As he ran, he dodged students while being guided by the person who saved him. They turned several corners and came to an almost empty place.
"Sit down," said the person who helped Luke escape.
Luke, who had cold sweat on his face sat down on the bench. He felt his pulse racing. He was not good with crowds around him. In his previous life, he was an otaku who barely left the house.
'Damn what a pathetic weakness,' Luke thought with a frown.
After a few seconds, he regained his composure and looked up. The person helping him escape was Enid, who was looking at him worriedly.
"Are you okay?" asked Enid approaching Luke.
"Yeah," replied Luke dryly and lightly, pushing Enid away from him.
"Really? Your face is pale. We should go to the infirmary," said Enid worriedly.
"No. I'm fine, although I'd be better off if it weren't for you screaming and getting everyone's attention," Luke said with a grimace. If it wasn't for Enid, it would have gone unnoticed.
"I... I'm sorry," said Enid apologetically, looking down at the floor.
"..." Luke couldn't believe it. A normal person would have sent him to hell instead of apologizing. Now he felt a little guilty something that rarely happened to him.
"Here," Enid said, pulling a handkerchief out of one of her pockets. Luke took the handkerchief while looking at Enid as if she were an alien. He could tell Enid's kind attitude was real. It wasn't fake like most people.
Luke began to wipe his sweat with the handkerchief. Enid sat down next to him as she looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Thank you," Luke said after a few seconds and with great difficulty.
"It's just a handkerchief," said Enid.
"Not for that. For helping me out of there," clarified Luke. A bright expression returned to Enid's face.
"You're welcome, although you're right. If I hadn't made such a fuss you wouldn't have been in that situation," Enid said, returning to her cheerful and radiant mood.
"Well with the handkerchief we're even. I'll get it back to you later," said Luke as the handkerchief was with his sweat on it.
"Don't bother I'll clean it up," said Enid, holding out her hand for Luke to return the handkerchief.
"No. It's sweaty, and you gave it to me clean. I'll clean it later and then give it back to you," said Luke without giving her the handkerchief.
"No, no. I'll clean it. Give it back to me," said Enid as she began to struggle with Luke to take the handkerchief from him.
"It would be rude to give it back to you in sweat," said Luke, trying to force himself so Enid wouldn't beat him.
"That's fine. I don't mind the sweat. I'll wipe it off," said Enid stubbornly as the struggle continued.
Enid won after a few seconds of struggling. Her strength was monstrous. Luke couldn't compete with her, so he ended up losing the handkerchief from her hands.
'Her strength is no joke...' thought Luke in surprise as Enid put the handkerchief away with a smile. As if nothing had happened.
"How do you have so much strength?" asked Luke, even though he already knew the answer.
"I'm a werewolf. Well, rather, a female wolf," Enid said, putting a finger to her chin as the ending was confusing.
'She already has superior strength without needing to transform,' thought Luke. It wasn't strange for a werewolf or werewoman to have a superior body in terms of physical strength.
"What's your name?" asked Luke, even though he knew it so far he didn't ask her and it would be weird if he suddenly knew her name.
"How clueless of me not to introduce myself!" said Enid, holding a hand to her head.
"I'm Enid Sinclair. I'm starting ninth grade this year. Nice to meet you," added Enid with a big smile and extending her hand.
'So she's my age,' thought Luke. Which means Wednesday is also the same age as him. Which leads to the canon starting in two and a half years.
"Luke Poe. Also a ninth grader," said Luke, accepting Enid's handshake.
'It won't be long until the entrance ceremony,' Luke thought, looking at the time on his cell phone.
"We should get going. The ceremony will be in the central courtyard," commented Enid, looking at the time on Luke's cell phone, who nodded slightly and got up from his seat.
Luke didn't know his way around Nevermore. Enid, on the other hand, seemed to know the school better than he did. So it would serve to have her as a guide.
Although it was a short walk Enid was like a parrot. She kept talking and asking Luke questions. It was the first time he had met someone so cheerful and enthusiastic. It was exhausting.
She talked to him a lot about Carrie. Giving him her opinion and asking him about a lot of questions she had.
They arrived at the central courtyard which had a lot of grass in the open area and a large tree. It was surrounded by the school buildings. There was a large arrangement of folding chairs for the students to sit on. Most of the seats were taken.
Luke and Enid sat in the back rows next to each other. Luckily no one recognized them anymore. On the stage they had set up for this occasion came Principal Larissa who as always was appropriately and professionally dressed.
"Welcome to Nevermore Academy to the new students! Welcome back to the students who passed the year..." began Larissa with her speech.
...
