Chapter Text
The day after the Club Fair, Luz and Amity agreed to meet up at recess to recruit a faculty supervisor for their Book Club.
“So your aunt is a librarian here?” Amity asked curiously as they crossed the courtyard.
“Yep!” Luz answered with an extra skip in her step. “She used to be a tutor, but she started working at Hexside last year. I think you’ll get along really well, actually! You’re both super serious, hard-working, and passionate about books.”
Luz snapped her mouth shut. Damn it. She was rambling again. When was she going to learn?
“And you think she’ll actually agree to facilitate our club?” Amity pursed her lips.
“Definitely!” Luz nodded. “Auntie Lulu can never say no to me!”
Soon enough, they arrived at the school library. Luz made a beeline for the check-out counter, and Amity had to jog to keep up with her. But as they reached Lilith’s desk, Luz could feel Amity slow down and pull behind before coming to a full stop.
Luz turned around to ask her what was wrong, but Lilith took notice of their approach and rose up from her seat to greet them. However, nothing came out of Lilith’s mouth. She just stood and stared at Luz.
But then Luz realized that Lilith wasn’t staring at her. Lilith was staring at Amity. And Amity was looking everywhere but Lilith.
“Luz. You can ask your aunt. I have to go.” Amity glared at the bookshelves as if they personally offended her, before sprinting out of the room.
Lilith was so out of it, she didn’t even reprimand her for running in the library.
“I didn’t know you and Amity were friends.” Lilith bit her lip as she took a seat with Luz on one of the vacant library tables.
“You know Amity?” Luz inquired.
“Yes. I was her tutor for a long time.” Lilith sighed wistfully. “She was a brilliant prodigy. She didn’t even need my help most of the time. And her parents donated a lot of money to my program, so I was surprised when they pulled her out.”
“They pulled her out?” Luz questioned.
Lilith pointed a glare at the table.
“Yes. They accused me of distracting her from school and being a bad influence on her.” Lilith shook her head. “I still have no idea what they were talking about, and everything was happening so fast.”
Lilith stifled an indignant groan.
“But because a lot of my students were in their circle of friends, one by one, they all eventually dropped out, too.” Lilith chewed on her lip. “And without their funds, I just couldn’t keep the program up. That’s why I started working here.”
“I thought you just wanted a more stable income.” Luz gasped.
Lilith offered her a somber smile.
“Amity’s parents have a lot of influence.” Lilith shrugged. “And not just with me. They’re one of the biggest sponsors at Hexside, too.”
“So why would you work here?” Luz furrowed her eyebrows.
Lilith got up from her seat and started ruffling her hair.
“Because you wanted to go here.” Lilith grinned. “And I can’t say no to my Luzifer.”
Not knowing what else to do, Luz wrapped her arms around her.
“Thank you, Auntie Lulu,” Luz murmured into her shoulder.
Her aunt cooed as she patted her back.
“So. What did you and Amity want to talk to me about?” Lilith whispered.
That night, Luz was sprawled out in her bed, wide awake. She had spent the last hour tossing and turning, but she was too excited to fall asleep. Tomorrow was going to be the first day of her and Amity’s Book Club, and she was buzzing with excitement.
A soft vibration from her phone caused her to jolt up. Knowing that lying back down would’ve been futile, she welcomed the convenient distraction.
And to her pleasant surprise, it was a message from Cat.
“Hey, Luzura. Are you free right now?”
Luz couldn’t help the smile that graced her face as she typed a reply.
“Yup! What’s up?”
Cat texted back almost instantly.
“I can’t sleep. There’s been a bunch of stuff happening lately that’s tough to deal with, but I don’t really wanna get into it tonight. How about you? How’re things on your end?”
Luz’s grin slipped away as concerned started overflowing her mind.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Just know that I’m here for you if you ever want to talk about it! Anyway, it’s been pretty good.”
Luz thought back to her time yesterday when she saw Boscha in the library, and how the other girl called The Good Witch Azura a series for kids.
“But can I ask you something random, Cat?”
Cat replied instantaneously, and Luz could feel the worry bleeding into her words.
“Of course! Go for it.”
Luz took a deep breath before slowly thumbing her keypad.
“Do you have any friends in real life that you can talk to about The Good Witch Azura?”
It took a solid minute before Cat responded.
“No. But right now, I’m not really sure if I have any friends at all.”
Luz looked at her phone screen with a crestfallen expression, as if hoping to communicate her melancholy telepathically.
“How can that be? You’re so sweet and cool and talented!”
Cat took her time responding again.
“Thank you. But I wasn’t always like that. Though enough about me. Why do you ask?”
Luz gulped before answering.
“I want to make new friends at school. But I’m just scared of everybody thinking all of my interests and hobbies are childish.”
There was a beat before Cat replied again.
“I’m probably not the best person to ask. I used to have friends who teased me for liking stuff like The Good Witch Azura. So for the most part, I keep it to myself.”
Luz’s face fell as she read the message. Titan, did she know how that felt.
“I’m so sorry to hear that, Cat. Maybe I don’t need new friends to talk about The Good Witch Azura. There’s other stuff I’m into, after all. Besides, I’ll always have you, right?”
The moment Luz hit the send button, she panicked. Was that too presumptuous? What if Cat went off the grid again? What if she didn’t feel the same way?
