Chapter Text
The horn sounds out through the forest and Enid snaps her head up from where she’d faceplanted onto the ground and spits out a chunk of grass, groaning at the sound of victory from the other team. She rolls over and pushes Bianca’s foot off of her, ignoring the girls smirk and taunting wave as she goes to congratulate her team.
The red team all gather around the flag which is being hoisted by Eugene, oddly enough and he grins toothily at Enid, receiving numerous pats on the back and hands affectionately ruffling his hair.
Enid flips him off in response.
She slides her short dagger back into its sheath on her calf and picks up the fallen arrows from her hip quiver, ignoring the boastful yells of the red team as they trample past on their way back to camp. Members of the blue team follow behind them, groaning and rubbing at tired muscles and complaining about losing, again.
After she finally finds all of her arrows and shoulders her bow, she makes her way down the small hill, stepping over a camper with partially severed limbs, as a few of her sibling’s jog over with a stretcher and a flask of nectar. Apollo Cabin, a God of many talents, poetry, healing, music, archery, hell even the freaking sun. Unfortunately, Enid only inherited his skills for archery, so she’s no use when it comes to first aid.
“So, we just got our asses handed to us again, no biggie,” Yoko grumbles as she meets Enid with her helmet tucked under her arm. “Its just, how the fuck did Eugene of all people, sneak past our defenses and win for the fifth time in a row.”
“I don’t know.”
“Oh, that’s super inspiring, thank you team captain.”
Enid huffs and shoves Yoko with her shoulder. “Shut up, I already owe Xavier five drachma’s, ok? I don’t need shit from you too.”
Truth be told, she doesn’t know how they’ve lost again. Yeah sometimes red wins, sometimes blue wins, but five times in a row? The blue team is made up of Hermes cabin, Athena Cabin and Apollo cabin, the three biggest ones, plus Dionysus cabin and Hecates cabin this game. They usually switch it up a little but often it’s the three biggest cabins against all of the others, which makes up the red team.
Eugene winning five times in a row is extremely suspicious as well. The timid son of Demeter? Last week Enid saw him engaged in a full-blown conversation with a bee. He built it a house.
“Did you fall out of that tree by the way?” Yoko snorts, spinning her sword around casually as they grow closer to camp half-blood and Enid grimaces.
“Yeah, I think a fucking squirrel threw an acorn at me?”
xXx
Enid, as per request from some of her siblings, is helping out in the infirmary. Despite not having a clue what she’s doing, nobodies died yet so that’s got to count for something. Usually, she just mans the little window around the back where campers can swing by to pick up some ambrosia or nectar to help out with any pains or minor injuries (if they don’t need to be in the infirmary) and she’s meant to weigh an appropriate amount out. But, they have a new camper doing that today, so she’s going around the beds instead with the goods.
The injuries today aren’t too bad, the most concerning so far being Xaviers massive splinter because he tried to climb a tree to outrun Yoko during the game.
But eventually she ends up at Eugenes bed. She gets her usual toothy grin, and she can’t stay mad at that face. Its a friendly competition after all, its freaking capture the flag, no big deal (her team’s pride and reputation is resting on her shoulders). She glances at the little card tied around the wooden bedpost with a piece of string and recognizes the scrawl as one of her siblings. Apparently, Eugene dislocated his knee whilst capturing the flag.
“Eugene,” Enid smiles and drops two squares of ambrosia onto his beside table. “Congrats on the win, again.”
He beams at her, the fourteen-year-old had been coming here since he was twelve. He’s not a year rounder resident, but for most holidays, breaks and some weekends he’ll come by. Honestly this summer is the first time Enid’s really seen him come out of his shell.
“Thanks Enid, it’s all thanks to Wednesday really-” He nods his head to the side and Enid jumps about two feet in the air when she notices the goth sat on a stool next to his cot. Enid narrows her eyes at his words and Eugene takes notice, his smile falling as he laughs nervously. “I um mean like; you know with uh emotional support? Yeah! Emotional support, she also helped me tighten my armor straps earlier which is important! And we-”
Enid turns her body a little towards the girl and tilts her head to the side, faking nonchalance as she says, “hey Addams, were you playing? I didn’t see you.”
The girl stares at her blankly and Enid resists the urge to look away when Wednesday refuses to blink or cut eye contact.
“I was watching in the trees.”
Enid nods and whistles lowly under her breath, remembering why she doesn’t really talk to the other girl. “Ok! That’s fucking weird, Eugene congratulations again, I’m seething inside but happy for you.” She glances at Addams and fixes her hold on the ambrosia and nectar basket and tips her head a little at her.
“Addams.”
“Sinclair.”
“Freak,” Enid mutters as she moves onto the next bed and throws a glare over her shoulder when she hears Wednesday mutter something likely distasteful at her retreating form.
“I’ll be surprised to see you at dinner tonight, given how much dirt you ate today when you fell out that tree.”
Enid bites her cheek and spins around to look at the girl again, “oh, you saw that?”
Wednesday nods solemnly, “hard not to see a colorful blonde tumble out of a tree, almost fall on her own arrow and land directly in front of her enemy. Its almost impressive how poor your spatial awareness is.”
“I’m just happy to have given you a nice view.”
“Yes, tell me though, would you almost impaling yourself with your own arrow be more or less embarrassing than when you face planted into a pile of Pegasus dung.”
Enid squawks and Eugene looks between the two of them with a worried expression on his face. Wednesday just lifts a single eyebrow, merely looking amused. “That was like three years ago, how the hell do you remember that and-no, you know what? It was lovely speaking to you Addams, like always”.
Shaking her head, and turning her body away from them, Enid gets back to work and smiles brightly at the next patient. “Conner! Hey, listen, nine fingers is better than none right?”
Dinner that night was a quiet affair. She was sitting at the Apollo table like always in the pavilion, which was kind of a bummer because all of her best friends are in other cabins, so they’re separated at dinner, which is peak gossiping time. It’s not like you’ll get in trouble for sitting at another table, it’s just pretty frowned upon for some reason.
Her younger siblings all chatter amongst themselves, some still a little down after capture the flag, others too hungry to care. Enid’s somewhere in the middle, chewing on her BBQ ribs, curtesy of the nymph cut barbeque and downing it orange Fanta from her magical chalice. The nymphs mainly work at camp like the satyrs, helping out with meal prep, camp protection and sometimes teaching classes. They’re a little distracting though, due to their divine beauty, Enid remembers a few summers ago when Xavier got brutally turned down by one.
Someone elbows her, tearing her out of her train of thought. Oh its their turn for the meal offerings. Enid grabs her plate and calls out for her table to follow her to the big fire, where she tosses in a rib and a couple squares of cheese, murmuring “Apollo,” as she does so. The Gods like offerings, it reminds them that they actually have children at camp, the smell catches their attention.
It’s a little sad, Enid knows that. But it’s just the way that it is, the way that it’s always been.