Two weeks had passed since Luke started classes at Nevermore Academy. Things had calmed down compared to the beginning. Especially the attention he was getting.
He was famous and popular for two reasons. On the one hand, because of Carrie, who was a smash hit or so his publisher said. On the other hand, because of his last name, Poe. A very famous surname at Nevermore Academy.
His great-great-grandfather Edgar Allan Poe was an alumnus of Nevermore Academy. He has a statue, and Nevermore's most important annual competition is named after him: The Poe Cup. His great-great-grandfather is arguably the most famous alumnus in the academy's history.
So, having the Poe surname gave you a lot of notoriety and popularity that Luke hates.
The first few days were very annoying for Luke. Many people approached him because of his last name Poe, and his success with Carrie, but thanks to his face of few friends and that he responded sarcastically, mockingly, or uninterestedly his popularity was over.
A great record. He drove away all the annoying flies in two weeks. He resumed his solitary and quiet life. The only person who kept bothering him was Enid.
That girl wouldn't give up. She didn't give up on Wednesday, who was ruder and had less patience than Luke, so it wasn't weird at all.
Another person he kept chatting with was Xavier Thorpe. One of the main characters in the series. He is a psychic just like Luke and his father is a very famous psychic.
He is related to Xavier because they share the same bedroom. Nevermore contains four bedrooms.
Luke is in the 'Ravenloft Hall' which has several rooms and a common room. With Xavier, he shares a room.
His room is spacious. The walls are covered with dark tapestries, two closets, two bedside tables, and two canopy beds covered with black silk sheets and bedspreads embroidered with raven motifs.
A tall window lets in a dim light, which filters through heavy black velvet curtains. Each has a carved wooden desk in the corner of the room. Where Luke props up his MacBook, books, and so on.
Unlike Luke, who is antisocial and apathetic, Xavier is popular with his classmates. Albeit in a different way than the standard normie. For Luke, Xavier seems like an edgy artist.
The subjects at Nevermore were varied. There were subjects for every type of outcast such as:
Werewolf Reproduction focuses on werewolf biology and anatomy, as well as transformation control and full moon management.
Gorgon Anatomy: Study of the anatomy and special abilities of gorgons, including managing their ability to turn others to stone with their gaze.
Blood and Nightlife Studies: This subject focuses on vampire biology, vampire history, and culture, as well as mastering vampire abilities and how they will develop.
Psychic Powers: Subject focused on the study and understanding of students' psychic abilities and development.
These subjects were divided into two classes. The first class was the theory class, which all students were required to attend. Luke was to attend classes on werewolf reproduction, gorgon anatomy, etc. It didn't matter that he was not that type of outcast.
This was to learn about the types of outcasts their history, characteristics, culture, behaviors, etc. Once the theory was finished there was the practical part which was specific. In Werewolf Reproduction you could only attend if you are a werewolf, in the case of Luke not. Since it makes no sense to practice when he can't transform.
In the subject 'Psychic Powers' he must attend both theoretical and practical subjects.
In addition to these subjects, he had three more: Marginal History, Fencing, and Botanical Sciences. Which were universal no matter what type of outcast you were.
Luke couldn't believe that he had to compulsorily attend Fencing, but he had no choice but to do so.
'Now I have botany class,' thought Luke, coming out of the outcast history class. Botanical Science classes were being held in the Nevermore greenhouse.
Walking towards the greenhouse he noticed someone tapping his shoulder. He turned and saw Enid who as usual had a smile and an aura of joy around her.
"Hi Luke, are we going to the greenhouse together?" asked Enid with a smile and looking expectantly at Luke.
"Yes," replied Luke dryly and started walking. Enid smiled and started walking beside him. Their ways of walking were different. Luke walked lazily and with a tired expression. Enid, on the other hand, seemed to be prancing around and had a lot of energy.
Luke didn't understand why Enid kept talking to him. His wonderful personality had already alienated several girls who tried to talk to him in the first few days, but Enid didn't seem to mind and kept talking to him.
Luke's responses are brief, reluctant, and unenthusiastic. He never starts a conversation and will never seek you out. Who would want to be friends with a guy like that?
Perhaps Enid was just as stubborn as Xavier and Tyler were with Wednesday? Luke recalls that, in the series, Wednesday was apathetic and uninterested in Xavier and Tyler, who seemed like simps through and through. Yet both boys kept trying to get closer to Wednesday even though she showed no interest in them.
It could also be that Enid wants to be friends with her because she's friends with everyone, something Luke would consider fake and hypocritical, but with Enid, he knows it's not that way, and that's her true nature.
Whatever it is Luke doesn't care. It's only a matter of time before Enid stops trying to relate to him like everyone else.
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