Part 5 - The founders fire

Y/n

My back is killing me. 

I had convinced Pugsley to come out with me and volunteer during setup for the pyre. And now both of us were stuck in the woods with stick collecting duty. And yes, bending down to pick up sticks every 5 seconds was doing a number on my spine. 

But I figured that if I got Pugsley to spend time around other people without such a big crowd first, it'd be a good way to practice. I think he was still a little nervous about the whole thing, though.

"Do you really think this is gonna work? I mean, I feel like my plan of building a best friend will be more successful."

Pugsley straightens up from picking up sticks and looks over at me

"You don't know that. Please just at least try to connect with an actual human being, it doesn't matter who, just think of this as practice for tonight. Just find someone and go over to them, and start a conversation."

I glance around the general area in the woods where we were, and I see a couple of other guys with the same job as us, about 20 feet away.

"Hey look, how about that guy? He looks like he could use a dose of Pugsley. Come on."

Pugsley sighs and looks between me and the guy I was talking about. 

"Do I have to?"

I shrug.

"You don't have to. But would you rather room with a girl for a whole year? Miss out on finding your brother for life?"

It's not like I didn't want to be friends and hang out with him, or even room with him this year, but I think he'd be a bit happier if he also had some guy friends. I walk over to him and open one of my arms.

"Gimme your stick pile, and go over and talk to him. What's the worst that could happen?"

He stares at me. Right yeah okay there was a lot wrong that could happen.

"Okay forget I asked that. Rhetorical question. But seriously, Pugsley, please?"

 He takes a deep breath before handing me the sticks he had gathered.

"Alright, I got this. I'll just, go over there, and talk to him."

"Yeah there you go that's the spirit! I'll be right here if you need me."

He walks off and I can feel a small sense of pride as I watch him go. It's like watching a baby take their first steps. Though in this case it's a 16 year old boy, and honestly it was a little weird for me to think that. Okay shut up brain, focus on Pugsley.

I tried to read their body language as Pugsley started up a conversation with the guy, it looked like it was going fine so far, that's good. I was a little too far away to hear what he was saying, but I'm pretty sure I caught the words 'stick bug' and 'ate'.

Oh no...

The look on the guys face turned to one of grossed out and he smiled awkwardly before turning and walking away from Pugsley. Once Pugsley turned around to look at me all I could think to do was give him a thumbs up and hope that didn't discourage him from talking to anyone else.

He walks back over to me, letting his head fall back with a groan.

"Let's just go put these sticks up at the pyre. We'll try again later."

Yes! I guess it wasn't so bad that it made him never want to do it again. It's progress.

Him and I both walk back out of the forest, sticks in arms as I debate whether to ask him how the conversation went. But I'm pretty sure I already know, so best not to make him think about it. 

We watched as the telekinesis kids used said sticks that we collected to shape the bird pyre that would be burned later tonight, and it made me a little envious of how easily they could just move stuff to their will. I wish I could do that, it would make bed rotting so much more efficient.

I turn to Pugsley.

"You ready for tonight? It'll be fun, I promise. And even if our plan doesn't work right away, you and I can just hang out. Okay?" 

He huffs out a short breath and smiles at me. Wow, he really did look nice when he smiled.

"Yeah, okay."

««« ♪ ♪ »»»  

I pull Pugsley by the wrist through the crowds of students, careful not to lose him amongst them. Night had now fallen over the Nevermore campus, and everyone was gathered on the field, awaiting the start of the event. My eyes search through the many bodies until they landed on just the guy I was looking for, and I call out to him.

"Eugene! Hey!"

I drag Pugsley along again as I run up to Eugene. He and I became friends last year, despite the fact I hate bugs and he has a passion for them. We were all pretty worried when he got attacked by the Hyde, but thankfully he was okay.

Eugene turns his head at the sound of my voice and waves as I reach him.

"Hey Y/n good to see you back this year, did you have a good summer?"

I wave my hand dismissively at his question.

"Yes but we can talk about that later. Eugene, I'd like you to meet,"

I pull Pugsley out from behind me and have him stand in front of Eugene.

