Part 21 - Is he okay?

Y/n

Never.

I repeat,

Never, set your wake up alarm to a song you actually enjoy.

Because you won't be enjoying it for long, no matter how good it may be.

I had made that rookie mistake last week after I had gotten sick of my last alarm, but it meant sacrificing another one of my favorite songs to the void of things I never want to hear again, along with every other alarm I've ever had, and the entire gen alpha vocabulary.

But that was a rant for another time.

It had been three days since I got that text from Enid, saying Wednesday had fallen out of a frickin window.

It came as quite the shock to all of us when we found out that she had broken into Willow Hills, and unfortunately freed a few people, or should I say, creatures, that weren't supposed to get out.

The good news was, it looked like she was going to be okay, though she was still in a coma over in Jericho general hospital. Wednesday is resilient though, I doubt she'll be willing to wait much longer to wake up.

Her unconscious state did mean one thing for me sadly.

When I open my eyes, Pugsley won't be lying asleep in the bed across the room, for the third day in a row.

He had told me he wanted to stay over in the cottage with his family, just until Wednesday woke up and things go back to normal. Although I'm not sure normal is a word that can be used in any circumstance to do with the Addams'.

I understood completely why he made that choice. I mean, if I were in his position, I'd want to be with my parents too, for support.

Plus I think he was pretty bummed about Slurp.

He was one of those said creatures that escaped, and the sheriff's department has people out hunting him.

Poor guy can't catch a break.

But I would be lying if I said I didn't miss having Pugsley here in the mornings, there was something about it that made the start of my day feel like less of a burden.

Was I being a tad bit dramatic? Yes.

The cottage was literally less than 15 minutes away by foot, and I had still seen him in passing on the way to class.

But I missed waking up to his bed head, okay?

And apart from those small moments where I do see him, my life has recently been Pugsley free.

And it's also been Ajax free.

I still hadn't seen him since he ditched me in Orloff's classroom, and while yes, I was worried, I was also just as equally pissed at him for not telling me shit about what was going on.

But it's not my problem to worry about what he does, all I can do is have faith that he'll come back, and then I can yell his ear off.

Boy do I look forward to that.

I reluctantly make myself reach for my phone on my nightstand, turning off my alarm in a much more civilized way than I would've liked to, but I was going to be late if I layed in bed much longer dwelling on my own thoughts.

After hoisting my body off my mattress and out of my comfortable sheets, I stretch out my muscles, before walking over to my closet and picking out a casual outfit for today.

I wore my uniform almost every other day of the week, but Saturday meant purple stripes were out, and I could dress in my own style.

I decide on a pretty simple fit, but it would have to do with what time I had.

Yes, the day for me didn't technically start for another 45 minutes, but I needed enough time to get ready, get breakfast, talk to people.

So yeah, I was running late.

I pull my shoes on, grabbing my bag, only bothering to brush my hair briefly and putting a hair tie around my wrist so I could put it up later if I wanted to.

I stop one last time in front of my mirror, giving myself a once over before shrugging,

It was good enough.

Once I leave my dorm, locking the door on the way out, I go down the hall to Eugene's dorm, picking him up on my way down to the courtyard.

I knock on his door a few times before I hear a faint shout from the other side of it,

"Gimme a sec!"

After a few seconds of waiting, the door swings open to reveal the familiar mop of curly hair and glasses.

"Hey, you ready to go?"

I greet Eugene with a smile and he returns it as he stumbles for his keys, locking his dorm as he nodded.

"Yup, I stayed up super late last night studying for Orloff's botanical test, so I'm 100% ready for it on Monday."

I roll my eyes.

"You're lucky, I wish I got to do that, but I'm stuck my stupid history pop quizzes every five fucking minutes. I mean seriously, the past is back there for a reason, so we don't have to worry about it."

The two of us just talked and complained about our classes all the way through the halls and outside to the steps into the courtyard, where we went our separate ways when he spotted his friend group and bided me farewell.

I watched as he joined his friends, most of which were just the guys from Caliban hall.

I let my eyes wander back over the courtyard.

It had been decorated with purple banners and artistic skull designs, a tribute to the event of today, which I may or may not have forgotten about until now.

El Día de los Muertos.

Or more commonly known as, Day of the dead.

I'm sure Dort has got some lame plan to get the school to celebrate tonight, which I'd probably have to participate in whether I wanted to or not.

Oh well, definitely not like I've got any better ways to spend my evening.

I had gotten so lost in my thoughts, that I hadn't realized I saw it.

Or, him, I should say.

But when I did a double take, 

Yup. There he was, clear as day.

