Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Growing up was never easy, Amity knew that much.

She had attended a regular public school throughout her Kindergarten to 6th-grade years, but she was always picked on for being a “spoiled and privileged brat.” Her parents eventually had enough of having to contact the school to fix the issues that were never actually dealt with, so they sent her to a private school at the start of her 7th-grade year.

And no, that didn’t help either. If anything, it made it worse.

Amity’s peers at the private school were mirrors of their crazy wealthy parents, and couldn’t care less about making actual friendships. No, it was all connections and stocks and who belonged to what family and what their net worth was – the youngest Blight despised it.

She had only been there for a year and some change, but that was enough to determine she hated everything about the place. So, in the middle of her 8th-grade year, she set fire to a girl's hair, but in Amity's defense, the girl started it when she touched Amity's journal. If you were to ask Amity if she regretted it, she would have first pushed you to the floor, answered no, and then tell you to fuck off. Then maybe she’d give you a letter that said sorry a month later.

Either way, the incident resulted in the Blight parents having to use their money to cover it up, then Amity was once again sent to another school in another state. After that, her parents then had to convince the judge in charge of her case to not send the youngest Blight to jail, as that would be bad for their public image, not because they cared about Amity. 

A boarding school that went by Hexside Academy was in Connecticut, so the middle of nowhere. Where the school was located was out in the fields far from the community, the nearest small town being 2 hours away.

Needless to say, Amity felt isolated; hidden away without anybody to support her.

She was constantly monitored and regularly searched, as they didn’t want another incident of her “arsonist tendencies,” which is odd because the only arsonist thing she did was set a girl's hair on fire. But, adding to that, she was called out of class multiple times to chat with the school counselor, not that it was much use, Amity never talked.

Of course, there were a lot of pros to the situation too; for example, she didn’t have to deal with the overbearing weight of her parents watching her, she lived on campus so there was no need to travel, and nobody bothered her for once.

Besides the teachers.

Students were only allowed to leave campus when they went on breaks, which were quite few and considered a privilege to get, but when they did come around, her siblings were the ones to pick her up. 

And that was where Amity was, in the backseat of her older sister’s car as they had a destination set for the mall so they could spend the day shopping.

“So,” her sister, Emira spoke, adjusting her rear view mirror to see her sister in the back, who was absent-mindedly staring out the window. “How are your studies going?”

Amity glanced at her sister, her honey golden eyes practically searing holes through her soul. 

“Right, sorry,” Emira coughed, “I know you don’t like to talk about that… um. Has anyone tried to befriend you yet? One of your teachers was telling us that you were getting along with your partner.”

“The only reason I was talking to them was that I rely on their help for a good grade, it’s a stupid group project.” Amity grumbled, looking back out the window, “Outside of that class, I like sticking by myself.”

“Well then, do you have any enemies?” Her brother, Edric jokingly asked, just trying to lift the atmosphere between the three.

Mission accomplished because Amity let out a small snort. “Does everyone count?”

“I suppose,” he turned around in his seat to look at his little sister, smiling. “Is there anywhere specific you’d like to go in the mall? Or maybe out of the mall?”

Amity looked away from the window again, looking at her older brother; the faint curve in her lips of a grin. “Hot Topic,” she said confidently, “I haven’t been able to go in so long.”

“Good choice,” he agreed with her, then reached out to offer a fist bump, one that she returned. “I missed seeing you, I wish Mom and Dad didn’t send you out here.”

The youngest grimaced, “They had a good reason to, having a pyromaniac as a daughter is not ideal for any parents. I’ll get better eventually, then I’ll be out of this hell.”

Edric laughed, “That’s the spirit.”

“We’re here!” Emira announced, and Amity was now bouncing in her seat.

Technically, she’s not supposed to have her phone, but she does because she’s great at hiding things (In actuality, she just puts them in her bra so that if someone asks, she can just glare them down until they just give up), but recently, she got a text from one of the workers at Hot Topic (one of the few people she’s accepted as a part of her life) telling her there are new items there that they knew she’d love and that they’d hold onto whatever she wanted until she was free.

Let’s just say, there are a lot of items waiting for her to pick them up.

When Emira parked, Amity was the first to hop out, rushing her siblings to get out quicker. “Come on, I only have 3 days until I go back and I want to live a little while I’m free.”

“God, somehow I wonder how you can have two completely different personalities,” Edric said, “One second you’re grumpy, and the other you’re all energetic. It’s baffling.”

“Don’t forget her murderous one,” Emira added as she got out, locking the car when all the doors were closed. “But yeah, sis, you have some serious alter egos.”

“I only have 5,” Amity said, not bothering to clarify before she started walking away, leaving her siblings to have to run to catch up to her.

One of Amity’s favorite things about the mall was when she walked in, she liked the cool air from the conditioners, and the aroma that traveled to her nose from the nearby Bath & Body Works (she’s never actually gone in there because of the many scents usually overwhelmed her and gave her a headache, but from afar, it smells good), and the pretzel stand that was just a couple feet away from the entrance.

She looked back to find her siblings now walking in behind her, “Are you guys going to have to follow me the entire day?”

“Well,” Emira began, and she sighed. “Sorry, but yeah, we kinda have to. Just as a safety precaution given to us by your supervisors at the school.”

“But we promise that we’ll stay as far as possible from you without actually leaving you,” Edric added as reassurance.

Amity sighed. That was probably the one thing she hated most about her situation; she was never allowed to go anywhere– even on her breaks– without someone having to watch her because everyone was afraid she’d set fire to something again.

Ugh.

“Okay,” she said, just shrugging it off for the time being before running to the pretzel stand, asking for an unsalted pretzel and lemonade. The man at the stand recognized her by the hairstyle that was unique to her; the upper half being tied up while the rest just cascaded down far past her shoulders to the small of her back.

He welcomed her with a smile and put her pretzel in a bag and poured her lemonade into a cup, sealing it with a lid and grabbing a straw before handing it all to her. “Just take it, I insist,” he said.

“But–”

“You’re one of my favorites! Just go ahead, it’s okay.”

She smiled, and without anything better to say, she settled with a genuine “Thank you.”

With pretzel and drink in hand (and siblings hidden from her sight somewhere), Amity hastily went off to go to the Hot Topic so she could pick up the things she asked to be saved for her. As she walked, she looked at all the shops that made up the mall, maybe looking into that Build-A-Bear Workshop place for slightly too long.

She decided that she was too old for that place, even if she secretly desires to get something from there.

Now approaching the Hot Topic, she takes a deep breath because there was just something about the smell of the place– which, in hindsight, really was nothing special– but to Amity, it was something so very refreshing.

“Amity!” Called the voice of the worker behind the counter, one of Amity’s only friends and also a former captive from Hexside (which is probably why Amity liked them).

“Hey,” she greeted, walking up to the counter and looking into all the bowls with different pins and magnets and candy and bottle openers. “Were you able to save my stuff? I really just wanted the wristbands and collar, but the other stuff was nice too,” Amity added for some reason.

Her friend, Willow nodded, “Of course! You know I always do,” they said, turning around to pick the things off the counter behind the cashier counter. “How have you been doing in that hellscape? Anybody causing you any trouble?”

When Willow turned back around to face Amity, there was a dangerous glint in her eyes, and that made Amity smirk. "No, nobody has bothered me other than the teachers, but that’s honestly expected.” Amity leaned onto the counter, "God, sometimes I want to strangle the counselor, she’s always asking me if I’ve had any recent 'arsonist urges,'" Amity complained, putting up air quotes.

“It’s still Mrs. Gay who’s your counselor, right? If you want her off your back, mention her kid. She doesn’t like it when people from there talk about her daughter because she thinks we’re proposing a threat or some shit,” Willow shrugged, then set down multiple shirts, jeans, accessories, and other small things.

Amity shook her head, “No, I like her daughter, she’s come in a couple of times during my sessions and she likes to draw with me. That’s the only reason why I restrict myself from being mean to Mrs. Gay.”

“Oh, that’s pretty cute,” Willow said, a gentle smile on their face. “Her name is Olivia, right? She’s like– seven? Eight?”

The Blight nodded, “Seven. She lets me call her Oli, she’s the only one there who doesn’t make me feel like I’m some monster.”

Amity ended up sighing very heavily, “Anyway. How much?”

Willow tallied up all the things that Amity had them save, Amity watching the little sign on the register show the prices steadily increase. “That’s gonna be $91.82.”

Pulling out her wallet, Amity took out the card that her parents gave her before she was sent to Hexside, which they regularly added currency to so that she’d be able to buy whatever the hell she wanted. “Here,” she handed the card to Willow, who slotted it into the chip reader.

“How long are you free this time?”

“Not including this day, 2 more days, I go back Tuesday,” she said, taking her card back when Willow gave it to her. “My brother and sister probably have something planned for me when they take me to their place, I just hope that it’s not a whole party. They do that a lot .”

Willow snickered, shaking their head in amusement as they put all that Amity bought into bags. “Can’t relate, I’m an only child.”

“Lucky you then,” Amity scoffed, reaching for the bags when everything was put into them. “I probably won’t be back for a month, I’ll be sure to text though.”

“Mhm, good luck, Ames. Oh, and an old friend of mine is being sent to Hexside after a… uh, clandestine job, if you’d be so kind to maybe help her out if you see her? For me?” Willow even clasped their hands together and gave a small smile, eyes pleading for Amity to just give in.

Amity groaned, she didn’t like having to talk to people outside of her small group of friends, (Her group of friends being Willow, Gus, Skara, and Boshca. Yeah, Boscha is included.) but Willow also did a lot for her so this could be considered as paying them back for everything. “Ugh, fine,” she scowled, “What’s this friend of yours’ name?”

“Luz, Luz Noceda. Super-tall Latina, wears a red beanie, green bomber jacket, purple striped shirt, and ripped jeans on most days. Trust me, you both will get along great,” Willow assured as if that would ease Amity’s dislike for this.

“Got it,” Amity said, “I’m going to leave now, thanks, Wills.”

“Bye!”

As Amity exited the Hot Topic, she looked across the foyer to realize her siblings were inconspicuously browsing in a store across from the Hot Topic, though they were not at all interested in anything that was in there. She could see her brother holding a bag but she didn't care enough to figure out what store it was from.

Turning on her heel, she made her way to a bench to sit down. She had long finished her pretzel, she was just trying to finish off the lemonade that seemed to never end. She looked back up at the store to check if her siblings were still there. They weren't.

Where could they have–

There was a tap on both of her shoulders, causing her to flinch before she whipped her head around to see her siblings smiling at her. “Hey Mittens,” Edric said, his hands behind his back.

“So, we know we said we’d keep our distance–”

“I can very clearly see you both,” Amity interrupted a deadpan expression on her face.

Edric nodded, “Yeah, um. Well, we saw you looking at that BAB Workshop, soooo~” Then he’d whip out a stuffed toy, a white cat that her siblings dressed up in a black studded leather jacket and boots that looked an awful lot like her combat boots she wore now, as well as with a spiked collar around its neck.

Amity grimaced at it, looking up to examine her siblings’ faces, both of which looked hopeful. “Why did you dress it up like that?”

“Uh,” Emira started, clearing her throat, “Because it looks like you that way.”

“You had always said ever since you were 4 that you wanted a white cat named Ghost that would love to play outside and do reckless things with you, something about you kinning with cats,” Edric said, making Amity’s face flush in embarrassment.

“I was 4, of course, I wanted a pet back then,” she reasoned, making it seem like she was turning it down, but the second her siblings drew back, Amity snatched it from her brother, “That doesn’t mean I don’t want it.”

Edric and Emira smiled at that, to which she just rolled her eyes. “Well, I got what I wanted, can we leave?”

“Um, well, you already ate that pretzel, but would you want to stop somewhere to get food?” Edric suggested, already pulling out his phone, “There’s a Chick-Fil-A about 15 minutes from here, and I know you like their waffle fries.”

“Then we promise to take you to the house so you can rest up,” Emira added, putting her hands on her hips.

Amity sighed, “I haven’t had normal food in so long, plus that pretzel hardly did anything. Let’s go.” The youngest Blight would grab her sister’s sleeve, pulling him along so that Edric would have to hurry and follow unless he wanted to be left behind. “Oh and, I’m stealing your fries if you get them.”

“As expected,” Edric snickered.

When the three of them got to Emira’s car, they all quickly got in and buckled up so that they could leave. Amity was once again staring out the window as they drove, this time with all her bags of Hot Topic stuff by her feet and the stuffed cat (that she completely stripped of the jacket and boots, she left the collar though) in her lap.

She looked away from the window when she was starting to get a headache, looking down at the stuffed cat and smiling a little at it, she found the sewn-on smile as cute as it was kind of creepy.

“Do you want anything other than fries?” Emira asked since they could see the Chick-Fil-A just ahead. “A drink, maybe?”

“Water is good, I don’t like the rest of the stuff they have,” the youngest replied, still looking at the cat. “If you want, I’ll pay for my food, you guys don’t need to provide for me.”

Edric groaned, “God, that school is ruining you. Always rely on yourself, this” he mocked the lessons in her school.

“Be the bigger person, that,” Emira added, the same mocking lilt in her voice.

Amity chuckled, “Pretty accurate, really, but seriously, I’ll pay.”

“Mittens, no,” Edric refused, “This is your time to be free, we’re just trying to make you happy.”

The youngest would smile to herself, pulling her legs up to her chest and hugging the cat, uttering a small “Thank you” to her siblings.

Amity just barely listened to Emira when she was ordering the food from the CFA, honestly far more focused on the plush cat in her lap and her brother that was picking at his face in the visor’s mirror. When they pulled up and away from the guy that was walking down the long line to get people’s orders, Amity spoke up, “Ed, if you keep picking at your acne, you’re going to scar your skin.”

“Psshh, no I won’t,” he rolled his eyes, “You focus on yourself, Mittens, I am doing dandy up here.”

Emira scoffed, “No, she’s right. If you keep picking at your skin, it won’t be able to heal and–”

“Okay, shut up!”

The Blight sisters laughed at him, sharing a fistbump.

When they finally did get their order (just-drinks and Amity’s fries), they were quick to drive back on the road, setting a route for the Blight twins’ house. Amity was initially surprised when she had learned a couple of months after she transferred that her siblings moved to live within the state, but at the same time, she appreciated that she had some family nearby. Or at least, a couple-hour drive away.

Amity had finished her fries somewhere around 15 minutes into the ride, slightly upsetting but she got over it pretty quickly. “So,” she spoke up, finally being the one to initiate the conversation, “Has anything happened to you two while I’ve been in school?”

“Oh yeah! Ed’s got a job, he’s working as a manager in a retail store, which works well for him considering how stylish he likes to be,” Emira stated, proud of her brother’s accomplishment.

“Well, don’t forget, Em’s also got a job as a secretary for some lawyer- what was his name? Phil? Whitman? I don't know,” Edric shrugged, turning in his seat to look at Amity, “And not tryna make you uncomfy but I think he’s the guy that Mom had talked with to get you into the boarding school instead of prison.”

Amity hummed, “Oh, that guy. His name was Phillip Wittebane, just so you know.”

“Thanks,” Ed smiled, “though, I’m probably going to forget that by tonight.”

“Idiot,” Amity smirked.

“Ed, sit down!” Emira huffed, pulling her brother back down on his butt. “God, sometimes I wonder how I’m related to you, much less your twin!”

Edric gasped, putting a hand over his heart as he pouted playfully, “Emira! You wound me so deeply, sister, I am hurt!”

“With such acting skills, maybe you should’ve gotten a script for a movie,” Emira chuckled.

As Edric and Emira spiral into a fit of rather insulting jokes towards each other, Amity just shook her head in amusement and pulled out her phone instead to tune out of their banter. She had then just remembered what Willow told her to do when she went back, a sigh escaping her lips as she went to set a reminder in her phone to look for the new kid.

She just hoped that whoever this Luz Noceda is won't be a person she’ll have to deal with often.

It irked Amity how easily she agreed to this, but reminded herself that she’s doing it for Willow, and that’s that.

Getting bumped off the seat told her that they were driving up a driveway, so turning off her phone and lifting her head, she looked to see the house that Edric and Emira had been living in. It wasn’t small like an apartment, and it wasn’t big like the manner they used to reside in, making it seem perfect for just the three of them.

“Wow, after being gone so long, I almost forgot how this place looked as if I’ve only seen it this one time,” Amity marveled, “It’s honestly really cool.”

“Glad you still like it, Mittens,” Edric chuckled, unbuckling and taking the trash from Amity before he got out, Emira doing the same but instead she was taking inside the drinks. Amity picked up her Hot Topic bags and her plush before she got out, following her siblings into the house.

Stepping in, she realized there were a couple of changes as some things were very obviously not where they were before or just weren’t there the last time she came. For example, the couch was not the old, short one, but rather a long gray one that looked soft and comfy enough to work as a bed (and it’s a recliner!). There were also the walls, that were once that boring beige color from when the house was originally painted, now a very clean white with gray accents along the edges. It also seemed that her siblings had replaced the once wooden flooring with gray carpet instead. “Wow, a lot has changed since the last time I’ve been here, it looks so nice!” Amity complimented, taking her shoes off by the door (out of habit) before she stepped onto the clean carpet. She knew it was soft, even though she was wearing socks, and she swore she’d likely sleep on it comfortably if she were too tired to get up to get to bed.

“Yep, a bunch of new stuff,” Edric said, “If you want to go set your stuff down in your room, you can, me and Emira wouldn’t mind if you’d want to get comfortable first.”

Amity nodded, “Actually, yeah, I’m going to go put this all down, but I promise to come down soon. Give me, uh, like an hour, that should be a good enough amount of time.”

“Of course,” Emira smiled, “Take as long as you want, Amity, we just want you to be happy.”

“Thanks,” she briefly hugged her brother and sister before she ran upstairs with all her stuff in her hands, and even if she wouldn’t be here long, she was excited to explore the house.

Entering the room in which she’d be staying for the next 2 days (if she didn’t include the current day), she found herself amazed that her brother and sister could afford this place without Mommy and Daddy dearest supporting them (that’s a long story). They had renovated the room, made it just slightly larger, and repainted the walls a pastel pink, one of her favorite colors.

She giggled giddily to herself, setting all of her stuff down and grabbing the cat plush to lay with it on the queen-sized bed. As a second thought, she pulled her phone out of her pocket to text Willow.

You: Hey Wills, are you free yet?

Free Willy: depends, why are you asking?

You: Would you wanna come over? I can sneak you in.

Free Willy: mm, that’s a tempting offer blight. can I bring alcohol?

You: Sure, but you know I’m not going to have any, right?

Free Willy: yes, I know. sometimes it confuses me how ur a rebel who hasn't gotten a Lil drunk

You: In my defense, I never call myself a rebel, you made that inference on your own.

Free Willy: whatever. I should get there within the next 30 mins, the same window as last time?

You: Yep

Free Willy: bet, cya blight

Amity texted back a quick ‘bye’ before turning off her phone, sitting up, and throwing her arms over her head to stretch. She ended up laying right back down, just staring blankly at her nails, which she should probably get repainted before she goes back. Her eyes gradually became heavier and she ended up falling asleep, completely forgetting that her siblings were perhaps waiting for her to come back down, or that Willow would be here soon.

There was a pounding at her window, waking Amity with a jolt. “Wha– OH SHIT!” The youngest Blight ran to her window and unlocked it before lifting it, “I’m so sorry Wills, I just was laying down, and next thing I knew I was asleep.”

“It’s fine, chill out,” they laughed, shrugging it off, then waved a bottle in her face. “I brought the good stuff, you sure you don’t want some?”

“Yes,” she said firmly, making it clear that she wasn’t changing her mind, “I need to go downstairs super quick so, uh, don’t wreck anything, okay?”

Willow nodded, “Nothing to wreck in here anyway, it’s fine. I’ll be waiting.”

She sighed, turning quickly on her heel and exiting the room to practically sprint downstairs, finding both her brother and sister on the couch watching a show on Netflix. “Hey, you two, sorry, I fell asleep.”

“We figured,” Emira stated, pausing the show and turning to her younger sister. “It was super quiet and you never came back down, and knowing you, you don’t like going at night.”

“If you’re tired, we won’t bother you Mittens, we’ll understand,” Edric added. “We’re not our parents where you have to be up at a specific time and then not allow you to sleep until sometime around 10 pm. I always found that stupid,” he grumbled.

Amity frowned, “Yeah but, you guys have probably been so excited for us to hang out and I don’t want to seem like I’m ignoring you both.”

“Mittens, it’s fine, jeez. We’re so busting you out of that school when we can,” Edric laughed, getting his sisters to giggle at his comment.

“You’re so weird, Ed,” Amity scoffed amusedly. Twiddling her fingers together, she sighed, “I don’t wanna, but yeah, I’m tired. I promise to come down as soon as I wake up tomorrow, then we’ll do whatever you both want.”

Edric and Emira waved her off as she went back upstairs, then went back to the show they were watching.

Bursting into her room and closing the door behind her, Amity sighed, “Okay, I’m ba– Willow, what the hell.”

Willow was sitting upside down on the floor, their legs on the bed, and the bottle of alcohol they brought was already empty. “Did you seriously drink all of that in a couple of minutes, oh my God,” Amity grumbled, kneeling to take the empty bottle from Willow and setting it on the nightstand beside her bed, then she helped Willow stand up and lay on her bed? “Are you still even sober enough to comprehend simple things?”

“Uhhh, comprehend…” They smiled sheepishly, then giggled and fell back into the sheets of the bed.

The Blight groaned, “I’ll take that as a no. I invited you here to talk, Wills, not to get wasted!” Laying with her friend, she let Willow rest against her chest while gently strolling her fingers through their short hair. “I guess I’ll just talk anyway, you won’t remember any of this.”

Willow hummed as if trying to prove they were still awake.

“I’ve been in this school since my last year of 8th grade, and we attend school every day, I’m so tired of it,” she started, furrowing her eyebrows as she recalled all of the events that led up to where she was now. “One measly fire managed to ruin my life as I knew it, I didn’t get a warning, I didn’t even get a chance to explain myself.”

“ Ka-boom,” Willow chuckled, making an exploding motion with their hands.

“Nothing exploded,” Amity huffed. “Anyway. It doesn’t bother me as much as it did initially, but I still find what happened to be unfair. I’ve gotten somewhat used to the changes though, like how I get patted down as soon as I enter or leave my room, getting pulled out of class to talk with Mrs. Gay… but, what if it was different?”

Willow had most definitely fallen asleep, Amity knew, she could hear their light snores and the slow rising and falling in their torso. She sighed, pulling the blanket over her and Willow’s bodies, shuffling down a bit so she could rest her head on the pillow. She quickly reached for her phone to set an alarm early enough that she could get Willow out without her siblings knowing, but also late enough that she actually would get a reasonable amount of sleep.

“Good night,” she muttered, closing her eyes before she fell asleep.

—End—

Chapter Text

When Amity woke up to her alarm, she was initially ready to just doze back off until she remembered that Willow was right there in bed with her. Groaning, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. “God, I’m still so tired,” she grumbled, her voice a little raspy.

Shaking Willow, she woke the other up, “Hey, it’s time for you to go before my siblings come up here and find out I snuck you in. I doubt you want them to mistake you as a fuckbuddy.”

Willow sat up slowly, they were just as tired as Amity. “Technically, we used to be.”

“Used to, past tense,” Amity countered, now trying to pull them out of her bed. “Come on, I’m not trying to get caught.”

“Alright, alright, I’m up. God,” they’d slip out of Amity’s bed, grabbing the empty bottle of booze. “I have to meet up with Augustus anyway, something about impressing an older group of kids at a skating rink.”

“I thought he broke his skateboard?” Amity tilted her head.

Willow shrugged, “He did, I think he got a new one for his birthday or something.”

Amity nodded, “I guess that makes sense. Tell him I said good luck, because if he’s trying to impress Matt, he’s gonna need it.” Willow laughed at that.

“True, very true.” They’d make their way to the window, opening it so they could carefully slip out, “Oh and, about what you were saying last night, I can’t say that it’ll get better but… eventually it gets to a point where you’ll look past it, see the good things about it. I mean, really, would you rather be in jail? Do you know how much worse that’d be? At least at Hexside, they’re giving you a chance to better yourself.”

Amity grimaced, a small whine escaping her, “You remember? But… yeah, I suppose you’re right. Thanks for staying though, I really appreciated it.”

“Of course, see you eventually, Wildfire,” they said jokingly, snickering as they jumped down into the bushes, climbing out and starting to run off. Not to mention they were flipping off Amity as they ran.

“Fuck you, asshat!” Amity called out, forgetting that she could possibly wake up her siblings.

Of course, none of the insults or names they said to each other were genuine, and they were both very aware of that. It’s probably what made their friendship so strong, even after the rough relationship they had previously.

Closing her window, Amity guided her fingers through her hair, yelping when they got caught on a knot. “Goddammit,” she grumbled, storming out of the room to the bathroom so she could shower and get the knots out of her hair.

Emira and Edric were in the kitchen when she came down, both eating breakfast. “Oh, hey Mittens, glad to see you’re awake,” Emira said, a smile on her face. She’d point to a plate beside Edric’s. “That’s yours.”

“Thanks,” Amity said, taking a seat at the table and picking up the fork to stab into the scrambled egg and lift it up to her mouth. “So, what’s the plan for today.”

“Well, me and Emira weren’t sure what to do but we thought that maybe you’d like to go to the library, I hear that that new Azura book is going to come out today,” Edric informed.

Amity’s eyes widened, now looking at her brother. “Really? It’s been like, 3 whole years since they updated the series! We have to go; I have to get that book!”

“Finish eating first, then go get dressed,” Emira laughed at her sister’s eagerness to leave, “Once you’re ready, I’ll drive us to the library.”

Amity was eating her food with a purpose now, as she’s always enjoyed the Azura series since her siblings introduced it to her when she was younger. Her parents never quite approved of it because she still read the childish series even though she’s already 17, not that she ever cared about how her parents felt about it.

Once her plate was empty, she practically jumped from her seat to toss the plate and fork into the sink before bolting upstairs to get dressed. Might as well put on some of the new clothing she got yesterday.

Digging into the bags, she pulled out a black demon hoodie (which was already quite small, but Amity was even smaller) and the wristbands and collar. She already had black denim shorts she could wear with it, so all she had to do was put it on.

Pulling the hoodie over the tank top she put on after she got out of the shower, she then replaced the sweatpants she wore with the black denim shorts she had selected, reaching back into the bag to pull out multiple chains to connect to the belt loops. She gave an experimental bounce, smiling with the rattle of the chains colliding together and shaking. She put on the choker and wristbands, tugging them to make sure they were snug on her skin but not so much so that they’d cut off her circulation or literally choke her.

Humming a tune to herself, she went up to the mirror near her closet, turning around to check herself out. Since she wore shorts but no stockings, the tattoos she had on her left thigh and the other on her right leg’s calf were visible. “Yeah, this looks good,” she decided, talking to herself.

Quickly putting her eyeliner on, she grabbed her phone and bolted out of her room and down the stairs. “I’m ready to go!”

Emira and Edric looked at her from the kitchen, both of their jaws dropping. “You’re very– uh, dark today,” said Emira.

“I like the style sis, you’re really one of the few people who can pull a look like that off,” Edric said, crossing his arms and smiling. “Mind sharing some tips with me?”

“A magician never reveals her secrets,” Amity snickered. She started bouncing, “Now come on, I want to be there ASAP!”

Edric and Emira nodded, leaving the kitchen for all of them to leave out the front door, locking it behind them before walking to Emira’s car parked in the driveway. Amity jumped into the back, putting her seatbelt on quickly. Edric sat in the passenger seat, and Emira was the one driving, both of them putting their seatbelts on and giving it a couple tugs until it was snug.

Emira then put her keys into the ignition, turning it to turn on the car’s engine, letting it run for a couple seconds before she’d switch gears and back out of the driveway. “So, Mittens, when’re you gonna let me teach you to drive?” Emira asked.

“When I graduate from Hexside,” Amity said, more focused on her phone as they backed out of the driveway into the road and then started driving, beginning their drive to the library. “You know I can’t do any of that stuff until I’m free.”

“Oh, right,” Emira winced, likely scolding herself for forgetting. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Amity dismissed it, “But when I am finally out of that place, I’d love to get lessons from you. You’re a lot better of a driver than Edric.”

“Hey!” Edric scoffed.

The youngest Blight giggled, “I mean, am I wrong?”

“I have my license, that should be proof enough that I can drive,” he’d counter.

Amity shook her head, amused, “Ed, I never said you couldn’t drive, I said that you couldn’t drive well. Just because someone has a license, doesn’t mean they’re a good driver, you’ve seen the news.”

Edric went quiet, he couldn’t argue with that. “I hate that you know this kind of stuff, I blame Hexside.”

“I mean, Hexside is one of the best schools in all of the United States, Ed,” Emira budded in, “Wasn’t it ranked 8th two years ago?”

“7th, actually,” Amity corrected. “But yes, Hexside is very serious with the education of their students, especially when we’re going against other schools, Glandus Academy being one of them.”

“Ah, Glandus,” Edric spat, “I don’t think there’s a single decent person in that school. Isn’t their motto literally, “Weak students get pushed around by the strong,” so like everyone is just super mean and stuff?”

“Sounds like them,” Amity replied, rolling her eyes. She never liked the Glandus students when they had to visit each other’s campuses, they were always so eager to establish some sort of superiority even though they always lost to Hexside in games.

Emira gasped, “Mittens, are you still on the rugby team?”

“Yeah,” answered Amity, finally looking up from her phone. “I’m the team captain, why?”

“You always beat Glandus students’ asses, don’t you?”

Amity nodded, “Of course. They never stand a chance against our team, for any sport really. They’re too conceited and entitled to know what teamwork is.”

“Nice,” Edric said, twisting in his seat to hold his fist out, “You keep beating their asses, yeah?”

With a small smirk, Amity nodded, “Of course.” She then returned the fist bump, both of them making an exploding sound to accompany it.

Going back to looking at her phone, Amity looked into news about the newest Azura book, devastated when she found out that it would be the last book in the series because the author was ready to retire, though the author would be at the library to sign and hand a free copy of the book to the first 200 people to get there.

This just gave her more of a reason to get the new book as soon as possible.

“Step on it, Em! We have to be there, now! ”

“I can’t break the speed limit, Mittens, I–” Emira saw Amity’s fierce glare staring into her soul from the rearview mirror. How dare she get their mother’s cold gaze, and more so, how dare she use it on Emira. And how dare it actually work. “On it.”

Emira pushed down on the gas pedal to accelerate more, now driving at 63mph, a whole 18 miles above the speed limit. This shortened their drive by 3 minutes, really not that much, but it was fast enough that Amity was among that 200 lucky people.

Amity jumped out as soon as they were parked, ditching her siblings to run inside. There was a person at the doors to hand her a ticket that confirmed she was among the 200, she was number 157. “Oh my God,” she whispered, excited to finally get to see her idol in person.

Emira and Edric finally caught up to Amity, both refusing the ticket from the man since they were just accompanying Amity. “Jeez Mittens, mind waiting up next time?” Edric wheezed, out of breath from having to run.

“No, too excited,” she said, walking forward to get into the somewhat long line, there were at least 20 people ahead of her. “I can’t believe I’m actually going to meet her! I mean, sure, she’s probably still going to be using her incognito name so that people can’t find out who she actually is, but still!”

“What was her name again?” Emira asked.

“She goes by Tiny Nose, something about the irony of her actually having quite a large nose,” Amity replied, stepping forward when the line moved up. “I don’t care what name she goes by though, or what she looks like, she’s still one of my idols.”

Edric nodded, “Makes sense, I know that those books got you through a lot of tough stuff. Especially stuff relating to Mom and Dad.”

“Mhm, which is exactly why I’m so ready to literally jump out of my skin.”

The twins laughed, each putting their hand on her shoulder. Emira lightly shook her, “We’re going to go explore, you’ll be good waiting here, right?”

Amity nodded, “Yeah, as soon as I get the book, I’ll go to the reading area since that’s where it’s quietest.”

“That sounds good to us,” Edric said, planting a kiss on his little sister’s forehead, “Enjoy yourself, sis, you deserve just about everything and more.”

