Shades of Cool, Tyler Galpin

TEN.   if I stay busy, maybe I'll forget how I feel

      Andy's never been really good at comforting people. She's too awkward to know what to say in situations like these. Instead of saying anything, she patted Enid on the back as she wailed into her pillow, cringing harder with every touch. "It's okay, Enid," she uttered cumbersomely.

Enid only wailed louder.

"Or not. That's okay, too."

"You're really bad at this," Enid's words muffled into her pillow.

Andy frowned. "I know," she mumbled and patted her on the back again.

Wednesday and Kennedy suddenly entered through the window. Enid's head shot up. "There you two are! Where have you gone been? I'm literally having a heart attack right now! Yoko's in the infirmary! Garlic accident at dinner." She explained hysterically.

"It wasn't an accident. Bianca's behind it," Wednesday declared without hesitation.

Andy narrowed her eyes. "How do you know?"

"Trust us, we know." Kennedy answered coldly, replacing Enid's spot on the bed.

Wednesday dismissed her attitude. "It doesn't matter. You, me, Kennedy, and Andromeda are going to take you down tomorrow." She explained.

"What?" Andy interjected at the same time Enid chimed, "Wait, you're joining The Black Cats?"

"I don't know how to roe a boat!"

Wednesday shot her a glare. "I'm not giving you a choice."

Enid dried her tears. "You're willing to do that?" She took a step towards Wednesday. She stepped backwards. "For us?"

"I want to humiliate Bianca so badly that the bitter taste of defeat burns in her throat." Wednesday's dark eyes cut sharply to Kennedy. "It's what she deserves. Thoughts?"

"Well, I'm not going to object," the tallest of them stated. "You'll probably have to keep me from drowning her in the water."

Andy furrowed her brows. "But she's a siren."

"I have my ways."

She lightly blinked her eyes. "Okay." She mumbled and looked away.

"Tell me how she keeps winning," Wednesday moved the conversation along.

"It's a real brain cramp," Enid replied.

"No other boat's made it across and back without sinking. Her team's full of sirens. Coincidence? Not at all." Kennedy explained with a hint of sarcasm.

"Sounds like sabotage."

"There are no rules in the Poe Cup. She is a siren, so, it makes her a master of the water."

A glint shined across Wednesday's eyes. "Then we just need to beat her at her own game."

There was a moment of silence. Enid was bubbling with excitement. Kennedy was being unusually quiet. "It's almost time for bed. Come on, Tim Burton." She said to Andy and stood from Enid's bed. "Good night, ladies."

Andy bid good night to Wednesday and Enid and followed her to their room. They climbed into their own beds. Andy looked across the room, seeing her staring at the ceiling. "Are you okay? You seem. . .off."

"I'm fine, Tim Burton. Just tired." Kennedy dismissed. She rolled over so that she was on her side. "What've you been up to lately? I heard you're taking archery as your extracurricular. Did Xavier go into excruciatingly long details about how to achieve perfect aim?"

Andy didn't miss the bitterness in her tone as she spoke. "No, I already have good aim. It was pretty easy."

"Oh. Hood for you. I'm 5'11 and, so my accuracy's not very good." Kennedy grabbed a book from her nightstand and rolled back onto her back. "What about therapy? How's that going?"

She hummed lightly. "It's been fine." Andy gazed at the ceiling. She locked her fingers together on her stomach. "I didn't know Tyler saw Kinbott, too." She mentioned him, thinking about him all of a sudden.

Kennedy, deep into her book, hinted a smirk. "Yeah, he's been seeing her for a while. He started around the same time as I did." She looked her way. "I can't exact tell you why."

Andy nodded, understanding. Her eyes never trailed away from the ceiling. "Do you ever wish your life was. . .normal?"

She listened to Kennedy scoff. "Are you kidding me? I would sell my kidneys on the black market to have a normal life. Go to a normal school. A normal dance. I got all of that taken away too soon."

She turned her head to the side. "What do you mean by that?"

The smell of vulnerability made them both uncomfortable. Kennedy sighed and put down her book. "My parents sent me to Nevermore when I was twelve. When my dad died, my mom went rouge and she. . ." She paused, not being able to say what she wanted to say. "I had to live with my grandmother for a while. My whole family graduated from here. Outcasts run in my family. And the whole school knowing my ex boyfriend got with my ex best friend doesn't help my situation either. . .so yeah, I'd love to have a normal life."

It was the first time in her life where Andy felt like she could share her inner thoughts with someone who wasn't required to keep a record of them. Kennedy understood what it felt like to be different, to be on the outside always looking in. Even when she put on the cool girl act, she was still insecure about herself on the inside.

"How do you get through it?"

"I try to think about things that make me happy. There's not a lot, but, there's a few things that keep me going." Kennedy answers. She shifted her head on the pillow so she was looking in her direction. "What about you, Addams? What makes you happy?"

