Chapter Text
DAY 0.1
Enid Sinclair had survived cursed mirrors, banshees in the greenhouse, and one very awkward first kiss in the middle of a full moon ritual. But nothing—absolutely nothing—compared to the horror of her mother’s voice echoing through her phone.
“I’ve lined up three dinner dates, Enid,” Esther Sinclair cooed sweetly, that sickly-sweet tone laced with a firmness Enid knew too well.
“All proper boys from good families. You’ll love them. One of them even leads his pack’s strategy council.”
Enid gripped the phone tighter, her claws twitching just beneath the skin. She stared through the glass of the greenhouse, across the horizon. She watched the few birds flew in the sky. She wished she were one of them—able to just fly away, far from the storm that was her mother.
“Mom,” she said through clenched teeth, “I told you—I’m not interested in being set up.”
“You said that last semester, too. Still single, still sleeping through the full moons alone. Love, this isn’t healthy. You need a real werewolf by your side. Someone who understands what it means to run wild.”
Enid’s jaw tightened. It was always the same argument. The same tone. The same disappointment thinly veiled behind concern.
“I am healthy,” she snapped. “I’ve got fencing, track, top marks in magical theory, and literally no time to babysit a boy who thinks dominance means flexing his biceps every time I speak.”
“So tell me when I should come by. I’ll bring them with me to dinner. You’ll see—once you’re in the same room, instincts will kick in. It’s biology.”
Enid felt the dread swell in her throat. She could already picture it—another awkward dinner in the Jericho inn dining room, her mother batting her lashes at some smug wolf boy while Enid played nice and pretended to be interested in how fast he could shift.
Her pulse spiked. Her heart was pounding too loudly. She couldn’t do this. Not again. Not this year.
So the words came before her brain could stop them.
“I can’t,” she blurted. “Because… actually, I’m already seeing someone.”
Silence.
The kind of silence that screamed on the other end of the line.
“Oh?” Esther said slowly. “Who?”
Enid looked around her room in panic. Her eyes darted across the photos taped to her walls, the mismatched socks strewn across her rug, the pink fuzzy jacket hanging from her chair. No answers there.
“She’s—she’s not from the pack,” she said, too quickly. “She’s different. And amazing. And she makes me really happy, okay?”
“She?”
“Yes. She. It's a girl. My girlfriend.” The lie came out cleaner this time. Too clean.
There was a pause. Then her mother’s voice softened, calculated.
“Well, I must meet her.”
Click.
The call ended.
Enid stared at her screen like it had betrayed her. Slowly, she lowered the phone and dropped her head back onto her pillow, groaning loud enough to make the curtains rustle.
“Congratulations, Sinclair,” she muttered to herself. “You just fake-gay-dated yourself into a corner.”
By the time she dragged herself to the quad that lunch, her hair was tied up in a half-hearted ponytail and her heart still thumped unevenly from panic. The rest of her friend group was already lounging across the courtyard’s worn stone benches, half-eaten snacks and gossip floating in the air.
Yoko looked up first. She pulled down her sunglasses just enough to raise one sharp brow. “You look like a rejected extra from a soap opera.”
“Feel like one,” Enid mumbled, collapsing next to her.
Divina passed her a juice box without a word. Bianca glanced over the rim of her smoothie.
“Bad day or your-mother-called kind of day?”
Enid took a long sip from the juice box and sighed. “My mom’s coming to visit in three days.”
Groans echoed around the group like a choir of mutual trauma.
“Ten days,” Enid said miserably. “She’s staying in Jericho. And she’s bringing—wait for it—werewolf boys. Three of them. Dinners. Setups. Whole nine yards.”
“Tell her you’ve got rabies,” Ajax offered helpfully.
“Tried that last year,” Enid said. “Didn’t work. She just brought me immunity potions.”
Bianca snorted.
“And then,” Enid continued dramatically, “because I’m a stupid, panicked disaster of a human being… I lied. I told her I’m already dating someone. A girl.”
Everyone froze.
Yoko nearly choked on her gum. “You what?”
“She was cornering me! I panicked!” Enid buried her face in her hands. “Now she wants to meet her. What the hell am I supposed to do?! I don’t have a girlfriend!”
“You do have an overactive imagination and no impulse control,” Bianca said dryly.
And then—
“That could be arranged.”
The voice was low, calm, and very, very familiar.
Enid’s head snapped up. Standing behind her, arms folded, expression completely unreadable, was Wednesday Addams.
“You want to… help me lie to my mom?” Enid asked, not even trying to hide her confusion.
“I find the concept… interesting,” Wednesday said. Her dark eyes flicked to the rest of the group, then back to Enid. “A ten-day social deception. Emotional mimicry. Controlled chaos. I accept.”
Enid blinked. “You… accept what?”
Wednesday looked bored, she shrugged before answering. “To be your fake paramour, naturally.”
“You’re not serious.” Enid replied.
“I’m always serious.” Wednesday said calmly.
The group was stunned into silence.
“Well, I vote yes,” Ajax said with a grin. “This is gonna be hilarious.”
Enid’s face was burning. Her heart was racing. Wednesday’s offer sat in the air like a ticking bomb. There was no smirk, no sarcasm. Just Wednesday’s usual deadpan and an unsettling stillness—like she’d already planned every move.
“But… why?” Enid asked softly. “You don’t even like people, let alone pretending to date one.”
“I’m curious,” Wednesday said simply. “And bored. And you look like a cornered animal. It would be cruel not to interfere.”
Enid opened her mouth. Then closed it.
“Ten days,” she said slowly. “No feelings. No strings. Just pretend.”
Wednesday extended her hand. “Agreed.”
And Enid—heart pounding, stomach flipping, brain short-circuiting—reached out and shook it. Wednesday nodded and walked away.
The lie had begun. And there was no turning back now.