Amity smiled to herself while Emira and Edric finally walked off, leaving the youngest Blight to wait in line until she reached the table where Tiny Nose sat with a signed copy of the last book. Only 5 more people to go and she’d be able to–

“Sorry, ‘scuse me,” said the voice of another teenager, standing much taller than Amity herself. How dare they skip her?

“Um, no, you can’t just skip me,” Amity hissed, shoving them out of the line, “Go wait in the back, as long as you have a ticket, you’ll get your book.”

When they turned to face Amity, her face dropped. This was Luz, she just knew it. The red beanie, the purple striped shirt, the ripped jeans, the jacket was tied around her waist. The taller girl crossed her arms, “I have a number before yours.”

Amity scowled. “So? You weren’t in line when you should have been, go to the back of the line and wait!”

Luz narrowed her eyes– which Amity noted they were a unique shade of brown, or dark red? She wasn’t sure, last time she checked, having maroon colored eyes wasn’t possible– her eyebrows knitted together. “You’re short,” she said suddenly.

And that lit some kind of fuse in Amity.

“I am not short,” she argued, still keeping her spot in the line as it continued to move up. Just 2 more people. “You’re simply tall.”

The Latina would smirk, a mischievous glint in their eyes, “Even if I wasn’t 6’1, you’d still be short. You’re like, what? 5’6?”

“ 5’7 ,” Amity corrected, digging her nails into her skin to keep herself from causing a scene.

Just breathe , she reminded herself. But how could she when she could smell the odor of cigarettes from Luz, that was no smell she could be comforted by.

“Wow, a whole inch more,” Luz taunted, “Congratulations.”

Amity rolled her eyes, opting to ignore the taller girl instead. There was just 1 person ahead of her and then it’d be her turn. Luz sighed, and Amity let out a breath of relief. Then the taller girl just went behind her and pinched her neck, making her squeal in pain. “You little–!”

By the time Amity whirled around, Luz had slipped past her to get ahead and get the book before she did.

Amity took heavy, agitated breaths, trying so hard to compose herself before she lit fire to the literal definition of human trash. Don’t do it, it won’t end well , she reasoned with herself.

She skipped us, we should totally burn her to a crisp , suggest the violent-lusting side of her.

No! That’ll get us sent to prison!

The Blight shook her head, clearing her thoughts and just moving up to get her book when Luz had finally gone away. She could deal with that delinquent some other time, but now was certainly not a good time.

There Tiny Nose was, shaking her wrist as if to get rid of any cramps from signing, then pressed her sharpie on the back cover of the book, handing it to Amity with a smile.

Amity was frozen, she’s standing right in front of her favorite author! “I- Uh. I’m Amity, and… I’ve been reading your books since I was a kid, it is so cool to finally meet you.”

“Really?” Tiny Nose’s smile grew, “It’s not common for older people to admit to enjoying my series, parents or older siblings are just reading the story to the kids.”

“Heh, yeah. My siblings were the ones to introduce me to The Great Witch Azura, but your works helped me through a lot,” Amity admitted, chuckling sheepishly as she reached for the book.

Tiny Nose would hum, suddenly taking back the book and opening the cover to quickly scribble something on the inside. “I like your style by the way, have a good day Amity,” she said before giving the book to the Blight at last.

“I- Oh, I will! Thank you,” she beamed, finally moving out of the line for the next person to get their chance. She hugged the book close to her chest, and for just a second, it seemed like there was a smile glued to her face until it dropped.

She glanced around, searching for any sign of that heathen, Luz. “She’s going to regret cutting me in line, sorry Willow, but she made a very grave mistake messing with me.”

The Blight walked with a purpose, taking long strides as she searched each aisle among the bookcases to find Luz, wanting to give her a piece of her mind.

Whether that means she’s going to literally try to burn Luz or just scold her, she still has yet to decide.

Eventually, she caught sight of red in the kids’ section. Luz. The girl was sitting in a beanbag chair, her long legs extending away from it. The position didn’t look comfortable, but that’s not why Amity’s observing her. Marching up to the Latina, Amity crossed her arms and cleared her throat.

Luz ignored it, the only sign that she was aware that Luz was there was the noticeable flinching in her body.

The Blight cleared her throat louder, but still not getting a response, she went ahead and kicked Luz in her leg. “Look at me when I’m talking to you, delinquent. ”

The Latina would sigh, closing the Azura book and sitting up. “ What. ”

It was not a question, more like a demand. The fact that this girl had the audacity to act like she was in charge. Amity simply would not let that stand.

“You not only skipped me in line, but you put your hands on me. Do you know what Hexside could do to you if they knew that?” Amity scowled, glowering down at Luz.

Luz raised a brow in intrigue, at least, that’s what Amity hoped it was; just intrigue. “Hexside? How’d you know that I even go there?”

“I'm a friend of Willow Park, you should know them. They called you their friend and asked me to show you around the school, but after this incident, I don’t think I want to anymore,” she informed, adding “Not that I even wanted to in the first place.”

“Ah, I see.” Luz pushed herself up and out of the beanbag, now towering over Amity, a smirk present on her face. None of this intimidated Amity in any way, she’s honestly too irritated to think about how this girl probably was stronger than her. “We got off on the wrong foot then,” the Latina extended her arm, hand open and palm up, “Why don’t we start over?”

Amity grabbed Luz’s wrist and used her thumb to push her hand up into a position that if she decided to put more pressure, she could dislocate it. Luz yelped, trying to pull her hand away but Amity had a surprisingly good grip on her, black painted nails digging into tan skin. “It’s too late for that, sorry not sorry. You’re going to apologize, then maybe I’ll consider letting go.”

The Latina would groan, trying to be stubborn, so Amity pushed slightly on her hand, straining the tendons in Luz’s wrist. “Come on now, are you really going to risk your hand for your dignity? You just need to say three words, ‘I’m sorry,’ I know you can do it.”

“That’s two words,” Luz countered, her voice laced with fear as Amity only pushed more.

“I’m; contraction of ‘I’ and ‘am.’ Three words.” Amity narrowed her eyes, daring Luz to try and keep it up.

“Ugh, fine! I’m sorry,” Luz conceded, clearly embarrassed by it too.

The Blight smiled, releasing Luz’s hand finally, watching the Latina flex it to relieve the slight pain. “That wasn’t even hard, but that’s okay. Hexside will definitely teach you some manners,” Amity chuckled to herself, pivoting on her heel to start walking away.

Luz followed her, of course.

“Hexside isn’t going to do shit,” she argued, “It’s just a school, like any other, just– uh, stricter. Yeah.”

“You have a way with words,” Amity stated, obviously being sarcastic. “Have you considered being a public speaker, I think you’d do great with that stutter of yours,” she’d taunt.

There was a grumble from the other girl. “I can’t help that, I’ve had it since I was a kid. Listen, can– hm, no. Let me actually word this right. Hexside, right. We both go to the place, I start as soon as this break ends.”

“That’s correct.”

“Yeah, I know it is,” Luz pinched the bridge of her nose, probably trying to calm herself down. “ Anyway. Willow told you to show me around and stuff, right?”

Amity nodded, “Yes, but I already told you that I’m likely not going to that now because–”

“Don’t care,” the Latina interrupted. “Why don’t you just give me a couple tips now so that we’ll hardly even have to interact in the halls or anything like that? It’d make both of our lives easier, wouldn’t it?”

The Blight considered it. If she were to share with Luz the small things that could help her actually make it through the school without breaking down into some fit now, then there’d likely be only a couple circumstances where Luz would ever have to approach her, and then eventually, she’d never have to deal with her again. It sounded like a pretty good idea to Amity.

“So what do you say?” Luz’s voice broke the Blight out of her thoughts.

She’d look up at Luz (God, this is already annoying her) and smirk, “Deal. Let’s go to the reading area first though, I want to sit.”

Luz shrugged, “Yeah, okay. That works.”

Leading the taller girl to the section of the library where there were tables to sit at, and not to mention, basically empty, Amity took a seat in the one furthest in the back of the area. She folded her arms over the surface of the wooden table, waiting for Luz to take a seat across from her.

Luz slouched a bit in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest and observing Amity in a way that didn’t exactly make the Blight comfortable. “So,” the Latina tilted her head to the side, a quiet popping of bones could be heard. “What tips do you have for me, Blight?”

Amity narrowed her eyes, leaning back in her chair. “Well, I’ve been in Hexside since 8th grade, and not to toot my own horn, but I probably get the worst of the attention in the place. I don’t know why you’re in Hexside, but if you were me, picture getting patted down every day as soon as you leave your room, pulled out early from your classes to talk to someone who just wants more reasons to justify their treatment to you.”

She watched Luz shuffle in her seat, clearly not comfortable with the thought of that. “Exactly. So if you don’t want to deal with that, you’re going to follow the simple things I tell you, is that understood?”

“Uh, if I may just ask a question first, is that really what you have to deal with?”

The Blight just scowled, “Do you want tips or not?”

“Yes! Forget I even asked, um. Tips?” Luz grinned uneasily.

Amity grumbled to herself. God, I hope Em and Ed pull me away from this. “Okay, when you arrive, you’re going to want to stop wearing these baggy clothes of yours, it makes you more of a target to search. They will search for just about anything on your person, a spoon in this place is considered a weapon outside of the cafeteria.”

“Seriously?” Luz gaped, “Dios mío, I already hate this place.”

“That’s a common impression people get,” Amity rolled her eyes, “Now don’t interrupt me. Moving on, you should probably join one of the school’s sports teams, there’s a lot of benefits you can get from doing so. Always be on time to classes, don’t instigate anything with anyone, refer to teachers as Ma’am and Sir. Oh, and this one’s important,” Amity said, making sure she had Luz’s full attention.

“What is it?”

“Avoid certain students, because if you’re associated with them, it’ll give teachers more of a reason to want to search you. I’m one of those students, just so you know.” She looked down at her nails as she spoke, trying to think of the people that Luz should avoid, “There’s Boscha Evans, Amelia Williams, Catherine Tater… I honestly can’t think of any other names from the top of my head, so.”

Luz hummed, “Okay. So, I believe I caught that all, thanks for the tips, but could you repeat all of that so that I can, like, write it down?”

There was a brief, tense , silence between them, Amity’s right eye twitching. “You’re joking, right?”

“Uh, no…? ” Luz pulled out a notepad and a pencil from out of nowhere (no really, where’d she get those?), “I’m being completely serious right now.”

Amity let out a heavy breath, closing her eyes. Calm down, Amity, just calm. Down.

“ Okay, ” she grumbled, “I’m not repeating shit for you, so just dig into your memory, got it? Maybe next you’ll know to actually listen.”

“B-but–”

“No.” And that was all Amity said, standing up and taking her book with her as she walked away. This time sure that there was no taller girl behind her. She just wanted to read her book, not deal with some absolute dumbass.

“Where’s Ed and Em…” she muttered, checking the aisles as she walked, all she wanted to do now was leave. She checked the Fiction, Non-Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror sections– she even went to the Romance section! Where the hell could her siblings be, aren’t they supposed to be near her at all times?

Groaning, she made her way to the librarian at the front of the entire establishment, combing her hair back. “Sorry to bother, Sir, but can you make an announcement for me? I can’t find my siblings.”

“Of course,” he told her, picking up the phone and typing in a special number to connect to the intercom. “What are their names?”

“Edric and Emira Blight,” she replied.

He’d nod, putting the phone up to his face to speak into it, the speakers that were dispersed around the library echoing his voice, even if they were pretty quiet. “If Edric and Emira Blight could come to the front, you have a sibling looking for you, repeat, if Edric and Emira Blight could come to the front, you have a sibling looking for you.”

“Thanks,” Amity mumbled when the librarian ended the announcement and put the phone down.

“You’re welcome,” he gave a brief nod before going to type stuff into his computer, likely something related to the stock of books in the library, or due dates on borrowed books.

There was a sudden rush of approaching footsteps, Amity looking over to see her older brother and sister running up to her. “You guys completely vanished, what the hell?” She scowled.

Emira was catching her breath so Edric spoke for her, “Well, we were looking for you too, we didn’t know you were actively on the move.”

Amity rolled her eyes, “It doesn’t matter, I want to leave.”

“Wait, what? You, of all people, want to leave the library? Isn’t this like your favorite place to be, second to Hot Topic, of course.” Emira stood upright, scrutinizing her younger sister, “Are you sick?”

“No,” she hissed, “I just want to leave, okay? I’ll just read the book on the ride home.”

Edric frowned, looking to Emira to see the same expression on her face. “Mittens, if there’s something bothering you, you can tell us–”

“There’s nothing wrong! I just want to go home,” she crossed her arms, looking down to avert her sibling’s suspicious stares. “Please. ”

She heard a sigh from one of them, then the jangle of keys. “Okay, let’s go home, I think you just need a little bit of rest,” Emira whispered, resting a hand on Amity’s shoulder. “Would you want to pick up food on the way or do you want us to make you something? Even just a bowl of fruit is better than nothing.”

Amity shook her head, “No, I’m fine. Promise. Like you said, I’m just… tired.”

Her siblings must’ve been looking at her like she was crazy, but they didn’t say anything, just pulled her along to leave the library together, making their way to Emira’s car. Of course, there was nothing wrong, it was just Amity was tired of people trying to know what’s happening in her life– even if it’s just her siblings.

Also, she didn’t feel like explaining to them she almost set fire to someone (aka, Luz).

Getting into the backseat, she pulled the seatbelt down and clicked it in, then pulled her legs up to her chest and took out her phone. Emira and Edric were both looking at her, she could practically feel their stares. When they looked away, she let out a relieved sigh, happy that they weren’t going to try and keep pressuring her.

Amity pulled up Willow’s contact, having many things to say about this friend of theirs.

You: “you both will get along” my ass, Will. I hate her with my very being.

Free Willy: wtf are you talking abt???

You: Luz
You: You said that we’d get along nd shit, but she’s just a massive DICK.

Free Willy: wait, you met her? oh shit, when?

You: She was at the library today, I went bc Tiny Nose was there and she was giving the first 200 ppl to arrive a free copy of the last book of the series. And apparently, Luz likes Azura too.

Free Willy: that’s exactly why i thought yall would get along. what happened?

You: Well first she tried to skip me, then when I thought she gave up on trying to get by me, she gets behind me AND PINCHES MY NECK.
You: then she cut me and got to the table with Tiny Nose before I got the chance to stop her

Free Willy: yikes
Free Willy: i can talk to her if you want me to?
Free Willy: that is, if you haven’t already burned her. pls tell me you didnt

You: I wish I did.

Free Willy: here, can we call?

You: Go ahead.

Willow ended up calling Amity, the Blight quickly answering. Sure, her siblings were right there, but Amity was too irritated to care if they listened in. She put the phone up to her ear, “You could have warned me that she was a massive douche, Will.”

“Hey, listen, I didn’t even expect for y’all to meet until Tuesday,” they defended, and Amity heard the shutting of a door. Willow must’ve gone to a room to get some privacy from their dads. “So, did you guys, like… fight?”

Amity scoffed, “No. I merely warned her that she didn’t want to trifle with me. Then I gave her a few tips– you know, she had the audacity to wait until I finished talking to ask me to repeat everything so she could write it down! At this point, I hope she gets in trouble at Hexside, they’ll knock some sense into her.”

“Ammy,” Willow started, “I know she may seem– what’s the word?”

“Douche-y.”

“Sure, let’s go with that,” they chuckled. “Anyway, I just– I promised her mom that she wouldn’t get into much trouble, okay? Luz has always been kinda troubled, and I told her mom that, as her childhood friend, I’d have her back.”

The youngest Blight groaned, “Okay, where are you going with this, Willow?”

“When we moved here, I hardly ever heard from Luz herself, it was always late night calls with Camila about how she feels bad that she can’t be there for her own daughter; Luz just stopped sharing details with her,” there was a heavy sigh on the other side of the line. “So, when Camila called and told me that Luz was getting sent to Hexside after an… incident , of course I offered to make sure Luz would do well.”

Amity listened intently, glaring at Edric when he dared to glance back. He was quick to look away again. “Right, and it made a bunch of sense to just give your job to me? I’m not a babysitter, Willow, I don’t care what Luz has gone through or any promise you’ve made with someone. That’s not my business.”

“I know that-”

“Exactly, you know that,” Amity hissed. “I agreed to help you only because I owe you for all that you’ve done for me, but if Luz doesn’t fix her act, I will not hesitate to bury her 12 feet under the ground in your front yard,” she threatened, “And then I’ll be after you for insisting I put up with it.”

It was quiet on the call, and Amity could practically imagine the expression that was on Willow’s face.

“Okay,” they said at last. “I’ll talk to Luz, she won’t be an issue, I promise . Please just– calm down? I know that you’re not normally like this, and I know you hate ever having to be like this, so take a few breaths and… cool off.”

Amity clenched her fist, blunt nails digging into the heel of her palm. “Fine. Bye Will.”

“Bye Ammy,” they said before hanging up. 

The youngest Blight sighed, putting down her phone and closing her eyes, taking deep breaths to “channel her emotions,” or whatever Mrs. Gay kept telling her to do.

Edric cleared his throat, and Amity could feel the start of a headache. “So, what was all of that about? Did something happen at the library that you just won’t tell us?”

“It’s nothing Ed, none of your business,” she muttered, dropping her head back and continuing to take as many calming breaths as she could.

“It kinda is our business, Mittens,” Edric countered, “As much as we wouldn’t want to, we’re supposed to tell the school about anything suspicious we overhear from you, and after hearing you talk about burying someone “12 feet under the ground” of someone else’s front yard?”

Emira sucked in a sharp breath, adding to her brother’s statement, “It is pretty suspicious.”

“Seriously?” Amity lifted her head to look at her siblings, “If you really didn’t want to, then you wouldn’t. If I don’t want to tell you, then I’m not going to!”

Amity got locked in her room, the window was also locked.

Emira and Edric had told her that they were sorry but they were “doing it for her own good.” She could hear the distant sound of her siblings on the phone with what she guessed was likely Hexside.

She groaned, walking away from the door and flopping onto her bed. In her siblings’ defense, they just want to help. But, in Amity’s defense, she’s tired of other people prying into her life.

Her phone buzzed, so she pulled it from her hoodie pocket to look at the lock screen, a notification banner that told her she got a text from an unknown number.

UNKN NUM: This Amity Blight?

Amity sat up, sitting in butterfly position.

You: Depends, who’s asking?

UNKN NUM: Luz. Willow gave me ur number, they told me to apologize to you for earlier today
UNKN NUM: So um. Sorry.

You: I don’t care if you’re sorry or not, now’s not a good time.

UNKN NUM: Did something happen??

You: It’s none of your business.
You: God, why are people always sticking their noses where they don’t belong?

UNKN NUM: I mean, your life’s pretty interesting from what I’ve heard from Willow, so probably because people are just interested, idk 🤷♀️

Amity raised a brow, why was Luz being all… nice? She didn’t know if she liked it or not.

You: Okay…
You: First off, what all has Willow told you?
You: Second, what about my life is interesting?

UNKN NUM: Willow has told me abt the things you like, the things you hate, also about certain people in ur life. stuff like that
UNKN NUM: But I think what I found most interesting, out of everything, was when they told me how used to be a little ball of sunshine

You: That’s never been true.

UNKN NUM: I don’t know, the stories they told me about the things you’ve talked to them about your childhood says otherwise
UNKN NUM: Wanting to be just like Azura, commonly having sleepovers with your small group of friends, always wanting to go out and explore, a troublemaker like your siblings...
UNKN NUM: Then something happened, Willow wouldn’t tell me, but I’m guessing it was something pretty bad if it made you go from that to… well, what you’re like now

You: Yeah? And what am I like now?

UNKN NUM: A stuck-up, entitled, probably wealthy, disciplined brat. Or just a bitch, that has a better ring to it

You: Oh fuck you.

UNKN NUM: Is that an offer?

You: I will block you.

UNKN NUM: I’m genuinely surprised you didn’t do that the second you knew it was me

You: Well, I’m kinda trapped with nothing to do. I figured that whatever discussion we have will pass time

UNKN NUM: Trapped?
UNKN NUM: You in trouble or smth??

You: I did something and now I’m locked in my room while my siblings talk to the school
You: It’s honestly your fault

UNKN NUM: HOW IS IT MY FAULT???!! I’m not even THERE!

You: That’s for me to know and for you to never find out

UNKN NUM: Goddamn you, Blight

There was a knock at the door, to which Amity flinched at.

You: I need to go.

UNKN NUM: byeeeee

Amity quickly tossed her phone to the floor at the sound of the door unlocking, then it was opened, and her siblings were walking in. “What do you want?” She hissed.

“We talked to your school,” Emira said, and Amity could see that she was chewing on her lip. “They don’t want you leaving the house until it’s time to go back.”

“What a surprise,” Amity rolled her eyes, turning over so she didn’t have to look at her siblings. She fiddled with the sheets on her bed, “It’s okay, I have things in here to keep me occupied.”

There was an added weight to her bed, the mattress sinking with it. A hand rested on her leg, “They told us that we should take your phone away as well but… we decided that you having to be stuck here is punishment enough,” Edric said, as if to try and reassure her.

“Okay. Can you both leave please?” She requested quietly, curling in on herself to bring her legs away from the hand of (what she was pretty sure was) her brother’s.

“Do you want us to bring you anything to eat?” Emira asked, “I don’t– um, we don’t want you to go hungry.”

“No. Just leave, I’ll survive,” she told Emira, maybe getting a bit impatient for her to go away and leave her to sulk in her own little pity party. “Trust me, I’ll be fine,” Amity assured.

Both older Blights sighed, Edric being the one to speak up, “Okay. C’mon Em, let’s leave her alone, she’s clearly… agitated.”

Amity scoffed at that.

Edric and Emira left the room, closing the door behind them. Amity didn’t hear them lock the door, so she guessed that she's only locked in the house rather than the room; really, not much better.

The youngest Blight quickly reached for her phone on the floor, bringing it up to look if there was anything new to look at. She supposed that she may as well save Luz’s contact, for… emergency purposes.

Skyscraper

She liked the name, she liked it a lot.

Without much else to do, she went to Netflix to binge watch a certain show for at least the 30th time since she found it; one might call it an addiction, she calls it a really good show. She passed out around the 5th episode of season 2, the phone screen displaying the “Are You Still Watching?” message from Netflix.

Her dreams were nightmares, mostly of what would become of her after she graduated from Hexside. The only good dream she had was the one she’s had for a good handful of years now, being the one of a campfire, one she sat right next to. The dream was so real to her that she could practically feel the warmth radiating from it. Then there was the acoustic guitar she could hear playing music from… somewhere, she wasn’t all too sure, all she knew was that she liked it.

—End—

Chapter Text

Luz sighed, turning the screen of her phone on for the 10th time in hopes that there were any notifications for her to check. No, she wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but she was bored out of her mind without anything to do or anybody to talk to.

Her last action that she’d consider enjoyable was the short conversation she had with the Blight (who's contact she saved as Lesbian Emo because Amity was very obviously a lesbian emo, it's as simple as that) around 15 minutes ago, the last message being Luz texting Amity “have a bad night” when she didn’t come back.

She just gave up checking, getting up to search her bag at the end of the bed, pulling the new Azura book out. Now, she did start reading it, but after some thought, this was the last Azura book and there won’t ever be a new one. Luz was devastated when she had learned about that, but it fueled her motivation when she was speeding to the library to be able to get a free copy as one of the lucky 200.

Getting up from the ground, book in hand, she walked to her shelf and set the book beside all the others. She stood there and stared at the collection, and she wasn’t sure exactly how much time passed but she heard her new guardian call for her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

“Luz, King, there’s food down here!”

“Coming!” She called back, running to her bed to grab her phone off the charger before darting out of the room. King came bursting from his room, tripping and falling with a heavy thud. “Ouch, you good King?”

“I’m fine,” he assured, pushing himself up. “I’ll beat you to the table!”

And who was Luz to refuse the challenge? “You’re on,” she smirked, immediately running away, but she could hear him right behind her. She slipped a bit on the stairs but didn’t fall luckily, but King did jump on top of her to get ahead.

She thought she heard her back crack.

King snickered as he got off of Luz, running to the kitchen while Luz still recovered. “Goddamn it, that’s not fair! You could have killed me!”

“All’s fair in dinner and war!” He declared, making a funny face at Luz when she entered the kitchen. She stuck her tongue out at him. “Anyway, what didja make, Eda?”

“I didn’t make diddly-squat,” Eda huffed, “I ordered pizza earlier and it’s here now.”

Luz giggled when Eda said “diddly-squat,” because who says that anymore? Eda does, and Luz lived for it. “Who did you order from?” Luz asked, getting closer to the counter to look into each box of pizza. The boxes were plain and didn’t show the company.

“Nobody, don’t worry about it,” Eda dismissed, only making her more suspicious.

Luz found it funny that her mom sent her to live with someone like Eda, an ex-con artist (Luz doesn't believe that Eda actually stopped being a con artist), when she’s always so strict about curfews, or violence, or really just anything that doesn’t fit the perfect citizen. Then again, that’s why Luz is here now.

She did one job for some people and got caught because it was a trap, sure, they still sent her the money, but she was pissed about it. If it weren’t for them, she wouldn’t have had to move into the middle of nowhere in Connecticut; which mind you, is already basically the middle of nowhere. “Okay then,” she replied, grabbing two paper plates to serve herself and King. 

“I want 2 slices!” King said, watching Luz open the box with the pizza with a whole bunch of toppings, and she saw him get excited. Luz herself didn’t mind all the toppings, but she preferred pepperoni pizza with either bacon or sausage, or both.

She put King’s two slices on his plate, turning around for him to snatch it. “Don’t make a mess, okay?”

“I’ll do what I want,” he scoffed, raising his chin before walking to the living room, likely to binge watch one of his shows.

Luz hummed. King was 15, but he also attended Hexside because he… well, all Luz knew was that he did something really bad and now there’s a tracker on his ankle. Shrugging it off, Luz picked up her plate and set 3 slices on it, grabbing the garlic sauce to dip the pizza in (because she actually liked it).

“Hey Eda, I’m going to eat in my room, if that’s okay with you,” Luz told the older woman, to which she had waved the Latina off.

“Don’t care, kid. Do what you want, I’m not your mom. As long as you don’t bring any attention to me or alert your mom, I won’t say anything about it,” Eda said, groaning when she messed something up on the Sudoku in her newspaper before scribbling over it out of frustration.

Luz nodded, smiling, “Oh, okay. And, gimme this.” Taking the pencil from Eda, she filled in the other Sudoku box with ease, “It’s not that hard, you know.”

“Rigged,” Eda grumbled, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed. Luz laughed, hugging Eda before leaving the kitchen to go back upstairs.

She pulled her phone from her pocket, using her thumbprint to unlock it. Swiping to the 3rd page of her home screen, she opened the category box for her streaming services, opening Netflix to start watching her show as she entered her room with her food. Luz set her phone up against her pillow so that she could sit and still watch as she ate, even if it slightly hurt her neck.

Then her show was interrupted by a call, the contact in full caps, PORTER.

With a groan, Luz tapped the green button to answer, swallowing her bite before letting out a gruff, “Hello?”

“Hey!” Replied the upbeat voice of Gus, “I was wondering if you could hang out tomorrow? Since I know you skateboard sometimes, and my group isn’t available then, so I just was curious.”

Luz thought about it, it would give her something to do rather than sitting around or doing chores for Eda. “Yeah, I suppose,” she said, “When?”

There was a call for Gus in the background. “Oh crap– uh, around 7pm tomorrow, just meet me in the Harper Grove Plaza parking lot.”

“Mkay, I’m guessing you gotta go?”

“Yeah, sorry,” Gus apologized, “I’ll see you tomorrow! I promise it’ll be worth your time.” The voice called again for the boy, resulting in him shouting back, “I’m coming, calm down! Bye Luz!”

The call ended rather quickly, but Luz was okay with that, she was quite relieved actually that she didn’t have to stay on a call for a long period of time, she wasn’t in the mood to talk. Though, because of the interruption, she was also no longer in the mood to watch her show.

She had thoughts on her mind, as always, but these were thoughts that she usually only got when she was high, and Luz is almost 64% sure that she isn’t high. She was thinking about the encounter she had with the Blight, trying to remember what the girl had told her to do when she got to Hexside.

But then the stubborn side of her (which is really all of her) was shouting to stop thinking about it because nobody should be able to tell her what to do, even if the reason for it was to help her. Luz doesn’t need help, she’s never needed help, and she never will need help. The people around her need help, thinking that she’s got an unstable psyche. Luz grumbled, putting her plate of her remaining two slices of pizza on the nightstand so she could get up.

“I’m not troubled,” she reasoned aloud, “I was merely doing what I had to to help Ma, to help pay the bills! I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Walking to her closet, she opened the doors wide to see her red bat (from when she used to play baseball back in middle school) lying on the floorboards. Of course, after she had left her team, she made some… modifications to the bat, most notably the screws she had used a high-powered drill to force them into the metal. Whether it was to make it look cool or make her seem intimidating or to actually cause harm with it, Luz herself wasn’t even sure. She’s convinced it was all of those reasons combined.

She grimaced as she picked it up, gripping tightly to the handle. “It was just my gullible self falling for a trick, a dumb scheme that stupid people played on me. And it’s because of them that I’m here, it’s not my fault.”

Closing her closet, Luz grabbed her phone off the bed and shoved it into her pocket as she pulled on the green jacket that she hung on her desk chair. She had an urge to fulfill, an itch to scratch, and she had time to kill. So, with all that said, she opened her window and jumped out, landing on the ground with a loud thud, but hearing King’s show on full volume from outside, she knew she was fine.

Well, fine as in, she wouldn’t get caught. Luz believed that the jump from the second floor caused her to get hurt because now her ankle is in an unbelievable amount of pain, but not so much that she didn’t think it wouldn’t just wear off in a bit.

Clenching her jaw to try and distract herself from the pain, she limp-ran from the house to go somewhere that she knew she’d find something to do with the bat in her hand.

CLANK.

Luz huffed, watching the ball go up into the air before coming back down and landing a mere couple of feet ahead of her.

What, did you think she was going to do something else? The girl just needed to cool off, and she decided that engaging in old activities would help her do just that. She hadn’t been able to get any of the screws out of the metal of the bat (which is probably why the baseballs she has been hitting haven’t gone very far), but none of the balls got punctured on them and would still get hit a good distance away, so she didn’t really care.

By now, most of the pain in her ankle had subsided, now just a dull throbbing feeling. She had managed to run off all the way to a baseball field that belonged to one of the three middle schools in the county, but nobody was there to stop her from using it. Luckily when she got there, there were already baseballs lying around, so she just used those in her hitting spree.

Maybe she should see if Hexside has a baseball team, she might actually enjoy it. And Amity had suggested that she should join a sports team.

Luz yelped when her phone started buzzing in her pocket, for a second thinking some night campus guard had found her and tased her, then she found herself stupid for even considering that. Dropping to sit on her bum in the orange dirt, she pulled her phone out and answered, only to get an earful of Eda’s worried and possibly enraged shouts, “WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!”

“Well first of all, ow,” Luz muttered, “Also, I just kinda left because I got overwhelmed by my thoughts. I’m at a middle school in their baseball field.”

Eda sighed in relief, mumbling something that the phone call failed to pick up. “Oh thank God, you’re okay then. Don’t ever do that again, just ask me! It’s not like I’d say no. Your mom told me that you used to be on the baseball team when you were younger, feeling nostalgic, are you?” Eda teased.

Luz scoffed, “What? No. Err… maybe. I don’t know, I think I just liked being able to hit something.”

“Heh, okay. Anyway, don’t ever leave without telling me again, am I understood?”

“Yes Edalyn, I understand,” Luz groaned.

“God, you make me feel old,” Eda replied with the same groan as Luz. “Be back before sunrise, and don’t get caught in any trouble, I won’t come to save you.”

Luz snickered, “I know you wouldn’t. I’ll be back soon, promise. Night, Eda.”

“Night kid,” Eda returned before hanging up, leaving Luz to go back to what she was doing prior to the call.

But Luz wasn’t upset anymore, she was actually pretty calm now. She doesn’t know if it was hitting the baseballs, or talking to Eda, but the thoughts that she was so overwhelmed with had just… shut up. Of course, Luz knew they’d come back, but for the meanwhile, she could actually relax.

