Work Text:
Inhale. Exhale.
You got this Enid. You’re gonna kill it.
Inhale. Exhale. Two more times.
You’re gonna be the star, Enid, everyone’s gonna be cheering for you and-
“Enid! C’mon, get out here!”
Yoko banging on the locker room door snaps Enid out of her meditation and the peaceful beach she was dreaming of is quickly washed away, and now the itchiness of her suit is the only thing she can feel.
“Yoko, you know I have a routine!” Enid shouts back, glancing over at her gear in the corner. There’s a t-shirt cannon she’s going to use during the first time out and some pom poms she’s going to use with the cheerleaders during their dance contest later in the game that Enid’s been practicing for all week.
“I know you do,” Yoko replies as she pushes the door open, Enid frowning back at her, “But we’re running behind and I need you for this live shot!”
“Ugh,” Enid groans, and she finally goes to grab the giant wolf head staring back at her. Yoko helps make sure it’s strapped on tight. “If I fuck up, I’m blaming you.”
“Don’t jinx it,” Yoko scolds, “Last thing I need is you hurting yourself when we have such a busy schedule today.”
Enid follows her out of the locker and into the stadium hallway, the crowd loud in her ears, a smile slowly forming on her face. As tiring as game days are, she loves them, not wanting to be anywhere else because it's both a safe and legal way to get a rush.
“I won’t hurt myself,” she reassures Yoko as they stop at the edge of the court, “And I still want to try a flip at halftime.”
Yoko points a stern hand in Enid’s face. “No! No flips!”
“I’m kidding dude,” Enid snickers, “Relax.”
Enid knows Yoko hates it when she tells her to relax, so of course she has to tease her about it. Yoko takes her job of being in charge of game day entertainment seriously, making sure everything is timed perfectly and everyone is where they need to be so things don’t descend into chaos. Enid’s thankful for her though, because it makes her job as mascot easy. All she has to do is worry about hyping up the crowd and high fiving kids and making sure everyone who comes to games has fun even if they’re getting blown out by halftime.
Luckily, Nevermore’s actually on a winning streak and having their best season in team history right now, so Enid’s job is even easier, which in turn makes it even more enjoyable because nobody’s throwing buckets of popcorn at her.
Yoko taps the nose of Enid’s giant wolf head and holds up her clipboard.
“Alright. Time to lock in. We have coupons to give away.”
- - -
Wednesday’s probably the only person on campus who could care less about getting to go to a basketball game for free tonight.
But Eugene’s sick and he’s the only person at the newspaper that she actually likes, so she figured she could suck it up for one night and cover for him. Usually, they wouldn’t have someone at every game, but the team is doing well this year and has a winning record for the first time in ages and it’s like everyone on campus wants to hear all about it. Wednesday’s read up on how Tyler Galpin, the transfer from rival Jericho State has helped lead them to a twelve-game winning streak and people are hoping they’ll make it to March Madness for the first time in school history.
It’s the only type of madness Wednesday doesn’t find enjoyable. All the hype just means it’s going to be louder and busier than usual, and Wednesday hopes that maybe this might just be one game where they absolutely tank and then maybe she can sneak out early.
She gets there a bit before tip off and finds a spot at the press table. Luckily her brother played basketball as a kid, so she’s familiar enough with the sport, and so she begins taking notes during warmups. Tyler seems to notice her and gives her a smile before sinking a three, and she has to look away in embarrassment.
Instead, Wednesday watches the team mascot on the opposite side of the court as they hand out coupons to a row of lucky fans.
She’s always wondered who was inside the wolf suit, and if Eugene had ever thought of maybe interviewing them, but he said he didn’t want the magic to be ruined.
She’s also wondered why a school named after a poem involving a raven had a wolf for a mascot, but that’s not something she needs to devote her energy to looking into.
As the buzzer goes off signaling the end of warmups, the crowd gets louder as the wolf cheers them on, and Wednesday settles in. It doesn’t take long for Nevermore to build a good lead, and Wednesday figures if they’re ahead by a ton towards the end of the game, she should have enough for her article and she can leave before Tyler tries to talk to her. He’s been glancing her way every time he’s near, only for the mascot to run by and take his attention away.
Once halftime rolls around, Wednesday takes a break and heads for the bathroom. The crowd is still as loud as ever as the stunt team gets set up for whatever they have planned, and she doesn’t care that she’s missing it. She’s never found any of it entertaining, still not bothering to pay attention once she’s on the way back to her seat.
So that’s how Wednesday doesn’t notice the mascot mistime their jump as they launch sideways off of the trampoline, heading straight for her.
- - -
Wednesday’s learning a lot of things right now.
First, she’s learning about the layout of their school’s arena, having been shuffled back into one of the locker rooms to get checked out by a medic. The crowd had gone silent as soon as the mascot landed on her, and it took a moment before someone was helping her up and back into the depths of the hallways behind the court. She’s surprised she hasn’t been down here before, but it doesn’t seem very hard to sneak past security if she needed to.
Second, she’s learning that despite being taken out by the mascot, she’s uninjured. No bruises or aches or scratches. She’s a little sore, but the feeling is already starting to fade. She knows it would take a lot more than someone in a cartoonish wolf suit falling on her to take her out.
And third, she’s learned who is inside of that wolf suit. Her name is Enid Sinclair, and she’s the last person Wednesday would have expected to be their school’s mascot. Her blonde hair is a mess of pinks and blues and she’s got a goofy grin on her face despite the medics crowding around her, talking everyone’s ear off trying to convince them to let her go back out. Wednesday has to admire how tough she is, and she promises herself not to tell Eugene about any of it.
“Yoko, please tell her I’m sorry,” Enid says again, pointing a finger at Wednesday. She hasn’t stopped apologizing since she regained consciousness.
Yoko swats Enid’s finger away. “You already did. Multiple times.”
Enid frowns, and it seems like she’s trying to whisper, but she’s still as loud as ever.
“Still. I feel so bad,” she groans, “Is she okay?”
Wednesday huffs. “I’m fine,” she says sternly, and now Enid’s grinning at her.
“Yeah you are,” she teases, and Yoko steps in between the two of them as Wednesday is surprised at how amused she is by the whole situation.
“Sorry,” Yoko apologizes, “Ignore her-“
Enid tugs at Yoko’s arm.
“Yoko. I’m totally okay. I promise. I can do that dance contest we had planned-“
“No, you cannot,” Yoko reminds her, growing more stressed by the second, “You have a concussion, Enid.”
“So?” Enid shrugs, not a care in the world, “I have had concussions before.”