That motherfucker.

How long had he been back without telling me?

I was about to march over there and call Ajax every curse word under the sun, and I was going to have fun doing it.

I skip down the remaining stairs, a determined spring in my step as I make my way over to the bench where Ajax sat with Bianca. 

I wasn't going to get mad at her, she had a good reason for what she did.

Him on the other hand,

"Hey, asshole."

I sit myself down next to him, staring him down as he turned to me.

"Oh, what's up birdy?"

I scoff.

"Don't you 'birdy' me. Care to explain why the fuck you, A,"

I held up one finger.

"Left me with two sirened idiots while you went off to do god knows what,"

I lift another finger.

"B, didn't let me come with you, even though something was clearly wrong that you could've used my help with."

I raise my third and final finger.

"C, disappeared for three fucking days without any form of contact to at least tell me that you were okay. That would've been the bare god damn minimum from you."

With every point that I made, he shrunk a bit more until his expression was one of guilt.

"I'm...sorryyy...?"

Oh this bitch-

I open my mouth to go off at him again, but the sound of the ever so recognizable Principal Dort stops me from doing so, and everyone in the courtyard looked up to see him standing atop the gargoyle once again.

Something had flown through the air, and landed right with Eugene.

"Nice catch Mr. Ottinger!"

I looked back at Dort, trying to see what he was holding in his hands.

Wait.

Was that... a t-shirt gun?

Since when did we have those?

"Who's next?"

He calls out to the crowd as he aimed it again, and shirts were just being fired left and right.

What the fuck...

I mean I knew Dort was a little...

Odd.

For a lack of a better term, but this was just straight up weird.

The students were cheering and holding their arms up, hoping to catch one of the printed skull tees, but Dort put the projectile machine down before it got too out of hand.

"Happy Día de los Muertos!"

Okay, the amount of cheering and clapping that this student body has done for this guy needs to be studied, it's quite literally going to drive me insane one day.

"Anything for a t-shirt, am I right!"

He pulls open his blazer a bit to show off the design, in the Nevermore purple shade, that once I graduate, I will wear it nevermore.

Hah get it, cause, okay well fuck you too I guess.

He laughs a bit to the crowd before his tone drops to a more serious octave.

"All right. This is also, our Outcast Day of Remembrance. Following annual tradition, at midnight the remembrance procession will head to the Nevermore cemetery, and pay our respects to all those who have gone before us."

Okay, so maybe it wasn't lame. But I still didn't really want to tag along. The cemetery gave me the creeps more than I think anything about this school.

I don't know how to explain it, but it's that same feeling you get when you hear the sound of a fork scraping against a ceramic plate. You hate it and want to get away from it as soon as humanly possible.

Also, something about that plan of his seemed a bit too...

Ordinary.

Usually he'd say something that makes my respect for him, whatever little there is, become less and less every time he talks.

"Don't worry. It won't be a complete downer, because there will also be food trucks after!"

Aaaand there it is.

He basically just said,

'Hey kids let's do something really depressing and then stuff our faces with free food, that's not actually free, to feel better!'

Maybe I'll just skip it this year.

Dort hops down from the statue as the crowds cheers die down, I turn myself back to face Ajax again. And JUST as I was about to continue on my rant, I see a dark figure walk past the table and over to Dort.

Black uniform, pigtails, scary demeanor.

"Why didn't anybody tell me that Wednesday was awake?"

Ajax glances back at where I was looking, and he shrugs.

"I dunno, I guess she just sort of came back without anyone noticing."

Okay, you know what that's fair.

Well if she was out of the hospital, maybe that meant that I could finally go and see Pugsley without feeling like a burden.

I stared over at Wednesday while she was in conversment with Dort, and I weighed my options.

She was the only one who would be able to tell about how Pugsley's doing, but she also seemed like she was in the middle of something important.

Plus if I left now to talk to her, I would leave Ajax here without being properly word assaulted yet.

I sigh.

Screw it, it looked like her words with Dort were coming to a finish now anyway.

I get up from the bench, but not before pointing at Ajax.

"Consider yourself yelled at."

He holds up both hands in mock defense.

"Done."

I mutter 'dickwad' under my breath as I turn and walk away from him, steadily approaching the eerie girl across the yard.

As I got close enough to her, she said something about an honest assessment, but nobody else was around. I think it's best I just mind my own business though.

I didn't expect her to turn around, but when she did, she immediately stopped when she saw me standing not even 5 feet away.

Okay, if you wanna ask about Pugsley, now's the time.

