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Amity could tell she was being followed. The human - Luz, she reminded herself - was not terribly adept at stealth so it was fairly obvious from the moment Amity left her classroom and started down the hall.
She had to remind herself to use the girl's name because in a way they had become friendly. Well, friendlier at the very least. There was still something about Luz that unsettled her, that set her nerves on edge whenever they found themselves together. Perhaps it could be that it seemed like every time Luz came around her some sort of minor catastrophe or major hijinks was sure to follow.
In any case, Amity was not up for whatever chaos Luz would doubtless stir up. She only had five minutes to get from where she was on the east wing to the north tower. And hearing Luz's not so subtle footsteps behind her was not helping her already-climbing stress levels.
It didn't help that every time Amity took a brief pause or turned her head slightly she was treated to the sound of Luz stumbling over herself to hide behind something, or duck her head into the crowd of other students so Amity might not spot her.
As if that were possible. Even without her rounded ears Luz stuck out like a sore thumb, so Amity didn't know who she thought she was fooling.
After three of her precious five minutes had been wasted turning several corners and taking the least-efficient path towards her destination, Amity gave up trying to shake the other girl loose.
She took one more turn around a corner, waited for Luz to follow... and pounced.
Amity shoved Luz into the wall, left arm pinning her across the chest. Luz gave a shriek of surprise, her hands flying up instinctively to her face, a small, folded piece of paper fell from her open palm and floated to the floor.
"Okay, what is it? Why are we following me?"
Amity hissed.
Luz gulped audibly, nervous hesitation in her voice when she answered.
"Um... hey Amity, I was just--- just trying to get your attention," she laughed nervously.
Amity loosened her hold on Luz, brow still furrowed.
"Well you got it, despite my efforts. So what do you want?"
Once she had let go, Amity watched Luz's gaze turn down to the floor. She crouched down and fumbled for a few moments before finding the piece of paper.
Dusting it off with one hand, Luz picked it up and inspected it, straightening out a slight wrinkle.
Once it appeared to have passed her inspection, she handed it out to Amity.
"Here, this is for you. I made it."
That smile she always seemed to wear was back in place, Amity noticed. She blinked at Luz, uncertain if this was some sort of prank or trick. But her guileless smile wore her down, and Amity took it from Luz's outstretched hand.
A heart was drawn asymmetrically on the front in red, and when Amity opened it up on the inside was written, 'To Amity, from Luz. Happy Valentine's day."
Amity frowned at the unfamiliar word.
"I don't understand. What is a 'Valentine's day'?" She looked up from the writing to see Luz rocking on her feet, heel to toe.
"Well, it's a holiday in my world. You use it to show how much you care about someone."
Amity stared from the paper to Luz, unsure of what to say.
In the absence of a reply from her, Luz babbled on.
"It's a tradition to give cards to a special people in your life. So, I made this one for you."
Amity blinked again.
"And... you wanted to make one for me?" She questioned. Certainly there were other people Luz was close to who should get a 'Valentine's' card over her.
"Yeah," Luz nodded. "I mean... I made one for Willow and Gus and Eda and King, too. You were the last one I had to get one too, and it wasn't easy to keep up with you to get it to you, I'll tell you that."
Luz gave another nervous laugh. Probably attempting to dissolve some of the awkwardness that had manifested between them.
So Amity shouldn't be too flattered that Luz had thought to make her this holiday's card. She apparently was one of several. But the other girl's darting gaze and the fact that Luz had tried to hide whenever she had given the slightest tell that Luz was there gave Amity pause.
"Okay... so why the sneaking around, why not just give it to me?"
At this, Luz shifted her weight from one foot to the other, avoiding Amity's gaze for another few seconds before taking a step towards her and meekly pointing to the paper.
"Well, at first I wasn't actually sure if I should... or could give it to you. But I feel like you deserve one just as much as my other friends."
Amity's eyes locked onto Luz's at the word 'friends'.
Her words caught in her throat.
"You consider us friends?"
"Well - I mean - not best friends or anything, but we're getting there. Or at least I think we are."
She tapped one side of the inside of the card, where Amity had only just noticed two of the light spell runes Luz had shown her once before.
The paper crinkled into itself, absorbing into the two symbols. Two balls of light grew from its remains, morphing together into a glowing light in the shape of a heart.
Amity held the heart shaped light, its warmth radiating to her fingers.
She caught Luz's gaze again as it glowed between them.
"I figured out how to do that and wanted to show you," Luz said, the hesitation leaving her tone.
"I know we're not very close, but I wanted you to see - to know - that you inspire me, Amity. You make me want to train even harder to be the best witch I can be."
Amity's eyes widened, captivated by both her words and the determined sparkle in Luz's eyes. After her constant coolness towards her, this girl still thought of her this way?
"And I hope that one day I can be just as talented as you... and maybe be worthy of you."
Amity had been so focused on Luz and her clear determination that she jumped a little when she felt the other girl's hands clasp down on her own, extinguishing the glowing heart between their joined fingers, leaving only the warmth behind.
It might've been the sudden loss of that light source, but Amity thought she saw a pinkies to Luz's face. Or it could have been the warmth, since she could feel her own cheeks heating up.
As suddenly as she had taken Amity's hands, Luz dropped them, whipping them behind her back and back a few steps away.
"I meant, like, worthy to be called your friend, I mean," she added in a tumble of words Amity almost didn't catch.
Looking at Luz, at how anxious she appeared to be just to show her, this must truly have meant a lot to her.
It made Amity want to reassure her, to take back the steps Luz had taken away from her and take the other girl's hands again. She wanted to tell Luz that she already was worthy to her friendship, if such a thing was to be earned in the first place. Luz admired her... was inspired by her. She wanted to be able to articulate how that made her feel.
But the words didn't come out. Something about this girl always caught her off guard, stirred up emotions that she couldn't properly categorize resulting in a sense of helplessness that she didn't understand.
Was she a friend, a rival, a nuisance? All of the above? Whatever she was to Amity, she always seemed to end their conversations not saying what she felt she should have.
"Thank you... I guess," were the words that finally left her mouth, soft yet stilted.
"You're welcome," Luz replied with another smile. Then after another awkward moment waved to her before backing away down the hall, the opposite direction of where Amity was headed.
Amity stayed where she was, still sifting through her thoughts at this encounter, at Luz's gift and declaration, before the screaming bell jolted her to sprint towards her earlier destination.