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Hexside was once again bustling with active teenage witches. Amity stood there, covering her head with her cowl.
Today was going to be the first time she stepped into Hexside rocking a whole new look. Amity was thankful that she had already gotten approval from her two siblings and her crush. But that didn’t mean that would be the end-all opinion.
Many students came here, and many of them Amity worried would find her haircut off-putting. Or strange. Or they would wonder where her old hair went, and why the girl changed it.
Amity’s head was in a bit of a funk.
But she had to do it. She wanted to break free. She wanted to become what SHE wanted to be, look like how SHE wanted to look like. Move away from her parents and restart.
And with that bit of confidence - though faltering slightly - Amity removed the cowl. Her new short cut flowed a bit in the cool morning breeze. The hair was now dyed a gorgeous light lavender. However, by her ears was a single strand of brown peeking out. Symmetrical and beautiful. It was a brand new look, a way for Amity to show her new self.
Going Amity Blight entered the school with a little proudness in her step. But deep down, she didn’t expect people to be nice to her. In fact, it felt like people only saw her as this boss, this person with this power looming. Other students would only be fearful of Amity, or they would be hostile towards her.
But then on the other side of the same coin, Amity didn’t want people JUST to be nice to her because of her new hair. It was just some lose-lose situation just waiting to come to fruition.
But thankfully, Amity will realize that is not the case.
Upon entering the building, she saw many students staring right at her. Amity blushed at first but tried to continue on to her classes. And to her surprise, many of them just went on their merry ways. Well, that was a step in the right direction. But as Amity walked farther down the hall, she did begin to hear some muttering.
However, when the Blight girl listened more closely, the muttering sounded...friendly. Like these students actually LIKED her now. They liked her new look, the new Amity.
“Oh wow!!” A voice screamed happily from down the hall.
Amity looked ahead and saw four witch girls running over to Amity. Said witch girls being Amity’s old friends Skara, Bo, Cat and Amelia. They ran right up to the startled witch, beaming with stars in their eyes.
“H-Hi?” Amity greeted them with uncertainty.
“Amityyyyyy!” Bo squealed. “Your new haircut is so pretty!! Like, AHHHH, oh my GODS!!”
“You look amazing, Amity,” Skara complimented. “That shade of purple totally suits you!”
Both Cat and Amelia seemed to agree.
“Oh, um,” Amity was genuinely shocked. “T-Thank you. Glad you...like it.”
The four girls waved goodbye and went off to their separate classes. That encounter turned out much better than the youngest Blight hoped. And she wasn’t complaining. And luckily, those compliments won’t be the last.
The farther Amity walked down the hall, the more compliments she got.
“Whoo! Looking great, Amity!” A yellow bird student said happily.
“Love the color,” another student complimented.
“Oh my! You look gorgeous, dear!” The teacher of the Baby Class chirped.
There was warmth that made itself home on Amity’s face. She felt herself gain more and more confidence in every step and compliment she got. During her walk, Principal Bump walked by her in the hall. He turned with surprise to see the Blight in a new look, halting her briskly. Amity looked over, a bit nervous.
“Now hold on there,” Bump said sternly at first. But then a split second later, a big smile etched onto his face.
“Where may you be running off to, you beautiful young lady?”
Amity giggled. “I...see you like my hairstyle.”
“I haven’t seen you this happy in years, Miss Blight,” Bump nodded. “It is good to see you feeling chipper today. It is refreshing to see.”
He patted Amity on the shoulder. “Plus, Lavender is my favorite shade of purple.”
“No kidding.” Amity smirked.
“Well then, run along, Miss Blight,” Bump gave the girl one more pat on the shoulder and made his leave. “I hope your happiness isn’t going to be a fad. I do really like to see SOME of my students happy.”
“Thank you, Principal Bump!” Amity thanked the principal and went on her way.
After several more minutes of waking through the halls, Amity saw the room to the Abomination Track home room. She felt amazing, to be fair. The worries the young witch had seemingly gone. But they were still there, despite the compliments she has gotten. Outside of the room, she noticed her Abominations professor, reading a book. But once he looked up, the professor immediately put it away.
“Ah, Miss Blight,” the professor happily spoke. “I didn’t recognize you at first. That is such a wonderful color on you!”
“Th-Thank you, sir,” Amity smiled.
“Lavender was a very popular dye when I was young, but I digress!” The professor twirled a finger, and he was moved by his abomination into the Homeroom. “I’ll see you in five minutes, young one!”
There seemed to still be some time to kill. So Amity decided to take a little walk around. When she rounded the corner, she noticed a group of very familiar people.
Luz had told Amity about the Duel-track kids. And there they were, the three older teenagers hanging out - Viney, Jerbo and Barcus. Out of the three, Amity recognized Jerbo. She was surprisingly very talented in the art of creating and commanding abominations, which she admired.
