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Luz rapped her knuckles against the tall white door of the Blight mansion. “Hello, anybody home?” She sang out, to nobody in particular. It was 10 am, the day after Grom.
After a moments’ wait, the door swung open, revealing Amity. “Oh, hey, Luz!”
“Hi, Amity! I needed to talk to you about last night.”
Amity nodded and gestured for her to come in, before sitting on a couch. “It didn’t happen.” She said, bluntly.
Luz gasped, eyes wide. “Bu-but-“
Amity’s eyes softened. “I know you’re comfortable with- with who you are, but I’ve still gotta figure this out, ya know? Last night, I wasn’t thinking straight-”
Luz snorted, trying to lighten the mood with a terrible joke. “You can say that again!”
Amity looked at her with an odd expression. “What?”
“Oh, it was just-” Luz hesitated. “Nevermind, keep going.”
“And besides, if my parents- i-if they knew- if I had-, the-they would-,” Amity began to stutter, fear and anxiety creeping into her eyes. Luz saw it and placed her hand on Amity’s, who instinctively withdrew hers.
Luz looked into Amity’s eyes, her own full of sorrow. “I understand.” Luz knew what Amity was going through, but that didn’t really stop her from becoming dejected.
Amity’s own expression became apologetic. “I really like you, but I think we need to just be friends. At least for now.”
Luz smiled nervously. “How about friends who hang out together and sometimes hold hands when nobody is looking?” Amity stifled a small giggle and briefly hesitated.
“You know what, Luz? I’d like that.”
Luz’s smile changed from a nervous one to a genuine one. “Good. Glad to be your ‘friend’.” Luz added air quotes around the word ‘friend’, making Amity chuckle again.
“Well, ‘friend’, I’ll see you on Wednesday!”
Amity nodded with a wide smile on her face. Luz left her house and began wandering back home, lost in thought, when she realized what had just happened. Amity was basically her ‘girlfriend’ now.
That word sounded so strange to her.
Even though Luz had achieved what she had wanted, she couldn’t stop her spirits from sinking, and she found she was slowly retreating from her friends, going with them less often and focusing more on her schoolwork over the next week. Amity noticed that something was off at their next Azura meeting, but thought nothing of it.
One day, at lunch, Amity was eating with Boscha and her ‘friends’, paying no attention to their mindless conversation, when she saw Luz. Luz was staring at her uneaten food and prodding it with a fork. Amity was watching her, her thoughts someplace else, when Boscha dragged her forcefully back into the conversation. “Are you staring at that human girl again? Ew! Ams, she’s not a real witch! She can’t even do real magic! Talk to us! We are your friends, not her!” Boscha whined.
Amity looked at her coldly. “Really? You’re one to talk, Miss My-third-eye-always-follows-half-a-witch-Willow! Luz can do magic better than you ever could!” She countered, earning an ‘Ooooh’ from Boscha’s friends and a deep blush from Boscha. “Shut up! I don’t like her!”
Amity raised an eyebrow and pointed at Boscha’s third eye, which was clearly trying to disguise the fact that it was still staring at Willow. Boscha harrumphed, drawing her arms to her chest. “Ever since that human started going here, you’ve been barely talking to me, your bestest friend! It’s like she’s your girlfriend or something!”
This time Amity blushed. “She’s a better friend than you are! I don’t even know why I hang out with you!”
Boscha’s face softened. “Is that true, Ams?” Amity hesitated, which was all the answer Boscha needed. Her face hardened again into a mask of anger as she stood up sharply. “Fine! If you really like her more than me, go eat with her!”
The yelling drew all eyes to the arguement, including Luz’s. Amity’s eyes were wide as she stood up, grabbing her tray. “I will!” Amity dragged her food away and angrily sat down at Luz’s lonely table. The ambient din of the cafeteria quickly returned as Amity ate rapidly, mowing down her meal. “Hi, Amity! Things not going so great with Boscha?”
