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It starts when she’s six years old, the infatuation.
Boscha is six and she’s already the star of the show. She’s got Skara, who’ll do anything for her, even at that age, and the other kids she plays with are just as bad. Worse, even. Boscha knows how to climb the hierarchy because that’s what her parents have taught her to do, and so that’s what she does. She climbs the hierarchy.
Which includes, occasionally, being less-than-nice to some less-than-talented kids.
Namely, one Willow Park.
“Hey, Four-eyes,” Boscha sneers as she pushes Willow down into the mud. (If anything, she gets better insults in the future, so there’s that) “Why bother even getting up? Just stay down there like the dirt you are.” Willow just sighs, already used to it, and Boscha laughs. This is why Willow’s her favorite; no fighting, just acceptance.
“Hey!” Boscha feels hands on her shoulders for exactly one second, and the second after she’s the one sprawled out in the mud. “Leave her alone!”
Feeling anger and embarrassed, Boscha leaps to her feet, wiping the sludge off her face in one clean move as she whirls to see whoever’s just dared to push her. She freezes.
It’s Amity Blight.
Amity Blight, who stares Boscha down as she helps Willow to her feet. Amity Blight, who’s the youngest child in the only family richer than Boscha’s. Amity Blight, who’s simultaneously praised as the most talented witchling on the Boiling Isles and who’s known for being friends with the least talented witchling. Amity Blight, whose eyes, fixed on Boscha with such an intense look, changes her life forever, even if it’s an accident.
Amity Blight, whose gaze on Boscha makes her feel things.
Boscha does nothing. (She can’t) She just watches, oddly lenient, as the two witchlings walk away. Skara comes up to her, confusion in her eyes. “Why’d you let her push you, Boscha? You just let them leave without any trouble!”
Boscha has no answer for her.
That day is a pretty accurate example of the next three years, at least concerning Amity Blight. Boscha is a scourge upon the other kids; she rules them all with an iron-clad fist. Nothing happens in the Boiling Isles without her knowing about it. Boscha is second to no one, not even anyone from the infamous Blight family.
But.
But, while Boscha never has to answer to anyone, not even Amity, the thought bothers her, because she knows the only reason she’s number one and not number two is that Amity doesn’t even give her a second thought. All Amity cares about is her magically-impaired friend, Willow. And Boscha can’t stand that. Amity’s all Boscha can think about, so why does Amity not seem to even notice her?!
“Hey, Amity,” she tries only once to be nice, approaching them (and, really, why is Willow always here? Are they attached at the hip?!) at the carnival. She’d come here with Skara, but the rides had disagreed with her stomach and she’d had to leave early, leaving Boscha all alone. That is, until she’d spotted these two. “So, uh-” her mind blanks as Amity meets her eyes, cool and collected as always. “What’re you guys doing here?”
For the most part, Willow seems to let her out-of-character kindness slide, even if she does look a bit suspicious. She opens her mouth to say something, and Boscha allows herself to hope, just for a second, when-
“Why do we have to tell you ,” Amity sneers, which, fair. Boscha’s been bullying them for two years now, but still. Can’t she see that Boscha’s actually trying, for once? “What are you playing at, Boscha?”
And oh. The way she says her name-
Once she’s able to function again, Boscha tries to defend herself, “look, I’m just trying to-”
But she isn’t allowed to finish. “To what?” And oh, no, it’s Willow speaking now, turning her down, and Boscha doesn’t have a single chance anymore and ugh. “To shove us in the mud again, once our backs are turned?” Willow’s eyes harden from behind her glasses. “I don’t think so.”
Amity says nothing, just crosses her arms and stares Boscha down. Boscha finds, with increasingly rising annoyance, that it’s the exact same stare that got her into this mess in the first place. The stare she sees whenever she closes her eyes; the one that haunts her dreams. Finally, when it’s clear that Boscha isn’t going to leave, not even after that, not yet, Amity sighs, closing her eyes before opening them with a new vengeance. “Go away,” she says, and she doesn’t even say Boscha’s name again, “we’re not interested in joining your little squad of bullies. Leave us alone.”