Getting up from the ground, she made sure to keep her weight off of the foot that no longer hurt but she didn’t want to risk actually harming herself. Luz glanced around the yard, surprised that nobody had seen her yet. Shrugging it off, she picked up her bat and started walking off the field, her other hand dusting off her backside to get rid of some of the dirt, but she knew for a fact that she’d have to wash these pants as soon as she got back to Eda’s house lest she wanted her jeans to be stained orange on the butt.

She wasn’t in a rush walking back, so she was calmly walking on the side of the road, admiring the sky because without any light pollution, it was actually very mesmerizing. Luz giggled to herself, it’s so purple.

Luz swayed back and forth, there were no cars, so she could walk in the middle of the road if she wanted to. It’s a good thing there’s no cops out on the road at the moment, they’d think she was drunk. As another thought, Luz wondered if Eda would even let her drink, she saw the wine rack hidden in the corner of the kitchen, and the bottles of booze in the fridge, surely Eda would be kind enough to share? So what if Luz is only 17? She is bound to turn 18 within the next couple months— wait, the legal drinking age is 21.

Whatever! Luz shook her head and dismissed her thoughts, taking out her phone to check the time. Yikes, it’s already 10:13? She’d better hurry if she wanted to get a reasonable amount of sleep tonight. Picking up her pace, Luz started to light jog back to Eda’s house, happy her ankle didn’t try to sabotage her as she did so.

Approaching the front door, Luz heaved. If she ever wanted to join a team at Hexside, she’d need to get back into shape; not that she was getting fatter or anything, but her body has been out of commission lately when it came to physical activity since she usually stayed indoors to play games on her phone, with the exemption of when she went skateboarding every other day or when Eda made her do chores while she was in the house.

Solemnly swearing to herself, Luz decided she’d get back into shape as soon as she got into the rhythm of her school, so, in a handful of days.

Opening the door, Luz slowly entered, just in case anyone was sleeping (because she knew King was a very light sleeper and if someone woke him, he’d end up being cranky for the next hour). Her gaze would sweep over the living room, humming to herself in shock that nobody was on the couch. Luz shut the door softly, making sure to lock it as well, and took off her jacket, throwing it over her shoulder.

Something about the silence in the house made her uneasy, because it was never quiet, but she just ignored it until she got to her room. She may have speed walked down the hall to her room so she could close the door behind her, preventing any shadow demons from grabbing her ankles and pulling her to who knows where.

Afraid of the dark? No, not Luz. She’s merely… alert and cautious. In the dark.

Yeah.

Luz tossed her jacket onto her bed to set her phone on the nightstand where the charger was before going to her closet to put up her bat. She’d probably need to get a new one if she wanted to get on the baseball team (if there was one at Hexside) without having to borrow from the school. Then again, would the school even allow Luz to bring a bat into campus, even if for sporting purposes?

She wasn’t actually sure but it’s too late to think about anything school related. Instead, she pulled her shirt off (getting stuck in it at one point) and her jeans too, throwing both into the dirty hamper.

Yeah, Luz told herself to clean the jeans as soon as she got home, but she has rephrased herself so she'll wash it in the morning.

Climbing into her bed, on top of her blanket, she went from one side of the bed and rolled until she was on the other, wrapping herself like a burrito. Luz stared at the ceiling of her room, counting all of the bumps (even though she knew that it’d be impossible to actually get the right number because she’d probably miss or recount a good amount of them) out of boredom, it usually took her at least 15 minutes to even be able to really get relaxed and comfortable enough to close her eyes.

Luz is convinced she had early signs of insomnia, even if she knew for a fact that that wasn’t the case, it was really just because her mind is overactive and wouldn’t leave her alone about the most mundane of things. For example, she’s currently thinking about the English language and how it’s easy to learn to speak, but very difficult in terms of writing. Like the ‘I before E except after C’ rule, she hated that especially because there are so many words that don’t apply, such as the word ‘weird,’ Luz doesn’t see a C in it and yet, I is AFTER E.

And then she spiraled into other topics like, someone else could be doing the same thing as her at the very same time, or how 4 to 5 children have just been born in that very second and every second prior and every second after.

You’re probably going insane, Luz’s conscience quipped.

That’s no new news, she’d argue. Her conscience did not reply.

The door to her room suddenly creaked open and she snapped her eyes to look at it in the dark. As long as she didn’t move, she’d be fine– or maybe that’s how she’ll get killed and she needed to move right then and there to avoid death.

“Kid?” Eda’s voice was a relief to Luz’s ears. “Oh hey, you’re here and in one piece. You good?”

Luz nodded, “I’m okay. I just wanted to get back earlier so I’d have time to actually be able to get sleep.”

Eda hummed, and the older woman would step further into Luz’s room before turning on the lamp, Luz hissing from the sudden exposure to light. “Must you blind me?”

“Sorry, didn’t know I was living with a vampire,” Eda snickered, pulling the chair from the desk to sit in it.

“Haha, so funny,” Luz deadpanned, grumbling other not-so-kid-friendly words as she sat up in bed, ruining the burrito she had wrapped herself in. “Did you need something or did you just come to ruin the progress I made trying to get to sleep?”

The older woman, who honestly looked quite out of it because she was staring blankly at Luz, shrugged. “Dunno, I was just checking to see if you had made it home yet. I guess I just wanna ask what thoughts made you so overwhelmed you jumped from your room window?”

Luz wasn’t going to ask how Eda knew she jumped, it would be quite obvious. Eda was downstairs, she would’ve noticed if Luz ran past her to leave the house. “Um, you know. Thoughts.”

Eda scrutinized her with that ever-so-intimidating yet obviously worried glare.

And it cracked Luz like an egg. Darn. “I was just thinking about how I got myself into this situation, about how I don’t really deserve to be here. I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said, maybe being more open than she planned on being.

“Your mom hadn’t told me what happened, said you wouldn’t tell anyone what you got caught doing,” Eda began, being smart with her words, Luz could tell. “Something about it being really sensitive information that you didn’t want her getting caught up in, is what you told her. Wanna tell me? Angsty teen to ex-con?”

It was the way Eda offered it that Luz conceded, how she expressed her concern and want to help without making Luz feel like she had to, like she was expected to. Most of the people she knew wanted to know so badly about what happened they basically demanded it from her when they heard of Luz’s situation. Dumb gossip girls in that dumb school she went to before. She remembered how she entered the school on her last day there to get her stuff from her locker, how immediately anyone within a 40-yard radius came flocking to her to ask: “What did you do?” “Where are you going?” “What are they going to do to you?” “Why are people escorting you like you’re some 5-star criminal in GTA?”

Yes, someone did ask that. But Luz didn’t know how to answer those questions then, she doesn’t know how to answer them now, because she’s biased; she believed that she did nothing wrong, that her actions were justified.

Of all the encounters, Luz remembered most the one with her mom when she was taken home by an officer, late at night. She remembered listening from beside the officer on the porch that she had been found carrying illegal substances on her person after receiving an anonymous tip that there was someone dealing in an alleyway on the corner of Tavern Road and Baskins Road.

She knew who set her up, she just didn’t know why.

When the officer left and Luz was inside and the door was closed, Camila, her mom, had made her sit in the kitchen at the dining room table. Her mother shouted and rambled about how disappointed and surprised and shocked and confused she was, about how she couldn’t understand where she went wrong in the raising of her daughter; that it was nobody’s but her own fault, to which Luz immediately denied.

“I told her that I was just trying to help,” Luz muttered as she told Eda about what’d been on her mind for the past week and a half now. “I mean, I know what I did, without the context I had, was wrong. But I had good reasons, didn’t I?”

Eda stayed quiet, so Luz only continued.

“After that, my mom just sent me to my room while she stayed up on a call with someone, I think it was her enrolling me into Hexside. You know, I’m not mad at her for sending me here,” Luz made sure to add, “I could never be mad at her. I just… I wished that she hadn’t made the decision so quickly.”

The young girl sighed, oddly tame now that she’s talking about her inner conflicts. “Maybe– No. Um, if… do… ugh. Do you think that I have an issue?”

“What?” Eda gaped, incredulous. “Why would I think that?”

“I dunno,” Luz mumbled, “Everyone else did back in Windham, they thought I was mentally unstable or something.”

Eda scoffed, “Then they’re stupid. You’re not ill, you’re quite far from it! No, that’s not the case. You just needed someone to talk to, someone to be there for you and you never quite got that, given that your mom was always working, and you had, like, what, 2 friends?”

“I had 3,” Luz corrected, not that it was really that much better. “But they all had their own cliques and I was always just… left out.”

“Exactly. See, nothing’s wrong with you, just the people you ended up associating with took advantage of you because you wanted to feel like you belonged. And I will gladly hunt them down and give ‘em a piece of my mind if you ever want me to,” Eda smirked, “And don’t think I won’t!”

The Latina laughed, her once tense body now going taut. “Gee, Eda, you should be a therapist. I don’t think I’ve ever opened up to someone like that without feeling worse.”

The woman gagged, “Me? A therapist? You must be out of your mind, kid, I have limits you know, and there ain’t no way in Hell that I’m going back to school just to get some degree to say I know how to listen to people and talk to them without adding fuel to the fire.”

“Mm, whatever you say, Eda,” Luz snickered, “I think it’d work out for you though.”

Eda scoffed, “Ah, whatever, you little gremmie!”

“Nobody says that anymore!” Luz bursted into a fit of giggles. “You sound like someone from the 50’s!”

“I’ll have you know that I was born in ‘67,” Eda retorted, “Don’t you be calling me old now.”

“That’s exactly what I’m calling you. Oh, what’s a retro way of calling someone old, uh… coffin-dodger!”

Eda gasped, “I am not that old, you– and neither is that word!”

Luz shrugged, “Ima still use it for whenever you call me some old term used back in your days.”

The older woman scowled, crossing her arms. “You are such a kid.”

“And you are such a mom,” Luz countered. “Taking care of me and King, making sure we’re safe and healthy and all those other maternal gestures you do, I’m surprised you don’t have any kids of your own!”

“Who says I don’t?” Eda raised a brow.

“Well, do you?”

“...No.”

Luz laughed loudly, almost falling off her bed from how fun it was to mess with Eda. Well, until her door was kicked down, that is.

“Can you guys shut up!” King bursted into the room, his stuffed bunny tucked under his arm and wearing his (adorable) slippers that were supposed to represent that of a demon’s, or a dinosaur– Luz wasn’t too sure. “I’m trying to get to sleep, and I can hear both of you howling from the other side of the hall!”

Both Eda and Luz winced. “Sorry,” Eda apologized first.

“Yeah, sorry King, we’re just having a good time,” Luz added. “We’ll be quiet.”

“No! I’m separating you both. Eda, get out!” King stomped his foot, demanding that Eda left the room. “Now!”

Eda sighed, turning off the lamp as she got up, leaving them in the dark. “Well, I suppose I can’t really fight with him, he’s too stubborn and I’m too tired to argue. I’ll see you in the morning, kid.”

“Night Eda,” Luz called as Eda left her room. She looked at the young boy in the doorway, who was rubbing her eye from how tired he was. “Goodnight King,” she said to him.

King groaned, and Luz could imagine him rolling his eyes. “Whatever, goodnight Luz. And be quiet! ”

She nodded, though he probably couldn’t see. “I will be, don’t worry. Sorry again for waking you up!”

“I guess I’ll forgive you this one time,” he said, backing out of the room and grabbing the door handle to start pulling it closed. “See you tomorrow.” And the door was closed.

Luz’s once burrito blanket was ruined so she just scrambled underneath it. At least she was finally tired enough to actually close her eyes, you know, without feeling like there was something still bothering her. No, she was actually calm and peaceful, and sleep came to her quick like a flick of a switch. And it was probably the best sleep she’d gotten that entire week and a half.

...Luz never did finish that pizza.

—End—

Chapter Text

“I can’t believe that I broke my skateboard,” sighed Gus, “again.”

Luz cackled, “Maybe you should stop trying to pull off a Smith grind, it wouldn’t break.” The Latina was coasting on the side of the road while Gus had to walk because he broke his axle on his skateboard after trying to pull off a stunt. “You know that your dad never gets you the durable boards for that reason exactly, so you can’t do stunts.”

“I’m 15! He needs to realize that I want to do a bit more dangerous things in my life. Sometimes, I get the feeling he wants me to go outside wrapped in pillows,” Gus complained. “It’s so annoying!”

“He’s just being a good dad, doing his best to protect his kid. Take it easy on him,” Luz shrugged, stepping on the back of the board to kick it up into her hand. “Besides, have you even actually talked to him about how you’re no longer a kid and want to take risks?”

Gus groaned, “Well, no, I haven’t but—”

“Don’t you think you should?” Luz interrupted, “How’s he supposed to know if you don’t tell him?”

The boy huffed and crossed his arms, “Whatever. Do you want to go somewhere and just chill? I dunno, uh, we could go get food, I’ll pay.”

Luz shook her head, “No, I’m fine. I’d rather just keep walking, much better. God, I just realized that your dad probably hates me more now.”

“Why is that?” Gus asked, his head tilting curiously.

“Because! He already has the impression that I’m a bad influence on you, but the second he finds out I’m going to Hexside, he’s gonna flip!” Luz bursted into laughter, hitting Gus on his shoulder, “Next thing you know, Ima get a call from him telling me to leave you alone because you’re 'still young and easy to be molded into the wrong mindset!'”

They both stopped because Luz practically fell over with how hard she was laughing, “W-wait! He’s a news reporter! Watch him make a whole public announcement about it!”

“Luz! That’s not funny!” Gus laughed, giving away his amusement.

“You’re literally laughing too!”

“Am not!”

The duo sat in a somewhat empty parking lot, ice cream cones in hand because Gus managed to convince Luz that they should get Cold Stone. It was so worth it, Luz loves their cookies and cream.

“So,” Gus spoke up, “you actually haven’t said much about the whole Hexside thing, to me or Willow, why’s that?”

“Because it’s personal, that’s why,” Luz grunted, already not very pleased with the topic. “Something happened and I don’t want to talk about it with anyone. Besides Eda, I told her last night.”

Gus gaped, “What?! You trusted her over your best-est of buds? Haven’t we known you longer? I'm calling malarky on this funny business!”

Luz softly chuckled, “Just… don’t worry about it, ‘kay? I’m fine, and I’ll still be fine when I do end up going to Hexside tomorrow. Willow’s already told me a lot about it, it shouldn’t be too bad, plus they got me someone on the inside that’s gonna help me out, at least for a good couple of weeks.”

“Oh, really? Who are they?” Asked the young boy.

“Some girl named Amity Blight, we actually ran into each other the other day at the library, apparently she likes the Azura series too.” Luz remembered the day like it was yesterday. And technically, it was. “Oh, and I pissed her off and I’m pretty sure she was, like, 10 seconds away from setting me on fire.”

Gus went silent, unbefitting of the boy that was typically brimming with energy and was always loud. “Amity Blight?” He whispered.

“Yeah, dyed green hair that’s like a mane, really cool golden eyes, pale skin, black nails, tattoos on her legs— oh, and the heavy eyeliner, can’t forget that,” Luz nodded, chuckling to herself as she reminisced.

“The Amity Blight?” Gus repeated.

“Yes, what’s so hard to comprehend?”

Gus gaped, “The fact that you encountered her and survived! If she looked like she was going to burn you, then she definitely was about to!” Gus set down his ice cream cup, turning to Luz, “How are you still alive?!”

The Latina’s face scrunched up in confusion, “She’s just a petty and rich, white brat, what’s the big deal? It’s not like she’s a mass murderer.”

“Okay, well, how much do you know about her? Like, are you even aware of how she got into Hexside?” The boy asked, trying to calm himself down by rapidly patting his legs. Or maybe he was excited, Luz wasn’t too sure, Gus got excited from everything.

Luz shook her head, “No, all I know is that it’s probably something bad because, according to her, she gets patted down and searched a lot, and constantly gets pulled out of her classes to talk to the counselor.”

“Oh boy, you know nothing,” Gus sighed. He stood up to start pacing, extending his arm to point up at the sky. “So, Amity Blight, the youngest offspring of the Blight bloodline, Odalia and Alador Blight being her parents, Edric and Emira Blight are the older twins, her brother and sister. Did you know they’re actually British? God, I remember watching clips on YouTube of their accents, but eventually they got really good at your typical American accent.”

“Amity had switched from public to private school in 7th grade, apparently something about her getting picked on for being wealthy. But then something happened in her 8th grade year and her parents had to cover it up, but as Perry Porter the Reporter’s son, I know what happened,” Gus boasted, whipping around to face Luz.

“And what do you know?” Asked Luz.

“I know that she set fire to one of her classmate’s hair, they ended up getting 2nd degree burns and lost all their hair. Now, around this time, Amity had a very short fuse, like, just talking to her would piss her off.” Gus tapped his chin, “That kid’s parents were bribed to not talk about the incident nor press charges, which I guess worked since there was nothing to be said after it.”

“Wow,” Luz said, a reasonable reaction. “So, Amity’s an arsonist?”

“Mhm, hence why, if she looked ready to burn you, she was putting in a lot of effort not to do so,” Gus replied. “Anyway, Amity’s actually one of my friends. Well, technically she’s Willow’s friend but any friend of Willow’s is a friend of mine!”

“Everyone is your friend Gus,” Luz pointed out, “you are quite literally friends with everyone.”

Gus scoffed, “No I’m not! I’m still not friends with Matt or Bria, then again, I don’t want to be friends with Bria, she’s such a… uhh…”

“Do it Gus, cuss,” the Latina encouraged, smirking. “You know you wanna.”

“She’s a female dog,” Gus smirked back. “Nice try though.”

Luz wiped away a fake tear, “So close, you were so close.”

“But, moving on, I think you should be careful with Amity, she’s not really… friendly, she never has been.” Gus fiddled with his fingers, "I think it would be more beneficial for you to just leave her alone, get a new guide or something. Your guys' mutual friendship with Willow is not enough to bridge the obvious rivalry between you two."

Luz hummed, setting down her ice cream cup next to Gus’. “Actually, I was texting her last night, she didn't seem too upset when texting me, I think I'll be fine.”

Gus narrowed his eyes, “You texted Amity? She responded? Wait, how did you even get her number?"”

“Uh, Willow gave me her number, I did text her, and she did text me back.” Luz shrugged, “She did abruptly leave though, so I doubt she’s gonna text me again.”

Now getting a bit tired of the topic being on Amity, Luz waved her hand as if it would shoo it all away, “Let’s just move on. Tell me more about your dad, how does he feel about you still being friends with me?”

“Well,” Gus winced, “he doesn’t know that you’re going to Hexside, so right now, he just doesn’t like it when we hang out longer than 6 hours. But I get the idea that when he does find out, he will absolutely lose it.”

“Yikes. Your dad is so overprotective, but I guess it makes sense, ever since… y’know,” Luz trailed off but picked up again when Gus nodded, “I’m just saying that, as long as he doesn’t forbid me from hanging out with you, then it’s all fine.”

“Why is shrugging things off so easy for you?” Gus pouted. “It’s unfair.”

“Heh,” Luz looked down, rubbing the back of her neck, “yep, I’m just the master of shrugging off my issues. Um, I’m gonna head home now, do you want me to call your dad to pick you up?”

“No, I can call, you know he hates it when you call,” Gus laughed.

“Exactly why I want to,” Luz smirked. “But fine, I’ll see you– oh wait. I won’t get to see you for… who knows how long.”

“Just do what Amity does,” Gus suggested, “Shove your phone into your bra so that nobody wants to try to take it. Then you can call me whenever!”

Luz grimaced, “Why do you know that Amity does that? And, better question, why do I need to know that?”

Gus shrugged, “Just get home, dummy.”

Luz snickered as she threw her board down and jumped onto it, wobbling slightly before balancing enough to start pushing herself. “Bye Augustus!”

“Bye Luz!”

“I hate everything,” Luz groaned, hanging upside down on her bed, King right next to her.

“I hate everything too,” King said. “Well, take that back, I don’t hate you, or Eda. I love you guys.”

“Aww,” Luz sat up, poking King in his stomach, “I love you too, bud!”

King sat up as well, crossing his legs. “So, you went out with Gus today, tell me about it?”

Luz hummed, “Well, we skateboarded around, maybe pissed off a couple people, then we got Cold Stone. Gus broke his skateboard—”

“Again?” King exclaimed, then bursted into a fit of laughter. “He just got a new one!”

“I know, right? It’s like his dad purposely gets the cheap-y ones from Walmart, I might just have to get one for him myself,” Luz chuckled. “But then we started talking about Hexside, which then tracked into talking about Amity… God, I still don’t understand the big deal about her.”

“I can’t tell you much about her,” King said, “Since I’m in 7th grade, I’m in a whole other building.”

Luz shook her head, “That’s honestly fine by me, I’d prefer if I didn’t hear about her anymore. I’ve already had to spend, like, 3 hours trying to remember what she told me to write her tips down.”

King shrugged and whistled, “I dunno, you could’ve asked me though, I go there too.”

“Okay, yeah, but, she’s in my grade and she’s been in there since 8th grade, plus I got connections to her through Willow and Gus. So,” Luz sighed, covering her face with both hands and groaning. “God, all I had to do was not trust those stupid guys!”

King frowned, reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay… I’m here for you, whatever the issue. I may only be 12, but I think of you as an older sister, and I want to help you in any way I can.”

Luz dropped her hands, looking at King like she was ready to cry. She was ready to cry. “King,” she cracked, “That’s so sweet!”

Against common belief, King is actually a very sweet boy, well, he’s sweet to Luz and Eda. Okay, his actions rely on his mood. But he really is good! “Since, um, since we’re getting all… emotional,” King grimaced as he looked at Luz’s face, tears streaming down her face from joy. “I guess I could tell you about why I got this thingy,” he’d point at his ankle tracker.

Luz wiped her face dry, “Yes! Tell me now, I’ve been dying to know!”

“Okay, okay– calm down, jeez. So, this happened around a year ago, but I,” he snickered, cutting himself off, “I stole a bunch of stuff from the farmer’s market and when I got caught, I stole a van and drove a whole 15 miles before finally getting stopped by the cops! They had to block the road off just to catch me!” He cackled, falling back in laughter. “The Law has nothing on me!”

Luz blinked. “You– what.”

“I'm joking, it wasn’t a farmer’s market or a van. I stole from the mall; you know that one jewelry store in there? Yeah, I stole like 14 different rings that had real diamonds. Then there was a mall chase, I ended up knocking down a lot of stuff, then I got on one of those Segway scooters.” King sighed, “Then the police came and tased me because I was about to just run them all over with the Segway. I had a lot of fun while it lasted, though!”

“That's worse!” Luz gaped, then scooted forward and leaned forward with a smile, “Tell me more.”

King giggled, “Well, I had to do community service and help clean up the mess I made, and they would have just let me go after that but after finding out I live with Eda and her history, they feared that stealing would become a habit, so they sent me to Hexside.” The boy crossed his arms, “I was so close to getting away with it too.”

“Darn, so why the tracker?” Luz asked, pointing at the ankle tracker on King.

He sighed, features scrunching up, “I’m not allowed to be in a 15-foot radius of the mall. The thing starts to go wack when I get too close and then they’ll use it to find me to get me away. Which only happened once, and it was because I forgot that I had the tracker and I wanted pretzels from that stand at the front!”

Luz chuckled, “Well, I’ll get you pretzels from there the next time we get a break, okay? Promise.”

“Really?” King looked at her with wide, happy eyes, “You’re the best sister I never had!”

“Uh,” Luz stammered when King launched onto her to hug her tight, to which she returned, “You’re the best brother I never had, bud.” That seemed to please King because he hugged tighter. Maybe she shouldn’t tell King that she already does have a brother, and a sister, but King is also considerably better than Hunter in quite a few aspects. For example, King wouldn’t tattle tale on her, unlike Hunter who would enthusiastically take the chance to bust her ass.

Yeah, she likes King way more than Hunter in terms of personality, but she loves them both the same.

“So, King, bud, in terms of living, what’s the rooms in Hexside like?” Luz broke the silence between them, laying back on her headboard over her bed with King laying between her legs up to her chest. He’s so small, it’s adorable. “Like, on a scale from 1 to 10, how nice are they?”

“I’d say that they’re a decent 8.5, because I never really feel relaxed there, you always get the feeling that you’re being watched, y’know?” King sighed, grabbing Luz’s hand to set it in his fluffy (messy) black hair, letting her ruffle it. “There’s a couple people that have to share their rooms due to how many students attend, but considering your age and the severity of your 'case,' they’re probably going to give you your own room.”

“Nice,” she snorted. “You said that your grade level is in a whole other building, does that mean I won’t see you?”

“I’m… not too sure. All classes are over by 4:30 in the afternoon, and the curfew at which you have to be in your room is at 10 at night. We could always set up meet ups in the fields by the bleachers, if you want,” King muttered, his fists curling up Luz’s tee. “Aren’t you going to join a sports team?”

Luz grunted, “Not sure, bud. I’m considering it, so maybe baseball. Why?”

“Because if you do then you’d be busy on the weekends until, like, I don’t know, 7 in the afternoon?” King narrowed his eyes as he tried to remember what the schedules were like. “I don’t know, I’ve never participated in sports, nor do I have friends in any.”

“Damn,” Luz groaned, dropping her head back to stare at the ceiling. “Well, I’ll be sure to try and meet up with you whenever I can, okay?” She sat up, pushing King off to make him look at her, “I will always be here for you, you come before everyone else.”

“Even if you’re dying?” King tilted his head.

Luz chuckled, nodding, “Yes, even if I’m dying. Even if I’m on the other side of the world, I will be there for you the second you ask me to be.”

For the first time, King cried. He smiled widely, though shakily, and dove into Luz’s torso to cry harder. The Latina felt bad for making him cry but at least she knew that they were tears of happiness rather than sadness. She leaned down to kiss the top of his head, whispering to him, “I love you, bud.”

“I love you, Luz,” King whispered back, though muffled by Luz’s tee. “We should do crimes together,” he laughed, lifting his face off of Luz to wipe away his tears with his sleeve, “I’ll teach you all you need to know about riding a Segway.”

Luz smirked, “I’d love to do that with you. So, do we have a deal?”

“Deal?”

“That if either of us needs the other in Hexside, we’ll come running?” She clarified.

“Oh, yes! Deal!” He smiled, “Does this mean I can finally join in on girl talk? Better question, are you going to finally fall in love?”

The Latina stuck out her tongue and pointed to the back of her throat, faking a gag, “Gross, King! You know that I’m a lobo solitario .”

“Frankly, I have no idea what that means,” King said, “I don’t speak Spanish.”

“Lone wolf, King, I’m a lone wolf.”

“Oh.”

The two giggled to themselves, then jumped when Edalyn practically barged into the room. “Are y’all hungry?”

“Ooh, I am!” King exclaimed, jumping off the bed. “I’ll beat you to the kitchen!”

“What? NO!” Luz scrambled up from the bed to hurry after him, “King!”

Eda scoffed, “The youth these days, so competitive.”

“You suck Eda!” King shouted.

“EXCUSE YOU— Come here you little—!”

Luz blinked as Eda said some things that a 12-year-old should never hear nor be called. But King laughed, shouting back at Eda but refraining from swearing.

The Latina was unsure whether to be concerned or not but decided that since nobody is crying about it, it’s all fine.

“More pizza?” King groaned from the kitchen, “Can’t you ask your dealer for something better than pizza? Why not Olive Garden, or McDonald’s?”

“Well, Olive Garden is a rich people place—”

“No, it’s not,” King interrupted.

Eda glowered at him, shutting him up. “Yes, it is. And McDonald’s is too greasy for my liking, so I don’t want to ever get it. Don’t worry, you go back to Hexside early in the morning tomorrow, then you can get back to your rich boarding school meals.”

“You consider anything over the price of 10 dollars expensive,” King muttered.

“What was that?” Eda asked, looking at King with a smirk that challenged him to say it again.

“Nothing,” he said, then cheered dryly, “yay, pizza.”

“Yay, pizza!” Luz cheered with more enthusiasm, “Ma rarely let me have pizza so honestly, I’m fine with this!”

“Try having it every night for a month straight!” King scowled, “It starts to taste like cardboard.”

“Well, jokes on you, I like cardboard!” Luz rebuked.

Wait.

King blinked at her, “What?”

“What?” Sherepeated, acting clueless.

“Can y’all just shut up and eat the goddamn pizza?” Eda broke them up, “God, I’m glad I’m too old to have kids.”

“Actually—”

“Don’t ruin it,” Eda stopped Luz, “Let me live in blissful ignorance.”

“More like arrogance,” King snorted, Luz laughing too.

“Eat the pizza before I—!”

“Yes ma’am!” Luz and King said before Eda could finish the threat, serving their own plates and running to the living room to sit on the floor and eat.

Eda hummed, getting her own plate and sat on the couch behind the two, “Who wants to watch a stupid movie to make fun of?”

“Oh, play Tall Girl!” King said, knowing exactly how Luz felt about that movie.

“No! That movie will piss me off to the point I might just break your TV, Eda,” Luz warned, “don't do it.”

“Wasn’t gonna,” Eda chortled, playing a different movie instead. “Through Your Window, a movie that represents creeps everywhere.”

The TV did not survive because Luz hated the movie so much that she threw the nearest object at it, which happened to be the remote and it cracked the screen. That’s just how bad the movie was. 

But now Luz owed Eda 500 bucks to repair the TV. 

Dammit.

—End—

Chapter Text

Amity packed up the things she had brought with her and the things she had got from the Hot Topic and the Acura book she had gotten, being watched as she did so by Edric and Emira to make sure that she didn’t sneak anything flammable into her bags.

“I can’t wait until I graduate, I’m going to run away from this stupid state and disappear forever,” Amity said, mostly talking to herself.

“Well, don’t disappear forever,” Edric said, “I’d— I mean, we’d miss you.”

Emira hummed in agreement, “Yeah, we wouldn’t blame you for running from Mother and Father, but don’t run away from us.”

“You guys locked me up in this house for my last day of freedom, you didn’t have to tell me school anything either, but because of you two, I’m going to have to deal with the teachers even more,” the youngest Blight snapped. She stood up and picked up all the bags, “Forget it, I just want to leave and get this all over with.”

“Mittens, if you don’t mind me saying, I think you’re overreacting,” Edric muttered, “You know that we care for you, and we just want to help you. You’re old enough to understand that what we do isn’t to make your life worse, that’s the last thing we want to do to you.”

“I said forget it,” Amity whispered, “please.”

Edric opened his mouth to say something more, but Emira hit him before he could. “Okay, sis,” Emira said, getting up from the bed, “Would you like some help with your bags?”

“No, I’m fine,” Amity said, quickly exiting the room with her siblings right behind her as they left the house together.

“Well, you’re going back now, so can you just tell us why you were so angry the other day? Just to prepare yourself for the questions you’re probably going to get asked by your counselor,” Emira suggested.

Amity shook her head, “I’d rather not. It’s stupid, anyway.” The youngest Blight opened the back door of the car and set all of her stuff down before getting in herself, closing the door behind her.

“We should just leave her be,” Edric said to Emira, “she's upset, and you know how stubborn she is. I’m sure she’ll call us like she always does when she gets to Hexside.”

Emira sighed, nodding, “Yeah, you’re right. I cannot believe I said that, wow. Hurry up and get in, we have to get her there before 9 and it’s already almost 5.”

The older Blights quickly got into the car, Emira starting the car while she pulled her seatbelt on, Edric already clicking his in.

Amity ignored her siblings while she took out her phone, staring at the last message she had sent during her “time out”. It was strange how different Luz seemed to be on text, and that bothered Amity.

She never responded to Luz’s “have a bad night” text because what was she supposed to say? “I will”?

Instead she sent…

You: Meet me at the front doors when you get to Hexside.

Skyscraper: 👍

Huh, that was a quick response, even if it was an incredibly short answer. Amity looked up at her siblings, who paid her no mind as she texted on her phone.

You: If you don’t mind me asking, how was yesterday for you?

Skyscraper: Damn Blight, already going soft on me??
Skyscraper: But if u must know, it was pretty uneventful, ngl
Skyscraper: My turn to ask a question– how was ur day locked up? Probably boring asf, hah, loser

You: Oh shut the hell up, you’re so annoying.

Skyscraper: U literally texted me first???

