Credits to: LocalGayPanic
Wednesday Addams sat patiently in her seat. The PA had sent out a pair of light dings, giving the students a couple of seconds to get quiet. A woman's voice was heard audibly clearing her throat, before speaking.
"Students of Nevermore Academy, I would like to announce this year's Rave'N Dance. This year's theme will be Masquerade, and as such, an addition will be made to the normal rules. Dates are no longer allowed, and all students must enter separately. Any student(s) found tampering with the sprinkler system or any other school property will risk expulsion. Thank you."
To anyone dumb enough to point it out, it could be said that a ghost of a smile appeared on Wednesday's pale face. Her lips, dark with purple-tinted lipstick, flickered upwards for a second. The movement stood out against her otherwise motionless (and emotionless), freckled face. Not that anyone, with the exception of a certain blonde, was looking to notice.
The rest of the class period was much more talkative. Their new teacher, a brunette with squared eyeglasses, made several attempts to continue with the lesson, but to no avail. Once she knew there'd be no more learning about venomous plants this period, Wednesday tuned into the conversations around her.
"I think I'll be showing off that new skirt..." One voice chimed from a few seats ahead.
"I wonder if I'll be able to find Yoko there." Came from a different conversation at the back of the room.
"I bet that Addams girl-" Wednesday tuned out upon hearing her last name, knowing that whatever was about to be said wouldn't be good. Instead, she focused her thoughts on her roommate, who was currently trying to be subtle about staring at Wednesday from across the room. Wednesday, ignoring the extremely obvious staring, began imagining Enid in a masquerade mask. A wolf mask would be too on-the-nose, so instead this fantasy Enid wore a silky red cat mask, matching the dress she wore. Wednesday began to wonder what she herself would wear. 'Perhaps I'll sport a raven mask, accompanied by...' She began a mental debate over her outfit as the bell rang, and she got up to travel to her next class.
Enid Sinclair, for once in her life, was absolutely clueless as to what fashion would be suitable for an event. She paced across her side of the room, scuffing the wood with her yellow sneakers. "Would a tuxedo dress work, or would it have to be a more formal dress? God, where is Wednesday when you need her!?" It took all of her energy to not rip apart the nearest pillow.
The sound of intense tapping on authentic oak came from across the room, and Enid stopped to listen.
"I know, but I figured masquerades would be like, her thing. At the very least, there's that one Poe story about that disease and the masque. Whatevs, I'll head on a shopping trip in Jericho with Wednesday once she-"
Speak of the devil and she shall appear. It was, in that exact moment, that the closest thing Nevermore had to the devil did in fact appear. Wednesday Addams, the pigtailed brunette with a starry sky of freckles and a bloody pool of victims, walked in the door and sat down on her bed. "If you expect to talk me into that, you'll find yourself severely disappointed."
Of course, Enid had some semblance of a plan. She widened her blue eyes, producing just enough fluid to add a light shine. She stuck her lower lip out, adding in a little wolflike whimper for good measure. In other words, she gave Wednesday the puppy eyes. Unfortunately for Wednesday, it managed to work.
If Jericho was the last place Wednesday wanted to be, then Jericho Fashion Mall was somehow even further back on the list. She stood unbudging at the storefront, a grimace on her freckled face. The blonde to her right, meanwhile, had a bright smile on her face. Both were looking forward at the brightly coloured store. It looked like glowstick fluid of all different colours had been sprayed across it.
Her blonde roommate offered a hand, which Wednesday begrudgingly took. After as much mental argument as could be achieved in a span of seconds, she convinced herself it was because she had never been to the store before, and it was best not to get lost. Especially not in a place as... neon as this one.
Whatever the reason, she let Enid lead her into the store, dragging her over to dozens upon dozens of racks filled to the brim with dresses.
"Alright, this is the dresses section, the suits section is over there," Enid pointed to a section across the thick hallway from that section which they were in. "The skirts are to the left of here, suit pants and jeans are to the left of the suits, and the food court is at the far end of the hall. We'll meet back here with our outfits in bags so we can't see what the other got, and then we can get food or something."
Wednesday frowned. Wasn't the whole point of coming to this abomination of a building to find outfits together?
'Though,' She thought. 'I guess we are supposed to be anonymous at the dance, so knowing each other's outfits kind of ruins the point.'
Wednesday's first stop upon splitting up was the dresses section. She couldn't reuse the dress from the previous Rave'N, but maybe she could find something better. Her cold fingers ran across the equally cold metal of the racks. Her eyes skimmed across the various dresses, some of which looked like puffing nightmares.