(And, really, that moment is not a victory in any way, but in a few years, Boscha will relish that memory as the only time she’s gotten the upper hand over Amity, because Amity had joined her squad eventually)
Boscha leaves dejectedly, that day, and as she goes, she tries to tell herself that the reason she craves Amity’s attention is because of her status and family.
(She knows it’s not)
;;
But then it happens. Boscha is invited to Amity’s ninth birthday party, as is Skara, and while Boscha can never quite figure out every last detail, she knows that Willow comes to the party and hogs Amity for an hour and then leaves, three hours early, sobbing into her little dress. After that, Amity never hangs out with her ever again. Boscha’s happy already.
And then Amity starts hanging out with her.
They fall into a pattern; Boscha and Amity do. Boscha joins her outside of classes, after school when she’s not training with Lilith Clawthorne, before school, any time she can, and Amity just kind of. Accepts it. And if Amity seems less than thrilled to be her friend, well, Boscha tries not to let it bother her much. Amity doesn’t have to be happy, so long as her gaze is on Boscha.
Boscha invites herself over to Amity’s house for sleepovers, she walks around the market when Amity wants to, she even goes to the library once-or-twice because Amity is there. Her entire life is devoted to making sure Amity follows her, and she doesn’t even mind.
Some things change.
Amity starts dyeing her hair. Boscha loves it; her new green makes her look stunning and collected, like a true Blight. Where the brunette had made her look soft, the new color gives off an air of power.
When they’re both thirteen, Amity gets fed up with following Boscha around and pulls back a bit. Boscha’s not stupid; she knows what Amity’s plan is, but she can’t really find it in herself to care. If Amity wants to lead, then Amity will get to lead. The role-swap in their little group is such an easy switch of power that it’s almost nonexistent. Almost like Amity’s been leading her all these years and not the other way around.
(Boscha doesn’t like the implications of that, but there’s really nothing she can do about it)
But in a balancing act to have taken over the school hierarchy like it was nothing, Amity also starts joining in when Boscha makes fun of people now. Even if that person is Willow. Boscha wonders if she’d just been pushing down her true nature; if, deep down, she’s just like Boscha is. Just as damaged as Boscha. The thought makes her grin.
They’re sitting in Amity’s room; Boscha is sitting on her bed, going through her scroll as Amity studies at her desk. Boscha looks up; she’s bored. She opens her mouth to complain, maybe suggest a new activity other than sitting in silence, but as her eyes track over to Amity’s face, she decides she doesn’t want to speak right now, anyways.
Amity is scowling, but just slightly, as she encounters a particularly frustrating problem in her schoolbook. Her eyes are focused as she reads, and Boscha finds herself captivated by them. She wonders, idly, what Amity would look like if she were to smile, but then dismisses the thought. Amity wouldn’t be Amity if she smiled at the drop of a hat. Even if the person she was smiling at is Boscha, it’d be too weird. Too soft of an expression for Amity Blight. Boscha doesn’t even know what she’d do if Amity were ever to return her feelings, because returning Boscha’s feelings in itself would be out of character for her. If she did, then Boscha wouldn’t like her as much. Boscha likes the allure of her; the coldness, the resting Blight face, even if it hurts her as much as she craves it.
Amity catches her gaze, and Boscha feels the same way she always feels when they lock eyes; a spark of something in her stomach, pulling tighter and tighter every day. “Is there something on my face?” Amity asks with her usual neutral expression.
“N-no,” Boscha says, feeling her face heat up. “I was just wondering if you wanted to go get something to eat.”
Amity blinks, mulling it over. Then, she shakes her head. “I’m not hungry. You can go down to the kitchen if you want; there’s lots of food there.”
Stung, Boscha sits in silence for a minute. Amity goes back to the book on her desk. Finally, she mutters, “no.. I’m good.”
Amity doesn’t respond.
The next incident is at school. Boscha’s waiting at Amity’s locker so she can switch bookbags, when she spots Half-A-Witch-Willow in the hallway. To Boscha’s delight, some other student trips the girl halfway through, and Willow hits the ground. Hard. Books fly everywhere. Boscha laughs, loudly and clearly.