You: You know what, this is NOT worth it. Bye.

Skyscraper: Wait no! Don’t goooo I need a distraction from the bad music Eda’s playing 😫

You: That is not my problem, go text one of your other contacts to entertain you

Skyscraper: Pls?
Skyscraper: Just this one time I SWEAR!

You: Ugh…
You: Just a second.

Amity set her phone down into her lap, searching the backpack she had brought with her on this trip and pulled out her headphones. (The Bluetooth ones that still have the wire to hang around her neck, she liked them.)

She honestly couldn’t believe she was doing this, but she reminded herself that if she was going to have to get used to Luz’s presence for the next few days, might as well start here. Collect intel on her rival while also helping her navigate around Hexside.

Easier said than done.

Skyscraper: bLigHtttt~
Skyscraper: ur are taking WAYYY longer than a second
Skyscraper: did u die? HEY, if u died, can I get ur Azura stuff? I know u gotta have something good, u seem like a poster kind of gal

You: Dammit Noceda, can you stop spamming me? I was getting my headphones.

Skyscraper: Oh yeah? What for? Abt to listen to porn or smth?
Skyscraper: Learning more and more abt u Blight hehe

You: I’m already regretting this

Amity called Luz, the call quickly being picked up.

“Aww,” Luz cooed immediately, “you're already calling me! That’s cute. Next thing you know, you're going to be holding my hand.”

Amity scowled, she couldn’t threaten Luz since Edric and Emira were right there, unless she wanted a worse punishment than what she’d be getting when she got to Hexside. “Whatever, I wanted to know when you’ll show up, because I’m not going to wait longer than 30 minutes for you.”

Luz hummed, “Honestly, not too sure. Hey Eda?”

“Yeah?”

“How long of a ride until we get to Hexside?” Luz asked, Amity just waiting for the answer.

“Like 3 hours, give or take 30 minutes if I speed.”

“How would speeding slow you down thirty minutes?”

The woman Luz was speaking to snickered, “If we were to get pulled over, but I’m not gonna because it’ll look super bad for us since I’m an ex-con with two Hexside students. So, no thanks.”

“Makes sense,” Luz said. “Okay then. Well, did you hear that Blight? It’ll be about 3 hours, what about for you?”

“A little less,” Amity replie. “That means I’ll probably just be on the track while I wait then, I guess.”

“You run?” Luz sounded intrigued, “Are you on the track team or something?”

“No,” Amity scoffed, “track season doesn’t start until January. I’m on the rugby team though.”

Luz whistled, “Damn, so you’re a jock, eh? That explains the confidence.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Amity said, venom lacing her words as if daring Luz through the call to say something to taunt her.

“Nothing, nothing,” Luz dismissed wisely. “Do- No, uh. Um, what do you think is going to happen when you get on campus? You said you got in trouble and that your siblings were talking to the school, so..?”

Amity grunted, pulling her legs up to pick at scabs of old injuries she got that haven’t yet healed over because she kept picking at them. “I’m not too sure, probably just going to go through the same shit as always but more frequently. At best, I might get pulled out and searched more, and at worst, they’ll contact my parents.”

Amity continued with a dry laugh, “Here’s a tip for you, don’t argue with the staff on campus, if they need to search you, just comply with them. Trust me, it’ll do you more good than if you were to retaliate.”

Luz hummed. “So, you’ve been in Hexside since 8th grade, huh? Gus told me about what you did.”

Amity tensed, “What all did he say?”

“He told me how you got super overwhelmed at one point and decided to set fire to some girl’s hair. Don’t you think that was a little over the top?” Luz snickered.

“You’re so lucky my siblings are right here, I swear on my life that the second we get left alone, I’m gonna–” Amity took a breath before she said something she probably shouldn’t. “Whatever. Moving on, have you decided if you’re going to join a sport or not?”

Luz giggled when Amity nearly snapped at her. “Eh, sorta, I was thinking of trying out for baseball, I used to play back in middle school.”

“Baseball doesn’t start until March, that’s 5 months from now,” Amity pointed out. “Why not try out for women’s basketball, or soccer. You’d probably do good in either.”

“Isn’t basketball a winter sport? That ends soon. And soccer is all three seasons, I don’t think I’m that dedicated. Plus I like hitting things, baseball is good for me unless they have some women’s version for football too.”

“Well, no, they don’t offer that,” Amity said, “Hexside does have a program for female boxers though. So if you really like hitting things so much, do that.”

“Ah, tempting offer, but I think I’ll just wait until baseball season swings around,” Luz giggled. “Get it? Swings around? Baseball?”

“Yes, Noceda, I get it,” Amity rolled her eyes even though Luz couldn’t see. “God, you’re stupid.”

“Well, considering I’m about to go to Hexside, I’d say I’m actually quite on par with you academically, wouldn’t you agree?” Luz said, chuckling at the end of the sentence. “Okay, okay, but jokes aside, what am I supposed to do when I’m actually accustomed to Hexside? Like, what happens to this temporary alliance we have?”

Amity never actually took the time to consider what they’d do when Luz was finally able to navigate through Hexside without the Blight’s help. “I haven’t exactly thought about it, but I can say that our communications would be limited.”

“What do you mean by limited?” Luz asked.

The Blight sighed, surprised at herself for being so calm. “If we were to ever share a class or see each other in the hallways, we would ignore each other unless absolutely necessary. Like, say there’s a partner project and we get assigned to work with each other, we would interact but only if it’s related to the topic at hand.”

“That sounds simple enough,” Luz commented. “What about this? Our numbers, would we still keep them or..?”

“Eh, I’m likely going to block you but do whatever you see fit to do with my number, whatever texts you send after this whole thing is done with will be ignored.” Amity stopped picking at her scab when it began to bleed, pulling down the white hoodie over it to hide it. “Shit,” she whispered.

Why did I pull it over the fucking bloody scab? It’s going to stain. Amity, you idiot!

“You good?” Luz’s voice broke through her mental scolding.

“I’m fine,” Amity muttered, “I just… never mind. Don’t worry about it.”

Edric was starting to turn around so she took out her earpieces. “Hey Mittens, do you want to stop for food before we hit the highway? Once we get on it, you’ll be in here for two hours straight.”

“Uh,” Amity said smartly. “Depends, what is there to eat?”

“We’re coming up on a Panera Bread, unless you’d rather wait a bit longer for McDonald’s,” Edric said, “make your choice quick.”

Amity despised greasy foods, and she nearly gagged at the thought of eating McDonald’s. “Ed, you know I have to keep fit for rugby, I don’t need the excessive calories or fat. I’ll get something from Panera.”

Edric nodded, “Got it,” he turned around to face the eldest Blight. “Just pull to the Panera.”

Amity rolled her eyes, putting the earpieces back in to hear Luz snickering. “What’s so funny, Noceda?” She hissed.

“Your brother calls you Mittens? Why would such a sour person be given such a sweet name?” Luz cackled, and Amity scowled. “I would love to meet your brother.”

“Too bad, I won’t allow it,” Amity said, huffing. “And I have a brother and sister, they both call me that to annoy me, so don’t get any ideas, Noceda. Nobody will find your body,” she whispered the threat so her siblings couldn’t hear it.

Luz snorted, “Okay, Mittens, I won’t.”

“You just did!” Amity exclaimed in her frustration, embarrassment quick to settle in when she saw both of her siblings looking at her (Emira was just casting glances from the rearview mirror, you know, because she has to watch the road).

Edric raised an eyebrow, “Who are you talking to?”

“Are they annoying you?” Emira chimed in, twisting her arm in a weird way to reach into the back, “Give me the phone, I’ll deal with them.”

Luz whistled, “Your sis sounds hot, Blight! Please do give me to her!”

“Shut up!” Amity hissed to Luz, then glared at her siblings, “I’m handling it, just leave me be. Please.”

Edric smirked, and Amity really hoped he wasn’t about to— “Does Mittens finally have a crush? Wait, they aren’t that Park again, right? I’m fine with you staying friends with them, but I don’t want you two getting back together. Ever.”

“Yeah,” Emira agreed, “They were pretty rough with you in my opinion, I mean, I won’t intrude on y’all's prior sex lives but, god damn, the bruises.”

“SHUT UP!” Amity shrieked, “Will and I have already made it clear we don’t like each other like that anymore. Leave. Me. ALONE.”

Emira and Edric laughed as the car turned into the Panera Bread lot. “Okay, baby sis,” Emira giggled.

“I wonder who this one is, I’m curious as to how they can handle our little mittens,” Edric teased, finally turning around to face the front again.

Amity wanted to die.

Please, something just take me out this instant, I have the WORST siblings.

“You and Willow used to date?” Luz’s voice made her wish for death even more. “Gus didn’t tell me that. Wait, wait, did your sister say you got bruises? Damn, Blight, break up with ‘em because you couldn’t handle it?”

“Oh my God, kill me. Willow and I weren’t even dating! We were just… you know,” Amity was thankful that Luz couldn’t see her, because she resembled a stop sign at this point. “It doesn’t matter, move on.”

“But it does matter!” Luz continued on the topic, “You had sex with one of my best-est friends! More than once! This is the perfect way to collect intel on them, what all did you guys do?”

“WHAT?!” Amity slid down in her seat, trying to hide away from the world. “Please, please, kill me now. No, Noceda, I’m not answering this.”

“Come on,” Luz pleaded, “what did they do to you? Tie you up or something? Or was she into something darker? Ay Dios mío , don’t tell me they were into, like, furry shit.”

“I’M DONE.” Amity declared, “Goodbye Noceda, I’ll see you at Hexside.”

“This conversation is NOT over!” Luz shouted into the speaker before Amity hung up.

Skyscraper: I will get the information out of you, one way or another.

You: No, go away, you’re crazy.

Amity put down her phone, taking out her earpieces before shuddering as pictures of what she and Willow used to engage in flooded her brain. “I’m going to literally drink bleach,” Amity muttered, dropping her face into her hands.

“Mittens,” came the voice of her sister, “we’re about to order, what do you want?”

The youngest Blight slowly brought her head back up from her hands, probably scarred for life thanks to Luz’s trivia. “I’ll get the, um, roasted turkey and avocado BLT, on the sourdough bread please.”

“Okay,” Emira said, pulling the car up and began to order their food.

Amity went back to devising plans on how she would kill Luz when they’d meet on campus.

“We’re here!” Edric singsonged when they went through the gates that were necessary to get through before one was allowed in or out of campus. He twisted around to see that Amity was basically asleep. “Amity! Wake up!”

She only grumbled, so Edric grabbed his empty cup of sprite and opened it to grab a cube of ice, chucking it at Amity. She shrieked when it hit her in the face before sliding down the opening of her hoodie, leaving a wet and cold trail as it went down to her… yeah.

“EDRIC BLIGHT, I WILL CASTRATE YOU!” Amity screamed, frantically reaching up from the bottom of her hoodie to get the cube of ice out of her bra. When she got it, she threw it right back at him.

Edric cackled, turning back around while Emira just shook her head disappointedly. “Can you guys refrain from making a mess in my car? That’d be great,” the eldest muttered.

“Sorry,” Edric said.

“I’m not, Ed started it,” Amity huffed. “But yeah, whatever, I won’t even be able to be in this car for, like, a good couple of weeks.” The youngest sighed, unplugging her seatbelt as she got ready to hop out. “I’m sorry that I was mean to you guys earlier this morning, I’ll miss you both.”

“We’ll miss you too,” Emira said, pulling up to the front of the school and stopping so she could turn around and pull Amity closer to kiss her forehead. “We love you baby sis, and we know you can take whatever this hellscape throws at you. Right Ed?”

“Huh– oh! Yes,” Edric nodded, “You’re going to come out of this place stronger than ever and nothing will be holding you back. Then we can live happily ever after together!”

Amity scoffed, but her small smile gave away the happiness she had for that dream. “I’d like that, a lot. Um, I guess I’ll call when I get the chance.”

Emira huffed, “Yeah, you better. I like hearing your voice.”

“Uh huh, okay,” Amity laughed. Wow, she laughed . “Bye you two,” she said as she picked up her bags and opened the door, shuffling out until she was standing on the pavement of the path that led to the entrance of Hexside. She sighed, closing the door behind her and waving as Emira and Edric drove off.

The fact that she didn’t know when she’d see them next hurt, but it was okay, she was strong.

She looked down at all of her bags, the doors wouldn’t actually open until 8:30 and it was only 7:15 at the moment. “Great,” she grumbled, looking around quickly to check if Luz was there yet before she walked off to head to the school’s track. Running is a great pass time.

Luz Centric Now

Luz and King quickly jumped from the car; it was 7:54 when they got there. “Bye Eda!” Luz waved, Eda saluting to the two before driving off. “Alright King, I gotta find someone, are you good on your own?”

King deadpanned, “Luz, I’ve been here longer than you, I'm more than sure that I’ll be fine. Besides, I have to walk to the other building and that’s going to take forever.” He huffed, shaking his head, “I’ll see you eventually,” he muttered as he hugged Luz’s waist.

“I’ll miss you King,” she said, reciprocating the hug with force, probably squeezing the life out of him. When she released him, he seemed relieved. “Okay, gotta run, bye!”

As she bolted off with her duffel bag hung on her shoulder, she asked anyone she ran into where the track was, which she probably should have asked King. Though, when she did find the track, she ran up the bleachers and dropped her bag off before looking out to see if the Blight was there.

And, oh wow, she was.

Amity’s hair was tied back as she ran, and Luz saw a white hoodie thrown over the fence which she assumed belonged to Amity because there was only one other person on the track, and they were already wearing a sweater.

So maybe Luz shouldn’t be staring, but could you blame her when the only covering Amity had on was a cropped tank top and sweatpants? Now the Noceda understood why the dress code for girls was so strict.

Shaking her head, she cupped both sides of her mouth with her hands, shouting to get the Blight’s attention. “Hey, Mittens!”

Amity’s cold golden glare landed on her from afar, and she looked pissed. “I told you not to call me that, Noceda!” She shouted back, going into a full sprint to the fence to jump over it, “I’m going to kill you!”

“Oh shit!” Luz ran up the bleachers as Amity was getting closer, “Hey, I was just teasing you! No need to get so viol– WHOA!” Amity had thrown a water bottle at her. “Calm down!”

“You bastard,” Amity cursed, “you embarrassed me, Noceda, I had to listen to Edric and Emira’s teasing for the remainder of that ride!” Oh yeah, the Blight was definitely pissed.

Luz put her hands up in surrender, “Okay, I’m sorry, jeez. Wait, is this because I called you Mittens and you screamed 'you just did!' or because I asked about your and Willow’s relationship?”

“All of the above,” Amity said. “There is no reason for you to be trying to invade my personal life, okay? Especially just to get blackmail on Willow, I’m just not that kind of person.”

The Latina sighed, sitting down now that Amity wasn’t actively attacking her. “I was just curious,” she muttered.

“Doesn’t excuse your violation of my privacy,” Amity scoffed, coming to sit next to Luz. “Anyway, forget it. I was going to tell you that when the doors open, I’m going to take you to the office so you can get your room and classes.”

“Aww, are you going to escort me?” Luz teased.

Amity glared at her through narrowed eyes; dammit, something about Amity’s eyes just got to her. “I’m not going to say no because that’s exactly what I’m going to do. You'd likely going to get lost without me, so it’d be logical to just lead you to your room and classes to make it easier in the future. And I’ll only be doing it for the next two days, okay? Afterwards, you’re on your own.”

“Got it,” Luz nodded. “So, uh. You’re fast.”

“Well, duh,” Amity scoffed, “I kinda need to be if I want to be successful in rugby.”

Luz gasped, “Oh yeah! I totally forgot you were in a sport.”

“I literally told you when we called…” Amity raised a bow skeptically. “Do you have memory problems too?”

“Nope! Just didn’t matter enough for me to actually retain the info,” Luz snickered, basking in the way she frustrated the Blight. “What do you do on your team? Like, what’s your rank or role or whatever you call it.”

“Well, due to my mass and then a bunch of other factors, Coach likes to have me alternate with Boscha between fly-half and scrum-half, which are like the most important roles in a rugby team and their path to success,” Amity explained, rubbing the back of her neck as she leaned down to bring her forehead to her knees. “Sometimes it’s stressful to be in either position but I’ve gotten used to it.”

“That’s cool and all but,” Luz chuckles, “I have no idea what either of those roles are.”

“Ugh,” Amity turned her head to scowl at Luz. “Okay, the fly-half is the one who runs the attack, organizes the defense, and decides when it’s best to kick for a certain position on the pitch. The scrum-half does a lot, so to simplify, they control the ball. But the most important part of what they do is making a good pass to the fly-half.”

“Damn,” Luz whistled, “and you alternate between those? You must be good.”

“Mhm,” Amity nodded, her ego being boosted by the fact that her rival was able to admit that she was skilled. “There’s still, like, half an hour left before they open the doors so I’m going to keep running. If you want, my bags are down there, I have leftover Panera in my backpack.”

Luz gaped, “You’re sharing your food with me?”

The Blight sighed, “I only ate half of it because I didn’t like it, so I’m not trying to waste food. So yeah, Noceda, I'm sharing my food with you.”

Luz hopped up, “Sweet!” She ran down the bleachers to where all the bags were, grabbing the grey backpack and unzipping it to fish for the sandwich. “Thank you, Blight!”

“You’re welcome,” Amity said, going down the bleachers and through the fence gate to get back on the track, doing a weird jig in which she did high knees three times before running again.

The Latina watched her for a minute longer before looking back down at all the bags, “I wonder what weird kind of shit she has in here.”

She kneeled down and began looking into all the bags, really just seeing a lot of clothes. A lot of dark, goth-like, grunge clothing. And Luz actually thought they looked cool, maybe it’s about time that she changed her own style.

Then she found Amity’s phone and her first thought is:

What idiot leaves their phone in a Hot Topic bag while they’re running?

And her second thought:

What a bigger idiot I must be if I’m going to attempt to go through it.

Luz snickered as she sat down on the seat, trying any password combination that came to mind, stopping just before it would lock her out.

There was only one thing left to do.

She ran down to enter the track and waited for Amity to cycle around, running up next to her. “Hey Blight!”

“What are you doing?” Amity asked, a brow raised in suspicion. “You better not fucking trip me, I will cut your legs off.”

“Goddamn, you’re violent,” Luz blinked, contemplating if this would be worth it.

Oh, what is her conscience saying, of course it was!

She quickly swiped up the screen, showing the Face ID, then turned the phone to capture Amity’s face in it. Amity snapped, “Noceda, that’s my phone!”

“Yeah, I know!” Luz cackled as she quickly ran the other direction, trying to see as much as she could on the Blight’s phone before she’d inevitably catch her.

Which wasn’t too long later, because not even a minute went by before Amity tackled Luz, making her fall face first into the rubbery red material of the track. That was going to leave a couple scratches.

“Give me back my phone, you absolute heathen,” Amity hissed, sitting on top of Luz to keep her down while trying to get her phone that Luz was hiding underneath her. “Why are you like an overgrown child!”

“Because I am an overgrown child,” Luz said, wincing when Amity started to scratch her as she tried to lift her up. “There has to be some fucked up shit in this thing if you don’t want me in your phone.”

“No,” Amity refuted, “I don’t want you in it because it’s not yours! I will kill you right here, right now if you don’t give me back my—”

“Amity Blight!” Called a female voice, causing both teens to look up. Here came a woman with mid length, black hair, making hurried strides over to them. “Get off of her this instant!”

“Mrs. Gay!” Amity quickly got off of Luz, letting her up. “I’m not even doing anything!”

“I just watched you tackle this poor, defenseless girl, Amity,” Mrs. Gay countered. “That’s a lot more than nothing.”

“What- But- She-!” Amity sputtered, frantically knitting her hands in her hair, “I didn’t fucking do anything!”

“You need to calm down,” Mrs. Gay instructed, and Luz was just listening and watching this.

Luz cleared her throat, “Ma’am, if I may, you’re being way too harsh on Amity. She and I became friends over the break and she’s going to be showing me around the school since I’m new.”

Mrs. Gay raised a brow, frowning as she glanced between the two of them, “Are you sure you want Amity to be the one showing you around? We can get someone a lot nicer to—”

“I’m sure,” Luz interrupted, “And as for what you just saw, it was my fault. I took her phone as a joke, obviously she’d want to get it back by any means possible.”

The woman watched as Luz handed back Amity’s phone. “Sorry,” she said to the Blight.

Mrs. Gay huffed, “Well then, okay. But Amity, you will likely be pulled from your 3rd and 5th periods to speak with me, and because of your outburst to your siblings and what they told us, you’re going to go to your room immediately after classes are over.” She looked at Luz, then Amity again, “Classes are also going to be shorter today because of our late start, so make sure you're actually going to give this student here a good tour of the campus, you only get so much time.”

Amity looked down, and that was the first time Luz had seen her so hurt. It actually hurt her a bit too. “Yes ma’am,” Amity whispered, sounding like a kicked kitten.

“Good, you two only have 15 minutes before the doors open, I’d suggest that you start getting ready to go.” And with that, the evil counselor woman went away.

“Blight, are… are you okay?” Luz asked, putting aside her shenanigans because she wasn’t that mean of a person that she’d continue to torture an already tortured person. “I’m sorry that I got you in trouble, I was just trying to have fun.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Amity crossed her arms, quickly wiping her face, probably to wipe away tears before they fell. “Don’t touch my shit, got that?”

Luz nodded, “Yep.”

Amity stormed away from Luz to go grab her stuff, the Latina following more slowly. She didn’t mean for Amity to get reprimanded like that by anyone, but now, Luz had a goal: find and scare Mrs. Gay because she hurt Amity, and not because Luz cared but because only Luz could do that to Amity. Luz was definitely lying to herself about not caring.

—End—

Chapter Text

“So this is my room?” Luz tilted her head as she walked into her assigned room on campus, Amity just behind her. “It’s bigger than my room back at Eda’s house!”

“Well, yeah. They give you a bedroom, a closet, and bathroom, so it’s like an apartment,” Amity said, slowly walking into the room and looking around.

Luz hummed, “Sweet, no kitchen though?”

“Used to have them,” Amity sighed, “Something happened with a past student here and they had to get rid of them.”

“What happened to the student?” The Latina set her bag on top of her bed, turning around to see Amity standing rather stiffly near the closet.

“They died,” the Blight said, and suddenly it was quiet. Amity cleared her throat, “Things happen, just don’t let them happen to you.”

“Right, and now I’m sure that this place isn’t a school but rather an asylum disguised as one,” Luz chuckled, trying to ease her own nerves. “We have time before class is supposed to start, since it’s only, what? 8 something? Class won’t start until 9 and you have to show me around so surely you’ll be excused if you’re tardy or something.”

“I dunno,” Amity muttered, “I wouldn’t want to risk getting into more trouble so I’ll just show you to your classes today and text you a map of this building.”

Luz frowned, “Rules are made to be broken, Blight, lighten up, will you?”

Maybe that wasn’t the right thing to say. Definitely not, Amity was glaring daggers at her. Well, Luz tried.

“Rules are made to be followed ,” Amity hissed, “And I will not “lighten up” because it always gets me into more trouble.”

“Well, we’re already here, a place where troubled people and actual trouble thrive, why not go down with a bang?” Luz suggested, but why is she continuing on this tangent? She’s clearly pissing Amity off.

Amity rolled her eyes, “You’re stupid.” The Blight pivoted on her heel to stride out of the room, Luz making sure her phone was on her before chasing after Amity. “It really does depend on your definition of “bang” in this context.”

“I mean, any way is fine, I suppose. If you want an explosion, a gun, or just a good time, you know where I am,” Luz chuckled.

Amity looked at her with a grimace, “The last person I’d ever willingly visit to sate whatever sinful urge I have is you, Noceda. If anything, we’d be at each other's throats.”

“Oh yeah?” Luz smirked, “In what way, Blight? Don’t tell me you have a choking kink, actually, that would explain the chokers you wear. Is this why you had bruises with Willow?”

“Didn’t I tell you I’m not telling you about mine and Willow’s relationship? I swear I did,” Amity huffed, continuing to stride down the hall. “But don’t flatter yourself, Noceda, I wouldn’t dream of your hands on me.”

Luz snorted, “Feisty, I like that.”

“Fuck off, Noceda,” Amity puffed up her cheeks, which were lightly dusted in pink, likely in embarrassment or frustration.

The Latina put her hands up in surrender, giggling. Then she grunted when she felt a hand on her chest. Looking down, she saw a girl, roughly Amity’s height, with dyed hot pink hair. Such an eyestrain to look at.

“Who are you and why are you antagonizing my friend?” She demanded, thick arched brows furrowed, and gray-blue eyes narrowed up at Luz.

“ Chill ,” Luz grinned, which only pissed the girl off more. “She’s my tour guide for the this week, it’s not like I’m trying to court her or anything. We’ve both made it very clear we hate each other’s guts.”

The girl looked to Amity and the Blight groaned, nodding. “It’s true. Will is having my babysit this doofus for the week so she doesn’t die.”

“I’m not a doofus!” Luz rebuked.

“Oh shut the fuck up, will you?” Amity sneered, “You’re so annoying.”

“You say that like you’re not,” Luz crossed her arms, glowering down at Amity who mimicked the stance. Well, she couldn’t cross her arms, there were too many bags in her hands.

Amity made a rumbling sound in her throat, “ Anyway. Hi, Boscha, it’s nice to see you.”

“Obviously,” the girl, Boscha, said. “My presence is a blessing, bask in it while I’m here.

Luz scoffed, muttering under her breath “Entitled bish.”

“Sure,” Amity laughed, and Luz caught sight of her teeth– don’t ask why Luz is looking– realizing that Amity must’ve had a teeth recontouring appointment with a dentist for her canines, which were exceptionally and uncannily sharp.

Luz’s more perverted side helpfully provided the thought of them digging into her skin, of course, not Amity’s specifically. No, of course not.

“Anyway, Noceda, this is Boscha, Boscha, Noceda,” Amity half assedly introduced the two.

“Your name is Noceda?” Boscha snickered, “That’s a name if I’ve ever heard one.”

“Coming from the person named Boscha,” Luz remarked, “Takes one to know one. My real name is Luz, and only Blight here gets the privilege of referring to me as my last name. Well, and Willow, but they’re not here.”

Boscha gasped, “Why I oughta–!”

Luz, being the child that she is, patted her chest twice, as if she were a male silverback gorilla challenging an opponent to a fight of dominance, “Come at me!”

Amity, being the more mature person, stepped in before Boscha could make a move. “Can you not, you two? There’s literally 20 minutes before class and I’d like to be able to have time to actually take Luz to hers.”

The pink haired girl grumbled but nodded, “Yeah… I’ll just go find Skara. I’ll see you later, Amity.”

“Bye,” Amity said, putting all the bags in her right hand in her left, grabbing Luz’s sleeve with the now empty hand to drag her along. “Do you want to get into trouble, Noceda? You haven’t even actually gone to your first period and you’re already starting shit.”

Luz huffed, “You’re not my mom, you can’t tell me what to do.”

“God, you’re a junior in highschool, Noceda, act like it,” Amity groaned.

The Latina shut up, she couldn’t really argue with that. Getting dragged by the Blight did catch a couple looks from the people they passed, but Amity ignored them so Luz did too. Eventually though, Amity did release Luz and reached for the key in her backpack to unlock and open the door to her assigned room.

Luz contemplated going in the room or not, Amity didn’t exactly invite her in so it’d be rude if she did, but on the other hand—

“Are you coming in or what?”

“Uh!” Luz needed to get control of her stuttering. “Yeah, yeah, I’m just… um. Yeah.”

Amity appraised her skeptically, eyebrow raised. “Okay then…”

The Blight set her bags down in her closet, kneeling down to dig into the bags for something. Luz just looked around; Amity’s room was no different from Luz’s, the only major difference being that the Blight’s room was way more decorated, with all the posters of numerous bands that Luz had never heard of.

Well, she recognized one. 

“You listen to metal?” Luz asked, taking notice that some of the posters were of Album covers to Slipknot songs.

Amity let out a grunt from her closet, still digging into her bags, “I mean, I don’t just listen to metal, I extend into EDM and occasionally pop, but nowadays, it’s all getting quite repetitive so I just search into classic songs.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” Luz uttered, looking up at the ceiling to see a bunch of sticky notes. “And uh, what’s all of this?”

“All of what?” Amity turned her head back to look at Luz, seeing that the Noceda was looking up. “Oh,” she sucked in a breath, “Just personal reminders, just ignore them.”

Luz frowned, “How can I ignore them when this one is a drawing of a corpse? Does the staff not ever take these down?”

Amity quickly jumped up, finding the one Luz mentioned and jumping up to take it off the ceiling. “Because usually I dispose of ones like these before they check.”

“Oh,” the Latina said, watching Amity crumple and rip the sticky note into shreds before throwing it away in the trash bin under her bed. “Would you want me to like, I don’t know, check for any others?”

The Blight glared at her through narrowed eyes, biting onto her lip in thought. Then she sighed, “Fine, I’m going to change while you do that, I don’t want to go to class in sweats.”

“Uh,” Luz gulped, “Okay, I’ll just… um.”

Amity scoffed, a small grin gracing her features as she went to pick up what she took out of her bags before going into the bathroom, closing the door behind her, leaving Luz alone.

Time to snoop, like any friendly enemy would if they could.

Luz went to the desk in front of the window, opening the drawers to search each one. Nothing interesting, just essentials like pens and pencils and more packs of sticky notes and other things. The room was so neat, Luz wasn’t sure if Amity made it that way herself or if it was done by staff.

Sighing, Luz just sat down on the bed and pulled out her phone, pulling up Willow’s contact.

You: It’s so BORING here and I haven’t even started class!!

Glasses: uhhhhhhhhh i mean- ye it’s not an amusement park

You: I’m more than aware Willow, thanks.

Glasses: is Amity helping you?

You: Uhh, for the most part, yeah. She’s gonna show me around the school, but she got in trouble this morning bc of me so she’s not going to be able to show me everything today

Glasses: godammit Luz
Glasses: Alright, all seriousness, don’t be fucking shit up, okay? Amity’s had a hard enough life and I did you a favor by convincing her to bother helping you. She’s probably going to rant abt whatever you did tonight when she texts me, and I swear on my life, I will inject air into your veins if I find out that you attacked a vulnerable topic on her part.

You: …
You: I swear that all I did was take her phone, nothing else

Glasses: I will find out. 💉 

Luz gulped, Willow had told her before about how injecting air into the veins would induce a heart attack, so reasonably, Luz hoped Amity wouldn’t exaggerate the truth.

Finally though, Amity came out from the bathroom, dressed in a different outfit than before. Like, way different. A white turtleneck tucked neatly into black, high waisted dress pants, fitting her snugly. Maybe a bit too snugly seeing how tight-fitted it was to… certain areas.

It was strange, for Luz, to see Amity wearing something completely opposite of what she had seen her in before they had even entered Hexside’s campus. The emo/grunge/gothic look she had previously based Amity on had been changed.

And Luz accepted the change wholeheartedly.

“Wow,” she said, “You look professional. Like a teacher.”

Amity raised a brow, eyeing the Latina for oddities before checking herself to make sure there were no untucked parts to her turtleneck. “Right, I thought I said this before but you want to change out of the baggy clothes. Remember how I said it’ll make you more of a target to search for lethals?”

“Um, yeah,” Luz choked out, “I remember.” She stood up, “But does that mean I have to wear something like that? It’s so… um, I don’t know. I feel like it would bring too many eyes on me.”

“Then don’t wear something like this,” Amity rolled her eyes, approaching Luz and pulling off the Latina’s jacket. Luz yelped, pushing Amity away.

“I was joking about it earlier! I don’t actually wanna… you know,” Luz said, bringing her jacket back up and shrinking into it. “Trying to stay clean until I meet the right person, I'm sure you’ll understand.”

Amity looked pissed, probably because Luz pushed her, but then she seemed to have connected the dots. Her jaw dropped, and she all but shrieked, “WHAT?! That is not what I was doing!”

Luz groaned, embarrassed now. “Then what were you doing?”

“I was just trying to have you shed the extra layer! Your jacket has a bunch of pockets, I’m not trying to have you get pulled aside by the campus security!” Amity’s face was flushed red, she threw her hands up and pushed them back to fist at her hair. “I can’t believe you actually thought I was trying to- to- you know!” The Blight turned around and paced, “ Whyyyyyyyy ?”