Her siblings copy her and follow her back to their table, since she’s the head counsellor for the cabin. She was made counsellor when she was fifteen, so this is her third year of it. They continue with their meal, finishing off what hasn’t been offered to their father and chatting about the campfire later. They have it every evening at 9pm. It’s not mandatory obviously, but everyone has a good time.
Enid’s in the middle of showing everyone at the table how she can balance a spoon on her nose, when a figure in black catches her attention. Cabin 13 in all its glory, the one child of Hades, Wednesday Addams, approaches the campfire and drops a single carrot stick in it. Stifled laughter can be heard behind hands throughout the pavilion, accompanied by shocked faces at the nerve of the girl. She’s done this every night though, that Enid’s been here anyway, and she hasn’t faced any repercussions yet. Everyone watches as the girl returns to her seat, hushed whispers as always whenever Wednesday Addams is the topic of discussion.
She sits back down at her table, on her own and picks up the book she had been reading. Enid can’t help but feel sorry for her, it must be lonely being an only child. Zeus doesn’t have any known kids in camp and Poseidon Cabin has Divina and Kent, so at least they have each other. But Wednesday sits on her own every day for the many years that she’s been coming here. Not that tries to make friends though, she pushes anyone away and acts like they’re not worth her time.
Enid can’t stand her.
From the very first day Wednesday arrived in camp all those years ago, Enid had made an effort to get to know her. She remembers the first day of summer and how the air smelt like saltwater, sunscreen, strawberries and a tinge of smoke coming from the blacksmiths. Enid had turned fourteen a few weeks ago, and because she stayed most of the year at Camp Half-blood, she obviously had the celebration there. Which was fine, a few of the friends that she had who also stayed year-round, organized a cake for her and she got some mail from friends who were living at home currently. Her friends had banded together and gotten her a pair of white converse high tops, which was amazing since her black pair was basically scraps. She decorated the laces with beads, of course, and wore them with pride.
All in all, it had been a good few weeks, and now that it was summer, it meant all her friends and siblings would be at camp which was awesome. Currently she was perched on top of the hill at the entrance of the camp and frowned when she saw the mist around the camp border shimmer, and a long black limo that looked like it belonged to a 1950s mob boss, emerged from behind it. Usually a older counsellor would pick up half-bloods in the camps jeep or strawberry vans, so this was a little odd.
A large man with deathly pale skin and a strange hunch to his shoulders, emerged from the driver’s seat and opened one of the passenger doors. A girl about her age steps out and glares fiercely at the gaggle of demigods stood nearby, embracing and reuniting. She takes her luggage from the man and doesn’t even bid him a farewell, instead her dark eyes analyze the camp and its surroundings. Eventually falling on Enid.
Enid’s first thought was “pretty.”
The second was excitement over a new camper that was her age.
“Hey newbie!” She calls out and waves excitedly, watching as the girls’ eyes widen at Enid stumbling down the hill towards her. Enid’s chest heaves a little as she catches her breath and she beams at her. “I’m Enid, cabin 7, or Apollo if you’re new, which you are right? I feel like I would have remembered you and-”
The girl holds up a hand, nimble and pale fingers pointing upward and halt Enid’s speech.
“Where is the big house, I must speak to whoever is in charge.”
“Oh, I’ll show you!” Enid skips forward a little, making her way down the path and the girl follows behind her. “I can carry your bags-”
“It’s fine.”
Ok…
“Sooo, what brings you to Camp Half-blood?” Enid laughs a little at her own question and rolls her eyes. “Well obviously I know, but like I haven’t seen you here before.”
The girl eyes her suspiciously and her surroundings. “I was told I could hone into my powers and potential here, where are the monsters?”
Enid giggles, “we don’t have them here silly, camps a safe space don’t worry.”
Behind her she hears a quiet murmur, “I’ve been tricked,” then the voice speaks up. “What does a summer here entail then, if not to be slaughtering monsters and demigods alike?”
“Oh well we’ve got arts and crafts, canoeing, capture the flag, chariot racing, training,” Enid glances over her shoulder to see the girl back turn around and walk back to the road where she’d arrived. “Um the house is this way?”
The girl continues to walk away and ignore her.
Enid, and everyone else found out later that night that the girl was called Wednesday Addams and she was a daughter of Hades. She’d had a “Vision” that led her to camp and the flaming red bident that appeared floating over her head during dinner that night, confirmed that Hades had claimed her.
It explained the gloomy aura at least.
Enid still made the effort though, many didn’t. To be fair, Wednesday Addams holds the record for most punishments given in a week, who knew you could maim so many campers during arts and crafts? Surprisingly she returned next summer and for odd weekends or weekdays over the years, nobody knows why because she insists that she hates the place.
However upon heavy thinking and reflection spent whilst cleaning the stables, which was the result of a lost bet, Enid’s positive that Wednesday returns each year to make her life hell.
xXx
LETTER OF COMPLAINT
ANY QUERIES OR CONCERNS BELONGING TO CAMPERS OR STAFF IS TO BE WRITTEN AND SUBMITTED TO CHIRON’S FEEDBACK BOX AT THE BIG HOUSE.
Filed by: Anonymous
Reason for complaint: Rhyming couplet curse
Feedback: I long to speak freely, without constraint
But this Apollo cabin curse, I cannot taint
Despitr how hard I try to break free
This rhyming curse has a hold on me
xXx
Enid wakes up with the sun.
It’s melancholic almost, like her father is actually here waking her up for the day with a bright smile and warm hand on her shoulder.
It would be relaxing, if she wasn’t late for her morning meeting. She stretches in her bed and glances at the clock next to her bed and chokes on air as she tumbles out of bed and rakes around for something to wear. Black San Fransico Giants shorts are pulled on and she grabs a random white t-shirt she finds under her bed and tugs that on over her sports bra. She trips up over someone’s fucking harp on the way to the bathrooms at the back of the cabin.
Brushing your teeth, whilst brushing your hair, whilst trying to roll on deodorant under the t-shirt you already pulled on, is not a task for the weak. But this is not Enid’s first rodeo. And it’s definitely not the first time she’s been late for a head counsellor meeting.
She hops around, tugging her converse on her feet and ducks under the pillow that’s thrown in her direction from one of her siblings who’s trying to sleep. Swearing quietly at them and then receiving more aggressive pillow throws, Enid slips out the front door of the cabin and is immediately assaulted with the shiny ray’s sun.
The big house is where all important meetings are held, also where Chiron lives. The activities director is kind of hard to miss, given that he’s a centaur. He’s nice, don’t get her wrong, but the silent look given to her, with a raised eyebrow as she hops up the steps of the porch, is getting kind of old.
