“Excited for the party?” Luke asked, standing in a luxurious and spacious room along with Wednesday.
Ajax had brought Luke and Wednesday to a large bedroom so they could hang out there. He was in charge of preparing everything for the party that would start in a few hours.
He knew that Luke and Wednesday preferred having a room to themselves rather than socializing with his family. He also told them they could explore the mansion, except for the right wing, where he was setting everything up and wanted it to be a surprise.
As for Natasha, she was taken to another room. She didn’t want to be at a party full of teenagers and was only staying in the mansion for the night.
Wednesday, who was sitting on a luxurious sofa with her hands resting softly on her lap and looking at the floor, raised her gaze at Luke’s question.
“Do you really think I’d be excited about a… party?” Wednesday replied, turning the question back on him.
“No, but you agreed to come. I thought maybe you’d come with a slightly less demanding mindset and relax a little,” Luke said as he sat down next to Wednesday.
“I came because the best thing for the mission is to get away from New York, which is close to Ohio,” Wednesday replied curtly.
“You’re very antisocial today,” Luke said, and Wednesday turned her head robotically to look at him, prompting Luke to shift a few spots away as a precaution.
For most of the trip, she had only spoken to tease him by calling him Galadriel. Now, she barely spoke, and when she did, her tone was curt and impatient.
To most people, this would seem normal for Wednesday, but not to Luke, because she wasn’t like this with him.
“Fine, I’ll be more social if that’s what you want. Are you excited for this grand party?” Wednesday asked in a neutral tone, devoid of any emotion.
“Considering you hate popular music, hate dancing, hate alcohol, and hate socializing,” she added.
Luke furrowed his eyebrows. This is what Wednesday considers being more sociable? Although she was right about what she said he hated all those things.
He had only tried alcohol once in that run-down bar, and he absolutely hated it. The hangover was awful, and the taste of alcohol was just as bad. The only “good” thing about it, if it could even be called that, was the effect it had-it made you a bit happier than usual and more talkative.
“You should try alcohol for the first time. I’d like to see you drunk,” Luke said with a faint smile.
It would be hilarious to see Wednesday in that state. Maybe she’d be super talkative, even loud, or make bad jokes. Who knows?
“I won’t drink alcohol, and neither will you. We’re not in the Addams mansion anymore. The Spellmans could attack us. We have to stay alert at all times, understand?” Wednesday said, staring intently at Luke.
‘What a buzzkill…’ Luke thought.
“We’re in the Petropolus mansion. Besides, there will be many students from important outcast families. I doubt they’d dare attack us,” Luke replied.
“We don’t know that. We have to stay vigilant and not let our guard down. We can’t be caught off guard like we were with Dolores,” Wednesday countered.
“Oh, great… This is going to be such a fun night,” Luke said with clear sarcasm.
At this rate, the two of them would end up sitting in a corner, watching everyone else have fun
at the party. Wednesday didn’t respond and turned her gaze forward, saying nothing more.
Luke stared at her, waiting for a reply that never came.
‘She doesn’t seem to be in the best mood today…’ Luke thought.
The room fell silent. Luke pondered what to do. He couldn’t go meet Ajax, as he was busy preparing everything for the party and wanted it to be a surprise.
And he couldn’t talk to Wednesday either-she seemed to be in a bad mood for some unknown reason. Luke had thought that after their earlier conversation about Galadriel, things had smoothed over, but apparently, they hadn’t.
He could explore the mansion, avoiding the right wing, but he didn’t want to. During his exploration, he might run into Ajax’s siblings or some other relative, and he wasn’t in the mood to socialize. Wednesday was right when she said he hated socializing.
That left him with only one option: killing time on his phone. While Luke played video games on his phone, Wednesday pulled a book out of her backpack and began reading it.
The only sound in the room was the noise of the video game coming from Luke’s phone speakers. It didn’t bother Wednesday-she was used to it.
Finally, to Luke’s relief, Ajax appeared in the room, proudly announcing with a smile that everything was ready.
Without wasting time, he led them through the mansion’s hallways to the rooms where the party would be held. They would be the first to witness the fruit of his labor.
The first space was a foyer transformed into an elegant welcome area. The walls, usually adorned with sober landscape paintings, were now draped with dark curtains.
A solid wooden table occupied the center, topped with a mountain of glasses and bottles of alcohol-lots of alcohol-arranged with almost ceremonial precision.