“Sorry,” Luz muttered, and then it was quiet.

There was tension, and it was just so painfully awkward. Luz made the move to pull off her jacket, rolling it up into a bundle and holding it to her chest. “There..”

Amity stopped pacing and looked to Luz, and the Latina watched as the Blight dug her nails into her own skin, leaving red crescent marks in the pale tone. “Okay,” Amity whispered, “Would you want to just leave that here so we don’t have to walk back to your room?”

“Um, sure,” Luz nodded, giving it to Amity. The Blight folded it and placed it up on the shelf in her closet, closing the door to it after. “Sorry again for, um, assuming that… yeah.”

“Mhm,” Amity tapped her foot against the ground, “It’s fine, but let’s move on from it, we only have a short amount of time before class starts so give me your schedule.”

Luz reached into the pocket on her jeans, pulling out the folded slip of paper that held the 6 classes she’d be taking during this semester. The four core classes and two electives.

The Blight scanned the paper, then huffed. “We have the same 4th and 6th so that’s our physical education class and drama.”

“What? I thought P.E. is a freshman course?” Luz tilted her head, taking back her schedule from Amity to fold it back up and put it in her pocket.

Amity sighed, “I’ll explain while we walk to your class, come on.”

The pair left the room, Amity locking the door behind them. The Blight walked off and Luz followed, and honestly, it made Luz feel like a puppy and she didn’t know how she felt about that.

“So, in other schools, P.E. is just a freshman class, unless you didn’t take it and then you took it in a later year. Well, here, it’s every year,” Amity explained. “I forget exactly why it’s this way but it has something to do with the fact that they don’t want students to get lazy and to encourage them to join school sports.”

Luz nodded, “Okay, I guess that makes some kind of sense.”

“Yeah, and the only people that don’t take P.E. are obviously the ones that are disabled in some way or have some condition that excuses them from the course,” Amity said.

“So, you said that it’s also to encourage students to join a sports team, do they have flyers in there? Or, like, I dunno, recruiters?” Luz cursed her inability to speak clearly, concisely, and confidently, it was annoying.

“Uh, they have posters that show practice dates and times, and sometimes a coach from certain teams may visit but nothing else, really,” Amity shrugged. “I was invited to the rugby team because I had experience in soccer from middle school, and also football from my brother. I forget why I actually decided to join though.”

Luz looked down at Amity, seeing how she was looking ahead of her with her strong gaze, but her fingers were pulling nervously at her nails. She wasn’t as confident as she seemed to be, Amity is vulnerable too. Who would’ve thought?

Her eyes widened then at another realization.

Amity’s opening up to me.

Say something!

“Oh, um.”

Kill me.

“That’s cool though,” Luz said, getting back some level of cognitive ability, “They noticed you for your skills, it must be nice to have some acknowledgment, right?”

“I suppose,” Amity murmured. She sighed, stopping at a door with a sign on the front that said in bold letters: THIS IS A SAFE PLACE.

Luz didn’t feel safe.

“We’re here,” Amity said, crossing her arms. “Just do what you’re told and nothing will go wrong. Easy enough, right?”

“Yeah, easy.” The Latina pulled down on the helm of her shirt, tucking a part of it into her jeans. “This school gives me more nerves than going to the dentist.”

Amity chuckled, “That’s normal.” She’d punch Luz in her arm, bringing the Latina’s gaze down on her. “Good luck, loser.”

And with that, Amity left, striding down the hall to head off to her own class before the bell pronounced her to be tardy. Luz sighed, looking back at the door to her class, she quickly removed her beanie and shoved it into her pocket, though it just hung out slightly due to it being larger than her pocket.

Bringing her hands through her hair to comb it back, Luz turned the handle to the door and stepped in.

Amity Centric Now

Amity had just barely entered her class on time, which was acknowledged by the teacher because of how pristine Amity’s record is and how he doesn’t understand how she could’ve been so late (even if still on time). “Ms. Blight,” he had said, “You’re usually in the class before I am, what’s with the tardiness today?”

“I wasn’t tardy,” Amity scowled, making her way through the classroom setup to get to her desk in the back, near the window. 

“Fashionable lateness, then,” the teacher amended, except he was still wrong and it was taking a lot of effort on Amity’s part not to curse at him.

“Sir, I entered class before the tardy bell, just because I didn’t enter at the time that I typically do, it doesn’t make me late,” she said, grabbing her utensils from the desk compartment. “And, if time really is such a concern to you, then you’ve wasted exactly 3 minutes and 25 seconds continuing on this topic. 28 and counting. 29–”

He huffed, raising his hand to stop Amity, “Whatever, just try not to make this a habit.” And then he went back to the lesson.

Amity glared intensely into his back, and she knew he knew that she was, he shuddered and looked back and saw it. She narrowed her eyes and he immediately looked back at the chalkboard.

As he should .

She pulled her notebook from the desk, going all the way to the back page where she scribbled when she wasn’t actively paying attention. She had scribbles of her siblings, her parents (which were surrounded by a flame), Willow (an old drawing of them, from when Amity and Willow were together, it was decorated with many, many hearts), and then flowers like Myosotis sylvatica (more commonly known as Forget-Me-Nots), also Red Spider Lilies, Chrysanthemums, you know, any flowers that were associated to death in some way.

Amity’s allowed to be morbid, shush.

But this time, the Blight wasn’t sure what to draw. Should she draw the cat plushie her siblings got her? Maybe she should draw Tiny Nose, or miniature doodles of Azura and Hecate fighting.

If it wasn’t obvious, Amity usually drew the things that she experienced over her breaks, or things that had some significance in her life.

…

Should I draw Luz then?

It wasn’t like she actually liked Luz, no, never, but she met the Latina over her break and they would interact for the rest of this week, then separate before next week began. She wasn’t drawing Luz because she was interested in the girl, but rather because she was new. Everything about Luz was unfamiliar, and Amity hated anything unfamiliar, and so she hated Luz.

Obviously.

Amity blinked. She hadn’t even realized that she’d already drawn 3 different Luzes. One malicious looking one with devil horns, another that appeared to be happy with Luz’s signature wide grin that showed off all of her teeth, and the third was flustered, just like earlier when Luz assumed that Amity was about to—

Ew.

Narrowing her eyes, she quickly wrote down Stupid Noceda above the doodles, then, just like she did with the drawing of her parents, she encased them in a flame. Perfect.

And class went on like that, with Amity ignoring the teacher and the lesson and the passing of time. She had forgotten what Mrs. Gay told her about the classes being shorter today and before she knew it, without even knowing about it, the class was putting all their items back in their desks and leaving.

She gasped, shooting up from her seat and quickly putting her things back into her desk. Completely ignoring her teacher who tried to stop her, she hurried out of the class because she knew exactly what he was going to say but she had a task for today, and that was to keep her rival from getting into trouble.

Amity was coming around the corner when she nearly ran into the person she was looking for, Luz. She let out a relieved breath that the Latina didn’t do anything stupid. “Woah,” she said to the shorter girl, a smirk on her face, “What’re you running from, Blight?”

“Huh?” Winded Amity said, tilting her head until her brain caught up and she cursed herself for being so slow. “Oh, no. I just… I lost track of time and had to hurry to make sure that you didn’t do something stupid.”

“God, then where were you when I was in class?” Luz grumbled, her mood dropping, “That was a bore.”

Amity chuckled, cocking her hips to the side and placing her hands on them, “No, really? It’s English, Noceda, of course it’s boring.”

“Yeah but they’re in there reading some stupid play! Uh, uh, what’s it called? Oh! The Doll House, super dumb,” Luz said, snapping her fingers when she got the answer.

The Blight would appreciate having Luz’s enthusiasm and energy, she always felt exhausted and maybe Luz is why. She’s been sucking out her energy even before they knew each other and this new proximity is strengthening the process, tiring out Amity even more.

Or maybe Amity is experiencing burnout. That wouldn’t be good.

“Oh, that? It’s actually really simple,” Amity muttered, “Nora ends up—”

“Don’t spoil it!” Luz shouted, throwing her hands out to grasp Amity’s shoulders, shaking the girl a bit. “I said it was boring, not that I wasn’t just the slightest bit intrigued by it!”

“...You’re insane,” Amity said.

“Mayhaps,” Luz shrugged.

Amity glanced at Luz's hands on her shoulders and scowled, snapping, “Hands off.”

“ Eep! ” Luz’s hands quickly retreated, flying up into the air as if surrendering. “Sorry, I’m just all jumpy. It happens when I’ve been in one place for too long without anything to do.”

The Blight appraised Luz skeptically, she doesn’t understand why but Luz is acting completely different as to when they originally met. She wanted to believe that it was because the Noceda finally retained it in that thick skull of hers that Amity wouldn’t hesitate to murder her (or, what she really meant, was that Amity’d stop helping Luz).

But no, Amity knew deep, deep down that there was another reason, and it scared her that she didn’t know what that reason was.

“Anyway,” Luz broke into Amity’s thoughts, “We should probably get going, eh?”

Amity nodded, “Yeah, sorry, my mind is kinda… elsewhere.”

“It’s fine,” Luz assured, “Happens to me all the time, one second I’m talking about Azura stuff and the next, I’m ranting about how I hate watermelons with seeds.”

“What?” Amity narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brows, and she should probably learn to accept that Luz will always find a way to confuse her. “That doesn’t even– Oh wait, that’s the point.”

Stupid Amity , Amity chided herself.

“Um,” Amity shook her head, “Let’s just go.”

Luz shrugged and nodded, and Amity turned around to start leading Luz to her next period. But, as it seemed, Luz thought that the silence was boring and decided to start a conversation. “Hey, you know what else Gus told me?”

Amity just sighed, shaking her head, “No, Noceda, I don’t know. What did he say?”

“He told me how you’re British,” the Latina grinned, and oh no, Luz was totally about to tease her about it. “And he actually sent me clips of your accent before you got a dialect coach to sound like an actual American.”

The Blight groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose, of course Gus had clips like that. “I’d prefer if we didn’t talk about my accent, thank you, that was such an embarrassing point in my life.”

“What do you mean? You literally spoke like that throughout your childhood until you were 9! And British accents are hot, you could say anything and instantly turn people on, don’t you know how many people would love that ability?” Luz said, rather enthusiastic about it.

“Ew,” Amity grimaced, “I think I’m happy that that’s not the case for me then.”

Luz gasped, “Ask me for a bottle of water!”

“Why would I– oh.” Amity stopped and turned around with a scowl already settled in her features, “I’ve gone so long in my life without that accent that I’m not even sure that I have it anymore, and no, I’m not falling for that trap even if I did.”

“You don’t just get rid of an accent, Blight, you can cover it up all you want, but it’ll always be a part of you,” Luz smirked, “And I bet that sometimes, even you slip up. So, come on, say something in your English accent for me, anything.”

“You fucking idiot,” Amity huffed, “I’m not doing it, so enjoy the clips of small, English me, because I’m not bringing that back.”

“Awww,” Luz pouted, her bottom lip jutting out like a puppy as if that would convince Amity’s inconvincible mind. “Fine, but one day, I’ll get to hear your accent and find out about you and Willow.”

“God, the day that happens, make sure to kill me,” the Blight groaned, hating the idea of either situation. “What gain do you get out of that anyways? It’s not like it gives you an advantage.”

“Simply for pleasure, Blight,” Luz smiled, “Plus, it would give me an advantage. Because I’d know how to really get under your skin, and you know that I’ve taken a liking to your reactions, right? You’re more expressive than you think.”

Amity rolled her eyes, then thought about it and shot a look at Luz. “Shut up.”

Luz giggled.

“Hey, just wondering,” Luz began slowly, actually taking the time to think about what she was saying. “Where’s the, uh, counselor lady’s office?”

“Why do you need to know?” Amity asked, it was Luz’s first day so she was more than sure that the girl wouldn’t need to visit Mrs. Gay. “Did something happen in your first class?”

“No, no,” Luz assured quickly, “I just… it’s important information, to know where the counselor is so…” She trailed off and Amity glanced at her. “Nevermind, don’t worry about it, I’ll worry about it some other time.”

Amity sighed. “Mrs. Gay’s office is across the hall from the main office, so where we went to get your schedule, just look on the other side of that hall.”

The Latina blinked, a small smile sneaking its way onto Luz’s face, “Thanks Blight, appreciate it.”

“Mhm.” Amity crossed her arms, and started slowing down when they were getting closer to Luz’s class. “Here we are, have fun with Ms. Peters, she’s kinda harsh. I had her last year for Math II, she likes to give out a lot of work.”

“Math II?” Luz tilted her head.

“Right, right, you’re from another school and they probably have a different name for it, Math II is Geometry,” Amity clarified, “Math III is kinda the same, but like, more in-depth geometry and review of what you learned in Math II.”

“Oh,” Luz said, “I’ve never been a fan of geometry, my highest grade was a C+.”

Amity, as a natural reaction, grimaced, as she herself was a straight A student, and in some classes, she had grades higher than 100% because of extra credit. Quickly fixing her expression, she rubbed the back of her neck, “I mean, I could always get you a tutor, I know a lot of people that will help out for really cheap prices.”

“Nah, I don’t need a tutor. I know what I’m doing, but the lesson never really clicked with me so I just slacked off,” Luz shrugged.

“That’s stupid. If you’re good at it, just do it,” Amity narrowed her eyes.

“Coming from a future Ivy League college student,” Luz chuckled, combing her hair back with her fingers. “I should probably go in now, and you should also get going, you have like–” She checked her nonexistent watch, “I’m going to guess 5 minutes.”

Amity looked up to the clock on the wall above the classroom next to Luz’s, “Actually 3, bye Noceda.” And then she dashed away, knowing that her class was literally on the other side of the school and if she didn’t hurry now, she was definitely going to be late.

She bursted into her class rather unceremoniously, the entire class looking at her. Looking up at the clock, she internally cheered that she was on time, but just barely. “Sorry,” she apologized breathlessly, “I had to show a new student to her class, I’ll try to get here on time tomorrow.”

“Nonsense,” said the teacher, Ms. Keleger, from her chair, pen in hand as she had been grading essays from her previous class. “I’m glad that you are interacting with new people, Amity, more so proud that you’re even helping them.”

“Uh, right,” Amity nodded. “Sorry for bursting through the door though,” she chuckled.

“Trust me, I’ve had to deal with much worse entrances,” Ms. Keleger laughed, “Please, just take a seat so we can get started.”

“Yes ma’am,” Amity said, rushing to her seat in the middle of the class. She was aware of all the eyes on her but with a sharp, intimidating glance to each of her peers, they were all casted away from her.

Ms. Keleger told her students the assignment, to write an essay on the short excerpt of the novel, The Giver by Lois Lowry. Amity had actually read the book before, more than once if she was being honest, and she always found it so addicting, because every time she reread it, she realized things that she missed the other times.

So, because of her knowledge of the book, she was able to quickly write her 2,500 word essay with it still looking professional even in the 15 minute span that it took her. Which left her 45 minutes of class time to do whatever the hell she wanted.

Pushing herself up from her seat, Amity makes her way to Ms. Keleger’s desk, clearing her throat to get her attention. “Yes?” The woman looked up from her monitor, she must’ve been entering grades for the students in the last period.

“I finished my essay,” Amity said, handing it to the teacher, “May I use the bathroom?”

Ms. Keleger examined the essay, a pleased smile on her face. “You may, I’ll get started on grading your paper.”

Amity nodded before quickly leaving the class, pulling her phone from her bra to bring up the group text she had with Ed and Em.

You: Hey, are you guys free?

Drama Queen: Define ‘free’

You: Not busy.

Drama Queen: Then no, I’m not free, currently filing papers.

You: Dammit.

Drama King: I ammmmmmm~

You: No, nope. I’m good, I’ll just call tonight

Drama King: Wha- that’s not fairrr :’(

You: Life’s not fair.

Drama King: WOW.

Amity snickered, turning off her phone and shoving it back in her bra, making her way to the bathroom now.

Luz Centric Here

Luz groaned, slouching in her chair from boredom. Ms. Peters had given them a packet and told them that it was due the next day and that all their work had to be on paper, and Luz despised, with every fiber of her being, packets.

She had managed to get through a page of the work before giving up entirely, and now she’s thinking that maybe she should take Amity’s offer to get a tutor, but not to teach her how to do the work, but to do it for her.

But Luz wasn’t that lazy, she took pride in her work, but that didn’t mean she had to like the work.

Luz raised her hand, waiting impatiently for Ms. Peters to slowly walk her way to Luz’s desk. “Yes?” she said once she got there.

The Latina dropped her arm, “Please, please let me go to the bathroom,” she said with absolute desperacy, even adding to the lie by bouncing her legs.

“Lordy, whatever, yes, go,” Ms. Peters said, taking a step back for Luz to exit her seat and practically bolt from the class.

“Haha!” She cheered when she exited the class, and instead of going to the bathroom, she was going in the direction of the office. Mrs. Gay was about to witness Luz’s wrath.

“I think that you were being rather harsh on Amity, ma’am,” Luz said thoughtfully, hands behind her back and standing upright to add to the formality of her visit. “She didn’t do anything wrong, I did. And I don’t think you should pull out of class for these reasons.”

Mrs. Gay blinked, then sat back in her chair. “Luz, I looked at your file when I had first heard we were getting you as a student, and I already knew you were trouble. I’m not dragging Amity from her class because of this morning’s incident, I’m doing it because you’re interacting with her.”

“What?” Luz’s brows were tight knit in confusion.

“You have a record,” Mrs. Gay clarified, “Fighting, smoking, drinking, alleged drug dealing; I’m worried you are going to ruin the progress Amity has made here.”

And Luz dropped her hands, clenching them at her sides. “Progress? What progress ? Amity is miserable and, if anything, has a shorter fuse than she did before! I have friends that have known Amity since she was a kid, she had such a bright future and this school took that from her!”

“She took it from herself,” Mrs. Gay said, pulling a file from a drawer to her right side.

Amity’s file .

“Hexside Academy staff are here to guide students down the right path, a path that doesn’t include violence, or drugs, or alcohol. Amity was a little ball of sunshine once, that is true, but she made a mistake,” Mrs. Gay opened the folder. “And I’m sure you’ve heard it many times before, but she set a young girl’s hair on fire .”

Luz looked down when Mrs. Gay took out a picture and slid it forward. “Elicia Evergreen, this was her after the incident.”

“Okay, but,” Luz winced seeing all the burns on the girl’s head and face, but there was a reason why she came here, and it was not to judge Amity. “Amity’s not violent like that anymore, besides, she– she probably wouldn’t have done that unless she was provoked! That girl must’ve done or said something that snapped Amity’s last nerve.”

Mrs. Gay sighed, “So maybe the girl teased Amity a bit, that does not justify lighting a girl on fire.”

Luz bit her lip, the counselor got her there. “I believe you’re supposed to be in class anyway as I was not alerted of a student coming to my office, so do yourself a favor and go back, or I will call in someone who will make you.”

The Latina clenched her fists tighter, trying to calm down before she lashed out. Sighing, she nodded, saying with forced politeness, “Of course, goodbye ma’am.”

Storming out of Mrs. Gay’s office, she made a mental note to confront Amity in their 4th period, since Amity likely would have just came out of her appointment or whatever it was called with Mrs. Gay.

She also noted that Mrs. Gay sucked as a counselor because she was the one pissing Luz off rather than helping her get over her confliction.

Then 4th period swung around, and Amity hasn’t said a single word to Luz since she picked the Latina up at the end of 3rd period. “Hey Blight, I know you had your little thingy with Mrs. Gay, do you wanna talk about it?”

Amity stayed quiet, just leading Luz to the back closet of the locker rooms to throw a gray tee and black shorts at her, both of which with HA on them to represent Hexside. “Cmon, Blight, talk to me. Please?”

“Why..?” Amity asked weakly, her voice shaking.

Luz blinked, “Why what? What happened?”

“You fucking idiot!” Amity immediately lashed out, catching Luz off guard and shoving her in the chest. “Why did you go to Mrs. Gay? And about me! Now she has all these other questions about me like if I have any remaining anger from when I was younger!”

Luz frowned, “I’m sorry, I didn’t think that—”

“That’s precisely it!” Amity exclaimed, pushing Luz further back. “You didn’t think and now I have to deal with the consequences of your actions.”

“I just was trying to help you,” Luz said, trying not to shout because she knew that'd only make the situation worse.

Willow was definitely going to kill her for this.

“I never wanted your help!” Amity shoved Luz again.

And Luz shoved her back.

Amity fell back into the shelf, yelping from the impact. Luz had an apology on her tongue but Amity had quickly sprung back up and leaped onto her, making her fall onto her back on the ground, and Amity took the chance to start swinging at Luz’s face.

Luckily for Luz, a girl with blonde hair (that also had a dyed pink strip) came out from the crowd they’d gathered to pull the Blight off of the Latina, Amity flailing in the arms of the girl that grabbed her. “Let me go!”

Luz scrambled back, bringing herself back up to her feet. She watched as Amity tried to fight the other girl until all of her anger died down into sobs. And it was Luz’s fault, in some way, by confronting Mrs. Gay, she set off a chain reaction that led to this moment.

And wow, that’s deep, but it’s true.

“You fucking suck, Noceda,” Amity cried, weakly grabbing at whoever’s holding her arms.

The coach was finally alerted of the situation and grabbed Amity from the girl, dragging her out. “Everyone hurry up and finish getting dressed, then go stretch, this is not an excuse to be standing around.”

Luz watched with guilt as Amity was led out of the locker room, and she could distantly hear the coach talking to her outside. “Hey, you’re bleeding,” said the girl that had grabbed Amity.

“What? Oh,” Luz touched her hand to her nose, pulling it back to see that, indeed, she was bleeding. “I didn’t even realize.”

“You were just battered in the face and you didn’t realize?” The girl snorted, “That's a high pain tolerance if I’ve ever seen it.”

The girl went to grab napkins from the container by the sinks, making her way back to clean up Luz’s face with them. “What the heck even happened?” She asked.

“I don’t really discuss personal matters with strangers,” Luz said.

“In that case, hey, I’m Amber,” the girl, Amber, introduced. “And is your name really Noceda?”

“No, me and Blight just made it a habit to refer to each other by our last names when talking to each other,” Luz chuckled, “I’m Luz.”

“Oh, that’s Spanish right? Luz means light,” Amber smiled, and Luz has never been happier that someone has been able to translate her name.

“Yeah! How’d you know?” Luz gleamed and Amber giggled.

“I’m currently taking Spanish courses with Mr. Murphy, I want to move to Spain sometime in the future after I graduate from here,” Amber said, “Might as well bring some knowledge of the language along too.”

“That’s smart,” Luz said. Amber backed up and went to throw the bloody napkins away. “You’re really nice, why are you here, I can’t imagine you doing something aggressive.”

“I’ve been here since 9th grade,” Amber said, “I attacked my dad with a hammer because he said no to something I asked for– can’t remember what it was. I had major anger issues, but I’ve since gotten over it. They’re thinking about pulling me out now.”

Luz gaped, “Really? That’s so cool, well, not the attacking your dad part, but you’re leaving! Say, how does one go about the process of leaving?”

“Well, the person who enrolled you is the only person besides the law that can pull you out, my mom was the one to enroll me but she saw how much I changed over break and is now meeting with the school throughout the week to take me out,” Amber said.

“My mom enrolled me as well, I actually just started today,” Luz chuckled.

“Welcome to Hexside then! So, now that we’re no longer strangers,” Amber began, “What was all of that about?”

“Right… Me and Blight aren’t friends, we actually hate each other, I’m sure, but we have this truce set until the end of the week to tolerate one another so she can give me tips to make it through school. But now, after this, I’m not too sure that she’ll still abide by the truce,” Luz muttered. “It’s my fault too, this morning she got in trouble because of me and I went to Mrs. Gay to fix the situation but I just made it worse.”

“If you guys hate each other so much, why’d you try to help?” Amber asked, tilting her head.

“Because, I never liked taking the blame for someone else’s thing, so I should never have that happen to someone else because of something I did, but… look how that turned out,” Luz groaned, backing up to the wall and sliding down it. “I didn’t mean to, I didn’t think that it would backfire like this!”

Amber frowned, kneeling in front of Luz, “Well, if it makes you feel any better, Amity’s always been like this. Short fuse, quick to lash out, never talks to people. She’s just not used to the change and still is referring to her old ways, she’ll probably forgive you eventually.”

“Yeah, and when is “eventually?””

“Probably never,” Amber sighed, “I don’t think I’ve met a person that could hold a grudge longer than her.”

The coach’s voice made them jump, “You have 2 minutes!”

“You should probably hurry, just find a random empty locker to put your clothes in,” Amber said, patting Luz’s shoulder before getting up and running out.

Luz sighed, pushing herself up to change quickly before the coach came in to scold her.

When she came back out, she noticed that Amity was standing beside the coach, likely to ensure that the Blight wouldn’t tackle Luz on sight.

Amber ran over to her, “Hey, we’re about to play handball, wanna be on our team?”

“Oh, yeah, sure. Give me a second though, I gotta do something,” Luz said.

“Of course! Take your time, but not too long,” Amber giggled, “Oh, before I completely forget, would you want to eat lunch with me? It’s after this class.”

Luz smiled and nodded, “Yeah, that would be awesome. Will I get to meet your friends too?”

“Ah, no, I usually sit on my own, everyone here is so— eh, you know? You seem cool though, plus you’re new, and a lot hotter than a lot of the guys here, wow.” Amber took a breath, she spoke fast. “But, I’m rambling, you go do your thing.”

As Amber ran off, Luz gaped. Did Amber just call her hot? She grew slightly red in the face from that but brushed it off, Amber was really energetic, like Luz, so it was probably just her saying it on impulse or something of the sort.

Running over to the coach, Luz cleared her throat, grabbing both the coach and Amity’s attention. “Hey, I just wanted to apologize for the mishap in the locker room. It won’t happen again ma’am.”

“I know it won’t,” the coach responded, “I’m seeing to it that you and Amity get separated from now on.”

“What? No! She’s been helping me around school, what happened in the locker room was a mistake, but you can’t separate us for it, we’re—”

“If you’re about to say what I think you are, you and Ms. Blight are not friends, and today’s incident is proof of that. You both know what you did wrong, and you’re facing the consequences for it,” the coach said.

“Please,” Luz pleaded, and wow, that was weird. “Me and Amity promise to do better, I promise.” And that was even weirder, referring to Amity by her first name in front of her. It didn’t feel right for Luz.

The coach groaned, looking at Luz then Amity then back at Luz, “Fine.”

“Yes!” Luz cheered.

“Don’t celebrate just yet,” Coach said, “I’ll have to arrange something with Mrs. Gay to have you two stay after classes are over to clean the gym, and if you both can keep from harming one another, this won’t be mentioned to any of the other staff even though that’s what I’m supposed to do.”

“Really?” Amity suddenly asked, “What if Mrs. Gay asks why?”

“I’ll tell her that you two volunteered to do it, and she’ll believe it since our custodian recently retired,” the coach shrugged, “Don’t worry about it, but do not mess up again. The way you acted was immature and you know it, Amity.”

Amity lowered her head, “Yes ma’am, sorry ma’am.”

“Mhm, go join one of the teams, you two, we’re about to start,” the coach instructed just before she blew the whistle.

Luz ran back over to Amber while Amity went to join the other team. “Hey,” Amber gleamed, “Did you get Coach to forgive Amity or something?”

“Something like that,” Luz shrugged, “Me and Amity will have to come back after classes end today to clean to make up for it, and if we don’t fight then she won’t tell anybody what happened.”

“Coach has always been really good to us like that, she’s one of, like, 5 teachers that actually give a shit about their students. If anything, she’s a better counselor than Mrs. Gay is,” Amber said.

“I feel like anyone could do a better job than Mrs. Gay, she tried to gaslight me earlier by bringing up Amity’s past, like, ma’am, I know what she did in the past, but this is the present. Like, let it go, goddamn,” Luz scoffed, “I hate her.”

“Most people do,” Amber giggled.

“Alright, a player from each team, step up, we’re doing the ball drop,” Coach said, and immediately people from Luz’s team were pushing her to do it.

“What the heck? I don’t wanna!” Luz complained.

“You’re the tallest, you just gotta smack it backwards to us,” said one of the other girls on the team.

Luz scoffed, “This is so rigged. Fine.”

Stepping into the circle in the middle of the court were Luz, the coach, and one of the girls from the other team, and Luz felt bad because this was going to be really unfair with the height difference.

The coach threw the ball up and both Luz and the girl jumped for it, Luz easily hitting the ball to her team’s side. Running towards the goal of the other team, her teammate passed it to Luz and she passed it to her teammate on the other side of the goal for them to score.

Luz’s team: 1, Amity’s team: 0.

The goalie picked up the ball and threw it across the court to their teammate, so Luz and the rest of her team went to chase after it. Amber was goalie, so when the opposing team went to shoot the ball, she deflected it, throwing it to a short blonde. But the pass was intercepted by Amity, who quickly threw the ball into the goal before anyone could react to stop her.

Luz’s team: 1, Amity’s team: 1.

Luz learned by the end of the game that Amity was very, very competitive. Luz’s team had 8 points, and Amity’s team had 13, so, needless to say, Amity’s team won.

Amber ran over to Luz and pulled her into a headlock, ruffling her hair. “We were so good!” Amber cheered.

“But we lost, ay, ¡déjame ir! ” Luz wriggled out of Amber’s hold on her.

“Who cares if we lost? We still got 8 points, that’s pretty good considering we were going against a team that had Amity on it!” Amber squealed, hugging Luz. “You’re like a good luck charm!”

“O-oh,” Luz blushed, laughing in a very flustered way, “I guess so, thanks.”

“We should probably change back into our regular attire, we leave in, like, 10 minutes,” Amber suggested, pulling away from Luz.

“Right, yeah, of course!” Luz agreed frantically, Amber laughing at her before going off to the locker room. The Latina groaned, “I’m such an idiot, seriously need to stop getting so flustered like that,” she chided herself.

Just about to enter the locker room, Luz stopped when she saw Amity standing right there at the entrance. “Uh, hey Blight,” Luz greeted, waving her hand.

“I’m sorry I attacked you,” Amity said, “I overreacted, like a lot. And thank you, you know, for convincing Coach to not tell any of the other staff about this, you really didn’t have to.”

“Oh but I did!” Luz smiled, “I still need my guide to show me around, and I wouldn’t have any other than you.”

“Oh.” Amity looked down, “Well, my point still stands, you’re not as bad as I originally thought.”

“Do I still “fucking suck?”” Luz chuckled.

“If you keep teasing me, then yes,” Amity said, a small smile on her face. “But, uh, are you already flirting with your classmates? I saw you and Amber chit-chatting.”

“I wasn’t flirting, per se,” Luz said, waving her hands around expressively, “I was honestly just getting super flustered because she’s cute, and kind, and called me hot? Yeah, I still don’t understand that.”

Amity nodded slowly, “Well, good luck with her then.”

Luz was about to respond but Amity turned and walked into the locker room. Maybe Amity’s still upset with her, that’d make sense. Quickly making her way into the locker room, Luz found the locker she shoved her clothes in and took them out to change back into them. 

As she changed, she wondered why Amity was even paying attention to her interactions with Amber, maybe the two have some past relationship? Or maybe Amity’s jealous?

…

No, Amity hates me, she doesn’t care about who I hang out with as long as it’s nobody tied to her.

So then why..?

—End—

Chapter Text

Amber.

Amity did not like her, due to previous engagements with the girl back in their freshman year. The girl reminded Amity too much of herself with her anger issues, except Amber’s fuse was much shorter than Amity’s.

She didn’t get what Luz saw in her as a friend, or if they really got along, as a partner.

Her confusion only grew when Luz told her that she was going to sit with Amber at lunch.

“Oh yeah, Amber invited me to sit with her during lunch,” Luz had said. “Apparently she usually sits on her own, so I’m actually flattered that she wants to sit with me.”

Amity grimaced to that, and Luz quickly amended what she had said. “Don’t worry! You’re still going to be my only guide, promise!”

But that wasn’t why Amity grimaced. It was because she expected Luz to want to sit with her, at her table, with her friends. Isn’t that how rivalship worked? Get to know your enemy in all aspects of their life so you can crush them later on?

