst her peers and students daily to make sure everything was going well. She had been approached by several students in hopes of resuming the outside classes as well as sports, but she had had to decline to everyone's dismay.
Wet, cold feet were one of the biggest causes of sickness around this time of the year and having their entire being drenched wasn’t going to help. Not to mention Nevermore was by the water and there was flooding around the edge of the property. Resuming outside activities just simply didn’t feel like a smart move and if Larissa was anything, it was smart.
Her office door opened and closed and she raised her blue eyes to see who would dare to enter without knocking. When her eyes landed on the dark hair, perfectly placed in a bun on top of the woman's head, Larissa could feel her lips pull into a smile.
There were only two people who’d enter her office without knocking. One being her wife, who almost glided through the air to greet her with a kiss. The other was their daughter, but she often avoided coming by during the day.
Her two extraordinary women.
It wasn’t lost on Larissa that her wife was trying to ease her long fingers into her hair as their kiss got deeper and deeper by the second. It was lunchtime so there was nowhere for either of them to be and every part of Larissa wanted to give into her own personal temptress.
But as she gently lifted her palms against her wife’s cheeks to pull her closer, the door banged open and hit the wall behind it.
The women sprung apart, both of them too busy to find out who had entered to fix their lipstick. Part of Larissa had expected Wednesday because who else would it be, but when she was met with a pink jumper and light hair, confusion took over.
Enid was Wednesday’s roommate. The beginning of their coexistence had been a bit rocky but they had found their way faster than the two mothers had anticipated. They were polar opposites in every way but the old saying about opposites attracting was very accurate when it came to the two young girls.
It was very much in Enid’s nature to talk your ear off if she got a chance to get started, but she was rather timid and soft when it came to the way she acted. So her barging into her principals office without as much as a knock was out of character.
Morticia managed to work through her shock faster than Larissa and she approached the upset teenager swiftly. Only now did Larissa notice that there were tears spilling from Enid’s eyes.
“Sweetheart.” Morticia’s voice was low, concern easily detectable. “Are you alright?”
Ragged sobs were pushing their way out of Enid and she shook her head wildly. Larissa felt herself return to her body and shot up to close the door. She doubted it would do Enid any good to have another student witness her private sorrows.
Morticia was trying to ask the young girl more questions but Enid was unable to answer her. She kept on whining and sobbing, wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her pink sweater.
Larissa met Morticia’s eyes over Enid’s head and nodded towards the couch by the fire. Morticia took the hint and started to direct Enid towards the fireplace. Sitting her down was easy, it was very clear the girl didn’t even really notice she was being moved.
Morticia didn’t hesitate to sit next to the girl and after another shared eye contact, Larissa sat on her other side. They all sank into the warm couch together, Enid now noticing she was sandwiched between her teacher and principal.
She had managed to stop sobbing but her lower lip wobbled too much for her to even try and talk. Gently, Morticia started to comb her hand through Enid’s hair, like a mother would to sooth her child. Larissa could see the softness in Morticia’s eyes.
They both knew Enid didn’t come from a happy home. She was often neglected due to the sheer amount of siblings she had and they had recently found out about the emotional abuse surrounding her turning. She was very much a werewolf but she was just taking a bit longer to turn for the first time.
The way Enid was now desperately leaning against Morticia’s shoulder was a heart breaking reminder that you could never really judge a book by its cover. You never knew what other people were going through.
They sat like that for a long while, and slowly Enid calmed down. There were no more fresh tears and her lower lip didn’t wobble. Her eyes were red and she looked exhausted, but otherwise fine.
Larissa excused herself for a bit to go get them all something to eat from her quarters, which left Morticia alone with Enid. Her hand never stopped combing through Enid’s short hair and Enid didn’t seem to be in a rush to move away.
“Will you tell me what happened?” Morticia asked gently, not wanting to cause another meltdown. The feelings of teenagers were nothing to play with.
Enid was quiet but she didn’t tense up which was a relief. Maybe they were going to be able to get to the bottom of this without any more tears.