“Which is not a good thing!” Yoko exclaims, and Wednesday can tell this isn’t the first time Enid’s pushed her buttons. “You need to get some rest. Maybe Divina can leave class early and come get you-”
“No, Yoko, please, I can do it-“ Enid’s shaking her head frantically, which Wednesday knows won’t help her feel any better.
“Would it help you if I took her home instead?” Wednesday interrupts, because she can see how close Yoko is to losing it and she figures it’s a good excuse to leave. She just hopes Enid doesn’t live far and maybe she’ll be less talkative with someone she doesn’t know.
“That would be great,” Yoko says, sounding relieved, “Thank you so much.”
She goes to talk to the medics and Enid just stares at Wednesday for an uneasy moment before Yoko comes back and bends down so they’re looking each other in the eye.
“Enid, Wednesday’s gonna take you home, alright?” she says quietly, and Enid rolls her eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, I heard you,” Enid stands up with Yoko gripping her arm tight.
“My girlfriend should be there soon,” Yoko explains, and Wednesday nods as she tells her thank you again. Luckily, the address Yoko’s given her is just up the street, and soon she’s walking side by side with Enid in the chill of the night with the full moon shining down on them.
“So your name is Wednesday?” Enid asks not long after they’ve left the arena, “Like the day of the week?”
She seems chipper despite the head injury and having to leave early, and Wednesday just glares back at her.
“What else would it be from?”
“I dunno,” Enid mutters, digging her hands into her pockets. “It’s cool though. Unique. I don’t think I’ve ever met a Wednesday before.”
She flashes Wednesday a smile that seems to glow in the moonlight, and Wednesday has to look away because for a moment it makes her head spin, and she wonders if maybe she also has a concussion.
They turn down a row of apartments on the edge of campus and Enid’s still walking along happily until she heads into one of the buildings. She stops before pressing the elevator buttons, nose scrunched up in thought, for a moment Wednesday worries that something is wrong.
“So does that mean your middle name is Thursday?” Enid asks, and Wednesday reaches past her to hit the button instead.
“No. It’s Friday,” she says, and now Enid’s giggling like a little kid.
“Ha. Good one,” she says playfully as the elevator doors ding and they step inside. Wednesday notices how Enid’s pressed up against her shoulder, but she doesn’t move because she doesn’t want Enid to fall.
“I’m serious,” Wednesday says, and Enid stops laughing.
“Oh. Well that’s cool,” she says, and Wednesday can tell by her tone that she’s being genuine. “Mine is Phoebe. Enid Phoebe Sinclair.”
The doors open and Enid steps out and heads down the hallway, stopping outside of the door with the same number Yoko had mentioned to Wednesday.
“You remember your name and your apartment number,” Wednesday says, “That’s a good sign.”
Enid grins proudly, stepping aside so Wednesday can let the two of them in. She goes to flick on a light, but grimaces at how bright it is, so Wednesday turns it back off and helps Enid to the couch, opening the blinds to let the moonlight in.
Wednesday’s not sure what to do. Yoko said her girlfriend would be by any minute now, and she promised to stay with Enid until she showed up. She just looks around the apartment, sees the dishes in the sink and the marketing textbooks on the coffee table and the framed purple and black hockey jersey on the wall, the number twelve and name Sinclair on the back in bold letters.
“Hey, I’m really sorry for falling on you,” Enid mumbles as she throws an arm over her face, and Wednesday turns her attention back to her. Her smile is gone, replaced by a frown that Wednesday feels bad about.
“I know. You’ve told me several times.”
“But still,” Enid says, voice finally growing quieter, “You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m not the one with a concussion.”
“Right,” Enid takes a deep breath, “God, my head is pounding.”
She sinks down into the couch with a sigh.
“I recommend limiting your screen time as much as possible,” Wednesday tells her, “Stay hydrated and avoid alcohol or any other substances. And most importantly, rest.”
Enid peeks out from under her arm and gives Wednesday a wink. “Aye aye, captain.”
It must be a trick of the moonlight, because Wednesday can see that Enid’s smile on her face is mischievous, daring even, and she finds herself intrigued.
Then, the door bursts open, and Enid jumps. The girl who storms in must be Yoko’s girlfriend, and Wednesday just glares at her for being so loud.
“Enid! Yoko told me what happened,” she says frantically, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s just a concussion,” Enid groans, forcing herself to sit up. She points a thumb towards Wednesday. “Luckily I had Wednesday here to walk me home.”
The girl turns to Wednesday with a relieved sigh.
“Thanks for that,” she says, and Wednesday just nods. “I can stay with her now.”
Wednesday heads for the door, and Enid’s shouting behind her.
“Bye Wednesday Friday!” she says, and Wednesday finds a smile tugging at her lips. “That’s really her name, Divina, I swear-”
The door clicks shut, Enid’s smile still burned in Wednesday’s mind.
- - -
Lucky for Wednesday, Eugene doesn’t mind that she left early, especially after he learns about what happened. He’s just glad she’s okay, and also glad she hasn’t spoiled who’s inside of the suit.
Enid is still lingering in the back of Wednesday’s mind, Wednesday telling herself that she doesn’t need to visit her and check on how she’s doing because it’s barely been a week since the incident and Yoko’s seems competent enough to take care of her.
Besides, she’s got her own things to focus on. But it’s hard to focus when Eugene’s sitting across from her, watching videos without his headphones on and laughing hysterically at the same one over and over.
“Could you please keep it down?” she scolds, “Some of us have work to do.”
Eugene finally pauses the video. “Sorry. This Tik Tok of our mascot is going viral.”
Wednesday’s head snaps up. “Our mascot?”
Eugene grins. “Yeah. Doing a tricycle race on ice. Look.”
He hands his phone over to Wednesday, who watches as their school mascot tries to race a tricycle across the ice at one of their hockey games. But as they turn around the goal, they slide and crash right into the boards.
Wednesday’s eyes go wide, remembering how just days ago that same mascot had gotten a concussion and should absolutely not be doing any of this.
She takes off, Eugene’s phone still in her hand as she makes her way across campus and back to Enid’s apartment, knocking hard until the door swings open and Yoko is staring back at her, confused.
“Wednesday. Hi. What’s up?”
Wednesday shoves the phone in Yoko’s face with a scowl.
“Care to explain why Enid is doing this despite being on bed rest?”
Yoko laughs, and Wednesday glares back at her, not getting why she’s not taking this seriously.
“That’s not Enid,” she says, lowering the phone out of the way, “She doesn’t do hockey games.”
Wednesday’s jaw clenches. “It’s not?”
