Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was the end of their third year, right after 'Dean' Sophie had taken over, when Dot had noticed the looks Anadil had kept shooting Hester when the tattooed witch wasn't looking.

The looks were awkward and confused, almost as if Anadil was trying to figure out something.

But that didn't really make sense.

Anadil and Hester were close, closer than they were to Dot, and the two knew practically everything about each other.

So why would Anadil look at Hester like she was a puzzle that needed to be solved?

~

It was late one night when Dot finally started to understand what was happening.

Dot was reading a book (a book that was definitely not a sappy romance novel hidden inside her textbook) when she heard a quiet snore.

Her eyes shot up and she saw Hester slumped over on her bed, her Advanced Henchman Training textbook tumbling from her hands.

Hester looked oddly at peace, as if she had actually stopped stressing for the first time in her life.

There was silence in the room, apart from Hester's surprisingly gentle snores, as both Dot and Anadil looked at the slumbering witch.

Dot looked over at Anadil and saw that the albino was...

Well she was just staring at Hester.

Anadil was, in fact, transfixed by Hester.

She looked so gentle, so calm as she laid there.

Anadil couldn't take her eyes from the tattooed witch.

After about a minute, Anadil shook her head.

Dot felt the need to ask Anadil if she was feeling alright, but she cut herself off as she saw the albino's cheeks fill with a bright pink color. Dot hadn't thought it possible for Anadil's pale cheeks to turn such a dark color.

Anadil looked at her and Dot hurriedly pretended to go back to reading.

Anadil watched her with her beady little red eyes for a long moment before she stood and quietly made her way over to Hester's bed.

Anadil took the textbook out of her lap, which caused Hester to let out a little groan that made Anadil's cheeks color even more, and set it in her friend's bag.

Hester made an unintelligible sound as Anadil gently moved her to the side, pulling up her covers.

It took more than a minute of coaxing, but Anadil was able to maneuver the sleeping Hester under her covers, finally.

Anadil would never admit it, but I'm that moment, when Hester had been most vulnerable and open (and adorable), she had fallen in love.

Dot watched this whole gentle scene unfold and felt understanding slowly dawn over her.

As Anadil blew out the candles with a glowing green fingertip, something that Dot would usually moan about considering she had literally just been reading, Dot felt her jaw drop.

She finally got it.

What was making Anadil act all weird was... a crush. A normal human thing, yet for Anadil it seemed so foreign.

That pinkness to her cheeks had been... a blush.

That expression Dot had recognized but couldn't put a name to had been a look she had seen many a time.

It was the same look that Agatha and Tedros gave each other.

Anadil liked Hester.

And, judging by how Anadil had just cared for Hester so thoroughly, she liked her a lot.

Like a lot.

Dot fumbled in the darkness to put her books up.

But she didn't go to sleep.

No, that night she plotted and schemed to the best of her abilities.

And by the morning, she had a plan of attack...

And by 'plan of by attack', she meant 'get Hester to fall for Anadil without either realizing she was doing anything'.

~

That original plan seems practically impossible considering Dot had no idea how to get anyone to fall for anyone.

Perhaps she would need a bit help.

Her first thought is of Agatha, but she's already on the way to Camelot.

She didn't know who else to ask...

If Anadil learned that she had told anyone that she had a crush (let alone on Hester), then Dot wasn't likely to last through the week.

But Dot knew Anadil needed help...

(And if last night weren't enough evidence, then the way Anadil totally zoned out during Advanced Henchman Training this morning while stared at Hester was more than enough reason to try and get the poor lovesick albino some help... especially after their teacher had asked her a question and, for the first time in her school career, she had had no idea what to say. Hester had scribbled the answer down for Anadil to say, something that made Anadil blush more).

And that's how Dot found herself breaking into the School for Good that afternoon with the intent to find a book she had heard referenced more than once over her time at the school.

Winning Your Prince.

Dot was almost out of the School when someone caught her.

Kiko.

"Dot? What are you doing?" Kiko asked.

She didn't sound accusatory, only confused.

Dot tried to shove the book into her bag, but Kiko saw it.

Her eyes widened.

"Dot, do you have a crush?!"

Dot laughed at the question.

Kiko frowned in confusion.

"No, I don't. This is for a friend," Dot said before scurrying out.

Kiko followed after her.

"Who's it for?" she asked excitedly, always up for some romantic gossip or news.

Dot shook her head frantically.

"She'll kill me if I tell you."

"It must be a Never if you're taking it to them because everyone in this school has access to it. Who is it? Is it Mona?"

"No it's not Mona!" Dot snapped before hurried back across the clearing back to the School for Evil.

Kiko followed her.

"Is it Arachne?"

"No!"

"Oh my gosh! Is it Hester?!" Kiko looked positively ecstatic at the idea of Hester having a crush.

"No!"

"Is it Anadil?"

Dot paused too long before responding with the same 'no!'

Kiko gasped.

"Who's the guy?!"

Dot crossed into Evil and scampered away from Kiko.

Kiko watched her go with keen eyes, already trying to comprehend what the Never had told her.

~

Dot set the book down and intently started reading it.

It seemed there were three steps to win a prince... well, in this case a witch.

1) Flaunt your strengths
2) Speak through actions, not words
3) Parade competing suitors

And it said that 'if you follow these three rules, you've have your true love in the palm of your hand in no time'.

So that's all Dot had to have Anadil do.

So... by strengths it meant, like, talent, right?

Dot thought so, but she wasn't quite certain.

What else could it mean?

Just then, the door opened.

Dot jumped and looked over to see Anadil coming in.

She was surprised to see Hester not following after her.

Anadil didn't even give Dot a glance, let alone notice the book she had been reading, and practically fell onto her bed.

Anadil looked frustrated and defeated.

"Where's Hester?" Dot asked, slipping the book under her mattress subtly.

Anadil looked up with a bit of surprise, seemingly not having noticed that she was there.

"She's in the library," Anadil said curtly in her monotone voice.

Dot nodded slowly before mulling the steps over again in her head.

~

Lunch came and Dot found herself accosted by three different Ever girls.

Beatrix and Reena flanked her right and left sides while Kiko stood in front of her.

"What's going on, Kiko?" Beatrix asked, sounding frustrated.

"Who is it?" Kiko asked.

Dot glanced over Kiko's shoulder and saw Hester and Anadil eating at their normal table.

Anadil seemed to be acting normal, mostly, but occasionally Hester's hand or arm would brush against her own and she would kind of jump at the contact.

"Who is what?" Dot asked, hoping that playing dumb would at least buy her some time.

"The boy Anadil likes."

Reena and Beatrix gasped.

Dot finally figured out what to say.

Step three guided her words.

"She won't tell me."

The three girls stared at her.

"Don't let Anadil or Hester know that you know!"

Dot knew that by the end of the day everyone in the School for Good would know.

It would take at least two days to reach the School for Evil fully and she could map out the rest of her plan by then. She might even have three days before Anadil or Hester found out considering they were so far removed from society.

Dot made her way across the clearing and sat down beside Anadil, taking up as much room on the bench as she could and squishing Hester and Anadil together.

"She's too fat," Hester muttered.

"And yet you complained when she was skinny," Anadil said.

The albino spoke normally, no signs of her feelings shown in the words, but a small redness coated her cheeks... not to mention she was side eyeing wherever Hester and herself bumped into each other.

Kiko, Beatrix, and Reena watch the Coven of Malice room 66 for the rest of lunch.

Dot pretended she didn't hear Anadil's cackling laughter at Hester's insults.

Dot also pretended she didn't see Hester side eye Anadil as she laughed at one point.

Perhaps this wouldn't be quite as hard as she had originally anticipated...

~

Dot hadn't thought the news would spread to Evil until at least tomorrow, but she had underestimated Sophie.

The dean slammed the room's door open and Dot was glad that Hester and Anadil were in the library studying.

Dot was pretty sure that Hester had been going to study and Anadil had just followed after her.

"Anadil has a crush?!" Sophie hissed.

Dot slammed the door closed behind Sophie and shook her head.

"Of course not! What makes you ask that?"

"I heard it from Hort," she said.

Dot should have known Hort would somehow be plugged into the gossip system for Sophie's benefit.

Should have seen this one coming.

"And you just believe what that weasel says?" Dot asked, trying to throw off Sophie.

But the dean would not be distracted.

"Who is it?!"

Dot sighed.

"You'll just tell everyone."

"No I won't! I promise!"

"Sophie, your promises are useless when you always break them."

Sophie pouted.

"Can you at least answer a question?" asked Dot, feeling desperate.

Sophie looked up, eyes flashing at the chance to hear some more information.

Dot pulled the book out.

"I got this to help Anadil, but I don't know what 'flaunt your strengths' means. I mean... Anadil shows off her rats everyday but that doesn't seem to get her any attention."

Dot was careful to not say any gender pronoun or name.

She wasn't going to mess this up.

She was going to be brilliant and helpful and was going to get Anadil and Hester together because they were the perfect match.

How had she not seen this before?!

Sophie was giving Dot a blank look, a look that seemed to show just exactly how smart Sophie thought Dot was. It was not flattering.

"That means some other strengths."

Dot frowned.

"This will be my toughest project yet! A total makeover-"

"No! That won't work! It has to be subtle, like Anadil isn't doing anything new! They'll notice otherwise."

"An even harder challenge... I accept."

Dot let out a sigh.

Now all she really had to do...

Was get Anadil on board with this.

That wouldn't be too hard, would it?

Sophie strode out, already mumbling to herself about the best shampoo and makeup.

Dot shook her head.

Maybe including Sophie in this wasn't the best idea...

But it was the only one she had and she was feeling desperate

If Anadil didn't get some help she would probably live in denial for the rest of her life...

Yeah, having Sophie help was better than that at least...

Dot was going to do her best... even if perhaps that wasn't going to be enough.

She shook her head. She had to be an optimist considering Anadil was certainly going to be the pessimist.
~

Dot waited in the room for the two other witches to arrive... or more specifically Anadil. She needed to talk to the albino in private.

She tried to recall any compliment Hester might have given Anadil for her appearance, that might give her a hint on what they should focus on for the 'makeover'.

She couldn't remember a single thing.

The door opened and Dot's two roommates walked in.

Anadil and Hester were clearly insulting someone, and from what she overheard it was most likely Sophie, and both of them were smirking.

Anadil let out a cackle and Hester glanced over at her.

Dot raised an eyebrow, noticing how Hester stared at her for the moment before looking away.

While the two talked, Dot wrote a quick note and slips it into Anadil's pillow.

I need to talk to you. You need some help with this one. Talk to me after Hester's asleep.

Anadil looked up and locked eyes with Dot before subtly slipped the paper into her dress pocket while Hester put her textbooks away.

Chapter Text

Once Hester was asleep, Anadil slipped out of her bed and hurried to Dot's.

"What is it you wanted to 'help' me with?" Anadil asked distrustfully.

Usually Dot's assistance hindered more than it helped.

"Your crush, obviously," Dot said like it was the simplest thing in the world.

Anadil's face heated up and she glared at Dot.

"My what?!" She hissed.

Dot frowned.

"You know, your crush on Hester?" Dot asked.

As she said it, she realized that, perhaps, Anadil was not quite self aware.

Anadil stared at her for a solid minute, her face flashing through different emotions.

Confusion, denial, humor, confusion again, denial (that happened a lot), fear, denial, realization, more denial, and then finally just shock and worry.

"I don't have a crush Hester."

Dot just looked at her.

Anadil's eyes widened.

"Oh crap," she mutters.

"Yeah, you do have a crush on her, so I'm here to help."

Dot pulled the books out from under her mattress.

"Oh... and Sophie's going to help too."

Anadil's eyes widen murderously.

"You told her I like Hester!?" she hissed lowly, very conscious of said girl lying in her bed, asleep.

"No! She just knows you like someone."

Anadil glared at her.

"Do you want help or not?!"

Anadil was silent for a minute before she looked over to where Hester slept, looking so peaceful for once as she laid there.

Anadil smiled slightly at Hester before she realized what she was doing and cursed herself internally.

Dot waited.

"Yes," Anadil admitted with a mumble and a growl.

Dot grinned.

"I knew you'd come around! Now, we're going to talk to Sophie tomorrow ab-"

But Anadil had already trudged back to her bed and fallen on it with a depressed look on her face.

"Love is harsh," Dot mumbled, not loud enough for Anadil to hear.

Anadil's rats scurried around on the bed and climbed into Anadil's hair as she laid there.

Dot gave her friend a sympathetic look before turning over.

She contemplated the best way to help until she fell asleep, the thoughts still chasing her into her dreams.

~

Anadil awoke to cursing.

She looked up and saw Hester had stubbed her toe on the bed frame.