Before she could spiral any further, she got a response.
“Obviously! I’ll always be here for you, Luzura. I promise. You’re my best friend.”
Luz then promptly burst into tears.
“Welcome, students, to the very first official meeting of Hexside’s own Book Club!” Lilith greeted Luz and her friends as they took their seats. Since the other clubs had already reserved most of the classrooms, they decided to use a private room in the school library usually used for one-on-one tutoring sessions.
There was still an awkward tension in the air between Lilith and Amity that was so palpable, Luz could have cut it with a knife. However, they both chose to remain polite and blatantly ignore whatever was going on between the two of them, for better or worse.
Even though Gus and Willow both signed up for other clubs, they joined the Book Club, too. Apparently Hexside encouraged students to join as many extracurricular activities as possible since it looked better for college applications. Plus, the Gardening Club’s and the Drama Club’s schedules didn’t conflict with one another, and since the four of them were the only members and Lilith was their facilitator, they could just schedule Book Club meetings when they were all free. Gus and Willow probably couldn’t make it to every meeting, but they wanted to support Luz and Amity.
They had also invited Luz and Amity to sign up for their own respective clubs, too. Amity respectfully declined their offers, although she visibly cringed when the Drama Club was brought up, probably because of the twins they had met the other day. However, Luz wanted to try a little bit of everything, so she joined the Drama Club and the Gardening Club, as well.
“Let’s begin with introductions then. Just say your name, a fun fact about you, and—since we’re a Book Club, after all—your favorite book. I’ll start us off.” Lilith gave them a courteous bow. “My name is Lilith Clawthorne. A fun fact about me is that I practice calligraphy. I even have a collection of antique pens, quills, and inkwells. And my favorite book must be Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado. It’s an anthology of short stories about the strife women are forced to go through in a patriarchal society—with some of those stories being told through surrealism, horror, and science fiction. Now, who would like to go next?”
Willow raised her hand confidently before piping up. “I’m Willow Park. A fun fact about me is that I plan on joining the roller derby team this season. And my favorite book is probably Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. It’s about a family’s intergenerational trauma, culture, and identity.”
Gus volunteered to go next. “Gus Porter. A fun fact about me is that I skipped 2 grades, so I’m actually a lot younger than the rest of the students here. And my favorite book has to be Never Have I Ever by Isabel Yap. It’s a collection of urban fantasy short stories with inspiration drawn from Filipino folklore.”
And then it was Amity. She nodded curtly to the rest of the room. She cleared her throat as if she was about to give a speech she had rehearsed a dozen times before. “I am Amity…Park. A fun fact about me is that I plan on entering the Bonesborough Brawl gaming tournament this year.”
From her peripheral vision, Luz saw Lilith tilt her head in confusion.
There was a beat before Amity continued, “And my favorite book has to be…The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. It’s a tragic novel about the lives of Patroclus and Achilles.”
Luz perked up. “Titan, I had the biggest Greek mythology phase back in middle school! I was absolutely obsessed with Percy Jackson and the Olympians.”
Amity stifled a laugh. “I did, too. It’s how I got into The Song of Achilles, actually.”
They all then turned to Luz, as she was the only one left. Luz offered them a shy wave in return. “My name’s Luz Clawthorne-Noceda. A fun fact about me is that I am a huge fan of Amphibia.”
Gus and Willow shared a confused look and Lilith cocked her head curiously. Luz sighed. She knew this was the wrong crowd.
“Oh! I love that show!” Amity suddenly beamed.
“You do?” Luz raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“Yeah. I just like animated shows. I don’t know.” Amity shrugged bashfully.
There was a pause before Luz teased, “You’re totally a Sasha.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Amity glared, although Luz could tell it was halfhearted.
“Nothing,” Luz chirped.
“If I’m a Sasha, then you’re a Marcy.” Amity rolled her eyes.
“Hey! I’m an Anne!” Luz pouted.
“Luz?” Lilith coughed into her fist to gain her attention. “We do have an agenda for today, so may you please continue?”
“Right. Sorry.” Luz smiled sheepishly.
Titan. She had to think of a favorite book. What did teenagers like? Wasn’t dystopian young adult fiction popular nowadays? Would that be relatable? But would that make her boring? All of the others were well-read, weren’t they? Maybe she should go with something more high brow? Or would that be too pretentious? Should she go with something obscure? Or would that be stuck up?
“And my favorite book is…Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.” Luz spoke carefully. “It’s a comedy about an angel and a demon living amongst humans.”
“I watched the show based on it.” Amity grinned devilishly. “Aziraphale and Crowley were so funny.”
Luz beamed, relieved that she was met with approval and acceptance.
After their very first club meeting, Lilith dismissed them for the day. Gus and Willow suggested that they all head to The Parking Latte. But from the corner of her eye, Luz saw Lilith looking at Amity curiously.
“Amity? Can you please stay for a moment?” Lilith requested.
Amity took in a sharp breath before nodding. She turned to Luz and the others. “I’ll just see you guys there. I’ll be back before my shift starts.”
“We can wait for you.” Willow offered.
Amity shook her head. Her eyes darted back to Lilith. “This…might take a while.”
Willow nodded sagely before herding Luz and Gus out of the room.
The last thing she saw before Lilith closed the door was Amity crying.