Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Marbled Tulip

Luz observed the school grounds from the fancy gate at the entrance.

It was enormous; she had never seen anything like it in her life.

Four buildings, each one bigger than the previous one, with sober colors and ostentatious Victorian architecture could be seen a few tens of meters away from her, beyond, long green fields with trees older than the buildings themselves, a few sports fields, and in the distance, an impressive greenhouse next to an orchard.

Luz swallowed the lump in her throat.

To say she was nervous would be simple.

She would say she was about to explode.

And who wouldn't be?

Her life had changed completely practically overnight.

A new school, a private one, with fancy, expensive uniforms, not many students for a lot of space, with impressive infrastructure, classrooms bigger than her old house, gardens with exotic flowers and....

A church...

A GIGANTIC church that she didn't understand how she hadn't noticed as soon as she walked in.

The architecture was similar to the rest of the buildings and was highlighted by the colored glass that adorned the windows arranged in biblical scenes, a few meters from its entrance, there was a bronze statue of a man in elegant clothes carrying a cane.

Luz read the sign of gleaming golden brass above the latticework.

"Jacob Blight Catholic Academy."

Underneath, in smaller letters, it announced that the institute had been opened in the year 1945.

Luz was about to walk into the classic rich people's private high school that was talked about in books and movies.

And she had no idea what she was supposed to do.

This place was the opposite of anything she was used to.

What do you do in rich people's schools?

...

Would there be stables?

Uh! They'd surely have a Starbucks instead of a cafeteria!

Theater plays would be Hollywood worthy productions!

"Ready Bichita?" her sister asked bringing her out of her thoughts with a pat on the head.

"Ah, yeah." Replied Luz still a bit pensive.

"Let's go to the office, mami said it was the one next to the third building from the entry." Her sister announced leading the way with Luz close behind.

As they walked several meters forward, the young brunette was engrossed in her thoughts again, meditating on the beginning of this new stage of her life.

High-school, they called it.

The latina encouraged herself as she reached the doors of the building.

Relax, it's just a new school....

In a new neighborhood...

Of a new city...

From a different state...

In a different country...

Where they speak a different language...

If I didn't have friends where I was born, how am I going to get them here?!

She inhaled deeply, calming her racing thoughts.

Take it easy.

In this country people thought very differently, maybe somehow she could fit in.

It wasn't worth worrying before she even started.

Courage.

"Alright Bichita, you're about to start something new... How are you feeling?"

"I feel like I'm going to throw up..." The youngest stated glumly.

The eldest stopped her walking, turning around and leaning down to be at her sister's level.

"Luz..." She started taking her by the shoulders. "Do you remember what Eda said before she left in the morning?"

"That I should hit the first classmate that came across to state dominance?"

The older girl laughed softly and briefly.

"That too, but I meant the other thing."

"That the only scary thing about school was studying."

"Exactly Bichita, and you're an excellent student, so you have nothing to fear."

"Lola..." Luz uttered with low tone and nostalgic eyes.

"Nope!" interrupted the older one. "I don't want to hear you say that you're weird, that you have no friends, and that nobody understands you, it's not 2008 and you're not emo. Do you understand?"

"But I am weird!  Lola, nunca tuve un amigo de verdad en la casa!”

“Y eso a mí que me importa?!” Lola replied with annoyance. “Ya no'stamo en la isla! E' tu oportunida' 'e cambia' eso!”

“¿Y cómo hago? ¿Si yo nunca tuve amigos?”

"Bichita listen, we are in a different country, just be nice and be yourself. ok?" concluded the eldest. "... And try not to be too outgoing at first, gringos don't like it too much."

"Ok..." Luz replied, still drooping.

Lola sighed.

"Look Bichita, you are a lovely girl, you are funny and very loyal, you are much more than your weird likings, I'm sure you will find people who value that, so relax, it's your first day, just try to make a good impression."

The younger girl, at last, smiled slightly.

"Ok..." She said with a little more enthusiasm. "I think I can do that..."

" Excuse me? I didn't hear you." Teased the older one.

"I said I think I can do that."

"Coño, you talk quietly, Luz."

"I think I can!"

"You think?"

" I CAN DO IT!"

“¡ESA E' MI BICHITA!”  The older one exclaimed, stroking Luz's hair roughly.

"Let's go!"

They advanced the few meters that separated them from the third building, right next to it, there was a one-story building, relatively small, on the cedar door of the entrance, with elegant handle, it read "sub direction", as they entered the space, they heard an electronic bell and found a wide hallway with four black armchairs of different sizes, arranged in some sort of waiting room, at the end of the hallway there was another door, also made of wood, this time, mahogany, on which there was a golden plate where was engraved with elegant cursive the legend:

"Sub-Dean Lilith Clawthorne."

At that moment, the door opened, emerging from behind it a beautiful woman with straight jet-black hair and pale skin, she was wearing matte black low heels, a black pencil skirt above the knee, a white button-up blouse under a jacket that matched the almost monochrome attire, between her collarbones she sported a beautiful ovoid emerald attached to a silver chain, her gaze displayed two colors, green and gray, gray like....

"Oh~!"  Lola exclaimed in a singsong voice. "So you're the oh-so-famous Lily!"

The pale cheeks reddened slightly.

Lilith Cleared her throat.

"I would appreciate it if you addressed me formally, Miss Noceda."

"Ha! You're just as uptight as Eda said! Don't worry, you can call me Lola."

Lilith sighed.

"I guess there's not much point in remaining formal if you're Camila's children, follow me please."

Lilith pushed the door allowing the sisters to enter, she released the door behind her, it closed with a slight sway.

"Why do you have a saloon door?" Lola asked arching an eyebrow.

Lilith frowned.

"It's not..." She sighed. "It's Doctor Blight's policies, all educational staff must always be available, so office doors can't be locked.... Except for his."

Luz's eyes widened in surprise.

"That... Sounds very hypocritical."

Lola laughed involuntarily and quickly brought a hand to her mouth.

Lilith arched an eyebrow.

"I suggest you listen and don't talk too much when you visit Dr. Blight, now, have a seat, please." Lilith said pointing to the velvety office chairs in front of the desk.

The office was sleek and modern, three crammed bookcases were arranged behind the glass desk, on top of which were the minimal necessary supplies, there were a couple of cubist paintings on the walls, and, in the left corner of the desk, next to the desktop computer keyboard, two photos, one of a blond, blue-eyed man with a sober countenance in an elegant suit, and one of Lilith smiling solemnly next to a blond, amber-eyed woman in a flower garden.

The atmosphere was sophisticated and minimalist, if not for the pair of photographs, it would almost be impersonal.

“¡Uy, que elegancia la de Francia!”  Lola exclaimed looking around, Luz laughed slightly.

" I beg your pardon?" Lilith asked sitting down behind the desk.

"Nothing, nothing, just that your office is very nice." Replied Lola sitting down next to Luz. "Now... So what's there to do?"

"Oh, thank you." Granted the deputy dean opening a file cabinet under the desk. "We just need to corroborate a few things and then we'll give Luz a tour of the high school facilities”

Lilith found what she was looking for and pulled out a dark blue folder where on the front it read "Luz Noceda" underneath a headshot photograph of Luz.

"Now Luz, Lola, I need you to confirm a few things for me."

The sisters nodded.

"Luz Noceda... 15 years old... Dominican-American nationality... Born August 24, 2006... Mother Camila Perales de Noceda... Father Rogelio Noceda Flores... GPA 9.0 out of middle school, which would be an A- in our grading system...."

Luz nodded at every piece of information Lilith said.

"Conditional certificate of good behavior.... A total of 40 disciplinary reports over the course of 3 years.... Banned from the theater club, cheerleading and art workshops.... She is labeled as responsible for the resignation of a biology teacher after an incident with the dissection of a frog..."

Luz had a grimace that grew with each statement as she shrank in on herself in the chair.

Lilith looked at her curiously.

"How come you made the teacher quit?"

"You don't have to answer that Luz." Lola hastened to say.

"I'm not interrogating her..." Lilith continued. "I'm genuinely curious."

The fifteen year old girl sat upright in her seat and hesitantly looked the sub-dean in the eyes.

"Uhhh.... " She hesitated. "We were dissecting toads, in the report it says frogs, but they were toads, and looking at the functions of each organ.... When air enters the esophagus it gets trapped until the muscular duct reopens, and I was curious if the dead body could still hold air.... I had a small pump for my bike in my backpack, I took it out and connected it to the toad's throat and started to inflate it, the toad was already open and I saw how its stomach was inflating, I wanted to see how much it could inflate and just when the teacher went to my place.... It exploded. And she stuffed us both with dissected toad.... She didn't quite handle it right."

Lilith looked at Luz with astonished eyes while Lola bent over her chair covering her mouth to keep from laughing.

"You... How long have you lived with Edalyn?"

The loud laugh Lola uttered was uncontainable.

"I've only met her a few times at the holidays, but I like her a lot, we get along well." Luz replied with a smile.

"Well, let's move on..." Lilith continued. "Outstanding sports participation in the male baseball team? Male? But why the male?"

"Because I don't like softball and there was no female baseball team." She answered simply.

"And why not just look for another sport?"

"Because my little sister strikes them out like balloons among cacti! Your question has nothing to do with what we' re doing Lily!" Lola said with rapture and a frown.

It wasn't the first time Luz had been asked that question.

Lilith cleared her throat.

"My apologies." She said returning her gaze to the sheet of paper. "Youth literature award... Official member of the coed boxing club... Award in State Creative Drawing... Described as "bright but worrisomely distracted and impulsive..." Suspected unconfirmed ADHD diagnosis..."

Luz affirmed again at what Lilith was saying.

"Alright, now, I'm going to tell you, the class schedule is from 9:00 to 15:00, the subjects come in the schedule I'm going to give you, the campus opens at 6:30, from that time the clubs usually take the first hours to do activities, as well as from 15:00 and until 19: 30, the minimum passing grade is C+, so I suggest that you work hard, it is mandatory that you choose two extracurricular activities, one cultural and one athletic, you must also choose a foreign language, in the documents comes a list of activities that you can choose, but you still have two weeks for that, the high school building is the one next to my office, you can't enter any of the other buildings without a special permit, and to enter the high school building you need to use your student ID card to open the doors, you will be in group 1A, in a few minutes they will give you a tour of the facilities, then they will give you a brief medical exam and finally, you will have to go to the dean's office to formally introduce yourself to Dr. Blight, after that you will be able to go to class. Oh! And the church is always open for anyone who wants to enter, but the clergymen are absent from 13:00 and until 18:00, there is obligatory mass on Mondays. understood?"

Luz nodded.

"Very well, now..." She turned to Lola. " Your mother put you on the list of official guardians, along with Edalyn, for some reason, so I need you to sign some documents for me."

"Sure."

"Luz, take this." Lilith concluded, handing Luz a pink folder.

As the two women continued talking and signing papers, Luz looked through the folder.

Inside came her class schedule, a list of extracurricular sports activities and a list of cultural activities, the list of language classes available, a map of the campus, what would be her student ID, and a light blue pin with the letters "JBA" printed in gold.

Luz quickly placed it with the rest of the pins in her backpack, in between the rainbow pin and the good witch Azura's staff pin.

With everything Lilith had told her, Luz was beyond excited.

"That's it?" Lola asked in a monotone voice pulling Luz out of her thoughts.

"That's right, that's it. " Lilith replied tapping the papers against the desk to line them up."You can pick her up at 15:00, freshmen have no club activities the first two weeks, your presence is no longer required, you can join her or leave, it's your decision."

Luz looked at Lola with pleading eyes.

The older girl sighed.

"I´ll go with her."

"Very well." Lilith continued. "Luz, are you ready for the tour?"

"I was born ready!" She declared excitedly jumping to her feet heading for the door.

"Oh, she' back to her natural state. " Lola said with amusement.

"I want to see the whole school already!" said Luz grabbing the door handle and pulling it hard....

Just as a young girl was trying to push it to get in.

"WAAH!" She exclaimed.

The unexpectedness caused the girl to stumble, almost falling face first on the carpet.

Luz reacted quickly, taking the girl's hand and pulling her tightly, causing the inertia to throw her body against hers.

She held her by the waist staggering due to her weight and hugged her tightly so that neither of them lost their balance, causing them to be face to face with an almost non-existent space between their faces.

"I'm so sorry, I was excited and didn't think, let me just..."

The verbiage of regret froze the instant she felt the small, pale hand in hers.

And how could she not, if Luz never imagined that the first thing she would see before entering school would be something so....

Perfect.

Even after the stumble, the girl's posture could be  flawless, as if instead of having been about to fall, she had taken Luz's hand with the intention of dancing with her, her uniform, perfectly adjusted to her figure, did not show a single stain or wrinkle, the pale skin was immaculate and did not show a single freckle, the hair was the color of a toasted caramel, almost reddish, and her eyes...

They were a deep and caramel amber, reminiscent of liquid gold, they shone like precious stones refracting the light that entered through the door that Luz held with her body.

The brunette was enraptured, never in her life had she seen such eyes, or simply, never in her life had she seen someone so....

"Hermosa..." She uttered stupidly, not realizing that she had been staring at the girl for at least 6 seconds without letting go of her embrace.

Chapter Text

Rhododendron

Lola snorted failing to hide a laugh, causing Luz to return to the present time.

"Excuse me? I didn't catch that..." Said the auburn girl regaining her balance on her own feet.

"Díselo en inglés, Bichita!" Howled Lola, causing a blush on her little sister's cheeks.

Both the girl and Lilith's faces reflected total cluelessness at failing to understand the language the Noceda sisters were using.

"Uh... " The young girl mumbled. "You can let go of me now...."

Luz realized her posture and quickly jumped three feet back, letting go of the young woman's waist and hand as her sister continued to laugh silently.

"Sorry..." Luz said at last in the right language "I didn't know you were coming in and opened the door on impulse."

The young woman smiled politely, showing a neat and pearly set of teeth.

Wow...

"Don't worry, it could have happened to anyone."

Lilith cleared her throat, drawing the attention of those present.

"Good morning Amity, I didn't hear you come in..."

"Oh, yes, the doorbell didn't ring."

"I need someone to fix that..." The subdean sighed. "Anyway... Luz, Lola, this is Amity Blight, she is Dr. Blight's daughter, she will be in your group and I asked her to give you a school tour before classes start, she will be able to solve any doubt you have, she knows completely all the regulations and policies of the school."

The chestnut-haired girl extended a hand towards the Noceda sisters, Lola being the first to take it.

"My pleasure." Said the older one shaking the young woman's hand. "My name is Lola."

"Likewise." Replied Amity releasing her hand and turning to Luz.

It took two moments for the brunette to react and rush to take the girl's hand.

“My name is Luz.”

The pale skin was very soft, its temperature slightly cooler than hers and that hand, elegant and delicate, was so small shaking hers, that Luz was sure she could surround it with her own fingers.

Wow...

Maybe she would try it later.

"Thank you for sparing me a public humiliation." Said the girl drawing Luz's attention from their joined hands.

The brunette smiled at the young girl's cheerful face.

"Oh, it was nothing! You wouldn't have tripped if it wasn't for me in the first place."

The brunette smiled at the young girl's cheerful face.

"Oh, it was nothing! You wouldn't have tripped if it wasn't for me in first place"

The brown-haired girl laughed softly.

"Thank you anyway."

After the brief talk, the room was silent for a few moments.

"You... can let go of me now." Amity said for the second time with an awkward smile.

Luz quickly let go of her hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm just nervous and very distracted!" She excused herself in an almost unintelligible way.

Lola moved to her side and nudged her playfully with her hip.

"What is it that  you´re so distracted  Bichita?" She asked mischievously.

Luz glared at her as her cheeks tinged slightly red.

"What does Bichita mean?" Amity asked curiously.

"Ah, it's Spanish." Luz hastened to answer. "It means little bug."

"Where do you come from?"

"From  Dominican Republic carajita." Lola answered proudly. "I've been living here for a while, but la Bichita moved just a week ago."

"Oh!" Said the chestnut haired with mild surprise. "And how are you feeling so far?"

Luz scratched the back of her neck uneasily.

"It's... Quite different, but so far I feel good, especially because I can be with my family, on the island I was taken care of by an aunt who...."

Lilith cleared her throat with little subtlety, interrupting the conversation.

"I'm very sorry to interrupt your small talk, but unfortunately there is relatively little time left before classes start, plus I still have a lot of work to do, so I beg you to start with the tour and continue chatting on your way." Stated the deputy dean.

"My apologies Miss Lilith." Amity replied lowering her head slightly as she headed for the door. "Shall we go?"

Luz and Lola nodded and walked after the brunette.

"Nice to meet you girls." Lilith pronounced lastly as a farewell. "And welcome to Jacob Blight  Academy, Luz."

"Thank you Lily!" Luz enthusiastically remarked, surprising Amity with her words.

Lilith's eyelid twitched briefly.

"Please address me as miss Lilith, or sub dean Lilith. Okay?"

Luz covered her mouth with her hands quickly.

"I'm sorry Miss Lilith." She said in a muffled voice.

"No problem, have a good first day."

"Thank you." Luz replied again walking out the door.

"Thanks for everything Lily~!" Crooned Lola. "See you on Friday~!"

"Friday?"

"Oh, yeah, mami's having a dinner party and wants to invite you, she'll probably do it later today."

Lilith looked genuinely surprised.

"Oh... All right, see you on Friday then."

The three young ladies walked out the door and consequently, out of the room into Lilith's office.

"Well, first of all, I welcome you to Jacob Blight High School, founded in 1945 by my great-great-grandfather Jacob Blight, it is the first Catholic institution in New York City, it started as a men's college, but over the years it opened its doors to women and eventually acquired different levels of education. Let's go to the first building, now, please follow me."

Amity's professional and fluent speech implied that it was not the first time she had given a tour of this style, her tone and good use of words commanded attention.

Wow...

Luz was excited, the way the girl spoke so confidently of her knowledge fascinated her, and she was eager to hear more, so she hurried to walk alongside Amity.

Before she had taken five steps, Lola gasped dramatically.

"Oh no!" She exclaimed in a rush. "I completely forgot! I have to.... Do... Stuff! I have to go!"

Luz frowned along with Amity's puzzled expression.

"Stuff?" The younger girl said in disbelief. "What kind of stuff?"

"I have to... Uh... edit my latest song so I can upload it to my channel!" She said in an extremely believable tone.

“¡Pero tú me dijihte que me iba 'a acompañar!”  The minor complained.

“¡No sea' tonta Bichita! ¡¿Qué no ve 'que la' quiero dejar solas?!”  Said the oldest slowly walking away.

“¡¿Y sola' pa' qué?!” Luz cried out, following in her sister's footsteps.

“¡Junta do' neurona' Bichita!” Lola said with a chuckle. “¡La carajita e' bonita!”

“¡Lola no me...!”  But the eldest had already gone far away.

"Bye-bye Bichita! I'll pick you up at 15:00!"

Luz sighed resignedly.

"Bye-bye Bichota!" She exclaimed receiving a smile from her sister who was reaching the gate.

Luz returned her attention to Amity, who watched the whole scene without understanding a word.

"What was that all about?" she asked with an amused smile.

"She has diarrhea." Luz stated in revenge to her sister's abandonment. "She was about to explode and was ashamed to say it."

Amity snorted trying to hide a soft, charming giggle.

Wow...

"That sounds like a good reason for leaving, although I think it was enough saying she wasn't feeling well."

"Oh, that's my sister, she's dramatic!"

Amity smiled.

"Let's go to the first building." She re-stated.

Luz followed her with cheerful steps.

"Tell me... How come you talk to sub dean Lilith so casually?" the auburn asked to crack the ice.

"Oh, Lilith is Eda's sister, she talks about her a lot, so I feel like I already know her!" she answered simply.

"Eda? You mean coach Edalyn?

"Is that how they call her here?" Luz asked quizzically, Eda hated formalities.

"Uh... Not exactly, most students just call her by her first name, but I don't feel comfortable talking so casually to an adult."

"Oh... I... I don't usually notice." She said following by a short laugh."When someone makes me feel at ease I talk to them casually, unless they ask me to be formal."

"And how do you know Coach Edalyn?"

"I live in her house."

"Oh really?" said Amity with surprise.

"Yes, my mami and Eda met each other a few years ago in college when mami traveled to this country to do a Master's degree in health administration and school health, she received her Master's degree about 6 months ago, she was recommended to work here, she's the new nursing manager."

"Oh! I haven't met her yet."

"Then I guess you don't hurt yourself very often." Said the brunette with a wink.

The auburn laughed briefly.

"Not really, I'm usually very cautious."

They finally arrived at the doors of the first building.

"This is the St. Nicholas building, patron saint of children, here are the Elementary school kids." Amity began to explain pointing to the building. "Their uniform is yellow and brown, our schedules are very different, so we hardly ever run into them, let alone at recess or lunch."

"Each uniform is different?" Luz asked curiously.

"That's right, this is to tell the students apart." Amity continued with her polite smile.

Luz and Amity continued walking through the vast campus as the auburn explained in detail the history of the buildings and educational logistics.

She learned that each building was named after a saint who was usually the patron saint of the students to whom it corresponded.

St. Expeditus for the middle school building, patron saint of the young people.

St. Joseph of Cupertino for the College building, patron saint of students.

And...

St. Judas Thaddeus for the high school building, patron saint of... impossible causes.

Apparently one of the old deans thought it was funny to name the building that way since he considered that at that age, teenagers were more problematic.

Haha.

It was also the building where she and Amity would be studying in the company of other teenagers.

Amity promised her that they would return to the building to show her inside.

But first she showed her the impressive greenhouse, full of local and exotic plants.

Amity explained that this was where the botany club students worked, just in case she was interested.

There was a girl there, shorter than her, with a chubby build, short wavy black hair, and pretty green eyes hidden behind large round glasses.

The interaction was odd, for as soon as they entered, the girl briefly looked at Amity with defiant eyes, quickly excused herself, and walked away carrying two sacks of fertilizer that, in Luz's eyes, looked quite heavy.

" She is Willow." Amity told her. "She was the middle school club leader, she'll probably get into the high school club this year."

"Is everything okay?" Luz asked hesitantly as she rested a hand on Amity's shoulder.

The young girl was a little startled and took a step backwards moving away from the touch.

Luz shrank and stepped back as well.

"Ah... Yeah." Amity excused herself returning the polite smile to her face. "We just... We don't get along very well."

The chestnut haired girl regained her composure quickly.

"Let's get going." She said solemnly.

Despite her stubborn curiosity, Luz didn't ask any more questions.

She then showed her the orchard, where there were multiple vegetables and some fruit trees, Amity explained to her that the products grown in the orchard were what they used to cook in the cafeteria, and that it was the students themselves who were in charge of taking care of and harvesting what was planted in the orchard.

A little further on, behind the vegetable garden, Amity showed her a sown plot of land, without any sprouts, but surrounded by grassland.

"This is the garden, there are many flowers planted, but they will grow until spring, it's one of my favorite places, you're going to love it when it blooms." She mentioned with a smile and soothing voice.

"Do you like flowers?" asked Luz calmly, following the tone of the conversation.

"Yes." Amity said still smiling. "I like them so much, sometimes I'd like to join the botany club..."

"And why don't you?"

Amity tensed up as if she hadn't expected the question.

"Uhhh..." She hesitated. "Because of Willow! Like I told you, we don't get along very well, it would be awkward."

Luz wasn't entirely convinced...But she had just met Amity, it didn't seem fair to try to interrogate her.

"Let's continue." Amity continued, quickly changing the subject. "Only two more spots to go before we get back to the Judas building."

Luz snorted.

"Is that how you call it?"

Amity blushed slightly.

"That's how everyone calls it, it's easier than saying "St. Judas Thaddeus building," some people just outright call it Judas."

Luz laughed softly.

"It's okay, I wasn't really judging you, it's just that you seemed to take it all so seriously."

Amity frowned.

"Of course I take it seriously, he's a saint!"

Luz flinched at the loud voice, Amity recoiled, and her irritated face changed to one of discomfort.

"You... You think it's disrespectful?"

Luz waved her hands hurriedly in denial.

"No, no, not at all!" Professed the brunette in a nervous voice. "I was just kidding, sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable, it's just that the name "Judas" is a little weird and.... I don't know, it kind of cracks me up."

Amity looked down.

"I'm sorry, religion is a big thing in my family.... I worry about this kind of thing."

Luz approached again and hesitantly raised her hand in Amity's direction, hesitating a little.

When the girl didn't move, he gently rested a palm on her shoulder.

"Easy... I really don't think you said anything offensive, quite the contrary, it's nice that you defend your family's values like that, you're very brave, sorry if I offended you."

Amity smiled very slightly.

"It's okay, you didn't offend me, I thought I said something wrong."

The auburn took a step back and Luz's hand fell gently from her shoulder.

"Let's move on." Pronounced the auburn again. "There's not much time left, and there are still places to visit."

The next point of visit was the gigantic church.

As Luz had first suspected, the statue in front of the cathedral was that of the founder, Amity's great-great-grandfather, but the the church...

It was impressive.

The ceilings were so high, decorated with beautiful murals with cherubs and saints that Luz did not know.

...

She had always wondered how artists painted those murals on such high ceilings.

It must have been long and frightening.

The windows, larger than her entire body, were covered in colored glass, which illuminated Amity with a gorgeous spectrum of color as Luz strained to hear the words coming out of her mouth.

Wow...

After explaining to her that every Monday they had to attend mass before the clubs activities began, they continued to the last, and furthest, point.

Amity guided Luz towards a path that stretched until it reached behind the dense forest that was at the back of the facilities.

That school was absurdly large, she was even surprised that it went everywhere on foot.

During the few minutes they walked down the path, Luz told Amity about how she had come to the country when her mother had finally gotten a job with which she could afford for Luz to live with her and her sister, who had recently graduated from college which she had paid for by working part time, of how she had lived with her extremely strict and not very supportive aunt that, because of her curious nature that tended to get her into some trouble, did not always make her feel welcome, she told her about the boxing team, how she was the best pitcher on the baseball team, and Amity listened to her with genuine interest and attention.

The young foreign girl was strangely fascinating to her, her enthusiasm and bubbly personality caught her attention, she had never met someone who showed so much enthusiasm and energy to someone who was practically a stranger.

Luz was very different... Weird.

But nice.

"Where are we going now?" She asked curiously.

"To the last point." Amity answered simply. "We're going to the stables."

Luz's face lit up with excitement.

"So you do have horses?!" She asked excitedly.

Amity looked at her with her characteristic polite smile.

"That's right, for the equestrian club, we also have a small dairy farm and a chicken coop, they're just finishing the trail."

Luz, who had never seen a real horse before, and seeing the relatively short plane that remained, hurried to run a few yards to shorten the trail.

When she saw that Amity wasn't following, she fleetingly turned back and grabbed her hand.

"What are you waiting for, come on!" she said excitedly then broke into a run, dragging the auburn with her.

After running the remaining space, they reached the end of the path, and Luz marveled at the vast green space where, nearby, she could see small buildings made of wood.

The stables.

With renewed energy, she ran towards them again, dragging Amity with her.

Once in front of the stables, Luz gazed with fascination at the small wooden construction, the horses, in individual barracks, were quietly eating or just existing.