“I know, I know,” she apologizes, entering the house and eyeing the old ping pong table in the middle of the room and the people gathered around it. Yoko, the head counsellor from Athena cabin, Tyler for Hermes, Ajax for Aphrodite, Divina for Poseidon, Bianca for Nike, Xavier for Iris, Wednesday for Hades, and a couple of other counsellors for milling around for Dionysus, Hecate, Tyche, Hebe, Hephaestus, Hypnos and Nemesis.
Enid (begrudgingly of course) walks over in Wednesday’s direction and helps herself to a mug of hot chocolate sat on the table, which has a cartoon centaur painted on it with the caption underneath reading “centaur of attention.” One of the many, many mugs Chiron receives from campers after they felt extra creative in arts and crafts.
She nods nonchalantly at Wednesday, who just shoots her a side eye and remains impartial. She doesn’t even move when Enid splutters after burning her tongue on the hot chocolate. Instead they stand in awkward silence waiting for the meeting to commence, until Wednesday surprisingly is the one to break it.
“There is a lot of tension in the room right now,” Wednesday observes.
Enid snorts and tries to take another sip of her drink. “Well yeah, the whole camps full of people with mommy and daddy issues.” Sigmund Freud would have a fucking field day here.
The shorter girls lips tug upward a little as she shakes her head and offers Enid a quick glance. “No it’s something else, all the older campers have the same look.”
“Not many of us make it this far, its scary to think about the world after leaving camp, a lot don’t or can’t return once they’re adults, people are just nervous about what’s to come.” Enid successfully takes a sip of her hot chocolate this time. It’s not the most refreshing beverage to be honest in the summer. “Nothing a good camp sing along can’t fix,” she grins and watches as Wednesday immediately loses interest and rolls her eyes.
“You disgust me.”
Before she can playfully retort, Chiron begins the meeting, and everyone sits on plastic chairs that look like they were stolen from some local, underfunded swimming pool. The information discussed is nothing new really, they go over safety protocols like not letting your campers sneak out in the middle of the night, because the harpies in the woods will literally chase them until they collapse from exhaustion. Ajax looks a little sheepish at that because everybody knows that he sneaks out to meet girls.
Chiron mentions that for the counsellors who’s last summer is currently occurring, they need to decide on their replacement. Enid’s not quite sure where she stands with that. Next summer she’ll be 18, a bunch of her friends will be at College. She hasn’t attended formal education in years.
“Did any of that apply to you?”
Enid snaps out of her daydream and turns to Wednesday, who walks just a little bit ahead of her on the path. Enid, ever the gentlewoman, offered to walk Wednesday back to her cabin. For protection of course (she knew it would piss her off). Wednesday refused and argued that 1. It was broad daylight. 2. They were in a summer camp. 3. She can literally raise the dead. Enid ignored her and followed anyway.
“What?”
Wednesday huffs and quickens her pace. “About choosing a replacement. Do you have any future plans, or do you plan on living at a children’s summer camp full-time as an adult? No judgement except for the fact that maybe you should get a life.”
The taller girl laughs shortly and skips a little to catch up with Wednesday. “I’ll have you know, I’m very popular here. My presence would be missed.” She waves happily at some passing campers as Wednesday frowns at them.
“Yes, I’m sure your pitchy rendition of This Land is Minos's Land, will be greatly missed.”
“Hey, I add something new to that ancient song ok?”
“Indeed, new notes so high that Eugene’s glasses shattered when you sang the chorus.”
Enid gasps and stops when they come up to Hades cabin. She leans against the railing of the small deck as Wednesday approaches the door and goes to turn the handle.
“I’m not sure,” she calls out abruptly, causing the smaller girl to pause in her movements. “Next year, I don’t know what I’m doing. I ran away from home when I was 7, haven’t had much contact since. I don’t have a high school diploma, I don’t have savings I just-I really just want to enjoy this summer, ok?”
She regrets it immediately, as soon as it all escapes her mouth like word vomit. She doesn’t talk to Wednesday Addams about her feelings and aspirations. They don’t talk, period.
Honestly Enid half expects Wednesday to turn around and make fun of her for it. Instead she faces Enid and says with the plainest, most deadpan tone.
“Turns out my parents had an orgy and Hades was an eager participant, hence him being my biological father. I was…distraught, finding this out.”
Enid blinks slowly. “Oh shit, um I mean I would be too Addams. Its pretty hard finding out that your bio parent isn’t actually your bio parent.”
The goth narrows her eyes coldly at Enid, “no not that,” she snaps. “Distraught that I had to hear about my parents sex lives.”
That’s pretty awful too.
Enid nods slowly, like she can relate and taps her fingers awkwardly against the dark wooden railing. Nervously eyeing the skulls around the doorway and the Greek fire torches. The sunlight shines off of the obsidian walls, making it look almost ethereal. If it wasn’t so fucking terrifying.
“Did you tell me that to try and cheer me up Addams?” Enid teases and watches as Wednesday backs away.
“No.”
“Oh my god you did!”
“Die. Die slowly and painfully.”
“You do care!”
Wednesday slams the cabin door shut, leaving Enid on her own, smiling on the porch.
“I’ll see you at swimming class later then?”
“Your shirt is inside out.”
Enid frowns and looks down at her t-shirt to see that it is indeed inside out, and very wrinkled.
“Fuck.”
xXx
Divina leads the swimming class, obviously because her father is Poseidon. Most campers already know how to swim but the class is mainly for younger ones, or newer ones who haven’t been taught certain procedures or methods yet.
It’s a hot day today so Enid’s just in bicycle shorts and a sports bra whereas her partner Wednesday Addams (because of course they got paired up together) is in some kind of all black, vintage tank suit, that looks like a swimming costume that people would’ve been seen wearing like 100 years ago.
“Alright everybody so today we will be learning the basics of helping someone who is drowning, the first pair to demonstrate will be some of our senior campers,” Divinia explains, gesturing to Enid, who stretches up an arm and waves at the small audience, and Wednesday who just stands there. “So who’ll play what part?”
“I’ll be the victim,” Enid hops excitedly.
“All your life.”
Enid side eyes Wednesday, before jumping off the small wooden dock and plunges into the lake. Its super refreshing, especially with the sun previously beating down on her bare shoulders. The one downside is how she’ll have to reapply all of her suncream after this.
She kicks her legs and her head breaks the surface of the water. Her arms flap around aimlessly as she pretends to gargle and shout dramatically.
“Help! Help, I’m drowning,” her head slips underwater, and she emerges again, forcing a loud cough.
Divina stifles a laugh and then gestures to Wednesday, before facing the campers. “Ok so now her partner will notice that Enid is struggling in the water and now she’ll jump in to save her,” she smiles before realizing that Wednesday hasn’t moved. “Um Wednesday?”
The pale girl stares back at Divina and raises a brow, as if she was testing her.
“I can’t swim.”
Enid pretends to drown and floats there.
xXx
“You’re such a fucking liar Addams.”
Wednesday sighs quietly before placing her bookmark down and shutting her book. Enid had spotted her here after lunch, under the shade of a patch of trees near the archery field. The girl would do anything to not be in the sun.