“No. We have multiple people playing multiple mascots,” Yoko explains, amused at Wednesday and how worried she looks, “How do you think we do so many events?”
Now Wednesday’s embarrassed, because it makes sense, and Yoko would never do that to Enid, and she realizes she looks foolish now for overreacting about someone she doesn’t even know.
“Oh,” Wednesday mutters, glancing past Yoko and into her apartment because she doesn’t want to look at her smirk, “Well, how is her recovery coming along?”
“She’s good,” Yoko grins, looking curious, “She’s taking a nap right now, but I’ll tell her you stopped by.”
Wednesday nods a thanks, leaving before her cheeks can grow any redder.
- - -
Enid thinks this is the worst concussion she’s had so far. Probably because it’s like, her third, at least that’s what she thinks it is, and she knows it’s not a good thing that she’s lost count.
Her head hurts, but it’s mostly because she’s bored out of her mind. She hates missing games, thriving off of the energy of the crowd and their intensity and how they give her something to look forward to each week between essays and exams.
She also hates how she can’t watch anything on television or go on Tik Tok, Yoko taking her phone away and locking it away the minute she got home. Of course, Enid knows the code to Yoko’s super secret safe is her and Divina’s anniversary, so once Yoko leaves for the next basketball game, Enid pulls herself out of bed and sneaks into her room and steals her phone back.
Enid’s not going to spend too much time on it. She just wants to lookup a certain journalist who she had literally ran into a few days ago.
She just wants to send Wednesday a quick Thanks for taking me home the other night, could I buy you a coffee or something? and then she’ll be done. She feels like she owes her that at least. It’s not anything more than her just returning the favor, because even if Wednesday is cute, Enid knows she’s definitely not her type.
But it seems like Wednesday Addams doesn’t exist, the only thing she can find being a broken link on the school’s newspaper website. She doesn’t have any social media, there are no photos of her anywhere, and Google keeps asking her if the extra ‘d’ in Addams is a mistake.
Enid wonders if maybe she hit her head so hard she hallucinated that whole night. The thought makes her head start to hurt, not just because the light on her phone is so bright, but because she thinks it would be hilarious that her mind came up with someone who looked like she was teleported out of a horror movie as the one to come to her rescue.
So she puts her phone back into Yoko’s safe and swallows a handful of ibuprofen and forces herself to go to sleep, wondering if Wednesday Addams will haunt her dreams.
- - -
Enid doesn’t dream about Wednesday Addams. In fact, she gives up trying to find her, knowing it’s just going to make her head hurt more, until Yoko tells her Wednesday had stopped by asking about her while she was asleep.
She feels like Yoko’s exaggerating about how panicked Wednesday had seemed, ignoring how Yoko wiggles her eyebrows telling the story and hinting at something that Enid scoffs at to hide the fact that she’s embarrassed.
So now, when Enid finally goes back to class, she wonders if maybe she’ll run into Wednesday somehow, because she thinks now her only way of finding her is by chance.
Luckily for Enid, it doesn’t take long. She’s grabbing lunch in between classes, trying to find an open seat in the packed cafeteria when she sees her, sitting alone in the corner at the only table with an open chair.
Enid takes a breath and tucks her skateboard under her arm and heads over, blaming her heart pounding on how loud it is.
“Hey,” she says over the chatter of students, “Could I sit here?”
Wednesday looks up from her notes and the annoyance on her face quickly dissolves when she sees who she’s talking to.
“Enid,” she says with surprise. She nods at the empty chair across from her, so Enid props her skateboard against the table and sits. “How are you feeling?”
“A lot better,” Enid grins, digging into her salad, “I was getting so bored just lying around.”
Wednesday looks pleased. “It’s good to see you’ve made progress.”
Enid nods back at her, face stuffed with food. “Mhmm,” she agrees, and she wipes her face with her hand after a few more bites while Wednesday goes back to writing in her notebook.
“You know, Yoko said you stopped by,” she mumbles, and Wednesday stops, lifting her head up slowly, noticing how Enid’s eyes crinkle when she smiles at her. “That was nice of you to check on me.”
Wednesday goes back to her writing, sifting through her notes, not exactly sure what she’s looking for. “I was just making sure your recovery was going well.”
Enid feels flattered, her cheeks turning a faint shade of pink as she bites her lip to try and stop herself from smiling too hard. She shouldn’t be so surprised that Wednesday came to check on her, but for some reason it makes her flustered.
“I’ll be at our soccer game tonight doing a crossbar challenge if you want to come watch,” Enid says, tone hopeful, but Wednesday doesn’t seem interested at all.
“I appreciate the invite, but I don’t care to indulge in sporting events,” Wednesday shakes her head, and now Enid’s raising an eyebrow at her.
“So why were you at the basketball game?”
“Covering for a classmate,” Wednesday says, tone as dreary as ever. Enid leans over, just enough to try and get a better look without invading Wednesday’s space.
“Well if you don’t write about sports, what are you working on?” she asks, and Wednesday looks back up at her with a smirk.
“There was a serial killer on campus back in the seventies,” she explains, and she’s handing over some of her notes to Enid. “I’m writing a piece to bring attention to the fact that they were never caught.”
Enid sifts through the papers, trying to hide the fact that she’s a bit grossed out because Wednesday genuinely looks glad that someone’s listening to her for once. “That’s uh, interesting.”
Enid gives the papers back after she sees a picture of a crime scene, but Wednesday doesn’t seem offended at all. In fact, Enid swears she sees a spark in her eyes, and Enid finds herself not able to stop staring at her.
“I’m hoping it will convince the local police to revisit the case,” Wednesday says, “I’m already finding some errors in their work.”
Enid finds herself fascinated now, forgetting about her salad that’s sitting half-eaten in front of her.
“Like what-“ she’s about to ask, wanting to learn more even if it’s probably something she can stomach, until they’re both interrupted by Tyler Galpin standing at the edge of their table.
“Hey. Wednesday,” he flashes her a smile, “Thanks for that shoutout in your article.”
Wednesday just stares back at him, unamused, until he waves goodbye and heads off. Enid watches him get stopped by a group of girls before turning to Wednesday, who seems to have gone from eagerly talking to Enid to annoyed in seconds. Enid tries not to laugh.
“You know a lot of girls on campus would kill to have Tyler Galpin smile at them like that,” she teases, even daring to nudge Wednesday with her elbow, but she still looks as dark as a storm cloud as she stares Tyler down.
“And would kill to have him not interrupt me when I’m talking to someone,” Wednesday says, and Enid thinks she’s joking, but Wednesday doesn’t blink and Enid realizes she isn’t. And now Enid’s giggling, amused at how much Wednesday doesn’t care at all.