They sat in silence for long time, Enid staring intently into the roaring fire and Morticia combing through her hair. The dark haired woman was starting to get a bit worried, unsure if she had pushed too hard. She had a very good relationship with Enid, while they too were polar opposites of each other. The young blonde worked hard on her grades and she was really embracing Nevermore as a sanctuary and a place to find herself. It made Morticia often think back to the time she and Larissa had been young, because Nevermore had always been a safe haven to them as well. It warmed her heart to see that Nevermore truly continued to be a safe place, just like Larissa wanted.
“I had a fight with someone.” The confession was uttered quietly and without a warning, partly muffled onto Morticia’s shoulder. “And I don’t know what will happen now.”
Morticia had a sudden horrible feeling and she looked over to the door of Larissa’s quarters. Enid had a lot of friends but none of them managed to rile her up like Wednesday did. If the girls had had a fight this bad they also had to check in on their daughter, although it was unlikely Wednesday was going to be crying into her shoulder about it.
“Oh yeah? What was the fight about?” Morticia knew it was going to be like pulling teeth to get any information from Wednesday so when they eventually talked to her it would be good if she at least knew what the fight was about.
“She didn’t like that I was spending the rainy days with Ajax.”
Aaah. The mothers had noticed that Wednesday wasn’t the biggest fan of her male peers but she seemed to have something venomous against Ajax who had taken quite of a shine to Enid. He was around a lot these days.
“I’m assuming-”
That was when Larissa re-entered and Enid instantly perked up. Larissa was carrying a huge tray filled with food, three plates so very clearly different. One had several small tacos nearly organised so they wouldn’t spill everywhere and the second had a small bowl of something that looked like vegetable soup and a sandwich. The third one however held a sizable pile of steaks that looked to be on the rarer side.
“I’m so sorry it took me so long, my dears.” Larissa apologised as she put the tray down on the coffee table. “Enid, I had to double check your student form for allergies, but it turns out you don’t have any.”
Enid had sat up properly and her pupils had dilated. You couldn’t even see the colour of her eyes. Very evidently the young werewolf had not eaten since breakfast.
“I would appreciate you using a knife and a fork, but you eat how you see fit, dear.” Larissa offered her the plate and the cutlery which Enid took happily. Larissa and Morticia took their plates and a step away from the couch for some privacy. When they looked over, Enid was trying to focus on using the knife to cut her meat but whenever she thought her teachers weren’t looking, she used her hands and took massive bites that would put a grown man to shame.
“What did you find out?” Larissa whispered as she lifted her bowl of soup closer to her face. She didn’t eat up standing a lot but today was truly not the kind of day she was expecting, so why the hell not.
“Apparently the girls had an argument about Ajax.” Morticia whispered, before reaching for one of the tacos. She sent an adoring smile towards her wife before taking a bite. She chewed calmly which gave Larissa time to consider what she had just heard.
“He has been around more than normally.” Larissa agreed as she looked over at the werewolf, now happily using utensils while eating her steaks. “I didn’t think that was going to be such a big deal though.”
Morticia gave her wife a pointed look but Larissa was really struggling to understand the meaning of it. They had heard Wednesday complain about her peers and yes, it did seem like she had something against Ajax in particular, but Larissa hadn’t thought too much about it.
“Why do you think Wednesday is so angry about Ajax coming around all the time? Especially during a time like this, when most of the classes are cancelled and there is a lot of time to be spent with your friends.” Morticia’s eyes were shining and she nodded her head meaningfully. “With the people you care about.”
Larissa was taking silent spoonful's of her soup, while meeting her wife’s eyes. Maybe it was the stress and pressure of the last few days, or maybe she was just being completely and utterly clueless, but she couldn’t really catch Morticia’s drift.
It seemed her wife had come to the same conclusion as she rolled her eyes with a smile.
“Larissa, Wednesday has a crush on Enid."
That caused Larissa to almost choke on her sandwich and had to hastily place her bowl of soup on the table to be able to breathe through the coughs. That alerted Enid from her meal and the blonde hurried over, concern painted on her face.
“Are you alright, Principal Weems?”
Food and a listening ear had clearly been what Enid needed as the girl was looking and sounding much more like herself. She looked worriedly between her teacher and principal, but Morticia placed a calming hand on her shoulder.