“Oh Sinclair you’re alive?” She retorts calmly, and eyeing the bow slung across Enid’s torso. “And back competing in mediocre displays of athleticism it seems.”
“I know you can swim,” Enid whispers accusingly, “I remember how you tried to drown Xavier last summer because he called you Wendy.”
“I’m not sure why you’re so upset, after all Ajax jump to your rescue, am I correct in saying that he performed mouth to mouth? I’m sure you’re thrilled,” there’s a strange bite to the words that lacks in the almost playful nature behind most of Wednesday’s insults.
Enid scoffs and kicks at a chunk of grass with her shoes. “You saw that? I thought you stormed off before you could witness how a partner was actually meant to help someone. And why would I care that it was Ajax?”
“So no denial for the mouth to mouth?”
“First of all, we mimed that, second why the fuck would you show up for the class only to leave before you could do anything?”
There’s a moment of hesitation. Wednesday’s jaw clenches and her eyes flash and all Enid can think is got you. Pale hands curl into fists and nostrils flare but eyes don’t lie. And Wednesday’s eyes glare at Enid, before faltering when they glance at her midriff. After swimming Enid had changed into some denim shorts and pulled on her orange camp half-blood shirt and knotted it around her stomach, therefore cropping it
Dark brown eyes are frozen, staring at Enid’s toned abdomen that’s revealed by the cropped top. But it’s because Wednesday is a prude. Hell, she wore some kind of Victorian bathing suit earlier, the most skin Enid’s ever seen her show is a sliver of skin between her knee-high socks and the line of her short overalls. That’s got to be why she’s staring right?
Right?
“Addams?” Enid murmurs, lightly kicking her Vans against the thick sole of Wednesday’s platform Converse.
The girl looks away and picks her book back up.
“I didn’t want to be your partner Sinclair, just my luck I suppose that we were put together. I’m deathly allergic to color and suspect that I would go into anaphylactic shock upon touching you.”
Enid blinks.
“Right…Um I’ll see you later I guess.”
“I hope not,” Wednesday mutters before eyeing something behind Enid. “One of your campers are on fire.”
Enid swirls around and groans loudly.
“Lily, I said no more fire arrows!”
xXx
“We need a new strategy,” Tyler suggests, pouring them some lemonade out of his big travel flask and Yoko rolls her eyes behind her glasses, kicking him gently under the table.
“No shit sherlock, we’ve been getting our asses kicked for weeks by Eugene Ottinger,” she takes a sip and shakes her head bitterly. “What has the world come to?”
Enid lies next to them in the long grass, staring at the clouds in the sky. Todays been a good day. She woke up and got her cabin to breakfast on time, she got a nice letter from home from one of her brothers that she’s still in contact with, she set a new personal record on the rock-climbing wall and didn’t get burnt by the lava this time and she passed the strawberry fields earlier and Eugene gave her a small basket.
Which makes her now feel a little guilty for conspiring against him.
“He mentioned something about Addams,” she mutters and Tyler hums.
“Wednesday?”
Bianca scoffs and Enid hears her shove his shoulder, “no Tuesday-Yes Wednesday you idiot.”
“Well not all of us are in the Athena cabin-”
Enid sits up, the grass tickling the backs of her thighs and she looks up at her friends sitting at the picnic bench, sharing their lemonade and Enid’s strawberries.
“He got a little funny about it, said it was all because of Wednesday that he was winning, what does that mean?”
Yoko’s glasses slide down her nose and she narrows her eyes at Enid. “He said that?” Enid nods and Yoko thinks for a moment before gasping. “She totally gave him a potion or something.”
“She’s a daughter of Hades, not Hecate.”
“Doesn’t mean she can’t make potions,” Yoko argues and looks back to Tyler, “we’ve both seen a cauldron in her cabin right?”
Tyler nods eagerly and goes to speak before Enid cuts him off.
“You’ve both been in her cabin?” Why hasn’t Enid been there, when did this even happen?
The other girl snorts and pops another strawberry in her mouth. “Yeah, when she hadn’t been seen in four days and we were told to go in to make sure she hadn’t died, the weirdo just holds a strange resentment towards sunlight.”
Tyler laughs and Enid just frowns. “So we think Wednesday’s behind it?” He asks and Enid doesn’t like the look on his face. “Well if that’s the case then we should probably watch her. I can keep an eye-”
“No!” Enid blurts out and they both look at her with alarmed expressions on their faces. “No um I’ve got sword fighting with her tomorrow I think I can do it. Plus she likes me more.”
Yoko’s lip curls upward a little and her eyes narrow suspiciously, “thought you guys couldn’t stand each other?”
Enid falters and feels her face burn, either under the sun’s glare or the faces of skepticism from her friends. She lets herself fall back into the grass and play with the sharp green blades, twisting them into knots and ropes. Let’s herself ignore the strange feeling in her stomach, for her own peace of mind and she frowns.
“Me too.”
xXx
Enid tightens the straps of her leather training armor as she watches Bianca sweep the floor with her opponents. The celestial bronze spear twirling in the air as it bats away swords and daggers. Enid gulps, regretting wearing her shorts today as she reaches down to pull at the straps of her shin guards.
A sword isn’t her first choice of weapon. Most of Apollo’s kids are pretty gifted with a bow, like she is. But they’re not the best in close combat situations, or with somebody or something whose hulking body mass could snap an arrow like a twig as soon as it makes contact. She’s also pretty good at hand-to-hand combat, but swords?
She flips her current sword in her hand, three feet long and it glistens under the sunlight. Its not too heavy, its actually balanced pretty well, thanks to Hephaestus’ cabin and their long arrows in the forge. A short yelp makes her head snap up and she sees a camper be flipped in the air by Bianca, their back colliding harshly with the ground.
Everyone winces and ooohs sympathetically. The daughter of Nike isn’t one to be messed with. She’s a valuable friend, but an even more valuable ally. Nike, the Greek Goddess of victory, it only seems fitting.
Someone nudges Enid forward and she comes to the horrifying realization that she’s next.
Bianca smiles at her and Enid smiles nervously back. They’ve been ok friends for a few years now. Bianca was a little standoffish when she first arrived, overly eager to be the best, to make her name known. She pushed people around and Enid didn’t let herself be pushed. Turns out that earnt her Bianca’s respect.
Her blade clunkily collides with the spear as she bats it away from her face. She doesn’t need any more facial scars after all. Bianca smirks at her and moves forward again, sweeping her spear at Enid’s legs and Enid jumps over it and lunges forward, her blade stretching towards Bianca’s stomach but the other girl steps back. But that doesn’t stop her, Enid advances, slashing her blade down and across, making Bianca hold the spear with both hands to parry her blows.
She actually thinks she’s doing pretty well, until Bianca’s shoe kicks her in the knee, making her stumble back and then a sharp pain explodes across her chin as the butt of the spear smacks it upward, sending Enid falling backwards towards the ground. She lands with a heavy thud and opens her eyes to see the electric point of the spear, inches away from her neck.