"Wooooow." She couldn't help but exclaim.

"Luz..." Pronounced the girl beside her, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Can you please let go of me?"

Amity's voice sounded uncomfortable as she watched their joined hands.

Luz watched as well, marveling as her early suspicion proved correct.

Her hand completely wrapped around Amity's.

"Luz..."Pronounced the auburn again, Luz released her hand quickly.

"Sorry!" Apologized the brunette hurriedly. "It's just that I've never seen a real horse, and I got a little excited!"

"You got a little too excited."  Amity stated rubbing her hand after the brunette's tight grip as she took a cautious step backwards.

The new girl was very... Effusive.

And she wasn't used to that much physical contact.

It was a bit uncomfortable.

But Amity said nothing, her job was to leave a good impression, she had to avoid Luz's touch subtly.

She approached the horses' stalls and began to explain to Luz the way she could have access to them, she also told her the names of each one.

When she reached the last horse, Amity showed a slight change in her face.

A gesture that was almost tender and almost imperceptible.

But Luz noticed it.

"This is King." She said approaching the horse, who affectionately brought his muzzle close to Amity's upturned palm and nuzzled against it. "He's Coach Edalyn's favorite horse.... And mine too."

The horse reached over Amity's palm and affectionately rubbed his muzzle against her cheek, causing the young girl to let out a soft, delighted chuckle accompanied by a tender smile.

"He's very cuddly."

Wow...

Luz couldn't help but watch completely mesmerized, a dopey smile taking over her face so subtly that she didn't even notice.

Amity turned her face towards her, catching her red-handed as she stared at her shamelessly.

"What's wrong?" She asked her still sporting the sincere smile the horse had elicited from her, which was completely different from the polite smile she had offered her several times.

Oh, wow...

Luz turned her head quickly, rubbing the back of her neck, she was about to let out a myriad of incoherent gibberish, when she was interrupted.

"Heeeeeeeey Mittens!" A male voice was heard from behind.

"What are you doin' here?" complemented a female one.

Amity rolled her eyes stifling a grunt of annoyance.

Both girls turned to see two young people coming trotting towards them.

Both were clearly twins, it was obvious that they were older by at least a couple of years, they were wearing sports clothes that, in Luz's eyes, were a bit...

Revealing.

They were both wearing mid-thigh length shorts and tank tops, sneakers, bright golden blond hair that shone with dazzling highlights in the summer sun and a cute little mole on the opposite side of each of their faces.

As they ran towards them Luz was wondering if she was dreaming of the Baywatch series again.

If Luz wasn't bisexual before she came to this school, she definitely was now.

"Hey Mittens." Said the boy when they finally reached the spot where they stood, as they both took shaky breaths.

"I've told you guys a thousand times not to call me that in public." She spat angrily as her face turned an adorable shade of red.

"Who's your friend?" the girl asked.

Amity huffed with resignation.

"This is Luz Noceda, she's new on campus, I'm giving her a tour." Then she turned to Luz. "Luz, these are-"

"We're Amity's siblings." The girl interrupted.

"And we're way cooler than her." Complemented the young man.

Huh...

Siblings.

There must have been something in the water at the Blight house.

Amity looked at them with a disgusted gesture.

"Are you two done making fools of yourselves?" She asked with annoyance.

"Aw~ Mittens, don't get jealous, we're just trying to be nice."

Amity rolled her eyes at her brother's words.

"I'm Emira." Said the girl extending her hand, which Luz took after a hesitation.

"And I'm Edric." Complemented the young man extending his hand as well, which Luz shook, this time immediately.

"We saw you girls running to the stables and came to say hi." Edric continued speaking. "We were running a few miles."

Emira nodded her head.

"Buuuuut." Edric said stretching the word.  "We're leaving now, because Dad's over there."

Edric pointed with a thumb a few dozen meters behind him, where a tall man could be seen, dressed in an elegant burgundy suit that just by looking at him, Luz felt like she was stealing, hair, just barely long and bushy arranged neatly combed back, and an immaculately trimmed lock beard closed over his chin and around his lips, the man walked relaxedly around the fields.

Yep.

The water at the Blight house was definitely special.

Luz hadn't noticed, but there were several students in the field, some running, some sitting under the shade of the trees, and a couple riding horses.

Amity grimaced uncomfortably as she watched her father near the trees.

She glanced at her watch quickly and sighed.

"Looks like we took a little longer than I expected, he left his office..."

The twins looked at her sympathetically.

"Well, we won't delay you any longer." The boy concluded.

"I'm going to do some stretching and leave too." Emira stated, then stepped forward and leaned in closer to Luz. "Luz, if you ever want to take a more fun tour..."

Her brother imitated her and approached her as well, leaning his face next to his sister.

"... You can look for us, we'll show you the real fun places around the school."

Luz swallowed saliva as the twins stood upright turning around to run away in the same direction.

The brunette couldn't look away for a few seconds as a faint pink colored her cheeks.

Amity looked at her with a raised eyebrow, then rolled her eyes.

So typical.

The auburn cleared her throat to get Luz's attention, who shook her head as she snapped back to reality.

"Come on, you have to introduce yourself to the dean."

Suddenly, Amity's phone rang.

The girl pulled it out of her pocket with a frown, but when she saw the who was calling her, she smiled brightly.

"Can you hold on a bit? I have to take this."

"Sure!" Luz said nonchalantly. "Take your time."

Amity tapped the screen to answer.

"Hey Melie!" She said excitedly as she walked a few feet away from Luz. "How was your flight?"

While Amity was busy, Luz returned her attention to the horse that was still behind her, inside his crate.

She approached him curiously and cautiously, holding out her hand in front of him.

The horse sniffed her palm and, after a few seconds, puffed and rubbed his muzzle against it.

Luz smiled brightly, and with a little more confidence, reached her other hand out to stroke the equine's jaw.

King seemed to be enjoying the affections as Luz became more and more excited moving closer and closer to the horse, even nuzzling her own cheek against his.

"Oh~! Who's a cute little horse, you are, yes you are!" She said sweetly as she scratched under his chin.

The horse whinnied happily.

Luz wanted to see it fully.

She looked to the side briefly.

King looked like a very calm and docile horse....

Surely there would be no problem if...

The young girl reached out her hand to the latch of the little door and opened it carefully, then took hold of the door and pulled it out slowly.

King stood still and didn't seem to flinch.

Luz smiled mischievously and continued to pet the horse as he carefully stepped into the stall.

The horse was magnificent.

The jet black coat was shiny and silky against the skin of Luz's palm, and the girl was delighted with the pattern of patches on it.

Or rather... Patch.

The entire coat was black except for the mane and the one around his head, that was white, not completely covering his eyelids and lower jaw, giving the appearance that he had a bare skull.

To Luz's eyes, it was captivating.

Completely inside, Luz stroked the horse's back until she reached the rear, where she scratched at the end of the back, getting another joyful neigh from the horse.

Completely fascinated and touched, Luz took her phone out of her pocket with the purpose of taking a picture.

And, as often happened to her, her clumsy hands failed to pull the phone out, which slipped out of her fingers.

Desperately, trying to keep the phone from falling, Luz tried to catch it by juggling a little with it...

Until she slammed her palm against it at last managing to grab it....

Slapping King's thigh in the process.

The horse whinnied in fright, and in a panic, bolted out of the stall.

Oh, mierda!

The runaway horse ran at full speed across the field without Luz being able to do anything about it.

"WATCH OUT!" she shouted desperately to get the attention of anyone who might be in the equine's path.

The people in the field quickly turned around at the thunderous scream.

Two in particular were the most worried.

"KING!" Amity shouted in panic. "KING, STOP!"

But King didn't stop his mad dash.

"EVERYONE! GET OFF THE FIELD!" shouted Alador Blight, trying to keep his composure.

The teens on the field quickly got up and began evacuating.

All but one.

The blonde girl, with her back turned to the catastrophe that was happening, was stretching nonchalantly, with the music in her headphones too loud to hear the yelling.

The horse was heading right in her direction.

"EMIRA!" Amity cried out frantically, running in the same direction as the horse. "EMIRA, RUN!"

The young blonde finally snapped at the screams and turned around, panicking at once as she saw the horse running towards her at full speed.

Frightened, she tried to run, but the urgency made her stumble when King was already a few meters away from her.

She only managed to cover her face with her arms.

"EMIRA!" her father shouted desperately.

Chapter Text

The blonde girl could, in great detail, recount the movie of life that she saw pass in front of her eyes the moments she waited to be run over by the horse.

This is going to hurt.

"SOOOOOOOOO!" a powerful female voice was heard in a firm tone.

And though Emira expected a shattering impact, instead she received a wave of grassy strands, belonging to the grass torn away by King's hooves as he braked violently just inches from where her body had fallen gracelessly.

Emira pulled her arms back from where they covered her face, to watch as a young woman riding a gray horse with a white speckled neck struggled to hold still a very frightened King, who now had a rope around his neck.

"Sooooooooo!" Repeated the rider in a calmer tone and King, finally, began to give in.

With the rope attached to her own horse, the young woman backed up, forcing the black horse to back up as well and to, at last, move away from Emira.

The Blight released a sigh that she hadn't even realized she was holding, and continued to watch the scene unfold before her.

The girl, with a nimble leap, hopped down from her horse and quickly turned her attention to King.

"Easy boy." She told him in a reassuring voice. " You are safe, there is no danger, it's all right, it's all right."

She gently stroked King's cheeks and mane as the horse snorted in what seemed like an effort to calm down.

The young woman continued to scratch at the animal's jaw until she touched a spot that....

Made King lie down on the grass.

Then she uttered a loud laugh.

"I can't believe it actually worked!" She exclaimed with a grin.

Emira, who was still in shock from almost being run over by a half-ton beast, was motionless and still terrified.

It was then that the girl turned and with calm steps walked towards her.

The blonde couldn't even blink as two large, warm hands took hers that were trembling uncontrollably.

"Hey." Said the girl in a reassuring tone. " Everything's fine, you're safe, can you hear me?"

Emira, completely dissociated, just stared intently at the hands that took hers, squeezing tightly, the warmth made her feel stable, it was as if releasing them would make her fly away.

"Hey." The girl said again, trying to lift one of her hands.

Emira held it tightly and pressed it against her chest.

"No, no, it's okay, I'm here." The girl continued to speak softly as she stroked her hands. "I'm not going anywhere, relax."

Emira was gasping for breath and kept shaking, it seemed she had only just recognized the danger she had been in.

How close she had been to death.

"Hey, hey easy." The young woman told her, finally managing to release one of her hands to bring it to the blonde's chin, lifting her face. "Look at me Em. Can you hear me?"

And it was then that Emira lost her breath for a different reason.

The girl was kneeling in front of her and VERY close.

Her brown hair was tied in a taut chignon on top of her head, bangs fell framing sun tanned skin dotted with freckles, her eyes were dark green and glistening in the morning sun, reflecting amber flecks in the iris, her cheekbones bulged over her lovely cheeks from the smile she was giving her, showing pretty white teeth, particularly catching her eye was the earring in her ear, it was a....

Fishhook?

Emira's breathing was calming down while her heart was fluttering motivated by a different fact.

"You know my name?" Was all she managed to say.

The young woman snorted.

"Of course I know your name, you're the dean's daughter." She told her with a giggle.

And, oh! That laugh was so charming that it made Emira smile too.

"Are you a little more relaxed now?" She asked her as she stopped giggling.

Emira let out a long sigh.

"I think-"

"EMIRA! "

Cried a male voice, startling the girls and causing the auburn to pull her hands away from the blonde's as she turned around.

No...

Alador Blight arrived on the scene completely shaken, being followed almost immediately by Amity and a little further away, Luz.

The man leaned down beside his daughter trying to catch his breath.

"Emira...." He repeated between exhalations. "Are you...okay?" Amity rushed past her father and quickly knelt down next to Emira.

"Did he hit you?!" She asked in a huff. "He didn't hit you did he?! Are you okay?!"

Emira laughed softly.

"I'm fine Mittens, it's good to know that you do love me."

Amity slapped her loosely on the shoulder with tears in her eyes.

"Stop messing around Emira, I got so scared!"

Emira lightly hugged Amity with her right arm.

"I'm fine Amity, King didn't even touch me." She looked at the girl still in front of her. "She saved me."

The young girl blushed slightly and smiled.

"EMIRA!" Luz shouted kneeling down on the other side of the fallen blonde, forcing her father to back away slightly. "I'm so sorry, it was an accident, I was going to...!”

"I want to thank you Miss Beastorm." Interrupted Alador standing upright next to the young ladies as he regained his composure, smoothing his delicate suit and combing back his hair. "It's good to know that the equine education you've had has paid off so well."

"Thank you Dr. Blight, I'm glad I could help."

"Now, Emira, Miss Beastorm, please be dismissed, classes are about to begin." He ordered sternly.

The instruction made it clear that he had something to say to Luz and Amity.

The younger girls stepped aside to make room for the blonde to stand up.

Emira started to get to her feet....

"OW!" She cried out falling back to the ground.

"What happened?" The young brunette quickly knelt down next to her again.

"My ankle..." Emira explained. "I think I sprained it."

"Oh, it was when you tried to run, wasn't it? Your ankle must have bent before you fell."

The young Beastorm took Emira's ankle gently, removing her shoe and sock without causing her any pain.

The girl saw the skin on her ankle and grimaced at its bruised hue.

"Yeah... This doesn't look too good, I think we'd better get you to the nurse's office, you're going to need painkillers."

Beastorm squatted down next to Emira, put one arm under her knees, the other around her shoulders, and without so much as a gasp, lifted her off the ground.

Emira let out a low squeal of shock and hugged the girl's neck.

"Wow, you are so strong!"  Said the blonde after the surprise.

The brunette let out a laugh.

"You don't stop a horse without a little muscle." Then she turned to the dean. "It'll be faster if I take her by horse, Puddles is well trained..."

Alador nodded solemnly.

"I'll make an exception this time, you can take the horse out of the field."

"Good!" the girl whispered so softly that only Emira could hear her, drawing a smile from her.

The young woman started walking towards her horse with the blonde in her arms.

"Puddles!" She exclaimed heading towards the horse. "Lay."

The horse responded to its rider's command by sitting on its hind legs and bending its front legs until it was lying on the ground.

The young woman sat the blonde sideways on the saddle, then mounted behind her, putting her right leg under Emira's.

"Hold on to the saddle, and don't freak out." She indicated. "Puddles, up up."

The horse reared up, catching Emira off guard again, who, instead of holding the saddle, wrapped an arm around the brunette´s waist to steady herself.

The young woman laughed.

"Or you can hold onto me, I don't mind." She conceded at the blonde's sudden embrace.

Emira giggled softly as well, and not being denied, held her arm in place.

The brunette tugged gently on the rope tied to the chair, causing King to rise from the floor.

"Miss Beastorm..." The dean spoke again, catching the attention of the brunette, who turned her head in his direction. "I am grateful as you can't imagine for what you just did and for taking my daughter to the infirmary... But I must remind you that there is a dress code you must follow during school hours."

The young woman cocked her head to one side and glanced fleetingly at her riding attire.

"I beg your pardon?" She said questioningly to the dean.

The man pointed to his own ear.

"Your... Jewelry, Miss Beastorm."

The girl blushed slightly and brought her hands to her ear quickly to remove the fishhook.

"Sorry Dr. Blight, I forgot to take it off this morning."

Emira, poorly concealed, glared at her father with a look of displeasure.

Behind him, next to Amity, Luz did the same.

"We'll go drop King off at his stall and then I'll take you to the infirmary." Said the girl catching the blonde's attention again.

Emira nodded, finally relaxing after all the fuss.

She didn't notice the way she leaned her body against the other young woman's chest.

The brunette smacked her lips to gesture for King to follow them, the horse obeyed without complaint.

"So... Your name is Beastorm?" Emira asked sheepishly.

The young woman snorted.

"No, that's my last name, my name is Viney."

The two older girls continued their conversation as they walked away.

"Now..." Alador said in a, in Luz's words, frighteningly calm tone, "Please explain to me what happened."

Luz stepped forward hastily.

"I'm so sorry, it was all my fault! It's just that King is so cute and I wanted to take a picture with him, so I opened the door-"

"You opened the door?!" Amity exclaimed angrily. "Luz! You told me you've never seen a horse before! How did you even think of-"

"Amity." Interrupted the dean in the same unsettling tone, the auburn fell silent and shrank in on herself in a movement that was clearly tattooed into her muscle memory. "Let her finish."

The girl ducked her face and Luz looked at her with distress, reached out her hand to touch her shoulder and ask if she was....

"Miss Noceda... Isn't it? " pronounced the dean again. "Please complete your explanation of what happened."

The stern voice made Luz herself cringe ashamed.

"Uh... I..." She took a deep breath. "I opened the stall door, and I walked in, I took out my phone because I wanted to take a picture with King, the phone was going to fall out and as I was trying to catch it... I gave King a... Slap... On the thigh... And... He ran off. I'm so sorry! "

Alador arched an eyebrow.

"Am I supposed to understand that you allowed this, Amity?" the dean asked his daughter with an impenetrable gaze.

Amity looked up, terrified.

"No, no, no!" Luz interjected. "It was all my fault! Amity wasn't even with me when-"

"You left a new student alone by the stables? One who specifically told you she'd never seen a horse before?"

"It was only for a minute father, Amelie called me and-"

"You were using your phone while you were supposed to be fulfilling your duties?"

Amity bit her lip and closed her eyes choking back a few tears.

"Yes, Father..." She conceded finally.

Alador looked between the two girls reflectively.

"Miss Noceda." He said at last after several seconds. "In view of the fact that it is your first day, and that the incident was of no major consequence, I will let it pass with a warning... Particularly since you were left unsupervised in a hostile area..."

He directed a furious glare at Amity.

"I wish we could have met on better terms, I hope such irresponsible and impetuous behavior will not be repeated. As for your irresponsibility, Amity, we will discuss this matter at home. Now, go to your building."

Amity was as composed as at any time during the tour, but Luz could tell.

Her skin was paler.

Her hands lightly ruffled her flawless skirt.

She was biting her lower lip lightly.

A hint of sweat covered her forehead.

And...

Her beautiful eyes glistened with tears that she tried hard not to let go.

"Yes, father."

"But first... Give me your phone." He ordered the auburn.

Amity looked at him with pleading eyes.

"But..."

"Now." He sentenced.

Amity reached into her pocket and with trembling hands, handed the device to the dean.

To her father.

Alador Blight turned and started walking away toward a golf cart parked by the trees.

He hopped on it and quickly made his way to a large building behind the trees.

With the absence of the headmaster, the atmosphere became even more tense.

Luz scratched the back of her head uncomfortably.

"Amity I..."

"Shut up." The auburn harshly interrupted.

Luz, dumbfounded to see Amity's calm tone lost, kept silent.

Amity turned to look at her, her brow was deeply furrowed and her lips tightened into a thin line.

The pale skin was worryingly tinged with red.

The auburn closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, then sighed, regaining her skin tone.

"Are you hurt?" She asked Luz with her eyes still closed.

"N-no." Replied the brunette, hesitantly.

"Good."

Amity took a step forward, placing herself close to Luz.

She looked to both sides to make sure that there were no more people left in the field.

Then she looked at Luz again.

"Are you stupid?! How could you even think of sneaking into the stable by yourself?!" Amity bellowed angrily.

Luz recoiled in surprise at Amity's cruel words.

"I-I, I didn't think it was that serious..."

"YOU DIDN'T THINK IT WAS THAT SERIOUS GETTING INTO THE SPACE OF A HALF TON ANIMAL YOU'VE NEVER DEALT WITH?!!! YOU CLEARLY DIDN'T THINK ANYTHING AT ALL! Do you know the trouble you just got me into?!! I LEFT YOU ALONE ONE MINUTE LUZ!  ONE! MINUTE!"

"Sorry!" Apologized the brunette. "It was an ac-!"

"IT WAS NO ACCIDENT! You didn't have to go in there! King could have kicked you! You could have gotten hurt! YOU ALMOST GOT MY SISTER KILLED!"

Luz backed away as Amity advanced towards her, energetically increasing the volume of her voice.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW FAST HORSES RUN?! HOW HEAVY THEY ARE?! HOW HARD THEY HIT?! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY ACCIDENTS WE'VE HAD BECAUSE OF RECKLESS IDIOTS LIKE YOU?! DO YOU KNOW THAT IF KING HAD HIT EMIRA HE COULD HAVE BEEN PUT DOWN?!"

Luz's eyes widened with astonishment.

"YOU PUT EVERYONE IN DANGER, INCLUDING YOURSELF AND KING! YOU GOT MY SISTER HURT! YOU MADE A FOOL OF ME IN FRONT OF MY FATHER! YOU HAD THE ONLY WAY I HAVE TO COMMUNICATE WITH MY SISTER TAKEN AWAY FROM ME!"

Luz's stomach clenched with guilt.

She didn't really think before acting.

Her impulsiveness often got her into trouble.

"Don't you have anything to say?!"

"I'm sorry!" Luz exclaimed with tears in her eyes. "Sorry, I... I just didn't think, it was an impulse... I'm sorry... It won't happen again."

Amity kept silent for a few seconds, while her reddened face recovered its normal tone.

Having apparently finished with her speech, she shook off her uniform, ran a hand through her hair to smooth it, took a deep breath and recovering her neutral countenance, started walking towards the path that led to the campus buildings.

"Come on, classes are almost starting." She said without turning around to make sure Luz was following her.

But the brunette obeyed.

The minutes back to the building were awkward and silent, contrasting sadly with the rest of the morning.

They arrived at last at the Judas building.

Quite a few more students were visible now.

Amity led Luz along the white hallway with brown tiles, until they reached a particular stretch of black lockers.

The auburn turned to one of them and quickly entered a combination, opening the door.

She pulled out a white folder and handed it to Luz with a small piece of paper on top.

"In there is your medical profile, you're going to have to do the checkup after school since your incident left us out of time. Can you go to the infirmary alone after school?" she asked sternly.

The brunette nodded guiltily.

"Right. On that paper comes the combination to your locker lock, which is this one, unfortunately." She said pointing to the locker next to the one that appeared to be hers. "You have the same classes as me, so follow me at the end of each class so you know where each classroom is."

Luz nodded again.

"Okay, one last thing." Amity sighed with a frown. "Don't come near me, don't sit next to me, don't talk to me unless absolutely necessary, I don't want anything to do with you."

The auburn closed her locker door tightly, and turned around to walk heading for the first classroom.

"Amity wait!" Luz exclaimed catching the auburn's attention, who stopped without turning around. "I'm really sorry for what happened, I'd give anything to go back in time so I wouldn't have done that stupid thing."

Luz stepped forward.

"Thank you for showing me around campus, I had a lot of fun with you during the morning, you're very nice... I was hoping we could be friends..."

The dean's daughter hesitated only for an instant.

"I told you not to talk to me." She concluded to go on her way.

Chapter Text

Heliotrope.

Luz felt terrible.

Half a day had passed since Amity told her that she didn't want her to talk to her anymore.

And despite what the auburn had told her, Luz couldn't help but look for some way to get her pardon.

Although she had only known her for a very short time, Luz really wanted to maintain contact, even if it was simply that the dean's daughter didn't hate her.

She wanted to show her that she was more than her impulsiveness, and that she was going to make amends for her mistakes.

So far, her attempts had been...unsuccessful.

She offered to help the auburn when she was asked to bring documents from the school office.

But the young woman merely gave her half of the forms and walked in front of her without so much as a glance.

She also walked beside her in the hallways when they changed classrooms, subtly trying to get her attention.

But that only seemed to irritate her...

She tried to give her notes in class since, technically, that way she wasn't talking to her.

But Amity not only didn't respond but complained to the teacher on duty and got the brunette a mild scolding.

Luz was starting to get tired.

But it's just that, you see, Luz was never a person with many friends, more like, she didn't have any.

It wasn't that Luz was shy or had a hard time communicating, quite the contrary, she was open, outgoing and had a way with words, the thing is that, generally, people avoided her exuberant personality after a short time of knowing her.

Sometimes it took just minutes.

It was depressing to see the enthusiasm in a new acquaintance's eyes slowly turn to discomfort and displeasure.

She had been called weird, crazy, intense, creepy, freak, among several other demeaning terms.

She had grown accustomed to being the school outcast thanks to her bubbly behavior.

And when she met Amity, she felt something... Different.

It sounded romantic and absurd, but as soon as she met her she had perceived a natural connection with the auburn, it was easy to interact with her, to talk without constantly thinking about the possibility of making mistakes or stumbles, Amity reacted with caution, as well as with curiosity to Luz's energetic rants, it was... Nice.

Talking to Amity had been easy, especially given to some things she had allowed to show beneath her surface.

Luz was easily distracted, but when she paid proper attention, she could notice details that most would overlook.

She was no fool, a fair share of Amity's gestures and words during the tour were prefabricated and meant only for politeness, but, at some points, Luz could notice something else.

The bright eyes at the promise of flowers.

The sad expression at the sight of Willow.

Her slight distress at what she thought was a mistake.

The genuine glee when playing with King.

There was something beyond what Amity was letting be seen.

And Luz couldn't stop thinking about it.

So, despite the briefness of their time together, that ended in utter disaster, Luz wanted to do her best to pursue that desire of friendship.

...

Besides, she would be lying if she said that the pretty gold eyes had nothing to do with her longing to be her friend.

But throughout the day, she received nothing but disdain from the auburn as she adjusted to the new environment.

Luz learned that most of her classmates knew each other and had shared a classroom since preschool.

That was intimidating for someone with poor social skills.

She had to introduce herself in each of her classes, mainly because the teachers asked her to.

And... Really, though it seemed that being a foreigner and generally new in a relatively unpopulated school, was enough to make her classmates approach her with curiosity.

The problem was that Luz hadn't paid much attention to them, her greatest achievement, were a couple of brief chats.

Because she had spent the day following Amity around.

Ugh.

This first day was not going smoothly at all.

"You'd better not wear that in school." Said a female voice a few feet away from her.

Luz, snatched from her inner soliloquy, turned with surprise to look at the owner of the voice.

She recognized her immediately.

"Uh... Not wear what?" She said with mild suspicion.

The young black-haired girl closed the locker that was a few steps away from Luz's and approached her.

She pointed to a tricolor pin in her backpack.

"That." She said plainly.

Luz frowned with annoyance.

"Do you have a problem with that?" she asked in a defiant tone.

"No, no! Not at all!" the dark-haired girl replied, showing her palms innocently. "I'm serious! It would be best if you didn't use it, especially since you're new! This school is not the most... tolerant place."

Luz looked at her suspiciously, the young girl sighed and looking at the ground said:

"I say that from personal experience."

Luz raised her eyebrows slightly surprised.

"Willow, right?" She asked her still wary.

"How do you know my name?" The girl asked, looking up from the floor.

"Amity told me..." Replied the Dominican with some discomfort. "Why are you helping me?"

Willow cocked her head to the side and smiled.

"Because I imagine it must be very difficult to enter a new school where everyone already knows each other, even more so coming from another country."

Luz relaxed a little, the girl had guessed half of her problems in an instant.

