Chapter Text
Red hair dye swirled down the sink’s drain, leaving a dark residue on the previously-white porcelain. Enid grimaced as her gloved hands scrunched up her friend’s hair to properly wash it out now, a painful hour of work already having gone into Yoko’s last minute idea.
”Yoko,” Enid sighed after a couple minutes of silence, “I hope you know I’m never doing this again.”
The girl in question breathed out a laugh as her head turned to face Enid at an awkward angle, her head still low onto the countertop. “At least the end result will look good, though. No need to be a drama queen.”
It was Enid’s turn to laugh and she finally removed her hands from the freshly dyed, damp hair. An eye roll escaped her, too, and she removed her gloves with a loud snap that echoed through their private bathroom reserved for employees or those who performed at the shows.
”No offense, but you can hardly tell the difference since your hair is dark already—“ she began.
”So you agree there’s still a little bit of a difference?” Yoko pointed out with a smirk.
Enid tossed her dirtied gloves into the nearby trash can and suddenly moved to twist the sink’s knob before Yoko could say anything else stupid. Cold water shot out of the facet and splattered Yoko’s hair and face, trickling down into her eyes as Enid started giggling.
The older girl sputtered water out of her mouth, eyes shut tightly, as she managed to stand up properly and wipe her eyes free of any water. Enid laughed throughout the whole sight, and Yoko was the one to turn off the tap, immediately turning toward her band mate to attempt to make an angry face before it faltered and she laughed with her.
She grabbed multiple towels from the paper towel dispenser and began wiping her face off as she handed a few to Enid so she could begin cleaning up their mess on the sink— no way they would get on the floor, though.
“You’re right, you know,” Yoko broke the silence as she tossed her paper towels into the trash can. Enid looked over with a raised eyebrow. “About it being pointless dyeing my hair. I know it’s not really noticeable, but I didn’t have time to bleach it beforehand, and I totally just needed to make a drastic change to myself.”
A mix of a laugh and scoff left Enid’s mouth. “I think maybe switching up your outfit or something instead of last-minute dyeing your hair would’ve been a better option. I mean, imagine the girls’ night that we could’ve had while doing this at home instead of in some bar bathroom!”
Okay, Enid did have a point.
The blonde crumpled up the brown towels and threw them away once she wiped up the sink and countertop the best she could. She leaned against the now dry counter then, watching Yoko finish up and toss the rest of the paper towels away.
As Yoko to moved to lean against the counter too, she continued. “It wouldn’t have the same effect. My outfits are perfect as-is anyway. Dyeing my hair is a sign I’m going crazy, and I need the world to know.”
She dragged her hands down her face as she gave a dramatic sigh that made Enid lightly push her shoulder and smile.
“God, Yoko, you are so dramatic.”
Yoko looked up, hands still cradling her face. “Dramatic, but right.”
“Look, just because your girlfriend isn’t playing guitar tonight doesn’t mean we’re not performing at all, okay?” Enid reminded. When she got the call from Yoko that Divina had been throwing up all morning an hour ago, she had to calm down her frantic friend and let her know they still have a show, whether they liked it or not.
Unfortunately for Divina, it was their first real gig, with a large crowd, and they couldn’t just bail. If anything, that’d make them look like a flakey band, and then they wouldn’t be hired at bars or given gigs anymore with a bad reputation right off the bat. That was the last thing they wanted— especially Enid. Once she realized how scary being an astronaut was, her next goal was to be a cool and famous musician, and she’d felt that way when she was ten and first heard Deftones.
Suddenly, the girl gripped onto Enid’s t-shirt for dear life, burying her head into Enid’s shoulder with a groan. Enid tensed for a moment from shock before placing a comforting hand on her friend’s back. As dramatic as she was, Enid understood being scared. They’d planned this out for weeks and now her girlfriend woke up too sick to get out of bed, changing the plans they prepared so hard for.
“Fuck colds,” Yoko muttered to nobody but herself and the universe.
“It really will be okay,” the blonde meekly assured with a sad smile. “We still have that guitarist showing up tonight. She’ll be here any minute... if she isn’t already.
Yoko removed her face from being tucked away and shook her head, crossing her arms.
“She’s my roommate, Enid. She said she might show up if she didn’t have better things to do! That’s not solid! And it’s not like we could’ve canceled, you know? If there’s a chance she could come, we have to take it.” She paused before groaning, wishing that Divina could’ve been here.
Yoko rarely talked about her ominous roommate mainly due to the fact that she saw her maybe once a day if she were lucky. And if she did, it was rarer to be given a response or greeting upon seeing each other. Enid knew that much about the mystery girl.
