Chapter Text
If Wednesday had the option, she would’ve taken a spoon and popped out her eyeballs over an hour ago when they started driving. Watching her parents kiss and sing to each other for this entire drive to Jericho was slowly driving Wednesday insane. Her only saving grace was Tyler’s stupid text messages. Wednesday felt herself smile slightly at one of the texts. An instant mistake once she heard her mother’s reaction.
“Do my eyes deceive me, or does my darling spider have a smile on that stoic face?”
Wednesday glared at her mother before pocketing her phone, ignoring the nonstop buzzing coming from Tyler’s texts (he really wanted Wednesday to hear all about his presentation in history class, it was on the history of Hydes. The hyde was proud of himself). Before turning to look out the window, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Darling, how long do you intend on giving us the cold shoulder?” Morticia asked, slightly annoyed. Wednesday turned to face the front of the car, ignoring the confused look she received from Pugsley.
“Lurch, please remind my parents that I’m no longer speaking to them.”
Huffing slightly, Wednesday turned back around to face her parents once more. Taking in their tired faces. Good, they should be exhausted. Wednesday has told them for years now that she didn’t want to go to Nevermore. The fact that Tyler needed her help kept her from opening the car door and throwing herself out. Wednesday glared once at her parents, almost daring them to talk again. Her father took the dare.
“I promise you, my little Viper, you will love Nevermore. Won’t she, Tish?” Her father spoke with a hopeful gleam, turning towards Morticia with a look of hope. Wednesday wanted to vomit. She knew she would hate every second of Nevermore…Maybe not every second. Tyler was there, but once she figured out what that Teacher’s problem was, she would run away and, this time, take Tyler with her. Nevermore wasn’t good to him either.
“Of course. It’s the perfect school for her.” Morticia smiled slightly but immediately lost the smile once she saw the dirty look on her daughter’s face.
“Why? Was it the perfect school for you? I have no interest in following in your footsteps. Becoming captain of the fencing team, Queen of the Dark Prom, and President of the Séance Society. Not to mention being the one to control the only Hyde in the school? Like you did with Fran? This is your pathetic attempt to turn me into a version of your mother. It is ridiculous. Tyler might enjoy being compared to his mother but me, mother? I am nothing like you and do not wish to be.”
Wednesday’s voice was colder than usual; she hated the idea of becoming anything like her mother. She never understood why Tyler adored being compared to his mother so much. He always has. Whenever someone would tell Tyler that he reminded them of his mother or that he looked like his mother, Tyler would light up like a Christmas tree and act like you gave him a million dollars on the spot.
Then again, Tyler and Fran had a very different relationship than Morticia and Wednesday had. When they were children, you could almost always find Tyler plastered to his mothers’ side, clinging to her like a baby monkey. Compared to when Wednesday was a child, she refused to let her mother hold or touch her after the age of 3. Wednesday would always watch the two of them in confusion, not fully understanding at her young age why Tyler was always being held or with his mother. Now she knew it was just Tyler’s personality to be clingy and affectionate. Wednesday grew to not hate it. She would even say she liked it, but Wednesday would never tell Tyler that.
“I merely meant that, finally, you will be among peers who understand you. Maybe you’ll even make some friends. You’ll be with Tyler. I just don’t understand why you refuse to go so badly.” Her mother’s voice was frustrated. Wednesday could see that her mother was slowly cracking. Wednesday was pushing her buttons.
“Nevermore is like no other boarding school. It’s a magical place. It’s where I met your mother. And we fell in love. Maybe you and Tyler will finally admit to the unspoken tension between you!”
Wednesday rolled her eyes and made a face toward her parents as they kissed again. Wednesday felt her stomach turn, and not in a fun way. This was going to be a long drive.
After meeting Principal Weems, Weems led her and her parents to her new dorm room. Wednesday got the news that she didn’t have a single like Tyler, and she felt even more annoyed at the idea of having a roommate. Walking into her new dorm room, Wednesday immediately wanted to throw up. Her eyes burned with the bright colors that blinded her, and she could feel hives growing on her arms.