Although she probably couldn't help her with the other half.

The brunette squeezed the backpack between her hands.

"Yeah... It is, uh, thanks Willow." She said smiling sheepishly.

"It's no problem, I know what it's like to go through complicated situations." Replied the black-haired woman with a smile. "Oh, would you like to have lunch with me and my friend Gus? I have a feeling you'd get along great with him."

Luz was surprised at the offer cheerfully offered by the girl, usually she wasn't treated like this.

But still...

She had other plans.

"Uhmm, ehhh..." She said hesitantly as she looked around. "Thanks, Willow, but-"

"Are you still looking for Amity?" The dark-haired girl asked her monotonously.

Luz startled and blushed slightly.

"Did you notice?" She asked him nervously.

"It's pretty hard not to notice." He answered her again with a sympathetic smile. "She doesn't seem to want to talk to you, why are you so insistent?"

Luz scratched her head uncomfortably.

"Well, Amity gave me a tour of the campus in the morning and I... I did something really stupid." She told him with mild sadness. "I just want her to forgive me, she... I quite liked her. She seems to hate me now, though."

Willow nibbled her lip nervously as she fiddled with her hands, until she finally said.

"Luz, Amity and I don't get along at all, so maybe I'm not the best person to tell you this, but... Amity isn't exactly a good person."

Luz arched an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Why would you say that?" she asked, crossing her arms.

Willow sighed.

"Well, first, Amity hangs out with the school bullies, she's what people call "the queen bee," she doesn't really bully anyone, but she doesn't stop her friends either, no matter how cruel they might get..."

Willow hugged herself awkwardly without meeting Luz's eyes.

And for the brunette it wasn't hard to imagine that she had been a victim of such abuse.

"Plus she's very competitive, she always has to be first in everything, sports, grades and culture, she has to win all the prizes and if she's not, she gets very upset and angry with the others..."

Now Willow was folding her arms and looking at the floor in annoyance.

"Besides, Amity is one of the people who would be better off not seeing the pin on your backpack... If she even knows what it means."

Luz widened her eyes in surprise and opened her mouth slightly.

"Really?" she asked in disbelief.

"Very seriously." Willow replied hugging herself again, then sighed. "It's one of the reasons we stopped being friends.

Luz was even more surprised."

"You were friends?" He said in a higher tone than necessary.

Willow grimaced at the volume of his voice.

"Yes, yes! But don't yell!"

It was then that he saw her.

The auburn with golden eyes was coming out of one of the classrooms.

Their gazes met for a moment, and a look of surprise crossed Amity's face as she saw her talking to Willow.

Before Luz could wave her hand to greet her, Amity was called by a tall, slender redhead, and set off after her.

The Dominican was left with her hand dangling.

Willow looked at her uncomfortably.

"So... You want to come?" the black-haired girl offered again.

Luz hesitated for a moment.

She was confused, she couldn't relate to what Willow was telling her about the girl she shared the morning with.

She was sure there was something else...

Although, you can't really judge a person just by having met them for a couple of hours.

The brunette unhooked the pin with the colors of the bisexual flag carefully from her backpack and, with a sad look on her face, put it away in the top of the locker.

She picked up a small box next to her books, grabbed a post it and scribbled something on it quickly, took the contents out of the box, stuck the post it on it and walked over to the locker next to hers.

"What are you doing?" Willow asked her as she watched her fiddle with Amity's lock.

"My last attempt." She replied sticking her tongue out in concentration.

"Do you know the code to her locker?" She asked her arching an eyebrow. causing Luz to blush.

"I saw her put it in when she showed me mine..." She replied nervously as the locker door finally opened.

"Ok... That's not creepy at all." Willow replied with a soft laugh.

Luz dropped the note and the contents of the box at the bottom of the locker and closed the door quickly.

She slung her backpack over her shoulder and turned to smile at Willow.

" Let's go!"

The dark-haired girl smiled at her and walked to lead the way to the cafeteria.

Luz followed her with a calm pace.

Arriving at the cafeteria, Willow cheerfully greeted a boy in line.

A short, dark-skinned one, who looked too young to be in high school.

"Willow!" He exclaimed. "I saved you a spot."

"Thanks Gus." Replied the black-haired girl lining up behind him and making room for Luz. "This is Luz, she's new at school, Luz, this is Gus, he's my best friend, he goes in class B."

"Nice to meet you!" said Gus extending his hand towards the new girl, who took it warmly returning the greeting.

"Likewise." Answered the brunette.

"Luz is a foreigner Gus." Willow said cheerfully. "From Dominican Republic."

The boy's eyes shone brightly.

"Ohhhhhh! Traveling blood! When did you arrive to New York?"

"It's not my first time here, but I officially moved in last weekend."

"Cool!" the brown-skinned boy continued. "So how's it going so far?"

As they moved down the line they fell into small talk where Luz explained how she had come to the country and why she had moved, she also learned that Gus was a prodigy student who they had jumped ahead two grades.

Luz let herself be guided to a table, which she assumed was the one they regularly sat at, where they sat down ready to eat.

"So Luz..." Continued the boy without much success in trying to hide his enthusiasm. "How is everything compared to where you used to live?"

"Well... I haven't had much of a chance to compare things, it's very big and even though it's also an island the atmosphere feels very different, New Yorkers are..."

"Rude?" Willow asked with a chuckle.

"I was going to say cold." Luz concluded laughing lightly as well. "It's very different from the people in Santo Domingo, last Saturday I sat on the sidewalk in a park with Lola having an iced coffee, we started singing, and a blonde lady gave us $10 each and told us to get a real job..."

Willow snorted.

"Sounds like a Tuesday afternoon."

Luz laughed too.

"Lola is a singer, and she got pretty mad, she was yelling in Spanish at the lady, and she ran off because she thought she was hexing her..."

Willow and Gus burst out laughing.

"So..." Gus asked catching his breath. "Who's Lola?"

"Ah, she's my older sister, she gave me a tour of some parts of the city last weekend, she's been living here for 6 months with my mami and Eda, but she already lived in Massachusetts, she moved here right after graduating college."

"Eda? As in coach Eda?" Willow continued to inquire.

Luz nodded biting into her sandwich.

"Mami and Eda are really good friends, we're living at her house.

Willow flashed her an amused smile."

"Oh! The coach... Eda..." Willow slurred the words as she looked at a spot behind Gus.

At someone.

Luz followed Willow's gaze, and noticed that, a few tables away, a group of girls were walking to a table right in the center of the cafeteria.

A short, dark-skinned girl with slicked-back hair was talking cheerfully with a rather tall, short-haired platinum blonde, as well as another girl, also dark-skinned, with long hair and thick-framed square glasses.

The tall, freckle-cheeked redhead caught her eye for two reasons.

The first was that she was holding Willow's gaze, the two of them having a furious internal conversation only noticeable by the defiant eyes they turned to each other.

The second was that, with a stony semblance, Amity was walking beside her.

The redhead stopped her walk for a few moments.

Willow clenched her fists on the table.

Amity noticed that her companion had slowed, and, frowning, she elbowed the young woman lightly as she saw what was happening.

Again, a flash of surprise crossed her face for an instant as she saw Luz sitting with Willow, before continuing her course.

As if snapped out of a trance, the redhead glanced at Amity, gave Willow one last disdainful look back, and followed the young auburn.

Luz had many questions.

Who were they? What was the redhead's problem with Willow? Why was Willow looking at her with such hatred?

"Is everything okay?" she asked instead touching the black-haired girl's shoulder.

"Yeah..." Replied the girl regaining her composure. "Everything's fine."

"That's Boscha." Gus interjected. "She used to pick on Willow a lot... And me too, Willow and her do that almost every day."

"Gus!" Claimed the dark-eyed girl at the indiscretion.

"What? You can't just kill someone with your eyes and expect Luz not to ask you for an explanation, I just got ahead to it." Said the boy shrugging his shoulders and drinking from his metal straw.

Willow sighed.

"Yeah... Boscha's a Bully, since early middle school senior year, she doesn't bother us anymore, even though I know she's dying to." She said afterward under her breath.

"Uh... If it's not going overboard. Whatever happened?" Luz asked.

"Well..." Willow hesitated for a moment, but seeing Luz's sincere gesture, she decided to confide the situation to her. "I've always been very peaceful, and I prefer not to... Confront people aggressively, but about eight months ago I got fed up with Boscha and all the others' abuse and... That day we fought."

Luz grimaced as she remembered the sacks of fertilizer she saw Willow carrying into the greenhouse.

"We ended up pretty badly..." Willow continued. "My parents weren't around that day, they had left for a business trip, so my sister, who didn't know anything about Boscha, had to go and pick me up, she said some pretty harsh things to her."

" Oh, here comes my favorite part!" Gus said with a grin, to which Luz looked at him quizzically.

Willow looked at him sideways and laughed briefly, weirding Luz out even more.

"I asked Wionna not to say anything to our parents..." Willow continued. "But the next day, Boscha's sister came to our house, my sister went out to confront her, and they got into a fight too, it all ended quite badly, and Wionna had to take her to the hospital."

Luz gasped, covering her mouth.

"I wouldn't keep bothering you either if your sister sent mine to the hospital!" The brunette said excitedly.

Willow smiled mischievously.

"Well, that would be a good reason, but actually, Rebecca told Boscha that if she didn't leave us alone, she'd stop talking to her altogether."

Luz frowned, confused.

"Who's Rebecca?"

"My sister's fiancée." Replied the black-haired girl without breaking her smile.

Luz tilted her head to the side blankly.

"Rebecca is Boscha's sister." Gus concluded smiling.

"Wait, what?!" Almost shouted the brunette getting up from her seat. "How did that happen?!"

Willow and Gus laughed uproariously.

"Wionna never told me what happened at the hospital that day." Willow continued. "But she came home until the evening of the next day, and brought Rebecca with her, apparently her parents didn't take the fight thing very well and kicked her out of their house for a few days, so Wionna invited her to stay until our parents came back, then they kept hanging out and... That happened, now they live in Brooklyn, they have an herbal products store."

Luz continued perplexed for a moment, then started laughing, along with Willow and Gus.

She had only spent a few minutes with them, but she was already sure they would be great friends.

The Dominican, between laughs, turned her head to the center table intending to get a better look at Boscha, but, in what sadly seemed to be a new habit, Amity caught her eye.

Boscha seemed to have quickly forgotten her visual altercation with Willow and was talking animatedly as the rest of the girls laughed at her quips, except for Amity.

The auburn listened to Boscha, she did, but with a serious and distant face, as if she wished she were anywhere else.

She didn't even bother to give the polite smile she had shown Luz all morning.

Much less the genuine cheerfulness she saw in her at some points.

"Why is Amity with them?" Luz asked suddenly startling the pair. "She doesn't seem very comfortable."

Willow frowned.

"I have no idea." Answered the dark-haired girl bitterly. "She started hanging out with them practically the day after we stopped being friends, even though she never liked them at first."

"Why did you stop being friends?" Light inquired hastily.

Willow tensed.

"Luz, you're very nice, but I'd rather not tell you about it..."

Luz backed up in her seat.

"Sorry, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to! Excuse me, I tend to be a bit... Intense."

"It's okay." Willow dismissed with a wave of her hand. "It's only natural that you'd be curious seeing everything you've done."

"Done what?" Gus asked intrigued.

"Luz has been trying to talk to Amity all day." Willow replied with a smile.

"I just want her to forgive me..." Luz added awkwardly rubbing her arm.

"So what did you do?" Willow asked, then added bitterly. "It's not like it takes much effort to piss Amity off."

Luz twisted her mouth wanting to stand up for the auburn, but kept quiet.

"Uh... I..." She started awkwardly. "Maybe... I made a horse run amok."

Willow and Gus reacted with surprise.

Luz continued to tell them about that morning's event, ending with how Amity asked her to stop talking to her.

His two companions shrunk with discomfort while making identical grimaces.

"I think..." Gus began. "That Amity's anger is quite justified."

"I can't believe you made King run amok." Willow added. "He's the most docile horse of all."

Luz covered her face with her hands and dropped onto the table with a wail.

"I know!" She said in a distressed, muffled voice. "That's why I need Amity to forgive me! I want her to see that I'm not an idiot!"

"Yeah, well... I don't know what to tell you." Willow told her sadly. "Amity isn't one to get along with a lot of people, much less forgive mistakes."

Luz looked back at the center table.

Amity had stopped paying attention to what her friends were saying, and instead she was reading a book with black covers, until Boscha shook her gently, getting her attention again.

Luz sighed.

"Should I give up?" She asked without addressing anyone.

"I think so." Gus offered his opinion. "I've never dealt with Amity, but just looking at her is enough to know she's a difficult person, something absurdly convenient would have to happen for her to want to talk to you."

Luz slammed her face against the table and Willow gave the young man a scolding glare.

"What?" defended Gus with a shrug. "Amity's not the friendliest."

Luz covered her head with her hands.

And Willow glared even harder at Gus.

"I..."

"Gus." Willow interrupted. "Stop it."

The boy shut his mouth immediately.

Willow put a hand on Luz's shoulder.

"Relax... It's nothing personal... Amity is just like that, don't feel bad..."

The bell announcing the end of lunch interrupted Willow.

" Come on, let's go back to class." Said the dark-haired girl getting up from her seat as she let go of Luz's shoulder. "See you after school Gus."

"See you later girls!" Said the young man as he hurried to the cafeteria door. "Nice to meet you Luz!"

" Same here!" Replied the brunette waving her hand half-heartedly.

Willow and Luz, at a slower pace, also walked out the door to head to their last two classes.

When they reached the classroom they noticed that the teacher was already there, so they hurried to take their seats.

Until Luz saw that the seat she occupied next to Amity was already taken by a redhead.

Luz approached cautiously and cleared her throat to get the attention of Boscha, who was checking her phone.

The redhead gave her a sidelong glance, without putting the device down.

"That's my seat." She said in a hesitant tone.

Boscha gave her a smirk.

"Is it? I don't see your name on it."

Luz frowned with annoyance.

"Didn't you have a more worn-out joke?" She spat disdainfully.

Surprisingly, the girl next to her, snorted softly to quickly hide it with a cough.

Boscha and Luz turned to look at the dean's daughter, the first with an incredulous look, the second, with a surprised expression, which soon turned into a fond smile.

Amity ignored them and continued reading the black-covered book she had at lunch.

"Ladies!" The teacher called from the front of the class. "The bell rang over five minutes ago, we should begin, please take your seats."

"That's my seat!" Luz claimed pointing to Boscha.

The teacher looked at the redhead with a raised eyebrow, and the young girl answered with a defiant look.

"Seats are not assigned." She said smugly. "And I got here first."

The teacher snorted with annoyance.

"Boscha is right miss..."

" Luz." Replied the brunette quickly.

" For now please find another seat Luz." Indicated the teacher. "Tomorrow I will indicate your permanent seats."

Boscha moved to protest, but a stern look from the teacher made her return to her seat.

Luz did not look happy.

The teacher pushed her away from the students to the front.

"You're new aren't you?" She asked her gently. "I haven't seen you before, and I've known these kids since elementary school."

Luz quickly told her about her arrival in the country and the school.

"Well." The teacher continued. "Don't worry Luz, Boscha can be quite difficult, try not to associate with her too much if you don't like her, for now sit down..."

The teacher looked around.

"Sit next to Willow." She said pointing to the right corner.

Luz, not entirely convinced, shuffled to the seat next to the black-haired girl, who welcomed her with an empathetic smile.

"Alright guys!" began the teacher at the front, causing the students to fall silent almost immediately. "Let's start today's class, the vast majority of you already know me, but for those of you who don't, I'll introduce myself."

The teacher turned and quickly wrote her name on the board.

"My name is Anika Morningstar, I will be your ethics and mental health teacher, and, particularly this year, I will be your group counselor."

A couple of students whispered excitedly among themselves.

"Yes, yes." She spoke again quieting the bustle. "We will be doing fun activities this year, but for now, let's start with the class guidelines, please take note."

While the teacher was talking and writing down some rules on the whiteboard, Luz observed her.

She was a young woman, tall and plump, with auburn hair over her shoulder, and with considerably more enthusiasm than the other teachers she saw during the day.

The class went by quickly, and Luz was amazed at how she was able to maintain her attention in class with ease, something that was not very frequent.

The sixty minutes for the mental health class passed quickly, and the first thirty minutes for their first counseling session even more so.

Amity seemed enthusiastic about the class as well, showing herself to be just as participative as in the previous ones, but, Luz noticed, much more smiley.

"Alright guys." Announced the teacher with a smile. "We've covered the first day of lessons, so I'm going to let you out early."

The small group celebrated with joy.

"But!" The group groaned with disappointment, making the teacher laugh. "As most of you know, in my classes we work in pairs so..."

The teacher walked over to her desk, sitting down in front of the purple laptop open on it.

The faintest murmur in the room was silenced.

The teacher typed something into the device and spoke again.

"We're going to make the semester's work partnerships!" She announced excitedly. "The person you are paired with will be the person you work with for the rest of the year, both for the health class and for the counseling sessions, remember the rules, no changes, you must learn to respect each other, no changes, the assignments must always be shared equally, no changes, I grade you as a team and not individually, and... AH, yes! No changes."

Luz laughed softly, only to be quickly silenced by a "shhhh" from the dark-skinned girl on her right side.

The brunette was surprised to be the only one to laugh, and looking around, she noticed that a tense silence hung over the classroom.

Her classmates were practically on the edge of their chairs, with undivided attention directed at the teacher.

Luz began to worry.

"This year we have twenty students in our class, so there will be ten pairs, let's get started, the order of appearance means nothing. "

Oh, what a huge lie, so much so that it almost stopped being innocent...

"The first team will be made up by..." Announced the teacher. "Skara Sterling and... Amelia Greyscar."

The girl to Luz's right sighed silently with relief, but quickly returned her attention to the teacher's words.

"Team two... Boscha Pinkberry and... Katherine Blueswine."

Luz watched as the same process repeated itself multiple times, the teacher would announce a pairing, the members of that pairing would seem relieved, but would go back to watching in silence.

And Luz noticed that the atmosphere in the classroom was becoming increasingly more and more tense.

So, confused, she couldn't help but tense up as well.

"Team six..." Announced the teacher again. "Eleanor Trueshight and... Willow Park."

Luz listened as Willow sighed loudly and slumped back in her seat.

What the...

Then again, Willow was once again perched upright on her seat...

Luz noticed that the atmosphere in the classroom changed again.

Everyone was leaning forward, in total silence, Luz could have sworn they had even stopped breathing.

She looked around, and her eyes landed on Amity again.

The girl looked completely anxious, fists clenched and jaw tight, looking directly at the teacher, she didn't blink once.

The teacher announced the seventh team.

The antepenultimate one.

The class gasped softly.

She announced the eighth.

The second to last.

The class gasped louder.

"Team number ten." The teacher announced, and Luz was sure she heard a mischievous tone in her voice.

The dramatic pause was no accident.

Luz looked back at the dean's daughter and found her pale in her seat.

What's going on?

"Amity Blight and..."

The entire class gasped loudly, almost exaggeratedly.

Then Luz realized something that intrigue had not allowed her to see.

I still don't have a partner.

"...Luz Noceda!" Concluded the teacher.

"What?!" Amity exclaimed, standing up in her seat.

The class broke into hushed whispers and murmurs.

And Luz...

Luz didn't understand a thing.

Oh well, at least I'll get a chance to talk to her.

This was absurdly convenient.

Chapter Text

Hellebore

Anika Morningstar was a young woman, of the thirty-five springs that had seen her eyes, ten had been spent within Blight Academy, where she began teaching at all academic levels, except for preschool.

She taught introductory clinical psychology in college, ethics and mental health in high school, mental development in middle school, and occasional children's workshops for elementary school, and she was also often the middle school building counselor.

In general, she was well liked by the students, and quite well known as well, the kind of teacher you could trust with problems at home to turn in an assignment a little late, or who would let you sleep at your desk in her class when you looked tired.

But that wasn't what made her famous within Blight Academy.

There were... Rumors about Miss Anika.

Like the fact that whenever she carried an umbrella, sooner or later it would start raining, no matter how sunny the day was.

Or how some had sworn to see her talking to stray animals.

But there was one rumor in particular.

The most important one.

Because... It always turned out to be true.

And that is, for Professor Anika's classes, you always had to work in pairs, with a partner who would always be assigned by her.

The main rule was clear.

There were no changes.

And in ten years, she had never, under any circumstances, given in to changing the members of a pair.

Oddly enough, even though some started out on the wrong foot, or had complications at work, by the middle of the school year, they ended up working in harmony, even if they didn't get along at all.

But there was something VERY particular about the order of the couples.

Sometimes there were more, sometimes there were less, but always.

ALWAYS.

There was the triangle of fate.

That was what the students called the last three pairs that Miss Anika chose for any of her classes.

If it was your turn to be part of these last three, you had a guaranteed destiny.

Being part of the penultimate pair was a condemnation, somehow, even if the members were best friends, or got along very well throughout the school year, shortly before the end of the semester they would have a cruel and dramatic fight, it always happened, and there was always a scandal because of it.

Being part of the penultimate one was a promise, since the members of that team would end up performing an extraordinary and recognized accomplishment, and in general, they would end up establishing very strong bonds with each other, sometimes even becoming a couple.

But to be part of the last one...

It was a prophecy.

For if it was you who was to be part of the last pair announced by the teacher Anika.

You had found the love of your life.

The first ones, selected when Miss Anika gave her first class in the senior year of middle school, had been together for ten years, five of them happily married.

The teacher's classes had formed dozens of couples, and the docent rejoiced and announced every time she was invited to the celebration of a marriage.

So, the reaction of the 1A boys upon learning that the latest couple in the class would be the new girl, and the oh-so-famous Amity Blight, was understandable.

But that wasn't everything, oh no.

First of all, in ten years, not a single one of Amity's siblings or cousins had ever been part of the triangle of destiny.

Never had a Blight ever been chosen.

Second of all.

Never.

Ever.

The last couple had been made up of two same-sex people.

It was something unusual and unprecedented.

Some would say an aberration.

A Blight, the dean's youngest daughter no less, chosen for the last couple?

With a girl?

What a scandal!

"And that wraps up today's class!" concluded Miss Anika finally. "Oh! By the way, exchange your contact numbers with your partner, and tomorrow, spend an hour together, I want you to make a brief introduction of each other for the next class, it should include first and last names, family members, and any hobbies you practice. Now that's it, I'll see you next class!"

The students, still whispering, began to leave the classroom.

Time after time, curious eyes turned, some looked at Luz, most looked at Amity, completely unsettled in her seat.

She was quickly surrounded by her friends, who snatched each other' s words amidst questions, teasing, jokes and concern.

Amity ignored them, snapped out of her shock and practically ran to the teacher's desk.

Her friends followed her in single line.

Luz, cheerful yet confused, tried to go after her, only to be stopped by Willow, who pulled her by her arm.

"You'd better not go near her now."

"But the teacher said."

"You can do that later! Amity's going to yell at you if you go near her now."

"But..."

Willow grabbed Luz's backpack and started dragging her towards the door.

And damn!

The morning's fertilizer bags were definitely not light!

Luz decided it was best not to resist.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS MISS MORNINGSTAR!" Was the last thing she heard walking away from the classroom.

"Oh~ But, it's already done Miss Blight." Said the teacher sarcastically crossing her arms. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't raise your voice at me, Amity."

The auburn backed away slightly.

"Sorry." She said quickly. "But it's just..."

"Why did you pair her up with the new girl!?" Boscha asked harshly. "Why with a girl?!"

"You've never done this before!" A surprised Skara exclaimed.

The rest of the girls chorused in support.

The teacher stood up with a frown.

"Anyone who is not Amity Blight, leave immediately." She sentenced.

"But..." Skara interjected.

"Now!" She said in a louder tone.

The girls slowly retreated.

Except for Boscha.

The redhead stood there, challenging the teacher with her eyes.

"You can't do this!" she protested. "Don't you know who her father is?" The teacher looked at her with an arched eyebrow.

"I have nothing to discuss with you Boscha. You are dismissed."

"¡Or-"

The teacher looked at her with an arched eyebrow.

"Stand down before I send you to detention." She sentenced.

Boscha clenched both her teeth and her fists, and turning around, walked out of the classroom.

"I'll wait for you outside Amity."

" You don't need to." Replied the auburn in a tired voice. "I still have stuff to do on campus, go home."

Boscha looked at her over her shoulder.

"Fine." She said closing the door behind her.

The teacher sighed.

"Okay Amity. what's the matter?"

Amity opened her mouth to rebut... And realized she had nothing to say.

She searched her mind a few moments for some excuse.

"She... I don't even like her! She's impulsive, irresponsible and reckless! I'm risking my grade! You know what my parents are like! You' re going to get me in trouble!"

"Oh, so you know her?"

"No... Not really, I gave her a tour of campus this morning on dean's orders, she made a mess, I left her alone for a second, she freed a horse and almost caused an accident."

The teacher arched her eyebrows in surprise, but regained her serious look quickly.

"Well, if you say she's so irresponsible, she could well learn something from you." Countered the teacher.

"What, you' re telling me I have to bear with her?" rebutted Amity angrily.

"No, I'm saying that in life you're not always going to work with people you like, and you must learn to tolerate them and work in harmony to give good results, it's not the first time you've worked with someone irresponsible, your grades have never dropped, you're an excellent leader and you've always gotten the best out of your classmates. You've never complained before, do you dislike this girl that much?"

The auburn was silent for a few moments, staring at the floor.

"Why did you pair me up with a girl?" Amity claimed with restrained anger.

The teacher looked at her with an arched eyebrow.

"You've never had a problem with that before."

"That's because I'd never been part of the last pair!"

" So what of it?" Questioned the teacher with a shrug.

"Oh, don't pretend you don't know, you know perfectly well what the problem is! I need you to change my partner!"

The teacher snorted.

"You want me to change your partner because of a gossip?" She told her in a mocking tone.

"You know it's not just a rumor! It's something that always happens, it hasn't failed once!"

"That has nothing to do with me." Replied the teacher, crossing her arms. "I don't do anything special."

" You've never picked a same-sex couple as your last! Why did you have to start with me?!" She complained feeling her eyes start to sting.

The teacher's gesture softened.

"Amity, I don't choose partners, I sign up names into an app that gives me random results, I have never planned anything." She told her turning the computer around to show the open App.

Amity observed her name and Luz's name making a pair next to a roulette wheel.

"Then you can change it, please change it for me!"

"Amity, you know the rules, no changes, I haven't made a change ever."

"But I can't be with a girl if we're the last couple! It's wrong! You know it's wrong!"

"Why would it be wrong for two girls to be a paired up for a school assignment?"

"Because the final pairs in your class always end up together Miss Anika! That's against school moral! And against my family's morals!"

The teacher tilted her head to the side, arched an eyebrow, and bent down to be level with the young girl.

"Amity... Do you like girls?" she asked in a soft tone.

The young lady blushed to the tips of her ears.

"OF COURSE NOT!" She replied with rather exaggerated volume.

The teacher flinched briefly and recoiled at the high-pitched tone.

She looked at her student for a moment, tilted her head again and sighed.

"So, then. What are you worried about? If you don't like girls. Why would you end up dating one?"