"Pugsley Addams, Wednesday's younger brother. Pugsley, this is Eugene Ottinger, a friend of mine and also kind of a friend of Wednesday. And hey guess what, you guys both really love bugs! Maybe you should talk about it, get to know each other."

I let go of Pugsley's wrist, and I could've sworn that for a moment his hand moved towards mine, before it landed back at his side. I forget about it and turn back to the two of them. Pugsley looks hopeful, Eugene on the other hand seemed less excited.

"Alright, I shall leave you two to talk, because I gotta get up on stage for the alma mater singing thing,"

I whisper to Eugene,

"Be nice." 

He nodded reluctantly and I stepped away from them.

"Okay I'll be back in a bit!"

I leave Pugsley with Eugene, hoping that they get along and maybe by the end of the night Pugsley will have made a new friend.

My train of thought caused me to not realize my surroundings, making me bump right into someone with a thud. I almost fall but catch myself before gravity had a chance to do its thing, and I look up at the person I collided with.

"I am so sorr-"

They turn around and I see their face, and my expression drops. Honestly, I should've known by the dumb beanie.

"Oh, it's you."

Ajax gives me a mock offended look and flicks my forehead.

"Watch where you're walking, birdy."

God I fucking hated that nickname. He had given it to me as a joke when I accidently hummed in his presence, and he had never let it go. It started as hummingbird, but he thought it'd work better if he shortened it down. And once he saw how annoyed it made me whenever he called me that, he did it even more on purpose. 

I swat his hand away and fold my arms over my chest.

"Oh I'm sorry, you're just too freakishly tall that I thought you were a tree. Would've preferred walking into one of those..."

"Oh you wound me. And here I thought it was because my dashing good looks blinded you."

I roll my eyes.

"You wish."

He let out a small laugh, but our interaction was interrupted when his gaze fell upon something else, or should I say someone else. When I looked in the same direction as him, Enid was there, walking through the crowd with Wednesday. 

Typical, can't go two seconds without looking at her. He's like a child in a toy store, he wants what he can't have.

He turns his back to me as his eyes follow Enid, and I just scoff before I decide it's not worth it to stay here any longer. I walk away towards the stage, going around the back and seeing the other singers for tonight. Bianca, of course, was handing everyone their jackets with the choir name on the back, 'Pitch slaps'. I will admit it's an odd name, but it's pretty funny. 

Bianca hands me mine and shows me a smile, but whenever I looked at her all I could focus on were her eyes. I was jealous that her and a few of the other siren song kids got those piercing blue eyes, while the rest of us were stuck with our dull ones. But at the same time, I was grateful it wasn't my defining feature like it was on some of them.

Miss Capri, our newly appointed music teacher for this year, appeared from the other side of the stage. I didn't even see her walk up, it was freaky. Don't get me wrong, she was a nice enough person, but she gave me the creeps. She ushered us on stage in two rows and made us stand in an orderly fashion as she made her way over to the piano set up not too far away from us. 

I stood in the back row, and I let my eyes look over the crowd. I spot Pugsley talking to Eugene, and I internally fist bump myself. I knew those two would get along, this was great. I just hope Eugene was being nice like I said, he had changed a little since last year, I think he let his growing popularity with some of the other kids get to his head.

My focus is drawn away when Miss Capri speaks into her microphone to the crowd.

"Good evening, Nevermore."

The crowd turns their attention to her, and cheers and claps fill the once silent field, and we do the the same as she continues her speech.

"Wooo! Good evening and welcome to the founders fire. Tonight we're gonna start by singing the Nevermore alma mater."

She goes back and sits down at the piano, putting her microphone down as she begins to play the tune that we had learned last year. She joined in along with us as the song went on, and a few people from the crowd did too.

As it continued, Kent, as always, tried to do the most, which resulted in Bianca hitting him a few times to make him tone it down. I would've done it myself but my focus had fallen back onto the crowd, making sure to keep up my polite performance face, even though I'm sure not many people could actually see me back here.

I saw him though, as hard as I was trying not to look.

Ajax had followed Enid next to the pyre and it appeared as though they were finally talking for the first time this year. Probably about why she's been avoiding him, and whether they're still together. 