Standing in the middle of the room was a glowing pink human ball of glitter. Wednesday couldn’t believe her eyes that this was her roommate. Wednesday wanted to pluck out her eyeballs for the second time today. The ball of glitter skipped her way over to Wednesday.
“Howdy, roomie!” Her new roommate’s voice was high-pitched and filled with excitement as she smiled widely at Wednesday. Wednesday took a step away from her, feeling grossed out by the colors and sudden brightness her roommate was showing her.
“Wednesday, this is Enid Sinclair.”
Oh.
Oh.
Wednesday knew exactly who this was. Tyler has told her about Enid on multiple occasions. Enid Sinclair was the girl who ran the Nevermore gossip blog. The same blog announced to the school that Tyler was a hyde, which kicked off the students’ views of Tyler. Tyler had sent Wednesday Enid’s blog multiple times whenever Tyler was mentioned in it. Tyler never said a bad word about Enid, even though she wrote about him. He noted that Enid was a sweetheart and that Enid apologized to him a ton when she found out how people treated him for being a hyde after her blog announced it.
Tyler once said that Enid was the only student here who apologized to him. They aren’t friends because Enid kept writing rumors about Tyler in her blog. But she was decent to him, so Wednesday suppose she could give this bubble gum girl a chance. Possibly. For Tyler.
The two girls headed downstairs to receive Wednesday’s schedule and a small school tour. Enid was walking faster and farther away from Wednesday when Wednesday told her she had killed two kids. Tyler would have laughed if he had heard her say that. The thought made Wednesday smirk as she followed Enid into the so-called quad. Leading her around, Enid went into a ramble about the different clicks at the school.
“There are many flavors of outcasts here, but the four main cliques are Fangs, Furs, Stoners, and Scales. Those are the Fangs, AKA vampires. Some of them have literally been here for decades. That bunch of knuckleheads are Furs, AKA werewolves. Like me!...” Enid’s voice faded out in Wednesday’s mind as Wednesday looked around at the quad and the Students. Suddenly she spotted something- more like someone sitting by themselves in the quad.
Tyler was in his Nevermore uniform, sitting alone at a picnic table, hunched over a few school books and rapidly writing down whatever he was reading in his notebook. Tyler had a pair of headphones over his ears, which Wednesday immediately recognized as her own that she left behind at Tyler’s house. Rolling her eyes slightly at the sight but couldn’t help the warm feeling in her chest seeing Tyler in her headphones. Wednesday moved to start walking over to Tyler when she was suddenly grabbed by the arm and pulled back.
Snapping her head over to whoever dared touch her, Enid quickly let go of Wednesday’s arm and stepped away from Wednesday, suddenly looking pale at Wednesday’s glare.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Wednesday’s voice was icy as she glared at Enid and pulled her arm further away from Enid.
“What are you doing?! That’s Tyler Galpin! Going over to talk to him is like social suicide! He’s a hyde! Don’t you know what that means?!” Enid sounded shocked, almost appalled, that Wednesday would go over to talk to Tyler. Irritation grew in her chest, but calmer, she raised one eyebrow towards Enid so she would continue.
“It means he’s crazy! He could lash out at any moment and kill us all! Especially since he doesn’t have a master to control him. Everyone stays away from him for their own good. You should too. He’s not safe Wednesday.”
Wednesday forced herself not to roll her eyes. Tyler? Not safe? Hurting people? Give her a break. Tyler was the one between them who would never hurt anyone or anything…The only time he had was when they tried to hurt Wednesday, not that she needed his protection. When there was a bug in his room, Tyler made Wednesday kill it. His mother raised him to not hunt as a hyde, so he never hurt any animals. He would never hurt and especially not kill anyone! Though, he is a little crazy. Wednesday has seen his crazy side. Not to mention Tyler did have a master, thank you very much. Before she could reply, another voice piped up from the other side of Enid.
“Yo, Enid! You’re not gonna believe the dirt I heard about your new roommate. She eats human flesh. Chowed down on that kid she murdered. You better watch your back! But you should’ve seen Tyler’s face when he heard the rumors! He looked like he was going to snap someone!”
Wednesday again knew who this was because of Tyler. This was Ajax. Tyler’s one friend here. She recognized him from the few ‘selfies’ Tyler had sent her. Even though he was Tyler’s friend, she couldn’t help messing with him.