“Ha- hey, Amity,” she says, because Amity’s attention is everything. “Look at lil’ Half-A-Witch over there!” Across the hall, Willow stiffens and tries to pick herself (and her books) up faster. Amity looks up. It’s usually a fifty-fifty gamble as to whether she’ll join in or just walk away, and this time it seems to be a bust, because she just mutters something about needing to get to class before leaving swiftly. Boscha frowns at her retreating back, but accepts it and follows.
“Bo-ring,” she groans, rolling all three of her eyes. “You could’ve at least said something.”
Amity blinks, continuing on. Idly, Boscha realizes that she’s following Amity in the exact opposite direction than she needs for her next class, but, nevertheless, she continues. “It’s beneath me,” Amity responds at last. Boscha sighs. “I’m a Blight. I don’t need to worry about pathetic little witches who have barely any magical ability.”
Boscha says, “still. You could’ve put her in her place just like that!”
It’s Amity’s turn to sigh, and she stops walking. “Just drop it, Boscha,” she says, turning the full weight of her gaze onto her. Then, with a little confusion, “..isn’t your next class.. not here?”
Boscha’s not an idiot. She knows Amity just wants to be left alone. But still, she allows it. “You’re right. I’ll go… See you after school?” And it comes out wrong, the way she says it, like it’s a question and not a confirmation of something that needed no words to decide. Like she actually cares.
Amity nods, once, stiffly. “Sure. I’ll see you after.”
And then she’s gone, walking away without even a goodbye. Boscha totally doesn’t mind, not in the slightest.
;;
And, of course, the one time Amity comes to her, Boscha completely blows it, although she won’t know that until a year later. Amity approaches her after school one day, which is a rarity in itself. “Don’t you have training with that Emperor’s Coven witch?” Boscha asks her, and Amity shakes her head.
“No, she has other things to do today. And I had… a question for you, Boscha.” Amity starts heading towards the exit of the school, clearly expecting Boscha to just follow her.
….Boscha just follows her. “And that is?” Her heartbeat quickens; Amity’s never asked her for advice before, she can’t even begin to imagine what the issue is. Maybe Amity wants to play Grudgby again? That would be… annoying to organize, but Boscha could do it. Maybe her teacher had offered to move her up a level in school? That wouldn’t be surprising, Amity is top of every one of her classes.
They leave the school before Amity responds. They head into the courtyard and she leans back against a pillar. She doesn’t meet Boscha’s eyes. “A position’s just opened up at the library,” she says finally, staring at the ground. “And, uh- I’m thinking of taking it.”
“Oh.” Boscha raises an eyebrow. Why is this such a big deal? “Uh, okay. What is it?” Her mind starts to race; what position could possibly be worthy of the Amity Blight? Would she be studying ancient and powerful spellbooks? Or would she be contributing to the library; going on missions to find more knowledge? Or-
“It’s part of the witchling track there,” Amity admits. Boscha stares at her, unable to believe what she’s hearing . “Uhm- the person who’s been reading the children’s books had to move away, and, since- since they know I’m there a lot of the time anyways, uh-”
“Wait, what?!” Boscha frowns, laughing loudly. “Reading to children? Are you nuts?”
Amity flinches, but she doesn’t notice. Instead, she just keeps going, unknowingly digging herself a deeper hole with every word. This isn’t the Amity she knows; the Amity she’d fallen for, so many years ago. “Pull yourself together,” she tells her. Bring back the Amity I know. “Reading books to witchlings is a peasant’s job. You’re a Blight, you can do better than that.”
And then, just like that, her Amity is back. “You’re right,” she says, but she still doesn’t meet Boscha’s eyes. “I don’t know what I was thinking.” Boscha figures she doesn't because Amity’s too embarrassed, and, in a way, she’s right, but her reason is dead wrong.
(Of course, she won’t know that for a while)
Boscha’s proud of herself for that conversation. She’d caught Amity slipping, and she’d helped her. She’d helped Amity!