“I think Larissa just swallowed wrong, didn’t you, my love?” Morticia sounded amused above anything else. That seemed to calm down both Larissa’s coughing and it soothed Enid’s worries.
Larissa excused herself to wipe her face and fix her lipstick, which both women knew was just a tactic to buy herself some more time. Morticia took this opportunity to talk to Enid a bit more. She led them back to the couch where she resumed eating her lunch.
“You spoke about Ajax spending time with you.” And as Enid nodded, the raven haired woman continued. “How does that make you feel?”
Enid looked down at her hands, clearly giving the question a lot of thought. She looked torn and worried once again, but Morticia was more than happy to give her all the time she needed.
“It’s nice to have someone to hang out with when Wednesday is busy. I also heard from the others that he has a crush on me. “ A light blush rose to the otherwise pale cheeks.
Morticia couldn’t help but smile. She could remember how it felt like to be a teenager and have a crush. Granted there was a lot of emotional turmoil that came with blossoming romantic feelings, but that was a whole other thing.
“I see.” Morticia hummed. She wanted to know more but she felt almost bad asking. It was none of her business unless it affected either teenager negatively, and was therefore brought to her attention.
It seemed, however, that Enid felt comfortable sharing with her teacher.
“I don’t like him like that.” Enid muttered. She raised her eyes towards Morticia’s and the older woman let the young werewolf seek what she needed in her dark eyes. She clearly found what she was looking for as a wide smile spread on her lips.
“I do like Wednesday though.”
Now it was Morticia’s turn to try and handle her shock, as she nearly choked on saliva. The coughs were making her eyes water and Enid was trying to help her, by patting her frantically on the back. Werewolf genes gave her patting quite a punch, which Morticia found surprisingly helpful.
The coughs ended as soon as they had started and all that was left for the dark haired woman to do, was to take deep breaths. Morticia prided herself as someone who could read people and anticipate certain scenarios. She had not expected this.
“Are you alright, Professor Weems?” Enid did sound worried again, her hand resting on Morticia’s shoulder. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You didn’t, Enid.” Morticia didn’t want the blonde to think even for a second that she was upset about the news, because she wasn’t. Quite the opposite. “You just caught me by surprise, that’s all.”
Bringing one of her fingers up to her lips, the young werewolf started to chew on her nail nervously. Morticia felt bad for the young girl, as she clearly did not believe her.
“Enid, I promise you. I’m happy to hear you like Wednesday, however, it’s not my place to intervene. You two have to figure this one out yourselves.” Morticia knew that her wife would find it hard not to meddle, but it wasn’t their place to play matchmaker. “However, I can talk to her about your argument. That is somewhat my business as your teacher.” She winked at Enid who laughed for the first time since barging into the office.
“Thank you, Professor Weems.” Enid smiled before standing up. She looked happier and much more content than before. “I think I need to set some boundaries with a certain gorgon. I will see you tomorrow in class.”
With those words, she turned around and marched out of the office.
Morticia was left staring after her, her thoughts a tree-uprooting fall storm. There were so many things occupying her mind, a lot of which she couldn’t wait to talk to her wife about.
Speak of the devil.
“Well, she has surely given us a lot to think about.” Larissa had managed to silently walk behind Morticia and was leaning her arms on the back of the couch. “What’s on the top of your mind, my love?”
“I don’t really think this is something we should meddle in.” Morticia spoke, turning to look at her wife. “I know you want to, and I feel the urge to do it myself, but they have to be allowed to find their way to each other.”
“That’s how great love stories are made.” Larissa smiled down at her wife before pressing a small kiss onto the pale forehead. “We do need to talk to Wednesday about the argument though. If it got Enid this upset, she must have said some very unkind things that are simply unacceptable. Not just as a student but as our daughter.”
Morticia agreed and they stared into the fireplace in silence for a minute.
“She is going to be so annoyed at us.” Morticia muttered, feeling unsure for the first time all day. “Talking about normal emotions is already hard enough with her, but I don’t know how upset she will get when it’s about Enid.”
Larissa rounded the couch and came to sit next to her wife. It wasn’t often Morticia showed such obvious signs of worry as the dark haired woman was always so level headed and sure. Things didn’t often worry her the way they did others and that was one of the qualities Larissa particularly adored about her wife.
