Chapter Text
straight hair, straight a's, straight forward
Amity Blight was pissed off. That was not a word she used lightly, as cursing was severely frowned upon by her parents, but there was nothing else for it.
She stared around her at the mess Willow had made of the school, thorny vines everywhere. Amity’s abomination goo was mixed in with it, though her poor abominations were long gone. So was Willow’s abomination,or whatever that thing was.
Amity fumed. How dare Willow bring some… some thing into class and try to pass it off as an abomination. How dare she steal Amity’s top student badge? Amity had earned that badge.
And yet, there was Willow, not getting yelled at by Principal Bump. No, instead, he was praising her.
“This is some of the best plant magic I’ve ever seen, especially for someone who hasn’t practiced in it much. Willow, we must switch you to the Plant Track. I think you will do great things there,” Principal Bump said.
“Really?” Willow said hopefully, clasping her hands in front of her. At that, some of Amity’s anger dissipated. Despite the seven years of distance between then, Amity still loved her ex-best friend, and she really did want the best for her. Half-a-Witch Willow was a cruel nickname that Boscha had invented not long after she’d started hanging out with Amity, and Amity’s heart warmed at the thought that that nickname would finally disappear.
That didn’t change the fact that she still wanted her top student badge back, though. Her parents would be very displeased with her if she returned home, and she wasn’t wearing it. Amity shuddered to think of what they would say.
“Principal Bump?” Amity said, stepping up in front of him and next to Willow. Beside her, Willow shrunk back. That hurt. “Since Willow has a new track now, and we’ve established that her abomination was, well, fake, don’t you think I should have my top student badge returned?”
“Of course, Amity,” Principal Bump said, making a small circle with his hand. The pin levitated off of Willow’s collar and over to Amity’s, back where it belonged. She breathed an internal sigh of relief. “Speaking of that abomination, I think we can all agree that it will not be allowed back on school grounds.”
“But—” Willow began. Principal Bump silenced her with a look.
“Is there a reason why it would need to come back? I don’t know what it is, exactly, but it has no need to be here,” he said.
Willow looked down at the ground. “Yes, Principal Bump.”
“Excellent. Well, students, now that that’s settled, I think I’m going to go back to my office and call someone to clean this mess up,” Bump said.
Willow brightened. “Oh, let me.” She drew a circle in the air, and the vines returned to the ground, though there was still quite a lot of damage to clean up. Willow wilted a little as she looked around at it. “Oh, sorry about that.”
“Don’t be sorry, Willow,” Principal Bump said. “If it weren’t for this mess, we never would have found the perfect track for you. Well, best hurry along, then.” He turned to leave. Amity hurried after him.
“Principal Bump, considering my skill with the abominations in an attempt to catch Willow’s, do you think we could consider some extra credit?”
Dinner at Blight Manor was never a pleasant affair. The food was always cooked perfectly, and everyone had the perfect table manners, but the Blight siblings never knew who their parents’ target for the evening would be.
“Amity,” Odalia said, her voice like a shot in the quiet, the only noise aside from the polite clinking of silverware on plates. “I heard there was a little trouble at school today.”
Amity said nothing but glared at her siblings.
“There was just some light destruction,” Emira said.
“But Mittens didn’t cause any of it,” Edric chimed in. “It was that Willow girl. She did some freaky plant magic.”
Alador stopped cutting his meat. “The Park girl?”
Again, Amity said nothing.
“Amity, answer,” Odalia ordered.
“There was a small situation with Willow’s abomination. It was fake, and then Willow did plant magic, and now Principal Bump put her in the Plant Track so I won’t have to deal with her anymore,” Amity said.
“You haven’t been associating with that girl, have you, Amity?” Odalia asked, her voice deadly calm.
“Half-a-Witch?” Edric asked, laughing.
Emira laughed along. “Yeah, as if Little Miss Perfect would hang out with anyone who doesn’t meet her standards.”
Amity’s cheeks burned. She wanted to leave the table, leave the Manor, leave the island. She wanted to escape and get away from everyone and everything and every expectation that had ever been thrust upon her. But that wasn’t in the cards for Amity Blight. So, she took another bite of her food and tried to stop the churning of her stomach.
The rest of dinner was silent.