Shades of Cool, Tyler Galpin

NINE.   your eyes reflect me in a terrible way

      When returning to the castle, Andy and Wednesday immediately sprinted to the library. Thankfully it was late and Kennedy was likely already back in their dorm, so the library was empty. "We keep seeing that same purple book," said Wednesday while looking at the shelves for the purple book they saw in their vision. Thing was there to help. "The cover was darker. More like a day old contusion. Keep looking."

"What do you think it is?"

"The drawing has a symbol of it." Wednesday held up a piece of paper. Andy examined at it and saw it was a blown up watermark. "I think whatever it is, more than just one person knows about it."

"I don't usually finds students in here looking for actual books. Most sneak in to make out,"

Andy flinched, seeing Thornhill stand at the bottom of the stairs. She grimaced. "Ew."

"I once walked in on two vampires fanging. I can't unsee that," said Wednesday.

"Is there something I can help you girls find?"

The sisters glanced at each other. Wednesday held up the paper. "Have you seen this before? It's a watermark from the book I'm looking for."

Miss Thornhill looked at it and titled her head. "I think it's from the symbol to an old student society," she replied and racked her brain to remember. "Um. . . The Nightshades."

"Like the deadly flower?"

"I guess it makes sense." Andy muttered.

"I was told they disbanded years go,"

"Any idea why?"

Thornhill only shook her head, not knowing.

Andy's shoulders deflated at the answer. Wednesday walked over to her bag to put the paper back in.

"I was very impressed with your answers in class today. Both of you," Thornhill praised.

"Our mother is a carnivorous plant aficionado. I assume we get our red thumb from her."

The teacher smiled. "Are you girls close with your mother?"

"We're not the typical mother/daughter trio," said Andy.

"Like two inmates sentenced to life on the same cell block,"  Wednesday answered for herself. 

Andy was sure Morticia Addams loved her daughters with her whole heart (though she really didn't have one) but the girl always knew her mother had a slight favoritism for Wednesday. They were practically the same person whether Wednesday wanted to believe it or not. Andy always felt like she was just. . . there. If anything, her relationship with her father was stronger than the one she had with her mother.

"I know it can't be easy. . . showing up mid semester," Miss Thornhill continued. She circled around the girls and sat down at the table. "I've been here for a year and a half, and I still feel like an outsider."

"That must be hard," said Andy, trying not to laugh.

"Is it because you're the only normie on the staff? Enid and Kennedy told me."

Thornhill's face dropped slightly. She covered it up with a laugh. "To tell you the truth, I've never really fit in anywhere. Too odd for the normies, not odd enough for the outcasts. I thought Nevermore would be different, there's still a handful of teachers who will barely acknowledge me."

"Because you're different than the rest." Andy stated but it came out almost as a whisper. Thornhill smiled at her,  indicating that she was right. The girl understood that feeling almost better than anyone. She was born into a family full of darkness but even she felt completely different than the rest of them. It was a hard feeling, feeling like you don't really fit into your own family.

She was happy at least one person felt the same way she did.

Wednesday always said the day she were to ask somebody for their help would be the day she died. Well, that day came and she was still very much alive, asking Kennedy Eden of all people for her help. She found the girl by the fireplace, reading her book and stuffing her face with gummy worms. "Kennedy, I need your help."

Kennedy almost choked. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear you say that," she spoke with a growing smirk.

She rolled her eyes. "I need you to help me sneak into Xavier's dorm."

The smirk disappeared. "Excuse me? For what?"

"That's classified."

Kennedy scoffed and got up from the couch. "I'm not helping you sneak into Xavier's room. We're not even allowed in there period," she stated and started walking away.

Wednesday followed behind her. "Don't tell me the Kennedy Eden suddenly follows the rules," she commented bluntly. She realized it wasn't a good idea when Kennedy just kept walking and ignored her. Wednesday sighed. "Look, I would ask Andy hue she's not equipped for something like this."

