clarity ~ w.addams

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Celeste stood leaning over the desk, reading through Wednesday Addams file, when she heard footsteps outside the door.

She quickly closed the thin binder and hurried around the desk to stand next to the chairs standing on the other side. It wasn't very subtle and the position she was standing in wasn't very natural, but when Larissa Weems stormed through the door she was too busy scolding the girl to notice it.

"I've had it with you!" She fumed when the door fell shut and no one could hear them. Larissa Weems valued privacy a lot, especially when it came to discussions with her daughter,"What were you thinking?"

"I was going for a run." Celeste lied without hesitation, holding eye contact with the older woman. It was partially true. She did run.

"Don't lie to me, Celeste." Weems warned, pointing her index finger at the girl, almost threateningly.

"I'm not" Celeste lied again. She did feel a little bad for it, but she had no choice. Besides, her mother didn't have to know everything. "I was going for a run."

"If that's so, then why are you covered in blood?" Weems squinted her eyes at the blonde. The silence she received telling her everything she needed to know. "Let's try that again, shall we? Why did you skip class to sneak off campus, to do god-knows-what in the woods and return looking like that?"

Celeste remained silent, lowering her eyes. She couldn't tell her mother the real reason. It would make her look insane and Celeste really didn't want to end up in an asylum.

"Especially when there's a monster running around in the woods?" She added, waiting for an answer, but Celeste remained silent.

"Celeste! I'm talking to you." She leaned forward on her desk, trying to get any reaction out of the girl and it turned out a success.

"I don't know what you want me to say! I wanted to clear my head, so I went for a run." Celeste snapped back, glaring up at the Principal. "Yes, I skipped class.. but that shouldn't surprise you."

Celeste trailed off, trying to calm herself down. She couldn't let her anger get the better of her, not when that was what her mother wanted. She wanted the truth and she would most likely get it when Celeste was angry.

"I tripped and fell in the rain earlier, that's why I'm covered in mud. I don't know where the blood is from- I must've hit my head or something." Celeste carried on, giving her mother answers to her questions, even if they were only partially true.

A satisfied hum left Larissa's lips as she leaned back into her chair. The room fell completely silent for a moment, the distance between them growing.

It hadn't always been like this. Up until a few weeks ago, Celeste told Weems everything, but then she started going into the woods and since then everything had changed. They fought more often and Celeste had started to shut her out. Larissa told herself it was a phase, but the hope faded every day.

"Fine." Weems leaned forward again, folding her hands on the desk, "You leave me no other choice. As punishment for breaking the rules you aren't allowed to leave campus for the rest of the week. On top of that, you will go to Ms Thornhill and help her tidy up the Library."

Celeste scoffed, "You can't lock me in here."

"Don't be so dramatic, it's only for a week. Besides, this is your own doing. You continued to disobey me and lie to me." Weems argued back, walking around the desk to stand in front of the blonde. "If you continue to break the rules I will add to your punishment, starting with your extra-curricular activities."