CHAPTER NINE.   all of my enemies started out friends

      The next morning, Kennedy walked into the science laboratory and found Wednesday talking to Thing. "Hey, did you talk to Rowan?" She asked her.

"Yes and he denied everything that happened that night. I sent Thing to spy on him but apparently, he lost him," Wednesday explained. She looked down at Thing. "How do you lose him in a bathroom with no windows? A left wouldn't have failed me."

Thing bent his nails on the table.

"Don't sulk."

Kennedy looked between them. I feel like I just walked in on a married couple arguing." She awkwardly stated.

"I'm going to have to find new evidence myself since you're the one who lost our only lead."

"I see you finally made a friend. Even if it is a plant. Oh sorry, Kennedy, I didn't see you there."

Kennedy gritted her teeth. She gave Bianca a fake smile. Surprised you can see anything with those eyes."

Bianca glared at her.

"I go for quality over quantity," Wednesday stated in a flat voice.

She rolled her eyes and the sirens walked away. Kennedy looked down at her. "Have anywhere to sit?"

"I'd prefer to sit alone." Wednesday expressed.

"Kennedy,  over here." Prelsey called out her name. She was sitting at the desk right behind where Xavier was sitting, the seat beside him empty.

Half annoyed, Kennedy sent Wednesday a grin and walked away to sit down.

Presley eyed her. "Please didn't tell me you're replacing me? We've been friends for years." She begged and grabbed her arm.

Kennedy chuckled. "Don't worry, Presley. Nothing or nobody can replace you."

"Good, because I'm not afraid to use my fangs on someone."

Wednesday looked for a place to sit. "There's an open spot next to me. If you could stand sitting that close to an elitist snob." Said Xavier.

She reluctantly took his offer and sat in the seat. Xavier hovered his hand over his drawing and waved his slightly. The spider came to life and crawled off the paper.

Kennedy smiled as she watched. 

"I doubt Wednesday is impressed by your tricks, Mr.  Thorpe," Ms.  Thornhill scolded and adjusted her glasses.

"Kennedy is!" Presley announced, causing her friend's eyes widen and she hit her arm quickly.

The class chuckled. "Admit it,  you're a little impressed." Said Xavier while smirking.

In response, Wednesday slapped her hand over the spider, making it disappear. The whole class laughed again.

His face fell at the act. Looking over his shoulder, Xavier saw that Kennedy wasn't laughing. She gave him a half smile. He flipped through the sketchbook and landed on a page that he'd drawn of multiple, beautifully detailed butterflies. He hovered his hand over the page and after a minute, the butterflies lifted from the paper, and he allowed them to fluttery away.

The class watched as the butterflies fluttered around Kennedy. A smile stretched across her face, the kind that made her eyes crinkle, and her cheeks warmed up. Xavier smiled at her.

"Okay, okay, thank you for the show, Mr.  Thorpe,"  Ms.  Thornhill said with a slight smile.

Xavier dropped his hand and the butterflies disappeared. Kennedy's smile remained on her face and she leaned her chin against the palm of her hand. She ignored the way Presley nudged her ribs.

"Wednesday, we're thrilled to have you join us on our journey into the world of carnivorous plants," Ms. Thornhill announced. "Now. . . who can tell us the name of this beauty?" She motioned to the plant.

Bianca immediately raised her hand. "Dendrophylax Lindenii." Wednesday answered, disregarding her hand.

The siren sent her a look. "Otherwise known as the ghost orchid." She elaborated.

"First discovered on the isle of wright in 1854."

Ms. Thornhill was impressed. "Very good, Wednesday. Looks like you may have competition for first chair, Bianca."

Kennedy scoffed. "As if." She said out loud.

Presley accidentally snorted along with the rest of the class and Bianca looked over her shoulder, glaring at her. She just waved.

"Wednesday, perhaps you can identify the ghost orchid's greatest qualities?"

"Resilience and adaptability," Wednesday answered
immediately. "It's able to thrive in even the most hostile environments."

"But its mere presence can change the ecosystem," added Bianca. "Chasing the established plants to reject it."

"Usually because the native species is allowed to thrive unchecked—"

Kennedy and Presley looked between them, back and forth.

"Nothing a weedwacked couldn't fix." Wednesday finished. She never once looked Bianca in the face.