Anadil rolled her eyes and put her head back down.

That is until she remembered last night and her face reddened like a tomato.

Anadil missed living in denial.

It had been easy to think of Hester and herself as just really close friends.

It had been easy to ignore the way her heart raced when she looked at Hester.

It had been easy to ignore just how much she cared about Hester.

But now the cat was out of the bag and Anadil couldn't stop thinking about it.

Hester had finally stopped her steady stream of curse words and was getting her bag together.

Anadil groaned and sat up in bed, hearing her rats squeaked in protest, falling from her exceedingly tangled hair.

She tried to ignore Hester as she got ready, but it was hard to not think about her.

Anadil had it bad.

She hated having a crush.

Good thing she was getting help from Dot and Sophie.

They could help her get rid of these pesky feelings.

~

"Who do you think Anadil likes?" Kiko asked Reena.

Millicent, who had just taken her seat, eyed them with shock.

"Wait what?!"

"Didn't you hear? Dot's helping Anadil with her crush!" Reena said.

"And she didn't say who?" Millicent asked.

"I bet it's Vex. Didn't those two dance first year at the No Ball?" Beatrix asked.

"But it was a book to win your prince!" Kiko hissed.

Everyone gaped at her.

"You think it's an Ever?!" Beatrix and Reena asked as one.

"Probably!" Kiko squeaked.

"I think it's Chaddick!" Reena said.

Beatrix glared at her.

"Maybe it's Ravan," Reena said quickly.

"What about me?" Chaddick asked, sliding into his own seat beside them.

"We're talking about Anadil's crush!" Kiko squealed.

And that's how the news spread through the school like wildfire.

Perhaps Dot should have been a little more careful about the book...

Or maybe this was just what they needed.

~

Anadil raised an eyebrow as she heard Sophie tell Hester to stay behind and help Professor Manley.

She realized this was an excuse, but couldn't help smirking as Hester glared daggers at Sophie's back.

Hester glanced at Anadil and made a cutting motion with her finger at her neck before pointing at Sophie.

Anadil let out a quiet cackle, not noticing Hester glancing at her from the side.

~

Anadil closed the door to Malice room 66 and she turned to look at Dot and Sophie.

"So how do I get over this?"

The two girls looked at her with confusion.

"Huh?" they asked together.

"What do you mean 'get over it'?" Dot asked.

"How do I... stop feeling like this?" Anadil asked, blushing slightly.

"Anadil, you're not just going to 'get over it' this time. You clearly really like them," Dot insisted.

Sophie was trying her hardest not to explode.

"Who is it?!" she demanded.

Anadil glared at Dot, easily telling her to not say a word.

"It doesn't matter, Sophie!" Dot snapped.

"Why can't I just ignore it down and never think about it again?" Anadil knew she sounded like she was pleading... and honestly she was.

Sophie stared at Anadil.

"No! You try to win your love's heart! And that's what we're here to do!" Sophie cried.

Anadil's eyes popped and she looked at Dot.

The plump girl nodded.

"I still don't know why we couldn't have Hester in here. She knows Anadil better than anyone," Sophie muttered.

Anadil blushed at the thought of Hester being here for this conversation.

"Because Hester would totally overreact," Dot lied.

"Now what did you mean by 'strengths'?" Dot asked.

Sophie's eyes lit up and she pulled shampoo from seemingly nowhere.

"Anadil, your hair is both figuratively and literally a rat's nest. You need to fix that." Sophie gestured at her head vehemently and Anadil shrunk back, her rats hissing from her hair.

Sophie gave them a disgusted look.

"No! I will not do that!" Anadil snapped.

"Anadil, you want to catch this mystery guy's attention, right?" Sophie asked.

Anadil remained silent.

Sophie sighed before continuing.

"You want him to be unable to look away, right?"

Anadil imagines Hester staring at her and blushed deeply.

She didn't argue as Sophie also pulled out a brush.

"Well alright then. Dot, by 'strengths' it means to make Anadil look hot."

Dot's mouth formed and 'o' shape.

"Next we should really get some eye contacts to change that dastardly red color..."

Anadil's eyes flew to Sophie.

"No!" Anadil snapped with surprising force.

Both Dot and Sophie looked at her.

Anadil blushed slightly, remembering something Hester had once said.

Sophie stared at Anadil in shock.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Is she blushing?!"

Anadil's finger glowed bright green and Sophie shut her mouth immediately, not wanting to be hexed by the girl in front of her.

"Anadil, you're going to actually have to take a shower at some point," Sophie said.

The albino, if possible, somehow turned even paler as Sophie whipped out a strongly smelling soap.

"Sophie, people will notice if she suddenly just starts smelling like... well, like you!" Dot chided.

Sophie sighed dramatically.

"Plain soap will be fine, I guess."

Sophie sulks as she says the words, but Anadil lets out a breath of relief.

Sophie set out a second hair brush.

"Why do we need a second one?" Anadil's monotone voice asked.

Sophie sat on the bed and picked up the first one.

"Because this one might break when I use it. Now sit!"

"Now... what's his favorite thing about Anadil?" she asked, somehow already getting back to her princess-y self.

Dot shrugged.

"I don't know. He likes insulting people with her."

Dot felt weird using the word 'he' when describing Hester, but she told herself she wasn't lying.

She was just using a new nickname. He was the first two letters of Hester, after all!

"Anadil, has he ever complimented you?" Sophie asked.

"I am not discussing this with you," Anadil growled, letting out a yelp as Sophie ran the hairbrush through her hair.

"Fine then! Talk to Dot about it later and she'll tell me!" Sophie snapped, brushing more aggressively than she needed to and making the albino witch grimace.

"How long until Hester's done?" Dot asked worriedly.

"Helping Manley?" Sophie laughed.

"We have at least half an hour... but that's probably how long it will take to fix this!" Sophie angrily pointed at the various knots in Anadil's hair.

"I don't even know why you have such long hair if you don't take care of it!" Sophie said.

Anadil didn't say a word.

Dot pulled the book back out from under her comforter.

They were working on step one (flaunt your strengths) and step three (parade competing suitors) was already being planned out by Dot.

But step two was going to be hard.

How does she get Anadil to 'speak with actions, not words'?!

Dot sighed and shook her head.

She really would need to talk to Anadil after Sophie left.

"Can you please tell me who it is?" Sophie pleaded.

Anadil tried to shake her head, but Sophie yanked it back with the brush.

Sophie guessed several boys, both Evers and Nevers alike, but neither Dot nor Anadil divulged any information.

~

Sophie proudly thrust down the brush (the second one, that is. The first one had broken just as she had said) triumphantly.

"I did it!" she said smugly, already packing up her supplies.

She shoved plain soap and shampoo into Anadil's arms.

"Now actually use these! I am not going to help you if you don't even try!"

There were angry, stomping footsteps down the hallway and Sophie's eyes widened.

Anadil shoved the shampoo and soap under her bed while Sophie threw on a snakeskin cloak.

When Hester opened the door, Sophie slid past her and out into the night.

Hester growled and grumbled unintelligibly about Manley before she threw herself down onto her bed.

"Ani, he made me-"

Hester suddenly cut off and looked at Anadil's head in confusion.

Rats scurried on Anadil's shoulders, now not allowed to touch her hair due to threats of a gruesome demise courtesy of Sophie's heel, nervously.

Hester just looked at her for a minute, staring at the pale white hair.

Dot silently cheered, trying not to squeal.

"Ani, did you brush your hair?" she finally asked.

"I-it was starting to get caught on things," Anadil lied as they had practiced.

Hester stayed still for a moment, still looking at her, before nodding and tearing her eyes away from her friend.

"Oh," she said.

Hester didn't complain about Manley after that, instead pulling out another textbook and occasionally glancing at Anadil.

Dot practically felt her heart explode when Hester finally spoke.

"Your hair... it doesn't look too bad brushed."

Anadil blushed deeply and didn't respond, looking away so that Hester couldn't see her face.

Dot had a smug grin on her face as she pretended to read her textbook (but instead she had Winning Your Prince inside it and studied step two diligently).

Anadil's heart was beating far too quickly for one half-compliment.

She subtly touched her straight hair and smiled thinly.

Maybe... maybe it wouldn't be too bad if she brushed her hair every once in a while.

Definitely not bad if Hester would stare at her like that again.

Hester kept glancing at Anadil the rest of the night.

~

In fact, the next morning when Hester first saw Anadil, she did a double take as if she was seeing it again for the first time.

Anadil made sure to run the brush through it once that morning.

~

Almost every Ever looked for Anadil at lunch.

Afterwards, everyone was abuzz as they talked about the albino's brushed hair.

"Do you think it's for the guy she likes?"

"Why else would she brush her hair?!"

"I've never seen it brushed before!"

Clarissa Dovey turned and glared at her students as she heard whispered and gasps.

"What is more important than doing good deeds?" Clarissa asked with a sigh.

The students all stopped and exchanged guilty looks.

Kiko, who had never really grasped the concept of rhetorical questions, answered.

"We're talking about Anadil's secret crush!"

Clarissa choked.

~

Neverboys stared as Anadil walked in, for once not having her hair look like a literal rat's nest.

Hester looked around at the boys and felt an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She gave all the boys her best glare, making sure to make eye contact, and they hurriedly turned back around.

Anadil didn't notice the boys, instead focusing on how Hester still would sneak glances at her at least once every fifteen minutes.

Dot, however, did notice Hester's response to the boys.

Hester actually responded the same way all day whenever a boy ogled Anadil.

Anadil wasn't the prettiest girl at the School for Good and Evil (those princesses really set the bar high for that), but she really did look different with just a little bit of effort on her part.

Hester noticed she kept looking at Anadil's hair and forced herself to stop... but she always looked to Anadil (they really were just that close) and every time she did she would find herself a little distracted.

Anadil, to Hester's knowledge, had never done more than run a brush through her hair once a week to keep too many tangles from forming... and never this thoroughly.

Chapter Text

Clarissa knew had always known there was gossip between the two schools...

But this seemed insane.

A Never having a crush and everyone being excited about it?!

That was unheard of.

Evers usually scorned Nevers and their love attempts and Nevers usually didn't try...

But things had changed now and Evil could find love.

She guessed the times really had changed.

She found herself sniffling.

She really wished Lady Lesso was here.

Maybe she should help the albino somehow...

Clarissa considered her options quietly as she sat at her desk.

~

Hester had been feeling... weird all day, so she decided to go to the library on her own.

She left Anadil behind because... she didn't know why.

Usually she really enjoyed Anadil's company (not that she would admit that), but right now it just felt... weird.

Anadil saw Hester leave and let out a breath.

She flopped down on her bed and allowed herself to relax for a minute-

But before she had the chance to actually calm down for even a moment, the door opened.

And in walked 'Dean' Sophie.

Anadil let out a growl and forced herself to sit up.

Sophie reached up Anadil's bed and pulled out the soap and shampoo.

"No more procrastinating."

Anadil grimaced and prepared to argue.

"Anadil, he looked at you today, didn't he?" asked Dot.

Anadil froze for a moment, recalling Hester's face last night.

Anadil snatched the supplies from Sophie's hands and stalked into the bathroom, grumbling and cursing at Hester as she did so.

~

Anadil walked out of the bathroom, still grumbling and growling at the girl she had a crush on, careful not to say her name now that she was in the same room as Sophie.

Stupid Hester. Why does she have to be so perfect?! I'll kill her myself!

But Anadil knew she wouldn't do that.

She couldn't even imagine hurting her.

That just made her angrier.

Sophie grabbed the hairbrush again and ran it through Anadil's hair.

When she was done, Sophie looked at her with a smug smile.

"Am I good or am I good?" Sophie asked rhetorically.

Sophie left, whispering something to Dot on the way.

~

"Anadil..."

The albino turned toward her chocolate loving roommate.

"What?" she asked, sounding more aggressive than she probably should.

Dot was helping her after all. It wasn't Dot's fault that Anadil couldn't handle a crush without going insane.

"Sophie's right... we need to know if Hester's ever complimented you."

Dot looked like she was worried Anadil night explode.

That was a legitimate fear considering Anadil's expression.

"Do you think I just know every time she's said something nice?" Anadil snapped.

Dot stared at her blankly.

Anadil blushed because she, in fact, did.

"She said something about my eyes once..."

Dot realized that was why Anadil had been so defensive of anything to alter her eye color.

"What'd she say?" asked Dot.

Anadil looked down at her lap, playing with her hands awkwardly.

"Just that she's never seen any other eyes like mine before."

Dot nodded, smirking slightly.

"Didn't know Hester was so romantic."

Anadil laughed, that cackling sound.

Dot suddenly remember led something.

"Anadil, I think you should laugh more."

Anadil stared at her with confusion covering her pale features.