Amity shook her head silently, still eating quickly. Luz stared at her for a moment, before finally beginning to nibble at her food. The two of them kept eating, Amity finishing up pretty quickly and watching Luz for a minute. “You know, I defended you and got thrown out of my table because of it. You could at least talk to me!”
Luz looked at her and opened up her mouth to say something, only for it to be silenced by the shrieking bell. Luz shrugged haplessly and walked away, dumping most of her meal into the trash and tossing the tray onto the stack.
‘That is definitely not something Luz would do,’ Amity thought to herself as she started to walk out of the cafeteria. ‘I wonder what happened?’ Amity was lost in thought when she realized Luz had been declining into this state since their conversation after Grom. “Oh, sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.” She muttered out loud. “I’ve broken Luz!”
“What was that about Luz?” Willow asked her as she was passing by.
“Hmm? Oh, I think I might’ve broken her.” Amity said casually, hoping Willow would be too disdainful to register her words.
She wasn’t.
Willow was pissed. “Wait, you did that? You are why she’s been upset and abandoning me and Gus to be alone? YOU RUINED ANOTHER ONE OF MY FRIENDSHIPS?! WHY CAN’T YOU JUST LET ME BE HAPPY?!”
Amity’s eyes widened. “I didn’t mean to?” She offered.
“You diDN’T MEAN TO? OH, THAT MAKES IT ALL OKAY! IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! Luz clearly likes you, and you had to BREAK HER *insert high pitched television beeping noise*ING HEART?!” Amity gulped.
“Yes?”
Steam was practically pouring from Willow’s ears as her eyes went green. Several massive, thick vines shot from a nearby houseplant, racing towards Amity. She instinctively summoned an abomination, who swatted the vines away. “Abomination, attack!” The abomination lurched towards Willow, but sank back into the ground before it could touch her. “Excuse me, young ladies, but classes are starting, and I do not appreciate duels in my hallways.” Principal Bump hissed coldly from behind them. “Until the end of the week, you may take up the learnings of the Delinquent Track!”
He drew a spell circle and their outfits grayed out. Amity growled. “You got me thrown in the DELINQUENT TRACK?!” Willow smirked, seemingly uncaring that she was being punished too. As they entered the class, they noticed something odd about the teacher: he was an oddly familiar small black animal with a pointed skull for a face.
“King? You’re a teacher?” Willow asked incredulously.
King glared at them. “Don’t think because I know you, you’ll get special treatment! Especially you, you anti-joy monster!” Amity groaned. “SILENCE!”
Even in the Delinquent track, time passed by, and Monday very slowly ended, Willow and Amity practically at each other’s throats, and only stopped by King, who was a firm believer in screeching at students for even breathing out of turn. Then Tuesday dragged on by, Amity and Willow clearly still harboring a lot of resentment for each other, before they finally reached Wednesday, when Amity could at least have the respite of the Azura Book Club.
During the Book Club meeting, Amity noticed that Luz was drastically less animated and clearly upset. They also finished up the book, and neither felt like rereading at the moment. Amity cringed inwardly when she realized what she had to say to give them both something to do and potentially raise their spirits, but someone had to do it, so she said, “Luz, we should create fan-art!”
Luz was also startled that Amity would suggest that, but she slightly smiled as she pulled out a large notebook and ripped out a sheet. Amity sat down on the beanbag chair and slid next to Luz, who then pulled out two markers. “Let’s draw!” Luz and Amity began to doodle together, drawing whatever they felt like. Luz kept making mistakes, or what she perceived as mistakes, and her drawings were quickly covered with scribbles and smudges.
As the number of drawings grew and so did the scribbles, Luz began to progressively make more and more mistakes and draw slower and slower. Eventually, it reached a point where she gave up and started to sob.
Amity’s eyes widened. She had only seen Luz cry the one time, and it always seemed out of character, especially since one of the few things Amity could count on is that Luz was always upbeat and positive. “What’s wrong?”