Three taps to the ground made with her fist and Bianca backs off, the next unlucky idiot lines up to fight her. Enid groans dramatically and rolls onto her stomach, spitting some blood out her mouth. The sudden smack of her jaw made her bite down hard on her bottom lip. She pushes herself up into a standing position and sways for a few seconds before walking over to a vacant bench, wiping her blood away with the back of her hand.
“She’s lucky Barcley didn’t cut her face huh?”
Enid frowns but doesn’t have the energy to turn around and see who’s whispering about her. A male voice laughs, and she can hear the sneer behind his words. “I don’t know how half the camp has a crush on her, the Dracaenae should’ve finished her off, look at those ugly fucking scars, who’d want to-”
He’s cut off and gasps loudly, everyone else also jumps and shrieks. Enid turns around to see one of the Ares boys bent over, clutching his stomach, blood seeping through his shirt and dripping out his mouth. Wednesday stands behind him with her fucking blade in his back.
“Shit,” Enid whispers, stepping forward as the boy falls to his knees. She watches as Wednesday kicks him in the back, sending him sprawling forward. The small girl stands over him, pulling his shoulder and rolling him onto his back. A small blade appears from Wednesday’s sleeve and Enid watches her whisper something to him, before drawing the blade down the right side of his face.
Various campers are rightfully freaking out, some try and pull Wednesday off of him and its only when Enid grabs her by the collar, that Wednesday stands up. There’s an unapologetic look in her eyes as they meet Enid’s, they stare at each other in silence before Enid’s brain starts working again. She shoves Wednesday back and turns back to the boy, knowing that as a child of Apollo, it’s kind of her responsibility to help him, even if he was just insulting her barely two seconds ago.
She points at two of her siblings, “ok you two grab that stretcher over there, yes, the one next to the benches. Ajax stop admiring your reflection in your shield please for five fucking minutes and grab that pouch of ambrosia.” She turns and sees some of her much more medically adept siblings arrive, and lets them move the kid onto the stretcher, running him over to the infirmary.
Everyone stares at her in silence and when she turns, Wednesday is gone.
“Um Bianca could you continue class please, I should-”
The girl nods confidently, “go, I got it covered here.”
Enid finds her a few hours later at the big house. She’s sitting on the porch with an untouched glass of lemonade beside her, looking all too peaceful for someone who almost killed a random camper.
“Jacks fine by the way, you nicked his spleen, but my siblings and the satyrs fixed the worst of it,” she shouts from where she stands on the grass before the house, a safe distance away from the homicidal maniac.
Wednesday doesn’t move, her face doesn’t change at all.
Enid sighs and shifts her weight onto her other foot. “What did Chiron say?” She calls out and Wednesday then turns her head slightly.
“I’ve lost dessert privileges for two weeks; I have to do ten hours of volunteering down at the strawberry fields and deliver a handwritten apology to the idiot I stabbed.”
“That’s not too bad-”
“I think I will fall on my own sword, save myself the embarrassment.”
“Oh.”
Wednesday stands and makes her way down the steps towards Enid. The little blood splatters on her neck and up her forearms, makes Enid gulp and the air cools as Wednesday approaches. The ground seems to move a little under their shoes. Enid doesn’t like the look in the girl’s eyes.
“Though Chiron agreed that camp half-blood is no place for bullying,” Wednesday muttered, her eyes avoiding Enid’s. “He has a soft spot for you.”
“I’ve been here awhile,” Enid laughs weakly.
Wednesday allows a small, grim smile, “then I’m sure you’ll have seen worse.”
“I dunno Addams, with the three years you’ve been here, you’ve worked pretty hard at giving us all grey hairs.”
Enid receives a familiar eyeroll and they simultaneously begin walking the dirt path back to camp. A healthy amount of space between them. There’s a lot of hushed whispers behind hands and disturbed looks thrown in Wednesday’s direction. But the girl seems to thrive under it all.
“You’re not, by the way.”
“Hm?” Enid turns around, her hand inches away from her cabin door. Wednesday stands a few feet away and honestly, she thought the girl had already left. She fidgets with her hands a little and shifts her weight from foot to foot, glancing around them awkwardly.
“Ugly, you’re not ugly.”
“Oh,” Enid breathes out, heat blossoming under her cheeks. “I uh-”
“At least not physically,” Wednesday hurries to continue. “Your personality is horrendously repulsive.”
“Right,” Enid’s smile is threatening to split her face in half. “You wanna flatter me some more, or can I head inside?”
Wednesday’s eyes widen and she glares back at her. “Inside, if your head can fit through the doorway.”
Enid falls asleep that night with a wide smile pressed into her pillow and her stomach fluttering with an endless wave of butterflies.
xXx
There’s about four weeks left of summer vacation, before majority of campers will inevitably leave and go back to school. Yoko’s beginning her first year of college in September and Enid is so proud of her. Tyler’s going back for his second year and Xavier’s apparently got this unpaid internship thing (Enid thinks it’s a scam) with some artist that he likes. The world keeps spinning and her friends keep up with it.
She just can’t help but feel like she’s being left behind a little.
So naturally she buries that deep down inside of her and ignores that feeling until it will one day inevitably bubble up and explode. But she’s fine right now. Enid throws herself head first into everything she does and makes sure that everyone else around her is having fun too, even if she’s lost her daily planner scroll, more times than she’d like to admit. As head counsellor, its her job to lead her cabin through their given activities for the day, and each morning the scroll is magically updated.
For example, todays scroll looks like:
8:00 AM - CABIN INSPECTION AND BREAKFAST
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM SWORD AND SHIELD TRAINING W/ARES CABIN
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM ARCHERY-TARGET PRACTICE IN WOODS
11:00 AM – 1:000 PM FIRST AID TRAINING W/VARIOUS CABINS/LUNCH
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM MONSTER ASSAULT TECHNIQUES W/HERMES-HYDRA
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM FREE CHOICE-CUSTOM SHIELD DECORATION W/HEPHEASTUS
OR CANOEING RACES W/NAIADS -1st PLACE RECEIVES 20 DRACHMA CREDIT AT CAMP STORE
OR CLIMBING WALL W/SATYRS-NO LAVA-POISON DARTS INSTEAD!
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM SWIM AND BEACH TIME-VOLLEYBALL/DISCUS/JAVELIN
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM DINNER
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM FREE TIME-CABIN CLEAN UP-INVENTORY CHECKS REQUIRED
9:00 PM – 10:00 PM CAMPFIRE SINGALONG-ONE MARSHMALLOW PER SMORE
10:00 PM - PREPARE FOR BED-LIGHTS OUT BY 11PM
Enid frowns when she finishes reading out the schedule to her cabin and she goes back up the scroll and sighs quietly.
“Damn, no lava today guys.”