"Why?" she asked.

But just as she did, the door to their room opened and Hester strode inside.

She went straight to her bags and didn't look at either of them for a long moment.

Suddenly, she looked looked up.

Her eyes landed on Anadil.

She stared at her for a long moment.

"Ani, since when did you take showers?" she asked.

"Hort grazed against me this morning. I felt dirty."

Hester, while still staring at her, cracked a smirk.

The two launched into one of heir insult sessions, this night's victim being several different boys from their school... especially the ones that had looked at Anadil this morning, Dot noticed.

"Vex did terrible this morning," Anadil said.

"You'd think someone with such large ears would be a better listener," Hester continued.

Anadil smiler widely before she glanced at Dot.

Dot nodded and Anadil allowed herself to cackle at Hester's insult.

Hester paused for a moment, looking at Anadil.

The albino didn't notice the expression on Hester's face, but Dot would assure her later that it was there.

The two witches talked for a while longer before it came time for bed.

Hester didn't seem to go to sleep as quickly that night, seeming to toss and turn unlike yesterday and the day before.

Anadil hoped that Hester was alright while Dot grinned, proud their plan seemed to be working.

~

Hester woke up early the next morning, not having slept her best.

She'd been really... confused last night.

She hadn't known why she had felt so... off last night.

And since when had Anadil taken a shower and brushed her hair?!

Hester didn't like it.

She didn't like the way boys kept looking at her during their classes now.

Her demon itched to attack when she saw Vex practically leering at Anadil.

Instead of releasing her demon in the middle of class, she muttered a spell that lengthen Vex's pointy ears and wrapped them around his face.

Hester smirked as he fumbled around blindly, trying to pry his ears away from his eyes.

Anadil started cackling again and Hester watched before shaking her head, forcing her eyes away.

Something about Anadil was just.... UGH.

~

That day at lunch, even a few Everboys looked at Anadil... and this time not to try and see who her crush was.

Hester gave several Everboys vicious glares and allowed her finger to glow a bright, threatening red.

Her tattoo even twitched on her neck.

Everboys gulped and looked away from the albino.

It seemed like everyone missed the look on Anadil's face when she glanced at an irate Hester glaring at Ever and Neverboys alike.

Dot smirked and watched the two girls, noticing what nobody else did.

But what she didn't notice was Sophie creepily watching to see who Anadil had a crush on from under a snakeskin cloak.

Dot also didn't notice the gasp that Sophie made when she realized something.

~

Hester was held after class again and let out a growl, trying not to strangle her teacher.

Anadil gave her a look that was equal parts amused and sympathetic.

Hester glared at her and Anadil smirked, waving goodbye as she left the classroom.

When they entered their room, they were met by Sophie sitting on Anadil's bed.

The blond jumped to her feet.

"Anadil!" she cried.

The albino flinched.

"That's your type?! You could have literally any Neverboy and a fair amount of Everboys but that's who you pick?!" Sophie continued.

"Sophie, what are you talking about?" Dot asked gently, hoping she hadn't figured something out.

"All of those options and you pick Hester?!" Sophie cried.

Anadil's face went pale... paler, that is.

"You know, the girl that has a demon for a soul?!"

Despite Anadil's embarrassment, she was able to slap hand over Sophie's mouth to shut her up.

Dot just watched the pair in shock, not saying a word.

Anadil glowered at Sophie for a long moment before she removed her hand.

Sophie lowered her voice, but she certainly didn't stop discussing the matter.

"Why her?!"

Anadil blushed again, making her glare quite ineffective.

"If I knew then I wouldn't be asking for help, would I?!" Anadil hissed, her rats glaring at Sophie.

The blond gaped at Anadil for a long moment before shaking her head.

"I didn't think you could even have emotions and now, in the span of a few days, I learn that you not only do have emotions, but you have a crush on Hester of all people!"

Anadil blushed a deeper shade of red, but kept glowering at the other girl.

"Are you going to help me or not?!" Anadil asked sharply.

Sophie paused, seemingly calculating something in her head.

"Alright, fine. But you have to actually listen to what I say."

Anadil sighed and nodded, wondering what she had become.

But she knew the answer.

She'd become a lovesick Ever for the number one Never.

"Alright! So..." Sophie smirked.

"Has Hester reacted at all or is she still the emotionless witch I knew?"

Anadil glared daggers at Sophie.

"She isn't emotionless," Anadil defended.

Sophie raised an eyebrow before looking at Dot.

"Well, she attacked Vex when he was staring at Anadil... and she threatened several other guys. Oh! She actually complimented her hair after she brushed it!"

Sophie stared at Dot, mouth open in shock.

"Well... she said that the hair didn't look bad."

Sophie let out a chuckle.

"That sounds more like her."

"So I guess parading competing suitors has been pretty easy... but now we have the hardest part of all."

Anadil and Dot exchanged a look before staring at Sophie.

"Anadil, how much do you know about flirting?" asked Sophie.

Anadil stared at her blankly.

Sophie sighed and shook her head.

"Should have known."

~

Hester found herself having trouble focusing on her textbook.

She'd finished her work for Professor Manley (as well as her homework) and was trying to read ahead a bit... but it just wasn't happening.

She just couldn't seem to think about anything exact... Anadil.

Did she actually take a shower last night? She must have to be so clean... and her hair looked... Hester shook her head aggressively to clean it of those very off putting thoughts she was having.

Anadil wasn't turning soft, was she?

Hester worried about that for a moment before remembering how they had insulted numerous Evergirls at lunch that day.

Maybe it was just a coincidence, taking a shower and brushing her hair so close together.

Of course.

Couldn't be anything else.

~

"Why?" Anadil asked as she received her tenth piece of advice from Sophie.

The blond rolled her eyes at the question she had been asked ten times now.

"Because invading person space is flirting," she said simply.

Anadil blinked in confusion.

Sophie rolled her eyes before demonstrating.

She put a textbook in Anadil's lap and then leaned over to point at a certain line and purposefully allowing her shoulder to brush against Anadil's own.

Anadil didn't understand... that is until she imagined Hester doing the same thing and her face flushed red.

Oh.

That's why you did that.

She reconsidered everything Sophie has suggested, replacing the annoying blond with the tattooed witch.

Yes, that seemed far more... preferable.

"Oh!" Dot excitedly bounced up and down on her bed.

"Sophie, I think Hester likes it when Anadil laughs! Should she do that more?"

Sophie looked over at Dot, her face exasperated.

"Dot, if there is literally anything that you can think of to get Hester's attention on Anadil, then have her do it as much as possible."

Dot nodded, proud that she had told Anadil to do that earlier.

She'd actually guessed right for once!

Sophie, clearly, had more ideas for flirting, but there were familiar stomping footsteps only a few doors down.

Sophie threw on her cloak again an disappeared from sight right as Hester opened the door.

She glanced at Anadil for a moment, but her eyes didn't linger.

Dot wrote in the air with her finger glow.

Do something.

Anadil looked confused.

Do some of the flirting Sophie showed you!

Anadil's eyes widened as if it hadn't fully occurred to her that she would actually be trying to use those techniques on Hester until just now.

Anadil saw Hester pull out her textbook and flip to a page that had been assigned for today

It had a particularly difficult spell that Anadil hadn't fully understood earlier.

Anadil took a deep breath and calmed her nerves.

"Hester, is that today's pages?" she asked, knowing full well they were.

Hester looked up and saw Anadil standing over her bed.

"Yeah," she said.

Anadil took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Can you explain what this section meant?" she asked.

Hester looked back down at the passage, seeing the part about the fire spell.

Hester started to tell Anadil what it meant, explaining how one had to lock onto their deepest, angriest memory to use the spell...

But she found herself pausing as Anadil leaned forward to look at the spell over her shoulder.

Anadil tried to breath normally, barely keeping herself from blushing at the proximity.

Hester glanced over at Anadil, their faces only inches apart.

Anadil didn't look at Hester, knowing she would blush and blow it all if she did.

"What about memories?" Anadil asked, picking up where Hester had suddenly stopped.

Hester cleared her throat and looked back at the page.

"It has to be the most angry memory you have to work, otherwise the spell will backfire."

Anadil nodded, not seeing Hester glance at her from the corner of her eye.

"How so?" asked Anadil.

"It sets the spell caster on fire instead of its target," Hester responded.

Anadil reached over and flipped back a page in the textbook currently sitting on Hester's lap.

Hester's cheeks turned a vague shade of pink.

"That's the incantation, right?"

Hester looked back at the textbook to where Anadil was pointing at.

She took a moment to remember what Anadil had asked her.

"Yeah, that's it."

Anadil braved a look back at Hester, their faces almost touching.

"Thanks," she said softly before pulling away and going over to her own bed.

Hester felt her heartbeat still racing, watching Anadil go out of the corner of her eye.

What the hell was that?!

Anadil sat back on her bed and tried not to remember how close she had sat to Hester just a moment ago.

She looked over at Dot, hoping to see how she had done.

Dot was grinning and looking at Hester.

The tattooed witch finally tore her eyes from Anadil and looked back at the textbook, but she kept rereading the section about the fire incantation and thinking about Anadil.

What was going on?!

Chapter Text

After Hester went to sleep, Dot quietly shoved Anadil into the bathroom and gave her the sternest expression she could.

Anadil didn't need much coaxing to take a shower, just remembering when she had seen Hester look at her early that day.

She found herself remembering what else Sophie had told her to do.

She hoped she wasn't imagining the side eyes she kept seeing.

Anadil wondered if Hester had always done that and she just hadn't noticed.

She hoped not because that would be a real shame.

~

Hester had weird dreams that night.

Dreams of spending time with Anadil.

Just normal things, like talking or just reading their textbooks.

Well, not textbooks, more like textbook.

Like last night.

She didn't know why, but the memory of last night just made her heart...

She didn't know and frankly she was scared to know.

Hester woke up early and glanced at Anadil.

Her had was still as brushed as yesterday.

Had she taken another shower last night?

Of course she hadn't because she'd fallen asleep when Hester did...

Then why did she still look like she was cleaner than usual?

Hester forced her thoughts away from that, telling herself that the real question was why she was focusing so much on Anadil's appearance.

Except she wasn't sure she wanted the answer to that question, so she ignored it.

Hester was a big fan of suppressing emotions she didn't want to think about.

She had quite a lot of practice doing that, actually.

Except this time it felt like she was just delaying the inevitable.

She didn't like that thought.

Not one bit.

~

Anadil made sure to run through her hair one last time with the brush Sophie had given her and recite the tips from last night silently.

Anadil followed Hester into their first class and saw several students looking at her.

She frowned and looked behind herself, wondering if there was something interesting back there.

But there wasn't.

She shrugged her shoulders uncomfortably and kept walking, sitting at her regular seat beside Hester.

Vex glanced at her and Anadil caught a red glow from beside her.

Vex paled and looked away.

Anadil wondered what had been going on the last few days... and today especially.

The teacher told them that today's challenge would be to pick between two students to see which one is which. The person who could guess correctly the most times in a row would win

There were quite a few failures before Ravan picked Vex over Mona.

He wasn't able to replicate the accomplishment, but he had still done it one more time than anyone else had managed.

Hester was the last to be called.

"Anadil and Arachne, get up here!" the teacher snapped.

They did as they were told and stood side by side.

Their teacher had been pairing best friends together to show that even those that were exceedingly close couldn't seem to succeed at this challenge.

The professor covered Hester's eyes with a blindfold before turning Anadil and Arachne into identical old hags.

Hester remembered what the professor had said.

Eyes are the window to the soul.

Hester looked at the two for less than a moment before she pointed to the one on the right.

The two turned back into their normal selves and Hester was looking Anadil right in her bright red eyes.

She tried to ignore the weird feeling in her chest as she looked at her.

The class was silent as the professor tied the blindfold back around Hester's eyes.

There was the shuffling of feet as the two girls shuffled in front of her.

Hester took her blindfold off of her eyes and looked at the two girls in front of her.

The first of had dull, dark eyes.

The second had the identical dark color, but there was very familiar mischievous light in them. Those eyes looked at Hester in a very familiar way.

Hester pointed at the one on the left after hardly a second of consideration.

The two girls turned back to normal and there stood Anadil, looking back at her with surprise in her shockingly red eyes.

The class looked at Hester with disbelief.

"Hester, are you guessing?" the professor asked.

The tattooed witch shook her head.

He frowned at her before retying the blindfold.

They repeated this pattern ten more times before a red number one appeared over Hester's head and a number two over Anadil's.

The class silently looked at the pair of witches, wondering if they had somehow cheated.

"How did you do that?" Dot asked as they walked out of the classrooms.

Hester felt uncomfortable with the question and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know... I just recognized the look in Ani's eyes."

