this love is good, this love is bad [wenclair]

chapter 22.1: we play dumb but we know exactly what we're doing

A/N: Consider rereading the part in the first A/N in which I described Ophelia Hall (my version).
Also, they drink in this chapter; I do not endorse alcohol until 21 (even though they could legally drink in my country).

September

"Wednesday, you're finally here!"
That was what I was treated with right after entering Ophelia Hall's common room when I got back from detention on Friday. I had no idea why Yoko seemed to be so happy to see me. In fact, it wasn't only Yoko; the other girls we shared the dorm with were there waiting for me as well, including Enid. The six of them were already in their pyjamas.
"You're late. The pizzas are almost cold!" Cascina complained.
She was one of the girls participating with us in the Poe Cup, the other one being Alice. Both of them were one year older than us and were now seniors. I had lunch with them once or twice because Enid basically forced me to.
Besides Enid, there were two other girls both of them were freshmen. I had noticed their presence since the beginning of the week, but had never properly met them.
"Nah, Cass, the pizzas are fine! We put them on the heater, they can't be that cold," one of the freshmen said. She had a bit of a London accent, just like Alice.
I decided to ignore the whole situation and went upstairs to my room.
"Oh come on, Wednesday, we waited for you to start!" I heard Yoko say from downstairs.
"To start what?" I asked, irritated, from the top of the stairs.
"Our annual back-to-school girls night!" Cascina replied energetically.
"Yeah, no thanks," I said, walking inside my room and closing the door.
I dropped my backpack in the middle of the room, since I didn't have to cohabit with anyone anymore, and immediately started to change. It had been really warm where I had detention, and I wanted to get out of my sweaty clothes as soon as possible.

Some sweatpants and a gray hoodie will do it.

I started to undo my hair when someone knocked at the door.
"Can I get in?"
It was Enid's voice. She didn't wait for an answer before entering the room
"Wow it's-"
She stared at the window. I had taken off the rest of her window stickers, leaving only transparent, almost gray glass. The sun was setting.
"Different, empty?" I finished.
"Well yeah, that's what it looked like when I first moved into this room. But anyway, the girls sent me. They already attacked the pizza, but please come with us. It's gonna be fun, I promise!"
"What are we even going to do?" I asked, sceptic.
"We just get to know each other, with the new girls and stuff. And we talk and gossip about teachers, and... Well, it's a tradition, and since you missed it last year, you can't skip on it now."
"I can and I will."
"What are you even going to do? It's Friday night, don't you dare study! Just come with us."

