How Does it Feel Like? | Weyler

Seventeen

It was the night previous, Enid had gotten into their dorm later than usual that night, attempting to close the door as quietly as she could, not assuming Wednesday would be awake at the time. She let out a defeated sigh as Wednesday turned around in her chair wordlessly with her light on brightly, illuminating the side of her room. It reminded Enid of one of those villains in children's cartoons. If Wednesday wasn’t so naturally intimidating, Enid may have made a joke. “Where have you been?” Wednesday questioned curiously, Enid meeting the question with a quick laugh, waving her hand around dismissively. “Oh! I was… On a walk! Couldn’t sleep, you know?” Wednesday met the response with a nod, about to turn around again when she heard a gasp.

“Oh, my god!” Enid exclaimed, her eyes set on Belle, who perked up at the sudden loud voice. “You have a dog?!” Enid went to rush over, Belle getting startled and her ears lowering. Enid took note of the scared response and backed down a bit. “Where did you get her?” Wednesday was quick to think on her feet, “Tyler and I found her unattended in the woods.” Enid frowned, “Poor thing.”

Wednesday hadn’t realized just how scared Belle was until then. The way she avoided Wednesday’s gaze, staying away from her every chance she had. It wasn’t like Wednesday was attempting to scare it, yet it ran. She didn’t know much about fostering animals unless one counted her old pet scorpion, so figuring out how to fix this was foreign to her.

Animals were strictly forbidden on Nevermore grounds, so asking for help from the teachers was out of the question, too. Not that Wednesday was going to go ask the teachers about it, especially after what happened with Thornhill; regardless, the option would have been nice. She took another glance at the animal, and Enid kept trying to reassure her that she wouldn’t harm her. Wednesday mostly blocked out the animal talk since she found the way people talked to animals gross until she heard something that caught her attention.

“You’re such a sweet girl, aren’t you, Belle?” Enid cooed towards Belle, and Wednesday’s head snapped back to look at Enid. “How do you know her name?” Wednesday asked slowly, and as the realization came to Enid’s face, it disappeared as quickly as it came. “You told me?” Enid asked as if Wednesday had forgotten about mentioning it.

She hadn’t.

~~

The next morning was drab, it felt just like the others. While her pen was in her hand, Wednesday couldn’t write no matter how hard she thought or tried to get the words scribbled down. The recent events clouded her thoughts. Was Vincent the killer? Was it over? She would have to ask Tyler more about it, but she had a separate issue to handle now.

Her eyes trailed towards the piles of blankets ‘Thing’ had set out, Belle pacing around on them. She was restless, not able to lie down the entire night, and constantly whining so Wednesday couldn’t sleep. ‘Thing’ did his best, bringing water and extra food he found, encouraging Wednesday to try and connect with the dog. “I can’t fathom why Tyler wouldn’t take her into his dorm room.” She muttered, watching as ‘Thing’ tried giving Belle a few treats, which she wouldn’t accept until he was a good distance away from her.

“Watch her for me.” Wednesday suddenly spoke, getting up from her seat and heading out of the room quite quickly, most likely to avoid having to dog sit. ‘Thing’ went to say something, but decided against it, turning to Belle, who stayed still.

‘Thing’ turned towards Belle, attempting to soothe her by bringing more water and a treat. (A piece of bread he took from the kitchen.) It would take a lot for Belle to begin trusting people again, but he was willing to wait. Besides, he thought a pet may help Wednesday. Not that she needed fixing, but she did need some sort of positive reinforcement in her life.