UNDEAD BECOMES HER, wednesday addams

viii. giving up the ghost

When Parents Weekend rolled around, Ollie was so physically exhausted that she kept falling asleep standing up. At least Francis was there to wake her up pretty quickly. 

She'd received an envelope the previous night, containing a letter from each of her parents. She'd been waffling the entire week about whether or not she actually wanted them to show up, and she had wanted them to come, just to hear their voices again. 

"Where are your parents?" Bianca asked, appearing behind her as she stood observing the gathered families. 

"Not coming. Mom said family emergency, Dad said he couldn't get time off work. They can't even work together on their excuses anymore. I swear to God, they should just get divorced already. What about yours?"

"I hope my mom's not coming," Bianca said. "She's overbearing and awful."

"Hey, if she doesn't show up, that just means you have a free weekend. Always a silver lining or a bright side. I guess in your case there would be nothing but silver linings if she doesn't show."

Bianca nodded. "I suppose you're right." She walked away, and Ollie saw her reappear a few minutes later on the second floor overlooking the quad. 

There was nothing for her to do there, so she called for Francis to quit chewing on her hair and headed towards the shuttle bound for Jericho. 

"Ollie?" 

She turned around and saw Ms. Thornhill there. "Yeah?"

"Are your parents here yet? Principal Weems and I wanted to speak to them."

"Why?" Ollie snapped, the word coming out a little too panicked for her liking. "I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"

"No, no, of course not," Thornhill reassured her. "I just wanted to talk to them about your schedule, and to you about your potential career options."

"I already know what I'm going to be when I grow up," Ollie said. "Local gay swamp cryptid. It's my dream job. I won't have to pay taxes or anything."

"If that's what you want, but I was thinking you have a strong aptitude for the field of environmental sciences," Thornhill said. "And, with all the extra classes you've been taking, you could graduate at the end of next school year."

"Wait, really?"

"Yes, really. You've completed your language credits already, you have two science classes, and you tested into a higher math level already. The classes you have now are ones you're acing, and sometimes you don't even show up. I know that's because of your disability, but still. Your current academic career is remarkable."

"This is a good environment for me," Ollie acknowledged. "But sorry. My parents aren't coming this year. I could still meet up with you and Weems later, though."

"That sounds like an excellent idea. Have a good day, Ollie," Thornhill said, and left her to her own devices.

Ollie watched her leave and said, fully aware she sounded like a petulant, whiny child, "But I don't wanna graduate early."

Tyler Galpin, the sheriff's son and the best barista she knew, delivered her hot chocolate drowning in whipped cream to her in her little booth. She rarely had anything overly sugary, since it didn't bode well with her gut health, but every now and then, she was strong enough to have a treat.

"How's Wednesday doing?" he asked. "I heard about the dance, and how her friend was attacked, or something?"

"Eugene, yeah. It was pretty rough. She blames herself. She was supposed to be with him and she went to the dance instead. I'm going to talk to her about it later, if I can. This is delicious, by the way. You need a raise."

"Tell that to my boss," he said, smiling weakly, and went back to work. 

Ollie only got a few minutes of quiet time before she heard Bianca's voice a few tables away. "How did you find me?"

"MorningSong community misses you," an older woman, presumably her mother, said. "I miss you."

"And by community, you mean cult?" Bianca said waspishly.

Ollie almost choked on her drink. Things were already heating up in the Barclay family, it seemed. 

"We are a personal development movement that helps people take control of their lives," Bianca's mother said, sounding a little offended.

"After you take control of their bank accounts," Bianca said. She was on fire today, it seemed.

"I haven't come here to fight, Brandy Jane," Cult Mother said, and Ollie almost choked again. It was like hearing a deadname, and she resolved to forget it as soon as possible.

"My name is Bianca. New name. New life."

"It's time to come home."

"That place was never my home."

"Gideon said you'd resist."

Oh, god, not a man named Gideon, Ollie groaned internally. Gideon is only a good name for a woman. Especially a queer one. Written by Tamsyn Muir. 

"Don't say that man's name to me," Bianca snapped. "You think he'd give a damn about some single mom and her daughter if we weren't sirens?"

Manipulating Cult Mother chuckled. "That is no way to talk about your stepfather."

"Oh, beans," Ollie whispered into her mug.

"You actually married him," Bianca said in disbelief.

"He wants you to come home, so that we can be a real family."

"Hard pass." Ollie had to stop herself from verbally cheering Bianca on. "He's already got one siren to do his bidding. Goodbye, Ma. I don't want to see any more MorningSong bracelets anywhere near this town."

Bianca rose to her feet, but was quickly pulled down by her mother. "My siren song is drying up," Cult Mother said urgently. "Recruitment numbers are down, and the wrong people are starting to ask questions. This wasn't a request."

"And if I refuse?" Bianca asked.

"Then everybody here is going to know how you siren'd your way into Nevermore."

"I finally make something of myself and you want to destroy it."

"You haven't made squat, Bianca. You're just scamming a higher class of people, but they are not your friends."

Ollie had enough at that point. Bianca might not've been her friend, but that lady was sounding way too much like her own mom to be any good. She quietly got up, ordered a cookie from Tyler, and pulled a threaded bag of seeds out of her pocket. 

She pushed two seeds into the cookie, far apart from each other to not be detected, and handed it back to him. "See Bianca and her mother over there?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Give the cookie to her mother. I don't care how you do it. I'll give you ten bucks. I just want her to go away."

Tyler shrugged. "You don't have to pay me. I've heard some of the stuff she's said. It's like my dad, but instead of passive comments, they're active. One cookie, on its way."

"I owe you one," she said, and went to throw the rest of her drink away. She wanted to visit Eugene.