Anadil looked over at her and gave her a rare smile.

That was one of the things Sophie was had told her she was supposed to do.

Hester looked back at her, unblinkingly.

"What look?" Anadil asked, trying not to sound out of breathe.

Hester's black eyes stared into hers.

"I don't know... you're the only one that looks at me like that."

Anadil blushed.

Dot grinned and looked at her friends smugly.

Their plan was working!

Except for the fact that Anadil looked totally obvious with that take blush coating her face.

Dot changed the subject swiftly before Hester could realize just what that expression meant.

~

"Do you think Hester knows about Anadil's crush?" Beatrix asked.

A passing Never, Mona, stopped and looked at them.

"What did you say?!"

~

Dot wondered how far the rumor had gotten.

Perhaps Hester would hear it soon enough.

That might speed the process up.

Anadil laughed at something Vex said, an insult against Hort, and Hester's eyes flashed to Anadil.

She glared daggers at Vex.

Anadil glanced back at Hester and saw that she was definitely not looking at her like Dot had described.

Did she not actually like it when Anadil laughed?

But then she saw Hester wasn't looking her.

She was looking at Vex.

Anadil had laughed at Vex's lame insult because Dot had told her to laugh...

But maybe she was supposed to just laugh at what Hester said.

Yes, that would make more sense.

Anadil turned to Vex.

"You call that an insult?" Anadil kept cackling and Hester's eyes turned back to her.

A smile made its way onto Hester's face.

Anadil went back to Hester's side and saw her looking at Vex with a smirk.

Anadil blushed softly, wondering what Hester was thinking.

"Your witch cackle has gotten better," Hester said softly.

Anadil looked over at her and smiled thinly.

That was actually...

Sweet.

~

The rumor spread through the School for Evil until Hester and Anadil were the only two to have not heard it.

Several boys had tried to approach Anadil, but they'd been either scared or cursed away by Hester.

Anadil wasn't sure what was going on, but she kind of liked watching Hester getting protective of her like that.

Dot, however, did see what was going on.

This was step three.

Had it come too early?

She hoped not because now there was no delaying it.

Anadil felt Dot squeeze into the bench beside them and was pushed up next to Hester.

She barely controlled her blush as their knees touched.

Hester glanced down, but didn't say a word.

Anadil smiled slightly.

~

Hester glanced over at Anadil as all the boys kept staring at her.

She didn't like it.

She subtly scooted her chair a bit closer to Anadil's protectively.

She didn't think the albino had noticed, but of course she had. She noticed practically everything Hester did.

They need to stop looking at her like that. She isn't some... Ever. Just because she looks prettier than usual... she always looks pretty-what?!... Stupid Vex. Just because they danced first year doesn't mean... Hester let out a growl.

Anadil tried to ignore how Hester was totally sulking right now.

If she said anything about it, Hester would deny it. But Hester totally sulked.

~

That afternoon, Hester followed the two back to their room.

She didn't want to have any more boys staring at Anadil today and if she was close by, they couldn't.

Anadil and Dot exchanged a look as Hester came inside.

Hester slammed the door closed behind her and threw herself onto the bed.

Anadil raised an eyebrow.

Why was she so sulky?

Dot made some lame excuse to leave that Hester didn't even listen to.

Dot came back in a minute later, leaving the door open longer than she had to, allowing an invisible Sophie to slip inside.

The bed dipped beside Anadil and an annoying voice started whispering in her ear.

"I'm going to go get your clothes out of the closet."

Anadil frowned.

"Why?"

Hester glanced over at Anadil, but didn't say anything.

"Uh, do you want help or not?"

Anadil nodded slightly.

"Then open the closet door and let me help!" she hissed.

Anadil sighed and walked over to the closet, pulling out an old bag she had in there as an excuse for her actions.

Sophie entered and grabbed Anadil's first Evil dress.

Anadil closed the closet and then sat back on her bed.

~

Sophie's eyes glinted with excitement as she whipped out a pair of scissors.

~

Anadil raised an eyebrow as Hester shot her a look and then turned away, meaning she literally turned her body so that she couldn't look at Anadil.

The albino frowned.

Was it not working?

Fear filled her chest and she squashed it down.

She glanced at the closet and hoped Sophie wasn't going too far.

~

Hester didn't pay attention to Anadil and Dot as they snuck out of the room.

She was too busy being distracted by her weird thoughts from earlier today.

Anadil opened the closet door and looked at her maimed clothing.

The skirt was now a fair bit shorter and the sleeves were cut.

But it didn't look like it had been thoroughly chewed on by a pack of rats.

Impressive, actually.

"Just wear one of these tomorrow and I guarantee at least one boy swallows their tongue."

Anadil stared at her blankly and Sophie sighed.

"And Hester, if she likes you, will probably be surprised."

Anadil couldn't help but smile thinly at that.

Even just an 'if' sounded good.

Sophie stared at Anadil before shaking her head in disgust.

"What happened to you?"

Anadil would have set Sophie on fire if Hester hadn't been in the other room.

She could have even used the spell Hester had explained to her earlier...

She blushed at the memory.

Sophie gaped at the albino.

Dot quietly told Sophie what had happened last night.

Sophie looked suitably impressed and eyed Anadil.

Sophie went to cut the chest area of the shirt and Anadil hurriedly swiped the article of clothing from her hand.

Sophie rolled her eyes, but she left the collar of the shirt up where it clung to Anadil's neck anyways.

Anadil and Dot snuck out of the closet (Dot laughing quietly at the pun and getting slapped in the back of the head by Anadil) and Hester didn't notice, distracted as she stared at her textbook... at least that's what they assumed.

Hester was, instead, battling thoughts of Anadil and trying to think of literally anything else.

Sophie slipped out of the bedroom, smirking smugly.

Perhaps Anadil did have a chance...

A slim one, but a chance.

~

The rumor of Anadil's crush was the talk of both schools, each student having their own opinion on who she was interested it.

Vex had pompously claimed it was himself, citing the time they had danced at the No Ball, before Ravan has scoffed and said it was he who had melted the witch's stone cold heart.

Chaddick and a few other Everboys had been staring at Anadil for a few days now, making a few girls more than a bit jealous.

~

That morning, Hester awoke to loud cursing from their closet.

She let out a grumble, having not gotten enough sleep the night before, and sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes irritably.

"What's going on?" Hester slurred the words out, but her roommates understood her.

"Some rats must have chewed up my clothes," Anadil said.

Hester didn't know why, but her eyes shot open.

"What?"

Anadil held up a ruined uniform and Hester stared at it in shock.

"I thought rats were supposed to love you," she said, ignoring how she kept looking at the uniform Anadil was holding up in front of her.

"Only my rats," Anadil said with a scowl.

Who would have guessed Anadil was such a good actress? Must have come from those months of spying on the School for New.

Hester tried to focus on the conversation Anadil and Dot had.

But the only thing she retained was that Anadil was going to wear the uniform.

It wasn't too revealing, really about as skimpy as a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, but Anadil hardly ever wore anything that allowed her pale skin to see the light of day.

Anadil came out of the Coven's bathroom and Hester stared at her for a moment.

Anadil's cheeks colored and she folded her arms self consciously.

"Is it too much?" she asked, not having to fake nervousness.

Hester's eyes snapped to Anadil's face.

"Uh, no. It's fine."

Hester turned around quickly and got ready, definitely not subtly looking over at Anadil whenever she could.

She definitely did not think that Anadil should wear that outfit more often.

Anadil looked over at Hester and wondered if she had even noticed.

Dot was the only one that seemed to notice that both of them were looking at each other.

Dot sighed and shook her head.

As blind as love sick Evers... I think the plan's going well! Dot thought excitedly.

Hester's looks we're a tad bit more subtle than Anadil's, but Dot would occasionally catch them and smirk to herself, proud that she had helped Anadil get Hester's attention even a little bit.

But if you asked Hester, Anadil hadn't captured her attention 'a little bit'.

It was more like 'completely'.

Hester was quietly having a crisis within her mind, wondering why her heartbeat sped up around her best friend.

But she forced those thoughts away... as well as the ones about how Anadil's hair framed her face so well.

Chapter Text

The rumor of Anadil's crush was the talk of both schools, each student having their own opinion on who she was interested it.

Vex had pompously claimed it was himself, citing the time they had danced at the No Ball, before Ravan has scoffed and said it was he who had melted the witch's stone cold heart.

Chaddick and a few other Everboys had been staring at Anadil for a few days now, making a few girls more than a bit jealous.

~

The Coven slipped out of the room like shadows...

But Nevergirls and boys alike paused to look at Anadil, shellshocked that she had... that on.

It really wasn't bad... in fact, there were a few other Nevergirls (and several Evergirls) wearing things more revealing than that.

But this was Anadil they were seeing walk through the halls.

Vex was as subtle as ever as he looked at Anadil, muttering to his friends that she was totally trying to get his attention.

Hester ground her teeth as boys looked at Anadil and whispered behind their hands like Evers.

She cursed more boys that day than she had in the past week.

~

When lunch came, Evers gaped at the albino girl sporting a very new look.

That day, Evers and Nevers started to take bets on who Anadil's crush was.

The biggest bets were on Ravan, Vex, and Chaddick (a very unsettling surprise to a few Evergirls that then glared at Anadil).

~

Hester saw everyone staring at Anadil and growled lowly.

Suddenly, a light breeze went through the meadow.

Anadil shivered and Hester looked over at her.

Anadil felt something fall on her shoulders.

She glanced over and saw Hester settling a jacket onto her.

The tattooed witch's cheeks turned a light shade of pink (or did they? Anadil hoped she wasn't imagining it) and she looked away quickly.

"It's supposed to be a bit chilly today," Hester said, speaking with such gruffness that nobody had ever used on that sentence.

Anadil blushed and distracted herself with her food.

Hester supposed the jacket had two pros.

First; it protected Anadil from the cold weather... and second; it covered her arms from the view of their male classmates.

When Dot returned to their normal bench in the corner of the clearing, she saw Anadil wearing Hester's old beaten up jacket while the tattooed witch looked anywhere but at her.

Dot smirked and flopped down on the bench.

Hester definitely did not look when her knee touched Anadil's.

Anadil totally did, but tried to keep it subtle.

Dot tried not to giggle at the two.

Boys still looked at Anadil and Dot was fairly certain that Hester sulked after Anadil had a short conversation with a very flirtatious and smug looking Vex.

Anadil had been about to very curtly send Vex on his way, but Dot had held up the number three on her fingers to remind her of the rule.

Anadil had, reluctantly, continued to talk to the Neverboy.

Hester glared at Vex and his weird, pointy ears every moment he spoke to Anadil.

When he walked off, Hester didn't speak for about five minutes, quietly stewing.

"Hester, can you hand me my bag?" Anadil asked as they started to pack up after lunch.

Hester grabbed it and gave it to her.

Anadil quickly implemented what Sophie had told her to do.

As Hester handed her the bag, she made sure their hands grazed each other.

Anadil felt sparks and Hester glanced up at her for the first time since Vex had left.

Hester blushed slightly, both their hands staying there a moment longer than necessary.

Hester tore her eyes from Anadil and grabbed her own bag, a light pink color settling on her cheeks.

~

"I always thought Anadil was more of a ladies gal myself," Arachne said in passing.

All those sitting at the table (and those adjacent to it) stopped speaking (and placing bets) to look at the Nevergirl.

"What?" she asked.

There was silence for a long, long moment before Nicolas suddenly held up some gold.

"Twenty pieces on Mona."

There was suddenly an explosion of sound (and betting) as many realized what Arachne had said.

The one-eyes girl listened as they placed bets on girls all the way from Beatrix to Arachne herself.

She looked over at Anadil and saw her glancing at Hester.

Arachne made her way to the Ever leading the betting and elbowed her way to the front.

"Fifty pieces on Hester."

Again, everyone stared at her.

Chaddick took the gold and put it down on a brand new pile.

He wrote on a paper, the scrawled name of Hester barely legible in his surprise, and put it down next to Arachne's sack of gold.

~

Something weird was happening after lunch.

Suddenly, Nevers weren't just looking at Anadil... but her.

She shifted uncomfortably under so many gazes.

What was going on?

She didn't hear Mona and Arachne whispering just a few rows away about Anadil and herself.

Should she had heard it, there was a fair chance that she would have released her demon to attack people... and then probably left the room in embarrassment.

But, thankfully, she did not hear it.

Dot, however, did hear people exchanging bets only a few tables away.

She also heard Vex complaining to his friend about this 'new rumor' about Anadil.

Dot frowned and made a mental note to ask someone what this rumor was.

Anadil stroked her rats as Professor Manley went on a long and boring speech about different types of cloaks.

As Anadil focused on her rats, she idly ran a hand through her hair.

