As The Woe Turns: A World Before Woe

Nevermore E.S.

"Hello, my name is Enid Sinclair. I'll be your guide for this part of the tour. Please allow me to show you around our amazing campus." Enid stood at the railing on her balcony practicing her speech. She thought she sounded pretentious, like she had a stick up her butt or something. Like no matter what she said it would be some completely sanitized version of what the academy really was. She sighed.

Since she had been early to arrive, principal Weems asked if she would mind touring some of the new students around the campus. Of course she agreed. She always agreed. Enid sighed again. She rested her chin on her arms that were situated on the cold stone railing of her balcony. "Howdy! I'm Enid. Welcome to Nevermore!" She exclaimed. "No." She shook her head. "Hi, I'm Enid. Enid Sinclair. Welcome to Nevermore. Please follow me while I show you around a little bit." Enid huffed. "Yo! Hey what's up?! I'm E. Like I'm going to show you around." Enid growled to herself. "Welcome to Nevermore bitches! Ugh no..." Why was this so fricken hard?! She was in the top ten percent of her class. She was well liked and ran a popular blog. Her social media presence was immaculate. Why was this the thing she struggled with. Public speaking sucked ass! Her anxiety was eating her alive. She'd have to come back to this part of the speech later. Maybe she was just overthinking it.

Enid took a deep breath and let it out. She was standing in front of her mirror now tying her uniform tie. "Surrounded by pristine wilderness and set in the gorgeous foothills of northwestern Vermont, Nevermore Academy was officially built and founded In 1791 by Nathaniel Faulkner on land left to him by family on his mother's side. It was originally opened under the name 'The Faulkner Academy for the Gifted.' Faulkner soon made it his personal mission to find and catalog every type and subtype of outcast alive and dead. This school was his base of operations. Additionally he wanted a welcoming place where outcasts weren't targeted for being different. Students would be able to take gen ed classes but they could also learn a little bit about theirs and other outcast species. The academy ran as such for the next fifty or so years."

Enid let out a quick breath and continued. "However, in roughly 1846 the school was renamed Nevermore Academy after our most prestigious alumni Edgar Allen Poe and his most famous work, The Raven. The picturesque gothic backdrop and medieval castle feel was said to foster and grow Poe's love and proclivity...no, I don't want to sound too smart...his lust for all things morbid, dark, and macabre." Enid smiled. At least she had that part down for the most part.

"Hey there Stepford Wolf. Don't forget to tell them that the academy was actually started by a Mexican immigrant about one hundred years prior on land that once belonged to a racist pilgrim in retaliation for the mass murder of the original outcast and native colonists of this land....oh and it was renamed after Poe saved the school from bigots set on the desolation of outcast kind." Enid jumped. She turned abruptly to see her best friend standing behind her, her arms folded over her chest grinning, sunglasses firmly in place. "Yoko!!!!! Seriously girl! I don't know how you come up with this stuff. Those are just rumors anyways." Enid exclaimed wrapping her arms around her bestie and tackling her onto her bed. "OMG! I missed you so much!" She hugged Yoko tightly and kissed her cheek several times. Yoko chuckled. "I missed you too E!" She replied with a giggle and patted Enid's arm. Another voice chimed in from the doorway. "Hey E!" Divina stood just inside the door looking down at Enid and Yoko. "Divina!" Enid jumped up and squished Divina in a tight hug. "I missed you too Enid." She chuckled. Yoko stood quickly from Enid's bed. "Group hug!" She yelled crashing herself into the other two girls. Picking them both up easily. All three giggled.

After a bit, the girls separated and sat on Enid's bed. "When did you guys get in? I walked by Yoko's room last night it was still empty." Enid asked. "This morning. Check your phone. I see Weems has you doing tours." Yoko smirked. "Mhmm. You?" Enid asked. "Nope. Dude Weems finally learned her lesson with me last year." Yoko smirked. "Yeah I still can't believe you told the group you were with that we have a functional torture chamber beneath the school for staff only, and each time a student is late to class they get twenty lashes instead of detention. I thought literal steam was going to come out of Weems' ears." Enid chuckled. "Or that we can't keep pets on campus because Thornhill would either feed them to her plants or the werewolves during full moons." Divina playfully added. "Or that the archery team uses freshmen for target practice." Yoko smirked at her own cleverness. All three girls giggled. " So, are you at least doing tours with me D?" Enid asked. "Of course I am. As student body president, I don't have much of a choice. But I'm not going to practice anything though. My dorm mom Ms. Evers gave me a script. I'm just going to read from that, but what you were saying was really good E." Divina smiled brightly. "Thanks. I still can't believe you beat Bianca for prez. Is she still not talking to you?" Divina shook her head no. "Mkay her loss. You're sooo lucky to have a script though. Can I see?" Enid huffed. Divina handed Enid the folded paper. Enid grinned.