So why didn’t Luz want to do that?

And this was why Amity was so quiet at her lunch table, because she was trying to think of a good reason as to why.

Casting a glance to her right, she saw Luz and Amber sitting together by the wall, laughing away at some, probably stupid, cringy joke. It made the Blight seethe, but why was she upset? She should be happy that Luz was making friends, it spared Amity from the Latina’s smug attitude.

But then she came to the thought that it was because of earlier events, Amity attacked Luz, Amity hurt Luz, and why be near someone that hurt you?

She quickly focused her gaze back to her plate of food, but she suddenly lost her appetite. She never ate when she was upset.

“Hey, Amity, are you okay? You’ve been stabbing at your salad for like, 10 minutes,” Boscha spoke up, grabbing Amity’s attention.

“Yeah, we’re getting kinda worried over here,” Skara added.

Amity huffed, looking back down, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just the normal stuff, you know?”

“Oh…” Skara frowned. “Did your parents show up during break? Is that why?”

“God, that’d be so much worse than what’s happening right now,” Amity groaned. “No, I just–”

She paused; how could she say it without giving away who she was having all these thoughts about?

“Say you have this relationship with one person, and you hate them, right? Now, what if another person you hate starts talking to them. How would that make you feel?” Amity asked.

“Is this about that girl you’ve been showing around?” Boscha asked.

Fuck you, Boscha.

Boscha tapped her chin with her fork, then looked over to where Amber and Luz were sitting. “Oh it’s totally her,” Boscha said, smirking. “You hate Amber, ever since you guys had that one project in freshman year. But I don’t really see the issue, you hate both of them, so just, I dunno, hate them more for being together.”

“Okay, but I don’t want Luz hanging out with Amber, because then Amber’s going to try to get close to me again through Luz and I don’t want that,” Amity muttered.

“You don’t want Amber interacting with Luz, or you don't want Amber interacting with you?” Skara asked.

“Either, honestly,” Amity said, “but mostly I don’t want her talking to Luz. I could tell from earlier that she probably likes Amber, and if they keep getting closer like that and Luz and I are still interacting, I don’t want Amber to hurt Luz by using her.”

Boscha shrugged, “I don’t see why you should care, as long as you and Luz stop interacting after the end of this week, then Amber won’t talk to you and she’ll probably leave Luz alone too.”

Skara sighed, flicking Boscha on her ear. “Shut up, Boscha. I think you should just tell Luz, if you just talk to her about your concerns, then she’ll understand.”

“Or, she’ll think I’m just trying to ruin her relationship,” Amity groaned, moving her plate out of the way to drop her head to the table. “Or, worse, she’ll think I’m trying to cockblock her to keep her to myself, and I don’t want her thinking that.”

“If it would help, I could talk to her,” Skara suggested, reaching across the table to pet Amity’s head in a comforting manner. “There is a reason why I’m known as The Mediator.”

Amity slowly lifted her head, “I just don’t know why I care. So what if Luz gets her heart broke? That’s not my issue.”

Boscha cheered, “Yeah, that’s the Amity I know.”

“No,” Amity grunted, “that’s not what I meant, Boscha, you’re no help.”

Shrugging, Boscha went back to eating her food (which was high in carbs and Coach C. would surely reprimand Boscha for that tomorrow at practice). Skara gave Amity a sympathetic look, “You’ll figure it out, I’m sure.”

“I hope so,” Amity muttered.

“You should eat though, practice tomorrow is going to be extensive and you’re going to need the nutrients,” Skara said. “And Boscha, maybe you should save that pizza for a snack tomorrow, your metabolism is terrible.”

“Oh shush! If we’re about to be at practice for 2 hours straight with maybe one or two 5 minute breaks, I’m going to need this,” Boscha retorted.

Both Amity and Skara shook their heads, as they knew how that would be the thing that got her in trouble when Coach C. found out.

Amity glanced back to where Luz and Amber were, finding that Luz was sitting there alone at the moment. Then someone tapped her shoulder, making her look up to see that– oh no.

“What do you want?” Amity hissed at Amber.

“Luz wants you to come join us,” Amber said.

“Tell her I said no,” Amity declined rather quickly, turning away and stabbing into the salad. “I want nothing to do with her.”

“She’s seen you looking at us, and she saw you laying on the table,” Amber muttered, crossing her arms behind her back. “She’s worried, I guess.”

Amity sighed, looking at Skara and Boscha, and they both just shrugged. “Fine,” the Blight groaned, “I’m coming.”

Closing the box holding her salad, Amity carried it with her to Luz and Amber’s table. “Blight!” Luz beamed when she sat down, “Why so gloom?”

“Because there’s nothing to be cheery about,” Amity said, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter, why did you invite me over here, I was hanging out with my friends.”

“I mean, you can always go back,” Luz shrugged, “I just thought that while we’re still on our truce that I’d make sure you’re okay. You are okay, right? I want to make sure you’re not still mad after earlier.”

“I’m fine, Noceda,” she narrowed her eyes, glancing at Amber who sat beside Luz, looking rather disinterested with the two’s conversation. “I think that I'll actually leave since I’m clearly in the middle of… something.”

Luz opened her mouth to protest but Amity was already up, picking up her box of food and carrying it back to her table, and Amber was already back to telling the Latina about things she’s experienced in Hexside.

Amity groaned when she sat down at her table with Boscha and Skara, “I want this day to end.”

“Why’s that?” Skara asked.

“Because when all of our classes are over, I have to go back to the gym to clean with Luz, that’d be the best time to warn her about Amber,” Amity replied.

Boscha furrowed her brows, “You didn’t tell her when you were over there?”

“Of course not!” Amity said, “Amber was literally sitting right there, I couldn’t say anything about her in front of her without her getting defensive and all that. I’d rather do it when she’s not there to deny my claims, and when there’s nobody to witness me actually caring, because that’d ruin my image.”

“Your image can’t just be ruined, Amity,” Boscha chuckled. “You’re the team captain of the rugby team, star athlete in track, it honestly surprises me that no scouts have bothered to confront you for your skill. Trust me, your image will be perfectly fine even if you get caught.”

Amity sighed, “Yeah, I suppose.” She pulled her phone out of her bra discreetly, hiding it under the table to check the time. “Lunch ends in a couple minutes and Mrs. Gay is probably sending someone to find me so I’m going to go ahead and go to the bathroom before the bell.”

“Okay,” Skara said, “bye!”

“Bye Skara, bye Boscha,” Amity said, picking up her box and throwing it away on her way out of the cafeteria.

She wasn’t sure why she cared about Luz, the two haven’t exactly known each other too long and they don’t have the best relationship, the only thing keeping them from literally being at each other’s throats (or, at least, keeping Amity from being at Luz's throat) is their truce, which Amity had promptly ignored in their P.E. class.

Pushing the door open to the bathroom, Amity approached the sinks, right in front of the bathroom's mirror. She turned around and lifted her shirt, wincing when she saw that being shoved into the shelf did leave a couple scratches. Curse it for being metal.

She dropped her shirt and shook her head, she could deal with the small scratches later; there were only, like, two of them that were actually bleeding. Turning on the sink water, she soaked her hands to tidy up her hair which had become unruly after the matches of handball in P.E.

The door opened and someone walked in, she made the choice to ignore them; it wasn't like she had a reason to ask them what they wanted. She was in a bathroom for crying out loud, if someone else came in, it was probably to use it for that intended purpose.

“Hey Blight,” came the familiar gruff voice and Amity internally groaned.

Amity didn’t spare a glance to the Latina, “Hey.”

“Why’d you come to the bathroom just before class? You know I need you to take me,” Luz snickered, coming up next to her and leaning onto the counter.

The Blight sighed, dropping her hands and narrowing her eyes at her own reflection. “Fun fact, 5th period is always free for our grade unless we sign up for a club or activity that needs the hour. So you could technically do whatever you want.”

“Oh,” Luz pursed her lips. “Well, are you in any clubs or activities?”

“I volunteer to help the nurses every now and again, but that’s very rarely since I’m only allowed to help when they’re short on the nurses to patient ratio or when there’s a sporting event in which a lot of people get hurt, like football,” Amity shrugged. “So no, I’m not currently in anything today. Then again, Mrs. Gay is probably going to find me and drag me to her office.”

“That sounds enjoyable,” Luz commented sarcastically, “have you ever had a good day with her?”

“No, not with her, but her daughter,” Amity grinned, turning to face Luz. “Olivia is her daughter and sometimes she comes to the school and sits in the office. She’s really sweet and she lets me draw with her, so I like those days.”

“That sounds adorable,” Luz cooed, “I’d love to get a video of you being all sweet and such.”

“Oh, shut up,” Amity went to punch Luz’s shoulder but stopped herself. “Um, sorry for attacking you earlier.”

“What? The fight? Oh no, you’re fine,” Luz laughed, waving her hand dismissively. “I totally get why you were mad. Hell, I’d be mad too if I got in trouble because of someone else and I’m seriously so sorry.”

“I forgive you but like, there was no reason for me to attack you like that, I hope I didn’t break anything,” Amity frowned.

Luz shook her head, “Nah, you’re fine. My face will probably bruise throughout the day but in the end, nothing’s broken.”

They both laughed at that, Amity covering her smile as she did so.

Luz hummed, “Why are you hiding? Let me see those pearly whites.”

“No, only the chosen few get to see me smile,” Amity scoffed, turning her face away from Luz.

“I’ve already seen your canines, they’re pretty badass,” the Latina commented, reaching to hold Amity’s face out of nowhere in her hands, using her fingers to pull apart the Blight’s lips to see them. “Bit anyone lately?”

Amity squeaked, shoving Luz off of her and wiping her mouth, “Okay, for one, that was gross. And two, no! Why would I ever bite anyone?”

“Well, isn’t that why you got the teeth recontour? Or is it just for the aesthetic?” Luz tilted her head.

The Blight groaned, crossing her arms and looking down. “They’re actually natural,” she muttered, “I don’t know why but I’m the only one in my family with larger canines and I actually really want to go to the dentist to get them shaved down.”

“Why? They’re so cool!” Luz exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air, “I wish I had teeth like that!”

“Seriously?” Amity gaped, her arms falling to her sides.

“Yeah, seriously!” Luz smiled, “Imagine all the cosplay you could do without ever needing to get fake fang dentures, that’s just– God, the power you have.”

“I don’t cosplay though,” Amity muttered.

“Well, if you did, you’d make a really hot vampire,” Luz snickered.

Amity flushed, looking away again, “Shut up.”

“Are you not used to being called hot or something? I figured that people call you that all the time,” Luz said, hanging her hands by the thumbs into her jeans’ belt loops. “Get used to it then, because I will shamelessly call you hot, simply because you are.”

“Oh my God,” Amity groaned, reaching to pinch Luz’s cheeks. “You’re infuriating, you know that?”

“Yeah,” Luz smiled, not bothered by Amity pinching her, “I’m quite aware.”

They stood there, Amity realizing what she was doing and pulling back, taking two steps away from Luz. “So… we’re cool?”

“In what way?” Luz asked.

“We are still on our truce, right? Like, the incident doesn’t change anything?” Amity was tentative as she spoke, hooking her fingers together. “I’m still your guide?”

Luz nodded, a small grin on her face. “Of course, I wouldn’t have anyone else be my guide. You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you’re starting to take a liking to me.” The Latina smirked, “Blight, are you finally warming up to me?”

“...so what if I am?” Amity muttered, crossing her arms. “I genuinely feel bad about attacking you so… maybe I am. Maybe I don't want to be rivals anymore. So what?”

That caught Luz off guard, seeing her shocked expression, like a deer in headlights. Luz fixed her hanging jaw, opening and closing it a couple times as if attempting to speak but unable to sputter anything out. “Oh,” is what she said, “that’s cool. Um. So, you wanna be friends?”

Amity's eyebrows furrowed; her gaze pointed downward. "No, not now. I still hardly know you. Try asking again another time, but not now. Today's been way too much for me."

“Oh. Yeah, okay,” Luz murmured.

The bell rang, announcing that lunch was over, and 5th period started.

Amity rocked back and forth on her heels and toes. “Wanna walk until I get dragged away?”

“Yeah, sure,” Luz smiled, “sounds fun.”

Amity returned the smile but smaller, leading Luz out of the bathroom. “Would you want to go anywhere specific?”

“I’ll go wherever you take me,” Luz said, “but preferably somewhere that I haven’t been yet.”

“Err, I can take you to the auditorium, it’s where we’ll go for 6th period,” Amity suggested. “Or there’s the indoor pool we have for the swim team.”

“How about the library? Do you have one of those?” Luz asked, glancing down at Amity.

She nodded, “Yeah, we do. It’s quite a distance though, I can’t guarantee that we’ll get there before Mrs. Gay finds and takes me.”

“Do you think she’d allow you to bring someone to your sessions?” The question was sudden, and overall, really confusing. Why would anyone willingly agree to go with Amity to her sessions?

“Um, no. The sessions are supposed to be private, and I doubt she'd want you there anyway because of how she saw us on the track,” Amity said. “Why?”

“I could go with you,” Luz replied, “keep you company and make sure she doesn’t say anything about me being a bad influence on you. Also, maybe I’m hoping that I’ll see the softer, more vulnerable side of you.”

“Ha, in your dreams, Noceda,” Amity giggled.

“I only have nightmares, Blight, you’d be a sight for sore eyes if I saw you in them,” Luz chuckled softly. “Or maybe not, because my overactive imagination might turn you into the devil or something.”

Amity blinked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion as she looked at Luz, “Why would– you know what, I don’t want to know, okay.”

Luz laughed, lightly bumping into Amity to knock her to the side. Amity smirked and nudged Luz back, getting her to stumble and trip into the wall. “God, you’re a lot stronger than you seem,” Luz muttered.

“Uh, yeah, I’m on the rugby team, I kinda need to be strong to withstand anybody that tries to shove me,” Amity said as if she were pointing out the obvious, approaching Luz and crouching. “You might have to join us for practice someday, you could use the extra exercise.”

“Are you indirectly claiming that I’m out of shape?” Luz narrowed her eyes.

“Yes, actually, I am,” Amity snickered, punching Luz’s knee. “Now get up, we can get to the library if we run.”

Luz huffed, staying put until Amity put her hand out to help the girl up, slightly stumbling forward from the force of Amity pulling her to her feet. “Keep up if you can,” Amity said, already dashing off.

“No fair!” Luz gruffed, “You got a head start.” She sighed and ran after the Blight to catch up.

Amity, wanting to show off, made a show of fancy footwork to turn around and start running backwards. “I think you’re just slow,” she giggled, “I know plenty of people who can keep up with me, so stop complaining.”

Luz glared at her, “Just curious,” she said between a gasp for air, “are these people playing in sports that require speed?”

“I plead the Fifth,” Amity smirked, “as anything I say can and will be used against me.”

“This isn’t a legal process, you can’t say that,” Luz said, and surprised Amity with the fact that she knew that. “Just say something like, I dunno, 'no comment' or something of the sort, that’d be more correct.”

“Wow,” Amity hummed. “You’re not as stupid as I thought you were.”

“What?”

“What?”

Amity giggled, turning around again to dash away from Luz. 

There was an overhanging sign up ahead that read Media Center, so Amity started to slow down, coming to a halt in front of the wooden doors. Luz followed shortly after, sounding like an old steam train that is long due for its discontinuation of use. “You,” Luz gasped, “you’re going to have to train me to run as fast as you some day.”

“I don’t have to do anything, but I will, I like watching you suffer,” Amity smiled, smacking Luz on the back. “But look, you made it, good job,” she taunted. “Say, what’s your Hogwarts house? It must be Hufflepuff.”

“I actually took the test, I’m Gryffindor,” Luz retorted, straightening her posture so she was back to standing over Amity, something that the Blight did not like. The Latina ran her fingers through her hair, fixing the mess of it before pushing the library doors open, holding it open for Amity, “You coming?”

She nodded, walking past Luz into the library, muttering “Thanks” as she passed.

“No problem,” Luz grinned, following behind Amity. “So, you’ve been here longer than most people according to Willow, do you know any, like, secret spaces within the bookshelves?”

“Like what? A book that opens up a secret room when you pull it out of the shelf it resides in?” Amity scoffed, “That only happens in fantasy shows and movies, Noceda, not real life.”

“I was just asking,” Luz shrugged.

Amity hummed, “There is a space over there in the corner with a bunch of beanbags, over there is all the romance books, one shelf has some pretty, uh, spicy ones.”

“Oh?” Luz smirked, and Amity could already sense the tease incoming, “Don’t tell me, do you read steamy books for the mere experience?”

“No comment,” Amity said, leading Luz to the area so she could see the section for herself. “They’re organized by trope rather than author for some reason, but it’s also kinda nice because it makes it easier to find some of my favorites.”

“And what’s your favorite trope?” Luz asked.

“Mostly the fake dating ones, but I also like the 'enemies to lovers' tropes,” Amity said, pulling out the book Party Wall by Cheyenne Blue. “This one, more specifically.”

Luz took it from Amity and read the blurb, “Tell me something about it?”

Amity shook her head, “Nah, you can read it for yourself.”

“Maybe I will,” Luz grinned, “then we can talk about it together. Hey, that’s what we should do! Start a book club!”

Amity crossed her arms, “We’re not even friends though.”

“Then let’s be friends,” Luz shrugged. “We had a rough start, and I’m pretty sure you still have some reservations about me–”

“That’s the truth,” Amity muttered.

“But, we could be like our own version of friends, the abusive-to-each-other kind,” Luz laughed, going to plop down into the beanbag. “I mean, we’re friends with the same people, it’d benefit us both if we learn to get along. You told me to ask later, and now is later.”

Amity frowned, for a second, she was actually quite hopeful that Luz just wanted to be friends, but no, Luz wanted the both of them to learn to get along so they wouldn’t extend their drama onto their shared friends. “I guess we could try getting along, but we're still not friends,” she muttered. 

Staying standing up, she looked around, suddenly aware that Mrs. Gay still has yet to find her and drag her off. Luz apparently had the same realization as she did, “You still have yet to be caught.”

“Yeah, I know. If I’m lucky, she’ll never find me.”

Then the PA suddenly blared into the speakers, hurting Amity and Luz’s ears. “Amity Blight, please report to Mrs. Gay’s office. Amity Blight, please report to Mrs. Gay’s office. Thank you.”

“Dammit,” Amity grumbled when the PA ended. “I should go to that.”

Luz jumped up, “Then let’s go.”

“What? She’s calling for me, not you,” Amity pointed out.

“I still want to be there, I’ll tell her off if she makes you uncomfortable,” Luz declared.

Amity scoffed, “You’d be doing that a lot then, I’m never comfortable with her.”

Luz sighed, “You’ll hardly even notice I’m there, promise.”

“Whatever, I don’t really feel like having to search for you after this is over so fine, come on,” Amity said, already walking away.

Luz quickly put the book back where Amity pulled it out from and went after the Blight, the both of them making their way to the counselor’s office together.

“So, tell me again, why’d you bring Luz along?” Mrs. Gay asked, looking from Amity to Luz and then back at Amity, “I just don’t see the reason for it.”

“I’m her guide, and she refuses to let anyone else show her around. I didn’t feel like having to locate her after our session, so I brought her with me,” Amity explained. “Can you just move on from the fact she’s here and continue so I can leave.”

Mrs. Gay hummed, writing down, “A little aggressive, you should tone yourself down a bit.”

“I’m tired of doing these, maybe if you left me alone, I wouldn’t be 'aggressive,'” Amity huffed, crossing her arms and leaning back into the couch that she sat on.

Luz sat on the ground, her eyes narrowed at Mrs. Gay, “She’s not in the best mood today, you should get this over with quickly.”

“I’d prefer if you’d stay out of this,” Mrs. Gay muttered.

“Too bad, I’m not going anywhere,” Luz clicked her tongue, shooting the counselor finger guns.

Mrs. Gay sighed, putting down her clipboard, “Either you leave this room or I’m ending this session.”

Amity flicked her gaze down to Luz, seeing her smirk.

Is she really challenging Mrs. Gay? God, she’s insane.

“Then I guess this session is over,” Luz said, getting up from the ground. “Wanna leave Blight? We still have a good 30 minutes to do what we want before our last period, then we have to go clean the gym. You know, because we volunteered.”

Amity just nodded, getting up from the couch to follow Luz out of the office. “We’re going to have a session tomorrow to make up for this Amity, and Luz is not allowed to come with,” Mrs. Gay said before she left.

“Yes ma’am,” Amity muttered, leaving the room after Luz.

“I’d say that ended in a success,” Luz grinned, and she made a gesture to put her hands into her pockets, then remembered that she didn’t have pockets to put her hands into. “Right, no jacket. This is definitely going to take some getting used to.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll adjust pretty quickly,” Amity said. “But yeah, that was the quickest visit I’ve ever had. I mean, yeah, I’ll still have to come tomorrow, but I don’t think I could deal with another one today.”

“And it’s because of me~” Luz giggled.

“Yes, it’s because of you, thank you,” Amity chuckled.

“Oh! I forgot to ask, but can we go to my dorm? I packed a lot of clothing that I don’t know if it’ll draw attention from the campus security, so I was hoping you could go through it with me,” Luz shrugged.

“Yeah,” Amity said, “I can help.”

“Awesome,” Luz smiled, “Oh, and to get you back, race you!”

Before Amity could even react, Luz bolted off, “You’re on, Noceda!” She shouted after her, laughing as she started running to catch up. 

Lucky for Amity, she didn’t have to put forth much effort in order to get ahead, and when they finally made it to Luz’s room, Amity was the victor. “Nice try,” she snickered, “but you’re going against one of the best athletes that attends this school.”

“Always so full of yourself, Blight,” Luz wheezed, winded out from running. “But yeah, you’re– phew– you’re right, I should stop trying to race you.”

“Hmph,” Amity smiled triumphantly, waiting for Luz to unlock and open the door to her room so they could go in. “You pull out the clothing you were talking about, I’m just going to sit here.”

“On the carpet?” Luz tilted her head, slowly making her way to the closet, “I figured you’d rather be on the bed, probably way more comfortable than the floor, but you do you, Blight.”

“The carpet is actually really comfortable, so I’m going to stay here,” Amity said, pulling her phone from her bra to check the time.

There was 25 minutes left of their free period, which was a pretty decent amount of time left. “Okay,” Luz spoke up, Amity’s gaze shifting from her phone screen to Luz. “So, the shirts are fine, just a little long, but I’m not too sure with the pants I packed.”

“Drop them here,” Amity instructed, patting the floor in front of her, Luz doing as she said and dropping her clothing into a pile before sitting down next to Amity. The Blight pulled out what she knew for a fact would get Luz in trouble, so the pants she had with, like, a bajillion pockets and zippers and the sweatpants that looked a size too big to even fit Luz. “Jeans will be fine, leggings are also okay, what the heck is this?”

Luz looked at Amity, watching her pull a skirt from the pile. Amity flushed, sputtering, “O-oh. I didn’t think you’d wear skirts… cool.”

“Those aren’t mine!” Luz shrieked, snatching them and throwing them from where she sat to the closet. “My closet at the house used to be Eda’s keepsake closet, there were a lot of boxes labeled ‘high school stuff’ and ‘the good days.’ I don’t wear skirts, so it was probably something I accidentally picked up from her stuff.”

“It’s not even that bad of a skirt,” Amity muttered, slowly recovering from the mental image her mind flashed her with. She pushed herself up from the ground and went to Luz’s closet to pick up the skirt, holding it against herself. “I’d wear it,” she said.

“Okay well,” Luz huffed, “you’d actually look good in a skirt - heck, you managed to rock out the whole gothic theme you wore that day I met you, not a lot of people can pull that off.” The Latina turned away, digging into the pile again, “If you want, you can have it, but if Eda ever finds out, I’m totally saying you stole them.”

Amity hummed, “You know what, I will take it, I have a lot of stuff that’ll match with this.”

“Mkay.” Luz then gasped, “I totally let this slip my mind, but I meant to also ask how’re we supposed to wash our clothes? ‘Cause I highly doubt I packed enough to actually last until our next break.”

“Every week, there’s going to be a person that goes through your room’s hall with a cart, you’ll drop your dirty clothing into the basket on the cart labeled with your room number. It’s like a mass laundry day,” Amity shrugged, “Don’t worry, you’ll know when it happens.”

“Okay, cool,” Luz smiled. “Do you think I’d be allowed to crash one of your team practices?”

“I mean, you could do it, probably aren’t supposed to though. Why do you ask?” Amity said, sitting back down by Luz to start folding up the pairs of pants that were good for wear.

“Because, if doing so means that I’ll someday get as fast as you, it’d be worth it,” Luz reasoned. “Plus, it’d probably piss you off if I was in the area.”

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Amity chuckled.

Luz looked at Amity’s technique for folding, attempting to copy it because of how neat it ended up, failing miserably. “I hate folding, how are you so good at this?”

“I’ve been folding my own clothes since I was 5, my mom taught me the ‘proper way’ and it just became a habit, not all that bad of a habit to have either, it’s actually quite useful,” Amity answered. “Though, I find it unreasonable that I had to learn so young, but whatever.”

“God, your parents sound terrible, want me to punch them in the face?” Luz suggested.

“They are awful,” Amity said, “but please don’t, while I highly doubt you’ll ever get the chance to see them, if you were to punch them, you’d get sued for more than you have.”

“Jokes on them, I’m already broke,” Luz cackled. “Wait, they can’t sue me to bankruptcy, right?”

“They can,” Amity said.

“Fuck,” Luz whispered under her breath, face contorted with disappointment. “Why would they even sue me, I’m, like, 87% sure you come from a multimillionaire family.”

“I do,” Amity nodded. “But they don’t really care about how much you have or what hardships you’ve gone through, all they care about is revenge and crushing their opponents into nothing but penniless people living on the streets. It’s the supporting reason for why I hate them so much.”

Luz blinked. “You know, the last name of Blight is very fitting for your parents, for you, I just– now that you’ve told me about them, you’re like a fly in comparison.”

Amity scoffed, smacking Luz in her arm. “Trust me, if I could snip my last name off, I’d do it, hands down, no hesitation. Sucks that I can’t do that with my blood relationship with them.”

Luz frowned, reaching out to place her hand on Amity’s shoulder. “Are you absolutely positive you don’t want me to punch them?”

“Luz!” Amity giggled, “No! Well, yes, I do, but no!”

You’re laughing, Amity’s conscience pointed out.

I know I am, Amity thought, it feels good to laugh again.

You’re laughing with Luz, her conscience edited. Your enemy. Remember?

Oh.

So, Amity shut up, clearing her throat instead and going back to folding. When she finished folding the last pair of pants, she stacked them up and carried them to the dresser at the end of the bed.

Luz, it seemed, had noticed the drastic change of atmosphere. “Why’d you go back to being frowny? We were just laughing.”

“Um,” she furrowed her eyebrows, trying to think of an excuse. “Just a memory,” she said, “it likes to pop into my head at times, kinda ruins the mood every time it happens.”

“Oh… do you wanna talk about it?” The Latina offered, and it was such a kind sentiment, but Amity made a deal; just help Luz for the week and then cut her out of Amity’s life.

Blights always keep their end of a deal.

“No, I’m fine,” Amity muttered, “I’ll get over it. And we should probably also get going, there’s only a handful of minutes before the bell rings and our last class is pretty far.”

Luz frowned, “Oh, okay. That makes sense, yeah.” The Latina pushed herself up from the floor, “Let’s go then.”

As they left the room, Amity couldn’t help but feel bad, though she wasn’t sure if she felt bad for Luz or for herself. Maybe a combination of both.

Amity just couldn’t allow herself to slip, and as her mother, the Odalia Blight, always told her: “Friends are merely distractions. There are only temporary contracts between people, and once that contract ends, so does the relationship. Do not meander with such a thing, friendship, it’s a waste of your time.”

Amity had been impressed by how much malice her mother had packed into the word, but she still followed that rule today. That’s why she’s not close to anybody, not even Willow, or Gus, or Boscha, or Skara.

Luz was no exception.

Luz Centric Here

Time seemed to pass so much slower in their drama class, it was just the teacher talking while they sat in the front row of seats in the auditorium. Luz knew for a fact that she was going to hate the class, but she’s relieved that it’s over.

Though, now she had to go clean the gym, at least she was going to be doing it with Amity, they could cheer each other on. That or distract and slow the other down.

The pair walked into the gym together, Coach C. standing in the middle of the court with a mop and a hand vac. “Ah, you both made it!” She beckoned the adolescents over, holding the cleaning supplies out to them. “One of you gets to mop the court, the other has to vacuum the bleachers. I don’t care how the two of you decide who does what, as long as there’s no fighting. Understood?”

“Understood,” they answered simultaneously.

“Lovely, you guys are free to leave when you finish, make sure to turn off the lights when you do,” Coach C. said, walking away, “Remember, no fighting!”

“She’s not going to watch us...?” Luz muttered, “That’s kinda… okay then.”

“Took the words right out of my mouth,” Amity agreed. “But regardless, I’m going to vacuum, you can mop.”

“Works for me, mopping is fun,” Luz smiled, grabbing the yellow cart with the mop in it.

Amity stared at her, “How is mopping fun? How– How did you correlate mopping to fun?”

Luz pulled out her phone, “Music, that’s how!”

“What, you’re going to dance with the mop?” Amity snickered, but when Luz didn’t say anything and began scrolling through her Spotify playlists, she paled, even though she was already paler than a cloud. “You’re going to dance with the mop, aren’t you?” 

“Ee-yup,” Luz nodded, tapping the play button on her playlist named 'bops,' the entire thing was mostly remixes. “Darn, I wish I had my speaker on me– Oh wait!”

Luz ran to the locker rooms, doing a quick look around before grabbing the speaker the Coach C. had, bringing it out and connecting her phone to it via BlueTooth. “Yesss!”

“Oh my God,” Amity murmured, taking her vacuum and marching up the bleachers to start cleaning.

The Latina grabbed the mop out of the bucket, twisting the actual mop part of it and draining some of the water out so it wasn’t excessively soaked, then slapped it onto the floor and began to extend it out and pull back, adding some fancy footwork she learned when her mom had taught her how to Salsa.

Amity laughed from the top of the bleachers, seeing Luz dancing with a mop (and almost slipping as she did) to the music she was playing. “You look stupid!” She shouted.

“What? Sorry, I can’t hear you over my amazing music and even more amazing dancing skills!” Luz cackled, doing a whole twirl with the mop.

“God, what’re you calling this style of dance? I don’t think I’ve seen it before!” Amity said.

“You know, I haven’t thought about it,” Luz called back, “I’ll have to come up with a name for it!”

“Oh yeah, definitely! Everyone’s going to want to learn,” Amity giggled.

“Does that include you?” Luz asked, glancing at Amity as she pushed the mop out ahead of her again.

Amity sucked in a breath through her teeth, “Yeah, no. I don’t dance.”

“You totally should!” Luz said, “I think you’d have a good time!”

“More like you’d have a good time laughing at me while I look like a dork!” Amity scoffed.

Luz snorted, “Yeah, you’re right. I’d totally do that!”

“I will throw something at you from up here!” Amity yelled.

“Na-na-na-na-na!” Luz taunted, wagging her hips as she did so, “Oh, better yet– bum-bum-bum-bum, bum-bum,  bum-bum, can’t touch this!”

“You’re such a kid!”

“I’m just 17!” Luz said, “Of course I’m a kid!”

“You’re almost 18, you’re supposed to be mature!” Amity giggled.

“Oh, well, in that case, I guess I’m defective! No returns, no refunds, nothing, nada, zilch!” Luz laughed, dunking her mop into the bucket to clean it and resoak. “Hey, how’s the view up there?”

“Terrible! I have to see you!” Amity replied, and Luz just knew that the Blight was smirking.

“I could say the same, but you’re so small, I actually can’t see you!”

“I’m not small!” Amity squeaked, “I’m literally 5’7, and you’re 6’1 or something, so I’m only 3 inches shorter!”

“Get on my level then, Blight,” Luz cackled loudly, sounding like an evil gremlin child that just set up a prank on someone.

“How about you get on mine!” Amity retorted.

“I'm literally taller than you, why would I shrink?"

"Well, I'm higher up than you."

"Not for much longer," Luz singsonged.