‘Quite the contrary. I actually filet the bodies of my victims, then feed them to my menagerie of pets. I also would be careful pushing a hyde’s buttons. I heard they can rip a head right from its body when they’re angry enough.”
Smirking at both of their shocked and scared expressions, Wednesday turned back to where Tyler was sitting, feeling herself out slightly when she saw that Tyler had already left. Huffing barely, she faced Enid again.
“Ignore him. Gorgons spend way too much time getting stoned. He’s cute but clueless.” Enid smiled, watching Ajax walk off, her attraction to the gorgon clear. “He’s super nice! He is the only one to hang out with Tyler. Even though I warned him!”
Rolling her eyes, Wednesday turned and kept walking, not even waiting for Enid to catch up.
After receiving her uniform and saying goodbye to her parents, Wednesday explored the school more. She definitely wasn’t looking for Tyler. That would be stupid. Wednesday walked the empty halls and looked at the row of lockers and the posters on the wall.
Following the pull on their bond, Wednesday ended up in a library. Of course, Tyler loved to read as much as she did. Looking around for a moment, Wednesday finally spotted her hyde. Tyler was sitting on the floor in front of a bookshelf with a stack of books next to him. The headphones were still plastered on his head, music so loud Wednesday could faintly hear it from where she stood at the door.
Smirking slightly to herself, Wednesday quietly walked over, slowly not to catch Tyler’s attention. Wednesday stood next to Tyler momentarily before kicking the stack of books over to get Tyler’s attention and grabbing the headphones off his head.
Tyler jumped for a moment before anger became evident in his body language. Standing up fast, Wednesday was met with such a deadly glare it could rival her own, and Tyler opened his mouth to speak, but once he saw who he was faced with, everything stopped.
In front of her eyes, she watched Tyler’s face go from full of anger ready to chew out whoever annoyed him. To a look of shock, then confusion, Wednesday wasn’t expecting small tears to prick the corners of Tyler’s eyes.
Tyler suddenly reached forward and wrapped his long arms around Wednesday, bringing her into a tight hug. She could feel herself get lifted off the floor slightly from the sheer amount of tightness Tyler was hugging her with.
Wednesday carefully wrapped her arms around Tyler’s back, one of her hands reaching up and burying itself into Tyler’s curls. Wednesday could feel herself relax against Tyler. She had been so stressed and angry the past couple of hours-days events. Being back with her hyde, Wednesday felt her anger dissipate over the past few days. She gently rested her head on Tyler’s shoulder.
“Nes? What are you doing here? Why are you in a Nevermore uniform?” Tyler’s voice was full of emotions, shocked, confused, and relieved. The emotions flooded the bond, hitting Wednesday like a train. Tugging slightly on Tyler’s hair, Wednesday groaned softly and slightly annoyed.
“I will tell you if you stop flooding the bond with your stupid emotions. Turn it off. I don’t want to feel your gross emotions.” Wednesday snarked out at the taller teen, her voice still soft, as she held onto Tyler slightly tighter.
Tyler’s soft laugh filled her ears, and the bond was flooded with Tyler’s warm emotions before Tyler closed the bond from his feelings on his end. Squeezing Wednesday one more time, Tyler carefully set her back entirely on the floor. Pulling away ever so slightly, just enough so they could look into each other eyes. If Tyler’s smile had been any brighter, Wednesday would’ve been blinded on the spot. Reaching up, she flicked a tear off Tyler’s face.
“Nes... What are you doing here? I-You’re really here?” Tyler’s voice was so soft as he gently reached up and cupped Wednesday’s cheek.
“Well. I got expelled again.”
“Again?!”
After Wednesday filled Tyler in on what happened at her old school and how her parents forced her to come here. The two of them moved to sit in a window seat in the library. Tyler held Wednesday’s hand tightly as he explained the situation with Thornhill.
“Wednesday, I swear. She’s like some creepy stalker! I go to my morning shift, and she’s already there! I do the closing shift, and she’s there! In class, she is always near me! I don’t trust her. She’s... She freaks me out!”