Amity's eyes widened.

She hadn't thought about that.

"Just as you say, I've never picked a couple with two people of the same sex at the end, and while I'm not in favor of encouraging all the absurd rumors, it could very well be that the circumstances are different, clearly you´re not going to end up together if you don't even like girls.

"What if she likes girls?" the auburn continued to rebut.

"It doesn´t matter that much, if you don't like girls, she can't force you into anything."

"She's... Weird, I'm uncomfortable around her." Amity could feel her stomach tighten at the false confession.

The teacher approached again.

"Amity, did she do something to you?" she asked cautiously. "Was she aggressive with you?"

"No!" she faltered. "Uh... Not really... I was actually the one who yelled at her... I just... I don't know, she gives me a bad feeling."

The teacher sighed again.

"Look Amity, if you ever have a problem with Luz, feel free to talk to me, and we'll work it out in conversation. " Then she folded her arms. "In ten years, I've never seen a problem that can't be solved with communication, that's why I've never made changes. If Luz comes in any way to assault or threaten you, then I will do something about it, but if you have no real reason besides what you've already told me, I'm not going to change your partner."

The teacher's words were blunt, and Amity found no more excuses to rebut.

"Can I help you with anything else?" The teacher asked in a soft voice.

"No." Amity said after an awkward pause.

It was then that the teacher noticed the crystallized look on the fifteen-year-old's face.

She leaned in again and, being one of the few people Amity allowed to be touched, laid a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"Amity, I know you very well, you are a brave and competent girl who never flinches from a challenge, I know you will be able to handle this, and don't worry about the pairing order, no one can force you into anything. For now give Luz a chance, okay?"

The young woman sighed.

"Okay."

"Well, if you have no more doubts, I'll see you on Wednesday, don't forget your homework for tomorrow."

"Yes Miss Morningstar."

With those last words, Amity grabbed her backpack and left the classroom.

The teacher watched the door close and turned to her laptop, closing the application.

"This semester is going to be very interesting." She said thinking out loud.

While Amity was chatting with Professor Anika, Luz had been dragged by Willow to the lockers.

"Willow!" She exclaimed at last when the black-haired girl finally slowed down at her locker. "What's going on?"

"Uh..." began her companion, scratching her cheek." It's kind of hard to explain, see, the thing with Miss Morningstar's class is that-"

Willow's words were interrupted by her cell phone ringing, recognizing her sister's personalized tone, the black-haired girl excused herself and answered immediately.

"Hello, Wionna, what happened?"

"We're outside catarina, you need to come out, now."

"Don't call me that." Replied the young woman between her teeth. "What do you mean go out now, what for? We're still on school time."

"And, you saying it like that means you already got out of class, so get out. Now.

I'll explain when you get there. "Wionna, I'm in the middle of something important!"

"This is much more important, if you're not at Judas' door in 30 seconds I'm coming for you, and I'm going to carry you, it's your call Catarina."

"Don't call me-"

But her sister had already hung up.

"Ugh! When she gets like that it's a bummer!" she hurried to open her locker. "I'm so sorry Luz, she's serious, I'll explain everything early tomorrow morning!"

The black-haired girl quickly grabbed her backpack, and almost ran to the exit.

"See you tomorrow Luz!" she shouted as she walked away.

"See you tomorrow..." Half-heartedly replied the brunette, as she watched her friend walk away.

To say she was confused was an understatement.

But it seemed she had no choice but to wait.

It wasn't like she could be asked by anyone else.

It was still half an hour before Lola would come by to pick her up.

Then she remembered she still had to have her physical... And she had no idea where the nurse's office was.

She looked around, looking for some kind of sign, but found nothing.

The corridors were empty, as the rest of the groups were still in classes.

Luz sighed.

She would have to wait until the end of classes to ask for directions.

She walked a few steps to put her things in the locker.

And she saw a nun turn the corner down the hallway.

Maybe she wouldn't have to wait.

Luz hurried her belongings into the locker, picked up the folder Amity had given her that morning, and approached the nun.

"Uh... Ma'am? Sister?" she asked hesitantly trying to get the nun's attention.

The woman stopped and turned to face Luz.

The nun was short, at least a head shorter than Luz, plump and middle-aged, wore thick-framed glasses and looked adorable.

"Yes my child, what do you need?" She asked curiously.

"I need to go to the nurse's office." Luz replied. "But I don't know where it is, could you please help me?"

"Sure!" She said with a smile. "I'll be glad to take you, just follow me."

The young woman smiled and walked after the nun.

"You must be new." Started the nun with intent to chat. "I've never seen you on campus before."

"Oh, right." Luz confirmed starting again to talk about her arrival in the country and the institution.

"Nice to meet you Luz." Said the woman upon hearing the story. "I am Sister Hildegard Jane..."

Luz's eyes widened at such a name.

"But you can call me Sister Hildy." She finished with a beaming smile. "I'm the religious counselor for High School students, I'm sure I'll be giving you religion classes soon. Oh! Here we are."

After walking down a few hallways, they had finally arrived at the nurse's office.

"Thank you very much Sister Hildy." Thanked the Dominican with a smile.

"Nice to meet you Luz, if you have any questions and see me around, don't hesitate to ask me."

"Thank you!"

"Have a good day." She waved goodbye as the nun walked down the hallway.

Luz knocked on the nurse's door.

"Come in." Said a rather familiar voice.

Oh no.

The young Dominican girl opened the door and entered the white room.

The nurse's station was neat, and quite large, with 5 stretchers laid out for the students.

At the attending desk was none other than Camila Noceda.

Luz's mother.

"Mija!" The woman exclaimed with a smile. "What are you doing here, are you feeling sick? School's not out yet."

"Hola mami." Luz greeted self-consciously. "The teacher let us out early from the last class, uh... this morning I was told I had to come in for a physical test. What are you doing here, I thought you had your office in a different building?"

Camila got up from her desk and walked over to her daughter.

"Oh I do, it's just that I was checking the lounges in each building to make some changes, and the nurse on duty hadn't had time to go out on her break because she had so many records to check in, so I offered to help her while she went out."

"Oh..." Luz mused. "So should I come back later or...?"

"Ay mija, no seas tonta!" Camila said with a chuckle. "I can perfectly do your physical examination in a few minutes, come on in, in fact it will be faster if I do it."

"Oh, ok." Said Luz coming in slowly.

"Sit on the stretcher mija." Camila indicated smiling.

"How do you feel about this school?" Asked the mother wrapping her daughter's left arm in a Velcro strap.

"It's huge!" Luz replied as the strap on her arm inflated." I don't think I've ever been to a school this big before.

"Yes it is big." Continued Camila with a smile as she tapped a small hammer on Luz's knees. "All right, stand up."

"So, how was your first day?" she asked as she measured her hips.

"Great!" Replied the girl quickly with a strangled voice.

Camila raised her eyebrows pulling herself upright to face her daughter.

"Mija? What happened?" She asked her with a worried gesture.

"Nothing!" Her daughter replied hastily, raising her hands in front of her. "Nothing happened!

Camila arched an eyebrow in disbelief.

Luz lowered her hands.

"Nothing... Serious." She said at last scratching the back of her neck.

Camila sighed.

"We'll talk about it at home." She said as she measured her waist. "Now, let's go to the weighing scale."

Luz followed Camila to the electronic scale, which automatically measured and weighed her.

Camila smiled warmly.

"You're already 5'7", a little more and you'll be as tall as me, you'll probably end up being as tall as your sister." She looked at the data again. "You also gained a few pounds."

Luz gasped softly, making Camila let out a soft laugh.

"It's normal mija, you can't get taller without gaining weight." Camila walked to the desk still smiling. "You're growing up."

Luz smiled following her mom, sitting down in front of the desk.

Camila silently noted Luz's results in her file.

"Is that all mami?" the teenager asked, in confusion.

"Well, I don't need to ask you anything that comes in the file, because they are things I already know, like your blood type or your allergies, that's why I told you it would be quicker if I did it."

The room was silent again for a few seconds as Camila continued to write down.

"I think I made a couple of friends..." Luz said breaking the silence.

Camila stopped noting immediately, and looked at her daughter with astonished eyes.

" You did?" she asked excitedly. "What are their names?"

"Willow, she's a girl from my class, and Gus, he's from class B, and he's younger than us."

"Ay que bueno mija!" Camila exclaimed with joy. "See, I told you, you were going to fit right in!"

Luz smiled enthusiastically.

"Yes! I like them a lot! We ate together and all my classmates received me very well!"

"Que alegría mija!" Said Camila getting up to wrap her youngest daughter in a tight hug. " We have to celebrate! I'm going to cook your favorite tonight!"

Luz reciprocated the hug calmly.

She knew that what worried her mother most was that she would make new friends.

Now she just had to keep them.

The clock on the desk beeped twice.

"Oh..." Camilla said releasing her daughter. "It's fifteen to three, Christine shouldn't take long to get back now."

"Ay, ya me voy mami! Lola was supposed to pick me up at 3."

" You go mija, I'll see you tonight, te amo."

"Me too mami!" Luz and her mother exchanged a brief kiss on the cheek, only for the young girl to leave with hurried steps and her backpack bouncing on her back.

The young Dominican girl walked to the door of the building.

Her sister was very punctual and got annoyed when she was kept waiting.

When she reached the door, she opened it quickly and walked down the steps to the entrance.

And came upon Amity sitting on the pillar at the end of the banister reading the same black-covered book she had seen her read throughout the day.

She looked around, and seeing no sign of her sister, decided to try her luck one more time.

"Amity?" the brunette said hesitantly.

The auburn looked up in surprise, and the golden eyes gazed in awe for a moment.

Wow...

Ugh! Enough with that!

"Oh, there you are." Said the auburn regaining her composure and stowing the book in the bag hanging over her waist. "I've been waiting for you.

Luz's eyes sparkled eagerly.

"Really?!" She said smiling enthusiastically.

Amity frowned.

"Yes Luz, unfortunately I'm stuck with you." She told her with annoyance. "Miss Morningstar refused to change partners for me."

Luz's enthusiasm faded quickly.

"Ah... Right, that." She replied as she fiddled with the button on her coat uncomfortably. "So... Why were you waiting for me?"

Amity walked closer to Luz.

"We have to meet tomorrow." She told her monotonously. "I take school work very seriously, so, if you're going to work with me, you have to keep up. Got it?"

Luz nodded her head.

"Good, we'll meet tomorrow in the meadow during first recess and also at lunch, we'll keep to the time Miss Morningstar requested, and then I won't have to see you after school."

Luz shrank back a little.

Amity's words were quite cruel.

The auburn held out her hand, handing her a pink piece of paper.

Luz took it carefully and opened it to read it.

555 **** ***

AmityBeLight

Luz looked back at the auburn curiously.

"That's my phone and email." Explained the dean's daughter neutrally. "Text and send me an email, I'll get back to you... As soon as my father gives my phone back."

Amity's words were loaded with venom, and Luz shrunk more on herself.

"Now listen well Luz, we are not friends, nor do I want to be your friend, you are a troublemaker and that's the last thing I need." She told her sternly. "So, like I told you before, don't talk to me unless it's absolutely necessary."

The auburn took a step back, but Luz was quick to grab her forearm.

"Amity, wait!" she said in a pleading voice. "Please..."

The auburn shook her arm quickly.

"What did I just told you?!" She cried out trying not to raise her voice.

" It is absolutely necessary, I swear it!"

Amity looked at her warily, and after a few moments, she sighed and folded her arms.

"You have five minutes." She told her in a curt tone.

Luz took a step forward, almost invading Amity's space.

"I want to apologize to you for what happened this morning, it was a really stupid thing to do on my part, and I promise you that something like that will never happen again... Uh... I..." Luz began to fiddle with her hands awkwardly, avoiding the auburn's gaze. "I've never been very good at making friends, people usually distance themselves from me soon after meeting me, I have a hard time talking to people because sometimes I had difficulties understanding their boundaries and ended up annoying them, I... Uh..."

Luz took a deep breath and raised her face to look Amity in the eyes.

"I felt very comfortable with you, I really liked you a lot and talking to you is easy, I promise I will be more careful, especially when I'm with you, and although I would really like to, we don't have to be friends, but we could at least get along so... Could you forgive me?"

The young Dominican stretched out her hand in request for pardon.

Amity looked at her hand for a few moments, then returned her gaze to Luz's face.

And she pondered over the brunette's words, the sincerity and vulnerability of her speech were hard to ignore, and that face...

Ugh!

Rejecting her felt like kicking a puppy.

And Amity wanted to reject her.

She really wanted to.

Luz meant trouble, and that was the last thing she needed.

But... She couldn't ignore that, as Luz herself had said, talking to her had been easy.

Amity Blight did not forgive.

Amity Blight did not give second chances.

Losing her hopeful expression, Luz slowly lowered her hand.

And the disappointment on the brunette's face, stung her heart.

For the love of God... I'm sure I'm going to regret this.

The auburn sighed.

"I guess it wasn't entirely your fault, I still don't know you that well and I shouldn't have left you alone, besides... There were no serious consequences, and my father is always looking for any excuse to take my phone away from me so... I guess I shouldn't take it that far either."

Luz's face lit up with a smile.

A lovely smile.

Amity frowned.

"But you have to be more careful! Someone could have gotten badly hurt!"

But Luz's smile now seemed unwavering.

"I promise!" The brunette exclaimed, giving a brief little jump. "No more runaway horses!"

Amity couldn't help the soft snort that escaped her lips.

And Luz's smile seemed to widen even more.

"So... You forgive me?" the Dominican asked, extending her hand again.

Amity inhaled deeply, sighed.

And lightly shook Luz's hand.

"I forgive you."

"So..." She continued in a sing-song voice. "About being friends...?"

Amity gave her an annoyed look.

"Don't push it."

Luz snorted.

"Okay, but I had to try."

"Eh Bichita!" was heard a few feet away.

Luz and Amity turned to see Lola giving them a sly smile.

"Let's go, I'm double-parked!" the older girl said, still smiling.

"I have to go now!" Luz said announcing the obvious.

She lightly pulled the auburn's hand, placed her opposite hand on her shoulder, leaned over and gave her a brief kiss on her cheek.

"See you tomorrow Amity!"

And without further ado, she ran to meet her sister.

Stunned by the sudden action, Amity was speechless, and could only manage to touch her cheek.

"Pero mira eso!" She heard the Noceda sisters as they walked away. "Va un día y ya tiene´ novia"

"No es mi novia!" claimed Luz with an angry tone.

"Y ese besito?" asked Lola, mockingly.

"na´mas me despedí!"

As they walked away, the conversation became unintelligible.

Not that Amity could understand them anyway.

A moment later, the building bell rang, signaling three o'clock in the afternoon, and, consequently, the end of classes.

A few seconds later, bustle could be heard in the halls of Judas, and some students began to file out the door.

Amity snapped out of her stupor and turned around to enter the building, intending to get to her locker.

On the brief walk, she couldn't help but think about how strange Luz was, and how much she stood out compared to the environment she was used to.

It was concerning to know that he would now have to constantly deal with her.

In a few minutes she reached her locker, quickly put in the combination, opened the door and began placing her books on top.

It was the first day, so other than the exercise assigned by Miss Morningstar, there was no more homework.

As she closed the locker, a flash of yellow caught her eye.

She reached out to grab the intrusive object at the bottom of her locker.

As she pulled it out, she could tell it was some candy, wrapped in a flashy yellow wrapper with red accents, right in the center, the typography announced that the product was named Bon o bon.

A brand Amity did not know.

On top of the treat was a purple post it, the auburn quickly picked it up and read the brief inscription on it.

"I´m Sowwy :c

I hope this

Will make your

day a little better.

Luz."

Underneath the note, there was a small doodle of a sad little face with giant glowing eyes.

Again, Amity couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips.

It seemed to be a new bad habit.

The dean's daughter closed her locker and put the treat in a small compartment of her bag.

The note too.

Maybe...working with Luz wouldn't be so bad.

With quiet steps, she headed for the Judas exit.

...

How on earth did she open my locker?!

Chapter Text

C6 Cyclamen

On Tuesday morning, Luz arrived with a fifteen-minute head start before the first class.

She was lucky that, unlike her, Lola was famous for never being late anywhere.

And, from the start she was more than happy to be taken to school and not have to go on her own in a region of her country that was not exactly known for being the safest.

Appreciating her new life, Luz finally reached her locker, but passed it when she saw that Willow was already there, rummaging through her own locker.

"Willow!" she greeted cheerfully approaching her new friend.

The black-haired girl poked her head out of her locker to look at the greeting brunette.

"Oh, Luz, good morning!" She greeted enthusiastically.

"Good morning!" Replied the young woman reaching over to briefly kiss the green-eyed girl's cheek.

Luz pulled back to watch as Willow's pale skin flushed.

" What was that about?" She asked her after laughing briefly.

Luz tilted her head in confusion.

" I' m... I'm saying hi to you?" she said hesitantly.

"Oh!" Willow laughed again. "Is that a Dominican greeting?"

Luz's eyes widened in understanding.

"Oh..." She mused. "Oh! I'm so sorry Willow, my sister told me not to be so touchy, I forgot and..."

Willow waved her hand dismissing Luz's concerns.

"It's okay, it doesn't bother me, you just caught me off guard." She told her while still smiling. "My parents are very affectionate, so I'm used to it."

The pout on Luz's face implied that she wasn't very convinced, but Willow reached over and kissed her cheek briefly as well.

"You do return the greeting, don't you?"

Luz smiled brightly at her.

"Yes!" she laughed. "Mostly at the same time, but we do."

They both laughed for a few seconds to calm down quickly.

"You're early." Luz told her.

" Oh right, I stayed with my sister and her girlfriend yesterday, so Becca brought me over really early, she said she wanted to talk to Boscha before classes started." Replied Willow with a shrug.

"Right! What was it that your sister wanted?"

Willow rolled her eyes.

"She wanted me to go with them to pick out outfits for the wedding, just Wionna's, she'll wear a dress at the ceremony and a suit during the reception, I guess that's why Becca wants to talk to Boscha, to go with them to pick out their wardrobe." Willow concluded, crossing her arms.

"Wouldn't it have been easier if you all went together?" Luz asked innocently.

Willow looked at her raising an eyebrow.

"Don't you remember what happened yesterday in the cafeteria?"

"Oh! Right!" Luz recalled, clapping her hands together briefly. "Sorry, I've been a little distracted since yesterday, a lot has been going on."

"Ah, I have to tell you about Miss Morningstar's class!" Willow told her in anguish.

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Luz dismissed with a slight wave of her hand. "I talked to Amity yesterday before I left, we're not exactly friends, but she forgave me and today we're going to-"

"She did what?!" Willow exclaimed in surprise in a raised tone.

Luz recoiled at the sudden shout.

"S-she forgave me?" replied the Dominican hesitantly.

Willow stared at her dumbfounded.

"Amity forgave you?" Willow repeated in disbelief. "What did you do?"

Luz fiddled with her hands uncomfortably.

"I told you yesterday..."

"Not that! What did you do to make her forgive you?"

Luz looked at Willow suspiciously.

"I just... I talked to her. I mean! It wasn't an easy chat! Especially with how much I have trouble expressing myself! But yeah! I just... Uh..." Luz slowed her speech as she saw Willow's uncomprehending face. "I just talked to her."

"You freed a horse, endangered her sister, embarrassed her in front of her father, had her phone taken away and... She forgave you? In less than a day? Just because you talked to her?" Willow enlisted in astonishment. "I... I can't believe it."

Luz shrunk in on herself.

"Hey! I know it was a lot, but I don't think what I did was unforgivable, it was an acci-"

"No Luz, no!" interrupted Willow again, denying with both hands. "I don't mean it that way, I'm sorry! It's just... I can't believe..."

Luz frowned.

"Is it so unbelievable that Amity forgave me?" She asked unable to hide a note of anger as she crossed her arms.

"Yes! Luz, it is unbelievable! I've known Amity for over ten years, and besides her siblings, I've never seen her forgive anyone! And... Me... When we were friends... Until she stopped doing it..." She added awkwardly. "Amity is very cold, and at least since we grew apart, she only looks for ways to stand out in classes and be the best, if someone gets in her way, she pushes them away... She doesn't forgive, or give second chances."

Luz looked at Willow with distress, apparently the memory still hurt her.

The black-haired girl shook her head.

"That's... Impressive... But I still have to tell you about the class."

"But, I already made up with Amity." Luz affirmed. "You don't have to tell me anything..."

"Oh, right, you talked to Amity..." Willow raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "And she didn't say anything to you?"

Luz tilted her head to the side, confused.

"Uhhh... Am I missing something? We just agreed to meet today at recess and lunch to cover the hour Miss Morningstar requested."

Willow's eyes widened in surprise.

"She really didn't tell you anything..." She brought a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "Funny... I thought Amity didn't believe in such things."

Patience was not one of Luz's virtues.

"Wiiiillow..." She uttered insistently to get her friend's attention. "Is there something you want to share with me?"

Snapping out of her pensive state, Willow looked at Luz soberly.

"Yes. Did you notice the mood of the class yesterday when the work partners were being chosen?"

Luz frowned.

"Yeah... It got pretty weird, I remember when they said your name, you sighed like you'd been told you passed the hardest subject of all."

Willow laughed briefly.

"I wouldn't have been so relieved if it had been that, I was very close to being in the antepenultimate pair, and it's the least enjoyable of the last three."

"What does that mean?"

The black-haired girl took a deep breath.

"Miss Morningstar started teaching when my sister Wionna was in eighth grade, that year she was teaching only one group, a ninth grader, at that time no one noticed yet, but the next year, she started teaching in Highschool too, this time it was four groups, and in all of them the same thing happened, and the year after that, and the year after that, with every group she taught, of any level."

Luz grew even more impatient.

"Willow, enough with the mystery, you're scaring me!"

But Willow was too amused by Luz's expressions, so she continued to explain, in the most dramatic way possible.

"In this academy, we all know who Miss Morningstar is, and what's in store for you if you're part of the triangle of destiny."

"Triangle of destiny!" gasped Luz, then asked urgently. "What's that?!"

Willow pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.

"The triangle of fate is the last three couples that Miss Morningstar chooses in each group, each couple has a different fate, but always carved in stone, the antepenultimate one gets along well for the whole semester, they get to be best friends, but after the school year is over, they always have a huge fight that everyone hears about, it has even gotten to be physical fights, and it always happens."

"Good morning girls!" They heard Gus' cheerful voice approach down the hallway.

"Hi Gus!" Willow greeted enthusiastically.

The brunette gave a brief little jump coming back to reality.

"Oh, hi Gus!" She said as she leaned over to briefly kiss the boy's cheek.

Like Willow, Gus blushed faintly.

"Ah! Sorry, I forgot again, I'm just so used to saying hi like that!"

Gus looked at Willow curiously.

"It's a Latin greeting." Explained the black-haired girl." She kissed me, too."

Gus gasped in astonishment as his eyes sparkled.

"And why do you all greet like that?" he asked curiously, but before Luz could answer, Willow interrupted.

"Not now Gus, I'm explaining to Luz about the triangle of destiny, I'm just going on the antepenultimate pair."

"Oh!" Exclaimed the young man excitedly. "Last year a college boy sent his partner to the hospital because they slept with his mother!"

Luz's corneas almost popped out.

"BUT-"

"Oh, and that's just one of many Luz-"

"Gus." Willow interrupted. "We only have so much time, Luz is part of the triangle of fate."

The young man gasped.

Luz put her nails to her mouth and evoked Willow to continue anxiously.

"The second to last pair always does something amazing and impressive, and they become really good friends, that's how Gus and I met."

Luz gasped and Gus took the floor.

"We were a pair two years ago in eighth grade, we made a short film in Willow's garden at her house, in her HUGE garden, and it went viral, we even got interviewed a few locations."

"Wow!" Luz exclaimed. "And why didn't you do more?"

"I don't really like the idea of public life, and Gus has too many hobbies to devote himself to just one thing." Willow said with a slight laugh. "But we've been friends ever since."

"The best." Gus affirmed raising a palm to bump it with Willow's.

"But..." Willow continued. "What you're interested in is the last pair."

" Luz is part of the last pair?!" Gus exclaimed. "With who?!"

"Hold on Gus." Said Willow stopping her best friend's bouncing. "Luz, the last pair is the most famous of all. The members of the last pair... They always end up together."

Luz was silent for a few moments.

"Together?" she asked. "Together as in... a couple?"

"Oh, it sounds so simple." Willow continued. "But the first couple that formed in a class of Miss Morningstar's got married five years ago, and she announces in class every time her former students invite her to a marriage."

Gus added. "Not even for a while, they end up together and in ten years, none of them have broken their relationship, it's not like the other two, it's not always something showy, sometimes there are public declarations, once a guy saved his partner when a crazy guy came in with a gun and got shot, but everyone always realizes who they are, and they always end up together."

A myriad of expressions crossed the Dominican's face as her friends explained in detail the last part of the triangle of fate.

And she felt a pressure in her chest that she couldn't tell if it was excitement or distress.

Uncertainty?

"Always?" She questioned with emphasis.

"Always." Willow confirmed. "At least in ten years, she hasn't failed once, with any of the last three couples.

"Are you sure?" Luz asked holding her nails to her mouth uneasily.

"My sister studied here until she finished college." Willow counted. "She's almost ten years older than me, and she always swore to me that Miss Anika hadn't been wrong once, and, since I've been here, I've never heard of a time when the prophecies didn't come true either, and that rumor would spread pretty fast, believe me."

Luz squeezed her cheeks with both hands and tugged at her skin until her eyelids visibly stretched.

"What am I supposed to do with this information?" she turned to the lockers and leaned her forehead against them. "First day and I'm part of a school prophecy! Just my luck!"

She slid to the floor making the metal squeak against her skin.

Willow patted her head gently.

"Yeah...As far as I heard, Amity didn't take it too well either, for the first time in life I heard she argued with a teacher...She always asks for extra points, but she never begrudges a teacher's decision."

Willow tilted her head and quirked an eyebrow as she folded her arms.

"Amity's done a couple of weird things because of you..."

Luz gasped dramatically and stood up facing Willow and Gus again.

"Amity! Oh cramity, what am I going to do now?! I have to see her today!"

Gus bit his lip thoughtfully.

"Well... Miss Morningstar had never chosen a same-sex pairing as her last. Maybe it can be a different case?"

Luz frowned.

"And why should it be any different?" She claimed, crossing her arms.

Willow raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Luz... You like Amity?"

The brunette blushed instantly.

"What?" she snorted feigning a relaxed posture. "Of course not! I barely know her! And she doesn't even like me, plus she's terrifying when she gets mad! I mean, yeah, she's really pretty and I feel really comfortable talking to her! You could say we have chemistry- AND I'VE TALKED TOO MUCH ALREADY!"

Willow looked at her with a more than surprised expression, Gus looked a little less shocked and Luz cringed with discomfort.

She took a deep breath, and continued speaking.

"No... I don't actually like her, I do like her, but I don't like like her, I'm not exactly the type of person who falls in love quickly, in fact I'm very clumsy with flirting, and although I do think Amity is cute, I don't want something like that with her... Rather I'd like her to be my friend."