“What?”
“No way dude.”
“What’s the fucking point then?”
“I mean I got third degree burns last week so I’m not mad about it.”
“Julio you dick, this is all your fault.”
Enid wipes the sweat off of her forehead with the back of her hand and fixes her posture, sucking her stomach in, rolling her shoulders back. Her forearm burns a little and her fingers tingle with a numbness she’s become unduly familiar to. She breathes in through her nose and it twitches when the rough shaft and feathers of the arrow tickle her cheek. The wire squeaks quietly as Enid lines up her shot and she releases.
Bullseye.
She squeals happily and jumps up and down as her siblings draw her another line on the chalk leaderboard. She’s one of the ones on the very top of the leaderboard with some of her siblings close behind. Oddly enough Eugene is pretty high up there too. Enid watches as he puffs out his chest after landing another arrow close to the inner circle.
Up until this summer Eugene couldn’t make an arrow travel more than a foot in distance.
The splitting of wood draws Enid’s attention back to her target and she frowns when she sees an arrow had been shot into her own, splitting the wood down the middle. Her jaw drops and she spins around looking for who could’ve done it and-
Of course.
Wednesday Addams in her all-black attire, long white sleeves under black dungarees and platform converse, despite the hot weather. Equipped with an bow and quiver of arrows.
“The other targets are in use,” she says blankly, drawing another arrow from her quiver and moving closer so that she’s in line with the haybale target.
Enid steps in front of her to block her aim. “Well there’s other targets in the woods Addams, this one is taken though.”
“You have the blood akin to the God of archery Sinclair, if this doesn’t come to you naturally by now, then you’re likely a lost cause. Besides, I need the practice, what if I were to be confronted with a monster with only a bow and no skill?”
“You literally had the highest score last year on our archery tournament.”
Wednesday tuts quietly, “so you want me to perish then in the midst of battle.”
“I-” Enid squints her eyes down at Wednesday and waves her hands around. “When did I say that,” she looks around her for help. “Did anybody hear me say that?”
“I heard it.”
“Shut up Ajax you’re high.”
Wednesday shifts impatiently and rolls her eyes before stepping back. “Fine, if you can land this next shot, then you can keep the target.”
Enid has had this reoccurring headache for years now, she’s beginning to put some pieces together and realize that it started around the same time that she met. Never in her life has she met someone so infuriating and Enid literally has a dead beat dad who’s a god and spends more time admiring himself in the mirror, than he does spending time with his kids.
She grumbles under her breath and struggles to yank an arrow out of her hip quiver, spinning around in slow circles as she does so. “It’s literally already my target but fine. If you can land this next shot, who does she think she is?” The arrow is positioned next to her bow and Enid’s about to raise it when a loud shout of celebration from her right, pulls her attention away.
Eugene had scored a bullseye.
Wednesday notices her watching him and nods in his direction, “he’s improved a lot.”
Enid huffs and shakes her head, “yeah I bet you know all about that huh?” She doesn’t receive a reply, doesn’t even receive any kind of acknowledgement from the shorter girl so she just turns back to the target. She draws the string back, gets ready to release and-
“Stand up straighter,” soft lips brush Enid’s ear as Wednesday positions herself slightly behind her. Gentle hands brushing Enid’s hip through her t-shirt and Enid’s eyes blow wide open.
She can’t even think.
Why is-
“OW.”
The seconds it takes to realize that her arrow is no longer with her bow and that Ajax is clutching his leg with an arrow sticking out of his thigh, are long and sluggish ones. Ones which Enid is desperately wanting Wednesday’s hands to touch a lot more than her hip. Which is weird because she can’t stand her.
“Um-”
xXx
They lose at capture the flag.
Again.
Yoko fell to her knees the second the horn went off and Eugene arrived once again with the flag waving above his head triumphantly. Tyler pulled off his helmet, dropped it, tried to kick it, shouted because it’s made out of bronze and he’s wearing converse high-tops, clutched his foot and hopped around in agony. Their respective cabins, Athena and Hermes all groan loudly from their various spots in the woods and Enid receives a few dirty looks from them.
She really thought they had it this time.
They even used a map to plan it all.
“How the hell does he find our flag so quickly and how does he get past so many of our campers,” Yoko mutters, dragging her feet back to camp and smiling weakly at her girlfriend, as Divina appears with a sympathetic smile greeting them.
“Yeah and since when did he know how to use a sword?” Tyler slides his own into its sheath and Enid’s eyes narrow when she sees a figure in the distance, dressed all in black, slinking away from the large groups of people walking back to camp.
Enid passes her helmet to Tyler, “I don’t know, but I know someone who will,” and she takes off without another word, pushing through the large groups and sheepishly shouting apologies over her shoulder when people grumble at her in return. But she can’t lose sight of Wednesday, the girls so small that if she steps behind one tree-
Shit.
Enid lost her.
“Dammit,” she always sucked at orienteering. Reading maps is hard, tracking things is hard, planning your whereabouts and directions and stuff is hard and-maybe her shitty map was the reason they lost capture the flag again. Typical. To be fair, the literal daughter of Athena, Yoko, was too busy to draw one up when Enid asked, so they were stuck with the one Enid drew on the back of a napkin. From lunch.
The woods are creepy in the evening. Thankfully its summer so the sun is lingering non-committedly over the horizon, providing them with its soft orange light, thankfully getting rid of some of those extra spooky shadows. But knowing that the daughter of Hades is hiding in one of the remaining shadows, doesn’t fill Enid with much confidence.
“My condolences on the game.”
Enid shrieks and jumps up in the air, spinning around until the finds the source of the voice. Wednesday stands in front of a nearby tree, that looks darker than the others. The bark looks almost a dark purple, instead of ebony and the twisted roots in the grass seem to creak and groan, appearing to look more like hands stretched in agony, clawing at the ground. The shadows around Wednesday seem to cling to her like a cloak. Like a faint mist that always hovers but never touches, never settles.
“You don’t give a shit about me or the game,” Enid breathes, eyes widening when she stares at the girl and the various knives stored on her person. “Maybe that’s why you’re so open to cheating.”
Wednesday’s eyes bore into Enid’s soul, “you throw around a lot of accusations Sinclair, speak true.”
“Speak true-I’m talking about Eugene,” Enid keeps her voice down low, in case anybody nearby overhears. “Did you put a spell on him or give him some kind of potion? I know you don’t like me and you don’t like camp, even though you come back every year, but this game actually means something to some people. So cheating isn’t-”
“I didn’t give him anything.”
Enid blinks slowly, “um what?”
Wednesday turns to glance at the masses of campers in the distance, walking back to camp, before she turns back to Enid with her voice dropped low. “I didn’t give Eugene anything, he thinks I did, but I didn’t.”
What?
The shorter girl sighs at Enid’s scrunched up thinking face and reached into one of the many pockets of her black cargo pants and pulls out an empty vail. It flies through the air when she tosses it in Enid’s direction and Enid fumbles with it, smacking it through the air before she catches it in her fist.