Enid’s laugh seems to stand out among the chorus of voices, Wednesday turning to her confused at the fact that she finds it all so funny when Enid glances down at her phone and her eyes go wide.
“Shit,” Enid bolts up from her seat, “I’m gonna be late for class.”
She scrambles to throw away her lunch and grab her skateboard, but not before stopping to give Wednesday a smile. “But I’ll totes check out your article.”
Enid waves goodbye and takes off, Wednesday watching her until her colorful hair disappears around the corner.
- - -
Wednesday really needs to focus right now.
Her latest article wasn’t well received by the local police. In fact, it had only gotten four views on the school website (two of them coming from her and Eugene) before they had it taken down because it had accused the police department of being ‘incompetent’ and ‘careless’.
It’s not the first time she’s had trouble with the police, so she isn’t discouraged at all. She just needs to find some more evidence and do a bit more research to prove that she’s on the right track, which is why she finds herself in the library one afternoon after class.
She’s lucky that she’s never really run into anyone else in the horror section, able to take her time and not be bothered. But today, she finds someone sitting down with her back against the shelves, with a book wide open across her lap.
“Enid?” Wednesday calls, recognizing her cotton candy hair instantly. Enid looks up from her book, and her face lights up when their eyes meet.
“Wednesday,” she greets happily, “Hi.”
Wednesday hadn’t expected to run into Enid again anytime soon, but she finds her grinning back at her with her sunny smile a welcome sight.
“I have to admit that I’m surprised to find you in this section of the library,” she says, taking a step towards Enid and glancing at the shelves around them.
“Really?” Enid asks, and she scoots over, an invitation for Wednesday to sit. She hesitates for a moment, but then finds herself on the ground next to Enid.
“I noticed your unease when looking through my notes at lunch the other day,” Wednesday explains, trying to get a look at what Enid’s reading. “It seems like the macabre isn’t really your forte.”
“Yeah, it’s really not,” Enid huffs, glancing down at the book in her lap with a frown. “But I read your article and wanted to learn more.”
“You read it?” Wednesday asks without skipping a beat, staring back at Enid with awe. She had thought that those two other views on the website had come from the police, but one of them must have been Enid.
And something about Enid taking her time to read Wednesday’s writing, even if it wasn’t something she was interested in, makes Wednesday feel an unusual flutter in her chest. The feeling gets worse when Enid grins back at her.
“Of course,” she shrugs innocently, “I told you I would.”
Wednesday has to look away and swallow hard, trying to focus on the books stuffed in the shelf across from her.
“It’s much appreciated,” Wednesday mutters, feeling Enid’s shoulder right next to hers. “It seems everyone these days would rather get their information through shoddily-edited videos instead of a credible source.”
“I mean, if you could get me to pay attention to serial killers, then it shows you write good,” Enid gives her a proud nod of approval.
“Write well,” Wednesday corrects her, and Enid laughs.
“How much for me to pay you to write my essays?” she asks, and Wednesday turns to her and narrows her eyes.
“No.”
“That answer wasn’t grammatically correct,” Enid teases, and Wednesday just rolls her eyes, but she does find herself fighting off a smile.
“I’m kidding,” Enid laughs again, jabbing Wednesday with her elbow. “I wouldn’t waste your time like that.”
She’s got a playful smirk on her face, and Wednesday just stares back at her, thinking that she actually wouldn’t mind at all.
Enid shuts her book with a sigh. “Now, I’d love to stay and talk with you about the best methods to dispose of a dead body, but I have a commercial to go film.” She pushes herself off of the ground and puts the book back on the shelf. “As the wolf, of course.”
“I wasn’t aware I was in the presence of a celebrity,” Wednesday quips, staring up at Enid who just snickers back at her.
“Oh please,” she retorts, “You’ll be writing for the New York Times once we graduate and I’ll just be the mascot who almost gave you a concussion.”
Wednesday’s always been observant, and she can see how Enid’s smile drops and hears how her tone grows harsh. Like she’s disappointed, like her mind goes somewhere else for a moment thinking about something Wednesday finds herself wondering more about.
Enid holds a hand out, offering to help Wednesday up, and Wednesday finds herself taking it. She can feel Enid’s strength in her grip and it throws her off, surprised at how easily Enid pulls her up without a hitch.
“Can’t wait to read your next article,” Enid nods, forcing a smile back onto her face before walking off.
- - -
When Wednesday finds herself faced with writer’s block, she likes to go for a walk. She’ll go in the middle of the night, when nobody is out except for the pizza delivery drivers and the drunk sorority girls wandering around looking for their next party. Other than that, it’s quite peaceful, a good environment for her to let her mind wander and hopefully get the inspiration she’s desperately looking for.
Lately, she’s been trying to think of something new to research because she’s met a dead end with her serial killer story. She has no idea where to do next or what she could write that wouldn’t get her in trouble with the police again.
Eugene suggests coming with him to the football team’s spring tryouts just to get a change of scenery, and that does sound like a good idea because maybe Enid might be there, but once he mentions it’s a closed practice, she turns down the offer.
The flicker of interest that had sparked in her at the possibility of seeing Enid again is an unusual feeling. She admits that maybe she had been paying attention more and more to some of the sporting events at campus, asking Eugene to borrow his phone to see what Enid’s been up to. She knows there are multiple people playing the wolf, but it doesn’t take her to pick out which one is Enid specifically, the way she runs and dances and does her stunts is so much more fluid and polished than the others.
Wednesday knows it’s not strange to appreciate someone’s work like this. She’s come to admire Enid because she knows she’d never be able to pull off some of the stunts she does, all while wearing a fur suit for hours at a time.
And it’s not just that Enid is good at what she does, but it’s also that Enid seems to be a genuine person. Wednesday thinks that it’s refreshing to meet someone who doesn’t stare at her like she’s a threat or can have such a positive attitude all the time.
So Wednesday tells herself that maybe if she runs into Enid again, she might ask if she’d be interested in being the next subject of one of her stories.
The night catches up with her and she feels exhaustion creep through her skin, and with her next article mostly figured out, she decides she might as well head home. But she’s stopped by shouting not far off in the distance.
There’s commotion coming from around the corner, and she sees a group of people in the street shouting outside one of the frat houses. Wednesday thinks she’s going to keep her distance seeing that a fight’s broken out, until she sees a flash of colorful hair in the middle of the crowd.
It’s Enid. Wednesday could recognize her anywhere, and as she gets closer she sees that it’s Enid fighting, knocking over a guy twice her size with a swift punch to the face.