Luz squeezed her eyes shut and withdrew into a ball. “I’m just not good enough! I’m not good enough for you, or Gus, or Willow, or Eda and King, or this school! I’m not even a real witch, and I never will be, and I don’t deserve you! Why do you even want to be friends with me?”
Shocked, Amity wrapped her arm around Luz, who was hyperventilating, and she could feel Luz’s heart pulsing rapidly. “You’re not good enough? Luz, you’re the best person I know! You’re always so upbeat and happy, and cheerful, and, well, fun! I really like you, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop!”
Luz calmed down, Amity realized she still needed to apologize. “I’m sorry for what I said after Grom, Luz. I really, really like you,” Amity squeezed Luz’s hand, which she had started holding at some point, “and I’m sorry I hurt you with what I said. It wasn’t a good reaction, but I was confused, and I am really, really sorry.”
Luz smiled, still breathing in deeply, and was suddenly struck by a question.
“Amity, will you go with me on a date?”
“A date?” She repeated, confused.
“You don’t have dates here? It’s where a couple go someplace or do something to get to know each other and get closer.”
“We have those, but they don’t have names here? It’s complicated.”
“Interesting. Is that a yes?”
She pretended to consider the question before answering, a smile on her face. “Definitely. Oh my gods, look at the time!” It was 7 already, marking the end of another meeting.
“I’ll meet you on Saturday, at 7 pm! Don’t eat dinner beforehand, and don’t tell anybody!” Luz shouted to her as an afterthought as she realized they were about to leave and she had specified nothing. Amity giggled at the thought that Luz’s idea of discreet information transfer was yelling it across a wide area, and giggled even more when the librarian shouted an aggressive ‘SHHH!’ at Luz.
On Thursday, Luz was back to eating with Willow and Gus and was her normal, chipper self, or something close enough that Willow began to feel bad about how poorly she had treated Amity. Luz didn’t notice Willow’s apologetic nature as she fired off date ideas, all falling flat. She needed an idea that would be fun yet normal, but still with a distinctly Luz touch.
On Friday, Luz ate with Willow and Gus again, but she couldn’t help but feel pity at seeing Amity eating alone, so she invited Amity over. Amity and Willow were clearly ignoring each other, and Luz was now preoccupied with desperate attempts (all failures) to get them to become friends again, although she was able to use her relationship with Amity to get a measly apology out of Amity and an even smaller reply. Luz was still faced with the daunting challenge of coming up with a date, and it was quickly becoming too late.
On Saturday, though, the idea came to her. There was a human restaurant that Eda hated because it was “stealing customers”, so Luz decided not to learn its name out of respect (and not my own laziness) for her mentor, but it was perfect! Amity had never tried human food, so she would get to try the food Luz was stuck with every day, and it was delicious. Human food also had the same bubbly, enthusiastic nature as Luz. There was only one problem.
“EDA, I NEED MONEY!” Luz shouted. “That human place is expensive!”
Eda rolled her eyes. “Isn’t the other girl rich?”
“Yes, but it’s romantic to pay for the other person, especially if they’re rich and you aren’t, because then they’ll appreciate your gesture more!”
Eda sighed. “You really believe that? Ugh, fine. Kid, take all of this week’s earnings. But if I hear that it was wasted on a terrible dinner, I’m gonna make you work it back! Actually, I’m gonna make you work it back either way!”
King laughed. “Yeah, Luz, that’s what you get for eating with a monster!”
Eda smirked devilishly. “You know, Luz isn’t a great saleswoman, so I think Luz might need an assistant!” Eda announced, cackling at their expressions. Luz trudged up the stairs to find an outfit for the upcoming date.
Luz rooted through her entire wardrobe, eventually deciding that it would be best if she wore a nicer version of her typical outfit. First, she added a little purple cat-ear hairband and fancied up her hair. Then, she painted her nails purple and replaced her earrings with slightly larger, dark purple earrings with white swirls. Finally, she replaced her jean short-leggings combo with just longer, navy blue leggings and switched her shoes for white sneakers with a splattered, purple pattern on them that she quite liked and paired them with tall navy socks.