“She’ll be here. You’ll know her when you see her,” she said eventually.
“You’re going to be the one looking for her. I’ll be too busy mourning while looking at photos of my poor, sick, and bedridden girlfriend,” Yoko replied with a long sigh. Maybe she’d die before they could go on, and before she’d have the chance to complain and internally panic any more about the horrible situation she was shoved into.
Enid rolled her eyes at that. “One, she’s not dead. Two, I have no idea what your roommate even looks like. I totally forgot you even had one until tonight after you informed me that you begged for her to fill in for Divina. How am I supposed to look for her?”
“She’s super pale and dressed in all black all the time, with braids,” Yoko explained in a monotone, bored voice. She just wanted to go home already and coddle her girlfriend instead of Kent having to help out and be a potential accidental idiot as he tried his best. “She’s also super creepy. You’ll know her when you see her, I promise. I believe in you, you’ll see her and you’ll tell me if she shows up.”
“How descriptive,” Enid replied sarcastically. Almost everyone tonight was wearing black out there— even they were— and a lot of girls braid their hair. Yoko wasn’t being helpful.
Yoko threw her hands up in defense and stood up straight again. “Hey, that’s the best I can describe her.”
The younger girl gave a disbelieving look at that. She had trouble imagining this girl as someone that stood out enough to recognize her as a mystery roommate, but she chose to remain silent on it.
She took a look at Yoko and her slightly-wet hair then.
“How about you use the hand-drier for your hair and I’ll go out and see when we’re on,” she suggested. Yoko put her hand through her hair and frowned when it came out wet.
“Yeah, okay,” she agreed. She sighed deeply. “Let’s hope Addams is here.”
Addams. That was an interesting name.
She did as she planned and walked over to the door, and as she opened it she heard the sound of the drier loudly working behind her, and nearly collided with a smiling Bianca the moment she took a step outside the bathroom and closed the door.
“Hey,” Enid said, looking into a pair of bright blue eyes lit with happiness, as the door shut.
“Hey,” Bianca said, looking nothing short of relieved. “Addams actually showed up, believe it or not.”
“I knew she would,” Enid admitted. She had no real reason to believe otherwise. Yoko was just paranoid. “ She’s your freaking roommate, of course she would.”
It was then Bianca realized she had no idea who this girl was. She stared blankly at the optimistic grinning girl before her, clueless.
“Addams is hardly our roommate, Sinclair,” she said eventually, her voice low. “She technically lives with us but she’s never even home. Her schedule is super weird, and she doesn’t come home until early in the morning while we’re asleep. Yoko had to wake up at 5am to catch her and beg for her to substitute as a guitarist for tonight. She only agreed to do it if Yoko cleaned the whole apartment.”
“Hm. Yoko didn’t mention that last part,” Enid pointed out, her smile never fading as it transformed into laughter. “She probably won’t follow through.”
The singer laughed. “Well, she better. If she doesn’t, Addams will definitely kill her.” Enid laughed again, only stopping when Bianca went on. “No, seriously. We think she’s never home because she’s some murderer or something on the loose. Yoko has this crazed theory that she chops people up in a garage and hides out in there.”
“What?!” Enid asked, wide eyed. Her mouth opened and fear surged through her. Was she about to meet some insane killer and have to be around her for the whole night and act normal? Would she have to call the cops? Would she be a witness in court if Addams was caught in public?
“That, or maybe she’s staying at guys’ houses or something,” Bianca finished with furrowed brows. She paused, tilting her head momentarily with raised eyes, deep in thought. “Or girls.”
Enid blinked and a second later a girl’s voice came from behind Bianca, the singer’s eyes then widening from surprise as she heard the monotone voice speak.
“I am not a serial killer,” she’d said flatly. Bianca moved to the side so Enid could properly see her and holy shit was she gorgeous. No words could describe how pretty she really was. Yoko downplayed her so much.
Her eyes were a deep brown, her lips a perfect shape, her braids neatly done, and dressed in layered clothes that looked twice her size. “Though, if I were, I would never admit it. Especially not to you people.”
Those last words fell on deaf ears as all Enid could do was stare at the gorgeous woman.
Did she even know how pretty she was? Seeing her now, Enid could easily imagine her having a boyfriend that could in no way be in her league. Her lips were pursed, her eyes dark and glaring with suiting eye bags underneath, and freckles splayed out all over her face.
She was one of the prettiest people Enid has seen in her entirely of nineteen years of life.
Enid wanted to be her best friend immediately.