“Enid!” Wednesday shouts, and the crowd parts enough for them to be able to see each other. Enid stops and wipes the blood from her lip with the back of her hand.
“Wednesday,” she breathes, and everyone’s staring at the two of them, quickly moving out of the way so Wednesday can grab her and pull her out.
“We should leave before they sick one of daddy’s lawyers on you,” Wednesday grits her teeth and glances down at the guys on the ground, both of them holding their heads while their friends check out their injuries.
“Assholes,” Enid spats as Wednesday tugs her away before she can do any more damage, even if she wouldn’t mind watching it at all.
“How much have you had to drink?” Wednesday asks, and the only thing keeping Enid’s head from spinning is Wednesday’s grip on her arm.
“A lot,” Enid groans, her mouth dry and stomach churning as Wednesday guides her back towards her apartment. She just focuses on not throwing up while they walk, or the fact that someone the serial killer murdered disappeared on the same street they’re walking on right now.
Then, Wednesday slips an arm around Enid’s waist as they finally stumble into the lobby of her apartment building, and Enid’s definitely awake now.
Wednesday’s just trying to focus on getting Enid inside and cleaned up and making sure she’s alright.
“Shit,” Enid breathes as they come to a stop in front of her door, “I don’t have my keys.”
Wednesday doesn’t seem upset, she just props Enid against the wall and pulls a bobby pin from her hair and starts to pick their lock.
“Hey,” Enid taps Wednesday on the shoulder, “Hey, isn’t breaking and entering illegal?”
“So is assault,” Wednesday replies, and the door clicks open. She glances up at Enid, and Wednesday’s caught up by the fact that her usually icy eyes now have a fire burning in them.
“One of those idiots called Divina and Yoko a slur,” Enid says angrily, “I had to do something.”
Wednesday guides her inside to sit down on the couch, quickly grabbing a towel to wipe the blood off of her face. She’s never seen Enid look so upset, and Wednesday finds herself more intrigued than afraid, admiring her looking out for her friends.
“I do admit taking out that many frat boys is impressive,” Wednesday comments, running a thumb across Enid’s busted lip.
“It was easy,” Enid huffs, wincing at Wednesday’s touch, “I was a hockey player.”
“Really?” Wednesday pulls away, and she knows she can’t be surprised.
“Yeah. That’s why I go to school here,” Enid mutters under breath, and now she doesn’t look mad. She looks dejected. “I had a full ride scholarship and everything.”
“Had?” Wednesday raises an eyebrow, the journalist in her curious. But she regrets it immediately when she sees the tears glistening in Enid’s eyes.
“I hurt my knee freshman year,” Enid’s voice is barely above a whisper. She bites her lip, like she’s trying to stop herself from crying, making it bleed even more. “Fucked it up real bad and it didn’t heal properly, so I had to quit.”
Wednesday remembers hearing about that. It was the biggest story in their class back then, but Wednesday hadn’t bothered to listen because she had no interest in anything related to sports. She watches as Enid runs her fingers over a scar on her knee, and Wednesday feels like her heart’s been ripped out of her chest.
“Luckily, they asked if I wanted to be the mascot or I don’t know what I would have done.” Enid sniffles, a lone tear running down her cheek that Wednesday’s tempted to wipe away because now she feels guilty for bringing any of this up.
Instead, she pulls Enid in for a hug. She can’t remember the last time she’s hugged anyone, but she knows it was never as warm as this. Enid just sinks right into Wednesday’s shoulder and squeezes her back tight.
“I’m sorry Enid,” Wednesday whispers, and she can feel Enid take a deep breath, digging her face deeper into Wednesday.
“It’s okay,” Enid mutters, and she’s still holding onto Wednesday tight. Wednesday doesn’t mind it at all. “Sometimes I get jealous of seeing someone score a game winning goal or make a big play. But then I see how excited people are to meet me or hear how loud they cheer for the things I do and I remember how much fun I’m having.”
Wednesday’s reminded about Enid’s hesitancy in the library and Yoko mentioning that she doesn’t work hockey games. It makes sense to her now.
“You do a phenomenal job,” Wednesday tells her, and she hopes Enid knows she means it. She couldn’t imagine going through something so life-changing and still being in that environment every week. “I admire how much effort you put into every performance. I know it can’t be easy for you.”
Enid’s quiet, and finally she pulls away from Wednesday and her tears are gone and replaced by a smile as bright as a supernova.
“You know, you look pretty scary, but you’re actually really nice,” Enid mumbles, and it’s probably the only time Wednesday would agree with such a statement.
“And you are much tougher than you appear to be,” Wednesday replies, and she notices how her own voice has grown softer and how Enid’s gotten a lot closer to her, eyes glancing over the freckles dotting her nose trying to count every one.
“I wish you cared about sports and I still played hockey,” Enid says slowly, “You could have written about me.”
Wednesday can’t tell if the bittersweet look on Enid’s face actually means anything or if it’s just because she’s drunk, because the smell of alcohol is strong on her breath.
Yet Wednesday knows drunk words are sober thoughts, and she wants to tell Enid that could write about her for hours and that she’s got a story that she finds absolutely inspiring.
But before she can say anything, the door bursts open, and Yoko and Divina are running inside, and all of the tension that had built up between the two of them evaporates in an instant.
“Enid!” Yoko shouts, relieved to see that she’s okay. She drops down onto the other side of the couch next to Enid and wraps her in a hug. “Oh god, we thought you got arrested.”
Yoko shakes her and Enid’s got an embarrassed smirk on her face. “No, no, Wednesday came to the rescue,” she says, and Yoko looks up at Wednesday who’s already off the couch and standing awkwardly next to Divina. She can tell that they’re also drunk and she feels like she doesn’t need to be here anymore.
“Wednesday. Hi. Again.” Yoko says with a surprised grin that also looks a bit sly. “Thanks for getting her out of there.”
“And you,” Yoko sits up and points a stern finger in Enid’s face. “I appreciate you looking out for us, but I told you to use your words!”
“You know I’m not good with those,” Enid slaps Yoko’s finger away, and then leans over to poke Wednesday in the arm. “Not like Wednesday over here, the journalist-”
“Enid, leave her alone,” Yoko wrangles her back away from Wednesday, “Wednesday, thank you again, but we got it from here.”
Wednesday just nods, Divina stepping aside so she can get to the door, her hand hovering over the doorknob for a moment. She wants to tell Yoko that she doesn’t mind looking after Enid, in fact she wouldn’t mind making sure they all get to bed okay, but she hears them bickering and feels like it’s no use.