"Uh, hi. Wednesday, I'm-"

I extend a hand, because frankly I didn't know what else to do with them.

"I'm Y/n, I don't think we've officially met. I'm a friend of Pugsley's."

She just stares down at my gesture before returning her gaze to my own.

Got it, cool. Not a handshake person.

"I'm aware. He doesn't shut up about you."

Wait...really? Huh, and here I thought he didn't want me to get involved with his family. I don't know why but it felt nice to know he talked about me. Good things, I hope.

I retract my hand back to my side perhaps a little too quickly, and I clear my throat.

"Awesome...awesome sauce. Uhm, it's good to see that you seem alright after what happened, it was kind of a big deal."

She just raises one eyebrow at me. I felt extremely intimidated right now..

"Was there a point that you're trying to make or can this be over."

Yeah okay I probably should've just led with my question, I just got nervous and started small talk.

"Yes, there was."

I take a deep breath.

"Have you seen Pugsley? You know, since you got out of the hospital? It's just it's been a few days and I wanted to know how he's doing."

She keeps her deadpan expression as the air between us stays silent for a few seconds.

"No, I can't say that I have."

Oh.

I mean, I knew that'd probably be the case, I guess I just hoped otherwise.

"Okay, thanks anyway, hope you feel better soon.."

Maybe I could just go and check on him anyway.

I make a move to walk away from Wednesday, and it's like she could read my thoughts or something.

"Y/n."

I stop and turn back to her, her voice was icy and it creeped me out.

"Yesss...?"

...

"There's a shortcut to the cottage through the woods next to the archery range. If you wish to leave without getting in trouble, I suggest going there."

Well I'll be damned.

As soon as the words leave her mouth, she turns away from me and takes long strides across the courtyard, to wherever she was going.

"Thank you!"

I smile to myself.

I guess I'll be making a visit today after all..

So, the archery range huh?

««« ♪ ♪ »»»

Okay, it's official.

I hate blackberry bushes.

Shortcut my ass. It might be less distance to walk, and it was a hidden path,

But fucking hell my legs were in pain.

And seeing as it was the start of November, the ground was completely covered with muddy leaves, so my shoes were done for.

The wooden planks and moss covered tiles finally came into view behind a few trees, and I let out a sigh of relief.

Okay, there it is.

The sound out the front read 'Rotwood Cottage'.

The wood looked fine to me but alright.

I shake any excess dirt and leaves off of my legs and shoes, and I approach the path that led up to the front door.

This place looked...quaint.

Like, the kind of cottage you have as like a holiday house for when you need to get away from life.

I liked that idea, maybe I should visit here more often.

The windows that were visible from where I'm standing, were all covered with grime and vines, so I couldn't see inside to check if any lights were on, but I lifted my hand to grab the door knocker anyway.

But just as I moved to knock it, I had a realization.

How am I supposed to even do this?

I mean like, what if one of his parents opens the door, what do I say?

'Hello Mrs. Addams, lovely to see you. By the way would you show me your son?'

Yeah nope.

This is fine, totally fine...

I might,

Be thinking about it too much.

At this point I had turned away from the door, trying to come up with a good plan for every scenario, but I barely come up with anything, when I hear the sound of a click from behind me.

Ah shit.

I straighten myself up and face the entryway, maybe if I looked presentable it would go better?

I don't know, man.

The door opens slowly, and when the person behind it comes into view, I let out a huge breath I didn't even realize I was holding, and I hunch myself over as I laugh nervously.

"Oh thank god, hi, I know you."

I stand back up and look up at Lurch, who stood in the doorway, and greeted me with a short grunt.

He steps aside, creating a space for me to step inside, and I do so with a smile.

"Thank you, really. Uhm, so do you know where-"

Before I could finish my sentence, Lurch already has one arm extended, pointing down the hallway and towards a room in the back, which from here looked to be made with only glass, and plants covering the sides and floor.

"Thank you Lurch, really."

He gives me a short nod, and I take my shoes off, so I didn't track any dirt or mud inside a home that wasn't mine.

I make a move down the hallway, and a photo up on the wall catches my attention on the way past.

A picture of two people, looking like they'd just gotten married, but it was a little lower quality than what I'd expect from today's cameras. 

They seemed young, no older than maybe 18 or 19.

Wait...were they?

No, that's crazy.

I look down at the engraved words at the bottom of the frame.

'Mr. & Mrs. Addams, newly wed'

Holy fucking shit.

They looked so different. 

But they also looked really good. I love it when hot people date each other.

I give a short hum to myself before directing my focus back down to the end of the hallway, and I walk around the corner into the next room.

There he is.