“I give it to him before every game, he thinks it’s a potion,” Wednesday drawls, “its actually cranberry juice.”
“So why-”
“I never told him what it was, I let him decide that for himself, and I didn’t deny his questions or suspicions. As far as he’s aware I’ve been giving him an enhancement potion before every game.”
Enid unscrews the metal lid and sniffs it. It does smell like cranberry juice.
“So how is he winning all the time, how the hell does he know how to somersault?”
“It seems as though he’s finally found a sliver of self-confidence,” Wednesday muses, taking the vial back from Enid. “Impressive what some light manipulation can do.”
Enid runs her fingers through her hair and thinks, hard. So Wednesday made Eugene believe that he drank an enhancement potion (it was cranberry juice) and now Eugene is going all out with his moves and actually participating because he’s more confident now?
“So like that scene in Harry Potter?”
“I wouldn’t touch those books with a ten-foot pole.”
“Fair,” Enid shrugs absentmindedly. “So, Eugene’s really just been kicking our asses? Fair and square?”
Wednesday nods, “he’s been positively beaming since his winning streak began,” there’s a faint, and fond smile on her lips. “It’s disgusting.”
“I can’t believe this. Um sorry I guess for accusing you Addams.”
The shorter girl rolls her eyes and strolls past Enid, making her way back to camp with the others as Enid scrambles behind her to keep up.
“Just don’t tell Eugene, if I find out you did Sinclair, you’ll wake up in the middle of the night, bound up in the woods with my knife to your throat. With nobody nearby to hear you scream.”
“Ooh, kinky.”
xXx
Enid almost falls out of the tree when she takes a hit of the joint. The back of her throat burns and her eyes start to water. It almost falls out her hand before Ajax lunges over, branches shaking at the movement, and snatches it from her hands.
“Damn E, this is good stuff what the fuck?”
Xavier chimes in from where he lounges on a tree close to theirs. His back to the trunk and his spindly legs stretched out along one of the longer, thicker branches.
“Yeah Enid, don’t drop it, we gotta cherish the limited stock.”
She coughs quietly a few more times and then wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. “Where’d you even get that anyway? It tastes…different, stronger almost. Definitely not human stuff.”
Ajax snorts and lifts it up to his lips, “no duh, got a couple of guys in the Demeter cabin to grow some in secret, so this batch is godly, literally,” he chuckles hoarsely when he passes it back to Enid. “Don’t know why they never thought of that before, could’ve been making a fortune.”
A pinecone bounces off of Enid’s head and she sees a pile of them sat in Xaviers lap.
“This stuff works fast,” Enid giggles, clutching the branch beneath her as the world sways a little. “I’m hungry.”
“Me too.”
“Me three-agh fuck!”
Enid leans over a little and looks beneath them, “Xavier fell.”
Ajax blinks sleepily, “oh for real?”
A pained groan echoes from the ground and Enid nods sagely. Herself and Ajax clumsily shuffle down the tree and as soon as her feet hit the grass, she begins to stumble. Jesus this stuff is really strong. They both help Xavier up and he drapes his arms over their shoulders, as they discuss where to get some food. It is the dead of night after all.
“Yo Enid?”
“Hm?”
“So, like one of my siblings has been stuck speaking in rhyming couplets for a week, and he’s implying that you and your siblings cursed him?”
Enid pretends to think for a minute, one of the Aphrodite guys wolf whistled at her last week and she maybe took it a little far with her punishment.
“No that’s super weird! You should take him to the infirmary.”
xXx
Today is the day.
Enid silently stalks through the grass, her ankle subtly throbbing after a kid from the Ares cabin stomped on it. But he was also 13 so Enid managed to overpower him in the end with a swift kick to the chest, where he tumbled backwards into a tree, knocking himself out.
She must be close. There was a small, but significant gathering of red team fighters, a little while back, wandering aimlessly in the woods. Yet, not committed to fighting or running when a team member would call out for backup in the distance. Enid had snuck past them so sneakily, she did a barrel role and everything. Honestly, she’s surprised she didn’t get caught because a barrel role is not easy to do in full Greek battle armor.
The muscles in her legs groan as she shuffles up a hill, keeping herself low and out of sight. Just when she reaches the top, she realizes that it looks over a small clearing, and in that clearing is a tall red flag.
“Holy shit,” she hops off the ledge (the fall is longer than it looks, and her ankle is screaming at her now) and she limps towards it, gazing up at it like it was the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen. Which it kind of is because she’s blown her allowance on useless lost bets with Xavier. “Wait ‘till Yoko years about this-”
“They say that consistently speaking to yourself can be an initial sign of insanity.”
Enid trips over a rock.
“Addams what the fuck?” And there she is, dressed in minimum armor because apparently she didn’t need it, and her black baggy hoodie, cargos and boots. The sword, don’t forget the sword that’s almost as tall as she is. “Were you in the trees?”
“Yes.”
Enid pulls herself up and onto her feet, rubbing at her knee whilst glancing up at Wednesday. “That’s so weird.”
“You hide in the trees often, how else would I have thrown that acorn at you.”
“That was you!” Enid splutters, cheeks going pink at the thought of how many other times Wednesday had been sat, watching her whilst Enid was none the wiser. “You know that I used to stand up for you when people called you creepy.”
Wednesday tilts her head and circles Enid, the tip of her blade close to the ground.
“Well I’m glad you stopped, you were tarnishing my reputation,” dark eyes rave over Enid and her messy hair and the sheen of sweat on her face. Enid may have a reputation for being obtuse, but she’s not an idiot and she knows when someone is checking her out. “Isn’t it strange, this is our first time crossing paths in capture the flag,” she holds her blade up to the sunlight, the bronze glowing menacingly. “I’m sure you’d look ravishing beneath me.”
What.
“Huh?” Enid squeaks and watches as Wednesday pauses and frowns, red blooming on the tips of her ears.
“I meant below me, as in with my boot on your chest,” Wednesday rushes out, still maintaining that same monotone voice. “As in you were at my mercy, it was a threat Sinclair.”
“Seemed like a pick up line, Addams.”
The girl sneers and approaches, causing Enid’s guard to go straight up, but Wednesday drops her sword and leaves it discarded behind her. A tiny fist bunches in the orange of Enid’s t-shirt peeking out over the top of her chest plate. It’s comical almost, how Enid looks down at the much smaller girl, who is holding Enid like she may beat her to the pulp.
A harsh tug pulls Enid down a little and she blinks dopily when she finds herself almost eye to eye with Wednesday.
Oh.
Finally.
“Knew you had the hots for me Addams,” Enid whispers as both her and Wednesday simultaneously lean in and she can’t believe this is happening. It was always there in the back of her mind, Wednesday was pretty, so pretty that Enid finds her stomach in knots any time they speak. So pretty that Enid’s never even considered the girls from the Aphrodite cabin.