(She’ll look back on this later and hate herself for being so stupid)
;;
Then the Human happens. No, not the Human, that would imply she’s anything other than irrelevant. A Human comes to the Boiling Isles, to Bonesborough, to Hexside, probably because of some highly-illegal spellcasting, even though Humans can't even do magic. And Boscha hates her. As does Amity. At first, Boscha maybe entertains the idea of letting the new creature into their little group; she’s exotic, at the very least. But then the Human starts hanging out with Half-A-Witch, and, well, now there’s no point. She’s already ruined her social life.
But then the Human keeps appearing.
First, and Boscha doesn’t witness it herself, but she hears about it, is that the Human humiliates Amity in a full-on Witch’s Duel. Apparently, they both cheat, and there’s so many details that Boscha can’t even try to put together, but the fact that Amity hadn’t been able to beat a Human, well. That’s not something she can just brush off very easily.
(Boscha can’t believe it, herself. She can barely even fathom it; Amity not winning)
But Amity shows up at school after like any other day, and so Boscha assumes she’d sorted it out for herself. Things go back to normal, almost. Normal, except now the Human won’t leave them alone.
The day after Amity comes back from training at the Knee, she’s standing outside of the school and the Human comes out of nowhere and approaches her. Boscha is there too, of course, but she’s mostly ignored. “Amity!” The Human cries, and launches herself forward almost as if to hug her. “Hello!”
Amity dodges the hug, of course, with what has to be an angry flush in her cheeks. “Luz!” She hisses, which, when did she care enough to learn the Human’s name? “What are you doing here?” She cast a quick glance over to Boscha, who just frowns back. “You’re not enrolled yet, are you?”
“Not yet!” Luz smiles widely. “But soon!” The Human is going to be going to Hexside? Boscha doesn’t like that. Before Amity can respond, which, what, why is she going to respond in the first place, Boscha is quick to jump in.
“Uh, why are you even humoring her, Amity?” She snorts, waving a finger at the Human - Luz. “Yeah, no, buh-bye.”
“Uh-” Amity says.
“Hey!” Luz says, loudly, pouting. “For your information, I was about to ask Amity about our Azura clu-”
“LUZ!” Amity yelps, and actually physically leaps forward to cover the Human’s mouth. “About nothing, right, Luz?”
Luz frowns at her. Boscha also frowns at her. Finally, the Human replies, “uh.. right. You’re right. I was just being stupid. You know me! Just so stupid, all the time!”
“...Right,” Boscha says. “So, again, bye.”
Luz’s shoulders slump. “Yeah,” she says, peeling Amity’s hand off her mouth. “Sorry for bothering you. I’ll go.”
Boscha manages to completely miss the guilt-filled look Amity shoots Luz as the Human leaves. “What was that all about?”
Amity takes a minute to answer. Finally, she says, mutters, really, “How should I know? Humans are weird.”
And for a while, that’s that.
Until Grom, that is.
Grom is.. strange, to say the least. Boscha is at first overjoyed when Amity is named Grom Queen, because who else would be good enough to defeat Grom for the year? And then, just as quickly, it’s announced that the Human will be taking her place, and. Boscha doesn’t understand this decision. Surely. Surely, Amity hadn’t just given the title of Grom Queen to the Human? Surely not.
Right?
(Asking Amity to Grom never crosses her mind. She just doesn’t feel the need to bother)
(It’s not like she’ll be going with anyone else, anyway; no one is good enough for Amity Blight, and that’s a fact. There’s simply no way around it)
Grom is as eventful as ever, and although Boscha isn’t there to witness it herself, she knows the details of how exactly Grometheus is defeated. Specifically, by Amity and Luz dancing and combining their magic. Combining magic is a… very intimate thing to do with someone, and. It bothers Boscha more than she’d like to admit.
Whatever. It’s not like anything changes because of that.
Except, things do.
Especially Amity.