Tyler was racking his hand through his hair repeatedly with his other hand. Groaning softly, he rested his head against Wednesday’s head, pouting slightly. Wednesday sighed softly and squeezed Tyler’s hand gently.
“I believe you, Tyler. You don’t need to convince me.”
“You do?”
“Yes. You pathetic dog.” Wednesday felt relaxed as Tyler’s laughter filled the library. Rolling her eyes slightly, Wednesday bumped her shoulder against Tyler’s to get his attention.
“Anything else I need to know?” Wednesday asked, looking up at Tyler. Watching Tyler think for a moment.
“Oh! Oh yeah! There are like some murders in the woods? Dad said it’s a bear, but the school keeps rumoring it’s me. But dad said he knows it’s not me, so I’m not too worried!” Wednesday stared at the taller boy briefly before reaching over and waking Tyler on the head.
“What? Hey–”
“You dumb hyde! Why would you NOT start with the fact murders are going on? What were you thinking!” Wednesday pulled away from Tyler, glaring at the curly-haired boy. Watching as Tyler suddenly looked very sheepish, reaching up and rubbing the back of his head.
“I didn’t think of it–”
“DIDN’T THINK OF IT?”
“I’M SORRY!”
“TYLER GALPIN.”
The two finally went their own ways almost three hours later. Tyler needed to go to work, and Wednesday needed to fully unpack. Once Wednesday got to her room, she started to unpack and got rid of all signs of color on her side of the bedroom. Finally peeling off the last stencil on her side of the room, Wednesday heard the door open from behind her and a loud gasp.
“What the hell did you do to my room?!” Enid’s voice was filled with anger. Wednesday slowly turned to face the multi-colored-haired girl. Taking in the angry expression on the other girl’s face, Wednesday kicked the stencils on the floor to Enid’s side of the room.
“Dividing our room equally. It looks like a rainbow vomited on your side.”
Wednesday could see the anger growing in Enid’s facial expression. Wednesday put away her knife and headed to her typewriter.
“I-”
“Silence would be appreciated. This is my writing time.”
“Your writing time?”
“I devote an hour a day to my novel. Perhaps if you did the same, your vlog might be coherent. I’ve read serial killer diaries with better punctuation.” Wednesday tried not to think about how, whenever she had her writing time during the breaks, instead of nonstop interrupting her, Tyler sat beside her, silently reading either one of her past chapters or one of his books. Her writing time with Tyler was always peaceful. During the summer, Tyler would carry the typewriter outside for her so they could sit in the shade together. In the winter, he always made her a dark hot chocolate with a quad.
“I write in my voice. It’s my truth. It’s what my followers love.”
“Your followers are clearly imbeciles. They respond to your stories with insipid little pictures.”
“Uh, you mean emojis? It’s how people express their feelings. I realize that’s a foreign concept to you.” Wednesday rolled her eyes. She knew what emojis were. Tyler spammed her phone with them whenever he sent a photo of Elvis. He would spam a ton of heart photos and dog pictures.
“When I look at you, the following emojis come to mind. Rope, shovel, hole. By the way, there are two D’s in Addams. If you’re going to gossip about me, at least spell my name correctly. And if you are going to continue to write gossip about Tyler, maybe make sure the rumors actually make sense.”
Wednesday could feel the shocked look that Enid was shooting her way. Wednesday cursed herself silently. She didn’t even mean to bring up Tyler. Sighing quietly, Wednesday forced herself to try to focus on her typewriter. She failed.
“Why do you care if I write about Tyler? He’s a hyde! I hear even his dad is scared of him! He never comes up for family weekends!”
Wednesday stood up fast, anger rushing through her blood. Enid knew nothing about Tyler’s relationship. The two had a highly complex relationship these days. After Fran died, Donovan changed. He pulled away from Tyler and stopped talking to him as much. Tyler confessed to Wednesday that it felt like he lost his parents in one day.
This went on for almost a year before Morticia stepped in. After Tyler broke down at 13 in their living room, right before the first anniversary of Fran’s death, about how he wished Donovan still talked to him. Morticia made it her mission to slap some sense into Donovan.