"Look who I'm bringing!"
The girls downstairs cheered, but I couldn't decide if it was for me being there or Enid dragging me there.
They were all seated on the couch in the common room. On the low table in front of it were as many soda cans as empty beer cans, pizza boxes, an already empty chip bag, and a popcorn bowl.
"Are you kidding me? I did not sign up for that," I whispered to Enid.
She shrugged her shoulders, sat on one of the beanbags around the table since the couch was already full, and took a slice of pizza. She then looked at the TV, some superhero movie was on. I took a deep breath and just went for it. Eugene being my only friend, I really needed this networking moment. I sat down on a beanbag as well, in between Alice and Yoko.
"What are we watching?"
"Superman, but it's more for background noise," Alice replied.
I nodded, not caring at all.
"So," Yoko started, accompanied by a clap while standing up, "presentations; our two new girls-"
"You sound like a teacher," Enid interrupted, teasing her.
"Yeah, you do," one of the freshmen said.
"Just introduce yourself then," Yoko sighed annoyed, and she sat back down.
"You still sound like a teacher," Enid laughed.
Yoko walked over to Enid, took the chip bag, and emptied the crumbs that were left in it on Enid's head.
"Girl! I washed my hair this morning!" she protested, trying not to laugh.
Yoko just smiled at her, flashing her fangs, while the other girls were dying of laughter.
"Anyway, I'm Tatum," one of the new girls said.
"And I'm Chloe," the other one said in a less confident voice.
"My sister," Alice proudly added.
That explained the same accent. And the almost same exact curly blonde hair, looking better at them.
"Now that that's done, what are we doing?" Tatum asked.
"Well, it's too early for drinking games," Yoko said.
Cascina pouted.
She was kind of known for being a party animal, so such a sleepover must've been really boring for her.
"Way too early," Alice said, looking at the two freshmen.
"Not everyone's done eating. Can't we just watch the movie for now?"
"I'm not watching another second of Superman," Enid said.
"Ow come on, the plot's good!"
"Not everyone uses 'plot' and 'Henry Cavill' synonymously, Yoko," Tatum said.
Yoko threw popcorn at her.
"That's, like, wasting food."
Yoko shrugged her shoulders. "You can still eat it if you want to."
I grabbed another cold slice of pizza, and was surprised when I bit into a warm mushroom.
"Can you pass me the popcorn while there is still some, please?" Alice asked.
I slid the bowl to her side of the table, making a minimum of effort.
"Thanks, Wednesday!"
"Anyway, what are we doing now?" Yoko asked again.
"Wait, I'm on it," Enid said.
She was scrolling on her phone. Cascina looked at her screen over her shoulder.
"Bro really typed 'fun things to do at sleepover' in the Google search bar."
"Shut up, Cass," Enid replied, eyes still glued on the screen.
"Look on Pinterest; they have better suggestions," Tatum said.
"I'm gonna go back upstairs," I heard Chloe say to Alice.
"Really, already? It's like 8 o'clock!"
"I have schoolwork and an early practice tomorrow," she explained.
"See you tomorrow, then," Alice said, hugging her little sister.
She noticed I had been following their conversation, and when Chloe disappeared up the stairs, Alice explained to me that her sister was very shy and wasn't comfortable around people she didn't know.
"She'll come out of her shell eventually," she said. "But for now, the couch is free, do you want to-"
"No, you take the couch."
"Thanks," she smiled.
"OH I FOUND A DECENT LIST!" Enid exclaimed. "Oh wait, baking cookies no, building a fort no way, making up a handshake? Do people really do that? Pillow fight nah, most likely to, truth or dare, drinking games. Never mind, this list isn't as good as it seemed."
"Why not truth or dare?" Tatum asked.
"No."
That came from three of us.
"In the meantime," Enid started, grabbing the TV remote, "I'm not watching Superman."
She turned it off and searched for something else in the Netflix catalog.
"NO! Zaddyyyy!" Yoko shouted.
Cascina opened a beer can and took a sip.
"Why not a most likely to? That's a fun way to get to know each other."
"We already know each other; it's just gonna be awkward as hell for Tatum."
They tried to think of something else.
"I don't care, can we just do something?" Tatum said.
"Truth or dare it is," Yoko announced.
"Girl, no, most likely to," Enid said.
"I vote for truth or dare."
That was Tatum.
"Me too," Cascina said.
"Me too," Yoko grinned.
"I guess it's a tie then, back to case one," Alice sighed.
"I'm fine with truth or dare," I said.
They all turned to me.
"THAT'S MY GIRL!" Yoko exclaimed, putting her hand up for me to high-five.
"Ew, don't."
She put her hand away.
"But you can skip a question or dare if you want to, right?" Alice made sure.
"If you drink a shot," Cascina said, taking a Jack Daniel's bottle out of nowhere.
"Oh, I like that!" Yoko laughed, putting her hand up again.
She got her high-five that time.
"What about it being too early for drinking games?"
"If you don't want to drink, just answer the questions, Alice."
"It's giving peer pressure to drink."
"If you don't want to, don't play then."
She didn't appreciate that, but didn't protest.
"Can't we first get to know each other better before I start spilling my deepest, darkest secrets?" Tatum asked.
"Sure, what do you want to know?"
"Basic stuff; favorite color, hobbies, family situation, etc."
"Boring!" Cascina said.
"Fine. Yoko, truth or dare?"
"Truth."

After a lot of stupid questions about boys and some interesting dares, Cascina dared herself to down the rest of the bottle for some reason, which wasn't that much at that point but still enough to have an effect on her. Then Tatum dared Enid to do five rounds in her wolf form, and apparently she had mastered the skill to transform on command since July. So after daring Yoko to send a feet pic without any context to Divina, Enid transformed. Yoko decided to drink a shot instead, but there wasn't any alcohol left, or so we thought.
"I'll go get another bottle," Cascina managed to articulate.
"Girl, no!" Alice reproached.
"Girl, yes, no one gets to see those toes unless they pay me," Yoko said.
Cascina was already on her way. Enid looked at Tatum with pleading puppy eyes.
"You can transform back if you want to," she laughed in response.
Enid happily hopped to her and Yoko's room, where she had left her clothes before transforming. Yoko opened one of the soda cans.
"Anyway, it's getting late, and I have an early practice tomorrow," Tatum said.
Enid came back.

