Shadow (Xavier Thorpe)

II

"Nevermore was founded in 1791 to educate people like us. Outcasts, freaks, monsters, fill in your favourite marginalized group here." Enid smiled as we walked down the halls of Nevermore Academy. I stayed silent as I took in the surroundings. "You can save the sanitized sales pitch. I don't plan on staying here for long." My sister Wednesday announced which caused me to roll my eyes. No wonder a school can never hold her, she is always looking for a way out of them. "Why not?" Enid stopped to ask my twin. "Wednesday has a problem with staying in the same place for too long. Always looking for some kind of trouble" I answered as Wednesday shot me a glare. "This was my parents' idea.

Oh look, there's my mother smirking at me. They've been looking for any excuse to send me here. It's all a part of their nefarious, yet completely obvious plan. What plan? To turn me into a version of themselves." Wednesday said looking at the fencing picture of your mother. I rolled my eyes as you looked at the photo realising how much you and your mother are alike in physical appearance.

"In that case, perhaps you can clear something up. Rumour's been swirling around that you killed a kid at your old school, and your parents pulled strings to get you off" Enid said as we continued walking into a courtyard that was filled with students. "Actually, it was two kids, but who's counting?" Wednesday answered with a blank tone. "Wednesday! You can just say that you didn't even murder anyone. All they needed was surgery" I scolded my younger sibling as she shot me a death stare and continued walking.

"Welcome to the quad" Enid announced happily. "It's a pentagon," Wednesday said blankly. "She has a point you know; it is a pentagon." I agreed with my sister, very few times in my life. "The whole snarky Goth girl thing might have worked at normie school, but here things are different," Enid said, looking like she has had enough of Wednesday's snarkiness. "She also has a point," I said to Wednesday, earning yourself another death glare. Let me give you a wiki on Nevermore's social scene." Enid said as she referred to everyone that was in the school. "I'm not interested in participating in tribal adolescent clichés." Wednesday pitched in. I just stayed silent, listening to the bubbly teen. "Well, then use it to fill your obviously bottomless pit of disdain. There are many flavours 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! Full moons get loud around here. That's when Furs wolf out. I suggest you pick up noise-cancelling headphones." Enid said pointing out each group as we walked around the quad. "I'm assuming Scales are sirens?" Wednesday asked as she saw the group of teens sitting by the water fountain. "You catch on quick. And that girl, Bianca Barclay, is the closest thing Nevermore has to royalty. 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" Enid said as she pointed out the teen with shoulder-length hair painting a mural. I recognized him to be the boy that was in my vision a week ago. We both locked eyes for a few seconds until I snapped my head away when Wednesday spoke up.

"Fascinating," Wednesday muttered clearly uninterested. "I know, right? My vlog is, like, the number one source for Nevermore gossip." Enid said as I quickly glanced over my shoulder looking at the boy once again, trying to figure out why he was in my vision. "Yo, Enid! You're not gonna believe the dirt I heard about your new roommates. One eats human flesh. Chowed down on that kid she murdered. The other is known for torturing people! You better watch your back." A boy wearing a beanie came up to the three of you. I guess he is a gorgon. " Quite the contrary. I actually fillet the bodies of my victims, then feed them to my menagerie of pets." Wednesday answered as I rolled my eyes at my sister. "Yes, and well funny enough I do believe that torture is the best way of communication" I also said looking at the boy. "Ajax, these are my new roommates, Chloe, and Wednesday," Enid said smiling at the teen. "Whoa. You're both in black and white. Like a living Instagram filter." The teen said as I simply gave a sly laugh, folding my arms and looking the boy up and down. "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. You should really get on Insta, Snapchat and TikTok." Enid turned to the both of you. "I find social media to be a soul-sucking void of meaningless affirmation," Wednesday answered, still refusing to be a slave to technology. "I actually already am on social media, just have fun trying to find me," I said as I pulled my iPhone 12 out of my pocket.