"You can most certainly try." The siren taunted.

"Are we still talking about flowers?" Asked Xavier.

"God, I hope not." Said Kennedy and the class laughed again.

"Thank you ladies, for those illuminating insights," said Ms. Thornhill. "Clearly the plants aren't here only carnivores in class today."

Kennedy held back another scoff. "I think we already knew that."

A string of oohs came from the class. Her and Bianca looked eyes. "They are known to stab others in the back to get what they want."

"Actually, carnivores are known to fend for themselves in order to live. They don't stop and worry about the others." Bianca said in a sickly sweet voice.

"Even though they're apart of the same organism."

"I really feel like we should move on from the flowers." Presley interrupted before a cat fight could break out.

"I like that idea." Ajax commented from the other side of the room.

Ms. Thornhill nodded. "I agree."

Xavier scratched the back of his neck, feeling very awkward. He secretly glanced at both his ex girlfriends, seeing how much they loathed each other. A part of him couldn't help but feel responsible because before him, they were best friends, not enemies.

When class was over, Kennedy stormed out with a red face, her brown eyes blazing with anger. When she was angry, almost everybody knew not to bother her. But Wednesday didn't know that. "That was intense."

"You don't know the half of it." She grumbled. They walked to the quad when they arrived back at the castle. "Obviously you two don't like each other, but why?" Wednesday asked.

They sat down at a table. "Don't tell me you're interested in my teenage girl drama?" Kennedy said with an amused smile.

"Not really. I have better things I could be doing."

She chuckled. It's, uh — it's kind of a lot to explain." When she didn't respond, Kennedy took that a sign to tell her anyway. "Bianca and I used to be like, best friends."

Wednesday gasped sarcastically, her face never lifting from its stoicism.

"I know right? We were really close. Practically ruled the school together. And then Xavier and I broke up and I kind of. . ." She searched for the right word. "Went a little crazy, it's what people would tell you if you asked. And I thought she'd been on my side, but, she started dating Xavier. She knew how hard things were for me and she dated him anyway." Her face subtly dropped. "I asked myself a lot of what he and I had was real or if he even loved me at all—"

"He does." Wednesday stated.

Kennedy blinked. "What?"

"I know nothing about love and frankly, I'll die happy not ever knowing. But I've watched my parents my whole life. They loved each other. He loves you like they do."

She didn't expect to hear that from someone so brusque. "Thanks for saying that Wednesday, but he's moved on. We both have."

One of her eyebrows quirked up. "Is that you trying to convince yourself or him?"

Kennedy didn't say anything that time.

"Want me to kill her? Or both of them? I know good spots to hide a body."

She grew a smile. "Nah, that's okay. I already have the idea planned out in my head if it comes down to that. Thanks, though." She said with a laugh.

Wednesday didn't respond but she gave a small nod. For Kennedy, that was enough.

The last thing she expected to see when she walked into her room was Presley and Yoko making out on her bed (why didn't she expect that exactly?). "Holy shit!" She exclaimed in shock.

The vampires jumped apart and their eyes went wide. "Kennedy!" Presley squeaked. She looked between them, not knowing what to say. "Uh. . . Uh—"

She quickly shut the door. "Wait, is Yoko who you've been sneaking off to see?" She questioned.

"Uhh. . ." She stammered again and looked at Yoko, both of their faces flushed red. "Yes?"

They nervously waited for her reaction. She was in shock. Presley stood from her bed. "I'm so sorry. I-I-I didn't want to tell you because of the situation with Bianca. I didn't want to make you upset—"

Kennedy'd be lying if she said it didn't hurt her feelings in the slightest. Yoko was friends with Bianca. Sure, they weren't the best of friends like the other sirens, but they still hung out together. But she listened to Presley ramble on about Yoko for a long time about how much she liked her. It wasn't her fault that she and Bianca fell apart. Kennedy would be selfish to tell her who she could and could not date. "It's okay, Presley." She spoke.

"What?" The vampires emphasized together. "You're not mad?" Presley asked, treading lightly.

"I mean, I don't 100% love it because, y'know, Bianca—" Yoko looked down at her lap. "But I know how much you like her, Presley. And I love you above any rivalry I have with someone. Don't feel like you have to hide something from me because you're afraid of hurting my feelings."

"I really, really want you to be okay with it." Prelsey begged.