“I know it won’t necessarily be a happy, joyful conversation but it’s one we need to have.” Larissa kept her tone calm and gentle. “You know that and I know that. While Wednesday can be a bit hard headed sometimes, we never raised her to be cruel.”
“We raised a good girl.” Morticia smiled, because they truly had. Wednesday made them proud daily and they loved her with all their heart. She was the centre of their collective universe.
“So let’s go talk to her.” Larissa hummed, rising from the couch and extending her hand towards her wife. Morticia didn’t hesitate to lace their fingers together and allowed herself to be pulled towards the huge doors that attached them to the rest of the school.
The lunchtime was over but neither of the women were needed anywhere for the afternoon as most classes were still cancelled due to rain. Larissa had peeked on Wednesday’s schedule and found that their daughter was one of the many who didn’t currently have any afternoon classes.
There was only one place their daughter would be in after a fight with someone she was close to and that was her room. In peace, quiet and privacy.
The walk to their daughters dorm room took a while as the school was large and filled with staircases but it always felt just as nostalgic. It felt like a lovely evening stroll, walking hand in hand through corridors and enjoying the sound of rain against the walls outside.
Larissa reached over to knock on the heavy wooden door when they finally made it. It didn’t take long for them to hear stomping footsteps and they changed a quick glance.
The door was torn open in a huff and they came face to face with their daughter. The signature braids on both sides of her head had not a hair out of place and she was still sporting her school uniform.
But what did surprise the mothers were the words tumbling out of their daughter’s mouth.
“Enid, you have to forgi-”
When she realised who was at the door, Wednesday snapped her mouth shut with a speed of light. She looked out of place and shocked to her core.
“Starlight, are you alright?” Larissa asked, her moment of amusement turning into worry. Today was truly one of the strangest days, new twists around every corner.
“Yes, of course.” Wednesday worked through her shock with record speed and opened the door more fully to let her parents in. The two women didn’t hesitate and they made their way further in.
The two sides of the room could not be more different even if they tried. Whereas Wednesday favoured the blackest of blacks, both in her furniture and décor, as well as her clothes, Enid’s side looked like the centre of a rainbow. Truly the flipsides but somehow similar in the things that mattered.
“What brings you by?” Wednesday inquired when she closed the door behind them. She made sure to lock it which made both mothers raise their eyebrows.
“I stopped by your Mama’s office for lunch today.” Morticia started, walking towards the window in the middle of the two rooms. “We were about to have a very delicious meal, before someone barged into our office, crying their little eyes out.”
Larissa almost choked on her own saliva when her wife spoke about their lunch plans. Delicious meal indeed.
“Imagine our surprise when we realised it was Enid.” Morticia turned around to make eye contact with their daughter, her dark eyes piercing. Larissa admired her wife’s dramatic flare and she couldn’t help but be in awe of her.
Morticia was a perfect mother.
“Why do you think your roommate would barge in on her principal's office, crying her eyes out and barely unable to talk?” Morticia wondered, taking measured steps towards the middle of the room. She stopped and silently regarded Wednesday who was still standing by the door.
Wednesday was someone who was able to hide all emotion from her face and she stared at her mother with a stoic look. It took a long time before anyone spoke and it ended up being Wednesday. Breaking first wasn’t in her nature so she looked ever so slightly nauseous at losing.
“I couldn’t fathom.”
“I could.” Morticia hummed, crossing her arm over her chest. “She told me there had been an argument between you two. I have seen my fair share of teenage drama and I have helped many through meltdowns over the years. But never have I had someone sob into my shoulder so helplessly as Enid.”
That made Wednesday break their eye contact as she looked down to her shoes. She was moving her feet a bit against the floor in a small shuffling motion, which was her rare nervous habit.
“We argued, it’s not a big deal.” Wednesday eventually muttered, not meeting either of his mothers eyes that were zeroed on her.
“I think it is a big deal.” Morticia spoke, her tone dropping in temperature. “I know Enid is very good with her words, but I also know you, my dearest. I know you are just as word ready but in a different way. What did you say to Enid?”
It wasn’t often Wednesday showed remorse and regret but both emotions were easy to read on her face. She closed her eyes for a long time, never lifting her head.
