Shades of Cool, Tyler Galpin

FIVE.    you care and it's all over the place

      Soon, Tyler arrived at the booth with a cup of hot chocolate. He sat it in front of her. "One hot chocolate," he spoke shyly.

Andy looked up at him and grinned. "Thanks."

Tyler nodded and went back to work, but not more accidentally bumping into a table on his way back.

Wednesday glared at him as he went. "You're not serious." She said to her sister.

Andy titled her head. "What?" She asked and took a drink of the hot chocolate (it was the best thing she ever tasted in her life).

"Don't tell me the first boy you have a crush on is a normie."

"Crush?" She questioned bizarrely. "I've known him for less than five minutes."

"Mother and Father knew each other for ten minutes."

Andy slowly formed a grin. "True."

Wednesday grimaced. "It'll never work out."

She rolled her eyes. "Can't you for once just say,  Aww sis, I'm happy you're the least bit interested in the cute barista."

"I would cut out my own tongue before I said that."

Again, she rolled her eyes and took another sip of the hot chocolate. Then, a group of boys wearing pilgrim uniforms walked into the coffee shop and surrounded the sisters, giving them evil looks. "What's a couple of Nevermore freaks doing out in the wild?" One of them sneered.

"This is our booth." Another one commented.

"Why are you three dressed like religious fanatics?" Wednesday questioned, eyes racking their ridiculous clothes.

"We're pilgrims," the tallest one answered like it was obvious.

"Potato, po-tah-to."

"We work at Pilgrim World." The third one stated and slammed a flyer on the table.

Wednesday slid the paper closer to her and examined it.  "That's a thing?" Andy asked and stifled a laugh.

"It takes a special kind of stupid to devote an entire theme park to zealots responsible for mass genocide."

The boy who gave them the flyer glared again. "My dad owns Pilgrim World. Who you calling stupid?"

"Like father, like son." Andy remarked.

Tyler noticed the tension and stepped in. "Guys, back off." He told the group of boys, coming to their defense.

"Stay out of this, Galpin."

"Yeah, say out of this," said Wednesday and she stood up.

"Wednesday." Andy warned but she was ignored. She sighed and stood up from the booth as well.

"So tell me,  freak. . ." the pilgrim boy sneered and stood in front of Wednesday. "You ever been with a normie?"

A scowl appeared on Andy's face at the degradation question but Wednesday only smirked. "I've never found one that can handle me."

Feeling someone grab her arm, Andy immediately reacted and grabbed a hold of the hand. She bent his hand back and he yelped in pain. "Touch me again and you'll lose that hand."

All hell broke loose after that. One of the boys went to grab Wednesday and she spun around, kicking him in the balls and he grunted. Andy gasped and the same boy got up to hit Wednesday but she moved, and he ended up punching the other boy in the face. She took his outreached arm and broke it, the bones cracking.

Andy felt the same boy that grabbed her before tug on her arm again and she elbowed him hard in the face, feeling his nose crack. He let out a scream in pain and she flipped him over her shoulder, his back hitting the floor. Wednesday ended it by kicking him in the face.

Everyone in the coffee shop gasped and the three boys laid on the floor, groaning and withering in pain. Andy rubbed her now sore elbow. Tyler slowly looked between the two girls in shock. "So, where'd you learn those kung fu moves?"

"Our uncle taught us. He spent five years in a Tibetan Monastery," answered Wednesday.

"Was he a monk?"

"A prisoner," said Andy.

The sheriff then walked into the coffee shop. "Dad," Tyler acknowledged him.

"Tyler, what the hell's going on in here?"

"They were harassing customers and they put them in their place," he answered while looked between the sisters.

Sheriff Galpin eyed the girls in disbelief. "These little things took down three boys? Did you help them?" He asked, the misogyny peeking through and making Andy scoff.

"Dad, I swear, I wasn't involved," Tyler assured his father.

Principal Weems walked through the door and gasped at the scene. "Apologies, Sheriff. These two slipped away from me. Come on, Miss and Miss Addams, time to go."

Andy glanced at Tyler before she and Wednesday went to leave with Weems. "Wait a minute, hang on," the sheriff stopped them. "You two are an Addams? Don't tell me Gomez Addams is your father?"

Andy looked at the man with caution and Wednesday gave him a small nod.

"That man belongs behind bars for murder. Guessing the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I'm gonna keep my eye on you."

Wednesday glanced over and saw the way her sister's faces fell at his statement. "Okay." She said quickly and grabbed the them, leading them out the door.

"What did he mean by that?" Andy asked, slightly panicked.

"Nothing. He's lying." Her sister responded with no emotion.

It was another awkwardly silent car ride. "Your first day and you're already on Sheriff Galpin's radar," Weems snapped. "Wish I could say I was surprised,"

"What did he mean about our father?" Wednesday asked her.

"I have no idea but a bit of word of advice. Stop making enemies and start making a few friends. You're going to need them."

They were coming onto a car wreck a few feet up the road.  "Looks like an accident. I hope the driver's okay." Weems said to herself with concern.

Andy's eyes landed on the red crashed vehicle and her heart sank when she realized it was the same truck from her and Wednesday's vision. "He's dead. Broke his neck," said Wednesday.

"How can you tell from this angle?"  Weems asked, but didn't receive an answer. 

They passed the wreck and Wednesday looked over her shoulder slightly, Andy already knowing what she was thinking.