"You don't give her enough credit, y'know?"

This time, Wednesday rolled her eyes.

The two of them walked down the hallway to their dorm rooms. "Besides, why would I help you if you're not even gonna tell me what you're doing?" Kennedy inquired and walked into her room, leaving the door open.

Wednesday stepped inside the room, her sister not there, and she watched Kennedy sit on her bed. Her hands remained at her side. "You may not like what I say," she claimed emotionlessly.

Kennedy raised her eyebrows in a challenging manor.

She was almost as stubborn as she was. Wednesday didn't like it. But if she was going to get her to help, she had to comply. Wednesday exhaled air through her nose. "I need to find more evidence on Rowan."

"Oh gosh, this again—"

"I told you that you wouldn't like it."

Kennedy stood up, Wednesday titling her head back. "What more evidence do you need? We saw Rowan the other day. He's alive."

"Look," Wednesday interrupted her, her eyes narrow. "You don't have to believe me. You don't even have to help me. But something happened to Rowan in those woods and I'm going to figure out what's going on, and I can't do that without getting into Xavier's room. So, what's your decision?"

Kennedy stared at her blankly. Wednesday stared expectantly. A silent battle. She felt her neck begin to hurt from having to look up at her because she was so tall. She wasn't used to looking at somebody this long but Wednesday refused to break eye contact, even though she felt her skin start to crawl.

Finally, Kennedy exhaled loudly and dramatic. "Fine." Just as Wednesday was about to respond, she held up her finger. "But, you're telling me what the hell you're doing on the way."

The short girl glowered but didn't retaliate.

The last time Kennedy stepped foot in Xavier's room was the night before their break up. Rowan had disappeared to his secret book club in the library (something she always made fun of him for) and she would sneak into Xavier's room, not caring about the housemaster. Sometimes they would talk for hours, other times Kennedy would sit there and watch him draw. She could do it for hours and never get tired of watching him.

Thinking back to those times hurt physically and emotionally and Kennedy wondered why the hell she agreed to help a girl she barely knew sneak into her ex boyfriend's dorm room. "Xavier always go on a run at night. He should be back soon to take a shower. We can look for what you need during that time," Kennedy explained as she and Wednesday carefully snuck to the boy's side of the castle. "What are we looking for exactly?"

"Andromeda and I have been having these visions ever since what happened to Rowan that night at the festival, and the last one we had, I saw this purple book," Wednesday began explaining. "Now we went to the library but it wasn't there so I'm under the assumption that Rowan was hiding it in his room."

"Uh huh," Kennedy hummed. "So what if it's not there?"

". . .I haven't thought that far ahead yet."

"That's shocking."

Wednesday glared at her.

The pair snuck their way to Xavier's dorm. Hearing Kennedy timed it perfectly. He wasn't back yet. The girls hid behind the wall and waited to hear the front door open and close. Wednesday peered up at the girl through her bangs. "Your guilt is stinking up the room."

Kennedy looked down and glared. "Oh, I'm so sorry that I'm forced to sneak into my ex boyfriend's dorm door and raid his belongings," she shot back while keeping her voice quiet.

"Nobody's forcing you to be here."

She quickly opened her mouth hit realized she didn't have a comeback. Kennedy rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you would've set my room on fire if I didn't."

Wednesday narrowed her eyes into slits.

Kennedy went stiff when she heard Xavier's door open and close, then she heard a door open again, which she assumed was his bathroom door. "He's back."

Wednesday walked in briskly, Thing followed after her and crawled on top of Xavier's desk. "That purple book has to be around her somewhere." Her head snapped in her direction. "Any ideas?"

All Kennedy did was shrug. "How should I know? He's a boy. His room's always a mess." She answered dismissively.

She shook her head. "Start investigating."