Amity scoffed, "Oh yeah, and what're you going to do?"

Luz cackled more, now sounding like a witch, “Run away, for I, the Great Witch Luzura, shall cast upon you a spell that curses you to be short forever!"

Amity gasped, “I know that you did not just call yourself the Great Witch Luzura.”

“Oh, but I did,” Luz grinned.

“You’re so much more of a nerd than I am!” Amity laughed, tripping over herself from practically doubling over.

“And I’m proud of it!”

Their shenanigans whilst cleaning went on for another 2 hours before they finished, and when they were done, they didn’t leave. Instead, they sat on the bleachers and Luz let Amity explore into her music.

“You listen to a lot of foreign songs; do you even know what half of these are saying?”

“Well, I know the Spanish ones, I’m Hispanic and my mom taught me Spanish. I don’t know what all they’re saying in the Russian or Japanese or Dutch songs, but,” Luz placed emphasis on the word ‘but,’ “they’re really good and I don’t need to know what they mean to like it.”

Amity shrugged, “Yeah, that’s a reasonable answer.”

“Show me what you like to listen to,” Luz said, leaning closer to take Amity to the search in the Spotify app. “Like, what’s your favorite song?”

“My favorite song? God, I can’t pick just one,” Amity sighed, “My top ones would probably be Love On The Brain by Rihanna, American Cliche by Finneas, and Giver by K. Flay. Those are the only ones I can really pick from the top of my head.”

“I’ll have to listen to them– well, I’ve heard Love On The Brain , who hasn’t? But I’ll check out the others,” Luz smiled. “Hey look, we’re bonding.”

“Uh,” Amity bit her lip, “yeah, bonding. I think we should go now, actually; we’ve been here really long.”

“But–”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Noceda, try to get to your room before curfew,” Amity said hurriedly, getting up from the bleachers and practically running out of the gym.

It hurt, just a bit, but it did. Luz knew that they hardly had a good start, and they never really interacted until today, but she was starting to like joking around with Amity, but Amity was just pushing her away now. Maybe it was something Luz did, she wasn’t too sure, but she was determined to find out before the week ended.

—End—

Chapter Text

The following day, Wednesday, was a full day, so considering they started at 8 rather than 9 like they did yesterday and school ended at 4:30 in the afternoon, there were 80 minutes for each class.

That was 80 minutes too many for Luz to be sitting in a chair as she listened to the teacher.

Amity hadn’t shown Luz to her first period class today even though Luz still was waiting for her to come by in order to lead her to her class. And now it's the second period and Luz still hasn’t heard or seen any sign of Amity and it’s beginning to worry her.

There was the possibility that Amity was taken by Mrs. Gay early in the morning, and maybe that was why Luz hadn’t seen the Blight, but it worried her. But this meant Luz likely wouldn’t see Amity until their shared 4th period.

So, against better judgment, Luz snuck her phone out of her bra to shoot Amity a quick text.

You: U good? I haven’t seen u at all since yesterday

Lil Miss Perfect: This contact currently has Do Not Disturb on, if your message is urgent, text URGENT to notify the owner of this contact.

Luz groaned quietly, looking up to see that her teacher was busy at her desk.

You: URGENT.

Under the blue bubble of text could be seen the word Delivered with a checkmark next to it. Luz was hoping that Amity would read and answer it soon, no rush, but the Noceda was reasonably worried.

Read .

Lil Miss Perfect: I’m in my session right now, I’m fine though.
Lil Miss Perfect: open attachment >

You: OMG!! Is that Olivia??? She’s so CUTE

Lil Miss Perfect: I know, I’ll see you when 2nd period ends, don’t worry about me.
Lil Miss Perfect: Also, you texted first this time.

Luz raised a brow, scrolling up to that, indeed, this was the first time besides when she first contacted Amity that she had texted the Blight. She hummed.

You: Yea, guess so. Have fun with Olivia, send me pics!!

Lil Miss Perfect: Wait, before you go, sorry I wasn’t able to take you to your class, Mrs. Gay pulled me out early.

You: I figured, it’s fine Blight

Lil Miss Perfect: Okay, I’ll see you soon then Noceda.

You: yep, bye :))

Luz then quickly turned off her phone and tucked it back into her bra, picking up her pencil from her desk to start working again.

Well, she worked for all of 30 seconds, anyway. Having to sit in place with only a packet to occupy her just would not do. Her hand shot up, “Excuse me, Ms. Peters, can I be excused to the bathroom please?”

The teacher looked up from the papers on her desk, pen now being held back from the papers, meaning she was probably grading things. “I don’t know, Luz, can you?”

“Sorry,” Luz muttered, “May I be excused to the bathroom please?”

“Go ahead,” the teacher dismissed her, “don’t try to skip.”

“Yes ma’am, thank you ma’am,” Luz said, quickly getting up and leaving the classroom. She was merely bored and needed a break, she hadn’t even considered attempting to skip. Then again, trying to skip was pointless in this school, Amity told her that anyone who tried always ended up getting found within the next 10 minutes.

So instead, she went to do what she asked to leave for, and that was to go to the bathroom. All she really did in there though was check herself out in the mirror, mostly her face because of all the bruises that were quite prominent on her skin from the beating Amity gave her. 

Luz had already forgiven Amity for it; it was technically her fault anyway. Though, it also weirded Luz out, because she never had forgiven someone so easily. Now, Luz never held grudges, per se, she just remembered facts and would bring them up as an excuse if she did something unfriendly.

It caused more problems than it fixed.

Washing her face with water and combing her fingers through her hair to flatten it a bit was funny, she made herself look like a greaser.

“You look stupid,” came the lighthearted tease from a sudden familiar voice.

Luz jumped in surprise, accidentally colliding with the trash bin on her right, causing her to trip and fall. “Oww,” she groaned, looking up to see who had spooked her.

Amber giggled, approaching Luz to kneel in front of her. “You okay? I hope you aren’t hurt too badly...”

“I’m fine Amber, thanks for checking,” Luz reassured. She slowly got back up, so she didn’t get dizzy from standing up too quickly. “What are you doing here?”

“I asked to leave my class because I was getting a little overwhelmed by my lessons. Jenkins talks a lot and expects everyone to take notes on every little detail, even though at the end of the day, she just posts the stuff on our course page,” Amber ranted, looking rather annoyed.

Luz helped Amber up from the floor and the girl immediately crossed her arms, “It doesn’t matter, why are you here, Luz?”

“Oh, me?” Luz chuckled, “I didn’t want to do the assignment because it was boring. You have a much better reason to have come here than I do, heh.”

“Oh, okay then,” Amber shrugged. “Anyway, I thought you looked really ridiculous with your hair all wet and slicked back.”

“I won’t disagree, I thought I looked like a greaser from that one book, The Outsiders, right? With the greasers and the socs.” Luz laughed, “I just don’t know what to do with my hair, is all. Blight told me that my hat will probably get me into more trouble than without it.”

“Oh, yeah! I’ve read that book. You know, with your hair slicked back, you look like a female version of Ponyboy,” Amber joked, then nodded seriously. “But yeah, Amity’s right, the school’s security just feels more inclined to search people with hats, something about it being because hats make someone seem shady? It’s stupid, because how are baseball caps shady, it’s not always the clothing that makes someone shady, it’s their actions.”

“Exactly! I’ve had this argument with someone before because they said my beanie made me look like a troublemaker, and it’s like, okay, and? It’s comfortable for me so deal with it,” Luz said. “Dios mío, where were you in my life before now?”

Amber blushed, looking down with a nervous smile on her face. “O-oh, uh, probably here, serving my sentence.”

“Pfft, that’s sure what it feels like, isn't it?” Luz chuckled, throwing her arm around Amber to hug her. “I’m glad I ran into you; it sucks that we don’t have any other classes together besides fourth.”

The shorter girl sighed, wrapping her arms around Luz, “Yeah, it does suck. Do you wanna just skip with me?”

Luz winced, “Sorry, can’t. I want to have a good record while I’m here, no skipping, no bad grades, no fights, nothing.”

“You’re lucky that Coach C. didn’t say anything about yesterday then, your record would already be ruined,” Amber pointed out.

“Yeah, she really did me and Amity a favor with that,” Luz chuckled, “I’ll have to thank her today. But I can’t skip, Ms. Peters will have someone looking for me soon if I don’t go back, sorry.”

Amber sighed, frowning, “It’s okay, I’ll see you in fourth.”

“Bye Amber!” Luz said, letting go of the girl so she could run out of the bathroom doors, making a run for it to get back to class.

She liked Amber, that much was true, she just didn’t know in what way she liked Amber. Did she like her as a friend or as a crush? The word ‘like’ pissed Luz off a lot, because you could use it for so many things.

You can like a friend, you can like a crush, you can even like a family member or pet. You can like food, games, locations, just about anything and everything. So, yes, Luz had trouble applying the word to certain things.

She wouldn’t go as far to say she loved someone or something, at least, not always because love is a strong word.

You’re overthinking things again, Luz scolded herself mentally, just stop.

She was relieved when she came back to class, surprisingly, because now she could focus all of her thought process on her assignment instead of analyzing words. A lot better of a use of her brain, in Luz’s opinion.

Well, we like Amity, don’t we? Her conscience asked out of nowhere, and maybe Luz didn’t actually push away her thoughts. I think she’s warming up to us.

Pshh, yeah, in our dreams maybe, Luz scoffed at herself. We offered friendship yesterday and she turned us down. Twice.

Her conscience, however, disagreed. You’re forgetting who she is. She’s Amity fucking Blight, and from what we know, her parents are super controlling. Maybe she’s only refusing because she doesn’t know what else to do, ever think about that?

We’re literally the same person, she countered herself.

And yet here I am, having to point out these things to  you.

Luz huffed, her conscience was right, and she has now made the decision to name her conscience, and by translating her name, Light is now its own person in her mind.

But Luz was also very conflicted, of course Amity wasn’t downright turning her down, she would no! If Amity was turning her down, she’d do what she’s done by telling her “Fuck no” or giving her the side glare that scared the shit out of her sometimes.

Amity probably did want to be friends but doesn’t know how to admit it! That must be it! It better be it.

Amity Centric Here

Amity smiled, looking at the little girl from across the table as they doodled together. “What are you drawing?” She asked Olivia.

“I’m drawing you!” Olivia gleamed, “We’re in the park holding hands as we go for a walk together, see?”

Amity shuffled around the table to see from Olivia’s point of view, and she would have sobbed if she weren’t so good at bottling certain emotions. “Oli... that’s so cute.”

Olivia hummed as she continued, “I wish that you weren’t here, then we could actually do this together.”

“I’d really like that if that were true,” Amity agreed, watching Olivia finish her masterpiece. “I could also take you to some of my favorite places too. I could take you to get ice cream, take you to the playground I used to play on, shoot, you could even meet my siblings, I’m sure they’d adore you.”

“That would be a lot of fun, Amity! And I could do that too! I could take you to meet my friends, take you to my school, we could even go to the arcade together,” Olivia bounced where she sat, then frowned and Amity hated it when Olivia frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Amity was quick to ask.

“Why are you here? You’re so nice to me and mom says that this is where the bad kids go,” Olivia pouted. “You’re not bad, I don’t think you’re bad.”

Amity’s heart cracked, and she backed away from Olivia slightly, starting to hug herself. She smiled sadly, “Oli, I know you don’t see me as bad; I never want you to see me as bad, but I have done bad things. But I’m changing, I am, I promise.”

“I don’t want you to change!” Olivia rebuked, “I like you how you are, because you’re fun and pretty and super nice to me. I’ll fight whoever is holding you here!”

The Blight laughed quietly, “I bet you would do that.” Amity would sit up on her knees, wiping her face before she did end up crying. “We should keep drawing, don’t you think?”

Olivia nodded, “Okay! Here, have these colors. You draw pretty butterflies, can you make me one?”

“Of course I can,” Amity smiled, taking the pink, yellow, blue, and red colored pencils that Olivia handed to her, going back to her paper on the other side of the table. “Do you want more than one butterfly or just one big one?”

“I want a forest of them! The trees have to be like cotton candy, so that way it’s like a dream,” Olivia laughed, her face getting closer to her paper as she focused on the drawing of Amity and her holding hands.

Amity hummed, “I don’t know if I have enough time to do that unless I kinda ditch somebody though.”

And then it went silent. Olivia gasped and looked up at her, “You have a friend!”

“Uh, what?”

“You never tell me about anyone you know here, and whenever I ask, you say you don’t like anybody!” Olivia got up, jumping around happily. “You finally have a friend here! Who, who, tell me who!”

“Okay, okay, calm down,” Amity laughed. “Her name is Luz, but I really only ever call her by her last name which is Noceda. She’s actually a lot like you, super energetic and enthusiastic, she makes a lot of jokes, and is actually nice to the people she likes. Though, I don’t think she likes me that much if that’s the truth.”

“What? Why?” Olivia tilted her head.

“Well, you see, Luz is new here, so she only really knows me. We didn’t have the best meeting so I guess you could say that at the start, we weren’t too fond of each other,” Amity explained. “And I think she’s only being friendly with me so that I don’t stop helping her around.”

Olivia pouted, “But– but why would you think that?”

Amity sighed. “Luz met a person yesterday and they hit it off really nicely, and they’re hugging and laughing together. But me and Luz, well, we just bicker a lot.” The Blight looked down, sketching out everything with the blue colored pencil. “Plus, me and her have this truce that we’re going to hang out until the end of this week, just so I can help her around the school, she probably will want nothing to do with me after it’s over.”

“Well, maybe you should tell her that you don’t want it to be over, your relationship with each other. Tell her that you do want to be friends, then maybe she’ll start hugging and laughing with you too,” Olivia suggested. “Then you can let me meet her and decide if she’s worthy of you.”

Amity giggled, “Oh yeah? You’d do that?”

“Mhm! Only the best of the best can have you, and if they want to date you, then they’ll have to be better than the best!” Olivia declared, throwing her hands up enthusiastically.

“My, that’s really sweet of you, Oli,” Amity smiled, “I’ll keep that in mind. Everybody has to meet you, got it.”

“Mhm, that’s right,” Olivia laughed, going back to her drawing.

However, the short time of being happy was soon ended when Mrs. Gay came in, “Amity, Olivia, time’s up.”

“Aww… just a little bit longer, please?” Olivia pleaded; her eyes wide as she looked at her mom.

Mrs. Gay shook her head, “Sorry sweetie, but Amity has to go to class, she already missed her first two classes to make up for yesterday.”

Olivia frowned, “Okay...” The girl got up and ran over to Amity as she was getting up too, attacking her with a tight hug. “I’ll miss you!”

“I’ll miss you too,” Amity said, “Don’t worry, one day I won’t be here anymore, and I’ll let you take me anywhere you want.”

“Yay!” Olivia cheered, going to pick up her stuff while Amity was led out by Mrs. Gay.

“Well, you probably won’t be seeing her for another two weeks, she’s going to be visiting her grandparents in Georgia.” Mrs. Gay sighed, “I hope that we won’t have any more incidents though including Luz Noceda, she’s not allowed to join our sessions as they are private.”

“Yes ma’am,” Amity nodded, “I understand.”

“Good, you’re dismissed then.”

Amity didn’t want to go because she still wanted to be with Olivia, but she had no choice, so with reluctance, she left. But that was okay, because she had to get to Luz’s class before she got out so they could walk to 3rd period.

When she made it to Luz’s class, Luz was already standing outside of the door waiting for her. “I see you’re waiting for me.”

“Mhm, that’s right,” Luz smiled, “I was actually a bit afraid that you wouldn’t get here on time.”

“Heh, don’t you know by now, Noceda?” Amity smirked, casting a playful side glare at Luz as they walked, “I hate to be tardy.”

Luz seemed to freeze up at that, laughing nervously. “Y-yeah! I know that,” she said, “I believe you told me yesterday that being 5 minutes early is the same as being 10 minutes late.”

“That’s right, I’m surprised you remember,” Amity hummed.

“So am I, but then again, I’m not that surprised because you’ve actually been on my mind a lot, it’s kinda bugging me,” Luz sighed.

Amity didn’t know whether to feel elated or downcast. Hooray, Luz thought of her! But also, dammit, Luz was bothered by it. “Sorry, I guess.”

“Don’t be, it’s just… I don’t usually think of people a lot. Then again, Amber’s also been on my mind a lot too recently,” Luz shrugged. “Maybe it’s just my mind trying to compute the fact that I’m actually acquainting myself with new people.”

“Yeah, maybe. Uh,” Amity bit her lip, “could we not talk about Amber, actually? Me and her don’t have the best past and I don’t feel like having to hear about her. No offense, I care that you care about her, but not so much that I want to hear about it, does that make sense?”

“Sorta?” Luz looked the Blight up and down, “Are you okay? You’re… more tense than usual.”

“What? I’m not tense,” Amity rebuked, “you’re tense.”

Luz smiled, “Okay then, I won’t push it. Say, how was your time with Olivia? You didn’t send me any new pictures.”

“I wasn’t obligated to send you anything,” Amity smirked, “but it was good. We just talked and drew stuff. But she’s not going to come back for a couple weeks, Mrs. Gay said she was going to visit her grandparents in Georgia.”

“Oh,” Luz frowned, then tentatively put her hand on Amity’s shoulder to give her a reassuring pat. “Well, you can always rant to me, I guess.”

Amity, for all of a moment, thought that it’d be great to have someone to talk to about her issues besides Willow or Boscha or Skara, as those three weren’t that much help and Gus was too young and too good of a person to understand Amity's issues. Luz, Amity had observed, was a realist, she’d lay it down without any sugar coating of details, and Amity believed that that was exactly the standard needed in someone she would feel safe in venting to.

But then, adding on, Luz is Luz. Amity doesn’t like Luz, like, at all. No way. “No, I have other friends for that,” Amity said.

Maybe that was the wrong response because Luz squealed.

“Other friends — Blight, do you consider me a friend?” Luz gleamed, jumping in front of Amity to stop her.

“I,” Amity knitted her eyebrows together, now hesitant to say outright she does not like Luz, that she’s not friends with Luz and never will be. So, instead, she said, “No comment,” and continued walking.

“No comment? What, no! You have to answer!” Luz laughed, catching up with Amity. “Cmon, Blight,” she drawled, “admit it, you want to be my friend.”

“Ha, you wish,” Amity huffed, crossing her arms. She needed to quickly drop Luz off at her class before she said something that gave it all away.

“Blight,” Luz whined, pouting, “just tell me the truth!”

“The truth is,” Amity paused for dramatic effect, stopping in front of a classroom door, “here’s your class, have a good time, see you in fourth period, bye.”

Then she ran off before Luz could pitch a single word in.

“Don’t think I’m going to let this go, Blight!” Luz shouted, and Amity heard loud and clear.

God, Luz, why must you be such a persistent pain in my ass?

[A/N: 3rd period will never be important, hence why I’m skipping it]

Amity was waiting outside of Luz’s class by the time she got out, which surprised Luz, it seemed, when she asked why Amity had been there. Obviously, Amity answered with, “Because I’m your tour guide” and not “Because I’m your friend.”

Because they’re not friends. Don’t go thinking that they are, they’re not.

Lucky for Amity, though, Luz didn’t question it. “So uh, anything you wanna talk about?”

Amity looked at the Latina, “No, is there something you want to talk about?”

“Well,” Luz hesitated, just shutting her mouth and looking down instead, “no, never mind.”

“Noceda, if there’s something you want to say to me, just spit it out,” Amity said, subtly encouraging her. “I won’t judge you any more than I already do.”

Luz laughed a little, “It’s stupid but, um. Is there a reason that you don’t want to be my friend?”

Amity suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe, the question was not welcome.

“It’s just, every time I bring up how we were bonding or if we could still continue to hang out after this week, you either ignore me or change the topic or something saves you from having to answer.” Luz hung her head low, “I know we had a bad start, and that we still aren’t really that close, but you're friends with my friends and I want to know you, Blight.”

“Can we not talk about this right now, please?” Amity muttered, crossing her arms.

“No, I want an answer now,” Luz stopped, making Amity stop as well to watch her. “I don’t think you understand how I feel right now, Blight. You laugh with me, you tell me things that you probably wouldn’t say to just anyone, you have the tenacity of actually sticking by my side even though I’m a complete asshole sometimes, then when I try to be nice back, you push me away!”

“You’re causing a scene,” Amity hissed, “we can talk about this later, okay? In our free period, we’ll go to my room and talk this out, but not here.”

Luz scoffed, not even bothering to say anything extra as she stormed ahead of Amity, turning into the open doors to enter the gym. Amity frowned; did she really make Luz feel that way? She was about to follow after the Latina until someone grabbed her arm, resulting in her whipping her head around and grabbing the wrist of the hand on her arm.

Oh. It’s just Boscha.

“What the hell just happened?” The pink haired girl asked.

Amity pulled herself away from Boscha, “Nothing, don’t worry about it.”

Boscha groaned, grabbing Amity by her collar and pulling her closer as if threatening her, “Amity Blight, I am your friend, you got that? You tell me if that Luz girl is bothering you and I will ruin her for you, just because I’m your friend.”

The Blight placed her hands on Boscha’s wrists, tightening her own grip, “I’m aware of this, Boscha, now let me go.”

“No! Tell me you’re okay and that I have nothing to worry about,” Boscha said, and Amity was about to say it, but Boscha just had to add, “and don’t you dare fucking fake it.”

Amity tightened her grip more, slightly pleased when she saw the falter in Boscha’s stern glare when she winced. She just wanted to give Boscha a hard time before she caved in. “Let me go, Boscha, me and Noceda are going to talk this out, so you have nothing to worry about.”

Boscha eased her grip on Amity’s shirt, “Fine.” The girl hesitated slightly before throwing her arms around Amity, hugging her out of nowhere. “I care about you, Amity, I know you don’t think so, but I really, really do.”

The Blight tensed, she’s never really felt the full effects of a hug before besides from Olivia, but Olivia’s a kid so her hugs are nothing too special as most kids are expressive like that. A hug from a peer though? She wished she had gotten one sooner. “Um, okay Boscha, can you let me go, though? I have class...”

“Right, right,” Boscha pulled away awkwardly. “God, this is why I never do that. So, uh, you’ll be okay, right?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine.”

“Good.”

Amity backed away slowly before pivoting around to quickly dash into the gym, hurriedly making her way to the locker room.

If that’s what a full-fledged hug from Boscha felt like, what would a hug from Luz feel?

Probably really nice.

Is there an off button for my thoughts, they’re so intrusive, Amity complained in her head. I should mentally prepare though, I’ll need to think of a good reason for why I can’t be Luz’s friend, otherwise she’ll never let it go.

She’s never going to let it go even if you give her the best reason of the century, she’s so persistently stubborn that nothing will stop her, her mind supplied. Just make her hate you, then she’ll have no reason to want to be your friend anymore.

That’s stupid! I don’t want her to hate me, I just want her to stop trying to be my friend for now, Amity thought. Maybe when we both graduate and my parents no longer have their invisible strings tied to me anymore.

A familiar laugh (more like a cackle) filled her head, the condescending voice she had grown up having to listen to speaking, Luz won’t wait that long. Not for you, she won’t. It’s okay though, Amber will happily fill your spot, just as she always has.

And that’s when Amity canceled out her thoughts, when it imitated her mother. Maybe it’s a good thing that she’s going to talk to Luz, maybe Luz can help her. Amity should stop being so hopeful, it’s just the first step to disappointment.

Hopefully we don’t get into any more fights, I just want to settle this and not have to worry about it.

—End—

Chapter Text

Fourth period went by smoothly, and now Amity could happily say Amber was the least of her worries since Amber had left Luz alone for most of the period.

Probably because Amber and Amity were picked at the team captains for the two dodgeball teams and Amity immediately picked Luz, not for any possessive reason in particular. Amber just was not worthy of Luz on her team.

At the end of class, Amity waited for Luz outside of the locker rooms when she had already changed. She was nervous, to say the least, to have to talk to Luz. She probably should have thought of what to say earlier, when there was actual time to think.

What even was there to say to the Latina? Like, ‘Hey, the reason I can’t be friends with you is because if my parents catch word, they’re probably going to kill you and then force me to reeducate myself on their Blight Laws.’

Yes, Blight Laws, that was what Amity called them.

Normally, Amity would never worry over something so trivial, but here she was, worrying.

Should she even tell Luz the actual truth behind her denial of their friendship, or should she make up an excuse? The entire point of friendship was to build up trust, so excuses are not an option. Besides, Luz was a nice person… to some degree; she wouldn’t judge Amity, right?

Of course not! Like the first day at Hexside on the track, right after Mrs. Gay had caught Amity pushing Luz into the track ground for her phone, Luz hadn’t continued to antagonize Amity, she actually softened up and asked if she was okay. It wouldn’t be wrong for Amity to assume that Luz cared about her, even if she may not verbalize it.

“Hey,” Luz’s voice broke her thought process, scaring Amity.

Amity flinched, twisting her head to see Luz standing beside her, a hand rubbing at her nape. “H-hey,” she stammered, Godammit, I’m already acting like a fool.

Luz let out a heavy breath through her nose, then barely managed to voice out at a volume Amity could hear, “Ready to go to your room?”

“Yeah,” Amity nodded, “um, come on.”

The two awkwardly left the gym together, and awkwardly walked in silence through the halls, and awkwardly went to Amity’s room, and — try to guess. Yep, you got it — they awkwardly sat on the bed inside.

Sitting in silence, Amity was trying to formulate a sentence in her head that wasn’t completely stupid, something that wouldn’t make Luz go away. Amity, even though she refused to admit it, didn’t ever want for Luz to go away.

So maybe Luz does have charm, she thought to herself.

Amity tensed when Luz moved on the bed to face her, her mouth opening to say something, but it shut again. God, this was so tense.

“I’m sorry,” Amity said before Luz could try speaking again. Luz eased back, giving Amity space to process what she was going to say. “I didn’t– I don’t–” she groaned, “I’m not good at this, my apologies.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Luz mumbled, “I’m not that good at this either.”

Amity looked down at her hands, tangling them together out of anxiety. “I’m sorry that I push you away, I’m sorry that I make you hope for things, I’m sorry that you probably feel obligated to want to know me just because we have the same friends.”

“I don’t feel obligated to,” Luz assured, “I just… want to.”

“You have no reason to want to though,” Amity countered, “I’ve been nothing but a bitch to you since we met.”

“Not true!” Luz got down on the floor, shuffling in front of Amity, getting a hold on her much smaller hands. Amity swore she was the same shade of red as a tomato. “You’ve actually been quite nice to me, in your own, err, violent way.”

Amity scoffed, looking away, “I literally punched you in the face multiple times yesterday, I wouldn’t call that being nice.”

“Okay, but you also apologized for it, and we laughed that day more than we fought, am I right?” Luz smiled, letting go of one of Amity’s hands to reach for her face, slowly turning it back to face her. “Plus, before all of this, you didn’t have to help me at all, you could have said no.”

“Well, yes, true…” Amity muttered. “In my defense, I had to make up for everything Will has ever done for me.”

“So, are you still just doing this for Willow?” Luz asked, tilting her head.

Amity stammered, “I- I guess not, no. Not anymore, I just do it because… because– I don’t know, I don’t know why!”

“It’s okay not to know why, calm down!” Luz comforted Amity by squeezing on her hand after the Blight tensed. “Blight, you’re cool, smart, and classy, maybe that’s why you’re so easily stressed, and the last thing I’d want to do is make you feel pressured. So just be honest, I promise I won’t judge you, what’s separating us?”

“My reputation, I guess,” Amity said, opting to ignore the compliments Luz just gave her. “The one I’m trying to keep up even though you are very persistent in breaking it down.”

Luz blinked, “Reputation? Pssh, what reputation? The one that declares you the simultaneously hottest and coldest Queen of Hexside Academy?”

“Yeah, precisely,” Amity rolled her eyes. “Plus, I have to basically serve as an example, something about how progress can be made here at Hexside. Do you know how many of the orientation videos they’ve put me in? Too many! So yeah, my reputation is one of the reasons.”

And fuck, Amity shouldn’t have said “one of the reasons.”

Luz’s eyebrows furrowed, “One of the reasons? What are the others?”

“And, you know what, that concludes our talk sesh,” Amity laughed nervously, getting up from the bed and putting her shoes back on. “We still have time to do other things, is there anywhere you still want me to take you? I could take you now, just name a place and—”

“What other reasons are there, Amity?” Luz asked quietly, and it sent a shiver up Amity’s spine because of how serious Luz was being, plus Luz had just referred to her by her first name (which wasn't the biggest of deals, but at this moment, it really was). Then the Latina held onto her left hand’s wrist, stopping her from tying her shoe, “Stop avoiding telling me things. Please.”

Amity panicked, what else was there to say other than, “Oh, my mother and father used to lock me in room until I learned how to properly ‘Be a Blight,’ which wasn’t all bad until I had missed 14 meals and lacked a healthy amount of sunlight because they also practically barricaded the windows. It’s all okay though.”

Wait, did I just say that out loud? I just said that out loud.

Amity froze, wishing that the bell would ring and save her even though she knew for a fact it wouldn’t.

“...Amity,” Luz whispered, her grip on Amity’s wrist loosening.  “You’re–”

“I’m fine,” Amity said quickly, almost automatically.

“No, no you’re not,” Luz dropped down next to Amity and pulled her into a hug, “I- I have no idea what to say, I’m sorry. You’ve told me about your parents, and I already hate them but… but this? This isn’t okay.”

Amity felt vulnerable, she didn’t want to feel this way, she went years upon years without ever feeling this way, so why – why does she feel this way now that Luz was here? The Blight smiled slightly, though, because earlier she had imagined what a hug from Luz would have felt like. 

She was right.

It felt amazing.

Luz Centric Here

The British girl broke into a sob and curled further into Luz’s hold. “I’m sorry,” she cried, “I’m so sorry.”

Luz tensed, tentatively lifting her hand to comb through thick, minty green locks of hair, trying to comfort the girl in her arms. “Don’t be sorry,” she whispered, “you have nothing to be sorry for.”

Was it strange how at this moment, in which Amity was at her lowest, Luz felt at her highest? She was so happy that Amity hadn’t pushed her away this time, instead she got closer. Amity Blight, the same person who had given her face a proper beating the day prior, was now curled into Luz’s lap, crying in her arms.

She wanted nothing more than to stay in this moment with Amity, just to hold her, and comfort her. Luz wouldn’t go as far as to say that Amity was a damsel in distress, because that was something she was not; Amity was just afraid and alone, bottled up and isolated.

Eventually Amity’s cries died down to sniffles, but neither had made an attempt at speaking up. It would be smart to lighten the mood a little bit before she decided to continue investigating. “At least now I know why you’re so pale,” Luz whispered.

Amity giggled briefly, flicking Luz’s chin, “Shut up.”

“Actually,” Luz began, “I was hoping we could talk about it.”

“Couldn’t this wait?” Amity asked, leaning closer to Luz because when she tried to pull away, Luz kept her secure. “It’s really nothing, I haven’t seen my parents since before the start of this school year.”

“That’s really not that long ago,” Luz said. “You know I won’t judge you, at least not outright, I just want to understand.”

Amity was quiet, maybe just for a tad too long as Luz was beginning to worry the Blight wouldn’t peep at all. “They’re not abusive, if that’s what you think, at least not physically. They’re just… emotionally and mentally abusive– actually, no, that’s going too far. They’re manipulative.”

“They made you do things you didn’t want to, right? Tell me,” Luz encouraged.

Amity pulled away from Luz, not entirely, just to shift her position so she was sitting up and facing Luz. Though, sadly, Amity was not looking at Luz, she was looking down. “My father was– is always busy, so he was never really in the picture, but he knew what my mother did, he hardly ever even acknowledged it, really.” The Blight frowned, “If I wasn’t ahead of my class, I was behind. If I didn’t know or didn’t show proper etiquette, I was sloppy. If I didn’t wear the right dresses for every school day, for every dinner party, for every business meeting, I was disreputable.”

“...disre-what-able?” Luz asked and felt rude to have to ask.

“I didn’t fit the mold they made for me,” Amity clarified, looking up at Luz with a small smile. “If I had the audacity to argue with them, saying how much stress it brought to me having to go by their expectations, they would counter me with, ‘Oh, we’re just giving you every chance of success possible, after all, nobody wants an ill-mannered clutz, in business or in marriage,’” she mimicked her parents in a hoity-toity accent.