Later that night, Kennedy was laying belly down on her bag with a bunch of snacks surrounding her. Andy was under the covers reading her book. "How was your therapy session?" Kennedy asked with a mouth full of gummy worms.

"Not too bad," Andy replied, looking up from her book. "I'm not exactly the best at expressing my feelings."

She nodded. "Totally get that. But Dr. Kinbott's really nice. She's helped me a lot."

She said it like she wasn't expecting Andy to ask her about it, but it shocked her. "You're in therapy?"

Kennedy nodded. "Mmhm. For a few years now."

Her casualness was off putting. "Oh. . .for what?"

"Uhhhh," she trailed. Kennedy got up from her belly and sat criss crossed. "My dad died a few years ago and my mom kind of went off her rocker."

Andy's eyes softened. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she replied and smiled lightly. "It was harder to deal with a year or two ago when I was still dating Xavier. I was. . .out of my mind depressed. But things are better now."

"That's good," said Andy, nodding a little. She eyed the still open book in her hands. "Maybe I'll get to that point soon."

There was a silence between them. The all of a sudden, the sound of a cello playing caught Kennedy's attention. "Is that a cello?" She asked, puzzled.

Andy nodded. "Yeah. It's Wednesday."

"She plays the cello?" Another one. Kennedy's eyebrows raised. "Wow. Your sister's, like, fucking awesome."

"She's insane," she clarified, laughing slightly.

"Well yeah, maybe, but everyone at this school's so boring. It's nice to add some spice into the mix. . .even if it two goth chicks."

Andy scoffed. "I'm not goth."

"Sure, babe." Kennedy opened a pack of Twizzlers. "So. Did you do anything else while you were in Jericho."

"We went to the Weathervane."

She gasped. "Did you meet Tyler?"

Andy nodded, feeling a grin form on her lips and she quickly tried to hide it.

Kennedy noticed. "Is that a smile I see?" She teased.

"What? No!"

"You definitely are! He's cute, isn't he?" Kennedy continued while laughing.

"No."

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not."

Her eyebrows went up. "You sure? Cause he's single."

"Good to know," Andy replied blankly.

Kennedy grinned and laid down again.

"Why? Do you like him?" She found herself asking.

The girl laughed loudly, making her flinch. "Yeah, no. He's not my type. He makes the best hot chocolate though."

Andy smiled again.

There was a knock at their door and Wednesday walked in abruptly. "Sorry to interrupt. Andy, I need you," she stated boredly.

"Hi to you too, Wednesday," Kennedy waved but wasn't acknowledged.

Andy followed her sister out of the room. "What's up?"

"I'm following through with our escape plan. We just need Tyler's help."

The two of them entered the other room. "How are we going to do that?" Andy inquired.

"Enid's letting me use her computer. You're going to do the talking."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

Wednesday faced her. "You've taken a liking to him. He'll listen to you more than me. I've already sent Thing to his house."  She deciphered.

"B-but I don't—"

"Don't be a baby, Andromeda."

Andy's mouth closed slightly at annoyance. Nevertheless, she listened to Wednesday and sat in Enid's desk chair in front of the computer. Technology was something the Addams family didn't do so she had no idea what she was doing. "Okay, what do I do?" She asked and stared at the screen oddly.

"Just wait for him to call you and you'll click. . ." Wednesday motioned to one of the buttons on the computer. "That one."

"That one," Andy mumbled to herself and glanced at the keyboard. "Right. Okay."

After about five minutes, the computer made a sound for a video chat request and Andy stared at the device nervously. She clicked on the button and Tyler's face appeared on the screen. Now she was more nervous. "Andy. Uh. . . hi," Tyler said first, very unsure of the situation.

"Hi," Andy responded, her voice going up an octave. She cleared her throat, "Hi."

Wednesday leaned over her shoulder and they saw Thing in the background. "That's Thing."  She explained.

"Is he, like, your pet?" Tyler questioned, looked at the hand in fear.

Thing flipped him off.

Andy held back a laugh. "He's sensitive."

"Look, I know Nevermore is ground zero for all things weird, but this is next level. So, what happened to not wanting to be a slave to technology?"

She froze at the question and pointed at her sister. "Her idea. Not mine. I was in my bed."

Wednesday rolled her eyes. "Desperate times. Are you still willing to help us escape?"

"Well, after what happened today, I figured they'd have you in solitary."

"We can't be contained," Andy told him with a grin. Wednesday gave her a look and the girl cleared her throat. "Right, um. . . there's the Harvest Festival this weekend. Attendance is mandatory. We're going to use it is a cover. If you're still willing to drive us to the train station, I can make it worth your while."

A smirk quirked itself on Tyler's lips. "Worth my while?"

Andy's cheeks turned a shade of red and she blinked.

"Yeah, I'm in," he responded with a nod. "And no charge. Consider it a freebie."

"Why?" Wednesday asked weirdly.

"Cause I wish I was going with you,"

Andy frowned at how disappointed he sounded.

"At least one of us will get out of this helltown."

"You still could," she encouraged, her voice quiet.

Wednesday's eyes shifted between them and she walked away.

Tyler shook his head. "Nah. But it's a nice idea, though." Another soft grin appearing on his lips.

Andy stared at him through the screen. She wished Wednesday wasn't in the room. When another awkward feeling started to creep up on her, she gave him a quick smile. "See you this weekend." She didn't wait for a reply and she quickly ended the call and slammed the computer shut, exhaling a shaky breath.