Hester glanced at her, eyes watching as she played with the surprisingly clean strands of hair.

Hester turned a light pink color when Anadil looked over at her and caught her staring.

Anadil continued to mess with her hair and caught Hester looking over a few times.

The albino smiled thinly, remembering how Sophie had suggested she do this.

Hester was a bit off in that class, for once not answering every question.

~

Dot separated from her friends, not a hard thing to do when they were having one of their long conversations, and headed to the library to look for some answers.

She took a seat beside Mona, knowing she was a chatterbox.

"Hey!" Dot said with her normal friendliness.

It took all of five minutes of sitting there before Mona started spewing information.

"Did you take any bets on Anadil's crush?" she asked.

Dot almost choked at the words.

They were taking bets?!

"No, not yet. Who'd you bet on?" Dot asked smoothly.

"Well I was going to bet on Vex when lunch came, but then Arachne made such a good point..."

Dot frowned in confusion.

"And what was that?" she pushed.

"About Anadil liking girls."

Dot coughed, having choked on her spit in surprise.

Mona patted her back worriedly, but Dot waved her off.

"So who's you pick?"

"Hester, of course! She's the only girl Anadil really talks to. Some people are betting on Beatrix, Reena, or even me... but that doesn't make sense."

Mona continued to talk, but Dot was too busy thinking to pay attention.

They'd figured it out...

How long until Hester heard that Anadil had a crush?

Dot wasn't sure, but she was worried.

What if she found out too soon?

Dot took a deep breath before turning to Mona, finished their conversation politely, and left the room.

When she go to their room, Hester seemed to have relaxed a bit and the two were once again joking around and insulting people.

Anadil let out a cackle after a particularly good insult and Hester stopped talking, looking at her.

Hester felt heat rush to her cheeks and forced herself to look away.

She didn't allow herself to think too much about what was going on with her.

~

That night, Dot and Anadil took a break from their planning and went to bed at the same time Hester did...

Or at least they thought they did.

Hester slipped out from under her covers and out of the room, pacing through the halls as she tried to distract herself from Anadil.

Nothing seemed to work.

When she made her way back to the room, resigned to the fact that she would be getting no sleep that night, she suddenly caught sight of something in the bathroom.

A hairbrush...

Hester honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd run one of those through her mop of greasy hair...

She hated brushing her hair, but she felt herself being pulled toward the bathroom as if by a force beyond her control anyways.

She paused as she entered the dark side room and considered what she was doing for a moment.

Why would she do this?

Why would she care about her hair all of the sudden?

Hester didn't find any answers, but she picked the hairbrush up anyways and quickly ran it through her hair.

She didn't spend much time on it, not wanting it to be very noticeable, but she did it.

Hester sighed quietly as she slipped back into her bed, still not finding any answers to her numerous questions.

~

Anadil heard footsteps as she woke up and looked over to see Hester getting ready.

Anadil yawned and stretched, not noticing anything until she reopened her eyes.

Hester's hair was... was it brushed?

Anadil stared at it in shock as Hester's back was turned to her.

Anadil thought it looked nice...

She blushed and looked away as Hester turned around.

Why would Hester brush her hair? The only thing she ever seemed to care about with her hair was the red streaks she dyed every few months.

Anadil wondered if...

Well, the only thing that had gotten Anadil to wash her hair was her crush on Hester.

Could that mean...

She didn't let herself hope, knowing that most hope just ended in disappointment.

She didn't notice Hester awkwardly looking at her, wondering if she'd noticed.

Hester didn't know if she wanted Anadil to know or not.

She shouldn't want her to considering that would be embarrassing... but then why was she a bit disappointed when she didn't?

Hester then saw Anadil looking at her, her hair that is, and she smirked slightly.

So she had noticed.

Hester wondered if this weird feeling in her stomach had anything to do with what she had been feeling around her best friend for the past week.

"Your hair doesn't look bad brushed."

Hester smiled thinly.

She didn't respond, content to just remember the words.

Dot watched the rather awkward interaction with a smirk.

Just then, a paper was slid underneath the door.

Dot grabbed onto it and read it.

"What's that?" Hester asked.

"It's an invitation from Sophie to the No Ball."

Dot turned the paper around.

The paper told them that each student was to have a date.

Anadil's face turned bright red while Dot thought she saw a light pink color on Hester's.

"This is ridiculous! Nevers having dates to a ball?!" Hester cried, allowing her rage to cover her embarrassment over... well, if she was being perfectly honest Hester didn't know why she was embarrassed.

"If you ask me if sounds romantic," Dot said, looking at Anadil and causing the girl to blush.

"Anadil, you thinking about bringing anyone? I've noticed a few boys looking at you lately," Dot said.

Hester bristled like an irate cat and looked at Anadil from the corner of her eye.

"They have?" she asked, having been too focused Hester to really notice.

"Oooh yeah. Especially Vex."

"Pointy eared little sultan," Hester muttered, eyes narrowed and demon twitching on her neck.

Anadil glanced over at Hester.

"I guess if someone asked I'd probably just say yes. I need a date, after all."

Hester's head shot up.

"You can't just go with anyone," she said.

Anadil and Dot looked over at her.

"You're way out of Vex's league. Don't want you tripping on his ears at the dance."

Anadil blushed.

"How about you, Hester?" Dot asked.

A light pink color coated Hester's face and she turned away.

"I don't know."

Anadil stared at Hester's back as she retreated to grab her bag.

"You've got to have your eyes on someone, right? Didn't you have a thing for Ravan in first year?" Dot pushed.

Anadil looked at the chocolate loving witch with wide eyes.

She didn't want to hear Hester talk about having a crush on Ravan back then.

"No, I didn't. We danced once and he stepped on my feet over thirty times," Hester snapped.

"Just because he can't dance doesn't mean he isn't hot."

"I don't like him, Dot. He's just as moronic as all the other boys in both schools."

Anadil tried not to focus on how Hester's belittling of men made her stomach flutter with hope.

Having feelings was the worst.

"I hope Hort asks me. He's super buff this year too," Dot said dreamily.

Hester's eyes flashed with a dark color.

"I'm sure that can happen."

Anadil knew that Hester would most likely threaten Hort with many kinds of bodily harm should he refuse to dance with her friend.

Anadil tried not to look at Hester with the adoration and impressment she felt.

"I hope so!" Dot said excitedly.

Hester nodded as if it was settled and turned to the door.

"Maybe I can help you with whoever you want to go with, Hester!"

Hester's face turned pink and she shook her head.

"I don't want to go with anyone," she said.

"You need a date though," Dot said, practically skipping as she grabbed her bags.

Hester just growled at the words.

~

The School for Evil was alight with excited conversation about the invites that had been sent out last night.

Boys looked across the supper hall at the girls, eying them.

Ravan bravely squared his shoulders and looked across at Hester.

He cleared his throat and sauntered over to where his classmate sat.

"Hey, Hester."

He gave her a grin (one that made Hester give him a disgusted look) and leaned against the table they were eating at.

"What?" she asked.

"I was wondering if you'd like to go to the No Ball with me," he said.

Anadil stiffened and glanced at her roommate.

Hester just stared at Ravan for a moment before she laughed and shook her head.

Ravan frowned.

"Why not?" he asked aggressively.

"She said no," Anadil snapped, glaring at the boy in front of their table.

Her rats hissed at Ravan as he walked off.

Hester glanced at Anadil, enjoying the aggression she'd shown Ravan...

She didn't know why and she was scared to find out.

Dot just watched her two roommates with excitement.

~

After Ravan's rejection, boys seems most hesitant to ask girls in general.

But that didn't stop Vex from making his way up to Anadil.

"Hey, Ani." Hester growled at his use of her nickname for Anadil.

"You, me, No B-"

"No."

Vex stared at her and Hester's demon extracted itself from her neck.

It leaped at the pointy-eared Never (who has been reaching out to touch Anadil's hand).

Vex ran off with a shriek, the demon chasing after him angrily and shouting nonsensical words.

Hester watched with a smirk as her demon lit his ears on fire and he had to roll around on the ground to extinguish them.

Anadil watched with a light blush on her cheeks and a thin smile on her lips.
She didn't want to get her hopes up but... well, this made that difficult.

Hester still looked angry as she glared at the Neverboy.

Anadil blushed when Hester's hand grazed against hers.

Was that on purpose?

She wasn't certain, but Hester was still glaring at Vex almost as if she were protecting something that belonged to her (and whether Hester knew it or not, she was. Anadil had succumbed to the fact that she turned to putty in Hester's hands).

Anadil tried to pay attention in class, but that was difficult when Hester seemed to be getting closer and closer while still sending Vex murderous glares.

~

By the end of the day, word had spread of Hester's defense of Anadil and Nevers had started talking about the light redness to Anadil's pale features in their classes.

Evers and Nevers seemed to forget about their bets and instead find themselves shipping the two witches.

"Hester's so protective!" gushed an Evergirl.

"She's got such a soft spot for Anadil and it's adorable!" another girl added with an excited look on her face.

"Hester needs to grow a backbone and ask her to the No Ball already!"

"Did anyone else see that Hester had brushed her hair? Do you think she did it for Anadil?"

Dot heard all if these rumors and more as she walked up to her lunch bench.

She hoped that everyone would be smart enough to not let Hester or Anadil hear them.

So far everything had been going good, but Dot was still worried about it.

Anadil was still wearing Hester's jacket over her cut up uniform and Dot smirked at the sight.

Anadil had already implemented one of Sophie's flirting techniques.

Dot practically gasped as she saw the bold move.

Chapter Text

"Hester you need to actually chew your food instead of just engulfing it like a demonic duck," Anadil chided.

She grabbed a napkin and wiped off a bit of their lunch off of Hester's face.

The tattooed witch felt heat rush to her cheeks and she choked on her food.

"See? I told you you need to be careful!" Anadil said as if it was a victory.

Hester blushed deeply and didn't look at her best friend.

"Whatever, Ani," she said before going back to her food.

Dot smirked broadly at the awkwardness Hester had just shown.

This was great!

She had known Hester was being affected by their efforts!

~

Hester walked through the halls to their room after their last class, trying not to think about how Anadil had... at lunch... and... Hester shook her head to clear her mind of these intrusive thoughts.

Suddenly, a large bucket fell from the ceiling, splattering something on Hester.

The tattooed witch let out a gasp of horror as she saw... glitter.

Hester needed to get this disgusting substance off right away!

She hurried off, wiping it from her arms and trying to remove it from her face.

Several student gaped at her, but Hester silences them with firm glares or, in some cases, a menacing growl.

~

Dot looked around, wide eyed.

Who'd done that?!

She suddenly saw two pink-clad forms running outside.

She gave chase, grabbing onto Anadil's hand to make sure she followed her instead of staring at Hester with shock.

Dot caught up with the two and grabbed onto their arms, spinning them around to face her.

She was met with Kiko and Reena, gazing at her with fear in their eyes.

"I'm sorry!" Kiko squeaked instantly.

"We were just trying to help!" Reena added just as quickly.

"What do you mean help?" Dot asked with a glare.

She'd been helping Anadil for too long to have these two foolish Evers to ruin it for her.

"Well, the only way you could get Hester to take a shower would be to cover her in something disgusting! But the only thing Hester finds disgusting is glitter!" Kiko defended with a high pitched voice.

"And if she's going to win Anadil's heart, then she needs to take a shower!" Reena added with a firm nod.

Anadil blushed deeply at the idea of Hester trying to win her heart.

The irony of them trying to help the other witch was laughable.

In fact, Anadil actually did laughing.

The two girls looked at her in shock, clearly not having realized she was there.

"And you think Hester needs help? What makes you even think she likes Anadil?" Dot asked.

Anadil felt a pang in her chest at the words.

"You've seen the way she looks at Anadil! Plus, she's like super protective of her and it's so sweet of her!" Reena said with a grin.

Kiko nodded along in agreement with Reena.

Dot just stared at the two for a long moment before turning back to a blushing Anadil.

"Kiko, Reena, it's obvious that Hester isn't the one that needs your help," Dot said with a level stare at the two of then.

They looked over and saw the faint red color of Anadil's face before nodding.

"You should have known this in the first place! Anadil was the one you thought had a crush!" Dot pilled on.

Reena and Kiko looked ashamed.

"But Hester just looked so sad when Vex started flirting with Anadil a few days ago and we couldn't help it! She looked like she needed a fairy godmother and we decided to step it!" Kiko said.

Dot rolled her eyes, though she did find the sentiment... oddly sweet, if poorly executed and not even completed thought through.

Kiko gave her her best puppy dog eyes.

"Fine! You can help, but listen to what I say," Dot said before turning to the still faintly pink Anadil.

"Let's go see your girl."