It wasn't any of my business, I don't understand why I'm even thinking about it. Chances are they'll talk it out and be a couple again by the end of the week. I didn't tell Ajax that I saw Enid with one of her pack mates Bruno acting all lovey dovey. Mostly because I didn't care, but also because I didn't really feel like being the barer of bad news.

I somehow managed to still keep singing while having this internal monologue, but the song soon came to and end, and was replaced by music that I'm pretty sure Principal Dort put on.

And just as I thought, Dort runs out on stage and waves to the crowd, microphone in hand as we, along with everyone else, clapped for his little dancing entrance. The music dies down a but as he starts his own speech.

"Hello fellow outcasts! And welcome back to Nevermore!"

The clapping started again. Seriously, this was getting really old.

"I'm your principal, Barry Dort."

Silence from the crowd. Well, not everything is clap worthy I suppose. Especially since he winked at them. Weird.

He clears his throat and continues.

"And tonight we celebrate a new era!"

Oh great, more fucking clapping. I think my hands are gonna fall off by the end of tonight.

"Now I know change can be scary, but you don't have to be afraid. You know why? Cause we are outcast strong! Yes we are!"

Oh no now he was flexing in front of all those people...I hid behind the front row a little bit, even though it wasn't me, I was getting second hand embarrassment. Thankfully he stopped quickly and went back to speaking.

"Alright alright, from now on, I am abolishing the Nightshades, and all secret societies."

Ooh, that's not good. Not that I had made a particularly big point of it, but I happened to be a Nightshade. There were other people in the choir who were too, and those same people looked to each other in confusion, including Bianca.

I don't think Dort realizes that his words won't stop these secret societies from existing. He doesn't hold as much power as he believes he does. All it does is make them sneakier, they'll find ways, teenagers always do.

"The protection of our school falls upon all of us. Therefore, we are aaaalll Nightshades."

Oh please. I hate it when adults try to ruin something because they think it's harmful. They just don't like it because they can't control it. Simple as that.

"Now, in the words of that great American outcast Bruce Springsteen, you can't start a fire, without a spark!"

He shoots a ball of fire from the tip of his finger, hitting the base of the pyre as it goes up in flames. The crowd cheers and I take the opportunity to check on Pugsley again, maybe him and Eugene were still talking.

Well, there's Eugene, but where's....

I frantically look through the hoards of people.

Where the hell is Pugsley?!

I slip away from the choir, and make my way off the back of the stage, leaving my jacket on the table set up back there as I focus on finding Pugsley.

I push through the people, getting a few sounds and looks as I reached Eugene, tapping him on the shoulder. He turns around and greets me with a smile.

"Oh, Y/n! Hey, you sounded great up th-"

"Where the fuck did Pugsley go? He's supposed to be with you and I can't see him anywhere."

He just shrugs, he seemed uninterested in Pugsley's whereabouts.

"I dunno, he was here a second ago, I guess he went off while I wasn't looking."

I glare at him.

"Went off where, Eugene?"

He sighs and points to the woods

"He was saying something about going to dig up the dead kid from that story Ajax told us, he asked us to come with, but you know, we don't wanna do that."

What the fuck.

I hit Eugene in his chest with the back of my hand.

"And you just let him?! What if gets hurt out there, I gotta go get him."

Eugene makes a small 'ow' sound from my hit before he grabs my arm as I turn to walk off.

"Y/n, relax, he'll probably go there and realize there's nothing to be found, and he'll just come right back, don't worry about him. He can protect himself right?" 

I look him up and down.

"Yeah, he can. But you don't know that he'll come back."

"Have a little faith in the guy, alright? Let him have his fun, and then you can scold him for walking off when he comes back, okay?"

I consider Eugene's words, he had a point. I probably shouldn't hover over Pugsley, I mean I'm not even like that, I just can't help but worry about him. I look over at the woods again before relaxing myself, which causes Eugene to finally let go of my arm.

"Yeah...okay. I guess I can leave him be for now. But if he's not back by tomorrow, it's your head on the line."

He holds up his hands before slinging one arm around my shoulder, pulling me back into the crowd. My head turns to glance at the woods a final time.

Please be okay...