It did work, reminding Donovan that he wasn’t alone. Even if he hated the fact, he had the Addams there to support him through Fran’s death. Morticia reminded him that Fran was her best friend and Tyler’s mother. Tyler needed him. They needed to support each other through the first anniversary. Somehow this did get through to Donovan, and when Morticia left that day, she went while the two finally sat down and talked for the first time in almost a year.
The two weren’t as close as they used to be, but their relationship was healing. They talked more, but the two still had rocky times, especially in public, which Enid must have witnessed.
So for Enid to bring up Donovan and Tyler’s relationship so casually as an insult to Tyler made Wednesday’s blood boil. She quickly crossed the room, opening her mouth to speak but suddenly getting cut off by Enid putting her claws up.
“Don’t mess with me. This kitty’s got claws, and I’m not afraid to use them.”
Before Wednesday could respond, the door flew open. Both girls turned to see who had walked in. There stood a red-headed woman. The mid to late ’30s. Covered in mud and holding a potted flower, the woman wore cat eyeglasses and bright ginger hair. Wednesday suddenly felt distrust from the woman in front of her.
“Good evening, girls. Oh, sorry about the mud. I wanted to make sure that Wednesday was settling in. Ah. Is this a bad time? I’m Ms. Thornhill, your dorm mom. Apologies, I wasn’t here to greet you when you arrived. I trust Enid has given you the old Nevermore welcome.”
Oh, so this was Thornhill. This was the person bothering her, hyde. Glaring slightly, Wednesday turned to face the woman before her fully. Deciding at the moment to play this game.
“She’s been smothering me with hospitality. I hope to return the favor. In her sleep.”
“Well, here’s a little welcome gift from my conservatory. I try to match the right flower to each of my girls. When I read your personal statement in your application, I immediately thought of this one.”
“The black dahlia.” Wednesday felt her stomach twist a bit. Tyler buys her black dahlias. He gets them for her every Christmas as a part of her presents since they studied flowers together for fun one summer when they were about eight. Wednesday didn’t like getting them from anyone else but Tyler.
“Oh, you know it?”'
“Of course. It’s named after my favorite unsolved murder. Thank you.”
“Okey-dokey. Before I leave, I want to go over a few house rules. Lights off at 10:00, no loud music, and no boys, ever.”
Suddenly Thornhill had a weird look in her eye, but it was gone a second later.
“Now, Passes to Jericho are a privilege, not a right. It’s a brisk 25-minute walk, or there’s a shuttle on the weekends. The locals are a tad bit wary about Nevermore, so please don’t go making any waves or perpetuating any outcast stereotypes.”
Wednesday rolled her eyes slightly at that. She grew up in this town, and she knew how they were. Sees saw firsthand how terrible the city was to the outcast. Donovan has cracked down on people who were hate-criming outcasts in the last couple of years, but a few high schools still bother the outcasts from Nevermore. She also knew that Tyler would drive her into town whenever she wanted, so she wasn’t too worried about getting there. She also knew that Donovan would cave and give her a ride if she was seriously stuck.
“That means keep your claws to yourself and no smothering people in their sleep. Are we clear? Great talk.”
Wednesday woke up the following day to her phone buzzing nonstop under her pillow. The first thing Wednesday felt was her side of the bond waking up, the soft warmth she felt every morning with the bond. In the morning, the bond was always gentle and warm. Sleepy, almost like the two of them were.
Groaning quietly, Wednesday slipped her hand under the pillow and pulled out her phone. Flipping onto her back, Wednesday unlocked her phone. Immediately going to her texts, knowing the buzzing was coming from Tyler texting her a million times.
Tyler Galpin.: Nes
Tyler Galpin.: Wednesday!!!!!
Tyler Galpin.: WAKE UP
Tyler Galpin.: NES NES NES NES NES NES
Tyler Galpin.: I wanna know what classes you have this morning plz
Tyler Galpin.: NES, I know you’re awake now. I can feel it.
Tyler Galpin.: neeesssssssss
Wednesday: I have fencing this morning, along with the gorgon antonym. Stop texting me.
Tyler Galpin.: LOL, okay, I don’t have fencing because I’m pretty sure someone would purposely stab me with the blade-thingy. I don’t take the gorgon antonym either :( see you at lunch?