That was really quick.

"You too? Chloe has an early practice as well," I remarked.
"Oh yeah, we're both on the fencing team."
"Enid, don't you have to-"
Yoko interrupted me, choking on her drink.
"See, that's why you drink Coca-Cola and not Pepsi," Tatum joked. "See you guys tomorrow."
"Bye!" Yoko, Enid and Alice spoke in unison.
"Anyway, what were you saying, Wednesday?" Enid asked.
"I'm gonna check on Cascina, she's been away for a while," Yoko interrupted again.
"So I was saying," I started. "Don't you have practice too?"
"No," Enid said. "Why?"
"Aren't you on the fencing team as well?" I asked, confused.
"No," she answered, even more confused. "I'm doing athletics."
It clicked.
"YOKO!"
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," could be heard from upstairs.
We followed the noise, leaving Alice alone in the common room, and confronted Yoko.
"You told me she was on the fencing team!"
"And I told you I chose athletics!"
"Shhhh, you're gonna wake her up," Yoko said, pointing to Cascina, who was lying half on her bed, half on the ground, but with the second bottle in her hand.
The beers and shots apparently caught up to her.
"Not sleeping," she said, eyes closed.
"You have some explaining to do, Yoko."
"Well, -"
Just then, Alice came in.
"Don't leave her there, do something. She's going to feel it tomorrow morning," she said.
"Come on, Yoko," Enid said, while Alice lifted a semi-unconscious Cascina onto the bed.
"Oh come on, you guys should thank me for making you do the same activity!"
"What?!"
"I know right. Can you believe it?! It's not like the whole school ships you," Alice laughed, while rolling Cascina on her side and securing that position with pillows so she wouldn't roll over.
"What?!" I repeated.
"Yeah, are you that blind? We all ship you," Yoko said.
"Excuse me?" Enid asked. "Does no one realize I'm dating a guy named Ajax? Does no one realize it's not respectful to him?"
"You could be dating someone named Air Wick for all I care, I would still ship you," Yoko said.
Alice held a laugh in, and honestly, so did I.
"While we're on the subject, can you pass me the bottle, Alice, please?"
She took the bottle from the blonde's hands and took two big sips.
"That'll do it for the shot," Yoko said. "So now, Enid, truth or dare?"
"That's not fair!" she protested.
"Girl, you literally dared me to give you twenty dollars."
Enid rolled her eyes.
"Fine then, dare."
"I dare you to tell me what happened between you two."
"What? Nothing happened!" she exclaimed.
"And then I'm the one erasing the relationship!" I scoffed.
"HA! I knew it! Now you have to tell us. Those are -like- the rules of feminism," Yoko said.
"We hooked up in July, what else can I say?"
"Hooked up? I can't believe it."
"Maybe that wasn't such a good idea, Yoko," Alice whispered to her.
"Aren't you curious?" she replied.
"Now my turn," Enid said, and from her tone, I knew nothing good was going to come out of her mouth. "Wednesday, truth or dare?"
She had venom in her voice, but a large smile on her face.
"Dare."
Truth was too risky.
"I dare you to tell them we were dating. ...oh wait ... are you even capable of that?"
How dared she? I apologized. Multiple times. I swallowed my pride and turned to Yoko and Alice, who were both sitting on Cascina's bed.
"We were dating."
I turned back to Enid.
"Happy with that? Truth or dare, Enid?"
She crossed her arms.
"Dare."
"I dare you to say I love you back. ...oh wait ... are you even capable of that?" I imitated her. "Or were you only capable of saying that to your boyfriend you were cheating on?"
I paused.
"Oh no, I know, I dare you to make a choice! But that's impossible for you, isn't it?"
"HOLD ON A SECOND," Yoko stopped us. "I need some context."
"Yeah, me too," Alice chuckled uncomfortably.

A/N: I might take a break from writing because of school 😍🔫

I'm okay 😃 (I'm not)