Willow sighed.

"I hope you mean what you say." She told her with concern." Because Amity is straight as a board, when we were kids she was always talking about how she would have the perfect husband, her perfect kids in her perfect house... I would dare say she's even homophobic."

Luz's eyes widened in surprise.

" Right..." She mused doubtfully. "You told me something about that yesterday. Is it something I should be worried about? can you tell me more?"

Willow hugged herself and Gus looked at her with concern as he rested a hand on her shoulder.

" Luz." The green-eyed girl began in a wispy voice. "I still don't feel comfortable telling you this, and if it weren't for the pin I saw yesterday I probably wouldn't tell you, but if you're going to be Amity's partner, it's best that you know, so you can... Protect yourself."

Luz stepped forward, approaching Willow with an apologetic gesture.

"Willow, you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to, I can manage..."

"I want to tell you." Willow interrupted. "It's just... A little difficult."

The black-haired girl took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly.

"I... I have two dads Luz." She said cautiously.

Luz tilted her head to the side and smiled slightly.

"Oh... Ok, thanks for sharing that with me."

Willow sighed with relief.

"It's not that it's a secret, in fact most of the school knows, but my family wasn't always open about it, we, my sister and I, always knew, but daddy and papa told us not to say anything, to always say that papa was our godfather and that he lived with us."

Luz and Gus were silent for Willow to continue.

"Amity and I were inseparable since preschool, we did everything together, homework, playdates, my dads would take us camping and Amity's driver would take us to music lessons in the afternoon, she spent a lot of time at my house and I at hers, but for some reason, Amity always preferred being at my house... She got along great with my parents and my sister, we loved to bake with my daddy, and my papa would read to us before bed when we had sleepovers... I never called him Papa when Amity was around, but Amity loved them... I knew it... She got to tell them, so I was very surprised when..."

As she said the last sentence, Willow's voice broke, and she was having difficulty continuing.

Luz came closer and her hand accompanied Gus's, resting on the black-haired girl's opposite shoulder.

"Willow, really, you don't have to do this." She told her empathetically.

The green-eyed girl took a deep breath.

"No... I'm fine, it's just not something I've told a lot of people, it's kind of hard." She told her as she regained her composure. "When we entered Middle School, a lot of things started to change, my sister is pansexual, our parents never forbade her to express it, she became close to the community, she went to pride parades, at school she was discreet, but never denied what she was, and... She inspired our parents to come out."

Luz gasped softly and Gus moved his hand from Willow's shoulder to instead wrap his arms around her back in a hug.

"It wasn't a public announcement, they just stopped hiding that they were a couple, Wionna and I stopped calling papa godfather, gradually people noticed, I'd told you, at this school they're not the most tolerant, especially parents, we suffered bullying for a while."

Luz's eyes widened as her hand lightly tightened on Willow's shoulder.

"I didn't really get a chance to talk to Amity, she heard me call my papa the first day and the next she told me we couldn't be friends anymore, that she couldn't believe I had kept something so horrible from her, that she never wanted to talk to me or my family again... That was practically the last time I talked to her, the next day she started hanging out with Boscha and the rest of her friends who were always abusing me... We were best friends, and she turned her back on me just because my dads loved each other." A tear welled up in her eyes with nothing she could do to stop it. "Then her father tried to expel Wionna and me, we had to file a discrimination report so we could keep coming to school."

Luz gasped audibly and threw herself on Willow and Gus, hugging the black-haired girl tightly.

"Oh Willow, I'm so sorry you had to go through all that!" She exclaimed as she squeezed her new friend into her arms along with Gus.

"It's okay Luz." Assured the green-eyed one much more calmly. "It happened years ago, remembering it hurts, but it doesn't affect me anymore."

She then raised her arms between the sheet of friends that covered her and gently pushed them both away from herself, then turned to Luz and took her gently and firmly by the shoulders.

"But I'm telling you this because I don't want you to end up hurt or in danger." She told her with concern. "I know it's not nice to hide what you are, I know that better than anyone, but if you're going to be Amity's partner for the whole semester... It's better you avoid having a bad time, besides, your mom is the new nursery director. Right?"

Luz gasped and clenched her fists in concern.

"Amity's family tried to get us out of school, I don't want you to go through what I did, I don't want anyone to go through something like that, so, at least with her, please be very careful."

The brunette felt her jaw clench and her stomach knot, the excitement she felt the day before when Amity finally forgave her, vanished in an instant.

She couldn't help the displeasure she felt for the girl who had captivated her just the day before, the birth of someone else's grudge.

And the prophecy of the triangle of destiny...

"Mierda!" Luz exclaimed bringing her hands to her face again pressing her fists hard against her skin in frustration. "What am I going to do?"

She looked at her friends in despair.

"The pairings that get together! Do they have toxic relationships or something?" she asked hurriedly.

Willow and Gus were surprised at the question.

"Uhhh..." mused the boy. "Not really, not as far as I know."

"In fact it's quite the opposite..." Complemented Willow touching her chin. "They're always very cute couples, they've never been seen fighting, they're famous for that too, many say "if you're part of the last couple, you found the love of your life."

Luz stroked her hair.

She didn't know how to feel.

When Willow told her about the school legend, she felt curious, Luz would be lying if she said she wasn't at least a little superstitious.

And with a flawless track record, even more so, being something that apparently the whole school knew, and moreover, believed, it was hard not to believe it too.

At first, while she didn't actually liked her, the idea of falling in love with Amity didn't seem unpleasant to her.

It had even got her a little excited.

Hey! The girl is cute!

But with this...

She was scared.

Now she disliked Amity and was grateful that she didn't agree to be friends with her the day before.

But with the prophecy.

No...

She couldn't fall in love with a straight girl.

She couldn't fall in love with a homophobic girl.

And as usual, Luz's train of thought was derailed.

What if Amity found out and tried her hardest to avoid the prophecy?

What if her mom got fired from the job she'd always dreamed of?

Willow said a same-sex couple had never been chosen?

What if it was one of those sad stories where you fall in love with your straight friend and stay there forever just wishing for more?

Besides.

Luz couldn't imagine loving Amity.

Not with what she had just heard.

Then why was she so upset?

"LUZ!" She finally heard the voices of her friends, coming out of her trance.

Gus reached over and touched her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked with concern.

"I... Uh..." She stammered. "I'm just really worried... With the prophecy thing, I don't even want to be around Amity right now, I know it sounds silly... But I don't want some weird magic forcing me to like her."

Willow came closer too and took her hand.

"Luz, no one can force you into anything, if you don't want to, you're not going to, no matter what the prophecy says."

Luz looked away, not entirely convinced.

"Hey..." Willow mused, touching her cheek to make her look her in the eyes again. "My dads have told me "If the others already did it, I can too, and if no one else has made it, I can be the first," it's your choice Luz, you just have to work with her for a semester."

The brunette smiled slightly, a little more motivated.

And their conversation was interrupted by the beeping of Luz's watch.

"Ah..." She said. "Sorry, my watch beeps when it's five minutes before a class starts, sometimes I get distracted and don't notice until the bell rings and I'm late for class."

She pulled both kids in and gave them a very warm hug.

"I feel so much better, thank you guys." She told them in a soft voice. "I'm glad to have met you."

She separated from them and went to her locker, grabbed her books, put them in her backpack and headed to her first class.

Gus and Willow walked a few feet behind her.

"Do you really think Luz could be the first one out of the prophecy?" The young man asked curiously.

The green-eyed remained silent and continued to move forward.

"Willow?"

"I don't know Gus." She replied dryly at last. "It's not the first time the last pairing is absurdly mismatched, it's also not the first time someone tender and kind has been paired with an asshole... I just hope Amity doesn't ruin this for me too."

Chapter Text

First betonic.

Once they were in the classroom, Luz looked at the seat she occupied most of her time yesterday, next to Amity.

She found it empty.

The young girl lay in her own seat, reading the same black-covered book from the day before.

It was a rather thick book.

And she was already more than halfway through it...

Out of sheer curiosity, Luz looked a second longer than necessary, and sensing herself being watched, Amity looked up.

In a ridiculous attempt to hide the shamelessness of her gaze, Luz quickly turned her head away.

But the damage was done, Amity had noticed, if the way she rolled her eyes meant anything.

Luz frowned and walked to the spot next to Willow's, where she sat down.

Again she glanced at Amity, this time out of the corner of her eye, found her doing the same, and, for the second time in less than a minute, looked away in panic.

Which, though she didn't notice, Amity had done as well.

Ugh...

We're not off to a good start.

Luz sighed.

She wouldn't have to deal with Amity until recess, at least for now, she could relax.

Luz got her supplies ready while Willow sat next to her, waiting for the math class teacher to show up.

And yes, the teacher came in, a young man, blond, wiry and probably shorter than Luz, but he wasn't alone, he was accompanied by Miss Morningstar.

Luz's stomach tightened.

"Good morning kids!" the teacher greeted in a tone way too loud for such hours of the morning, there were a few despondent grunts in response.

The teacher laughed.

" I can tell it's just the second day..." She thought aloud. "Well kids, Professor Massour allowed me to use five minutes of his class to assign your final seats, I was planning to do it tomorrow in my class, but I'd rather you get used to it as soon as possible, so please, starting with the right row, exit in order and enter as I call you."

Professor Massour sat at his desk and arranged his materials as the students lazily filed out of the classroom.

And since it seems that things are never going to go as Luz expects, she ends up in the fourth row of the fourth column, next to the window.

And right next to Amity.

It wasn't that she was particularly unlucky to end up sitting next to Amity, but clearly Miss Morningstar intended for the pairings to be together for as long as possible, and, just like them, all the pairs were seated next to each other.

There was no further instruction from the female teacher, who simply thanked the professor for his time and left, bidding farewell until the next day.

And so they did not speak to each other at all throughout the course of class.

And Amity felt... Uneasy.

And annoyed, because she felt uneasy.

On one hand, even though she had only known her for one day, Luz's attitude felt... odd.

One day she goes out of her way to apologize, to the point of being a pain in the neck, longing to be her friend, and the next day... She ignores her?

Amity snorted with disdain.

She hadn't even tried to say hi to her.

Well, who does she think she is?

Ugh!

She shouldn't even care.

Surely Luz had been satisfied with yesterday's apology, probably just wanted to satiate her guilt.

And now she was keeping her distance.

And that was okay.

Wasn't it?

...

Agh.

Minutes turned into hours as the first week of school slowly ticked by, until, finally, it was time for recess.

Luz remained static in her seat, her neck tense.

She had spent the classes avoiding turning to look at Amity.

But now she didn't know what to do.

Now she had to talk to her.

And Amity surely resented having been deliberately ignored all morning.

Or maybe she didn't.

Maybe Amity was grateful that Luz had finally stopped bothering her, that she'd finally limited herself to speaking to her only when absolutely necessary, right... Probably-.

"Luz." Her partner pronounced sternly. "I'm literally standing right next to you, you could at least look at me."

Yup, she was definitely resentful.

"Ah, sorry." The brunette excused herself as she finally looked at her. "I've been distracted all morning."

"I noticed..." Amity replied."It seems to be your natural state."

Amity didn't mean it as a joke, but still, Luz laughed.

And for some reason, Amity smiled and snorted softly.

"Uh..." Luz began with slight discomfort. "Shall we go to the meadow?"

"Ah, yeah, it's a wide place, so it's not too noisy, we can talk peacefully there." The girls left the classroom and walked down the hallway, Luz briefly waved goodbye to Willow. "Just try not to unleash any horses, please."

They both laughed lightly again as they walked down the hallways to exit the building and head towards the meadow, between quiet footsteps and a silence that mimicked them a phrase simultaneously flooded both young girls' minds.

I'm supposed to be mad at her...

A few meters away from the path leading to the meadow, Amity finally asked the question she kept in the back of her mind all morning.

" Luz..." She said breaking the silence softly. "Is something bothering you? You were so much more cheerful yesterday."

So Luz panicked.

I can't tell her that I know she is homophobic and that it makes me uncomfortable.

"Uhhhh... " She hesitated, looking for an excuse. " Yesterday you told me we were just going to work together so uh... I didn't want to make you uncomfortable?"

Amity raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh..." That tone in her voice was... disappointment? "I see, but... I'm not mad anymore, I wouldn't have minded that you at least said hi to me..."

Luz couldn't help but feel guilty.

Amity didn't know what she knew... And she had to get along with her, at least through the first semester.

"Uh... That' s good to know." She said smiling sheepishly.

"Let's sit here." Amity said before Luz could say anything else.

They then proceeded to take a seat under a thick, leafy oak tree.

"So..." Luz began. "What should we talk about?"

The auburn took the black covered book out of her bag and, from inside, a thick, long piece of paper which she spread out in front of her.

"I made a list." She announced.

Luz snorted and Amity looked at her with a frown.

"What's so funny?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

Luz threw her hands up innocently.

"Nothing, nothing! Just... I think making a list is something that suits you a lot."

"Ohhh!" The auburn exclaimed at length. "So one day is enough to turn me into an open book?"

"I didn't say that!" Luz cocked her head to the side smiling smugly. "Besides it wasn't even a full day, you only agreed to talk to me in the morning and before you left."

Amity smiled.

"Totally your fault, and seeing what you did yesterday, I'm sure you always get into absurd problems."

Luz laughed.

"Probably as often as you make lists." She conceded.

Amity gasped dramatically.

"Oh no, you should be in jail then!"

"Are you admitting that you make too many lists?"

Amity snorted again.

"Since you know me so well, why don't you tell me more things I don't know?"

Luz looked at her with amusement, accepting the challenge, and bringing a hand to her chin, she began pondering.

"Let's see... You're the best in the class, in all classes, also in sports and whatever you take in arts, you turn in everything always perfect and on time... "She thought some more biting the nail of her right index finger. "We're barely freshman but I'm sure you were on the middle school student council, and I'd bet my special edition of Good Witch Azura's exclusive comic book that you were the president."

Amity was stunned, almost shocked, for a few moments.

"That good huh?" Luz continued, smugly.

Amity finally snapped out of her stupor.

"Ah... Yes." She said regaining her own assurance. "Do you want to know what I think?"

"Oh?" replied Luz raising an eyebrow as well. "Tell me?"

"I think..." Amity mused. "That you're spontaneous, so much so that you're impulsive, probably the kind of person who picks up stray animals without a second thought, you're... Annoyingly cheerful, and perky, I'm sure you've done some pretty crazy stuff, probably some dangerous stuff, you talk to people like it's nothing and forget that there's such a thing as personal space, like right now." She concluded by nudging the brunette's face, which had advanced to hers as her speech progressed.

Luz's eyes glittered with excitement.

"How did you know?" She asked her fascinated.

Amity thought for a few moments.

"I..." She began. "I don't really know, I just... guessed? From the way you acted yesterday..."

"Wow! Let's keep playing! Let me see..." She mused again. "You like simple things, like reading on your own or writing in a diary, you are of few, but good friends, you work hard, you have very big dreams and... Your favorite color is pink."

"Wha- How did you know about the diary?! And about the pink?!"

Luz laughed softly.

"I don't know, you seem very much like la chica de rosa to me."

"L-la, lah shicah do rouseh?" Amity mused, confused.

"La chica de rosa." Luz said again, with more clarity. "It's a movie my mom and I like, it's a girl who gets bullied at school because she doesn't have much money, but her bully's boyfriend actually likes her and-"

"Oh! Pretty in Pink, I know it, my siblings love it, they know the lines by heart." She said rolling her eyes.

"I didn't know the name in English... But don't get distracted, it's my turn!"

"Ok..." Amity said playing along. "I think... You like bright colors and flashy stuff, I'm sure you like anime, even that you've done cosplay, you already told me you practiced boxing and baseball, but with the energy you have I'm almost sure you skate, and... You sure have some kind of fracture."

Luz, getting closer and closer without Amity noticing, was radiating fascination.

"Skateboard or roller skates?" she asked the auburn.

Amity thought about it for a moment.

" Roller skates." She said finally. "More freedom of movement... And more danger of falling."

Luz clapped her hands enthusiastically.

"Yes!" She affirmed excitedly. "I cosplayed Anthy Himemiya a few years ago, and I love skating, I have these-"

"Purple Rollers?" Amity tentatively asked. " Is that your favorite color?"

Luz gasped.

"Woooooow!" She exclaimed in awe. "You're so good! But... I've never broken a bone."

"I don't believe you." Amity replied, crossing her arms.

"I'm serious! It's not that I haven't tried, it's that I have strong bones!" Luz proclaimed tapping her knee.

Which was now touching Amity's.

As was the rest of her leg.

When did she...?

"My turn!" Luz exclaimed drawing Amity's attention again.

"I think..." Luz stared at her, as if she was studying her, she also looked at her uniform and the objects she was carrying, and ended up looking closely at her face.

Very closely.

"You adore your siblings even though they seem to get on your nerves, and you were closer when you were little, I suspect you really like romantic books and movies too, and your guilty pleasures are ridiculous romantic comedies, so you must love pretty in Pink too."

"Maybe~." Amity crooned.

And Luz cheated.

"You love romance so much, you dream of a prince charming, the perfect man, who will fall in love with you completely and give you the perfect family, and the perfect house."

Amity tilted her head, then snorted.

" Willow told you that." She said unable to help but laugh. "It's not exactly like that anymore, it's what I used to tell her when we were kids."

Amity was silent for a few seconds, watching the grass sway in the soft summer breeze, and smiled wistfully.

That weird smile that pinched Luz right in the diaphragm.

Wow...

"I think you're hiding something..." Luz blurted out helplessly, and Amity looked at her with surprise, and even a bit of indignation. "I think you're more sensitive than you admit, that you don't get carried away by emotions, but you'd love to, I think you daydream a lot... I think you'd like to be more free."

Luz's words were no longer charged with enthusiasm, they were calm, carried with caution.

Amity's lungs emptied.

But even with such care, Luz's words made her feel vulnerable.

"Ah..." Luz uttered breaking the seconds of that awkward silence, scratched the back of her neck and in a voice so soft it could be mistaken for a breeze said. "I went too far, didn't I? I'm so sorry."

Amity kept her stupefied silence for a few more moments.

And when the breeze blew again she surprised herself by saying.

"It's okay."

The surprise wasn't in the words, she'd said them a thousand times.

The surprise was that she believed them herself.

Luz had deciphered her deepest secrets without the slightest effort.

It made her feel vulnerable, one of the things she loathed most.

And... For some reason, that was okay.

"Ah." Luz spoke again. "Don't move."

The young brunette raised her hand bringing it closer to the auburn's face, finally landing on her hair, delicately capturing an adventurous leaf that had ended up in her hair.

Index finger and thumb held the intrusive nature, and the back of her hand, gently smoothed the maple colored strands.

Luz placed the leaf on her own palm, and blew on it to accompany the summer breeze.

Amity felt a tug in her chest.

What...

Her cheeks were warm?

Is...

She never had sweaty hands!

Happening?

A soft alarm interrupted her thoughts and Luz's fidgeting with the strands on the ground.

"Ah, five minutes left in recess." She announced standing up and reaching out to help Amity up. "Come on, or we'll be late."

The auburn took the brunette's hand and slowly got up from the grass, wiping herself clean of dead nature and smoothing out her uniform.

Well, that was strange.

The dean's daughter picked up her bag and took the first step towards the path.

"Oh wait..." Luz broke in again, bending down to pick something up off the ground.

"You almost forgot your list."

Chapter Text

C8. Second Betonic.

Tuesday arrived and Amity had been pondering since the day before.

Why was Luz so easy to talk to?

Why did she understand her as if they had known each other for years?

Why did she easily cross the walls she had worked so hard to build?

Why, if her personality was so... Outrageous, was she so pleasant to be with?

Yesterday she did the same thing again when they said goodbye when it was time to leave.

She kissed her on the cheek.

And then she rushed off to find her sister.

And again, Amity said nothing.

Why?

It was absurd, normally almost every step of her life was calculated to give the best results.

Amity was organized, she made lists, itineraries, budgets, forecasts, schedules, it was almost obsessive.

Almost.

Anyone with an IQ higher than that of a toddler would think that the fact that something, someone, would come along and start changing everything she was used to would be a total pain in the neck.

Or at least uncomfortable.

Yet it wasn't.

Well, okay, sure, it was uncomfortable... But not the way she expected it to be.

It didn't make her uncomfortable that Luz ignored her lists, that she seemed to be able to read her mind, that her outbursts of energy seemed more funny than annoying.

It made her uncomfortable...the fact that it didn't make her uncomfortable?

Ugh, back to square one.

"Good morning Amity!" She heard as she felt a brief touch on her cheek.

"WOW!" The auburn would have fallen if it wasn't for Luz, who reached to grab her hand to hold her back.

"Ah, sorry!" Luz excused herself, steadying Amity in her seat. "I didn't see you were focused."

Amity's heart nearly leapt out of her chest.

"You almost scared me to death!" she claimed turning to the brunette.

Wait. Did she just kiss me again?

Luz raised her free hand in front of her in innocence.

"In my defense, I'm always there to keep you from falling!" She told her playfully.

Amity pouted.

"You say that like I fall all the time."

Luz smiled smugly.

"On my watch, that leaves two." She stated.

Amity snorted.

"And they were both your fault." Rebutted the auburn.

"Oh~?" Luz crooned. "Are you saying you always fall for me, Amity?"

The dean's daughter's eyes widened in confusion.

"Wh... What?"

The brunette covered her mouth as if realizing what she had just said.

Luz! Don't be gay in front of the homophobe!

"Sorry!" She said laughing nervously. "I was kidding! I've been spending a lot more time with my sister! I think I'm getting her humor rubbing off on me..."

Amity tilted her head to the side, still a bit quizzical.

"Okay..." She paused briefly, looking down. "Could you give me my hand back?"

Luz quickly snatched her palm from Amity's.

She hadn't realized she was still holding her classmate.

"Sorry!" She apologized again finally taking her seat.

Luz put her hands to her head in anguish.

Oh no.

Ohnononononononononononononononononono.

At this pace...

N O.

The prophecy wasn't going to beat her!

She was stronger than a pair of pretty eyes!

And a tender smile...

And an endearing conversation...

And a charming laugh...

And-

"UGH!" the Dominican complained aloud, then collapsed her face dramatically onto her desk.

Amity, who jumped a little in surprise, approached cautiously.

"Luz, are you okay?"

"Better than ever." The brunette whimpered against the desk.

"Uh..." Amity mused. "Okay...? I'm going to-"

Before the auburn could complete her sentence, the religious studies teacher walked through the door.

Luz already knew her, it was Sister Hildy.

She glanced at Amity out of the corner of her eye, the auburn was getting her school supplies ready.

The brunette sat upright in her seat and took a deep breath.

Relax.

It's not your first crush.

This is eventually going to pass.

It always does.

Besides, she was used to not being crushed back...

She could hold out for a little while while the emotion wore off.

Right?

She looked at the auburn again, who was pulling a pocket bible out of her bag.

A bible?

Were they supposed to bring a bible?

Oh shit...

After sharing Amity's small, very small, bible, and spending the rest of the previous classes ruminating on and off about her situation with the dean's daughter, recess finally arrived.

Unlike the day before, Luz went straight to Willow.

She was nervous.

But of course she was! She gets her first friend and two days later she finds out she likes the girl who turned her back on her when she needed her the most! Ladies and gentlemen! LUZ NOCEDA!

Ugh, her life looked like something out of a bad AO3 fanfic.

"Hey Willow..." She said dejectedly as she found her at the lockers.

"Hey Luz." Replied Willow in a moderate tone as she saw her new friend's countenance. "Are you okay?"

The Dominican gave a depressed thumbs up.

"I'm perfect..." She said in a weak voice.

"That... Wasn't very convincing." Willow replied walking towards the doors of the building.

Luz sighed.

They met Gus on the way to the exit.

"Hi girls!" He greeted enthusiastically. "How was the third day?"

"Hi Gus." Replied Willow calmly as they walked across the courtyard, heading for some benches near the entrance. "So far so good, at least for me, Luz won't tell me what's wrong with her."

The young man cocked his head slightly to one side, looking at Luz.

"Did something happen?" he asked empathically, when they came to sit on one of the available benches.

Luz's Aspect did not improve.

"Seriously guys, I'm perfectly fine." She stated again in a cornered voice.

"That... Didn't sound very convincing." Gus said this time.

"UGH!" the brunette complained covering her face.

Willow rested a hand on her shoulder empathetically.

"Luz, relax, you can trust us." The Dominican peeked her eyes over her fingers. "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to, but maybe we can help you."

Luz covered her face again, kept silent for a few moments and then sighed.

"Okay... But no judging, okay?"

Willow nodded, Gus took it a step further and raised one hand while with the other he marked a cross over his heart.

Luz laughed lightly, then fiddled with her hands, her gaze locked on them.

"It's... Amity." She stated at last in a nervous voice.

Willow frowned quickly.

"What did she do to you?" She asked with annoyance.

"Nothing, nothing!" She assured, raising her hands in front of herself. "Amity didn't do anything wrong to me."

"Then what is it?" Gus inquired curiously.

Luz put her left hand to the back of her neck in discomfort.

"Nothing wrong really... We're getting along fine, actually." A faint blush graced her cheeks. "Pretty good, even."

Willow raised her eyebrows in surprise and Gus cocked his head to the side, confused.

" So...?" Willow continued cautiously. "What's the problem?"

"Uh..." Luz hesitated. "Remember what we talked about yesterday morning?"

Willow raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

"What about everything?" she asked.

"The part where..." Luz fiddled with her hands. "You asked me if I liked Amity."

Willow raised her eyebrows, between confused and upset, Gus simply looked surprised.

" Uh-huh...? You told me you didn't like her that way..."

Luz blushed some more.

"Yeah... Well..." She said conflicted to find the words. "That... It may have changed."

Willow looked at her in honest surprise.

"You like Amity?!" She said in panic, and maybe a little loudly. "After one day?!"

The subtle blush exploded into scarlet.

"It's not like it was just like that! I swear it's not something that happens often! It's just that she... she- Oh no! I forgot my phone in the classroom! I'm going to go get it!"

In a reddish-cherry haze, Luz fled the scene.

Willow and Gus watched her walk away.

" Her phone's right over there." Gus pointed right next to Willow's thigh.

Willow, still dumbfounded, looked at the phone in the purple case, then frowned and clenched her fists.

"Are you serious?" she claimed to no one in particular. "It hasn't even been a day!

Gus shrugged."

"The heart wants what it wants." He said simply.

"But not her!" the black-haired girl claimed bitterly. "She's not even a good person!"

"I know, but clearly Luz saw something we didn't."

"Amity isn't even gay!" replied Willow whispering loudly. "And Luz is too good for her own good! She's going to get hurt!"

"We don't know that... You didn't see them, but yesterday when I went to the meadow when lunch started to get Matt, I saw them under a tree, they were laughing." Gus said hesitantly. "Amity looked very different...I don't think I've ever seen her laugh openly."

Willow looked at him with great surprise.

"Really?" she asked incredulously.

"When have I ever lied to you?"

"That's weird..." Willow didn't remember Amity laughing for the past three years, she'd seen her making fun of people, yes, but laughing like when they were kids?

No, not since their friendship ended.