"I am." She quickly nodded and smiled. "I promise, okay? Freaks honor." She joked and put her hand over her heart."

The young vampire squealed and tackled her into a hug. "Oh my god, thank you so much! I love you forever!"

Yoko remained on the bed and watched the interaction, feeling slightly awkward, and also feeling bad. She stood from the bed as well. "Kennedy," she spoke. The friends broke apart from the hug. "I'm not as close to Bianca as what people think. I've always disagreed with what she did to you. I hope you know that."

Part of her didn't. The other part of her pushed back her pride for Presley. "Thanks, Yoko." She nodded.

After getting her stamp of approval, Presley and Yoko couldn't keep their hands off each other. Kennedy gave them their space and went to the lounge area to read her book. Wednesday found her by the fireplace, looking in a hurry. "Kennedy, I need your help."

She looked up from her book. "You have no idea how much I love hearing you say that." She said with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes. "I need you to help me sneak into Xavier's room."

The smirk dropped. "What? No—"

"Please, Kennedy. It's important."

"I'm not helping you sneak into somebody's room!"

"Somebody or Xavier?"

Kennedy rolled her eyes. "Don't be smart."

Wednesday looked around to make sure nobody was around before sitting beside her on the couch. "I went into the woods with Tyler and I found Rowan's glasses from the crime scene." She spoke quietly.

Kennedy chewed her tongue and closed her book. "Okay, I'm listening."

"When I touched the glasses I had a vision. It was of Rowan and Xavier and they were fighting. Rowan used his powers on him."

Her face darkened at the statement. "What? Why?"

"Xavier said something about Rowan acting out recently. He said the telekinesis was going to his head and he was being erratic."

Kennedy took in all the information. "Okay, so why do you need in Xavier's room?"

"In the vision, Rowan had a purple book. I've been seeing it in all my visions. I need to get into the room and find out." Wednesday explained.

She gritted her teeth together while she thought. "I don't know, Wednesday—"

"It's just one time, Kennedy. Thats it." She told her blankly.

Kennedy exhaled deeply. "I can't believe I'm doing this. . . Okay, he usually goes on a run about this time. We have time to get there before he comes back to take a shower but we have to be fast." She explained.

Wednesday didn't smile but her eyes lit up devilishly. "Okay, let's go!"

Kennedy felt an immense amount of guilt as she stood outside Xavier's room. She didn't want to violate his privacy but she wanted to help Wednesday. It was a lose-lose situation either way. Wednesday could smell the guilt off of her. "You reek of remorse. It's burning my nose." She stated stoically.

"Aren't you sunshine and rainbows." she responded sarcastically. She received a dark look. "Sorry."

"When does he get back?"

"Right about. . ." Kennedy trailed. The door opened and closed and she knew it was Xavier. "Now."

Another door closed and she assumed it was the bathroom door. He always took a shower after his runs. The girls entered the room. Thing crawled onto the desk. "That purple book has go to be around here somewhere. Kennedy, any ideas?"

Kennedy shrugged. "I don't know. He's a boy. None of his stuff's in order."

"Start investigating."

She started shuffling through all the things on Xavier's desk. They were old papers mixed in with new ones. He was always messy. She flipped through his art book until she got to one specific page.

It was a drawing of her. But it wasn't just any drawing.  It was of her sitting on the table that night while he was painting his raven. He drew her smiling. Laughing. Her hair was drawn in perfect detail, her curls surrounding her head like always. That's how he always liked her hair.

She felt sick. It was beautiful.  He drew her like she was in mid laugh. It felt real. Kennedy snapped out of it when she realized she had a job to do but she would never forget it. Wednesday shut off the lights. "What are you doing?" She whispered.

Wednesday held a finger to her lips and took out a blue light. She held it over Rowan's old bed and got down on the floor. When she saw finger prints, she lifted the floorboard and pulled something out.nIt was a mask. "Rowan's full of surprises."

Hearing a knock at the door,  Kennedy's eyes widened and they quickly hid under Xavier's bed. She tried not to grunt, considering she was too tall to fit underneath.

Xavier came out of the bathroom upon hearing the knock and he turned the light on. When he answered the door, Bianca stood on the other side.

Kennedy recognized her shoes and her stomach dropped.

"You're not supposed to be up here." He stated snd pulled her into the room before anyone could see her.