She thought about it. Andy was not like a lot of people, not even her own family. She felt and looked at things differently. Her touch was cold but soft. Her gaze wasn't harsh. Her mind was loud but not violent. To the outside world, the normal world, she was an Addams, whether she didn't act like one or not, and it made it harder for her to find a source of happiness. "I don't think there's anything that makes me happy." Andy confessed.

"Nothing? Not even Tyler?" Kennedy teased.

As she laughed, Andy's eyes went wide. "What? No. Why would he?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe cause the way you were looking at him and the Harvest Festival and how your face goes red every time his name comes up. Which is odd because you look like you don't have any blood in you at all."

Andy shook her head. "That's ridiculous. He's a normie."

"He's a person," Kennedy corrected. "Who cares what his status is?"

"I do. And so does everybody else," Andy declared and sat up. "We're from two different worlds."

She scoffed. "Oh please, everybody who's perfect for each other uses that excuse. Have you seen the movies?"

"No, we're not a movie watching family and I'm not a movie character," Andy answered with slight bitterness. It was scary how much she looked like Wednesday when she glared. Her dark eyes dulled into coldness. "I'm something people often refer to as a ticking time bomb. Tyler's never going to look at someone like me romantically. Because he's normal."

The room went silent. Kennedy blinked, her mouth gaped like she had something else to say, but she couldn't get it out. "I didn't mean to make you upset, Tim Burton."

"I don't get upset," Andy stated bluntly and she reached over to shut off her lamp. "And you calling me Tim Burton proves my point."

They were enveloped in darkness. Kennedy sighed utterly and laid back down, thinking this was one of the worst nights ever.

Andy had a feeling it wouldn't be an easy day, but what she didn't expect was to be thrown into a tent with a cheap, uncomfortable feeling latex costume in her arms. The material suffocated her. It was the same feeling as the time Wednesday threw her down into a well and left her in there for three days.

She stood in the tent by herself, Wednesday in the one next to her, and she picked the costume off her skin, cringing when it bounced back. "Am I really doing this?"

"Andy, come on out!" Enid yelled from outside the tent.

Moments like this one is when Andy wished she had a backbone like her sister. Sighing, she stepped out of the tent and revealed herself in the black cat costume.

Seconds later, Wednesday stepped out in the same costume. Enid gasped. "OMG, you two look purrr-fect! Don't they, Kenny?"

"Oh yeah. Purrr-fection." Kennedy teased, smirking with amusement.

Wednesday glared at her. "Whoever told you that you're funny was lying."

She winked.

"Only thing, where are your whiskers?" Enid questioned once she noticed that neither sister had drawn on the cat whiskers.

"Ask again and you'll be to right lives." Wednesday threatened monotonous.

Andy continued to pick at the uncomfortable costume. "You better make sure Bianca's not breathing after this." She stared with an annoyed look on her face.

"I intend to, sister."

Andy sat between Enid and Kennedy on the boat, holding tightly onto her oar. In the boat next to them was Bianca and her sirens, all of them smirking arrogantly. On the other side was Xavier and his jesters, the team's faces painted like clowns, and all of them were hollering like mad men. "What do we have here? The runts of the litter?" Bianca taunted.

Wednesday stared back blankly. "For the record, I don't think I'm better than everyone else I just know that I'm better than you." She recalled the conversation she heard last night.

Bianca's expression dimmed into confusion.

When she noticed how Kennedy was glaring daggers at her, she kicked her in the back. "Focus. We can kill her later."

As Weems began her announcement, Andy felt something run across her foot. She looked down and her eyes brightened. "Hi, Thing."

Soon, the shots went off and the competition began. "Row! Row! Row!" Kennedy hollered at them.

Immediately, the team of girls started rowing. Andy, having never rowed a boat in her life, struggled to keep rhythm, but Kennedy's long arms gave them an advantage with speed.

"Come on, ladies! Let's go!" Enid's loud voice boomed.

Xavier and his team of jesters rowed pasted them. "Oh, excuse us!" He boasted.

"Screw you, Thorpe!" Kennedy shouted out of annoyance.

Andy inhaled a breath and focused on what was ahead of her. She rowed until her arms started to burn.

The Pit and the Pendulum, the team of vampires, rowed their boat next to theirs. Suddenly, an axe was flying over her head. Andy ducked down and gasped.

"Assholes!" Kennedy yelled.

After a while of more rowing, the teams came upon the shore. The jesters were the first to get out. As soon as the front of their boat reached the shore, Andy jumped out.

"Stay here and make sure Bianca doesn't sabotage our boat," Wednesday told Enid.

"Let's go," Kennedy started to say but she was cut off by Andy grabbing her sister's arm and they teleported away. Her eyes went wide. "What the hell?"

Andy and Wednesday teleported to Crackstone's Crypt. "Good thinking, sister." The oldest praised.

"Thanks."

Unfortunately for them, Xavier and Ajax got there first and were first to grab a flag. "Later, Addams sisters!" Xavier hollered.

"Jerks." Andy muttered. "Come on, Wednesday!"

"I've got it." Her sister replied and grabbed the black flag.