Eda gave Luz two thumbs up when she saw Luz’s outfit. “I like it! Have fun, kid!” Luz had a wide smile plastered on her face as she left the house to get Amity, perching herself on Owlbert. Amity was wearing the simple outfit Luz had seen only once before, right before she had gone to the Knee, but it looked different. Amity had changed it slightly, and although Luz couldn’t place the change, her heart fluttered with affection.
Luz whistled appreciatively, earning her a blush from Amity.
“Thanks, I think. You look good too!”
Luz smiled and blushed too. “Shall we proceed?” Luz gestured for Amity to sit on Owlbert. “Take us away, Owlbert! You know where to go!” The restaurant was decently far away, so they had some time to talk.
Amity suddenly gasped, her eyes wide. “What if someone sees us? What if they tell m-m-my,” Luz cut her off, wanting to calm Amity down and not wanting to hear the end of the sentence. “Your friends hate humans, right?”
“I-I w-wouldn’t call them friends, exactly, but yes, why?”
“Then they definitely won’t be eating there.”
“Why do you think that?”
“You’ll see,” Luz said with an air of mystery.
Amity smiled and then laughed. Luz loved that laugh.
Suddenly, Owlbert plummeted and set them down in front of the unnamed human place.
“Ta-daaa!” Luz exclaimed extravagantly, gesturing at the place.
“Human food? Why?”
“Because human food is the best kind of food! I want you to experience what I eat on a daily basis! I promise, you’ll love it!” The waiter guided the couple to their seats. The room was decorated with an incoherent yet oddly familiar style full of random design traits ripped out of varying decades, such as neon signs taken directly from the 50’s, overly designed menus from the 30’s, and checkerboard tiles from the 60’s, along with an assortment of other details.
Amity studied the menu, pretending as if she knew what she was looking for.
Luz scanned it briefly. The menu’s food choice was as sporadic as the rest of the restaurant’s design, with pastas like spaghetti and mac and cheese sitting next to sandwiches and barbequed ribs. “Oooh, they have pizza!” Luz exclaimed. Pizza was probably her favorite food on the menu, so it was the perfect choice. “Amity, get pizza!”
Amity seemed confused by Luz’s insistence, but, seeing as she knew none of the options, she agreed. When the waiter returned, they both ordered a slice of pizza and two drinks. “Can I get a Coke?”
“What’s a Coke?”
“Ugh. Pepsi will do.” The waiter nodded and turned to Amity, who got a water.
“What’s a Pepsi?”
“It’s a popular carbonated human drink.”
“Interesting.” Amity muttered.
“So, what do you think of all this human-y stuff?”
“No offense, but this,” she gestured around at the room, “is terrible! There’s no coherency! Look, there’s neon pink and green there, and then lanterns there, and then a black and white checkerboard pattern there, and red cushions over there! There isn’t even a good color scheme!”
Luz laughed at Amity’s dorking out over the design of a restaurant, making Amity smile. “I promise you, human stuff generally looks much better than this! I don’t even think this is all from one time period!” Amity was laughing when the waiter arrived, bringing them their pizza. “Pizza!” Luz bellowed, her stomach growling. Amity prodded it with a fork, clearly confused.
“Here’s the proper way to eat.” Luz picked up the crust and carefully positioned the sagging end, dripping with cheese, above her mouth, before chomping down on it. Luz sighed happily as she was struck with a huge wave of nostalgia. “Mmm, I forgot how delicious human food is!”
Amity studied it before cautiously biting into the pizza. Luz could see in her eyes that she was hooked. She began to rapidly inhale it, mumbling through a full mouth, “This is the most amazing food I have ever tasted!” Amity kept eating, eventually consuming almost the entire pizza. “The crust’s not as good,” Luz warned, having only eaten half the pizza by that point.