“No, no, tell her to stay-“ Enid starts to protest, but the door shuts behind her before she can hear anything more.
- - -
Wednesday has only known Enid Sinclair for exactly sixty-seven days (not that she’s counted, or anything). Before they had met, she thinks she probably would have gone her whole time at college without knowing she existed, Enid just being another skateboarder flying by her on campus every week on her way to class.
But now, Wednesday notices her everywhere. Well, her in her costume everywhere.
She sees the billboards with their mascot on it all over town. She actually pays attention to the highlights from their sports teams now because Enid’s usually in them somewhere, even just for a moment. She sees the flyers and commercials and merchandise and all she can think of is the colorful girl under the mask.
And each time she sees any of those things, she feels a sense of pride swell in her chest, a smile creeping onto her face.
It’s not a crush, because Wednesday Addams doesn’t do crushes. It’s just admiration for someone so good at their craft. And that hug was just to comfort Enid in a time where she was vulnerable, and the reason why it felt so right was because she hadn’t hugged anyone in a while. That’s all it is. She totally did not go and watch Enid's hockey highlights and find out she was the conference's leading goal-scorer or that she was the number one recruit who came all the way from San Francisco to play for Nevermore. It was just for research purposes.
But one day Enid skates by her and shouts her name and waves happily, grin outshining the spring sun bearing down on them, and Wednesday blames her face growing hot on the fact that she’s wearing black in eighty degree weather.
So maybe it is a crush, but she’s not going to do anything about it or entertain it any more than she needs to. It’ll fade away, they’ll stop running into each other, and she’ll go write for the New York Times like Enid said she would.
Which is why she’s trying to do her best on her newest story about the nation’s most haunted college campuses, hoping maybe it will be a bit less polarizing than her last one even if it isn’t anything revolutionary.
She’s zoned in reading about a school that was formerly an insane asylum when Eugene sighs loudly next to her.
“Groan any louder and you’ll wake the dead,” she tells him, glancing at how he’s frowning at his phone which now makes her curious about what’s got him complaining.
“There’s gonna be a huge tailgate before the game,” Eugene tells her, “But I can’t go because I’m writing about said game.”
“I can cover for you,” Wednesday offers, her mouth moving quicker than her head, and Eugene’s raising an eyebrow back at her.
“Really? But you hate sports.”
“And you love doing keg stands,” she retorts, because that’s exactly why she’s offering to help him, no other reason at all. “I don’t mind.”
Eugene’s smile is so wide it takes up his whole face.
“Thanks Wednesday!” he beams, and he starts digging through his notes to give to her. “You’ll need to interview Tyler this afternoon though. It’s part of the story I have planned. Since he’s playing his old school and all.”
Eugene explains they agreed to meet in the quad at noon, so Wednesday heads over early and finds a table near the bike path to set up. It’s not long before Tyler shows up, and he looks pleasantly surprised to see her.
“Eugene told me you swapped with him,” Tyler grins, but it’s a bit too cocky for her taste. Not sunny or soft like Enid’s. “How nice of you.”
Wednesday doesn’t have a witty comeback because she just wants to get this over with. She asks Tyler Eugene’s questions, and she learns about how he transferred from Jericho State because he needed a fresh start after his mother passed away. Wednesday does feel a bit sympathetic for him, because he doesn’t seem as annoying as he does when he’s on the court and just wants to win and the whole storyline is shaping up to be one she thinks the students would like.
So Wednesday asks him a few more follow up questions because it will help her write a more well-rounded article, actually making an effort to pay attention to Tyler even though he’s smiling a bit too much for her liking.
Thankfully, before Tyler can try to flirt any more, a skateboarder whizzes by and crashes right into the bushes next to them. Tyler winces next to her, and Wednesday’s waiting for him to go check on them until she sees the pink of the skateboard sticking out of the bushes and realizes who it is.
“Enid?” she asks, jumping out of her chair and rushing over to pull her up.
“Wednesday?” Enid groans as she stands, “Always a pleasure to see you.”
“We need to stop meeting like this,” Wednesday scolds, and she looks over Enid to make sure she’s alright. Her eyes drift down to Enid’s knee and the scar there, and it’s like now that she knows about Enid’s past she suddenly feels overprotective.
“I’m fine, don’t worry,” Enid grins, dusting herself off. “You did say I was tough, remember?”
Wednesday doesn’t seem to believe her, even if Enid’s smirk is very convincing. She watches as Enid fixes her helmet, wincing a bit. “Are you sure?”
Enid nods back at her again, and that’s when she sees Tyler watching the both of them.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m good,” Enid brushes past Wednesday and grabs her board. “Sorry for interrupting.”
She sounds a bit bitter when she says it, eyeing out Tyler before she takes off, and Wednesday tries to convince herself that it’s nothing serious.
- - -
There’s a lot of storylines for the game today.
The Jericho State Pilgrims are Nevermore’s biggest rival and they haven’t beaten them in a decade. Not to mention Tyler Galpin used to play for Jericho State. And if they win, they’ll be playing for the conference championship for the first time in two decades and be in contention for a spot in March Madness.
But Enid isn’t thinking about any of that. She’s thinking about Wednesday Addams.
She had been terrified anytime she saw Wednesday on campus because she’d glare at everyone she’d walk by, from professors to football players to frat boys and they’d move out of the way for her. Enid was always careful riding her skateboard around, making sure not to run into her because she was sure it would mean a death sentence.
But then she got to know Wednesday, and she wasn’t as mean as she looked. She was smart and caring and of course, a good hugger. If Enid hadn’t felt like she was going to throw up from the emotions and the alcohol that night, she might have never let go of her.
Enid’s taken a lot of falls in her life, mostly in the rink, and now this time it seems she’s fallen for Wednesday Addams, (Or more like fallen on Wednesday Addams, she thinks) which hurts just as much as slamming face first into the ice.
Enid wanted to believe that maybe there was a chance Wednesday might feel the same, because even if she was drunk that night, she felt like there was something there, something that she’s been thinking so hard about it feels like she has a concussion again.
But then all of that hope she has is thrown out of the window when Enid sees Wednesday hanging out with Tyler, the same Tyler Wednesday had stared down so hard at lunch Enid thought she was going to turn him to stone.
Enid knows it’s probably not what it looked like, that it’s probably something for the paper even if Wednesday’s told her she could care less about basketball. But Tyler was smiling at her so hard and Wednesday had looked so interested in whatever he was saying that when Enid saw the two of them, she got so distracted she rode right into a bush.