Eventually, her eyes settled on one. It was a dark indigo, with short sleeves that connected to fishnet sleeves extending down to the wrists. The skirt extended to knee length.
She brought the dress up to the counter, lightly setting it up and waiting to pay. Once she'd paid, she lightly set the dress into a large bag from the store. The author is too tired and lazy to write a proper transition here, but she made her way back to the meeting spot agreed upon.
Enid walked lightly, bag in hand, as she returned to the dresses section. She scanned the large room, spotting Wednesday sitting back at the meeting area. Gliding across the room as if on air, Enid plopped herself down next to her gloomy roommate. Said gloomy roommate, although caught off guard, seemed to light up a bit. While Wednesday was still as nihilistic and creepy as usual, the two had grown closer since their first day rooming together. Especially after the night of the blood moon, and the subsequent break.
"Enid? As much as I'd like the room to myself, I'm not sure if I want you dead yet." Enid snapped back to reality, blushing when she realised she'd been spacing out.
"I'm fine!" She cleared her throat. "Should we go grab something to eat? The food court's over there." Wednesday nodded, and Enid did her best to suppress a squeal. "Great, it's a date!" Without thinking, she grabbed Wednesday's hand and started leading the way.
It took her about a second to register what she'd just done, causing her to silently panic and expect Wednesday to get mad about the implication they were dating, or to cut her fingers off for grabbing Wednesday's hand without permission.
What she did not expect, however, was for a (very red) Wednesday to lightly squeeze her palm back. Why did she do that? Why did her face go so red? Wednesday is by all means a straightforward person, so it's likely not from anger. So what?
Dumbfounded, Enid decided not to give it any more thought, and instead continued to the food court.
As the two plopped down at a rounded silver table, Wednesday's ever-redder face was turned away from Enid's. While her formal, gothic composure was mostly unbroken, her ordinarily calm mind raced. Why had Enid grabbed her hand? Why had Wednesday let her?
Enid was a valuable asset. Of course. After all, she'd protected Wednesday from the Hyde. She didn't want to risk making Enid uncomfortable, she still had use for Enid. Of course. That was it.
Eventually, after an awkward silence, Enid (and, soon after, Wednesday) stood up. "I guess we should go get something to eat." As if affirming the sentiment, Enid's stomach growled almost as loud as Enid herself could've.
Enid felt her face heat up even more, bringing some extra colour to her normally pale complexion. Wednesday, confused as she was, had to admit she didn't mind the look.
As the two walked over to the food court, many eyes were on them. It wasn't often you saw a pastel werewolf and a goth psychic holding hands and blushing in the middle of a food court. Any of those alone was a unique sight to behold, so the combination was certainly a first.
After a long wait in line, the two eventually made their way to where they would be served. They begrudgingly released their hands, payed for their food, and carried their items back to their table. The two sat and ate, both silently imagining what the other could've picked out for the dance. Unfortunately for them, the silence didn't last long.
"Hey, Addams!" Bianca Barclay, dressed in Nevermore's signature black-and-blue striped uniform, plopped down next to Wednesday. Never the one to miss an opportunity to tease her former rival, she looked between the two blushing figures at the table. "Sooo, what are you two doing here?"
Enid and Wednesday spoke at the same time. "Shopping." Bianca suppressed a sigh as she leaned onto the table.
"So have you decided on any outfits?" The two nodded, glad for a slight change of topic.
After a few more minutes of conversation, the three began the trip back to Nevermore.
The day had come. Every student attending the dance had an outfit and a mask, and with the excitement buzzing around, teachers had given up on controlling their classes. Wednesday and Enid, now sitting next to each other, were both trying to inconspicuously look at each other. Interestingly enough, because they were both so transfixed with the other and diverting attention to their own ambiguity, neither was actually caught by the other.
Enid admired Wednesday's... well, everything. What wasn't to admire? Her probably-trademarked braids, the dark brown eyes as bitter as the dark chocolates Enid would often get her, the plum-coloured lips that always seemed to draw the wolf's gaze, all of this complemented by the (of course) black version of the school uniform that she wore.
The admiration wasn't left unreciprocated. Wednesday, while holding her calm and collected demeanour, couldn't stop herself from staring at Enid. With the wolf's short, partially dyed hair in colours so vibrant it was a miracle Wednesday wasn't breaking out into hives, her beautiful light blue eyes, and the way her vibrant sweater (which the teachers were too tired to dress code her over) complimented both her palette and her figure, the psychic could've written entire poems about how enraptured she was. Of course Wednesday, being a slight masochist, couldn't help but also slightly admire Enid's sharp but vibrant nails.