After Grom night, Amity starts avoiding her and Skara. Boscha almost chalks it down to Amity just being Amity, but then she sees her hanging out with Willow again, and she knows something is wrong. Amity doesn’t respond to her texts, and instead of eating lunch with Boscha, she instead eats lunch with Willow, the small Illusion track kid, and the Human Luz.
At first, she figures Amity has been tolerating the Human’s presence because of Grometheus; because they’d worked together to defeat it, because there’s simply no other option. Amity must want something, right? That’s why she’s talking to them and not Boscha.
..Right?
(She’s in denial, and she knows it)
That is, until the week after Grom, and after Amity’s betrayal on the Grudgby field, when she finally sees for herself just how oddly Amity acts around the Human.
She’s.. off. She’s not the Amity Boscha knows, loves, even. When she’s with the Human, Amity is a wide-eyed fool, using exaggerated hand motions as she speaks and stuttering over her words like she’s some commoner. She smiles around Luz, at Luz, laughs with her and enjoys being around her and likes her, genuinely, and Boscha burns with jealousy. She’d thought seeing Amity act like this, even for herself, would make Boscha no longer like her. Apparently, she’d been wrong, because a smitten Amity Blight is so ridiculously endearing.
Seeing Amity like this, for the Human, makes Boscha just fall for her more.
Is this the true Amity? This sweet, awkward girl who reads books to children in her spare time and who likes hugs, of all things, and who’s greatest fear is rejection? This is Amity Blight?
Boscha has never met this Amity Blight.
“Hey, Amity!” The Human greets her at school, like she would any day to any of her friends, and Boscha watches, seething, as Amity literally trips at the sound of her voice. “Oh- shoot! Are you okay?”
“Luz!” Amity picks herself off the floor with an embarrassed flush in her cheeks. “I’m fine. I just wasn’t looking where I was going. Ha- I’m fine.” God, what a dork, Boscha thinks, and she doesn’t know if she’d meant to have the words sound so soft in her head or not. “Anyways! What’re you doing here, Luz?”
Luz blinks at her. Boscha wants to die. Maybe she will. Maybe being witness to this will be enough to kill her. “Because.. It’s… school?” The Human responds, understandably confused.
Amity turns an even brighter shade of red. “Yep, that’s- you are.. correct.” She trails off, probably cursing herself in her head. “So, uh-”
And geez, Boscha can’t watch this anymore. She struts out from behind the pillar and enjoys the way Amity’s eyes immediately lock onto her, even if the light in her eyes dies as soon as she does. Nothing matters, not even the emotion behind the action, not as long as Amity Blight keeps her gaze on Boscha. “Hey, losers.”
“What do you want, Boscha?” Luz asks, but Boscha doesn’t look at her. Instead, she’s looking very closely at Amity.
The Amity she’d witnessed just ten seconds before is gone, and completely. Now the Amity that Boscha knows is back; all cold frowns and crossed arms and neutral expressions. It’d be impressive if it wasn’t so infuriating. “You’ve already proven your social dominance,” she says, raising one eyebrow, “so just leave us alone.”
I’d love to, Boscha thinks spitefully, but I can’t get you out of my head! She makes a show of thinking about it, though. “Hmm, nah, I don’t think I will. It’s way more fun to bother you two.”
“C’mon, Boscha, I thought we’d finished this!” Luz steps in between them, which, rude. “Let’s just stay out of each other’s way, all right?”
“No, not all right!” Boscha growls. She shoves a finger into Luz’s chest. Amity makes a growling noise. “I won’t leave you alone, Human, not after what you did to me!”
“Which was what, exactly?” Luz asks, eyes wide and hands flailing. “It’s always been you bothering me!”
“Ignore her, Luz,” Amity says, leveling Boscha with her typical Blight face. “You’ve never done anything to her. She’s just a jerk.”
What’s left of the control in Boscha’s mind snaps. “No, maybe the Human hasn’t done anything to me. But you sure have, Blight! You were never even my friend, were you?! Not for real, at least. That’s clear because the second you could you abandoned me!” Boscha stops, chest heaving. She hadn’t meant to say that.