Yoko tells her to not overthink it, and that if Wednesday shows up to the next game, it’s most definitely because she’s covering for a classmate like she did before, and that makes her feel a bit better. But she can’t get over seeing the two of them hanging out even if it wasn’t anything serious because the last time she was into someone, she caught them in bed with someone else and that doubt still lingers around in her head.
Luckily, when Enid spots Wednesday as soon as she heads out to the court, she’s sitting at the press table, with a pen and notebook, scribbling away.
Enid knows she has some time before she has to go do her meet and greet, so she jogs over and puts her wolf face right in front of Wednesday’s.
“Howdy,” she says, loud enough to be heard over the growing crowd but not enough to be noticed by anyone but Wednesday.
“I thought you weren’t supposed to talk in costume,” Wednesday mutters, still staring down at her notes.
Enid shrugs. “I’m not, but of course I had to come say hi.”
“I’m a bit busy right now,” Wednesday replies, and Enid can see the crease of her brow that shows she’s serious.
“Sorry,” Enid apologizes, because she doesn’t want to be a bother, “It’s just nice to see you.”
That’s when Wednesday finally puts her pen down and stares up at Enid, squinting to try and get a look at Enid through the mesh of her eyes. The head of the wolf costume looks different. Cleaner. She figures it must be new.
“It’s nice to see you too Enid,” she says, and Enid can hear how her voice grows softer for just a moment, and Enid’s glad she’s wearing a mask because she knows her cheeks are probably redder than ever right now.
Then Wednesday leans away and her eyes flick back over to the players on the court. “But I need to pay attention to Tyler.”
Enid tilts her head, trying to ignore the jealousy flickering in her gut. “Why?”
“Because he’s our star player who happens to be going up against his former team in hopes of clinching a playoff spot.”
“Since when do you pay attention to basketball?” Enid asks, and she feels herself gripping the edge of the table hard.
“Since I told my classmate I’d cover this game for him,” Wednesday retorts, glancing down at the table cloth balled up in Enid’s paws, “I always do my research before investigating.”
“Right. You’re here for the paper,” Enid takes a breath, “Duh.” She lets go of the table and realizes she’s overreacting. But then Tyler strides over, a lopsided smile on his face.
“Wednesday. Coach said I was supposed to come talk to you during warmups,” he says, leaning on the table in the same spot Enid had just been. He gives Enid a playful punch on the shoulder. “Hey wolf.”
Enid has to bite her tongue so she doesn’t say anything stupid. He’s their star player and doesn’t even know the name of his school’s mascot. Add it to the list of things she finds annoying about him, which is quickly growing by the second.
“Would you excuse us?” Wednesday nods at Enid, “I have to conduct an interview.”
Enid nods back, and then gives Tyler a comical wave, but she doesn’t bound off like she usually would have.
She goes through her live shots and photo ops and high fives during warmup like usual, doing her best to not let it mess with her job, but every time she glances over at the two of them talking, it seems like their interview is going on for much longer than it should be. Enid just hopes that Tyler skipping warmups to talk doesn’t affect his performance.
(Actually, she hopes he plays like shit, as selfish as she thinks that is.)
But Tyler plays pretty well, actually. Well enough to keep the game close and have people cheer every time he scores. Both teams are evenly matched, trading baskets back and forth until they’re tied in the final seconds. Enid tries not to get distracted staring at Wednesday the whole time, almost running into one of the cheerleaders during a dance break when she catches Wednesday stop writing to watch her. She tells herself to focus on getting the crowd excited as Nevermore gets the ball back on what looks to be the final possession.
The ball is inbounded and Tyler runs to get open. The crowd holds their breath as he shoots, watching the ball sail straight into the basket as the buzzer goes off.
The arena erupts, and Enid can’t even hear her own thoughts. She’s storming the court with everyone else, but as she watches the team scoop Tyler up in celebration, she’s hit with a wave of jealousy that’s so hard it threatens to sweep her out to sea.
She doesn’t have time to wallow though, because the students on the court are lifting her up too and cheering and parading her around, and she forces herself to cheer along with them and remind herself that she can have fun too.
By the time Enid’s finally back on the ground, her head’s almost come loose and she’s covered in confetti. She gathers herself and stumbles backstage to find Yoko, but that’s when she sees Wednesday instead, talking to Tyler down the hallway. She’s got her notepad out and is scribbling down his words, and she looks almost in awe at whatever he’s saying.
Enid tells herself that it’s just for the story. Wednesday doesn’t care about any of this. She doesn’t care about Tyler like that. And then Tyler points a thumb over his shoulder, nodding at the locker room behind him.
They might have won tonight, but Enid feels like she’s lost when she watches Wednesday follow Tyler inside.
- - -
In the week leading up to the conference championship, Wednesday sets out to try and find Enid. With the team now in contention for a tournament, the whole newspaper is scrambling to write all about them. Of course, Wednesday would rather gouge her own eyes out, but she realizes this is the perfect time to do a story on the school’s mascot.
But she can’t find Enid anywhere. She hangs out near the bike path around the time she remembers Enid had class, but she never skates by.
She asks Eugene to let her cover a soccer game because she remembers Enid doing those, which he’s more than surprised about, but it doesn’t take long for her to realize the person inside the wolf this time is not Enid, and she leaves before they even sing the anthem.
And even Yoko, who she runs into at the library while snooping around the horror section, tells her she hasn’t seen Enid much either.
“She’s kinda been all over the place,” Yoko tells her with a frown, “I think she’s trying to distract herself ‘cause she’s seemed kinda bummed lately.”
Wednesday tries to rack her brain for why Enid would seem down right now after a big win. She thinks maybe her classes aren’t going well, or maybe her skateboard’s broken and that’s why Wednesday hasn’t seen her come by. What Yoko says is actually more surprising.
“I did see her lousy cheater ex at the last game, so I thought it might be that, but I haven’t had a chance to ask her about it.”
Wednesday realizes she’s never noticed if Enid was in a relationship or even recently out of one. She doesn’t know why the thought of Enid being with someone makes her feel sour, that there’s a pang of jealousy hitting her harder than she thought it would.
And then she thinks about how hearing about Enid feeling down tugs at her heartstrings like a musician playing a cello, and that’s when Wednesday accepts the fact that she does have a crush on Enid Sinclair, and she will do something about it, even if it seems ridiculous.
So she decides she’s going to go to the conference championship. As a fan.
- - -
It’s not hard for Wednesday to find her way into the arena even if the game is already in full swing. She remembers the way in from when she helped Enid after her concussion, how the security guards weren’t paying as much attention as they should have been.