So pretty and infuriating that she runs laps through Enid’s brain every single day.
Wednesday gulps and her breath hits Enid’s lips lightly. “Tell anyone and I’ll wear your skin like a cloak.”
Her hands find solace bunched in the material of Wednesday’s hoodie and her smile is lazy, like a smirk and it widens when she sees Wednesday staring wide eyed at her lips. It’s a little awkward in her armor, she can’t really feel Wednesday up against her, but she gets an idea. Enid’s eyes begin to droop and her nose brushes Wednesday’s.
“Flirt,” and just as she leans in to cross the final tiny little stretch of distance, a horn goes off somewhere in the woods and cheering begins. She abruptly pulls back and Wednesday’s eyes snap open as she looks over her shoulder in the direction of the noise.
Enid’s heart sinks and she swallows thickly, stepping away from Wednesday. She feels like an idiot.
“Wow, I knew you were cunning, I knew you were rude Wednesday but I didn’t think you were cruel,” discreetly wiping her eye as she turns away. “Pretending to kiss me to distract me? That’s kinda sick,” she laughs weakly but she feels like shit inside.
Of course Wednesday didn’t like her. Why would she, all they do is argue. Gods Enid’s imagined it, she’s imagined this whole thing.
“I didn’t, I’m not a liar. I told you that-”
“Save it,” Enid shrugs and begins to find a way out the clearing, eager to get away from Wednesday and sort out this sharp prickle of tears that keep pestering her. “I knew what I was getting myself into. Really, it’s sweet, going to all this trouble to help Eugene win. “Who’ll it be next week? Yoko?”
Wednesday sighs and picks her sword up from the ground, she hurries after Enid, an angry look on her face.
“You think I would kiss Yoko?”
Enid spins around to face her, now out of the clearing and in the middle of the woods where any passing campers could hear or see them.
“Well you almost kissed me, who knows?”
“That was different.”
Enid turns around and speed walks as fast as she can in battle armor sniffling quietly to herself. She distantly hears Wednesday calling her name from behind her. Vaguely recognizes Yoko’s concerned face when they meet up and the venomous look she shoots Wednesday. Embarrassment lingers on her skin like a cold sweat because it was so obvious looking back at it.
For the first time in weeks, she finally, finally gets to the flag, only for Wednesday to suddenly drop down and distract her, buying her team a few more minutes.
It was obvious.
And Enid feels like an idiot.
xXx
There’s one place she likes to go when she’s feeling down, and that’s the strawberry fields. Rows upon rows of blooming plants with perfectly ripe strawberries. The best you’ll ever taste. Delphi strawberry farm is a front for camp half-blood, and how the camp earns a little extra money. Delicious strawberries coming in high abundance all year long? Yeah, they make a small fortune with their side hustle.
Dusk settles over camp, as everyone makes their way to their respective cabins. The sky is a gentle purple and Enid doesn’t quite feel like leaving yet. She wipes her fingers on her shorts and reaches for another strawberry, and then another, and then another and-she’s definitely left a big enough patch bare that somebodies going to notice tomorrow.
Shit.
She sighs quietly through her nose and watches camp from the fields. Watches as the little orange lanterns get lit and the smell of campfire carries through the air. Her cheeks, bulging with strawberries, rest on her bent knees. A quiet rustle in the bushes makes her head snap to the side and she sees Wednesday Addams grumbling to herself about strawberries on the bottom on her boots.
The girl looks up at her and blinks, “Enid.”
Enid stands and shakes her head, struggling to swallow the insane amount of strawberries in her mouth, “no,” her face winces as she swallows and gasps in some fresh air. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Wednesday ignores her, because of course she does, and steps closer. She walks determinedly along the pathway, eyes fixed solely on Enid and she looks like she’s about to attack. With her heart in her throat Enid begins to back up.
She’s going to die.
She’s going to die in a strawberry field as a virgin with literally 3 drachmas to her name. Oh this is bleak, this is awful, her funeral is going to suck so bad-
Cold hands cup her cheeks and pull her down as Wednesday surges forward and kisses Enid like they might both die tomorrow. She kisses her deeply and softly and like she does everything else. Wednesday Addams is a perfectionist, she does everything with precision. Its calculated, its careful and its perfect. Enid makes a small, surprised noise and Wednesday only kisses her deeper, hands sliding into Enid’s hair.
Only then does Enid finally wake up and she presses herself even further into Wednesday, wrapping her arms around the shorter girl’s waist, tugging her, making Wednesday arch into her. Their lips break apart because they annoyingly need to breathe, Enid opens her mouth but Wednesday shakes her head.
“No,” she presses a quick kiss to Enid’s lips once more. “I hate you. I hate your cabin and how you smile brighter than the sun each morning. I hate how you skip everywhere; I hate how you treat everyone like your friend and how they’re all equally worth your time. You make me self-conscious, aware, nervous and I hate that. I hate how I think of you everyday, and how you posses every second thought-”
“Not every first thought? Enid teases.
“Shut up,” Wednesday breathes and kisses her again. “I hate how I’ve felt like this for years and how you’ve taken over my life. I hate how that horn went off earlier because I finally got the courage to kiss you, I hate how you make me feel as though I need to garner courage.”
Enid stares at her, breathless and dazed. Mouth agape and eyes wide, sparkling at Wednesday’s red cheeks and earnest eyes. She leans in and presses a slow kiss to the shorter girls lips, one that makes her head spin before she pulls back sleepily.
“I’ve kinda been obsessed with you since I was fourteen.”
The shorter girl scoffs and looks away nonchalantly, like she doesn’t care, but Enid sees the tips of her ears go pink. Enid beams.
“I would like…if you’d agree, to begin a courtship,” Wednesday says carefully, eyes pinched together.
Enid dies and her spirit stands and laughs at her, as she stands dumbly and tries to answer.
“I uh, yeah, I would really like that actually.”
And then something crazy happens. Something so miraculous, so extraordinary that nobody would ever believe her. Wednesday smiles at her, teeth and all. She looks so cute and Enid can’t help but fly forward again and wrap her up in her arms, pressing kisses to not so pale cheeks, as they blush under the attention.
“Sorry you didn’t win capture the flag.”
“Its fine, I got something better.”
xXx
LETTER OF COMPLAINT
ANY QUERIES OR CONCERNS BELONGING TO CAMPERS OR STAFF IS TO BE WRITTEN AND SUBMITTED TO CHIRON’S FEEDBACK BOX AT THE BIG HOUSE.
Filed by: Anonymous
Reason for complaint: Rhyming couplet curse
Feedback: It's driving me mad, I will confess
Enid's to blame, will address
I long to break free from this spell
But the curse just seems to dwell.
(ADDED COMMENT FROM FRIEND-dude he’s been speaking in rhyming couplets for weeks and its driving me up the fucking wall)