"Good to see you too." She scoffed at his dismissiveness.

"How'd you get past the housemaster? Use your siren powers?"

"Not while wearing this." She touched the amulet around her neck. He leaned against the bed post. "Would it kill you to not think the worst of me for once?"

Kennedy almost let out a noise of disbelief but Wednesday glared at her, making her shut her mouth.

"What do you want, Bianca?" Xavier asked, sounding annoyed.

"To see how you're doing." The siren stated.

Kennedy rolled her eyes so heavily, she was shocked she couldn't see her brain.

"I'm sorry about Rowan. I know you guys used to be close."

"Since when did you give a damn about Rowan?"

Bianca hummed. "You were the one who was afraid he'd do something to Kennedy." She brought up, the mocking in her voice clear.

Kennedy's whole body went numb at the mention of her name. She quickly looked at Wednesday to see that she was already looking her way.

"That's none of your business." Said Xavier with a sneer.

"Is that why you've been following her like an eager eyed puppy? Even though you're the one who ended things with her?" She bitterly stated.

"What's going on with me and Ken is my business."

"I don't get it, Xavier. After all this time, you're still obsessed with her? Don't you remember how she treated you when guys were together?"

Xavier moved away from the bed to his desk. He took notice that his sketch book had been moved and that it was open. He quickly closed it. "I didn't treat her any better." He stated and tightened his jaw.

"Exactly. Which is why I'm confused. You two weren't good for each other. You told me that yourself."

Hearing her statement, Kennedy close her eyes. She sucked in her cheeks to keep her breathing from becoming any louder.

"At least she never tried to manipulate me." He fired.

"I make one mistake and you can't forgive me. She treated you like crap and you can't get enough. All because of her mommy and daddy issues?" Bianca continued, jealousy dripping from her sentence.

Hot tears fell from her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter.

"Don't talk about her like that. You know nothing about her." Xavier snapped.

"I don't?" Bianca challenged and stepped closer to him. "She and I were friends once too, remember? She's crazy, Xavier. You saw that with your own eyes yet you still stayed with her."

"Why are you fixated on Kennedy?"

"Because she thinks she's better than everyone else! You two broke up. You started dating me and even then, you couldn't stop your obsession with her. You need to get over it!"

Xavier shook his head. "You'll never understand—"

"Understand what? That you broke up with me because you were still in love with her?"

"I broke up with you because you tried manipulating me, Bianca!" He raised his voice. "Yeah, Kennedy and I had our problems. We were both at fault, not just her. She's had really shitty things happen in her life so she has a reason for acting the way she does. Okay, and I didn't make it any better for her.

"It doesn't matter what happened. She was and will always be my best friend. I'd rather have her in my life as a friend than not have her in it at all."

Kennedy lowered her head and placed it on her hands. Her cries were hard to keep in but she desperately tried not to make a sound. The way he spoke. How he defended her. How Bianca talked about her behind her back. So many emotions hit her at one time.

Bianca still shook her head. "You can't change the past, Xavier. It's over. Move on. She already has." The siren moved closer to him and attempted to grab his hands. "We were good together."

"Were we? Or is that just how you wanted me to feel?" He said with a cold tone.

She scoffed. "Trust me, you can do so much better than Kennedy Eden. It's only a matter of time before she pushes you to the edge again."

Bianca left the room and Xavier glared at the door. In a moment of anger, he swiped everything off his desk. Kennedy flinched at the loud noise. "Fuck." She heard him say and he leaned against the desk.

When he stormed into the bathroom again, a quiet cry left her lips. She quickly covered her mouth. "We have to go." Whispered Wednesday. But Kennedy was frozen to the floor. Her heart broke all over again.

Thing crawled over to her and put himself over her hand to comfort her.

When Kennedy got back to her room, she walked over to her desk and opened the drawer. Inside were old pictures she had taken from her time at Nevermore. The ones of her and Bianca laid on top. With her vision spotted red, Kennedy grabbed them and ripped them apart. An angry and upset cry escaped her lips and she threw the pieces to the ground.

What the hell went wrong? Did Bianca like Xavier the whole time? Did she let her rant to her about how she felt liked him knowing that at some point, she would try and get with him? Did she care about her at all? All of her enemies started out as friends and Bianca was her biggest enemy of all.