Anadil glared vehemently at her, but the power of the glare was lost as she started to smile begrudgingly at the word choice.

~

Hester didn't know why she felt so awkward as she got dressed again.

It was just a shower to get that glitter off her.

She walked out of the bathroom and saw that Dot and Anadil had already gotten back to the room too and both looked up at her.

Hester felt her face heat up as Anadil just stared at her with her beady red eyes.

She distracted herself by using a towel to dry off her hair, missing Anadil's expression.

Dot threw a pillow at Anadil to get her to stop staring.

Hester took a deep breath before looking back at her roommates, ignoring how Anadil kept looking at her... and how it made her feel weirdly vulnerable.

Hester launched into a tirade about who would leave glitter boobytraps in their school, claiming quite boldly that she would kill whoever had done it herself (though all three of them knew she wouldn't do anything that drastic).

Anadil saw Dot gesture at her and make a cutting motion with her finger before looking at Hester.

She was trying to tell her not to keep staring at her, but that was difficult.

She hadn't seen Hester really take a shower since... well, Anadil didn't remember.

She wondered if the plan was actually working...

She'd resigned to the fact that she had feelings for Hester that would, obviously, never be reciprocated when she had realized how she had felt... but now Dot and Sophie had gone and given her hope and that just made everything worse.

Hester got sidetracked partway through her revenge plan when Anadil started to stare down at the ground, looking depressing.

Hester frowned.

"Ani, you okay?" she asked.

Dot gaped at Hester.

The tattooed witch had found Evers and Nevers crying in the halls and just laughed.

But now Anadil looked slightly upset and she seemed... worried.

Anadil seemed to have realized this as well as she started to blush.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, sounding a bit out of breath at the words.

Hester raised an eyebrow before turning back to her bed.

Anadil kept looking at Hester and trying not to blush.

Hester's hair had always been kind of clumped up at the top of her head.

It was longer than Anadil had thought it was and now it dangled down, curling gently at the bottom of her cheeks.

Evidently, Hester hadn't remembered how long her hair was either as she kept cursing quietly when it got in her way.

Hester suddenly grabbed a knife and held it toward her hair.

Anadil felt her heart sink.

She looked back down at her textbook.

"Your hair looks alright when it's not a bird's nest," Anadil said.

Hester froze, looking up at her friend.

Anadil was reading her textbook, not even paying attention.

Hester felt her face heating up.

She slowly lowered her hand, setting her knife back on the table.

She hadn't even realized she'd set the knife down until she looked back down at it.

Hester wasn't sure why she didn't just cut it.

It was so annoying.

Kept getting caught up when she was working.

But then Hester saw Anadil look over at her and stare for a moment.

Anadil looked back down and Hester felt a red tinge color her cheeks.

Maybe... her hair wasn't really the worst thing. So what if it got in the way sometimes? Anadil seemed to keep looking at her and that was... definitely a plus.

Hester shook her head, not really caring when it hit her in the face a bit, and went back to her work.

~

It wasn't just Kiko and Reena that had started to try and help Hester and Anadil get together.

In Uglification, Mona cast a spell to reverse their uglification potions.

Anadil had turned a bright red color as a beautified Hester chased after Mona with her demon spitting fire at her.

Anadil didn't notice when Hester kept focusing anywhere but at Anadil and turning a light pink color.

~

In Curses and Death Traps, Arachne creates a trap in which Hester and Anadil were caught in a net together.

Both had gone crimson while Hester screamed at Arachne to put them down.

Hester's demon had eventually burned a hole through the net and allowed the two to escape.

Neither of them had mentioned it afterwards.

~

In History of Villainy, Hester and Anadil were forced to share a textbook after Hort 'accidentally' set fire to Anadil's textbook.

But it seemed like the textbook (a charred and burnt mass on Anadil's desk) got the better end of that deal as Hort had to get some help for a broken leg.

Hester and Anadil kept bumping into each other in the small space and both of them tried their hardest not to look at the other.

Apparently their hardest wasn't good enough considering both kept stealing looks at the other.

~

In Special Talents, two of their classmates (Mona and Arachne) has been using their talents against each other, and Arachne had not so accidentally bumped into Anadil and sent her flying at Hester.

Hester had instantly grabbed onto Anadil and held her like the classic Ever After painting in the School for Good.

Anadil had been surprised that Hester could hold her up (then again she did look pretty strong...) before she had looked up and realized Hester. Was. Right. There.

Anadil had turned bright red and just stared up at Hester like a trapped rat.

She couldn't really get up considering Hester was the only thing holding her up was her roommate.

Hester had just frozen for a moment, looking down at Anadil.

When she had finally come back to her senses, her eyes had widened and she'd practically thrown Anadil back onto her feet before going back to talk to Dot... even if that talking was just her listening to Dot talking about random things (mostly chocolate and trying to find a date for the No Ball, which had then left Hester blushing slightly).

~

"Hester, Hort keeps asking Sophie to the No Ball! He was my only hope!" Dot moaned with a sigh.

"Dot, I'm sure you're going to find someone," Hester said.

She was getting frustrated with Dot because she kept discussing the No Ball and it always gave her a weird feeling whenever she thought about it... especially whenever she thought about whoever Anadil was supposed to go with...

It made her feel like... killing someone.

Instead, she was doing what Anadil would call 'sulking'.

"Ani, has anyone else asked you?" Dot asked.

"Ravan did after lunch," Anadil said as if it was no big deal.

Hester broke her pencil.

"He did what?" Hester growled, looking up.

Anadil tried not to smile.

"He asked me if I would go to the No Ball with him."

Hester's eyes blazed and her demon twitched on her neck.

"Oh? What did you say?" Dot asked.

"I told him I'd think about it. It's not like people are lining up to ask me to go," Anadil said.

Hester's eye twitched.

"Ani, you're way out of his league," Hester said with a glare.

"Hester, with the way you're talking there's nobody in my league! Then I won't have a date and I'll get sent to the Doom Room!" Anadil snapped.

Hester looked down.

"You deserve way better than Ravan... you'll find someone who's good enough for you," Hester muttered and looked up.

Anadil blushed, meeting Hester's gaze.

There was a long moment of silence, both of them still looking at each other.

"I'll tell him no tomorrow," Anadil said.

Hester nodded and went back to her homework with a small smile.

Dot was quietly giggling in her bed.

~

The next morning, everyone found out that (after many failed attempts to ask Sophie to the No Ball) Hort had asked Ravan... and he'd said yes.

And so now the School for Evil was buzzing with the news, everyone realizing that this meant that two girls wouldn't be able to go with a boy.

Anadil and Hester had both blushed at the words (though Hester hadn't known why).

Chapter Text

"Wait... if Sophie isn't a student, doesn't that mean that there 119 students?!" Dot cried suddenly.

Her roommates looked over at her.

"That means that there's an odd number! I'm going to have to go all alone!"

"I'm sure you're not going to be the last one asked," Hester said.

"But no guy wants to go with me!"

"I'm sure an Ever will take you if you pay them enough," Anadil suddenly chimed in, feeding her rats.

Hester's eyes narrowed.

"An Ever? Really, Ani?" she asked.

"Who knows. Since I turned down Ravan, I might have to pay an Ever to come," she said, eying Hester.

The tattooed witch ground her teeth.

"You couldn't just go with that... thing." Hester featured wildly with her hand as she spoke of Ravan.

"Maybe Chaddick would take me if I asked... he owes you a favor, right Hester?" Dot asked.

"If you mean I saved his life in the war, then yes."

Dot looked excited.

Hester rolled her eyes before leaning back in her bed, thinking about who her own date might be.

But whenever she thought of bringing someone, her mind just oddly went back to Anadil.

Hester didn't know if she wanted to consider that disturbing train of thought.

~

The No Ball was coming up and Dot has been working with Kiko everyday at lunch, trying to get ideas on how to help her friends.

"Are there really not enough students for everyone to have a date?" Kiko asked.

Dot sighed.

"Yeah... I think I'm going to have Hester blackmail Chaddick into taking me," she said.

Kiko frowned and looked at her new friend.

"Who wouldn't want to take you to the No Ball?" she asked, looking almost insulted.

"Everyone, apparently," Dot muttered.

Kiko put a hand on hers.

"Anyone would be lucky to take you, Dot."

The witch blushed, glancing down at their hands.

"Thanks," she said softly.

The two were quiet, Kiko leaving her hand on Dot's for a long while before removing it to eat.

Dot wondered if she had done that on purpose...

~

Hester watched a boy, whose name she honestly didn't know and didn't care enough to learn, ask Anadil to the dance.

She growled lowly, watching Anadil curtly refuse him.

Hester wondered what this weird feeling in her chest was.

Why was she upset about Anadil getting asked?

Anadil deserved to go to the dance with someone and Hester certainly didn't want her to be punished by their diva Dean... but the idea of Anadil going with anyone made her feel inexplicably angry.

That is until her mind brought back the idea of Anadil and her...

Hester's eyes widened and she felt her face redden.

Hester didn't...

No, of course not...

But...

Well...

Ani was...

Hester let out a few obscene words before she stood.

"Where are you going?" Anadil asked, frowning.

"Left something in the room," Hester lied before hurrying from the library.

She didn't notice that Dot watched her go with a wide grin.

~

Hester took a deep breath as she closed their bedroom door behind her.

She couldn't want to go to the dance with Anadil.

She just couldn't.

They were best friends, nothing more.

Sure, Hester cared for her very, very, very much... but that was all in a VERY platonic sense...

Right?!

Hester felt herself starting to panic.

Of course she didn't like Anadil

That would be insane.

But...

Hester let out a loud scream as she came to a conclusion.

Yes, Hester of Ravenswood did, in fact, like Anadil of Bloodbrook.

And it wasn't some childish crush...

No, it was definitely something more than that and it made Hester's blood run cold (colder, that is).

Hester flopped onto her bed.

It all made sense now.

Why she kept getting those weird feelings around Anadil... why she kept staring at her... why she had even brushed her hair that one time (and if she was being honest she'd brushed it more than once).

Hester didn't just like Anadil... she was pretty sure she loved her.

What a terrifying conclusion.

Hester let out three more loud screams that made even the castle's gargoyles shift anxiously on their perches.

Yes, Hester was in love and she was pissed about it.

How dare Anadil make Hester love her?!

~

Anadil looked up, wondering what that loud sound was.

It always sounded like... Hester?

She frowned at the thought.

Why would Hester be screaming?

That didn't make any sense.

She looked back down at her book report and kept writing...

But of she got sidetracked.

She got sidetracked by the thing that always seemed to be predominant in her brain nowadays.

Hester.

Was the plan (if it could've called that) working?

She'd been doing her best and she really hoped so.

Was Hester being jealous with those guys... or just being protective of her best friend?

Anadil didn't know.

Even she didn't know what went on in Hester's head most the time.

A few minutes later, the library door opened and Hester walked in.

Anadil expected her to sit back down in her seat, but instead she just grabbed onto Dot and pulled the, very, surprised witch out of the library behind her.

"What?!" Dot cried as she tried to maintain her precarious balance.

Anadil frowned in confusion.

What was Hester up to?

~

"Dot, something's wrong with me," Hester said immediately.

Dot looked at her with confusion

"What?" she asked.

Hester awkwardly stood there, looking around to see if anyone else was around.

She'd normally talk to Anadil about anything this important... but this was about the albino which made that impossible.

Dot was her next option.

"How... never mind."

Hester turned to leave.

Dot scurried after her.

"What?! You can talk to me!" she said.

Hester looked around one more time.

She debated for a long moment before speaking.

"How would one... go about asking someone to the No Ball?" she asked.

Hester knew she shouldn't ask, shouldn't give herself hope...

But she needed a date and if things went wrong she could just say they were going as friends...

Honestly, Hester knew she should just sulk and wallow in her emotions like she usually (always) did with any emotion... but she just couldn't.

The idea of anyone else going with Anadil was enough to push her into action.

Hester might not be adept at dealing with feelings, but she knew how to fight for something she wanted.

And now she wanted Anadil.

Hester felt her resolve strengthen.

Dot stared at her with wide eyes.

"Who is it?" she asked instantly.

Hester blushed slightly and looked away from her.

"Doesn't matter."

Dot grinned broadly.

"I think you should get some flowers and just say how you feel," Dot said, trying not to giggle.

Hester nodded slightly at the advice.

Would Anadil like flowers?

What kind should she get?

Hester felt very confused already.

And what should she tell her?

Hester had never been very adept at telling people how she felt.

"I'm sure she'll say yes."

Hester started to nod before her eyes shot up, looking at Dot.

How did she know it was a she?!

Dot just smiled at her friend.

"Hester, you're great at a whole lot of things, but being subtle about your crush on Anadil isn't one of them."