Wednesday: I would.
Wednesday: Yes, see you at lunch.
Tyler Galpin.: I wouldn’t want anyone else too
Tyler Galpin.: ❤️ can’t wait for lunch!
So far, Wednesday was having a terrible first day. Not terribly fun terrible, either. Tyler wasn’t in any of her morning classes, so she hadn’t been able to see her hyde once so far today. She was looking to fencing as it was the closest she could get to stabbing here. But then Bianca and her duel didn’t go as she had planned.
Seething quietly to herself, Wednesday stormed out of the nurse’s office after receiving some pointless bandaid and meeting some weak-looking boy named Rowan. Bianca winning their duel was her last straw. She could feel anger washing over her body. All Wednesday wanted at that moment was just to get to the lunch room and see her stupid lovely hyde. Maybe she could get a hug and fake hate even.
But that wasn’t going to happen, apparently. Wednesday looked up, frozen for a moment. Watching as the stone statue plummeted down to crush her. She really hoped Tyler would be okay. Wow, she never imagined her last moments would be worrying about Tyler—.
“WEDNESDAY!”
Everything went black.
As Wednesday opened her eyes, the first thing she heard as she returned to reality was arguing. Confused, Wednesday didn't move so no one knew she was awake as she quickly shut her eyes to listen in on the conversation.
“Dude–are you even here! How did you even know Wednesday was here?”
She didn’t recognize that voice, lying still for the people arguing wouldn’t realize she was awake. Wednesday searched her brain for any recognition of whoever this boy was talking to but came up with nothing.
“Why do I know where she isn’t any of your business! Just go, Xavier. Wednesday–”
Ah. There was her hyde. Tyler sounded frustrated. Wednesday could feel their bonded buzzing slightly. Sitting up suddenly, catching both boys’ attention. Tyler immediately moved to Wednesday’s side. Wednesday took in the boy’s look of complete worry. Rolling her eyes slightly, Wednesday grabbed one of Tyler’s hands.
“Wipe that stupid look off your face. I’m fine.”
Tyler gave Wednesday a look that said, “Fine, my ass.” Wednesday rolled her eyes again but gently squeezed Tyler’s hand to ease the taller teen’s anxiety. Before Tyler could answer, the other voice spoke up.
“Uh…Sorry to interrupt, but, uh–Wednesday? The nurse says you have a nasty bump on your head but no concussion.”
Tyler shot Wednesday another worried look that Wednesday pointedly ignored as she felt Tyler hold her hand tighter.
“The last thing I remember was walking outside feeling a mixture of rage, pity, and self-disgust. I never felt that way before.” Wednesday looked away from Tyler to the other boy in the room. He was clearly lanky, and his shoulder-length hair was pulled up. She had no clue who this was. Tyler said his name was Xavier.
“Losing to Bianca has that effect on people, I think,” Xavier said, with a look of a grimace.
“Then I looked up and saw that gargoyle coming down, and I thought–”
“WHAT WAS COMING DOWN?” Tyler’s voice was filled with shock and worry. Wednesday huffed before giving a look that caused the hyde to settle down, but the look of concern got worse as she spoke.
“And I thought–At least I’ll have an imaginative death. Then you tackled me out of the way…Why?”
“Call it instinct.” The long-haired boy gave Wednesday a slight smirk. Tyler unconsciously moved closer to Wednesday.
“So you were guided by latent chivalry, the tool of the patriarchy, to extract my undying gratitude?”
“Mm-hmm. Most people just say thank you.”
“Wednesday isn’t most people.” Tyler sounded almost amused now. Glancing over at her hyde, she could see Tyler had relaxed slightly. Still obviously worried but calm enough to enjoy Wednesday making fun of Xavier.
“I didn’t want to be rescued.”
“I should’ve just let that thing smash you to mush?” That caused Tyler to tense up. Clearly not okay with the idea of his best friend being smashed to mush.
“I would have rather saved myself. And I could’ve.” Wednesday pointedly gave Tyler another look. The taller outcast nodded a bit before relaxing and sitting on the bed next to Wednesday, purposely lending close enough that their shoulders touched.
