The Watcher || Xavier Thorpe (DISCONTINUED)

9

Enid and Wednesday walked through the doors of the quad, an open space where the students of Nevermore Academy gathered.

"Welcome to the quad." Enid presented with her arms raised.

Wednesday walked in beside her with an impassive look on her face. "It's a pentagon." She stated.

"The whole snarky Goth girl thing might have worked at normie school, but here things are different." The blonde girl said as she placed a smile on her face. "Let me give you a wiki on Nevermore's social scene."

The two girls started walking around the pentagon-shaped area while Wednesday commented, "I'm not interested in participating in tribal adolescent clichés."

"Well, then use it to fill your obviously bottomless pit of disdain." She looked over to a girl without a face, "There are many flavors of outcasts here," and turned back towards her roommate, "but the four main cliques are Fangs, Furs, Stoners, and Scales."

Enid pointed to a group of vampires, all wearing sunglasses and drinking a red liquid, "Those are Fangs, AKA vampires. Some of them have literally been here for decades." Then she pointed to another group, all of them sported wild curls and were vigorously eating sandwiches, "That bunch of knuckleheads are Furs, AKA werewolves. Like me!" The furs howled as Enid warned, "Full moons get pretty loud around here. That's when Furs wolf out. I suggest you pick up noise-cancelling headphones."

They walked a few more steps, then stopped. "I'm assuming Scales are sirens?", Wednesday questioned as her vision honed on a few sirens chatting with each other, one with their hand swirling around in the fountain's water as she laughed with her friends.

"You catch on quick. And that girl, Bianca Barclay, is the closest thing Nevermore has had to royalty. Although, her crown has been slipping since the arrival of Chloe Plouton. Chloe is actual royalty." Enid pointed to only girl not in uniform. Chloe was seated at an empty table and had her back turned to the duo. She was focused on the movements of the artist in front of her. "Bianca used to date our resident tortured artist, Xavier Thorpe. But they broke up at the beginning of the semester. Reason unknown, although, there is a rumor that they broke up because Bianca couldn't hold onto her crown anymore. Everyone can see how threatened she is by Chloe."

Wednesday watched as Xavier felt a stare and turned his head, Chloe vanished into thin air as Xavier's green eyes scanned the crowd, turning back when he faced his raven mural.

"Fascinating." Wednesday commented in a monotone voice, all she could think about was how she could get the royal's help to escape. Chloe's position had already proven itself in the incident with Weems.

Enid enthusiastically turned to Wednesday, "I know, right? My vlog is, like, the number one source for Nevermore gossip."

She heard a familiar voice behind her and immediately turned to face the boy, hiding Wednesday in the process.

"Yo, Enid! You're not gonna believe the dirt I heard about your new roommate. She eats human flesh." A snake creeped out of his beanie, "Totally chowed down on that kid she murdered. You better watch your back."

Enid moved out of the way, uncovering Wednesday, who was staring at the boy.

"Quite the contrary." The snake crawled back into his beanie, a frightened look staining the boy's face. "I actually fillet the bodies of my victims, then feed them to my menagerie of pets."

Enid gave a weak smile as she introduced her roommate to Ajax.

"Whoa." He commented as he looked her up and down, "You're in black and white. Like a living Instagram filter."

Enid turned to her, "Ignore him." She pushed Ajax away, "Gorgons spend way too much time getting stoned. He's cute, but clueless. You know, it's a small school. There wasn't much online about you. You should really get on Insta, Snapchat, and TikTok."

"I find social media to be a soul-sucking void of meaningless affirmation."

Wednesday walked away, heading towards the main office to change into her custom black uniform. When she finished, she headed to the gate, knowing her family was already there, waiting to say their goodbyes.

After men in her family said their goodbyes, her mother stayed to remind Wednesday that she should not run away and what were to happen if she were to appear on any of her relative's doorstep.

Wednesday spoke, "As usual, you underestimate me, Mother. I will escape this educational penitentiary, and you will never hear from me again."

Morticia sighed as she said, "You are a brilliant girl, Wednesday, but sometimes you get in your own way. I'm sure you'll grow to love Nevermore, and find it as life-changing as I did." Morticia gasped as she pulled out a necklace, a W in the middle. "Oh, I got you a little something. W..." she flipped the charm, "M. Our initials. It's made of obsidian, which Aztec priests used to conjure visions. It's a symbol of our connection." She handed it to her daughter.

"Which one of your spirits suggested this toe-curling tchotchke." Morticia's face fell. "I am not you, Mother. I will never fall in love, or be a housewife, or have a family."

"I'm told girls your age say hurtful things, and I shouldn't take it to heart."

"Fortunately, you don't have one."

Morticia smiled, "Finally, a kind word for your mother. Oh," she remembered, "make friends with the Plouton girl. If you stay on her good side, you will become one of the most powerful psychics in the future... Lurch, the crystal ball, please."

Lurch walked over and handed a case to Morticia.

"We can't talk to you for the first week while your settling in, so we'll call you next Sunday."

Wednesday took the case from her mother as the older woman went to touch her cheek but with a glare from her daughter, she retracted her hand and turned to leave. When the car started to leave, Wednesday walked back inside, heading to her dorm.

THX.