With that, Dot turned and strode back to the library.

She looked over her shoulder one last time before letting the door close.

"Don't worry, she hasn't noticed."

Hester was left standing there, alone, and trying to figure out what she was going to do.

This was all too complicated for her.

~

"Is Hester alright?" Anadil asked.

Dot was smirking.

"She'll be fine."

Anadil frowned and looked out, seeing bits of Hester through the charred remains of the door.

Hester just stared ahead for a long moment before she suddenly stalked off toward the front of the castle.

What was she doing?

~

Hester wasn't sure where to get flowers, but the first step was always getting started.

Since she knew there couldn't be any flowers in the School for Evil, she exited the castle and looked for anywhere that might have the romantic plant she was looking for.

Ester sighed.

Just thinking the word 'romantic' made her uncomfortable.

How was she even supposed to tell Anadil?

"Hey, Ani, I think I'm in love with you."

Definitely not that.

Hester debates just threatening her until she agreed to go to the No Ball... but that definitely wouldn't work. Anadil was get too strong to be bullied like that, even by Hester (that was something that she really liked about her, actually).

Five minutes later, Hester had crossed over into the School for Good's side and wasn't any closer to figuring out how to tell Anadil she liked her.

She looked around and saw that there were boys everywhere, asking girls to be their dates to the Snow Ball.

Each of them did have a gift (a rose, it seemed, was the most popular) and were handing it to the girl of their choice.

In the middle of it all sat Kiko, looking particularly sad.

Hester raised an eyebrow.

Normally, she wouldn't care... but it seemed like she and Dot had been hanging out a lot lately and her chocolate-loving friend seemed to talk about the girl... a lot.

Hester watched from behind a bush for a while and learned the pattern.

It was formal, but Hester would most likely make hers a bit more casual.

All of them dropped to their knees and grabbed the girl's hand...

Just the thought of grabbing Anadil's hand made her blush, so she decided maybe that would be difficult.

Hester wanted it to be sweet, but she didn't want it to see like they were some stupid Evers...

She suddenly had an idea and she grinned.

She took off at a run into the forest, not noticing that Kiko watched her go.

~

Hester was looking around for the first piece of her master plan when she heard footsteps behind her.

She spun, blushing at the idea of someone having caught her.

In front of her stood Kiko, looking at her with confusion.

"Are you trying to prank us again?" she asked, turning her head slightly in confusion.

Hester shook her head, hiding something behind her back.

"Oh."

Kiko stood there awkwardly for a minute, not saying a word.

"Has anyone asked Dot to the No Ball?" she asked.

Hester frowned.

Why would Kiko care about that?

"No. She's still trying to find someone to take her."

Kiko brightened slightly.

"Really?"

She sounded almost excited at the news.

Hester nodded.

"I, um, I have to go."

Kiko scampered away like a spooked deer, hurrying back to her own castle as Hester watched her go with confusion.

~

Anadil idly played with her rats, wondering what Hester was up to.

Dot seemed very happy, but whenever Anadil asked her what had her in such a good mood, Dot would just beam at her before saying "nothing!"

Just then, the door opened and Hester walked in, a small bag in her hand.

Anadil frowned and stared at it.

Hester shoved the bag under her bed before sitting down.

Anadil shrugged it off and turned back to her textbook.

Hester did a lot of mysterious things, but they always came to light eventually (and by that she meant that Hester told them what she was planning and they helped).

She didn't notice Dot and Hester having a silent conversation in which the former insisted the latter ask her now.

Hester glared and threatened Dot with a glowing fingertip.

Dot went back to her homework after that.

~Hester had everything in order.

It was going to be nice, but not overly romantic like those sickening Evers.

Hester told Dot that Kiko was looking for her after their last class period and Dot looked excited before hurrying off.

Hester had walked down the hall, missing their staircase.

"Hester?" asked Anadil, following after her.

"Where are we going?"

Hester didn't respond, silently leading Anadil out to the the tower.

When they reached the top, Hester pulled something out of her bag.

Anadil frowned in confusion as Hester hid it behind her back, blushing slightly.

Wait, blushing?!

Anadil felt herself doing the same.

"Ani..."

Hester trailed off and sighed, looking very frustrated and upset about something.

"What?" Anadil asked, not sure why she was feeling nervous and somehow excited at the same time.

Hester took a deep breath.

"I'm not very good at this kind of thing but... you've been a great friend for the past few years," Anadil deflated, "but..." she looked back up.

"Let me try again... from the moment we met, I knew you were special. And..."

Hester was blushing, full on blushing, and Anadil get her heart flutter like some stupid Ever princess.

Hester took one last breath before she went down on one knee.

Anadil frowned in confusion at her, not knowing what that implied.

"It's hard for me to say this... but I really, really like you... will you be my date to the No Ball?" Hester pulled a single black rose and held it out.

Chapter Text

Anadil froze, staring down at Hester with shock.

Hester... had just asked her to the No Ball.

She'd been working so hard to try and get Hester to notice her... but now that she finally was, Anadil had no idea what to do.

Anadil realized that Hester had just poured her heart out and she had just stood there, staring at her.

"I mean if you don't want to we can go as-"

She needed to respond.

"Yes," she breathed.

Hester's face brightened like Anadil had never seen.

Anadil realized that Hester's hand was stretched out...

She suddenly recognized what she was doing.

This was how the Everboys were asking.

Hester had thought this through.

She'd seen how the boys did it... she'd even gotten her a flower (one that was filled with thorns and had blood-red petals, just like how she liked it).

Anadil blushed as Hester stood and looked down at her, the two standing exceedingly close.

So close that Anadil could see the excitement on Hester's face (even though she was trying to cover it) as well as a blush.

"How long have you known?" Anadil whispered.

Hester smiled at her, a rare sight.

"Since this afternoon."

Anadil laughed and Hester frowned.

"How about you?" the tattooed witch asked.

Anadil paused for a minute.

"About two weeks."

Hester stared at her.

"Why do you think I started brushing my hair?" Anadil asked, moving a bit closer.

Hester's eyes widened dramatically.

"Wait... you were..."

"Trying to get your attention for two weeks? Yes," she said.

Hester grinned and slowly wrapped her arms around Anadil's waist.

"So the shower?" Hester asked

"Sophie's input."

The tattooed witch made a face.

"Only thing I think I've ever agreed with her on."

Anadil laughed and leaned closer.

"Do you remember the night I asked you about the inferno spell?" Anadil whispered.

Hester nodded

"Sophie told me to do that."

Hester gaped at her, remembering exactly what had happened that night.

"It worked," she said.

Anadil grinned and leaned forward, Hester coming to meet her halfway.

Just then, the trapdoor to the roof opened and Dot stuck her head up with a beaming smile.

"Hester! Anadil! Someone asked me to the No Ball!" Dot danced onto the roof, not looking at the pair.

Both girls, inches apart, looked over at their roommate.

"I-" Dot cut herself off as she finally looked at the pair.

"Oh my gosh! Did you-" Hester nodded.

Dot squealed loudly and clapped her hands.

Anadil looked at her, clearly hoping their friend would leave them alone.

But, even though Dot loved that her friends had gotten together, she stayed.

She had very important news to share as well.

"I got asked to the No Ball!" Dot said again.

This time both witches look at her.

"What?" Anadil asked.

"Who?" Hester said, clearly wondering whether she would need to intimidate her friend's date.

"Kiko!" Dot said happily, doing a little happy dance.

Anadil and Hester, still inches apart, looked at each other with surprise.

"I thought you were into Hort," Anadil said.

Dot shook her head.

"That was last week... plus, Kiko's way nicer!" Dot said happily.

Hester and Anadil both looked at her with an identical expression.

Dot was still grinning and she ran a finger through her rose Kiko had given her with an excited look on her face.

Hester and Anadil exchanged a look before both of them smiled.

"That's great, Dot," Anadil said.

Hester nodded slightly, hoping their friend would leave.

But Dot was far too excited about everything that had happened.

She barreled forward and grabbed both her friends in a giant hug, squeezing them.

"I can't believe you're finally together!" Dot squealed.

Hester stumbles slightly, barely righting herself as her two roommates were thrown against her.

Hester wasn't one for affection...

But even she couldn't stop herself from reciprocating the hug that night.

~

Hester and Anadil were awkward the rest of the night, both of them clearly remembering what Dot had interrupted and not wanting to mention it.

Hester suddenly realized something very dire.

She didn't know how to dance.

She'd danced her first year, but more than half of that had been Ravan and herself stepping on each other's feet and growling at each other in response.

She'd expected that when she got a date they wouldn't actually be... well, on a date.

But now she had Anadil to go with and had no idea what to do.

She had two days to learn.

~

Hester cornered Dot as Anadil got ready for bed.

"Dot, do you know how to dance?" she asked.

Her friend stared at her for a moment before she burst out laughing.

Hester glared at her.

"Yes, I know how to dance," she said.

Hester nodded before retreating to her bed.

"You're helping me tomorrow."

~

The next morning, Hester woke Dot up at the crack of dawn.

The chocolate-loving witch had been grouchy to say the least, but she'd complied (equal parts because she wanted to help Hester and because she knew her friend would be merciless in her revenge if she didn't).

Dot had a bit of trouble teaching Hester how to dance considering she was teaching the male part, but she did her best.

Dot let out a yelp as Hester stepped on her feet.

"How are you so bad at this?"

Hester snarled, glowering at her friend malevolently.

Dot stayed quiet after that.

By the end of their practice, Hester was able to get through a simple dance without killing her partner's feet in the process.

~

The three witches made their way through the hall.

Hester and Anadil were walking closer than normal and whispers followed them.

The two frowned and looked at each other before Dot.

The shortest witch stayed silent, staring straight ahead like she didn't notice a thing.

Hester made a mental note to beat the answer out of her later...

But right now Hester was distracted as Anadil's hand brushed against her own.

She wondered if that was on accident or on purpose... she hoped the former.

Suddenly, Hester realized something.

When Anadil meant she was trying to get her attention... she meant she had been trying.

Those little lingering touches, the way Anadil would laugh more at her mean spirited jokes, the-

Hester choked on air and her head shot over to Anadil.

"Ani, did you do something to your uniform?" she whispered.

The albino blushed.

"I didn't... but Sophie may or may not have snuck into our bedroom and cut it for me."

Hester stared at her friend (date? Girlfriend? She wasn't sure what to call her... but she was hoping for the last option desperately).

Anadil gave her a small smile.

"Hester, you really are oblivious."

Normally the tattooed witch would have been offended (and would have probably sent her demon after whoever had dared utter the treacherous words), but instead she just snorted.

Hester allowed her own hand to brush against Anadil's, but neither of them seemed brave enough to grab the other's fully.

~

"Hester looks... happy!" Vex said incredulously.

The three witches of room 66 were sitting on their normal bench, but Hester and Anadil seemed closer than ever before, the two whispering together.

"That's because she's with Anadil!" Mona responded with a grin.

"I can't wait to get my gold coins," Arachne said smugly, remembering the large sum of money she had bet on the two witches getting together.

Vex sulked, remembering his own bet on Anadil's crush being on him.

But it seemed like Anadil was, in fact, taken (and by a witch that would quite likely murder him if he ever made another move on her).

~

"Dot, why's everyone looking at us like that?" Hester asked, seeing that practically every Ever and Never was staring at them.

Dot shifted uncomfortably.

"No reason."

Both of her friends look at her, an identical expression situated on both their faces.

She started to sweat.

"I... may have accidentally let someone know Anadil had a crush when I got the book."

Anadil glared at her (though the blush she had on her face diminished its effects) and Hester frowned.

"What book?"

Dot cleared her throat.

"Anyways, people started... taking bets on who Ani liked and long story short everyone is convinced you two are madly in love."

Both of them blushed.

"How do you 'accidentally' let someone know that I had a crush?" Anadil growled.

"I had the book and Kiko just kept asking who I was helping! It's not my fault she guessed correctly!"

Anadil was seething and looked about ready to spontaneously combust.

"What book?!" Hester demanded.

Dot slowly pulled the book out of her bag.

Hester snatched it out of her hands and flipped to the bookmark she had in it.

Inside, she found the three steps Anadil had used on her.

But of course these steps wouldn't actually work because they were for dumb Ever princes that couldn't pull their heads out of their bum-

She froze as she read them.

1) Flaunt your strengths

Hester remembered how Anadil had started to take care of herself... the ripped up dress...

2) Speak through actions, not words

So when she'd been flirting and 'accidentally' touching Hester...

3) Parade competing suitors

She seethed at the thought of Vex.

But these couldn't possibly work on her. She was a powerful, fearsome witch that couldn't be swayed by a book for princesses trying to woo their princes!

Hester snapped the book closed.