Around them, conversations spurred. A boy in the front buzzed about the skirt he'd bought, while a girl in the back chattered about trying to find a girl named Yoko. Various other voices chimed up, lost to the hum of all of the other voices. The two girls, however, did not notice. At least, not until the bell screamed, causing one of them to nearly fall out of her chair. As Wednesday worked to stabilise herself, Enid giggled and reached out a hand. Now that the concern had died down, she allowed herself to laugh at the goth's plight.
As students discussed their plans for the dance that night, a red Enid and even redder Wednesday went to their room to prepare the night's outfits.
Enid, at this point as red as the silky suit she wore, walked up to the gate. Covering the area around her eyes was a brilliant deep blue and purple peacock mask. Fake gemstones glimmered along the outline. She handed a ticket to the bouncer and, after receiving a nod, walked into the surprisingly compact room designed to mirror an old masque.
Bright streamers decorated the equally bright, shiny ballroom. That, however, was nearly the only detail out of place. Everything else looked just like one would expect to see in a ballroom, like a modern-day Capulets' house. Even the people, collectively dressed in every shade of blues and reds imaginable, almost blended into the scenery around them. Enid was surprised to not see—or rather, not recognize—Wednesday. She wondered if Wednesday hadn't arrived, or maybe was in another room.
Enid made her way over to the snack bar. The punch was blue, likely to avoid reminding people of the previous year's events. She grabbed a red silo cup, her fingers sliding along the indented lines, and began to fill it.
Cup in hand, she began to float between crowds. She would occasionally start chatting or even flirting, but with little results. Eventually, she reached a crowd consisting of some guy in a skirt she semi-recognised but couldn't name, a dark skinned girl in a suit who she once again recognised (and once again couldn't name), and a few other people. Among them, Enid noticed and briefly conversed with a short boy with curly hair. While this group was more interesting than the others, Enid was still left unfulfilled.
Eventually, having mingled with all (or at least most) of the groups, she made her way to a corner of the room underneath a staircase.
Why did she do that? She didn't like dark, confined spaces. She didn't like to sit and observe and think.
'Not until last year, you didn't.' But what had changed?
Before she could put her finger on it, she noticed another girl walk up wearing an indigo dress with fishnet sleeves.
'One hell of a fashion sense.' Enid's thoughts were interrupted by the girl, still silent, sitting down beside where Enid was standing. Even through the girl's ebony raven mask, Enid could see the murder in her eyes. It looked like the girl wanted the corner to herself. Enid, having experience with grumpy goths, decided it was in her best interest to oblige.
Enid set back out into the crowd, but not for long, as the music briefly paused and the lighting dimmed.
We would like to announce the beginning of the slow dance. You may switch partners at any moment. Thank you for listening.
The music resumed, much slower this time, and the lighting stayed dim. Enid quickly found a partner, the dark skinned suit-wearing girl from earlier, and the two shifted over to others just as quickly. Everyone seemed to be gliding around, until they found someone that they wanted to keep dancing with. Enid passed through some 20 partners before she ended up with the raven masked girl from the corner. She was surprised to learn that the girl was extremely good at dancing.
Enid, drawn in by something about the other girl, felt herself slightly bridging the gap between the two. Even more surprisingly, the other girl appeared to be doing the same. Eventually, they were close enough that Enid could see the other girl in detail, aside from the area covered by the mask. Her hair was shiny and dark, flowing in a straight (lmao) line from her head down to her waist. Her lipstick was a dark crimson, like blood, which reminded Enid of a lipstick she herself owned.
The two were so close at this point that Enid could feel feel the other girl's breath on her lips, and she was sure the other girl could feel the warmth coming from Enid's cheeks. In one moment, they finally bridged the last bit of the gap.
Enid wasn't sure how to feel, and it was clear the other girl felt the same way. The kiss was soft, correct, in a way that went beyond how one would use such words normally, but at the same time, it just felt off. On one hand, it felt like the two were destined for the kiss. On the other hand, neither of them felt like it was the right person. That would soon change.
'The dance will end in 5 minutes, please be out of the building by then. You may remove your masks if you so wish.'
After a moment of thought, Enid decided to remove hers. She had barely gotten it lifted from her face when she heard a small gasp from beside her. She looked over, and saw none other than Wednesday Addams. The two, speechless, slowly leaned into a silent hug.