“Unkind things, Mom. Very mean things.” The mutters were so quiet the mothers could barely hear them. Wednesday seemed genuinely upset, which made both mothers take hurried steps closer.
Knowing their child’s boundaries, they didn’t reach out for her but merely hovered around her. Wednesday would seek them out for comfort if she felt like that was what she wanted.
“You do know that that’s wrong, don’t you, my little bat?” Larissa asked gently, her blue eyes laser focused on her daughter in front of her. “No matter how upset you are, you can’t go around saying terrible things and hurting other people’s feelings.”
“But she doesn’t understand.” Wednesday said, more defiant now than upset which was a positive sign. “She just keeps bringing him here and I’m done with it.”
The two women exchanged a meaningful look over their daughters head. Now they were getting somewhere. It wasn’t going to be this easy though.
“Enid did mention Ajax.” Larissa mused out loud.
Wednesday snapped her head up so fast both mothers took a step back in surprise. Her eyes were filled with venom, the few blue specks in her eyes nearly shining.
“What did she say about him? How he is always around and I can’t get a moment of peace? How much she laughs at his jokes? How much she likes him?” Wednesday sounded angry, the molten lava nearly pushing out of her ears. “He is a disgusting waste of a human, dumb as a blasted rock and someone who should have nothing to do with us.”
The hatred was plain for anyone to see, but there was certain desperation in her voice. She looked wild, like her outbursts were out of her control and she was letting out steam she had been holding in for far too long.
Larissa looked at her daughter, feeling her heart squeeze painfully. Wednesday was going through something they all had when they were younger and Larissa herself could remember how hard it had been to like someone who she didn’t know for sure liked her back.
“Sweetheart.” Larissa muttered sadly. She wasn’t really sure how to handle this without meddling but she was going to try. “It’s alright for you to dislike someone, but you can’t take it out on Enid. She has done nothing wrong, as she is free to spend time with whoever she wants to. If she brings him here and you don’t like that, you have to communicate that to her, instead of blowing up.”
“But Mama, he makes me so angry.” Wednesday was nearly shaking. “I don’t want him anywhere near Enid.”
“And why is that?” Larissa asked softly, trying to get her daughter to understand without having to spell it out for her. This was the first time Wednesday had shown any romantic interest towards anyone so there was no telling how she was going to handle this.
“”Because he…” Wednesday quieted mid sentence and looked down once more. She looked deep in thought, like she was playing back moments and analysing them all over again.
Morticia reached for Larissa’s hand, pulling their bodies together. They allowed their child all the time she needed to think it over and to feel what she needed to feel. Neither of them were particularly lucky with their parents so they wanted to give their daughter all she needed to figure herself out.
Wednesday lifted her head and looked at her parents thoughtfully. When she was deep in thought she wasn’t as good at filtering the emotions on her face and she looked curious, like she was realising things she hadn’t even considered before.
Where her eyes landed and stayed on were her parents' hands, wrapped around each other and fingers laced tightly together.
“I think I want to hold her hand.” Wednesday muttered, very quietly, maybe more to herself than to her parents but the two women heard it nonetheless.
“Is that why you don’t like Ajax?” Morticia asked just as quietly.
“Seeing him anywhere near her makes me want to kill him with nothing but a rusty fork.” Wednesday muttered, her eyes flashing. “But yes, I suppose those two are connected somehow.” She almost sounded amused as she looked up to her parents.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Larissa reached over and ghosted her fingers around Wednesday’s cheek in a request for permission. Without saying anything, Wednesday pressed her cheek into her mothers palm for a short moment before taking a step back.
“For now, no. I think there is someone else I need to talk to first.” Wednesday nodded, like she was making a deal with herself. “I will come to you if I need anything.”
“Please don’t hesitate. We are always here for you, starlight.” Morticia whispered with a small smile on her face. She pulled Larissa with her towards the door, the conversation reaching its end. It was clear that Wednesday needed time and space right now.
“Like mothers, like daughter.” Wednesday quipped after them, which made Larissa almost stumble in her heels on their way out the door.
Turning to look at their daughter, they could see a smirk spread wide on her face.
“Like mothers indeed.” Morticia muttered as they closed the door behind them.