Her eyes went wide when she saw Wednesday fall to the ground. Andy lunged forward. "Wednesday—!" When they touched, she was pulled into a vision.

The scenery was the same except it was cold and blue. What Andy saw was a girl who looked exactly like Wednesday, only her hair was grey, almost white. "You're the key." She whispered.

When her eyes shot open, Andy was met by Bianca and Davina. "Taking a cat nap?" She taunted and grabbed the yellow flag.

She was in too much shock to care in that moment. Andy stared at the crypt. "Who was that?" She voiced out loud.

"I don't know. But we don't have time right now," Wednesday answered and crawled out of her arms. "Get us back!"

Andy stood and grabbed her arm. She teleported them away from the crypt and they landed in front of the boat. "Hurry, hurry!" Kennedy urged them.

Wednesday looked over her shoulder, seeing Bianca and Davina running, and she smirked at the shock on their faces. The sisters quickly got back in the boat and they rowed away from shore. "See ya, Ursula!" Kennedy shouted comically, making Enid laugh.

Andy huffed as she rowed. They quickly came across the jesters and she was confused until she saw that their boat was sinking.

"See you, jesters!" Enid heckled.

"Later, losers!" Kennedy yelled while laughing.

"What did you do?" Andy asked Enid while still rowing.

The small blonde grinned. "I just asked myself 'WWWAD'. What would Wednesday and Andy do?" Enid recited.

"Nice job, Wolfie!" Kennedy praised.

The last two teams were the Black Cats and the Gold Bugs. Wednesday flicked another switch and metal spikes appeared from the side of the boat. Working together, the team of girls swam toward the sirens.

Before the spikes could come in contact with the boat, Andy felt theirs start to shake and move. "What the hell?" She said out loud.

They started to be dragged away. Kennedy saw the look on Bianca's face. "Oh, I'm going to kill her. It's Kent!" She yelled angrily.

Andy saw Thing from the corner of her eye. She looked down and nodded. "Go."

He jumped into the water. Seconds before they were about to hit the barrier, the boat stopped moving and they gained control again. Andy smirked. "Atta boy." She muttered and started rowing again.

"Row! Let's sink this ship." Kennedy demanded.

Thy rowed again towards the sirens. Their faces dropped unpin seeing them again and this time, they drove the metal spikes into the side of their boat, tearing through the wood and water started to fill in.

"Yes!" The tallest of them cheered.

Andy felt an odd rush as they paddled through the water to the finish line. The crowd was waiting for them and erupted in cheers. Enid couldn't contain her excitement and she jumped out of the boat. "We did it!"

They ran through the crowd and through the finish line. "We did it!" Kennedy hollered and picked her up off the ground, spinning her around.

Andy looked around, eyeing the many smiling and cheering individuals. She didn't know how to feel. She was being shaken around by her team. Kennedy grabbed her shoulders. "Come on, Tim Burton, smile! We won!" She yelled happily and shook her.

She blinked numerous times. Andy turned her head, Wednesdays handing beside her, and she saw a smirk lift on her lips. "Are you smiling right now?"

"No," Wednesday answered but it was evident, and seeing Bianca climb out of the water soaking wet made the smirk stretch even more. She looked at her sister. "Don't read too much into it."

Andy felt weird as a smile crept on her lips. It was Wednesday, she never showed any emotion other than violence. But for a second, she looked like any other teenage girl. Andy wished she could see it more often. Without thinking, she circled her arm around Wednesday's shoulder and side hugged her. She half expected her to push her away or rip out her hair, but Wednesday simply stood there and let it happen. Just this once.

The Black Cats stood next to Weems in the quad, everyone gathered around to see her announce their win. "The first Poe Cup took place in 1987 as a way to not only honor Nevermore's most famous alumni, but to celebrate those values that all outcasts share: community, perseverance, and determination."

"Don't forget vengeance," Kennedy whispered to Wednesday.

"And we certainly saw those values on display today." Weems grabbed the cup from the display and passed it to Kennedy. "Congratulations to Ophelia Hall!"

Everyone bursted into fits of cheers. Kennedy threw her arms, and the Poe Cup, in the air. "Yes! We did it! Suck it losers!" She shouted crazily.

Weems's expression read distaste but Kennedy was too busy lifting Enid and spinning her around again. "We did it, KK!" She yelled.

Wednesday walked away, not impressed. Andy shook her head and stayed in her place. Her eyes went wide when Enid stood in front of her, a bubbly mess, and she grasped her shoulders. "Andy, we won!" Enid hugged her neck tightly. "Thank you so much!"

Andy froze, her hands pressed tightly to her sides. Kennedy had walked away to boast. She wasn't sure where Wednesday was. So it was just them two. Andy forced herself to relax. "It was fun." She replied.

"Really?" Enid inquired when she pulled away, her wide eyes full of hope.

"Yeah. More fun than the time mother and father sent Wednesday and I to a summer camp and we tried to drown the campers."

Enid's excitement dimmed into disturbance.