The three of them lurked around the dorm room. Rowan's side was completely empty, contrasting with Xavier's dark and art filled side of the room. Kennedy checked his stack of books, but didn't see one that was purple the way Wednesday described. She shuffled through his papers and art books. As she searched through them, Kennedy felt a pit in her stomach. She knew all of these drawings because she used to watch Xavier draw for hours. She loved to watch him create his heart. Now, it was just a reminder that he broke her heart and betrayed her, and Kennedy had to resist the urge to tear them all to shreds.

Suddenly, the lights shut off. "What are you doing?" She whispered to Wednesday, seeing her pull out a blue light.

"Looking deeper," the girl replied and started lurking around Rowan's side of the room.

Kennedy looked at her weirdly and continued the search.

Wednesday looked under the bed and saw a mass of finger prints. She followed the pattern and lifted the floorboard, pulling out a mask. She stood back up. "Kennedy, come here."

The taller girl glanced over again and walked away from the desk. "What the hell is that?" Kennedy inquired, eyeing the mask.

"I think I have an idea. Rowan's full of surprises."

They heard rustling come from inside the bathroom. Then, Kennedy heard a knock on the door and her eyes widened. "Hide!" She whisper yelled.

The two of them immediately tried to hide under Xavier's bed. Kennedy quietly grunted, feeling cramped because she was way too tall.

Xavier exited his room and answered the door. Kennedy recognized the shoes as Bianca's and she rolled her eyes. "You're not supposed to be up here," he said and dragged her into his room.

Kennedy heard Bianca scoff. "Nice to see you, too." She glanced at Wednesday. The girl pressed her pointer finger to her lips.

"How'd you get past the housemaster?" Xavier asked and leaned against his bed frame. "Use your siren powers?"

Likely.

Kennedy listened to their conversation, feeling annoyed and bitter at the same time. It was her worst nightmare to be stuck in a room with the two of them in it.

"I'm sorry about Rowan. I know you got used to be close."

"Since when did you give a damn about Rowan?"

"You were the one who was afraid he'd do something to Wednesday. Isn't that why you've been following her like an eager-eyed puppy? Or is there something more?"

Kennedy's ears perked and she immediately looked at Wednesday, and she looked at her back.

"Seriously, what do you see in her?" Bianca continued as Xavier walked away. "You have a thing for tragic goth girls either funeral-parlor fashion sense? Is this Kennedy 2.0?"

Kennedy held up her middle finger.

"Maybe it's because she hasn't tried to manipulate me," Xavier replied, brushing off the comment about Kennedy.

"I make one mistake and you can't forgive me, she treats you like crap and you can't get enough. Just like Kennedy—"

"Stop bringing up Kennedy."

"Why? Because you know I'm right?"

"Why are you so fixated on Wednesday?"

"Because she thinks she's better than everyone else!"

Kennedy looked at Wednesday again. She tried to read her face but there was no emotion but blankness, something she should've expected. She didn't why she all of sudden felt some sense of animosity.

It was her ex boyfriend. It was her ex best friend. And yet the conversation was centered around Wednesday. She didn't know why and she really didn't like it. Not at all.

Bianca left and Xavier angrily stormed back into the bathroom.

"We have to go," Wednesday whispered.

Kennedy crawled out from under the bed. She didn't waste time fleeing the bedroom. Her heart rate suddenly increased.

"Kennedy," Wednesday voiced behind her, trying to keep up with her speed. "Don't tell me you're mad."

"Don't ever ask me to do that again, Wednesday. I mean it." She said adamantly and watched out for the housemaster.

There was a swift moment of silence. "You should really get over it."

Kennedy paused. She turned around with a look of disbelief. "What?"

"Xavier broke up with you nd got with your best friend. That betrayed you. You were a wreck. Acting like it bothers you just makes you seem desperate."

Her jaw dropped open slightly. Kennedy stared at her incredulously. "You don't know anything about my life, Wednesday, so I'd really appreciate it if you didn't psychoanalyze my feelings. Good night."

Wednesday watched her walk away, her dark eyes soon trailing to the floor.