"Maybe Amity has changed." Gus suggested. "At least when she's with Luz she looks more... Kind."

Willow looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, Bría seemed really kind too."

Gus gasped indignantly.

" We don't talk about Bría!" he complained pointing at the black-haired girl.

Willow laughed lightly.

"I know, sorry." She paused briefly. "This is worrying me Gus, I don't trust Amity, what if she finds out about Luz's crush and manipulates her? Or humiliates her? What if she endangers her mom's job?"

Gus didn't look any less worried.

"What can we do about it?"

"Tell her not to do it!" Willow immediately replied. "Tell her to keep her distance! Keep them from getting close!"

Gus's gesture soured.

"That... That doesn't sound very healthy." He said cautiously.

Willow sighed.

"It doesn't, does it? But I just don't know what-"

Suddenly, Willow's phone began to ring.

The young woman picked it up and quickly answered it when she saw her sister's contact, she put the device on speaker.

"Hello, Wionna, what happened?"

"Hello Catarina~" crooned the voice on the phone. "How's your day going?"

"Well, it could be better, actually..."

The older woman's tone changed drastically to a somber one.

"Did something happen Willow, do you need help?"

Gus shivered, Wionna's threatening voice always made him nervous.

"Not really..." Then she laughed a little. "Don't talk like that, you scared Gus."

"Oh! Hi little guy!" she greeted more enthusiastically.

The way Wionna changed the tone of her voice so drastically was creepy to say the least.

But quite useful in the sales business.

"You should let me know if you put me on speaker Catarina."

"I'm sorry."

"Will you tell me what happened?" she asked again.

"I'll tell you later. What did you call me for?"

"Right, today you're going to help me pick out the booze sis.~!" She crooned again with excitement.

"Wionna, I'm fifteen, I can't drink." Willow replied in a flat tone.

"It's a wine tasting Catarina, not project X." Wionna scoffed. "I'll pick you up at the time you leave."

Willow shrugged.

"Okay." She replied with a smile at the promise of an entertaining afternoon. "Is that all?"

"Oh, no!" the older girl said with a chuckle. "Let me tell you about something that just happened to me! Becca's training and I have to tell someone, otherwise I'll burst!

Willow laughed lightly, so did Gus."

"Is it a problem if Gus listens?"

"No, no! The more the merrier! Listen." She cleared her throat. "There's a girl who comes into the store almost every day, more clearly, she comes in when I'm at the bar."

"Uh-huh?"

"And she always makes nasty comments when she sees Becca around, but she only ever tells them to me." She recounted with annoyance. "You know, those passive-aggressive comments from all the homophobes. ´I don't have a problem with you guys being a couple, but you don't have to rub it in my face!´ ´Is it really necessary for you to be touching each other in front of the customers?´ "

"Ew..." Willow said with annoyance.

"Exactly!" The older one continued "Yesterday Becca kissed me when she came in, and then she went into the back store, and this girl told me, ´You really shouldn't be doing that in public. Have you ever thought you might be seen by children?´"

Willow and Gus burst out laughing, Wionna joining them.

"Leaving aside that there's nothing wrong with kids seeing a peck between two women, I said. ´Sis. You know minors can't come in here, right? We have a guard at the entrance checking IDs and everything.´"

Willow and Gus couldn't stop laughing.

"She left right away. But the funniest thing happened today! It was very early and the store was alone, when she came in, I think she just had been running, she went up to the bar and ordered her usual stuff, she asked me for Becca, I told her she wasn't around, then she just stood there, talking and talking." The older woman continued with annoyance. "Out of nowhere she got really weird, she was touching my hands and got too close, I don't even remember what she was saying to me anymore, she's the most basic bitch you can imagine, but, the best part was she came up to my ear and told me she liked me, from a long time ago, that she'd like to try something with me."

Willow and Gus gasped.

"Poor thing, I laughed right in her face, I swear I couldn't help it!"

"Wionna..." Willow scolded. "That was cruel."

"I just couldn't handle the irony!" She said trying to catch her breath. "I swear Catarina, the most homophobic people are the ones about to open the closet door!"

Willow and Gus laughed.

Then the young black-haired girl gasped.

"The most homophobic are the ones about to open the closet door!"

"Wionna, I'll call you back." The young girl sentenced dryly.

"What, why, Wil-"

But the younger girl had already hung up.

"Are you okay?" Gus asked with concern.

Willow stared straight ahead with bright, faraway eyes.

"I think..." She began. "That I just thought of something really crazy."

"What is it?" the young man inquired again.

The words of the previous day came back to her mind.

"Gus... You know Amity's been acting weird? Luz told me that Amity forgave her for freeing the horse, Amity wanted to be switched partners at all costs, even though she doesn't even like girls, Luz says they're getting along great, but Amity isn't like that. right?"

"I hear you." Affirmed the young man nodding.

"Amity isn't the kind of person that coworkers laugh with while working, she's more of the type to give orders and plan everything, but with Luz... She's not like that. And I don't think Luz is lying..."

The green-eyed girl was silent for a moment.

"Just... With Luz..." Willow finally turned to look at her best friend. "Gus, you think...?"

The young man turned his head uncomprehendingly, at the same time squinting curiously.

A moment later he stood up straight with his eyes wide open.

"Amity?!" He exclaimed a little louder than intended. "You think Amity likes Luz?!"

End Ch.8

YO! THERE´S FANART NOW! 

You can go back to chapter one to see it! 

Love ya´ll <3

Chapter Text

C9 Third betonic

Luz ran swiftly across campus in a panic, trying to hide from her friends.

What was she thinking?! Of course Willow was going to be upset!

She needed time to think through how to explain to her that it would only be a short-lived crush like some others, that her emotions would eventually fade away.

For now she was panicking.

So she wouldn't go back to her friends.

...

At least not until lunch.

The Dominican, slowing at last her hasty run, catching her breath, realized that she was close to the path to the meadow.

A place far away enough from Willow and Gus.

With a calm step she crossed the path, and as she reached the meadow, she patted the pockets of her coat.

She had a small heart attack.

My phone!

She quickly recalled the places she had taken it out.

The last one had been...

Next to Gus and Willow...

Ugh.

What a way to make a fool of herself.

She sighed wearily and looked around the field, searching for some way to entertain herself.

Few things tortured her more than boredom and standing still doing nothing.

The meadow was so large that the small groups of seated teenagers seemed to be few.

But evidently none that Luz knew well enough to approach.

She glanced at the stables.

King was there, peacefully peering out of his respective stall.

And Luz could have sworn he was looking at her.

Almost calling out to her.

The horse snorted and gave a brief happy whinny.

Awwww!

Luz took a few steps in his direction.

'Just try not to unleash any horses, please.'

Luz braked suddenly.

It had taken her an awful lot to regain Amity's trust.

Maybe approaching horses wasn't a good idea.

But King is so cute!

No!

Bad Luz!

The young woman turned away trying to resist her impulses.

Then she saw her.

Amity was leaning against a thin willow tree a few feet from the path.

Reading that black-covered book.

So cute...

ENOUGH!

And from what she could see, she was a few dozen pages away from finishing.

She had never seen someone read so eagerly about financial mathematics and business.

That was what Amity had told her when she wouldn't let her look at the book at lunch the day before.

Amity's gasp brought her out of her thoughts.

Looking at her again she noticed that the young woman had drawn her knees tight against her body, pulling the book close to her face as she devoured paragraph after paragraph with ecstatic excitement.

Luz knew those expressions.

And something told her that Amity wasn't studying finance.

So what was she reading?

Clearly she wasn't going to tell her, she had already kept it from her the day before.

Amity let out a brief little cry of annoyance.

Oh!

Now curiosity was killing her.

Luz pondered.

When she tried, she could be as stealthy as a mouse.

And Amity was perfectly focused on her reading.

She could...

No.

It's not like it would affect her...

No.

She just had to sneak behind the tree trunk.

No.

Give a little peek...

No.

Know what the book was about...

No.

And walk away without Amity noticing it.

No.

She just had to be quick and discreet.

Is there anything more useless than impulse control in a person with attention deficit disorder?

Luz slipped behind the trees that surrounded the meadow and stealthily jumped and hid behind each one, cautiously approaching the one that bore the weight of the dean's daughter.

Finally, she reached the right tree, where the auburn was still reading with such a hungry look that she didn't notice her classmate peeping behind her.

Luz bent down very carefully.

No breathing.

Not a sound.

Like a ninja.

Focus.

Being close enough, she could finally make out one of the paragraphs in the book.

The magnificent green-haired witch flew nimbly through the air, dodging the bright, fiery sparkles with which her rival was fiercely attacking her.

"You're going to need more than fireworks to defeat me Hecate!" she mocked playfully.

"Oh!" laughed her opponent. "This is only the beginning, you won't be able to handle half of what I plan to give you-"

"AZURA!" Luz shouted impulsively.

"AH!" Amity screamed in horror throwing her body to get away from the shout that terrified her, ending up lying on her side on the grass. "LUZ! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!"

But Luz completely ignored her words.

"You like the good witch Azura?! I've never met another fan!"

Amity blushed and paled a moment later.

"Of course not!" she claimed in panic.

Luz was jumping up and down with excitement.

"Oh, this is great! Did you get to the part where they find the goblet of-" Amity threw herself like a spring, knocking Luz down and covering her mouth with her hands.

"Shut up, I'm four chapters behind! I didn't even know if they were going to find it!" the auburn angrily claimed.

In spite of everything, Luz, behind the gag, sparkled with joy, it was her first opportunity to share her favorite saga with someone.

She took Amity's hands, removing them from her mouth and sitting down on the grass, with the other girl half in her lap.

But at that moment she was the least of her concerns.

"Why didn't you tell me you liked the good witch Azura?!" She exclaimed excitedly.

Amity blushed again.

"Stop talking so loud!" She reclaimed in a whisper. "Someone might hear you!"

Luz tilted her head to the side without understanding.

"And what's wrong with that?"

Amity sighed and broke away from Luz to retrieve her book.

Luz was annoyed at how quickly her absence disappointed her.

The auburn returned to the brunette's side resting the book on her lap.

"My parents don't like me reading the Azura saga." The dean's daughter confessed sorrowfully. "They say it promotes witchcraft and heresy, even if it's just fiction, they can' t know I read them."

Luz raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh!" She exclaimed softly. "That's... odd."

Amity raised an eyebrow.

"Do you really think so? I know a lot of parents who do it, though I think they really overreact, it's just a story, it's not like it's going to change my faith..."

Luz snorted.

" Right, but that's not what I meant." She replied with an amused smile.

Amity looked at her without understanding.

"So... Amity Blight has a rebellious side?" Luz clarified lightly nudging the auburn with her shoulder. "I wouldn't have believed it."

Amity smiled shyly.

"It's a secret... A very small one." Then she hugged herself with slight discomfort. "I don't think it will affect them... As long as they don't find out."

An uncomfortable silence was heard.

"Uh..." Luz began after a couple of moments. "Where are your friends?"

Amity came back from her reverie and relaxed her arms.

"Oh..." She uttered. "I usually read while they chat, but today Boscha got really annoying and tried to take the book away from me to force me into listening to her, so I left."

Luz looked at her with widened eyes and Amity noticed the oddity of her words.

"I-It's not like that all the time!" She excused. "I usually chat with them, but when I have a new book it absorbs a lot of my attention! Besides I had very little left to finish, so I'll be back with them at lunchtime and-"

"Can I read with you?" Luz interrupted.

Amity, obfuscated, only managed to relax.

"Uh..." She hesitated. "It's the fourth release, it came out quite a while ago, but I have a hard time getting them without my parents noticing... I think you already read it."

"Yes." Luz confirmed while scratching her head. "But right now I don't want to go back with Willow and Gus, and I wouldn't mind reading it again with you."

Amity looked at her curiously.

"Did something happen?"

Luz raised her hands defensively.

"Oh no, no!" she dismissed quickly. "Just a little awkward moment, I was too embarrassed, so I don't want to go back for now."

Amity looked at her conflictedly for a few moments.

Then she raised her eyebrow arrogantly.

"Can you really stand still reading for more than two minutes?" she asked with defiant mockery.

Luz snorted.

"Are you challenging me Blight?"

Amity laughed lightly too.

"Okay." She finally said with a smile. "But the first time you interrupt, I'm going to flee from you."

" Deal!" The brunette replied, extending her hand, which was immediately shaken by the auburn.

Amity opened the book on the thighs of both of them, and indicated to Luz the spot where she had stayed.

Without much difficulty, they fell into an uninterrupted reading.

As their rhythm synchronized by turning pages and reacting to events, Amity didn't notice how her head slowly settled on the brunette's shoulder.

The minutes ticked by and recess was nearing its end.

But Willow and Gus still had some things left to talk about.

"You know, now that I think about it, it makes a lot of sense." Willow said after a few minutes of bickering. "Amity's never had a boyfriend."

" You' re fifteen." Her friend replied simply. "It's not that weird, besides I don't think the dean would allow her to have a boyfriend."

"Emira has a boyfriend." Willow countered.

"Willow, twins don't respect any rules." Replied Gus.

"No, but they're not dumb either." She mused. "At least Emira isn't, and her relationship isn't exactly a secret."

"Amity is much more reserved..."

"Why is this a debate?" Willow asked, interrupting her friend.

" It''s not!" the young man defended himself by raising his hands in front of him, "I'm just trying to reason out what you're saying."

Willow put a hand to her chin.

"Amity never liked any boy..." She started again. "Not even when we were little kids."

"What's so weird about that?" Gus asked again.

"You know when you have a crush as a kid? I really liked Prince Flynn Rider... And Rapunzel too, but I found that out much later, I also liked Prince Charming and some others, or celebrities too, I really liked Harry Styles and Shawn Mendes."

This time Gus raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Me too." He confirmed. "I always loved Black Widow, I still do."

Gus sighed romantically.

Willow rolled her eyes.

"Amity never told you any of that?" Gus continued to inquire. "Not a single one?"

"Not really... Amity liked whole families and the idea of being a mom in one of them, and her favorite characters were always... Women."

The young man was silent for a moment.

"Always?"

"Always."

"That's..."

"Gay Gus, that's pretty gay, and I don't know how I didn't notice before, Amity had a giant poster of Eiza Gonzalez hidden in her diary the last time I opened it."

Again, Gus was silent for a moment.

"... The last time?"

"Unimportant." Willow dismissed. "What's important is, Amity always turned guys down, always saying she's 'waiting for the right one,' but I've never seen her try anything, and the guys who've asked her out are... Almost princes, so I never understood."

"If Amity's gay then why did she stop being friends with you?" Willow's face shadowed with melancholy. "Ugh, sorry, I spoke without thinking!"

"It's okay Gus." Willow dismissed, still grimacing slightly.

The black-haired girl pondered for a few moments.

"Amity... Has the most traditional and conservative family I've ever seen, they won't even let her compete in the track club because 'it's not ladylike'." Willow argued, remarking the phrase with mockery. "I don't think it's the best environment for... uh... exploring your sexuality?"

Gus pondered for a moment.

"It seems... Possible." He conceded.

"Yes! And Amity has always had few friends, so it's possible she's never really found the right guy because... There is no right guy." She finished triumphantly.

Gus looked at Willow for a few moments.

"Sounds... logical." Gus conceded again. "But it doesn't necessarily have to be..."

"You're not my number one fan today, are you?" replied Willow with annoyance.

"I always am!" Gus exclaimed. "It's just..."

The young man came closer and put his hand on Willow's shoulder.

"Willow... Don't you feel like you're trying to justify what Amity did to you? You're my best friend, I don't want you opening wounds you've already healed."

The sound of the bell ended their conversation.

Willow's expression changed to one of melancholy.

"Amity and I are no longer friends Gus, nor will we ever be again, I don't care about her anymore, I just want Luz to be safe." She concluded walking away from the boy's grip and heading for the Judas building.

But her tone did not convince anyone.

Gus decided to settle the issue and follow her friend in silence.

The young High School students milled around outside the door and crossed the halls.

The pair of friends continued on their way to their respective classrooms.

That's when they saw them.

Luz was holding a black-covered book and making dramatic gestures bordering ridiculousness, sound effects included.

But that wasn't weird.

What was weird was that Amity was with her.

Laughing.

Holding her stomach and half covering her mouth to muffle her voice.

Willow hadn't seen her like that in years.

And more importantly.

She' d never seen her like this in public.

Gus, next to her, was as stunned as she was.

That was without counting a few more anonymous onlookers.

The black-haired girl smiled mischievously.

" Luz..." Willow called once she was close enough, catching the brunette's attention. "Can I talk to you for a bit?"

Amity silenced her giggles immediately, returning the serious, prefabricated semblance she had to wear in public.

"I'll see you inside, Luz." She said simply, advancing into the classroom.

When Willow was close enough, Luz had her hands in front of her trying to justify the last 20 minutes of her existence.

"Willow, you see! It's just... Amity and I were getting ready for class presentation and-"

"Your phone." Willow announced simply, placing the device in front of her.

Luz blushed deeply.

"Ah... Thank you." She said scratching the back of her neck awkwardly. "Uh, Willow-"

"It's okay Luz." Willow assured smiling calmly. "I didn't react in the best way, I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable."

"What? No! Of course you were going to react like that! I'm sorry..."

"No Luz, it's okay." She affirmed again. "The heart is not something you can control, and my problems with Amity have nothing to do with you."

Luz pressed her phone to her chest.

"Still..." She pronounced guiltily. "I'm really sorry, and seriously, I don't plan on doing anything about... you know what... But, I wanted to tell you because you're the first real friend I've ever had and-"

"Luz, really, it's all right." The black-haired girl walked over to the taller girl and held her by the shoulders. "You can do whatever you want, you're free, I'm not going to interfere, and I'm not going to get mad at you."

Luz's eyes sparkled.

"Really?"

" Yeah." Willow affirmed, then turned away from Luz and fiddled with her fingers without taking her eyes off the brunette. "Just... Be very careful, okay? I don't want you to get hurt."

Luz blowed a raspberry.

"Don't worry about it! Still... There's not much sense in trying something with the ''straightest girl.'' Right?" She concluded with a look of mild sadness on her face.

"Right..." Willow replied warily.

She didn't want to give Luz hope either, she could be wrong.

" Ladies, what are you doing outside?" A female voice asked, interrupting their conversation. " Now come on, come on, class has already started!"

Ms. Morningstar gave them slight nudges leading them into the classroom.

"Good morning class!" she announced. "Sorry for being late! We're going to start with presentations! We'll be beginning with the teams backwards!"

She directed her gaze to the far left of the classroom.

"Amity, Luz, please begin."

Luz and Amity hurried to get up from their desks, but the auburn, being left-handed, got up on the left side, bumping into the brunette, and almost stumbling.

But Luz stabilized her by grabbing her shoulders before anything else could happen.

They walked calmly to the front of the classroom.

"You always fall for me~." The brunette mumbled mockingly for only Amity to hear.

"Shut up." The auburn replied to her with a small laugh.

End of Chapter 9.

Chapter Text

C10 Choreopsis

Amity sighed deeply and wearily.

She didn't know what was going on with her.

She was... Confused, upset, anxious...

Scared.

And, at the same time...

She felt happy.

Happier than she had felt in a long time.

More than when she managed to get her hands on a late release of Azura's saga.

More than when she beat her own personal record-breakers in athletics.

Even more than when Amelie invited her to hang out.

Everything was in place, her excellent grades, her relationship with her parents, her sister's return, harmony with her mental health class partner when she originally expected conflict.

And that only added to her unjustified anxiety.

She was happy.

So why was she afraid?

It was Friday in the third week of school.

And Amity had noticed herself becoming more and more comfortable being around Luz.

Luz...

It was her who made everything different.

Awkward, outbursting, giddy, problematic, spontaneous Luz.

Amazing, kind, cheerful, smiley, generous Luz.

Always Joyful Luz.

Adorable Luz.

The auburn covered her face with her hands in frustration.

The mental health class, which was delivered three times a week, almost always required them to work as a team, whether it was for hours or minutes, individual work was most unusual, and, more times than not, Amity and Luz ended up hanging out together after class.

The first time they went to the Blight mansion was... Complicated.

Her father was in his study, fortunately, but her mother and Miss Lilith were about to leave when she and Luz were walking in.

"Amity... "The blonde woman had said as a greeting, then looked at her watch. "You're a little late, why is that?"

"We had to stop by the library for some books, I gave notice to the driver."

"I see..." Piercing cobalt eyes scanned her daughter's companion, causing her to tense up. "Who is your friend?"

"M-my name is Luz Noceda Mrs. Blight!" the brunette nervously stepped forward before Amity could introduce her. "I'm Amity's partner in mental health class!"

"Noceda..." The woman repeated, stroking her chin, then turning to Lilith. "Isn't that the family that's living with your sister?"

"That's right." Lilith stated calmly. "She's Camilla's youngest daughter."

"The new administrator of the nursing department..." Amity's mother concluded.

Then she addressed the teenagers again.

"Nice to meet you Luz!" She pronounced with excessive sweetness. "My name is Odalia, Lily and I are going to the country club, behave yourselves and finish your homework early."

"Luz, does your mom know you're here? How will you get home?" Lilith interjected as the blonde woman began to walk to the door.

"My mom and Eda know I'm here, and Lola is going to pick me up when I call her."

"Alright, see you later then, have a nice afternoon girls." Lilith said saying goodbye with a smile.

Odalia stopped her walk next to the brunette.

" Cutie, you have such beautiful hair." The blonde mentioned taking one of Luz's locks between her fingers. "You should let it grow."

"Ah, thank you!" Luz replied nervously. "I'll keep that in mind."

The two women marched out the door and the young girls advanced towards Amity's room.

The auburn prayed that there would be no more surprises.

"Luuuuuuuuuz!" They heard in the distance.

Clearly God was not listening to her at that moment.

The twins approached them cheerfully at the foot of the stairs.

"Hi cutie!" they both said as they reached them.

"H-hello." She greeted nervously as her cheeks colored.

"We're busy." Amity interjected.

"Aw, Mittens." Emira began by wrapping an arm around her sister's shoulders.

"Just because you're a nerd who only knows how to do homework, doesn't mean Luz is too." Completed Edric imitating his twin, but with Luz, making the brunette blush even more.

Amity looked at the scene with annoyance.

" Shouldn't you be in piano lessons?" She spat at Edric.

"Unfortunately, my lesson for today was cancelled." Then she leaned into Luz's ear and whispered. "I canceled it."

The Dominican laughed softly.

Amity huffed in annoyance, while removing her sister's arm around her.

"And aren't you with your boyfriend at this hour?" she said dismissively.

"Ah, no." Emira replied waving her hand nonchalantly. "I'm done with him."

Amity and Edric reacted with surprise.

"You broke up with Gabe?" Her twin asked dumbfounded. "Why didn't you tell me anything?"

"I just did it today." Emira said with a shrug.

"Why?" Amity asked with genuine surprise.

"I didn't even like the guy." The older one said with a grimace of distaste. "I was just dating him so Mom would stop nagging me."

"You were with him for six months." Edric commented.

" He was buying me nice things." Emira replied with a sly smile and a wink.

Amity looked at her with disgust.

"And why did you break up with him just now?" Luz asked curiously, trying to get into the conversation.

Emira crossed her arms and turned her head towards the hallway leading to the entrance.

"I just... I got sick of him." She concluded with a blank stare, then smiled returning her attention to the minors. "But that doesn't matter. Dad's locked up in his study listening to AC DC."

"And that means he won't be out all afternoon." Edric continued.

"Your dad listens to AC DC?" Luz asked Amity incredulously.

Amity huffed in annoyance.

"Yeah, he doesn't let us listen to secular music, but he does, he thinks we don't notice."

Edric cleared his throat, drawing the younger girls' attention again.

"We were saying..." He continued.

"Edric and I are going to eat junk and watch a movie, do you guys want to join us?"

The twins were really trying to invite Luz, they knew Amity would never accept.

"What movie?" Luz asked excitedly.

"Mean Girls." The young man replied.

Luz gasped.

"I love mean girls!"

"No." Amity sentenced. "We have work to do."

Luz turned to face her.

"Come on Amity!" she said pleadingly. " The assignment isn't hard, and we just came from school, we could use a break."

"We can take a break when we finish the assignment." The auburn countered.

"It's important to take rest periods between the day's tasks, it improves efficiency and concentration." Amity looked at her questioningly. "My mami told me that."

The youngest Blight frowned.

"No Luz, we came here to do homework, we have to finish it first."

The Dominican girl approached her and grabbed her by the jacket, pulling her slightly.

"Come on! It's less than two hours, the task won't take us more than thirty minutes."

Amity moved to free her jacket.

"No Luz, just right you say it will take us less than thirty minutes, we can come down when we're done."

"But we're going to miss the beginning!" Luz grabbed Amity's hand this time with both of her hands, pulling her closer to herself. "Pleaaaaaaaaase?"

The twins laughed at Luz's attempts to get Amity to relax, and leaned down to be at the same level as her, facing Amity.

" Yeah Mittens." They said in unison. "Pleaaaaaaaaaaase?"

Amity was clearly annoyed, she had the refusal right on the tip of her tongue.

But Luz was making that face.

The one that made her feel like kicking a puppy if she turned her down.

The one that somehow made her forgive her.

Amity pressed her frown harder and harder.

No.

No.

No.

"Okay." She conceded at last with a sigh.

Luz jumped up and charged Amity with a hug and a squeal of glee, as the twins watched completely dumbfounded.

"Really?" Edric asked incredulously.

Amity pushed Luz away, putting her at arm's length.

"Yes, but as soon as the movie is over, we are going to my room to do our homework." Luz nodded vigorously, then, the auburn turned to her siblings. "And if you start saying the movie dialogues, I'm out of there. Got it?"

"Aw, you kill the fun." Emira said trying to recover from the surprise. "But okay, just for you Mittens."

"Let's leave our stuff in my room." Amity said directing Luz to go upstairs.

"We'll wait for you in the kitchen!" Edric replied walking away as well.

"Mary brought your favorite ice cream Mittens~!" Emira complemented cheerfully.

Luz just smiled as Amity hurried up the stairs in a less than discreet manner.

Visits to the Blight manor became frequent, all of them for schoolwork, all of them ending in recreations, whether it was reading or drawing with Luz, or watching movies and playing video games on Edric's secret console in the company of the twins.

Amity found herself getting closer and closer to her siblings.

And to Luz...

She could not forget the Friday when they stayed talking in her room until her mother arrived from the country club.

Talking with Luz about everything that made them alike and different was so easy and so fascinating at the same time, that Amity did not notice the time passing by.

And apparently neither did Luz.

Odalia had scolded Amity severely for not being ready for bed and because Luz had not gone home yet.

And the Dominican had taken the blame.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Blight!" She had said. "I forgot what no one would be home tonight! My sister is out of town and Eda and Mom went to the movies! But I already let them know I'm here, Mom's sending an Uber to pick me up."

"Uber!" Edric shouted crossing the hallway and barging into her room. "Mother, it would be so irresponsible to let Luz leave by herself at this hour!"

Odalia folded her arms and rolled her eyes.

"And what do you suggest?"

"I can gladly take her and leave her safely at the door of her house." The young man replied bowing with flourish and getting a chuckle from Luz and a huff from Amity.