Amity’s eyes are wide. Luz shifts uncomfortably on her feet. “Boscha-” She tries to say, but Amity interrupts her.
“You’re right, Boscha.” She looks her dead in the eye as she speaks, a small mercy. “We were never real friends. In fact, the only reason I started hanging out with you was because my parents said I had to. I’m sorry if you thought otherwise, but that’s the truth.”
“You never even let me see the real you,” Boscha says, and her voice cracks, just a little bit. Thorns. “You didn’t even give me a chance! Then this Human shows up, and- what? You abandon me for her after just a few weeks! What’s so great about her, huh? What can she do that I can’t?!”
“Hey! If Amity’s changed, then that’s all because of her!” Luz growls, “not because of anything I did!”
“No, it’s true,” Amity says before Boscha can. She lifts a hand and places it gently on Luz’s shoulder before turning back to Boscha. “I could never be myself around you, Boscha, and you know it. You wanted me to be Amity Blight, and that’s who I was. Don’t put this all on me; you never wanted to know me. You were perfectly happy with how I acted around you.”
And she’s right, Boscha knows she is. That just makes her words worse.
“I’m sorry,” Amity says, and she knows she means it. “I’m sorry we were never real friends, and that I just left you like that. Do you accept my apology?”
Boscha just sneers at her, ignoring the burn in her chest. “What ever. I don’t care- do what you want, I guess.” She stares at the ground, blinking down angry tears. Or, what she tells herself are tears of anger. She walks away, knowing Amity won’t follow her. She never has, not really.
But someone else does.
“Are you okay?” Luz asks, and Boscha jumps, startled. “That can’t have been easy to hear.”
“Why do you care?” Whirling around, Boscha sneers, her lip curling up. “Now she’s yours, okay? Just be happy and leave me alone!”
“First of all, she’s her own person, thankyouverymuch,” Luz says matter-of-factly, giving Boscha a hard stare. “So there’s that. And second, I haven’t been here long, but. I never thought you two were that close, anyways. Why does it bother you so much? Is it because she’s a Blight? Because you like the attention she brings?”
Boscha glares at her. “No comment.”
But Luz’s eyes widen nonetheless. “Oh,” she says, and Boscha’s ears burn. “Oh. Oh!”
“Shut up!”
“OH, THIS MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE!” Luz says, yells, really, and Boscha backs away. Amity is still nearby; she had to have heard that!
“Stop it. I’m not- you don’t know anything!”
Luz blinks at her, and god, tears are actually forming in her eyes. Stupid Humans and their stupid emotions. “I’m really sorry,” she says, and she means it, too, which is the most ridiculous part. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything, then,” says Boscha. “I’ll get over it. It’s whatever.”
“But- that must’ve been so complicated!” Luz sniffles ridiculously. “And she doesn’t know?”
Boscha lets out a full-body sigh; it’s no use trying to deny it anymore. Maybe if she agrees, the Human will go away quicker. “No, of course she doesn’t know!” She’s as bad as you in that regard, she thinks. “And she never will know, understand?”
Luz puts her hands up in a… strange gesture. “Yeah, of course. No one deserves that.” She turns to leave, finally, but then pauses, looking back up at Boscha with a soft gaze. “..You sure you want to be alone?”
“Yes,” Boscha says, and it’s true, because she wants time to figure this out. Figure out her own feelings on this matter. “Thank you.” The Human smiles softly, and, for just a moment, Boscha can maybe see what Amity sees in her. She’s not her type, because, uh, no, but still. This kind of kindness could infect anyone.
“Okay. See you later, Boscha.” And then she leaves, heading back up the path towards Amity, who was watching them both with an unreadable gaze. Boscha observes as the Human slings one arm around Amity’s neck - making the poor girl short-circuit as a result - and she starts to lead the both of them away.
Boscha watches them go.
Maybe (hopefully) this will help her. Maybe it’ll even start to mend her relationship with Amity. Maybe, one day, they’ll be real friends.
Maybe, but not right now.
(This won’t stop Boscha from making fun of Amity for tripping all over herself whenever Luz does so much as smile at her, though)