Amity rapidly ate it, too, and was about to wave the waiter over when Luz stopped her. “Pace yourself! As good as human food is, it’s also a very delicious way to die!”
Amity gasped and gagged. “Is this- poisonous?”
“No, no! Nothing like that! It’s just very unhealthy, and, if consumed in large quantities, will lead to a slew of diseases and conditions. As long as it’s eaten in moderation, it’s fine.”
Amity sighed with relief.
“Also, I have dessert planned, and pizza is quite filling.”
Amity grinned. “Let’s get dessert, then!”
Luz nodded and waved the waiter over. What she wanted wasn’t on the menu, but all the components were, and it would definitely be worth it. “Can you get us, in a large bowl, three scoops of ice cream, one chocolate, one strawberry, and one vanilla, a banana on either side, pour fudge on it, add sprinkles, and add two spoons?”
The waiter jotted it all down and returned to the kitchen. “What are you ordering that needed so many instructions?”
“It’s a banana split. You’ll love it, I promise.”
After a while, the waiter returned with the large bowl. “You should add this to the menu, it’s called a banana split!” Luz told the waiter as he left.
“Ta-daaaa!” Luz grabbed a spoon, cut a small piece of banana and added a piece of ice cream with fudge to it. “The perfect bite,” Luz said, grinning, as she handed it to Amity, who seemed confused. “Try it!” Luz insisted, as the teal-haired witch just stared at it. Amity tasted it and instantly fell in love. “HUMAN FOOD IS AMAZING!” She shouted.
Luz grinned from ear to ear as Amity began to rapidly eat. After a moment, Luz realized what was about to happen. “No, don’t eat that fast or you’ll get a-“ Luz’s warning was too late, as Amity slammed her head against the table, groaning.
“Owww. Is this all a plot to kill me? I suppose I understand why, I have been kinda a bully, but have you no mercy?”
Luz burst into laughter. “Sorry, your pain isn’t funny,” Luz said after her laughter died down, “but I tried to warn you! If you eat ice cream too fast, you’re bound to receive a brain freeze.” “That’s not funny,” Amity groaned with a little smile on her face after the brain freeze left her, and she began to eat again.
“Amity, I bet you can’t finish your side before I can!” Luz sang in a challenge.
“You’re on!” Luz ate at a slow, steady pace, while Amity was rapidly attacking the banana split. Amity only had two bites left when the brain freeze got her again. “You should’ve seen this coming!” Luz gloated as she finished the last bite and licked off the spoon.
As Amity’s brain warmed up, they both sat back in their seats. “See, human food is the bomb!”
“Is that a compliment?”
Luz sighed. “Duh.”
Amity smirked as the bill arrived. Luz sharply inhaled through her teeth when she saw the total. “Don’t worry, I-I’ll pay,” Amity said, seeing the look on Luz’s face, but Luz’s contented expression quickly returned. “No, no, I’ll pay!”
Amity protested again, but Luz shot it down. “I’ll pay!” She pulled out her sack of Snails and poured out the money. “This should be enough, plus a tip for the waiter.”
Amity smiled. She knew Luz didn’t have as much money as her, so it was a sweet gesture.
“Alright, time to finish this date off!”
“There’s more?”
“Obviously! I have a special place I’d like to show you!” Luz pulled her by her wrist out of the restaurant eagerly and allowed them to Amity sat next to her on Owlbert and they shot away. “Hang on tight!” Luz shouted as they flew on, eventually arriving at the wide forest that bordered the Owl House. If it was followed far enough, the forest would reach Amity’s house too. Their trusty palisman sat them down in front of the forest.
“The forest?” Amity asked.
Luz laughed. “Kinda. We need to go on foot from here.”
Luz led her on a path through the dark and mysterious forest, grabbing Amity’s arm and running through a path she had clearly traveled many times before. Unfortunately, Amity had not traveled it before, and she soon tripped on a root, sending her tumbling to the ground. Luz spun around and helped her up. Amity smiled gratefully and continued on, slower and more cautious.