Edric was taking any excuses to get to drive the car since he got his license.

Odalia was silent for a few seconds contemplating the situation.

Then she uttered a groan of annoyance.

"All right." She conceded at last. "There and back Edric, don't go anywhere else."

"Mother! I am offended that you would think of me like that!"

Odalia looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

Edric stepped back with a grimace.

"Yes mother, I will return as soon as possible." He conceded with earnestness and a slightly trembling voice.

"Be careful."

"Thank you Mrs. Blight! Good night!" the brunette cheerfully waved goodbye, following Edric's footsteps.

Amity couldn't take a step forward.

"Oh no, you're not going anywhere." Odalia warned. "It's bad enough I have one of my kids out at night, you're staying, and I want to see lights out in ten minutes."

Then she turned to Luz.

"I'm sorry you're seeing all this Luz." She said cordially. "But it's a school night, you must go to bed early."

"But tomorrow is sa-"

The woman's phone rang.

"Honey." She said as she answered, moving down the hallway in the direction of the dining room. "Yes, I'm home already, where are you? See you later Luz!"

Amity gave a resigned huff.

"Well, I'll see you Monday then." Luz said leaning over to kiss her cheek briefly. "See you Amity!"

Then she walked out the door.

"See you." The auburn replied in a soft voice.

Edric watched her walk by with a raised eyebrow, to follow her two seconds later.

"See you later Mittens." He said in a parting way.

AmiB:

Why did you lie to my mom?

LuzNoc:

I didn't want you to get in trouble

AmiB:

She's going to tell your mom

I'm sure she will.

You didn't have to lie for me

LuzNoc:

a

It's ok :D

I already told my mami

She has my back

Also

That's what friends are for, right?

Read at 9:19

Amity took a few seconds to respond.

AmiB:

(°°°)

'We're not friends,' she had written.

Just to delete it right away.

Were they not?

'It's a start...' She tried again.

It was?

Amity sighed, then smiled slightly.

There was no longer much point in denying their friendship being that Luz spent more time with her than any of her other friends.

Luz had listened to her more than anyone else inside her house.

And definitely more than any of her so-called friends.

She would say almost as much as the person she trusted the most.

AmiB:

I guess so

Thanks a lot

LuzNoc:

Edric just dropped me off at home!

See you on Monday!

Sleep tight uwu

AmiB:

See you Monday

Sleep tight too

:)

...

What does uwu mean?

Amity watched Luz's contact for a few seconds.

And typed a few times.

Luz took several minutes to respond.

Luz:

It's a little face!

(Luz sent an image)

On it were several keyboard codes, which underneath had the image of the faces they were supposed to mean.

Amity snorted with a smile.

She saw a figure pass in front of her room.

"Edric." She said softly.

"Yes Mittens?" he replied also in a whisper, standing in front of her door.

Amity got up from the bed and approached him.

"Thank you..." She said averting her gaze. "Uh... For taking Luz home."

Edric smiled hugely.

"You're welcome little sis." He replied rubbing her hair. "I really like her too."

Amity scoffed and pushed her brother's hand away.

"I have told you before that I don't like being touched."

Edric raised an eyebrow.

Then he grinned.

" Okay Mittens." Then he advanced down the hall. "See you tomorrow."

After that night they didn't spend much time with the twins, Odalia had received a notice that Edric hadn't made it to his last three piano lessons, and from then on he started being driven by the chauffeur, instead of going on his own.

And Emira had started taking singing lessons in the afternoons, an activity her mother had allowed her to give up, as Emira assured her that it was the only hours she could spend time with Gabriel.

Sooner rather than later, Odalia found out about their breakup, and after a brief scolding for how stupid it seemed to her that she would dump the Slim's eldest son, when he treated her like a queen, she forced Emira to return to her classes.

It was common to see Luz at the mansion.

Alador did not give more than a brief greeting when he came to see her around, and Odalia had come to question more than once why Luz came to their house so often.

Amity knew that Luz's presence did not delight them, but they seemed to be getting used to it.

Getting used to it...

Would this last the whole semester?

And yesterday.

Yesterday had been the weirdest part of all.

They had gone to a bookstore in one of the many shopping malls.

Lola had left them there promising to come back for ice cream in central park in an hour.

In the meantime, they would get the book they came for, this time, for the history subject, where the teacher preferred not to complicate his life and used the pairs already assigned by Miss Morningstar.

By now, Amity was no longer annoyed by that.

It didn't take them long to reach the gigantic bookstore, filled with test audios, interactive art pieces, and of course, books.

They allowed themselves to marvel at the multiple murals and games before going to the clerk at the counter.

He was a tall, dark-haired young man with a slender build and a gentle smile.

"'Crusades and Geography of the Middle Ages'." He said as he searched through the catalog on his computer. "And... Yup, we got it! Follow me girls!"

The young man eagerly made his way through the shelves until he found the one he was looking for in the world history section.

He took out a small volume and handed it to Luz.

He looked at it for a few moments.

"Anything else you need from this section?"

"No, thank you." Amity replied.

"Well, then let's go to the register." The young man said starting to walk.

After reaching the checkout and being quickly charged, he hesitated for a few moments as he wrapped the book in brown paper.

He turned to Luz without handing her the book.

"Your face rings a bell, little girl." He said leaning slightly, studying her face.

"Really?" Luz replied quizzically. "I've been living here less than a month and I've never-"

CLAP!

The young man had clapped loudly.

"Ah, you look so much like Lola!" the young man said happily.

Seeing that he had surprised them, he clapped his hands together in anguish.

"I'm so sorry girls! I didn't mean to scare you!" he turned to Luz again. "It's just that you look so much like a friend of mine."

"Lola Noceda?" The brunette asked with a smile.

"That same one!" The young man answered bringing his palms to his cheeks with excitement. "You know her?"

"She's my sister." Luz replied without stopping smiling.

"Oh! Then you must be Luz! Lola told me about you! It's nice to finally meet-"

"Leo..." A serious male voice warned, and the three could appreciate how a middle-aged man, uniformed with the bookstore's logo, passed in front of them briefly.

The young man smiled nervously.

"Excuse me girls, I'm just a big chatterbox." He handed them the book and the ticket. "Have a nice day! It was nice to meet you Luz. Tell Lola that Leobo says hi!"

"Thank you." The young girls said almost in unison, to then turn and walk away.

They heard a loud gasp behind them, enough to get their attention and turn around a bit.

The young man was beckoning them to come closer.

" Luz..." Leo whispered once they were close. "Lola told me you liked 'the good witch Azura.' Right?"

Luz nodded.

"Wait right here." He said to quickly slip into the back store room.

After a couple of minutes he came out again, with a thick book in his hands.

"Look." He said handing it to Luz.

Both the auburn and the brunette gasped with excitement.

"NO WAY!" The Dominican exclaimed.

"Shhhhhhhhhh! Don't scream!" Leo told her alarmingly. "My dad mustn't know I took it out!"

"I'm sorry!" The brunette said covering her mouth with her free hand.

"How is that possible?" Amity asked, dumbfounded. "It doesn't come out for another three weeks."

"It's an ad campaign, darling." The young man replied, holding out his hand for Luz to return the book. "It was delivered to us just yesterday, we're setting up a hallway for the premiere."

Quickly, Leo wrapped the book in paper and handed it to Luz.

"What the-"

"A little gift from my part." The smiling young man told her. "Your sister got me out of a couple of huge problems."

"Can I really keep it?!" she whispered loudly with excitement.

"Yes darling!" Then he bent down slightly and whispered in a lower tone. "I can tell it didn't make it in inventory, nothing will happen, just promise me you won't do spoilers or leak anything on the internet, please."

Luz nodded vigorously clutching the package to her chest.

Then the young man turned to Amity.

"But I can only take one, if it's two my dad is going to report it to the suppliers, sorry cutie."

"It's okay." She said trying to hide the envy in her voice. "Anyway-"

The young man gasped.

"My dad's coming! Go away, go away! Say hi to Lola, Luz!"

The girls turned immediately, heading for the exit.

"Thank you!" The brunette shouted one last time as they made their way to the exit.

" How lucky you are."Amity said after a few steps. "It'll take months before I can get it, I have to save coins because my parents watch all my expenses."

Luz slowed her steps, looking at Amity.

Then, the chocolate eyes shone and her pupils dilated.

"You can keep it." She said extending the book to her.

"What?" Amity couldn't believe it."No, Luz, he gave it to you!"

"Take it!" she insisted taking her hand and placing the package on her palm. "You always have to wait a little longer after the books come out, it's only fair that this time you get to read it a little earlier than everyone else."

"But-"

"I can buy it as soon as it comes out! You can keep it Amity." She gave her a brief hug. "You deserve it."

Those words made her lose her breath for a moment.

"If I keep it, I have to cover it." He warned trying to hand the book back again. "I'm going to ruin the book cover."

"Better that way, no one will notice you got it before everyone else!"

Amity pressed the package to her chest.

For some reason she felt like crying.

But, like a good Blight, she was able to control herself.

She sighed.

"Thank you." She conceded at last, then hesitated. "Uh... We can read it together, if you want, during recess or... After school, at my house."

Luz's eyes sparkled again, then she pounced on Amity, giving her a big hug.

"Oh yeah!" Then she sighed with relief. "I'm glad you offered it, I'm actually dying to read it too."

The auburn laughed lightly.

And she kept smiling as she noticed that she didn't stagger.

Luz's affections no longer took her by surprise.

That was good, wasn't it?

"Luz!" They heard a voice in the distance.

The brunette turned to notice that Gus and Willow were entering the bookstore.

"Guys!" she greeted cheerfully, then turned to Amity. "I'll be right back."

The dean's daughter nodded calmly, then watched as Luz walked away.

The smile stayed on her face until she saw Luz kiss Willow's cheek and she kissed her back.

She gasped almost without realizing it.

Then the same process was repeated with Augustus.

Her stomach knotted itself.

The interaction lasted less than five minutes, which Amity didn't even notice, as she was lost in thought.

Luz did the same again, kissing Gus and Wilow's cheeks, and receiving a kiss as well, said goodbye, and walked back to Amity.

"Are you okay?" she asked at last as she arrived.

"I am. Why?" she asked dryly as she continued walking to the exit.

Luz followed her.

"You seem upset... Did I say something wrong?" She asked with a tinge of sadness.

Amity relaxed her gesture.

" Yeah, yeah, I'm fine Luz." She said calming her pace and relaxing her tone of voice. "I just remembered that I have to start a project when I get home, it's for my French class."

"Is it very hard?" the brunette asked. "Maybe I could help you."

" You speak French too?" Amity asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No..." Luz replied elongating the word. "But both languages come from Latin, so maybe I can understand it."

"Oh, donc vous pouvez parler n'importe quelle langue alors, mademoiselle?" Amity asked.

Luz looked at her dumbfounded.

" No, pue´no te entendí mi reina." She replied.

"What?"

"What?"

Luz burst out laughing, with Amity following shortly after.

A few seconds later, Amity got up the courage to ask.

"Luz?"

"Yes?"

"Uh..." She hesitated. "Why did you kiss Gus and Willow?"

Luz turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I was just greeting them."

"With a kiss?"

"Yeah... I do it with you too, don't I? That's how we say hi in Dominicana."

Amity felt her cheeks color slightly.

" Yeah..." She turned her head. "But I didn't know you did it with everybody, I got surprised."

"Oh, it's not with everybody!" She clarified smiling. "It's very casual, when you meet strangers and then only with close friends and family. I thought I told you..."

Amity, fearing she'd look stupid for never having asked, opted to lie.

"Y-you did told me a little."

They continued until they reached the parking lot, where Lola was already waiting for them.

As soon as they got into the car, the sisters began to speak Spanish.

Amity didn't understand a thing, but from the tone of their conversation she could tell that Lola was teasing Luz, it seemed a vaguely similar atmosphere to when the twins pestered her.

"Conchale, que no e'mi novia!"

"Vive' ma'  en su casa que en la nue'tra!"

Amity wasn't paying much attention.

Despite Luz's explanation, she still felt a knot in her stomach.

An unsettling feeling that bothered her more because of the unfamiliarity, rather than the simple fact of feeling it.

Her anxiety calmed down a little when Luz remembered to bring her chocomint when ordering at an ice cream shop in central park.

But since she returned home, and until now, the feeling of uneasiness remained.

Amity looked at her phone.

It was almost eleven o'clock and her next class was almost due.

She was probably busy...

But, she had told her that she could always count on her.

She didn't want to bother her...

She tightened her grip on the phone as she searched for the contact.

Finally, she sighed.

She did say I could reach out to her if I wasn't feeling well.

Mittens 3:

Hi Meli

Are you busy?

I'd like to talk to you

I've had some weird stuff going on since the semester started.

End of Chapter 10

Chapter Text

THIS IS NOT AN UPDATE

(sorry)

It's an announcement to let you know (if you're interested) that I just uploaded chapter 1 of "the sin of withering!" The parallel story to this one with BetaLumity content!

I cheerfully invite you to read it! You can find it in my profile! And anchored in a series to this very one!

I will delete this chapter the next time I update.

See you then!

Se despide:

AnikaDragneel

°w°

Chapter Text

11 Glycine

Amity walked forward carrying her gym bag from the campus running track.

Saturday was tryouts and sign-ups for the school's sports teams, and, more out of formality under the fact that she was moving up to High School, Amity had just finished trying out for the track and field team.

She got, as usual, the best time among the participants.

It was a pity she couldn't take part in inter-school competitions, she would surely be a legend.

She sighed with resignation.

"Exercise is mandatory Amity, but it's not proper for a lady to compete in sporting events, the clothes are inappropriate and young ladies should never stand out for physical strength, you're not going to compete."

That was what her mother had said the first time she asked to compete in a relay race.

Her father only confirmed it.

She tried twice.

Second time had worse consequences than just a scolding.

So she didn't try again.

With a calm step, she reached the bench at the side of the soccer field and took a seat next to a couple of students who were preparing for the tryouts.

Unfortunately, track and field and football tryouts did not coincide in schedules, so she would have to wait for Luz to finish her tryout, since they had agreed to read some chapters at Amity's house after practice.

Oh, and also Edric, who was the one who would take them home.

Being the only male, he had a special place in her parents' hearts and regained permission to use the car.

Amity finally allowed herself to relax in her seat.

She scanned her surroundings curiously, usually never watching football games, not even knowing the rules of the game.

Finally, her eyes found a familiar figure, and, without realizing it, she smiled.

Luz was in the center of the field, with a few balls behind her.

The girl would bend down, pick up a ball, throw it, and repeat the process.

Amity found herself immersed in the brunette's actions in the distance.

The dark auburn of her hair caught her attention, under the golden rays of the sun it shone in coppery glints.

Indeed, all of Luz seemed to glow under the intense brightness of the summer sun.

Her skin, unlike the paleness that characterized hers, did not reflect the sun outrageously, but seemed to refract it and return its own gleam, caramel glowing from the moisture of perspiring skin.

And her eyes, deep chocolate sparkled like freshly polished bronze, further highlighted by the thick lines of black makeup covering her cheekbones.

She could see in clear detail how a bead of sweat slid from her temple, down her neck, until it was lost under her clothes.

Then she noticed it.

This was the first time she had seen her out of school uniform.

She was wearing a white sleeveless T-shirt with a Batman logo on her chest, special shoes for the foot-ball field, a colorful wristband, and short shorts.

A little too short.

And apparently Luz thought the same, as she could tell that, in a supposedly discreet way, the brunette was hooking the bottom of the garment, pulling it tight to stretch it out, uncovering a bit of her belly in the process.

Huh...

Luz's skin was considerably lighter on her stomach.

Frustrated, the brunette tugged at the shirt as well, trying to cover her midsection as the skin on her cheeks flushed slightly.

That managed to get the top of the t-shirt to uncover her collarbones.

Wow...

Amity hadn't noticed how athletic her friend's physique was, her body was slim, yes, but the clothes she now flaunted allowed to see how worked out her muscles were, particularly her slightly bulging shoulders and nicely shaped legs.

She didn't hear her, but she could see her huffing with resignation, tucking the ball under her arm to bring her hand over her head, combing the short mane of hair and getting rid of the locks stuck to her forehead with sweat.

"Amity!"

"AH!" The alluded one jumped in surprise at the shrill male voice.

" What a surprise to see you here!"

Amity, unnerved, turned to see the source of the voice.

It took all her willpower not to roll her eyes.

Before her stood a tall young man, skin as pale as her own, jet black curls, blue eyes, athletic build, and sportswear.

"Hi Josh." She greeted gruffly, turning her face back to where her friend stood.

But the young boy planted himself right in front of her.

And Amity ha0d to stifle a growl.

"Did you know I was going to be here?"

"No Josh, I'm waiting for Luz and my brother."

"Luz?"

"She's my friend."

"Oh! The short haired girl you hang out with every day."

The auburn stood upright in surprise.

"Every day?"

"All week."

The dean's daughter frowned at not having noticed the time she spent with Luz.

Then she flinched.

"Are you stalking me?!"

The young man recoiled defensively.

"Of course not!" Then he stepped forward again. "I just like to admire you from afar."

The young boy took all his courage and rested his right hand on the auburn's shoulder.

"I wouldn't have to if you agreed to go out on a date with me." He told her with the most seductive smile he could offer.

Amity frowned with disdain.

She was having a hard time maintaining her polite lady facade.

"Come on!" She heard him continue. "We can go to a movie, or to the park, anywhere you want, I promise to treat you like a princess."

Amity couldn't help rolling her eyes.

She reluctantly took the hand perched on her shoulder and removed it tactlessly.

" Once again Josh, no thank you, I'm not interested in going out with you."

"Come on Amity!" the young man insisted briskly sitting down next to her. "Just a date, you'll see we're meant for each other!"

"No."

"Amity... Just think about it..."

But the auburn was no longer listening.

Barely an instant after Josh had stopped rudely blocking her view of the playing field, Amity's attention was drawn to a scene that caught her attention.

Edric, his back turned, was now at the spot where Luz was standing, gesturing in the air things Amity didn't understand.

She narrowed her eyes curiously.

Her brother, still with his back turned, shook his head vigorously, took a step forward, raising both arms and...

Hugged Luz.

"Hmmm?" she mused in surprise as she felt her stomach tighten.

"So you're thinking about it?" said the boy next to her excitedly.

"What?" an obfuscated Amity asked, turning her head, confused between the two events that were catching her attention.

"Going to a water park." Josh replied laughingly. "You know what they say! "Take them to a pool on the first date!"

Amity glared at him.

"No Josh." She replied at last dryly.

"Don't you take it that way! I was just joking!" The young man told her with a chuckle. "Come on Amity, you're going to laugh so hard that..."

Amity turned her head back to where her brother and her friend were, still finding Edric wrapped his arms around Luz.

She focused her gaze as best she could.

Edric was holding Luz from behind, holding her left hand with his and doing the same with his right, where Luz was holding a ball.

Oh...

Edric moved Luz's arms rhythmically about three times, then pulled away from her.

"I'm a funny guy! I've studied comedy..."

Luz repeated the movements on her own, receiving an affirmation from Edric, who ran a few feet in front, turning to Luz and slapping his chest with his palms.

Luz looked at him in dismay.

He told her something Amity didn't hear.

"Do you want to hear a really good joke?..."..."

"... Hard as you can!" She managed to make out her brother's shout.

Luz sighed and regained her posture, took impulse and threw the ball with all her strength.

"OOOF!"

She could clearly hear the air escaping from his mouth.

It hit Edric right in the chest, suffocating him and making him retreat a couple of steps.

The scene took her by surprise, without her being able to avoid snorting and letting out a couple of guffaws, which continued into moderately discreet giggles.

"I made you laugh!" Josh exclaimed, raising his fists in victory. "I've never seen you laugh like that!"

Amity, gradually calming her laughter, turned to look at the young man.

"Sorry Josh!" she said calming a last couple of giggles. "I got distracted, I wasn't listening to you."

Her response unsettled the young man, who tilted his head, rather confused and a bit annoyed.

" Then why-"

"Amity!" a voice was heard approaching.

"Luz!" the auburn replied, getting to her feet.

The brunette trotted to meet Amity, with Edric walking and rubbing his chest a few feet behind.

Luz hurried her pace a bit, as she arrived, she quickly leaned over, kissing her cheek.

"Luz!" Amity complained, stepping back and wiping her cheek. "You're sweaty!"

"Oops!" The brunette exclaimed with a chuckle. "I'm so sorry, I forgot." "It's okay." The auburn said with a sigh as she finished wiping her cheek. "Just be more careful, please."

"You say that like you didn't lean in for her to kiss you." Edric whispered in a choked voice, but the girls didn't seem to hear him.

"How did your tryout go?" Luz asked cheerfully.

" Good." Amity replied with a satisfied smile. "I was the best time, as usual."

"Really?!" She replied enthusiastically.

"Sweat!" Amity exclaimed putting her hand in front of Luz to stop her from hugging her.

"Oh, sorry!" Luz laughed again."Force of habit. congratulations!

Amity shrugged her shoulders."

"It's always like that, anyway, they won't let me compete in interschools, so-"

Amity's speech was interrupted by a throat clearing.

The auburn rolled her eyes and tried to continue.

"So it doesn't make much sense that-"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Joshua Baptist!" Josh exclaimed standing up and wrapping his left arm around Amity's shoulders.

Luz frowned and Edric smiled, amused by the situation.

" Are you... Amity's friend?" the brunette asked, disgruntled.

"Oh no, no." Josh said laughingly tightening his arm around Amity. "I'm her future husband."

Luz stepped back in surprise as Amity turned red.

Very red.

She took a deep breath and sighed.

"Josh, let go."

The young boy turned to look at her with a smile.

"Oh come on, don't be mad, it'll be true at some point!"

The auburn grabbed the young man's hand and threw it roughly.

"Josh..." Amity took a breath. "I've tried to be nice to you many times, way too many times, I'm not your future wife, I'm not your future girlfriend, I don't want to date you, I don't even like you! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Josh took a couple of steps back, taken aback by the ferocity of Amity's words.

Then he smirked.

"Oh~...Easy Amity, you say that now, but don't worry, I like a challenge, almost as much as I like you."

"I'M GONNA-" Amity was interrupted as Luz stood in front of her.

"Hey Josh!" the brunette greeted enthusiastically. "I'm Luz, I'm from Dominican Republic! What position are you trying out for?"

Josh watched Luz with a frown for a few moments, then smiled awkwardly.

"Oh no honey, I'm sorry, I'm a one-woman man!" He said laughing nervously. "Besides, you're cute and all, but you're really not my type..."

Luz looked at the boy with disbelief and... Revulsion?

But Josh was still staring at her.

The young man flushed and averted his eyes.

"Luz!" He gasped. "Your clothes aren't... Uh... A little... Short...?"

Amity, blushing, took a step forward.

"HOW DARE YOU-"

But Luz held her hand as she laughed lightly.

"Actually, it is!" She said with a slight blush. "It's my lucky outfit! I wore it when I made it into the baseball team! But I don't think it fits me anymore!"

Josh rested his eyes on her again, a little calmer.

"Maybe you should change-"

Then their conversation was interrupted by the shrill o of a whistle.

Before them stood a tall woman with lush platinum hair, wearing sportswear and sunglasses.

It was Coach Edalyn Clawthorne.

"Time for the tryout kids!" she announced, causing all the teens on the field to hurry their steps around her.

Eda looked at the group before her.

"Luz!" she greeted pleasantly as she ruffled the brunette's hair affectionately. "I'm glad you decided to try out!"

"This game does look interesting! I'm trying out for quarterback!"

"I'm sure you'll do great!" the lady said with a big smile, then, she acknowledged Amity's presence. "Baby Blight? What are you doing here?"

The woman's eyes sparkled.

"You came to try out?"

"Uh... No." The auburn looked confused. "I came by to wait for Luz and my brother, coach Edalyn."

"Oh..." Eda looked disappointed. "That's too bad. And don't call me Edalyn, I've told you several times I don't like it!"

She turned to the crowd again.

"All right folks! Let's start the testing, speed, tackling, throwing, catching, and kicking! Make a line!"

"One men's and one women's?" Josh interjected.

Eda looked at him arching an eyebrow.

"I said a line, not two."

"We'll do the tryout all of us together?" the black-haired boy asked in disbelief.

"Yes." She simply replied and turned her gaze back to the others. "Are you waiting for a formal invitation? Hurry up!"

All the freshman teens swirled around each other until they managed to form a straight line.

"Edric, you and the others hand out flags." She indicated to Amity's older brother.

The young man complied without response, as did two more boys and three more girls, all official members of the team.

They took bags from which they drew belts each bearing two red or green flags tied to them, handed them to the aspirants and returned to Eda's side.

"Listen up rookies!" She said in a loud voice. "In training we play flag football, I don't want injuries, I know about strength with the training dummies, today I want to see your speed, agility and how you get out of trouble, you will do five trials, then we will play a quarter. LET'S GO!"

At the coach's command, the older kids separated the applicants into five groups, and led them to different areas of the field.

Amity watched in fascination.

Besides track and field, which was an almost individual sport where only running was involved, the dean's daughter didn't know much about sports, she found it interesting to see how the applicants had to push or dodge dummies, run fifty yards, kick a ball, hit targets or catch passes.

It was rather more... flashy.

Her brother was in charge of checking the throwing area, where he also noticed that Luz had managed to score most of the time.

After about twenty-five minutes, the tests seemed to be over.

The crucial moment had arrived.

The practice match.

But before that, they were given a ten-minute break.

Amity watched as Luz and her brother walked back to the spot where she was.

She quickly looked around until she found the hydration area.

Finding it, she grabbed a bottle of water for Luz and ran.

Then she quickly went back and grabbed two more, for Edric and herself.

It had been a good idea, because Luz came in practically panting.

"Here." Amity said handing her the bottle with a smile.

"Thanks!" The brunette replied enthusiastically, taking the bottle and drinking the water greedily.

Meanwhile, Amity handed the other bottle to her brother, who was simply overheated from the sun.

Luz gasped finishing the last drops from the small bottle.

"You drink fast." Amity observed with surprise.

"I needed that badly!"

"I could tell." Then she smiled. "You did great."

"You really think so?" the brunette asked eagerly.

"I do! Especially in throwing."

"Thanks!" Then Luz rubbed her head awkwardly. "I didn't do so well in sprinting, though."

"That doesn't matter." Edric interjected. "In this sport it's better to have a specialty than to be skilled at everything."

"Well, I did great in all tests!" Another voice cheered as an arm came to rest on Amity's shoulders. "I could take any position! Even yours, bro-in-law!"

"JOSH!" The auburn exclaimed in disgust. "Don't touch me, you're all sweaty!"

On pure instinct, Amity pushed the boy away and jumped up to stand next to Luz and her brother, trembling with displeasure at the wetness of the boy's armpit on her shoulder.

Both Luz and Edric looked at him with annoyance.

The young boy was getting hard to stand.

"I'm sorry!" He exclaimed lightly taking a step in Amity's direction. "I didn't think...it would bother you."

Luz had gotten right in his way.

Josh smiled awkwardly.

