Chapter Text
Delaney was sitting alone at one of the tables in the quad, silver strands of hair flying into her face from her milkmaid braids. She felt the raised lines of her oddly shaped scars as she brushed them away. She was just shaping a wood block for carving when she heard Enid behind her.
“You catch on quick. And that girl, Bianca Barclay, is the closest thing Nevermore has to royalty.” Enid said.
“Although her crown's been slipping lately. She used to date our resident tortured artist, Xavier Thorpe. But they broke up at the beginning of the semester. Reason unknown.”
“Fascinating.” Said a dry, sarcastic voice.
“I know, right? My blog is, like, the number one source for Nevermore gossip.” Enid started to talk excitedly before being interrupted. At this point in time, Delaney had turned around to look. Ajax started talking without noticing the girl behind 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.” New roommate? Interesting.
“Quite the contrary. I actually fillet the bodies of my victims, then feed them to my menagerie of pets.” The girl spoke, in that same dry tone,startling Ajax. Enid slowly moved from blocking his view. “Ajax, this is my new roommate, Wednesday.” She said, a little awkwardly.
“Whoa. You're in black and white. Like a living Instagram filter.” Ajax was stunned. Enid pushed him away slightly as he turned around and walked away.
“Ignore him. Gorgons spend way too much time getting stoned. He's cute, but clueless. It's a small school. There wasn't much online about you.” Enid turned to Wednesday.
“You should really get on Insta, Snapchat and TikTok.”
“I find social media to be a soul-sucking void of meaningless affirmation.” Wednesday’s dry tone never changed as she talked, her eyes scanning the courtyard.
“Oh and here we have Delaney, no last name. Resident mystery. Been here almost her whole life.” Enid said, spying Delaney. Delaney internally groaned. She loved Enid but socializing? Not her forte.
“Hi.” Delaney said awkwardly.
“What’s that?” Wednesday asked directly, pointing at the piece of wood Delaney was still shaping with her mind.
“A statue I am working on.”
“You control wood.” Wednesday wasn’t asking a question.
“Yes.”
“I take it you’re fae, from the vine shaped scar and control over wood.”
“Nobody knows actually. That’s certainly possible.” Delaney responded, tone a little short. This girl gave off the vibes of being a whip, sharp and dangerous.
“That’s the mystery of her! As well as why she’s been here her whole life but that’s a whole thing we don’t have to get into.” Enid chimed in, glancing between the two girls sizing each other up.
“Indeed it is. Now if you’ll excuse me.” Delaney got up and picked up her stuff, spilling photos from her bag everywhere. Enid leaned down to help her pick them up.
“I’ll spill everything when she leaves to go say goodbye to her family. I’ll meet you in your dorm.” Enid whispered.
“So, what’d y’a think about Wednesday?” Enid plopped down on Delaney’s bed where she was sitting, going through the latest batch of developed black and white film.
“Intriguing. Sharp.” Delaney thought out loud. “I’m not quite sure what to think, at the moment. Whatcha got to spill?”
“Well she’s an Addams, so a legacy. Allergic to color apparently, had a uniform special made in black. Other than that nothing. No social media presence whatsoever.”
“Hmm.”
“That girl just destroyed half my window!” Enid came stomping into Delaney’s room, where she almost made a wrong cut on her statue.
“A little warning next time please.” Delaney said, dropping her knife. “Now what do you mean destroyed half your window?”
“She split it down the middle and took all of the colored glass on her side out. She said it looked like a rainbow vomited on my stuff. And basically my blog was stupid.”
Enid huffed, her claws curling as she slumped onto the bed. Delaney came to slump next to her before speaking.
“She’s not been here a day. Just give her a chance. Maybe she’s just really, I don’t know, kooky. Ooky, y’know?”
“More like creepy and spooky.”
“Enid, that was how you felt about me when we met remember?”
“You practiced dark witchcraft. She enjoys murder. There’s a difference.”
“Meh. Not really.”
“Urgh fine.” Enid smushed her face into Delaney’s pillow.
“Hey if you get makeup on my pillowcase again I’m making you clean it off!” Delaney threw her black cat plush at Enid’s head, making the other girl laugh. Delaney almost blushed when she heard it, which she found disconcerting. She didn’t like not knowing things.
Later that night, as Delaney was logging the plants she found that day and journaling about the events that transpired, she thought about Wednesday. The girl was odd of course, but there was something else about her that seemed, a little, off maybe? Thinking about Wednesday led to her thinking about Enid and she questioned what had happened earlier when Enid had come in in a huff. She doesn’t think she’s blushed when Enid has laughed before. Maybe it was a fluke. She shook her head and settled down for bed. Turning off the lamp, she rolled over and tried to go to sleep.