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Wednesday didn’t do feelings. That was not to say she never felt anything, contempt was an old friend she welcomed like a snug coffin. Irritation as well often loomed close by, ready to pounce on oblivious underclassmen. Hatred, well, she wouldn’t turn down a bout with it when offered.
Worry had also become an unwelcome bedfellow ever since her prophecy about Enid’s death and subsequent loss of her powers.
Every other emotion she didn’t want or need. If it wasn’t useful, it was to be ignored.
When she had walked into their dorm room on the very first day of the new semester and found half an army of muscular wolf pack teenagers helping build furniture and unpack Enid’s belongings, she wished they would leave immediately. They were noisy, disruptive, and in the way. Even one of those was a sin worthy of disposal, but they were all three. That was the only reason why she wanted them gone.
That’s what Wednesday told herself, as one of the taller werewolf boys lingered and Enid giggled her goodbye to him personally.
There was nothing to that streak of heat in her chest, just the natural warmth of the elevated room. If she ignored the sear, it would go away. Unfortunately, the werewolf boy would not.
She watched as Enid continued to seek him out, meeting him after class and leaving their shared dorm in the evening to visit with him.
Wednesday watched him too; she needed to know if he was a danger to Enid. His name was Bruno, as she learned, and he didn’t seem to speak much. He followed Enid with a sickeningly sweet look in his eyes, clinging to her in a way that would rot teeth. As far as boyfriends went, he appeared to be average and unremarkable. He was not good enough for Enid, but was otherwise harmless.
This fact placed him at the top of Wednesday’s least favorite werewolf list. The music teacher was second.
Once she came to that determination, she thought she’d be satisfied with the knowledge. It was time for her mind to move on to more interesting people, ones who should’ve actually mattered to her.
But she couldn’t.
When she was walking through the courtyard one day, moving from one class to another, she spotted the wolf pack all sitting together at a picnic table.
Enid was perched on one of the benches, easy to spot even among matching purple uniforms. Next to her Bruno hardly stood out, but he was there nonetheless.
As Wednesday passed by behind the pair, deliberately avoiding their line of sight, she could see them even better. Enid’s fingers were intertwined with his between their bodies. Neither seemed to be paying their hands any mind though, as both were listening intently to something another werewolf at the table was saying.
Wednesday’s mouth tightening was the only indication that she has noticed. Inside though, her chest felt tight.
It wasn’t supposed to bother her like this, seeing Enid and him together. She had figured things out, seen that he was no threat to Enid’s safety, and yet, she still had this inexplicable reaction.
Perhaps she was feeling something after all. Even if she did, she would squash it.
Enid was completely fed up with that insane, psycho stalker who had been following her and Wednesday around since the start of the school year. First, she had sent creepy pictures to their dorm, then she nearly killed Enid and Bruno, and finally she refused to leave them alone!
Even in her own room, there was always the chance that the child was lurking just out of sight. Arghhh, Enid wanted to rip her face to shreds so badly. She wished she could kick her out of her room permanently and never see or hear from her again.
The worst of it was with Wednesday; Enid knew what was happening she wasn’t born yesterday. The invisible girl was obviously trying to take her place in Wednesday’s life, to become her replacement best friend.
Even though Enid saw it clearly, that didn’t mean she wasn’t worried about it. In fact, it bothered her a lot whenever she saw Agnes following Wednesday around like a lost puppy. Wednesday kept even asking her for help on her case instead of Enid. What was with that?
She couldn’t help but feel jealous, anybody would if their roommate started asking someone else to hang out instead of them. That was how she explained it to Bruno and to herself. If there was more to it, she wasn’t ready to dig deeper.
When she brought it up with Wednesday, after seeing her with Agnes in the quad, her words came out much more heated than what she originally planned to say. Wednesday met her energy and escalated, quite surprisingly compared to her usual deadpan tone. Perhaps they would’ve worked things out then if the ravens hadn’t gone insane and started attacking, prematurely ending their fight. Who was she kidding, Wednesday would’ve just walked away from the conversation and refused to engage, Enid knew it.
It had all hit a peak when they went to break into Willow Hill. Wednesday hadn’t even been planning to ask for her help, if Enid hadn’t insisted. She could see it in her eyes, the way she was pulling back from her.
Well, Enid wouldn’t stand for it. She insisted on going and was assigned the not so illustrious task of keeping watch.
What that really meant was she had to hide in the bushes with Agnes for over an hour.
It was very very unpleasant to say the least.
“You can go, you know.” Agnes’ chalkboard voice carried softly from the neighboring bush. “You won’t be missed here.”
“I would never abandon my friends.” Enid hissed back in the dark. She would’ve flashed her claws as well if the other girl had been visible.
“Hmm.” Was the only reply she got. How smug, how confident she sounded.
It was crazy how easily she got under Enid’s skin. Enid forced herself to take a deep breath, then another. The priority here was to keep watch for trouble; flaying the obnoxious child could come later.
She wondered, as she continued to wait in the dark, why Wednesday didn’t see what she saw. Why did she continue to rely on and trust this obviously deceptive person over Enid?
She wasn’t going to lie, even without knowing the reason the thought still hurt.