“Wednesday, Enid. Enid, Wednesday,” Bianca introduced shortly, hand moving back and forth in either girl’s direction to point toward each of them. The two were already looking at each other, one a judgmental stare, the other with a look that could only be described as puppy-eyed.
“Howdy!” Enid said, voice higher from excitement with a smile evident in her tone. Her grin was almost painful as she felt the sensation deep in her face muscles, but she didn’t care. This Addams girl could totally be another best friend, and she looked super cool.
Well, she already was, wasn’t she? She could play guitar, and playing guitar, or any instrument at all, already made someone cool in Enid’s book. Her mind wandered, painting a gloomy picture to match her temporary band mate before her. She totally had a black cat, a bunch of guitars, a huge drum set, she could see her writing books on her laptop or reading tons of books—
Already, she seemed like one of the most likable people ever.
Out of instinct of doing it with her friends, Enid held out her arms, wide and waiting, and stepped forward.
Wednesday immediately stepped back in response with the same flat, unamused look on her face,
“Not a hugger, got it,” Enid noted as she let her arms fall to her sides. She refrained from letting the sigh escape her mouth; she was a little upset that Wednesday wasn’t a hugger. But she could deal with it.
“I despise physical touch,” Wednesday stated, unknowingly shattering Enid’s heart even more at any other options of physical touch Enid had planned upon. “Besides, I am here to play guitar, not hug strangers.”
“Hey, I’m their friend—“ Enid argued lightly without an ounce of anger, purely just confusion.
“I am well aware. I still don’t know you,” Wednesday interrupted without any emotion yet again. (Did she feel any?)
Enid pursed her lips like how Wednesday had done just minutes ago, but before she said anything else, everyone’s attention, including her own, turned behind her at the sight of Yoko emerging out of the bathroom. Her hair was dried, slightly frizzy and a smile was finally back on her face.
Her hands gripped both of Enid’s shoulders from behind to being her closer, flushed to her body.
“You guys ready?” Yoko asked as she hugged Enid’s shoulders, squeezing as hard as she could before letting go and stepping over to stand next to the blonde. She then looked over at Bianca and a looming Wednesday, social distancing as usual.
“Yes,” Wednesday replied, “I have been waiting for you to finish up.”
”Hey, you just got here,” Yoko defended. “Hell, you were almost late.”
”Hm. Though, you admit I was not late,” the shorter girl replied, her eyes boring into Yoko. Enid looked away to hide her own laughter; Yoko getting a taste of her own medicine compared to her earlier conversation with the hair dye was hilarious at the moment.
”You almost were—“ Yoko tried again to prove her point. However it didn’t work.
”Almost, but not quite,” Wednesday said, annoyed. “And if I were ever late, it’d be fashionably.”
As Yoko was thinking of a response, Wednesday turned around to show she was more than done with the conversation. The three girls watched as she made her way to the side of the couch where her guitar case was propped up, and hesitated to follow after her. When they did, Yoko stuck to her friend’s side.
”So, you’ve met Wednesday,” she let out with a sigh. It was a mumble, and the two could tell Wednesday didn’t hear since she didn’t make a comment or look in their direction.
Enid hummed then, now standing before the couch as she leaned down slightly to unzip her case. Quitely, she whispered back, “I think she’s okay.”
Yoko stared at Enid as she continued removing her bass, then as she began admiring it in her hands as it glistened in the light. She was excited to see it underneath the flashing, color-changing lights on stage. After a long pause passed, Enid met Yoko’s eyes again and was now clearly able to see the ‘are you serious?’ facial expression she wore.
”What?” She asked her, carefully pulling the strap over her own head. Yoko moved to grab her sunglasses off the table while shaking her head. Enid repeated herself once she didn’t get an actual response. “What, Yoko?”
”I don’t know, Enid,” Yoko muttered sadly. She didn’t want to see Enid get crushed by someone who Yoko knew she couldn’t befriend. It was dramatic irony at its finest. “Don’t you think I know my roommate more than you do, as someone who just met them five minutes ago?”
A knock sounded from across the room that made all four band members glance up to see a man standing near the stage entrance.
“You guys are up,” he stated. When Bianca nodded in acknowledgment, he gave a curt nod in return.
As Bianca stood up ready to go, Wednesday now had her guitar, well tuned and well polished, and in her hands with the strap situated perfectly. Enid huffed, still only noticeable between the two of them.
”Don’t you think that maybe you don’t know your roommate too well, either?” She questioned. “You hardly see her too, Yoko. She’s cool.”
Yoko trailed behind the rest of the band with her eyes fixated on the blonde. Enid had no idea what she was getting herself into.