“Good to see you haven’t changed.” Xavier was giving the two of them a weird look. Some Wednesdays could only place jealousy in the boy’s eyes.
“If it makes you feel any better, just say I returned the favor…Xavier Thorpe? You probably don’t remember me. Last time we met, I was about two feet shorter, 40 pounds heavier.” Xavier gave Wednesday a slight smile as he spoke.
“What happened?” Wednesday asked, glancing at Tyler to see if the hyde knew, but he seemed as confused as her.
“Puberty, I guess.” Xavier jokes.
“She meant what happened the last time you met.” Tyler rolled his eyes, sounding completely done with Xavier at this moment.
“Oh. Uh. Yeah, it… it was my godmother’s funeral. She was friends with your grandmother, and they spent their twenties in Europe, swindling the rich and notorious. I don’t know, but we were ten, and we were bored, so we decided to play hide and seek. I had the inspired idea to hide in her casket. I got stuck as it was headed to the crematorium.” Xavier sounded almost embarrassed of the story, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke.
“I’d heard muffled screams. I figured your godmother had cheated death and was trying to claw her way out.” Wednesday suddenly remembered.
“Either way, you hit the big red stop button and saved me from being flame-broiled. So… now we’re even” Xavier nodded.
“Well. I am still not going to thank you. You can leave…Now. That wasn’t a suggestion.” Wednesday glared as Xavier didn’t move for a moment before finally getting up and leaving the office, not without giving the pair one last confused and slightly annoyed look.
The second Xavier was out of the room, Tyler turned to Wednesday, pulling her into a tight hug. Wednesday could feel Tyler’s handshake slightly, no doubt in the pictures his brain displayed for him at the idea of losing Wednesday.
Wednesday hugged back gently. Sighing softly to herself. She got that hug she would pretend to hate, but instead, she did not give Tyler more anxiety to get it.
After finally leaving the nurse’s office, lunch was long gone. So the pair headed up to Wednesday’s dorm. Tyler chose to skip his afternoon classes and Wednesday, not having to go because of the almost-death accident. The two sat silently, not talking, just listening to the music as Wednesday Typed at her typewriter. Tyler sat on the floor next to her desk, reading the pages the goth girl had written since he last got to catch up with Viper.
Suddenly there were some quietly shuffling noises from Wednesday’s bed. Both teens looked up suddenly, seeing a particular disemboweled hand standing on the bed. Before Thing could make a break for it, Wednesday grabbed the hand, bringing him to the desk.
“Hello, Thing. Did you think my highly trained olfactory sense wouldn’t pick up on the faint whiff of neroli and bergamot in your favorite hand lotion? Or Tyler’s hyde senses wouldn’t hear the taps of your fingers running?” Wednesday pressed the hand into the desk harder as she spoke.
Thing tapped rapidly on the desk, trying.
“Surrender?”
Thing were tapping frantically, and Tyler felt a bit bad for the hand. Wednesday let Thing go, and the hand stood on his fingers before waiving to Tyler. Tyler waved back. He has always liked Thing.
“Mother and Father sent you to spy on me, didn’t they? I’m not above breaking a few fingers.”
Things signed yes to them.
“That they thought I wouldn’t find out proves how much they underestimate me.”
“They are worried about you.” Things signed quickly. Tyler had learned sign language at a young age, so he could also understand Thing.
“Oh, Thing, you poor, naive appendage. My parents aren’t worried about me. They’re evil puppeteers who want to pull my strings even from afar.”
Tyler snorted softly, earning himself a glare from the goth girl. Tyler knew Wednesday believed her parents didn’t care for her. They have had multiple talks about it at 3 am over the years. Tyler always tried to help Wednesday with her relationship with her parents, but nothing seemed to help.
“The way I see it, you have two options. Option one. I lock you in here for the rest of the semester, and you go slowly insane trying to claw your way out, ruining your nails and your smooth, supple skin. And we both know how vain you are.”
Thing began to shake on the desk, causing it to shake as he clung his nails to it, making a soft scraping noise as Wednesday slowly pulled him closer to the drawer she had opened.
“Option two. You pledge your undying loyalty to Tyler and me.”
It was safe to say Thing went to option two pretty fast.