Wednesday climbed the stairs slowly, appreciating the exact height needed to lift her feet in order to clear each step. It was never something she had thought about before today, before she spent multiple hours literally in someone else’s shoes.
When she reached the door and entered, Enid was sitting on her colorful bed, on her side of the room. This too, was a relief of sorts, at least as much as Wednesday could feel relief. She would deny it if asked. It was too soon to feel relief anyway, with one of her family members now in danger.
“Welcome back!” Enid called over to her chipperly, probably still happy to not be dead.
Wednesday merely nodded in return, then crossed to her own side of the room. She had been gone all day, searching high and low for how to solve their problem and then getting stuck in the Lupin cages.
Her desk was markedly not the same as she had left it that morning. One of the drawers, which she always kept closed, was boldly ajar. Her corner charred book sat on top of the desk, when it belonged in said drawer.
Wednesday approached and lifted it, making note that it appeared to not be damaged any further. She turned her whole body slowly towards Enid, tweaking her eyebrows every so slightly in question.
“I wanted to get in character.” Enid said with a small shake of her head, not offering an apology.
“So you slathered me in pink and danced around the quad.” Wednesday replied bluntly, not intoning it as a question.
“That’s right. And it was worth every last blister.”
With that comment, Wednesday checked her bottom drawer for her color pills. The bottle was still within, though she was nearly out and needed the prescription filled soon. The thought of asking her mother for the refill was an unbearable one.
Frankly, she was lucky her soul hadn’t carried the allergy to Enid while she was over there.
“I do have one regret though.” Enid kept talking, now looking a little bashful. “Even if she had it coming, I shouldn’t have yelled at your psycho stalker like that.”
Wednesday had wondered what had happened that led to the phone call, but hadn’t cared enough to ask without Enid bringing it up first.
“Why did you?”
Enid sighed, long and heavy. “She said you should cut me off as a friend, right to my face!” Her eyes flared with the last few words, before her expression fell. “Well, to your face, you get the point.”
“I suspected she would attempt such a ploy.” Agnes had made a few blatant statements that aligned with this agenda, all of which Wednesday had flatly ignored. She was just a follower, a creepy one at that, someone to use as she saw fit.
There was no world in which she could replace Enid. That sentiment bubbled in Wednesday’s throat, clogged it like clotted blood.
“It felt like my worst nightmare was coming true, that you would replace me just like that.” Enid frowned down at her hands, her voice low. “I felt, well, really bad, and I took it out on her.”
Wednesday stared at her for a moment before she found her words, not that she ever would admit to losing them even if only for a few seconds. “She’s not my friend, you are.” Enid looked up at her and finally smiled in response, relief clear in her eyes. “You can’t get rid of me that easily. Though there is one degenerate you should strongly consider cutting loose.”
The frown returned in full force, along with narrowed eyes. “What happened with Bruno? Tell me, before I get mad again.”
Wednesday had been angry too, but not for the same reason. “He’s been cheating on you. He’s entirely unworthy of you.” She spoke bluntly, not sugar coating what had happened.
“What?” Was Enid’s initial reply, her eyes wide with surprise. “Bruno wouldn’t, there’s no way.” She blinked rapidly in disbelief.
“He was engaging in a flirtatious conversation with her over the phone. I heard enough.” Wednesday wondered how she would’ve felt if that hadn’t happened, if Bruno had actually been the best partner he could've been for Enid. Would she still have felt that twitch of pain when seeing them together? She didn’t have an answer to that question, nor did she have the time or desire to ponder it.
Across the room, Enid pulled her legs up onto the bed, curling them into her chest as a tear dripped down her cheek. She buried her face in them, stifling a sob.
Wednesday watched without moving. Her own heart tightened at the sight, rebelling against her will to remain unaffected. This had not been the desired outcome, Enid crying like this, though she could not control the situation matter how badly she wanted to.
“Will you, uhhh…” Enid’s head came up for a moment, and she wiped roughly at her cheeks. “Come sit with me for a minute?” She brushed the spot next to her on the bed, pushing the pink blanket back to reveal a more acceptable white sheet.
Even if Wednesday had wanted to turn her down, which she absolutely didn’t, she wouldn’t have been able to deny her this.
It only took a few steps to cross the room and to take her spot next to Enid. The other girl sat still next to her, just far enough away for their arms to nearly touch. She radiated warmth, impossibly so compared to Wednesday. Even as she continued to cry softly, her warmth was contagious.
“I can’t believe that he was lying to me all this time.” Enid’s voice cracked over the words.
“As Stephen King said, the trust of the innocent is the liar’s most useful tool.”
Enid glanced over with a roll of her eyes. “That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“It should.”
Silence settled between them, in the half inch gap between their arms. Time passed around them, ever marching at the same speed.
The moonlight shined in through their shared window, tinted colorfully on this side of the room. Wednesday had stayed far longer than initially intended; much more than a minute had passed.
Enid slowly leaned her weight against Wednesday’s arm, not quite resting her head on Wednesday’s stiff shoulder.
“I’ve missed you.” The words were muttered quietly, softly in Wednesday’s ear.
“I’m not going anywhere.”