It’s just finding a place to sit that’s the issue. It’s loud, the noise of the crowd swelling loud with each play, the stands packed with purple. Wednesday just wants to find a spot out of the way that will let her watch Enid until she has a chance to talk to her.
She glances up at the scoreboard and sees that they’re losing. It’s not by much, and it seems like the fans are keeping them in it. The fans and one wolf running around the court with pom poms.
Wednesday knows it’s Enid. Enid’s fast and precise with her movements, like a ballet dancer at their opening recital. She can tell Enid’s probably grinning under the suit, and she feels pity for the crowd for missing out on such a wonderful sight.
Wednesday hangs out at the edge of the bleachers, watching the opposing team build their lead even more and more, the crowd starting to lose their energy no matter how hard Enid and the cheerleaders try to keep them in it. As students start to leave, Wednesday finds an open seat, sliding into it so she can watch Enid, silently cursing everyone who doesn’t seem to appreciate her efforts.
There’s a timeout for Nevermore to regroup, and that’s when Enid springs into action. She dashes up into the stands trying to hype the crowd up with her pom poms. Wednesday finds herself nodding along to the chants, finger tapping on her leg along with the beat. It feels alien to be cheering like this, actually enjoying the atmosphere, and she wonders how Enid could have possessed her to act like this.
Then, the referees blow their whistles and Enid gives the crowd one last fist pump. Wednesday’s still staring at her, and she’s wondering how Enid can even see out of that ridiculous wolf head and still do everything she does with ease.
Apparently, she can’t see that well, because as Enid stops to look at the crowd before heading back down the stairs, she misses a step and goes tumbling right down.
- - -
Enid swears she had been seeing things. She had been going nonstop, sweating up a storm under the suit, pretty sure she was on the verge of passing out after her last cartwheel when she saw Wednesday in the stands. But it couldn’t have been her. She wasn’t there earlier, and Enid knew she couldn’t care to come if it wasn’t related to the newspaper.
She adjusts the ice pack taped to her sprained ankle, silently glad that they’re losing because then she won’t have to miss their next game. That and people will finally stop talking about Tyler all the time.
Tyler. She hopes Wednesday wasn’t here for him-
“I told Ajax that if he was gonna show up, he couldn’t sit in the front row!” Yoko shouts, the door slamming behind her as she barges into the locker room. Her headset hangs disheveled around her neck as she takes a breath to calm herself down and stares down at the ice pack on Enid’s ankle, her foot propped up in a chair.
“It wasn’t Ajax this time,” Enid mutters, and Yoko’s eyebrows shoot up to her forehead.
“Then what happened?” Yoko asks frantically, “I told you if you can’t see out of the new head, you need to let me know-“
“I can see perfectly fine,” Enid groans, stopping Yoko before she goes to hunt down Ajax herself. She takes a breath, “I got distracted because I saw-
Enid stops when she sees someone standing in the doorway behind Yoko. “Wednesday?”
Now, Enid knows she is definitely not seeing things, because that’s definitely Wednesday staring her down, somehow having gotten past security to come and find her.
Yoko glances between the two of them. “You know, I just remembered we have t-shirts to give away,” she gulps, and then she’s out of the door in a hurry.
Wednesday’s relieved that Enid’s injury seems to be nothing serious. She’s still wearing the top half of her wolf suit and her hair is a colorful mess, but Wednesday thinks the sight is magical.
“I’m surprised you’re here,” Enid says, sounding a bit defeated. “Coming to see me.”
Wednesday stalks over, coming to stand next to the chair Enid’s slouched in. She looks a bit disappointed. “Why do you say that?”
Enid looks down at her ankle, flexing her toes. “‘Cause Tyler’s out there.”
“Why would I be here for Tyler?” Wednesday grimaces, sounding offended.
“You’re not here for the paper, so I just kinda thought that-“
“That I was interested in him?” she scoffs, shaking her head, not even wanting to let that thought develop in her mind. “Even if that was the case, I wouldn’t put myself through watching this disaster of a game for him.”
Wednesday studies the frown on Enid’s face, how it’s such a contrast to the sunny smiles she’s found herself entranced by. She can see how she’s nervously biting her lip and sweat is beading on her forehead. She’d never want Enid to look as discouraged as she does now.
“Any interactions you saw between us pertained to my article, Enid,” Wednesday reassures her, “I have to admit that the storyline of a star player facing off against was riveting and made for a great story.”
Enid sits up in her chair. “But you went into the locker room with him-“
“To interview their coach,” Wednesday huffs, “I thought you knew. I made sure to include his comment crediting you for keeping the atmosphere so spirited in my article.”
Enid shrinks into her chair. Even the last two falls she’s had in the suit didn't have her feeling this embarrassed. “I didn’t read it. I guess I was jealous.”
“Of him being the hero?”
“Of you writing about him,” Enid sighs, and her voice is raspy. Wednesday bends down to be at level with her, gripping the chair tight to steady herself because the way Enid’s looking at her makes her feel dizzy.
“Enid, I would love nothing more than to write about you,” she says, and there’s a glimmer in Enid’s eyes that makes Wednesday feel like all of the air’s been sucked out of the dingy locker room they’re in. “I don’t think I would ever run out of words to describe how captivating you are. There’s something so utterly fascinating about you that makes me want to devote my time to learning more.”
Wednesday’s looking at Enid with eyes dark and twinkling like the night sky. Enid’s thinking that maybe she hit her head on the way down those stairs because this certainly feels like a dream.
Their faces are close, and it’s just like that night in Enid’s apartment, except now they’re both sober and very aware of what they want to do next.
They move at the same time, Enid’s hand brushing along Wednesday’s jaw as she holds her cheek, and Wednesday tugs at the fur of Enid’s suit to pull herself closer so she can kiss Enid harder. All of the noise of the crowd seems to disappear at that moment, but Enid feels like she’s just scored the game-winning goal in overtime.
They finally pull away, and Enid’s got a goofy smile plastered on her face that Wednesday’s never been so relieved to see.
“Do you wanna go back to my place?” Enid huffs, still catching her breath, and then her smile turns daring. “You’re not here for the paper and I can’t exactly go back out there, so...”
Wednesday’s got a smirk on her own face. “It does seem like a suitable setting to get to know my subject better,” she says, and as she helps Enid up, she thinks that if every sports game ends up like this, then maybe she just might have to go to more.
- - -
Yoko gets a text from Enid not long after the final buzzer.
Enid: wednesday took me home. she’s gonna interview me for the paper
Yoko: that’s a weird way to say ur gonna get laid
Yoko: but i guess i can stay at divina’s tonight ;)