The dim lighting and the soft murmur of background music gave the place an intimate atmosphere.
“Welcome to the pre-party lounge. Once everyone arrives, we’ll move to the main hall- where the real magic happens,” Ajax explained, spreading his arms as if presenting a
masterpiece.
Luke observed with curiosity, while Wednesday, wearing her typical unperturbed expression, scanned the room with her gaze, seemingly approving of the dark aesthetic.
“Are your parents okay with you having this much alcohol?” Luke asked, walking over to one of the tables and grabbing one of the many bottles.
The bottle he picked up was whiskey-Johnnie Walker Blue Label, with an alcohol content of
55.8%.
“Yes, they know. It’d be impossible to hide this much alcohol,” Ajax replied casually. Luke looked at him with a mix of disbelief and confusion.
What the hell was wrong with outcast parents? Did they actually want their son and his friends to end up in an alcohol-induced coma?
“This is just the pre-party? Are you trying to give someone a stroke?” Luke asked, putting the bottle back. Either way, he couldn’t drink tonight-Wednesday had forbidden it.
“Outcasts are more resistant to alcohol than normies. We don’t die that easily,” Ajax said with
a confident smile.
Luke raised an eyebrow. Clearly, Ajax had never been truly drunk before. Unlike him, who had once, after several glasses of whiskey and vodka, ended up with a massive hangover. He wasn’t immune, even if his body could handle more than a normie’s.
“It would be interesting to see if they’re really that resistant. I’ve never witnessed anyone have a stroke from alcohol poisoning. It could be… educational,” Wednesday said, eyeing the
bottles of alcohol.
Ajax burst out laughing. “Don’t worry, no one’s ending up in an alcohol-induced coma. At
least not tonight.”
“A shame,” Wednesday said-fortunately, Ajax didn’t hear her.
“How many people did you invite?” Luke asked, curious.
“Hmm… our entire grade is over a hundred people. I also invited friends from other grades and some who don’t go to Nevermore. There’ll be a lot of us,” Ajax said with a smile.
“Oh…” Luke muttered, not very enthusiastic. He wasn’t a fan of crowds.
“Excited to see your archrival again?” Luke asked, shifting his attention to Wednesday, who
raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“My what?”
“Bianca,” Luke replied with a slight smile, knowing the name alone would spark a particular
glint in Wednesday’s eyes. And it did.
The mention of Bianca brought a flash to her gaze, but it wasn’t one of nervousness. It was
one of cold satisfaction.
“Oh, the queen bee,” she said with a touch of sarcasm.
“Her presence doesn’t matter to me. I already taught her a lesson, a siren defeated by a psychic in a fencing tournament where I couldn’t use my aura, and she still had her physical advantages,” she added with a disdainful smile.
Had she used her black aura, she would’ve ripped Bianca’s eyes out without much effort. The fight would’ve been entirely one-sided.
“Wow, you’re still savoring that victory, huh?” Luke said.
“It’s not a minor accomplishment, though it’s not a big deal either. It’s not every day that a
creature with stronger bones and obvious physical advantages learns that the mind always trumps muscle,” Wednesday replied.
“And what if she decides to ask for a rematch tonight?” Luke asked, curious about her
response.
“I’ll give it to her. She’ll be humiliated again. Some people need continuous lessons to understand their place,” Wednesday replied.
“A fencing duel would be a great show for the party, even better if you’re both under the influence of alcohol,” Ajax said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. It would definitely make the
party more legendary.
‘Do you want Bianca to die in your house?’ Luke thought but kept it to himself.
As the three talked, guests began to arrive, guided into the room by the staff. Ajax went to greet everyone as the host and to receive the gifts his friends and classmates
brought. Luke and Wednesday stayed near the table, observing the arrivals, who also cast glances their way.
To the guests, the strange and psychopathic couple was legendary at Nevermore. They had resurrected and killed Crackstone, the nemesis of America’s outcasts.
Luke’s brow furrowed slightly when he saw Xavier arrive. Not because he disliked seeing his
best friend, but because of the people accompanying him: Bianca, followed by Divina, her brother Kent, Yoko, and Enid…
Luke began to feel a bit nervous at the sight of Enid. It was far from ideal to have both his ex and his current girlfriend in the same room. The real issue was that he had been in love with Enid. If it were Gia walking in, he wouldn’t have cared-he’d never had strong feelings for
her.
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