Eventually, they arrived at a clearing that was equally dark from the canopy’s branches reaching each other and blotting out the sun. “Here we are!”
“Where exactly is here?”
Luz picked up Owlbert again and began to fly upwards in a careful, spiral pattern, eventually reaching the top of the clearing, where she sat them down on a thick branch that wove up through the canopy of leaves and branches. “Follow carefully,” She instructed as she crawled up, Amity following suit. When they broke the canopy, Luz revealed where they were heading.
Above the leaves, branches curled around and knit together with thin branches and leaves connecting them, creating a wide, home-like cove. “Ta-daaaaa! Come on in!” Luz led her over the branches that she knew were stable and around those that weren’t to enter the cove. “Welcome to my home away from home away from home!” She sat down on the branches and patted the ground next to her.
Amity tentatively sat down. “Now watch!” Luz gestured outwards. The sky, which had been a light blue, was now rapidly fading, sending streaks of pink and purple weaving throughout. Over time, darker streaks shot throughout, and shimmering, golden stars began to spill out across the sky, popping into existence. “It’s beautiful,” Amity gasped as she watched.
Luz gazed into her eyes with affection. “It is.”
Amity kept watching for a moment before realizing what Luz meant and blushing intensely, although Luz didn’t seem to care about what she had just said. Amity noticed that their faces were now very close, although neither minded. As the sky kept darkening and the moon began to break the horizon, their faces became closer and closer, and suddenly, their lips met, re-igniting the network of sparks left by Grom. Luz’s heart soared, fluttering and twisting with joy.
Their kiss was interrupted by three things, all occurring simultaneously: a flash of light, a loud click, and snickering. As much as neither wanted to, they quickly broke apart, recognizing the sounds. “Ed,” Amity gasped as Luz gasped, “Em.”
Edric and Emira were standing there, snickering, a scroll hovering in front of them. “So, Em, who should we send this to?”
Emira pretended to consider the question. “Hmm, I don’t know. How about EVERYONE?”
“Ed and Em, no!” Amity pleaded, eyes welling up with tears. Luz looked at the sobbing Amity, and she was seeing red.
“NO!” She barked in a powerful voice, her hands curling into fists. The twins seemed startled by the always kind and upbeat Luz’s voice, which was now very clearly not upbeat. “DO YOU KNOW WHAT AMITY HAS GONE THROUGH, WHAT I’VE GONE THROUGH? YOU’LL RUIN HER LIFE, YOU WORTHLESS COWARDS! IS IT REALLY WORTH IT FOR A QUICK LAUGH, A SHORT JOKE? SHOULDN’T YOU JUST BE HAPPY THAT SHE’S HAPPY? NO, YOU WON’T, BECAUSE YOU TWO ARE ATTRACTED TO PAIN AND MISERY LIKE MOTHS TO A FLAME!” Her knuckles were white, and her fingers were digging into her skin enough to reveal drops of maroon blood.
Luz stepped behind them, her face red with rage. “I WANT TO WATCH AS YOU DELETE IT. NOW!” Luz stared as they moved out of the message system and into photos, where they quickly deleted it. “NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!” “Sorry, Mittens, I didn’t think it would be so-,” Edric was cut off by Luz. “EXACTLY, YOU DIDN’T THINK! NOW GO AWAY!” Luz spat. The twins drew spell circles and vanished.
As Luz’s vision returned, she realized what she had just done, covering her mouth in surprise, before instantly retracting her arm and spitting away the metallic blood. “Oh my gosh, what did I just do?” She gasped as she collapsed next to Amity, who wrapped her arm around Luz and squeezed her tight. “Thank you,” Amity said, tears streaking her face.
Luz laced her arm through Amity’s as they gazed up at the sky. “Look, a shooting star! Make a wish!” Luz pointed out.
Amity looked at her and smiled. “It came true.” Amity gave her a quick peck on the cheek and looked back out at the beautiful world.