"Ehhh... Luz, right?" The brunette nodded. "Really, I'm flattered, but I'm only interested in Amity, you're kind of embarrassing me..."

The Dominican arched an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Pero si yo no te tocaba ni con un palo mi pana..." She murmured.

"What?" the teen asked, confused. "Uh... I'm not good with French."

"It's Spanish." Luz clarified nonchalantly. "And Amity asked you not to touch her, so please stay away."

Luz's tone was kind and her words reasonable.

But something within his speech emphasized such firmness that the young man stood still.

"Besides, you're lying Josh." Edric said standing right next to Luz. "You only scored great on speed test, in everything else you're average."

He leaned over to the young boy who was slightly shorter than him.

"And you almost didn't pass the tackling test."

Josh took a step back and laughed nervously.

"I was kidding bro-in-law!" He said directing his hand to Edric's shoulder. "You're the cap-"

Edric took his hand and squeezed it with slightly excessive force.

"Call me bro-in-law again, I dare you." He told him with a friendly smile.

The blue-eyed boy's skin went from pale to snowy.

"Uh..."

"Edric, don't scare them off before time." The coach's voice was heard as she reached the place where they rested, inhaling loudly and sighing."He was the best time in the speed test."

Josh regained some color, and with it, confidence.

"See, I'm a valuable member of the team! B-"

"He was the best time in the speed test."

Josh regained some color, and with it, confidence.

"See, I'm a valuable member of the team! B-"

Edric almost stabbed him with his pupils.

And Josh closed his mouth so fast that his teeth clashed together.

Eda looked at the scene and rolled her eyes.

Then she watched Luz, who seemed to shield the youngest Blight.

Luz talked on and on about the dean's youngest daughter at home, and she spent a lot of time at the mansion.

She would never have thought that someone like Luz and little Blight could become such close friends.

After all, she had known her practically since she was born.

But she was glad to see the newest member of her family-.

Ugh...

That her best friend's daughter was adjusting just fine.

Quite nicely actually...

Hmmm...

"So what do you think, baby Blight?"

Amity flinched.

"About what?"

"About the game." She clarified with a smile. "I've never seen you come to the games before either, and I've seen you pretty observant, what do you think?"

Amity took a couple of steps forward, stepping out from behind her friend.

"Uh... It's very different." She said somewhat sheepishly. "It looks... Interesting, I guess."

But the older woman could see the enthusiasm in the teenager's eyes as she watched the tryouts.

Eda didn't just coach the soccer team, she coordinated all sports clubs.

And she knew Amity was fast.

Probably the fastest she'd ever seen in all the years she'd worked at this school.

Having her on the team was... Tempting.

Very tempting.

"Want to try and play?" Eda tentatively asked. "Just for fun."

She also knew how competitive she'd become.

Just need to hook her up.

"Pfft! Of course not!" Josh had said mockingly.

And Eda could tell how all eyes were riveted on him.

Oh, there's the hook.

"Why not, Josh?" the coach asked with a sly grin.

"With all due respect coach Eda, Amity is a lady, and this sport is not for the ladies."

" So what am I, a puffer fish?" Luz asked with annoyance.

Josh snorted.

"I know I can't do anything to stop girls from doing things made for men, I'm just saying Amity isn't the kind of lady who would play this sport, it's rough, it's dirty, it's not her style at all, it doesn't go with her grace and her-"

"I'm going to play." The auburn stated.

"What?" Josh said, dumbfounded, amidst Edric and Luz's restrained laughter. "Amity, you can't!"

" I sure can." She said proudly. "Who's gonna stop me?"

"I will!" The black-haired man declared again, causing laughter to cease and fierce glares to once again be riveted on him. "I know you're doing this to annoy me Amity, there' s no need to, please."

"You make too much of yourself Josh, I don't care at all about what you think."

"Amity, you can hurt yourself!"

"HAHA!" Eda snorted. "Who gets hurt playing flag?"

The black-haired boy huffed in annoyance, then planted himself in front of Amity and spoke earnestly to her.

"What would the dean and your mother think?"

The young girl flinched.

And Edric stepped forward.

"Don't worry sis, they're not going to find out about anything." He looked at the freshman sternly. "I'll take care of that."

Josh clicked his tongue.

" Why do you want to give the test anyway? You' re not even interested in the team."

"Maybe I am interested." She replied hastily and could hear Luz gasp in surprise. "Again, none of your business."

"Do you even know how to play?" he challenged.

"My brother is team captain, of course I know!"

"Cutie, if my friends see you playing, you're going to make a fool of me!"

Amity looked at him with disdain, disbelief and annoyance.

She didn't even have the energy to answer him anymore.

"Do you even know what position you want to have, what to do?!"

"She's literally the fastest student Hexide has ever had." Eda said interjecting. " She obviously would be a runningback."

Josh looked at the coach dumbfounded.

"The fastest?" he asked in disbelief.

"Oh yeah." the white-haired woman confirmed . "With official records and all."

The young boy put a hand to his chin.

Then he puffed.

"The fastest girl for the fastest guy."

He turned again to the youngest Blight.

"I'll let you play Amity..."

"I never asked your permission."

"On one condition..."

"Are you deaf?"

"If you want to play, you'll have to beat me in a race."

"Pero loco, que no entiende´ que a nadie le importa lo que dice´?!"

nJz

Luz had shouted out of sheer frustration.

"Again Luz, I don't understand the language."

Eda huffed in annoyance.

"Edric, get your sister a belt." Then she turned to Amity. "Baby Blight, warm up, you're going to play."

Josh gasped indignantly.

"Eda-"

He was interrupted by a loud whistle.

"I make the rules, Baptist." She sentenced.

Josh looked furious, but finally sighed and resigned himself.

Amity and Luz laughed discreetly as Edric looked for the equipment for his sister.

Josh looked at them angrily.

After a couple of seconds, he smiled mischievously.

Joshua Baptist, even from afar, knew Amity Blight quite well.

And nothing hurt the young heiress more than a blow to her pride.

"Oh well, better for you beautiful, I suppose."

Amity raised an eyebrow.

But she didn't respond.

Instead, she took off her jacket to start warming up.

"I mean, clearly you could never beat me in a race." The young boy continued with a shrug.

Amity snorted.

"Josh, you wouldn't even bite the dust I leave behind." She blurted out with sneer, annoyed and forgetting the facade she was supposed to maintain.

"Oh Amity, I know you're fast, but, you're still a girl."

This time Luz stepped forward.

"What does that mean?"

"Men are naturally superior to women." He said simply. "That's just the way it is, I don't make the rules, it's pure biology."

The brunette planted herself face to face with the guy who was about two inches taller than her.

"Do I remember you bouncing off the dummy and falling on the floor?"

"Luz. What makes you think they program the dummy with the same power for boys as they do for girls?" he replied arrogantly.

"Josh, shut up." Amity sentenced.

And Luz could remember that cruel tone from the day they met.

"It's okay cutie." The young man followed, used to Amity's cold tone. "There's no shame in not wanting to compete when you know you're going to lose."

" You wanna bet?!" The auburn reclaimed at last in a raised tone.

Josh smiled.

I got you.

"Sure gorgeous, we'll have the same position." He began. "Four downs, whoever gets farthest down the field wins."

" Good!" the young girl retorted angrily.

"But...!" Josh continued. "If I win, you go out on a date with me, next Saturday, full day."

Amity looked at him with the most obvious displeasure written on her face.

Then she gritted her teeth in anger.

"All right!" Josh smiled triumphantly. "But when I win, you leave me alone! You stop nagging me about dating and never! You hear me? Never, ever, ever call me cutie again! Or gorgeous, or nothing!"

Josh laughed arrogantly.

"Gladly, cutie~." He answered her with a cloying tone, then held out his hand. "Do we have a deal?"

Amity looked disdainfully at the young man's outstretched hand.

"We have a deal." She confirmed.

Josh stood with his arm outstretched, then reached out further toward the young girl.

But Amity didn't shake his hand.

The young man laughed.

"I just keep liking you more and more."

Then he withdrew at a leisurely pace.

Edric, who had been waiting for them to finish arguing, handed the belt to Amity.

"Easy." Luz told her resting her hand on his shoulder. "You're going to beat him, otherwise Eda wouldn't have stood up for you."

Amity looked at her, finally relaxing her face and giving her a smile.

"Thanks Luz, I'm confident."

"You'll do fine sis!" her brother seconded, patting her back lightly.

"Edric..." She said in response, with some uncertainty. "What's a down?"

End Ch11

Chapter Text

C12 White heather.

"And... You're fucked." Edric declared.

"Language!"

"Language? Amity! You just doomed yourself to a date with the most annoying guy in school! I've been playing since I was ten! How come you don't know what a down is?!"

"I never go to your games! The one time I went you and Emira drenched me with ice cold sports drink! IN NOVEMBER!"

Edric languished sadly.

"Ah..." He mused. "Right... I... I'm really sorry about that."

Amity's gesture softened.

"It's okay, it doesn't matter anymore." She mused. "Just... Tell me what I have to do, we are short on time."

"Right." Edric said bringing his hand to his chin closing his eyes in annoyance. "Ugh, explaining all the rules to you in such a short time is going to be-"

"Impossible!" Luz interjected. "We don't have to explain all the rules to her! We just have to give her one play, we don't have time!"

"Mittens gets frustrated when you don't explain all the details, she won't get it."

"There's nothing to get! We just have to make a formation where she can run! We load up the right line to feint a run down the left!"

Edric raised an eyebrow, and snorted, amused.

"Since when are you an expert? Didn't you tell me you didn't know the game last week?"

Luz blushed.

"I... Uh... I may have seen all the superbowls... After you told me about the game."

Edric's eyes widened in surprise.

"All of them?"

Luz nodded, still blushing.

"That's fifty-four one-hour games."

" Two..." Complemented the brunette. "That's two hours counting breaks and the halftime show."

"Oh, you saw the halftime shows too?"

Luz nodded cheerfully.

" Lady Gaga's is my favorite so far."

"When did you have time to watch all the games if you're always at the Manor?"

"At night." The brunette replied. " Turns out Eda has all the seasons on tape, plus, I don't spend weekends at your house."

" Till today." The young man told her playfully.

" Till today." Affirmed the young lady with a smile.

"So, what do you think of Tom Bra-"

"GUYS!" Amity exclaimed in frustration. "The game!"

"Sorry!" Both her brother and her friend exclaimed at the same time.

Which disturbed Amity, as it was something she had only seen her brother do with his twin.

But that wasn't important now.

Edric took a breath and sighed.

"Well... For lack of a better option... All right Mittens, each team draws eleven players that-"

Luz grunted in disgust.

"¡Diablo´ loco, pero que e´ lo que te e´toy diciendo!"

The brunette walked determinedly in Amity's direction, taking the red-flagged belt from her hands, secured it tightly around the chestnut's hip, adjusted it, and gave it a couple of tugs to test its grip.

"Is it too tight?" she asked, looking into her eyes.

"N-no." the chestnut replied, nervous for some reason.

"Good." Luz bent down to pick up a ball near the bench and then positioned herself behind Amity.

She aligned her left arm with the chestnut's, wrapped her right arm around her and placed the ball on her left palm.

She closed her hand over Amity's, which consequently closed over one end of the ball.

Amity gasped in surprise.

Luz's hand could cover hers completely.

Luz bent her arm, taking Amity's with her, placing the other end of the ovoid under the chestnut's armpit.

"Hold it tight." She told her in a firm tone, right next to her ear, then tightened Amity's grip on the ball, pressing her body against her own. "if you drop the ball and the other team takes it, it's over.

An involuntary shiver ran through the dean's daughter at the brunette's sudden close contact behind her.

"Got it?" she asked again next to her ear.

Amity swallowed hard as her arm tightened steadily on the ball.

"I-I got it," she confirmed.

Unexpectedly, Luz pulled her arm apart and hit the ball quite hard.

The blow managed to unsettle Amity, but her grip was so firm that the ball didn't escape her arm.

Luz laughed briefly, still not separating from the chestnut.

"Good, girl!" she whispered cheerfully.

And Amity shivered again.

Now what the heck...?

Before she could continue her internal soliloquy, the brunette positioned herself in front of her and held her firmly by the shoulders.

"Now listen." She told her firmly and earnestly. "There's no time to explain all the rules to you, you play on the red team, with me, the quarterback is going to pass you the ball, you just have to run to the scoring area, as fast and as far as you can."

She then grabbed the red flags on either side of Amity's hips.

"These are your flags, if they get taken away from you..." She yanked hard on one of them, it came free with relative ease, but managed to make Amity take an involuntary step forward. "You lose a shot and you can't keep running, yards are measured to the point where you lost the flag."

She reached over to grab the belt to return the flag to its place.

"You have four shots to run, four downs, you have to get farther than Josh before they stop you, the yards add up with each opportunity, again, don't let the ball fumble, if the other team takes it, you lose your chances left. Do you follow?"

"Yes." Amity affirmed, enraptured by her friend's attitude.

"Okay, now, you're inexperienced, so you'll have to rely on your talent, you don't just have to run fast, you have to dodge the ones coming at you. can you handle that?"

"Yes!" the chestnut replied more confidently.

"Okay, lastly, Josh is likely to take the linebacker position, team is going to protect you, but make sure he doesn't catch up to you."

"I understand."

"Now we have to wait for-"

Her voice was interrupted by a shrill whistle.

"TIME!" Eda exclaimed. "Red team defends, green team attacks! ASSEMBLE!"

Luz turned to Amity swiftly.

"We defend first! You're not going to play yet! Pay close attention to the game and when we attack-"

"Noceda!" Eda had approached.

When Luz turned, a red elastic band fell into her hands.

"Linebacker on defense, quarterback on offense, captain of the red team, good luck."

Luz's eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Thanks Eda, I'll do my best!"

The white-haired lady smiled sweetly.

Having favoritism wasn't right.

But no one was making her do the right thing.

"Baby Blight, offense, running back, listen to Noceda."

"Yes coach Edalyn."

Eda sighed in annoyance.

"Go with your team Luz." She said finally to head to the high bleachers where she could have a better look.

Luz quickly turned to Amity and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Just focus and watch! I know you can win!"

She let go of the chestnut and started running in the opposite direction.

After a few meters, she slowed down and retraced her steps.

Finding herself in front of Amity again, she reached a hand into her pocket and pulled out a small flattened can.

She opened it and scooped up some of its contents with her right thumb.

She carefully cupped Amity's cheek in her left hand, and gently dragged her right thumb over both cheekbones.

"So you don't get sun blinded!" She told her with a smile that was definitely brighter than the aforementioned sun.

And again she ran off.

Amity put her hand to her cheek, right where Luz had touched her, as her stomach fluttered strangely.

Things were getting weirder and weirder.

She watched Luz approach the red team.

"You have five minutes to figure out a play! START!" Eda exclaimed.

Both teams quickly gathered in a circle.

Amity looked at Luz.

The young brunette held the look and gestures that a few minutes ago had explained to her how to win the bet.

It was something she had never seen her do before.

And she found the idea of knowing other aspects of Luz fascinating.

The chestnut smiled warmly to herself.

She hadn't felt this much affection for someone in years.

Not since... Willow.

"Cutie!" She heard.

And, out of pure instinct, the chestnut turned her head, to find Josh running around and pirouetting at the end.

Amity frowned in annoyance.

"How about that gorgeous?" He yelled at her with a chuckle. "Watch and learn! Maybe then you won't lose so badly!"

"BAPTIST!" a blonde girl as tall as the young man was heard shouting. "WE'RE PLANNING THE PLAY! STOP BEING AN ASS AND GET OVER HERE!"

Josh gasped indignantly.

"Coach Eda! Amanda insulted me in front of everyone! Do you really think that's an attitude a captain should have? More so from a lady-"

"GET BACK TO YOUR TEAM ALREADY BAPTIST!" He heard Eda's even more strident voice.

The young man flinched in fright and ran to meet his teammates.

Amity grimaced in distaste.

And then an unpleasant weight lodged in her chest.

If she were to lose, those were the consequences.

A full day of putting up with Joshua Baptist.

JOSHUA BAPTIST ON A DATE.

Oh no! And if her parents ever found out…

It would be a total nightmare.

Josh's persistence wasn't recent, and it hadn't gone unnoticed by her parents.

Amity had lost count of how many times her mother had asked about him.

"He's a cute, nice boy! From a good family! You should give him a chance!"

Amity swallowed hard as an unpleasant shiver ran through her from head to toe.

She couldn't afford to lose.

Her catastrophic thoughts were rudely interrupted by a loud whistle.

"LET'S PLAY!" Eda shouted.

Swiftly, both teams entered the middle of the field.

Amity watched intently as she continued to warm up.

Two rows facing each other.

She could see Luz behind the red row, a few feet away.

Her gaze was piercing, fixed and determined.

She followed the path of her eyes.

And at the end of the line...

Josh stood there.

Amity was surprised to find his countenance completely serious.

Without losing his cocky, confident smile.

Amity held her breath at Eda's powerful whistle.

"31! 45! 33! HUT, HUT!" Amanda, the green team's quarterback, quickly received the ball.

An instant later, almost half of the players were paralyzed, most of the offense and defense were holding their opponent's flags.

At the same time, Josh was receiving the ball and shooting off like a spring.

Amity's eyes widened.

He wasn't bluffing about his speed.

With the help of a liner, he was able to move forward a few yards.

Until Luz, not quite as fast, but agile enough, snatched his flag.

The young man turned to look at her angrily.

A look that did little to intimidate Luz.

The young Dominican, eager until recently to make new friends, had never felt so much dislike for a person in her life.

The brunette approached the blue-eyed boy and handed him his flag, without breaking eye contact for an instant, speaking loudly to each other with the constriction of their pupils.

Without a word, the brunette turned and returned to her position.

The support team measured a total of six yards.

Quite impressive for a first down.

Eda blew the whistle again, returning the teams to their starting formations.

"HUT!" Amanda said simply, quickly receiving the ball, which was almost immediately handed off to Josh.

The young man burst off, passed the line of defense and-.

He lost his flag.

Somehow, Luz had been able to read their play without Amanda noticing.

Josh managed to move forward a single yard.

"She started early!" The young man exclaimed, turning to Eda.

The woman snorted.

"After Amanda gave you the ball? Really?"

"But-"

"Sportsmanship is important, Baptist." Eda told her with a bored gesture. "And if you're going to cheat, at least try to make it believable."

A whistle ended the complaint and sent the young man back to the line.

His eyes had changed.

There was anger in them.

The whistle blew.

"25, 19, 13, 13, 13, HUT!"

Amanda received the ball again, chasing a spot with her eyes, stretched out her arm adjusting her stance and-.

Josh took the ball from her hands.

"HEY!" The blonde angrily cried out, keeping herself from losing her balance.

Josh didn't respond, and took off running while completely unprotected.

But his agility earned him to overcome the line of defense.

Luz was close, he could feel her.

Josh ran as fast as his feet would allow him.

When he felt Luz's hand tap against his hip, trying to snag the flag, he brought his hand to meet it, grabbing the brunette's wrist in an iron grip and yanking her forcefully forward.

Luz, taken aback, lost her balance not expecting that strong tug, and rolled on the ground.

"LUZ!" Amity exclaimed loudly, and was joined by the indignant shouts of all present.

Eda blew the whistle loudly, stopping the game.

"BAPTIST!" she shouted angrily as she threw a yellow flag. "GET BACK IN LINE!"

The young man, who had almost reached the score zone, with no opponents chasing him, slowed down and stood still, staring incredulously at the coach.

"But I'm about to-"

"NOW!"

The black-haired boy flinched and retraced his steps quickly, finding his companions swirling around the fallen one.

Amity was kneeling next to Luz.

When had she gotten there?

"I'm fine." The brunette reassured as the dean's daughter helped her to her feet. "No harm done."

Amity gasped with concern.

"You're bleeding!" She told her in anguish as she brought her left hand to the Dominican's cheek, examining the small trail of blood coming from a cut just below the makeup line.

"It's just a scratch." Luz replied with a smile, bringing her hand to rest on Amity's, soothingly caressing it. "Must have been a pebble in the field."

Josh snorted.

"If you're going to complain about that, you definitely shouldn't be in the field, ladies."

Amity tensed visibly and Josh could see the skin on her ears and nape of her neck redden as she let go of Luz's cheek.

Amity turned around with a face full of rage.

"Are you a moron?!" She exclaimed making more than one of them gasp. "That's against the rules! She's not wearing protections! You could have hurt her!"

The young man snorted again.

"All's fair in war and love gorgeous, and if Luz wants to stay on the team, she'd better get used to the taste of the earth."

"YOU'RE SUCH A CYNIC! I'LL SHOW YOU-"

"Bligh!" Eda interjected before Amity could plant a slap on the cheek of a Josh cowering in surprise. "Give him a lesson when I can't see it"

The young woman stepped back, still scowling.

The trainer planted herself in front of the young black-haired boy, slightly intimidated by her height.

"Baptist, you're out." She said without room for negotiation.

"What?!" Josh replied in disbelief. "Just for that? That's nothing compared to a real tackle!"

Eda smiled, flashing a golden tusk.

"You're right, it's way worse! What you did would have been illegal even if we weren't playing flag! "

"It was a valid strategy!"

"NO! You snatched the ball from Amanda when she was trying to make a pass and then hurt Luz completely on purpose!"

"I didn't mean to hurt-"

"If you want to show off, find an individual sport! I don't want a running back who can't follow instructions!"

"But I'm the best time! The team needs me!"

"We're not negotiating Baptist! Bench! You'll play when your team defends!"

Josh looked at her confused.

"Uh..."

"You have no replacement, and I'm not going to screw up your team's strategy, you have one chance to prove to me that you deserve to be on the team, now, bench." The teacher pointed out answering the question he didn't get a chance to ask.

Josh, still grumbling, had no choice but to resign himself and walk towards the bench.

When he reached the side of the field, he dropped heavily onto the furniture, returning his gaze to the field.

Someone had brought a first aid kit and Amity, mortified, was cleaning the wound of a laughing Luz who assured time after time that she felt no pain.

Josh twisted his face in discomfort.

Crushing his crush's best friend probably hadn't been the best idea.

There wasn't much he could do about it anymore, though.

If Luz wanted to stand up to a man, she might as well get the consequences.

Besides, in his defense, he didn't really like the brunette.

She was not good company for the Blight heiress.

Just looking at her was enough to realize that this girl meant trouble.

Josh frowned watching the scene as Amity very carefully placed a band-aid on Luz's cheek.

Short hair, flashy clothes that also showed off her body, endless energy, an outrageous attitude and enthusiasm for measuring herself against the males.

All attitudes that a proper female should not have.

She was a bad influence.

When Amity was finally his girlfriend, he would convince her to abandon bad friendships.

Talk about the love of her life.

"Hello there pretty~." He uttered as Amity came to his side, sorting through the items in the first aid kit.

"Fuck you." The brunette replied curtly, only to put a hand to her lips as she heard what she had just said.

Josh was dumbfounded.

"Amity, I never heard you talk like that!"

"It's totally your fault!" The brunette replied angrily. "I don't want to talk to you, so leave me alone!"

"Aw, honey! How will we have a good marriage if I can't talk to you?"

Amity didn't respond.

So Josh decided to play along with her game.

"Amity? Come on! Don't make that face! Luz is fine! I'll make it up to you next Saturday! I promise! We'll go to the water park, the movies, my uncle has a restaurant that-"

"Josh, shut up." The chestnut finally uttered in a calm voice. " I wish I hadn't taken your stupid bet, you went too far."

Amity's soft tone, more laden with hatred than anger, managed at last to render the black-haired man speechless.

Pouting he folded his arms and looked back to the field, where the green team was about to make their last play.

"Okay cutie, I won't bother you anymore today, but a deal's a deal, and I hope you're ready for our date, because I made it to the forty yard line at least."

Amity looked at him with distaste and disbelief.

"What are you talking about? Your play was overturned, you only ran six yards."

"Aw, gorgeous~, the deal was whoever went the farthest won, not whoever won the game."

Amity's eyes widened with indignation.

She prepared to argue, but after weighing her words several times, she sighed, and returned her gaze to the field, where the green team's receiver was catching the ball only to have his flags snatched away an instant later, ending the team's offense.

"I don't need to play dirty for you to swallow your words." She said determinedly without looking at him.

"I don't play dirty beautiful, I play to win."

That was the last thing heard before they both got up again to head off with their teams.

"FIVE MINUTES!" Eda announced with a whistle.

"Amity!" the brunette greeted cheerfully as she saw her friend arrive. "Are you ready?"

The brunette looked at her regretfully.

"Does it still hurt?"

Luz smiled reassuringly at her.

"It doesn't hurt, I'm fine, let's get ready!"

The red team milled around to hear the quarterback's plans.

After a couple of minutes, the team seemed ready.

"Nervous?" Luz asked Amity once the team dispersed.

"A little. " The chestnut replied confidently as she kept her eyes on the field. " But I'm not going to lose.

"That's the spirit, girl!" Luz told her patting her shoulder. "Get into position, you'll do fine!"

Amity nodded and ran toward her spot on the field.

She was furious.

She was fed up with Josh Baptist.

And she was ready to make him pay.

Once Amity walked away, Luz looked around the field.

When she found her target, she waved her right arm vigorously.

"Josh!" she shouted loudly as she approached the young man. "Can I talk to you?"

"Oh, Luz..." The boy said as he saw her coming, while grimacing. "I'm so sorry about the fall, I didn't think you were so light."

"Oh, I'm not, you just took me by surprise and I lost my balance, you didn't throw me, I fell by myself!" She answered him with a smile.

The young man, relieved, smiled with satisfaction.

"How's your cheek?"

"It's just a scratch, I'm perfectly fine! It's like you said, I can't expect not to get hurt in this sport."

The black-haired man's face lit up.

"Right?" He told her cheerfully. "So, no hard feelings then?"

"Sure! Don't worry, it was no big deal!" The brunette took a couple more steps forward, taking a discreet stance. "But that's not why I called you."

"No?" The young man said to her, raising an eyebrow. "What is it then?"

Luz looked suspiciously at the surroundings, and then, with a wave of her hand, beckoned Josh to come closer.

The young man, intrigued, stepped forward and bowed.

"A little more." The brunette whispered.

The black-haired man leaned down until he was eye level with Luz.

"Perfect." The girl whispered again.

Without the slightest warning, the brunette held his shirt collar tightly until she roughly brought her lips close to his ear, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"If you even think of hurting Amity, I'm going to make you regret it." She sentenced with a whisper. "Am I clear?"

The young man, completely thrown off balance, swallowed hard.

"Answer me." Luz whispered again, tightening her grip and getting a gasp from Josh.

"Crystal." He answered haltingly.

"Good."

Luz raised her right shoulder sharply as she tugged downward on the blue-eyed boy's shirt, getting his teeth to clash painfully and harshly against each other.

The young man whimpered and immediately pulled himself upright, rubbing his jaw in an attempt to mitigate the pain.

"Good luck Josh!" A running Luz shouted at him, rushing to her position on the field, as if she hadn't just threatened him.

The young man glared at her furiously.

He clenched his fists as he advanced to his position on the field.

Yeah...

These two' friendship was going to come to an end next Saturday.

FIN CAP12