Dot and Anadil were both eyeing her warily.

"It's not like any of that would have worked on me," Hester said.

Both Anadil and Dot stared at her.

Dot suddenly couldn't hold it in any longer.

"But... it did. Does that officially make you the guy in your relationship?"

Hester glared and the demon leapt off of her neck, soaring toward an already screaming Dot.

Hester watched with grim satisfaction as her talent chased Dot through the clearing, Kiko trying her hardest to save her date to the No Ball, even going so far as to throw herself in front of it with her finger glowing brightly.

Hester's demon easily dodged Kiko's sloppy attack and the two girls (plus Hester's demon) ran through the clearing like chickens with their heads cut off.

Suddenly, Hester heard an odd sound.

She looked to the side and saw Anadil... snickering.

Hester found herself barely even noticing as her demon kept chasing after Dot.

"What?" she asked.

Anadil burst out into cackles, holding her stomach.

"Dot was right," she wheezed.

Hester growled, face growing warm.

"Whatever," she muttered.

Anadil didn't stop laughing and it definitely didn't help when Hester's demon burnt Dot on the behind.

Hester ignored what the two girls had said... well, she tried to at least, but she still found herself frowning.

Was she?

~

In their seventh class, Anadil started to shiver again and Hester slid her coat off, handing it to her roommate.

Dot started laughing and Anadil soon joined in.

Hester growled, glaring at both of them.

So what if she was the guy of the relationship?!

Hester sighed internally as she accepted their words.

They were right... but that didn't mean she wasn't going to get Dot back later.

~

Hester and Anadil stood in their bedroom that night, the two only inches apart.

Both found themselves smiling (as much as they ever did, that is) and moving closer as they had the night before.

Hester grabbed onto Anadil's waist again and as Anadil leaned forward, hands around Hester's neck-

The door was thrown open.

Both witches let out loud groans as they moved apart, seeing Dot enter.

She started talking about her new girlfriend and how romantic she was.

"She went into the blue forest all by herself yesterday to get me a bouquet of flowers!" Dot fawned from her bed.

Both Anadil and Hester tried not to throttle their roommate.

~

The next day at lunch, Kiko joined them... if only to make sure that her girlfriend wasn't attacked by Hester again.

"I'll be right back!" Dot chirped before standing and getting seconds.

As soon as she left, both Hester and Anadil slid across the bench.

Hester leaned forward and looked Kiko in the eyes, Anadil's head on her shoulder as they both eyed her distrustfully.

"If you hurt Dot, we will break every bone in your body until you plead for death and only then will we leave you, a broken mess lying there on the ground and unable to do anything but let death overtake you," Hester said.

Kiko shook like a terrified rabbit.

Anadil nodded and her rats hissed menacingly.

"I-I'm not going to hurt her!" Kiko squeaked.

Both Hester and Anadil glared darkly at her.

Dot arrived then and looked from her roommates to her girlfriend.

"What did you say?!" she snapped with surprising venom in her voice.

"They said they were going to kill me!" Kiko suddenly said, shrinking back on the bench.

Dot's eyes widened and she sunk onto the bench beside Kiko, wrapping an arm around the small girl's shoulders.

"Don't worry, that'll never happen."

She glared at her friends darkly.

"Right?"

Hester and Anadil glanced at each other before glaring at Kiko.

"If you hurt her, your little witch in shining won't be there to protect you anymore, will she?" Anadil asked, proving their point before leaning back and taking her chin from Hester's shoulder.

Both witches went back to eating as if nothing had happened.

Kiko put her head on Dot and tried not to show how scared she was.

The chocolate-loving witch glared at her friends.

"You're never going to hurt her, got it?"

Anadil and Hester's eyes widened at the edge in her voice and exchanged a look.

"Fine," they said as one.

Dot nodded before turning back to her girlfriend and grinning.

Chapter Text

Sophie bustled into Malice Room 66, several poofy dresses in her hands. Hester and Anadil just about barfed at the sight.

"We're not wearing those," Hester growled.

Sophie stared at her for a long moment before sighing dramatically and turning on her heel, striding out of the room without a second glance.

She came back ten minutes later, new outfits in her hands.

"You need to wear something fancy for the No Ball! You have less than a day to get a date now." Sophie stared at Anadil pointedly before gesturing at Hester.

Anadil smirked.

"I already have a date." Sophie froze and then looked at Hester.

The tattooed witch had he same expression that Anadil had.

Sophie stared at the two.

"Well then... didn't think she was interested, Anadil. Guess I taught you well," Sophie said with a smug smirk on her face.

Hester rolled her eyes.

"This had nothing to do with you," she said... but she knew that without Dot and Sophie it would have taken far longer for the two of them to do anything about their feelings.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Why can't you just say 'thank you'?" she asked, setting the clothes out on the bed for the three witches.

Hester rolled her eyes and ignored her as she rambled on and on about clothing and other things Hester didn’t care about.

~

The No Ball came far too soon and yet not soon enough.

Hester found herself waiting outside their room in a simple black dress.

She hadn’t been allowed to come in as per Dot and Sophie’s orders as they helped Anadil ‘get ready’.

Hester felt like they were giving her last minute advice on... something.

She had no idea what it could be.

Her mind continued to wander randomly until she heard the door open.

She stood up straighter, hands awkwardly messing with the black bouquet of flowers she’d been told by Sophie to get.

She expected to find Anadil, but instead Dot came out, making Hester sigh.

Dot rolled her eyes.

“Hester, you can’t be here! You have to meet Ani at the No Ball itself! It’s a real date!” Hester stared at her blankly.

Dot sighed.

“You have no idea what I’m talking about.”

Hester nodded.

Dot grabbed onto her hand and pulled her down toward the staircase.

Hester looked back at their room with a sigh.

She just wanted to see her before they got there...

She wondered if Anadil had dressed up at all.

Hester herself hadn’t done too much, but it was more than she had ever done in her life.

What she would do for this witch was crazy.

~

Anadil nervously made her way down the staircase with Sophie beside her.

“Remember, don’t mess this up.”

“Thanks. That super helpful,” Anadil said dryly, glaring at the school dean.

Sophie shrugged and gave her a small smile.

“Hey, I got you this far, didn’t I?” Anadil chose not to respond to that question, instead focusing on the night ahead.

~

Kiko was the first to arrive and as soon as she saw Dot she exploded with excitement.

“Dotty!” she said, hurrying forward and grasping her girlfriend’s hands.

Dot looked positively ecstatic.

“I got you these!” Kiko said, pulling out some flowers and handing them to her.

They were a vibrant pink color, just as all the Evers had likely gotten their dates.

Hester rolled her eyes at their PDA.

Her and Ani wouldn’t do that kind of thing.

But the idea made her heart soar more than she would ever willingly admit.

Dot looked back at her with a bit of worry, but Hester made a shooting motion with her hands.

Dot grinned and grabbed her girlfriend’s hand before pulling her away.

Hester tried not to look awkward as she stood there all by herself, waiting for her date.

~

Anadil took the final steps down the stairs and found Nevers suddenly turning around to look at her in shock.

She blushed and surveyed the crowd until she caught sight of the only person here worth looking at.

Her date.

Hester stared at her with wide eyes and Anadil was glad she had decided to wear the nice dark gray dress Sophie had gotten.

Hester cleared her throat as Anadil approached and tried not to show how excited (and nervous) she felt at the moment.

“Here,” Hester said a bit more gruffly than she probably should have.

She thrust the flowers into Anadil’s hand and the albino found herself smiling.

“Thanks,” she said quietly.

Neither of them noticed Sophie rolling her eyes in the background at the awkwardness of the pair.

“Should we...” Hester gestured at the No Ball entrance and Anadil was pulled from her thoughts.

She nodded and suddenly saw Hester’s hand reach out.

Her heart skipped a beat and she found herself smiling.

Her own pale hand reached back out and Hester’s grabbed onto hers.

She would expect Hester’s grip to be overly tight when she held her hand, but it was actually... gentle.

Anadil blushed and noticed Hester doing the same before leading her inside.

This was the first time they’d held hands and Anadil couldn’t possibly more excited about it.

They noticed Nevers looking at them with shock and excitement, many of them handing over bits of gold to each other while some muttered about having to talk to some Ever about their bet.

But neither girl paid attention to everyone else.

The only ones that mattered were each other.

~

Dot and Kiko were awkwardly dancing in the center of the dance floor while letting out loud laughs.

Neither of them cared that Nevers whispered about the only Ever there or the fact that she and Dot were all of the sudden dating.

~

At the edge of the dance floor, Hort and Ravan kept stepping on each other’s feet despite their greatest efforts not to.

Neither seemed to care about the occasional foot pain, however, considering they were both grinning like maniacs.

~

Anadil and Hester walked in and several Nevers stopped what they were doing to stare at them.

They ignored it and made their way to the food table, the main attraction (or at least they would say it was).

After about fifteen minutes of the two witches sitting in the corner and insulting everyone like usual, the rest of the Nevers went back to what they were doing and left the pair alone.

The two were glad for that, neither of them liking getting so much attention.

~

Hester summoned all of her courage and stood, making her way over to Anadil who was about two feet away.

“Ani, would you like to dance?” she asked, knowing how corny and Ever-y she sounded saying it.

She didn’t care.

This was important to both of them. Anadil blushed and nodded, taking the hand Hester offered.

~

The two danced for about fifteen minutes to a long list of fast songs until suddenly a slow one played.

Both of them blushed and looked at the other, wondering if they wanted to go back to the snack table.

But neither seemed to want to, so they awkwardly moved together until they were in the Classic dance stance.

About halfway through the first slow song, Anadil summoned the courage to put her head on Hester’s shoulder.

She could hear Hester’s heartbeat and she smirked at the fast pace.

That was because of her.

That little bit of reassurance soothed her into the realization that this was all, in fact, really happening.

She looked up and saw Hester staring into her eyes.

Her heart stopped.

Was this... She hoped so.

She leaned up and saw Hester leaning down, their faces (and more importantly lips) less than an inch apart.

Just as they were about to touch, Hester pulled away.

Anadil blinked in surprise and looked at her date, hurt.

Did she actually not- But Hester had already started rushing off, pulling Anadil along by their still connected hands.

The two girls finally got outside and Hester turned around, making sure nobody else was around.

“Hester, what’s going o-” But Hester interrupted her by leaning down and capturing her lips with her own.

Time stopped and Anadil finally understood what the Evers were always talking about.

She could see the fireworks, could hear her heart hammering in her eyes, and had never felt happier in her while life.

She finally understood.

Hester set her hands around her waist as gently as she had held her hand, her touch soft enough that she seemed to think that anything more rough would break whatever fragile thing they had.

Anadil grabbed onto Hester’s shoulders and pulled her down more, making Hester let out a grunt of surprise.

Anadil let out a quiet laugh against Hester’s mouth and pulled her closer.

She’d waited a long time for this and she was going to make the most of it.

She reached one of her hands up into Hester’s hair and ran her hand through it.

It was softer than she’d ever imagined.

She’d always wondered how that hair would feel, especially with those red streaks that somehow seemed to be her natural color (probably something to do with her demon).

Hester suddenly pulled her closer and the two stayed like that for as long as they could before separating for air.

“Sorry for dragging you out here... I just wanted our first kiss to be something special, something private. I didn’t want anyone else there to ruin it.

Anadil blushed at the thoughtfulness. Anadil gave her a smile and Hester gave her a rare grin.

“Does this make you my girlfriend?” Anadil asked.

Hester snorted.

“No, you’re my girlfriend.”

“That’s the same thing!”

The two started to laugh before falling silent and just staring at each other.

Hester leaned back down, but there was a sudden throat clearing and they both jumped, looking for its source.

They saw both Kiko and Dot standing there.

Dot was giggling and clapping her hands happily, bringing Kiko’s hand up as she did so and making the Evergirl laugh.

“Come on, you had you turn, Hestadil! Give Kido a chance!” Dot said before pulling Kiko forward toward the romantic spot the two witches had been inhabiting.

Kiko and Dot leaned toward each other and the two witches hurried out.

They did not want to see those two start making out.

As they went back inside, they caught sight of Hort and Ravan canoodling in the corner.

“My eyes will never recover,” Anadil said solemnly.

Hester nodded her agreement and the two hurried off.

~

The rest of the night was a blur, but their first kiss was certainly not the last of the night as the two new girlfriends (a word they each said happily several times that night when describing each other) had a great time.

Sophie would claim it was all her idea to get the two together and Dot would deny it vehemently.

But it didn’t matter what the two said. Because something else had recorded the truth of everything.

~

The Storian scribbled out the words The End underneath the picture of two witches walking out of the No Ball, hand in hand.

The book closed and the title was seen for the first time.

Winning Your Witch.