One student with them is a you’re boy Amity didn’t really recognize. She heard his name floating around, however. It was...”Matt”, she assumed. He was leaning against a locker, chatting with two VERY familiar individuals.
Gus and Willow.
All the other compliments made Amity feel very accepted. But other than Luz and the twins, Amity had these guys left. She was unsure how they would react. The young Blight did think they would be very open and accepting to her new look. OR, they could surprise her by having very harsh critiques. Anything was possible with these people.
Gus looked up from his talk with Mattholomule, seeing the lavender-haired girl approaching. He elbowed to Willow, but not too hard to hurt the girl’s still broken arm.
“Psst. Willow.” He whispered. “Is...that Amity, or some lost relative I’ve never seen?”
“I think that IS Amity.” Willow whispered back. A small grin formed on her face.
The Duel-track kids saw Amity approaching. Jerbo waved her over.
“G-Good morning, Amity,” he greeted the witch shyly. “Wow. You look...v-very pretty.”
“Damn, girl,” Viney chuckled. “Very few people can pull off the purple hair look. But, BOY does it look good on you! It’s nice.”
Barcus woofed.
“Barcus said he admires how happy you look,” Jerbo quickly translated - Barcus yapped again. “And he also says you look c-cute in lavender.”
Amity blushed. “Thank you, you three.”
Amity made herself comfortable with the group. She leaned against one of the lockers.
“Hey, Amity, was it?” Mattholomule asked. Amity turned her head and nodded.
“Heard you were top of the Abomination class. And...you also tried to DISSECT a human? That’s pretty neat.” The boy had a joking smirk on his face.
Amity’s face turned red, not with pride but with embarrassment.
“Er, yes. I...did that.”
Matt breathed out a small laugh. He then looked at the older witch’s hair.
“I thought your mint green hair was a look, guess I’m wrong,” Matt shrugged, smirking. “Your hair is nice, I guess.”
Amity smiled. “Thanks.”
Then, Amity saw from the corner of her eye that Gus and Willow looking at her. They both looked so surprised. Though Gus seemed more awestruck while Willow had this knowing look, but also looked like she was overwhelmingly happy for Amity.
“Hi, Willow. Gus.” Amity calmly greeted her two other friends.
“Wow! Your hair is different!” Gus beamed. “It’s so shiny! So pretty! I never knew you could pull off so many different colors! But look at you!”
“I’m glad you...like it.” The young Blight giggled. “And...Willow?”
Willow hummed. She got up close, looking at the hair, more specifically the bangs. Then she focused her attention on the sides.
“Well, if I may be blunt,” Willow began - Amity sucked in a breath. “I don’t really like the bangs all that much. They just kinda stick out too much.”
The other students looked at each other, wide eyed and nervous. Amity slumped down.
“Yeah...I kinda knew you were gonna say that.” Amity mumbled.
“But other than that,” Willow smiled. “It’s perfection.”
All the other students in the friend group collectively sighed with relief, tension leaving their bodies. Amity blinked before breathing out forcibly.
“T-Thank you, Willow. I appreciate it.”
“I always liked purple,” Willow said warmly. “I’m glad you found some enjoyment in re-dying your hair. Can I...”
“Go ahead.” Amity bowed her head.
Willow took a little bit of time calmly stroking through the hair. Surprisingly, none of the dye stuck onto the plant witch’s fingers; apparently this stuff dried out and stuck onto the hair very easily.
“This is a whole new look for you, Ames.” Willow said after removing her hand off of Amity’s hair. “I’m guessing you wanted to...move away from ‘things’. How...How do you feel?”
‘How do I feel?’ Something about that question made Amity feel some energy that was rising up inside her. It was pride, it was happiness. It was peace.
Pretty soon, Amity felt her eyes sting and tears of joy beginning to form in them. In shock, Willow stood back.
“I feel...free.” Amity whimpered.
Willow sighed, giving Amity a soft hug. The Duel-track kids and Gus watched the cute embrace of two friends with soft expressions.
“I’m glad you’re free.” Willow consoled Amity as she cried softly. “You deserve to be free.”
Everyone other witch in the group seemed to agree. While Matt didn’t know Amity that well - if not at all - he nodded with the group.
The bell screamed, prompting the group to split off. Amity was released from the hug and was able to gather up her supplies.
“Stay happy, Amity,” Willow commented.
Amity smiled pleasantly. “That is...the nicest thing you’ve said to me in a while. Sure. I’ll be happy.”
Willow waved goodbye and went off to the Plant Track Homeroom. Amity went alongside Jerbo to the Abomination classroom for the first period. The girl still had that massive grin on her face.
“You are r-really happy, huh?” Jerbo asked, smirking a bit.
Amity didn’t just feel really happy. For the first time in forever, she felt at peace. She felt energized. She felt like she finally had freedom. Away from her parents and away from unrealistic expectations. That, and combined with the kiss she gave Luz last night, Amity could not be feeling any better than she already was. She felt like she was the top of the world!
“Yeah. I am.”