Luz blinked, “Damn, I feel targeted.”

Amity giggled, wiping her face. “I was only 12 when they told me that, actually. Which is stupid because I was 12, I couldn’t legally get married until I was 16, and unless they have my consent, it’s illegal.”

“Arranged marriages are so 1800s,” Luz waved her hand in a circle. “Nobody’s worthy of your hand, anyway, everyone in this era sucks.”

The Blight blushed, looking off to the side, “That’s, uh, sweet of you to say. Anyway, I never really argued much because I was constantly reminding myself that I have British parents, so of course their standards are probably more fine-tuned than Americans’.”

“Not really,” Luz muttered, “I think your parents are just complete assholes that think it’s okay to coerce their kids into being snobby little princes and princesses just like themselves, and let’s not forget how rich they are, I don’t think there’s a single good person that’s rich.”

“Queen Elizabeth II,” Amity said.

“...touché,” Luz muttered. “Um, continue.”

Amity hummed, “Actually, I’m pretty content with this.” The Blight leaned forward to rest her head on Luz’s shoulder.

Luz gaped; she couldn’t believe that Amity was still leaning into her! Slowly, timidly, Luz put her arms around Amity and hugged her. “Are we friends now...?”

“Mm, yeah,” Amity whispered. “As long as nobody else knows, I don’t want my parents getting involved if they were to find out.”

“I can live with that,” Luz smiled, lifting her knees to trap Amity in her lap, confined within the strong hold of her arms. “I’d actually appreciate it, though, if we were to talk more about this sometime. I want to be able to help you, you know, really make up for our terrible meeting."

Amity giggled, punching Luz softly in her gut but hard enough to get the Latina to curl inward, "I'll consider it. I don't know if I really want you involved with stuff like that, I don't want to worry you or anything."

Luz smirked, cooing, “Aww… Blight, you care.”

“Yeah, I care, shut up,” Amity hissed, hugging Luz tight enough to squeeze the air from her lungs. “Can we just sit like this until the bell rings?”

“I dunno,” Luz tapped her chin, “Can we?”

Amity sat back, “Stop it, I’m having flashbacks to Ms. Peters.”

Luz snickered and Amity scrunched up her nose. The Latina leaned back into the bed, “You know, I didn’t think we’d be in this position so soon.”

“Wha–” Amity looked down, “Oh I hate you.”

“I didn’t do anything though,” Luz grinned smugly, “you climbed into my lap all on your own.”

“Fuck you,” Amity muttered, latching back onto Luz, much to the Latina’s surprise, but she welcomed the physical affection.

“You’re so touch starved,” Luz chuckled, relishing in the feeling of finally being friends with Amity, secret or not. 

Amity just grunted in response; she must be too tired from all that crying to come up with a retort.

But then her thoughts drew back to earlier, to how great it felt to be the source of Amity’s comfort in that moment. Her fingers combed through Amity’s green mane, curling the ends of the strands around her finger to then watch them unravel.

She didn’t understand what more she wanted though, she was friends with Amity at last; Amity could be vulnerable around her, and Luz could make her feel safe. Why was there still this feeling that their relationship was incomplete?

Maybe Luz didn’t want to just be friends with Amity, maybe she wanted what Willow had with the Blight. No, that couldn’t be it, she didn’t want to be like Willow to Amity. She wanted to be something more to Amity than a friend with benefits, she wanted to be the source of every happy moment from here on out, as corny as that sounded.

Amity let out light hums against her shoulder, the small hands of the Blight fisting her shirt. Luz could feel the light thumping of Amity’s heart in her chest, which was weird at first but considering Amity’s chest was against her own, she basked in the closeness.

Luz then realized that Amity also had her legs wrapped around her, which reminded her fondly of a koala on a tree. The Latina was okay with that analogy, maybe more so than Past Luz would ever believe.

She must be mistaking this feeling of something being missing for something else, after all, it’s only been three days since they’ve met. She should give herself time to think, that’d probably be smart.

When the time came for them to have to leave for their last class, Luz had to shake Amity awake. “Already...?” Amity whined, shaking her head and making no attempt to budge. “I don’t wanna.”

“Come on, we’ve been here for the past two hours, we skipped lunch and I’m starving,” Luz complained, trying to push Amity off. “Doesn’t this place have a vending machine we can get food from?”

Amity sat up, finally, rubbing her face. “Fuck, totally forgot about lunch. No… there’s no vending machines.”

“Seriously?” Luz groaned, “I’m going to have to starve.”

“Not true,” Amity said, getting off of Luz. “They give us dinner later in the day, remember?”

“That’s like 4 hours from now,” Luz deadpanned, pushing herself up from the ground and dusting her pants off. She was a little wobbly at first, since they had been sitting for a long time and with Amity on top of her, Luz’s legs had fallen asleep. “It's fine, I don’t matter, you do – don’t you have practice today?”

Amity frowned, “Yeah...”

“Then I’m definitely going with you, in case you pass out or something in the middle of your training,” Luz declared, leaving no room for argument.

“You’re going to be super bored then,” Amity laughed, “I'll never pass out.”

“Then I’ll just get to watch you shine like a star,” Luz smirked, hitting Amity lightly in her shoulder. “I can’t wait to cheer from the sidelines for ya, really screw with your focus.”

“God, please don’t do that, you teasing me casually like this is more than I can handle already.” The Blight returned the punch, but harder. “But we should probably get going, the auditorium is really far from my room.”

“We could run?” Luz suggested.

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

Drama class. Luz thought Amity practically belonged in the class. What, with her undeniably amazing ability to memorize the script after rereading it maybe 2 to 3 times, it was impressive. Their teacher was preparing them for the play that they’d have to perform at the end of the semester; it was a large part of their final grade.

“Okay, I have one comment,” the drama teacher, Mr. Tate said, his hand in the air to pause their practice. “Luz, I know you’re new here but if you could put more… er, I guess emphasis on your character’s cunning personality, more crooked, I guess.”

“Uhh, okay,” Luz muttered, “I think I can do that.”

“Lovely,” Mr. Tate smiled, “Action!”

“I should have known,” Amity said, already in character, “I should have known it was you that orchestrated this.”

“It definitely took you a while to figure it out,” Luz recited, a sick, twisted smirk on her face. “I mean, really, as smart as you are and are portrayed to be, I expected you to find out much sooner.”

“But why!” Amity wailed, “I don’t understand, why would you want to cause an entire town to suffer?”

“Business thrives off of schadenfreude,” Luz shrugged nonchalantly, crossing her arms behind her back as she stepped forward. “Everyone here was so naive, so clueless, it was easy to trick you all into supporting my ‘small, helpless pursuit,’ that was in need of this town’s people’s support.”

“You’re a horrible person,” Amity scowled, “taking advantage of such nice people.”

Luz smirked, towering above Amity, “Then maybe you should have learned sooner in life, trust no one.”

“And scene!” Mr. Tate called, and immediately Luz and Amity came out of character. “That was perfect, much improvement! Let’s all clean up and get ready to leave, the next act’s script will be passed out as you leave.”

Amity punched Luz in her shoulder, “That was so good!”

“Ow,” Luz pouted, holding her now sore shoulder. “Um, yeah, you did really well, I have no idea how you do it.”

“What? No! I was talking about you,” Amity smiled, “You did a good job with your character!”

“Did I? I dunno, I don’t think acting is my thing, and Mr. Tate only put me as the villain because, 1, I’m new, and 2, because I’m the tallest person here and he had said yesterday that he was into A Series of Unfortunate Events, and if you’ve ever watched the show, most of the people that ended up tricking and betraying the Baudelaire’s were tall so obviously he’d be more inclined to select me for, uh, what’s the character’s name…” she read the name at the very front of her script packet, “What the fuck kind of name is this? Michael Perkins, I just realized I’m playing a male character.”

Amity shrugged, “Probably because of your more masculine appearance, if you haven’t noticed, most of the males in this class are very… er,” she pointed to the one that was in charge of lighting, “quite flamboyant in appearance. Then again, drama – or what this really is, theater – is pretty gay.”

“You say it like it’s a bad thing,” Luz crossed her arms.

“I’m just pointing out the fact that, out of all the guys that take this class, you are the most manly of them all,” Amity huffed. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter, I need to find Boscha and Skara and ask if either of them has food I can have before practice.”

“Oh yeah!” Luz gleamed, “And I get to come with, hell yeah!”

Luz jumped off the stage to get her phone from the table in the middle column of the auditorium. “Come on, Blight, I want to watch you struggle!”

Amity narrowed her eyes, grinning, “I can’t wait for when you join a sports team, I’m going to constantly make fun of you from the sidelines.”

“Nah,” Luz smirked, coming back to the stage to help Amity down, “you’d probably be cheering me on.”

“Pssh, in your dreams, Noceda,” Amity rolled her eyes.

“Yes, in my dreams,” Luz smiled, the two of them walking towards the exit, “the dreams in which, for some reason, you’re in.”

Amity cringed, “Why am I in your dreams?”

“Trust me, I woke up wondering the same thing, I have no fucking clue,” Luz shrugged, grabbing her next script from Mr. Tate as they went out, Amity doing the same. “So, like, say it’s snowing outside, and you can’t run on the track, does this school have an indoor track?”

“We have an indoor track on the second floor, actually, right above the gym,” Amity said. “Technically, the indoor track is the second floor because that’s the only thing you need stairs to access.”

“...I’m sorry, I’m still processing– this school just has a gym, like, treadmills and training benches and ellipticals– that kind of gym? Like, casually?” Luz was astonished, really, she knew the school was highly sponsored by a lot of rich people, Amity’s family included, but she didn’t think that it was rich enough to just have a gym for students to use. “I can’t believe this is a rural school,” the Latina muttered.

Amity chuckled, “I’ll have to take you there, it’s actually really nice. Most of the equipment is pretty new, which is great.”

“Do you go to the gym often?” Luz asked.

“No,” Amity said, going ahead to hold open the exit doors for Luz. “I only really go when Coach C. tells me I need to work on something, which is usually my durability. I have to take a training partner in that case though, so they can basically shove me until I don’t budge.”

Luz blinked, “Why would they shove you?”

“Because, when we get tackled, the goal is to try not to fall. We get 6 tackles before we have to change which team possesses the ball, so we try not to get tackled, or if we do, don't fall to the ground while holding the ball,” Amity explained, “It’s really not that complicated, it makes more sense to see it than to hear about it though.”

“Well, then when’s your next game?” Luz grinned, following Amity to the track.

“Oh, um,” Amity squinted, “I dunno, I want to say this Saturday if Glandus doesn’t cancel on us again.”

“Again?”

“Recently they lost a player because they graduated, so they’ve been trying to find someone to fill in the 13th team spot, they canceled on us last time because of that,” Amity sighed, “I think the player was actually their scrum-half, so that might give us some leverage.”

“Amity!” Boscha ran up to them as they came up the bleachers, but she stopped when she saw Luz. “Why’s she here?”

“Oh, uh,” Amity gaped, looking at Luz and then back at Boscha. “She wanted to watch us practice so I brought her along.”

“And that doesn’t bother you?” Boscha crossed her arms, “It bothers me, I don’t want her watching us, what if she’s actually selling out our tactics to Glandus?”

Luz scoffed, “I don’t even know anyone who attends Glandus, I just want to understand the game, no need to get so heated, Bosch.”

The pink haired girl scowled, likely not appreciating the nickname Luz had given her, “Whatever. Coach C. says she’s gonna be a little late because she has something to give me and you for being, her words, ‘dedicated contributors to our success.’”

Amity nodded, “That’s cool, I suppose. Does she still want us to change into our tanks and shorts, or...?”

“Nah, she said to wait until she gets here. She does, however, want us to have everyone start on their stretches,” Boscha said, and Luz was starting to feel outcast, so she backed away as the two talked.

Luz went further up the bleachers to see one of Amity’s other friends, changing her boots to put her sneakers on, wearing long black socks that reached up to her knees. “Hey,” Luz greeted, “I’m Luz, you’re one of Amity’s friends, right?”

The girl looked up after getting her shoe on, “Uh, yeah, I’m Skara. Nice to meet you, I guess.” Skara stood up, taking the scrunchie from her wrist to pull her hair up into a tight bun. “Is there something you need?”

“Oh, no, I was just introducing myself, I wanted to watch you guys practice because I’ve never actually seen rugby before,” Luz chuckled. “How long have you been on the team?”

Skara hummed, tapping her index finger to her chin, “Well, definitely not as long as Boscha or Amity, they joined just weeks after enrolling into the school, I’ve only been since last year’s season.”

“What do you do? I know Boscha and Amity flip-flop between the, uh, scrumhalf and fly-something positions,” Luz said, forgetting the other role Amity said she played often.

“The fly-half, you mean,” Skara corrected, laughing. “Yeah, the two of them are super good, probably the two best players to ever be on Hexside’s rugby team, but I don’t really have a named role like them, I’m just a back. I do all the running and stuff.”

“That sounds exhausting though,” Luz said, “so you must have, like, really good endurance.”

“Actually, no, I just have good stamina,” Skara said sheepishly, smiling. “Though, I’m more of an emergency player than anything, I can go long distance in a pretty short amount of time, so if our odds are against us, I’m the one that the ball gets thrown to to build up some territory.”

“Well, you still have a purpose in the game and that’s what matters, right?” Luz grinned, lightly tapping Skara’s shoulder.

Skara looked down, swiveling her foot, “Yeah, I suppose. Thanks. I honestly don’t get why Boscha doesn’t like you, you’re cool. Amity is… confusing, she was talking to us about you at lunch, I think she’s conflicted.”

“Probably,” Luz said, dismissing the fact that she already knew about Amity’s reasoning for her hesitance. “Amity is… complex, but I’m determined to figure her out.”

“I personally think you two would be a great duo, I dunno, you seemed to get to Amity a lot faster than me or Boscha did,” Skara shrugged. “You know what, maybe that’s why Boscha’s mean to you, she’s jealous that Amity was being nicer to you on the first day than she was to Boscha and I for weeks.”

Luz hummed. “Maybe I should tell Amity that, then she can be nicer to both of you and Boscha can stop being a prick to me,” she chuckled.

Skara giggled, “You have good luck with that.”

“Skara!” Amity shouted, interrupting the two. They both look to the Blight, who didn’t seem very pleased with the fact that Skara and Luz were talking, or maybe Boscha told Amity something upsetting. Who knows? “Tell the others to come down to the track, we’re going to stretch.”

“Ah, yes, let me do that,” Skara nodded, “I guess we can talk later Luz; it was nice meeting you.”

“You too,” Luz waved as Skara rushed over to the ten other players sitting around on the bleachers waiting for commands.

Luz looked back to Amity and Boscha, Amity’s scowl was progressively getting worse as Boscha was telling her something. Straining to hear from afar, Luz listened to what they were talking about.

“Mr. Watkins was talking about it when Skara and I were sitting in his class, the school’s going to send out emails to all the juniors’ that have been here for more than 2 years parents, inviting them to check in on their kids, I mean, not until sometime next week but still,” Boscha huffed. “It doesn’t bother me, not at all, but what are you supposed to do if your mom or dad comes down?”

“Probably my mom would, Father’s always busy. But I’d probably die,” Amity said bitterly, “I didn’t think I’d have to see them until I went to tell them I’m disowning myself or something like that.”

Boscha groaned, “Well, you know that I’m here for you, just tell me if you wanna talk about it, I hate your parents so much, like goddamn.”

Amity nodded slowly, “I’ll find a way to get over it, for now, let’s just get started on practice.”

“Okay,” Boscha said, giving Amity a brief hug before quickly running to the track to organize everyone.

The Blight stood there looking down for a while, then looked up at Luz, offering a small grin and a wave before she followed after Boscha. “Teagan, you better end that fucking conversation with Maya now before I duct tape your mouth shut,” Amity threatened and wow, Luz was terrified by how quickly Amity could cycle through emotions.

But Luz was more so concerned about Amity, the Blight would have to confront one of her parents, or if she was especially unlucky, both! Luz hated the Blight parents, sure, she’s never met them, but she wanted nothing more than to punch some sense into both of them for what they did to Amity.

She should talk to Willow about this sometime, get more info on the Blights to help Amity in any way she could.

Luz just made friends with Amity, and there was no way in Hell that anybody was going to ruin the good mood they had gotten from that.

No. Way. In. Hell.

—End—

Chapter Text

So far, Thursday sucked. Amity wished that she had magic to skip the day.

For starters, Amity didn’t get to take Luz to her class so that nobody would grow suspicions that the two were no longer enemies because of her early talk session, so that was a bad start to her day, meaning she was extra snippy.

She was pulled out of class by Mrs. Gay for an earlier-than-normal session (in the middle of second period), one in which Amity had gone back to her routine in saying nothing to the woman. Well, except for when Mrs. Gay claimed that Amity’s backwards step in her behavior was likely due to her relations with Luz, so she replied to that with, “Luz has nothing to do with how I act, Mrs. Gay, so keep her name out of your mouth if you're just going to slander her.”

Of course, now she’d be getting punished with campus service at the end of the school day for threatening Mrs. Gay by the ‘implication of her intonation.’

Angry enough as it is, Amber had approached her as if they were friends, like, what the fuck?

She remembered the entire encounter…

“Hey Amity!” Amber had greeted, pacing her own walk to match with Amity’s own. “Where are you headed?”

“To class,” Amity grumbled, casting a side glare at Amber. “Why are you trying to talk to me, you know that I despise you.”

Amber frowned, “Come on, you can’t seriously still be mad at me over what I did. I’ve already apologized, like, a thousand times!”

Amity abruptly stopped walking, pushing the girl away from her and into the wall. “Are you fucking serious? Dammit, Amber, take a hint! You were supposed to get to know me in that project, not make everyone think that I was a fucking slut, then you had the gall to come up to me and say, ‘Oh, don’t worry Amity, it was just a joke,’ like what the actual fuck is wrong with you?”

“Okay, when you put it like that, it does sound pretty bad but–”

“Pretty bad?!” Amity shrieked, “You don’t fucking change, do you? What the actual hell does Luz see in you? You’re lucky I don’t just tell her what you did to me. And now what, you’re using Luz as an excuse that we should try to forget the past and rekindle our relationship?”

Amber stammered, “I-I’m not using her, I do like her! But… yes, I do want to do that.”

“Burn in fucking Hell, Amber, stop trying to talk to me,” Amity spat, pivoting on her heel to hastily walk away, leaving the blonde girl to process just what happened.

That’s where she was now though, on her way to her 3rd period, muttering swear words under her breath as her eyes stared down at the ground. “‘I do like her, I really like Luz, I would never use her,’” Amity imitated, huffing. “Fucking bitch, I can see through your thin ass lies. Why don’t I just tell Luz, she’d probably thank me.”

“Tell me what?”

And there was the fourth reason for her terrible day. Luz.

Amity hadn’t been paying attention and had no idea when Luz had started walking with her, but here she was. Luz smiled, “I heard you muttering threats, mind telling me what all they were?”

“It’s nothing, Noceda, don’t worry about it,” Amity replied rather coldly, which was not the tone of voice she was going for.

“Oh,” Luz said awkwardly, “sorry, um. I guess today isn’t a good day for you… I can, um, leave you alone, if you’d like?”

No, don’t go. “Yes, please leave me alone for today, I am not in a good mood.” WHAT THE FUCK.

Luz’s face dropped significantly, but she feigned a smile, and seeing the fake smile hurt more than seeing Luz frown somehow. “It’s okay, I get it. I’ll see you in 4th period, I guess.”

Then Luz stopped walking with Amity, going the other way so she could go to her class. Amity had briefly stopped as well to watch Luz leave, almost tempted to call for her to come back.

You’re hurting her, her mind said.

I don’t mean to.

But you are, it replied. She’s probably already having second thoughts about this friendship.

Amity hated that thought; that she’d be the reason that Luz no longer wanted to be friends, even after all the effort put into it on Luz’s behalf. Amity would have to make it up to the Latina somehow if she didn’t want their friendship to be cut short.

Entering her third period, instead of actually working on the assignment, she brainstormed in her notebook different ways to apologize to Luz for pushing her away. The Blight had come up with a multitude of different solutions; making an I’m sorry poster (that’d give their friendship away though), giving Luz back the jacket that Luz had forgotten about in the Blight’s closet (but Amity cherished it for some odd reason and refused to do such a thing), giving Luz a new ring to fit on her hand (...Simply no, Luz would definitely make jokes that Amity was proposing to her), and, last but not least, just saying that she was sorry.

Amity groaned, dropping her head into the desk and knotting her hands into her hair. Why was being a good friend so hard? The Blight pulled out her phone, pulling up Willow’s contact, hesitating at first.

Would Willow make fun of her?

She sure hoped not, because they were Amity’s last resort for a solution to this problem.

You: I know I haven’t texted you in a VERY long time, so I’m going to say it now. Somehow, I don’t really know how, Luz and I became friends. Just yesterday, but still. I’m not really good at this whole friendship thing though so I’m scared that she’s already having second thoughts because just a bit ago I had told her, outright and in the most cold tone I’ve ever given her (I swear I didn’t mean to!), to leave me alone.
You: If you had seen how downcast she was, you’d feel as bad as me. GOD I’m a terrible person. She FAKED a smile, and I haven’t known her long, but she’s always genuine!

Free Willy: woah okay that’s a lot to take in Am

You: I just need help.
You: What should I do to make it up to Luz before she unfriends me? What does she like?

Free Willy: hell if I know, that girl is a fuckin rubix cube
Free Willy: she likes physical things, Ammy, like hugs or smth, last time I checked tho, you don’t really like those, not even from me

You: I only don’t like them with you because every time I hug you, you grab my ass -_-

Free Willy: shush, im helping you
Free Willy: idk, have you just told her that you’re sorry?

You: What? No, Will. It has to be something that she can look at and remember me, like, a trinket of sorts.

Free Willy: Wait. Being serious. You want her to be thinking about you?

You: Well, I don’t want her to forget me. I want to establish my superiority above her other friends as well, including you and Augustus.

Free Willy: You sure that this is a friendship and not a crush?

You: Will, since you, I haven’t had a crush for so long. I’d know if what I felt for Luz was a crush or not, and trust me, it’s not.

Free Willy: just a sec, ima place bets with gus rq

You: WILL. HELP ME.

Free Willy: FINE. jus give her one of the plushies i gave you, and probably give her the otter looking one, she loves otters

You: But you gave that to me when we were dating, are you sure?

Free Willy: trust me, we’ve both moved on and im tryna win this bet against Gus, so pls, give her the plush

You: Fuck you, but thanks.

Free Willy: you already have, but ur welcome <3

Quickly, Amity put her phone back where it belonged in her bra, now getting started on the assignment. And she wished that she had started sooner because it was too long to finish in the remaining time in class (Had she really been on her phone that long?) so she’d have to finish it later in her room.

As soon as the bell rang, Amity sprung up from her seat and ran out of the class, eager to confront Luz again and tell her just how sorry she was.

She managed to get to the gym sooner than most of the class, excluding the coach and 2 other girls. “So now I just have to wait,” Amity said to herself, pulling her hair back into a ponytail as she walked into the locker room.

There’s two ways this can go. Either Luz will forgive me and we’ll continue to be friends, or Luz won’t forgive me and I’m probably going to become a major bitch to everyone just to cope.

Amity sighed. I need a new coping mechanism, the one I have is not healthy.

The Blight looked around the locker room, making sure that Amber wasn’t in the room to annoy her. She was still immensely pissed from that encounter, and had already made the prediction that if she saw Amber, she’d attack. Physically. With her fists.

Shaking her head, Amity opened her locker and changed into the gym clothing, neatly folding her regular clothes before setting them inside. Closing the locker door, she ran out and waited to see Luz by the entrance to the locker room.

Surely she’ll be here soon, right?

Or, and here’s her mind trying to depress her again, she’s probably trying to skip this class without getting caught to avoid you.

You know what, shut up, okay? Why are you always so negative?

I mean, I am you, just the even more pessimistic side of you.

Then Luz walked in.

Ha! She did come, fuck you, Me. That is so weird to think-talk to myself.

“Luz,” Amity waited for Luz to reach her, about to tell her how sorry she was, but the Latina just walked in, ignoring Amity. “Oh, okay. Um, tell you when you get out?”

You better not be right, Pessimistic Me.

Awkwardly standing there for just a couple minutes felt like an eternity, but eventually Luz did come back out. “Luz, can you please let me talk?”

Luz looked back at Amity, a deep frown settled into her features. “You told me to leave you alone, that’s what I’m doing.”

“No, wait, I didn’t mean for you to actually– gah!” Amity slid down the wall and sat down, knees against her chest. “I wasn’t upset with you, I was upset with someone else, okay? I am so sorry for telling you to go away, I know we came to the agreement yesterday that we’d be nicer to each other, which would imply that I stop being a bitch to you and I was just having a bad day so it slipped out, I’m sorry.”

Luz kneeled in front of Amity, a larger, tan hand put on her knee, “Can you tell who you were upset with then? I’ll beat ‘em up for you.”

Amity shook her head, “No, I can’t.”

“Why not?” Luz asked, her hand now reaching to hold Amity’s. Amity smacked her hand away lightly, she didn't need anybody in the gym to see them holding hands and assume that they were together.

Amity sighed, “Because you both are friends and, I don’t know, I don’t want to mess up your relationship with them, even if I personally despise them.”

“Amber, you mean? What did she do?”

Of course Luz would immediately guess Amber.

“It’s something from freshman year, I can’t forgive her for what she did,” Amity mumbled. “I just don’t want to get in the way of your personal relationships, so I just avoid you when she’s around...”

Luz frowned, sympathizing for the Blight. Standing up, the Latina pulled Amity up from the ground. “Is that why you didn’t want to sit with us at lunch that one day? Because Amber was there?”

“Well, yes, that and because at that point in time, I was conflicted on the matter of whether we were enemies still or not,” Amity said, looking down as if the maple flooring was much more interesting than having to look at Luz. “Anyway, moving on, I have something to give you when this period ends, an apology gift. Since I’m not really fond of too much physical interaction, excluding my more… emotional moments, I figured I’d just give you something of mine instead.”

“Really?” Luz tilted her head, “You’d really give me something that belongs to you? Willingly?”

“Um, yeah,” Amity nodded, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. “Am I doing this right? Apologizing? I know I suck at it.”

Luz chuckled, “You’re doing fine, chica, this is the second best apology I’ve gotten from you.”

“Why only second?” Amity asked, finally lifting her head up to narrow her gaze at Luz.

“Because,” Luz smirked, and oh no, she was about to say something to embarrass Amity, “yesterday you were all up on me, in my lap and hugging me, playing with my hair. I couldn’t tell if you were sad and touch-starved or horny and sexually repressed.”

“Shut up,” Amity puffed, kicking Luz in her ankle. “That was one time, okay?”

“Darn, really? That really sucks, because I was hoping for a second time,” Luz continued to joke.

Amity squeaked, pulling up her shirt to hide her face. “Stop! Why must you always make sex jokes after the tension has passed?”

Luz shrugged, “It’s the quickest way to put the moment behind me, plus, it’s funny watching you turn red.”

“I’m going to punch you.”

“I still have the bruises from last time,” Luz chuckled, “so let’s not punch me, please.” The Latina dragged Amity out to the court, quickly running off to grab a volleyball, “How about you take your frustration out on this volleyball? I think it might help because you can’t exactly hurt an inanimate object, plus, it’ll keep you from taking out your anger on someone who can feel pain.”

“Yeah, that works,” Amity shrugged, catching the ball when Luz tossed it to her, taking it with her to the other side of the net that was set up. “So, you’re not still upset, right?”

“Oh, I’m upset,” Luz said, “but I believe in second chances, so I’ll just get over it.”

“How do you do that?” Amity asked, throwing the ball up before serving it, “Like, how do you keep people from knowing when you’re upset?”

Luz bumped the ball, sending it back over the net, then shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know, I guess after all the years of having to deal with bullies when I was younger and then having to hide all the pain that put me through from my family, it became a skill of mine.”

“You used to be bullied?” Amity inquired, now feeling bad because she was mean to Luz for quite a while. She jumped up just in time to hit the ball back to Luz’s side. “When I was being mean and all that, did I seem like a bully to you? God, I bet I did.”

“A little, but hey, don’t worry about that, okay?” Luz had to run forward to hit the ball before it hit the ground, “I forgive you for all of that, it’s all settled.”

“Well, you can forgive me all you want but I still feel awful,” Amity huffed before spiking the ball down on Luz’s side to get a point. She pumped her fist in victory, "Ha, one point me, zero for you."

Luz smiled, picking up the ball and rolling it to Amity, “That’s why we’re playing this, so you can get over these emotions.”

“It’s really working too,” Amity said, “I can’t believe I didn’t think about doing something like this sooner.”

“Yeah, when I was playing baseball, hitting the ball with the bat was such a great feeling,” Luz sighed, getting back in position to wait for Amity to serve the ball. “Maybe it was because it took my mind off of everything going on in my life so I could focus on the game instead, or maybe it was because I often pretended that the ball was the faces of the people I hated– dunno, but it helped. A lot.”

“Heh, so if we hadn’t become friends, and you did manage to get on the baseball team when it comes around, would I be the ball?” Amity joked, serving the ball. “Just curious.”

Luz laughed, “Probably, also, point to me! Out of bounds.”

“That’s good to know,” Amity scoffed.

Luz went after the ball to pick it up, “Now come on Blight, if I had to put up with your bitchy attitude like before for months until baseball came around, yeah, your face would definitely be the ball. And I would indulge in such joy in hitting it.”

As Luz served the ball, Amity saw her wink, which threw off her focus for a second. She quickly reacted to hit the ball just in time, then glared at Luz, “Are you implying something by that?”

“Me? Imply to do such fruity and crude actions with you– correction, to you ? No! I would never,” Luz drawled, a smirk so large on her face that Amity knew she was fibbing.

Amity huffed, “You’re so immature sometimes.”

“Only sometimes? Man, I gotta pick up my game then,” Luz chuckled, bumping the ball back.

“God, you are the literal definition of a clown,” Amity shook her head, spiking the ball a bit too hard that it went straight for Luz, allowing the Latina to hit it.

Luz, after hitting the ball, put her hands on her hips, “Does that mean I amuse you?”

“No, it means you scare the shit out of me,” Amity quipped, jumping up to tap the ball with her fingertips with just enough force to take it to Luz’s side, the ball hitting the floor before Luz could even react to run forward. “Ha,” Amity put her hands on her hips, mocking Luz, “I win.”

“Pssh,” Luz rolled her eyes, coming up to the net to hang on it (even though she’s not supposed to do that), “we’re only, like, 3 points in.”

“Yeah, and I have 2 of them,” Amity pointed out.

Luz’s face contorted, her nose scrunched up, “That’s not– …okay.”

Amity picked up the ball and tapped it against the net where Luz's face was, “Get off the net, Noceda.”

“Why don’t you make me, Blight?” Luz dared to challenge.

“Oh, I will–”

“Eyes over here please!” The coach interrupted them just in time as Amity was about to throw the ball in Luz’s sensitive spot. Darn. Luz and Amity and the rest of the class ran over to where the coach was standing with a clipboard. “We’re going to have to go to the outdoor track because the cheerleading team is going to practice here and I don’t want any accidents.”

Amity raised her hand, “Are we going to do anything specific on the track or is it just a free day?”

Coach tapped her pencil against the clipboard, “The mile run is going to be in a couple weeks, so I’d suggest running a bit, or at least walking, but for the most part, it is a free day. Are there any other questions?”

When nobody spoke up, the coach continued, “Alright, then grab your water bottles and-slash-or balls if you want to bring them, we’re going to head out.”

Luz stole the volleyball from Amity and took it to the ball rack, grabbing a soccer ball before she ran back. “I bet I could destroy you in a game.”

Amity smirked, “I think you’re forgetting that I used to play soccer.”

“Well, I’m a competitive soul, so I’m going to challenge you regardless,” Luz shrugged.

Before the two could start leaving, Amber (Amity suddenly has the urge to punch something– someone ) jumped in front of Luz. “Uh, hey Luz, I was just wondering if you were going to sit with me at my table today, you kinda didn’t go to lunch yesterday.”

Luz eyed Amber, briefly glancing at Amity, “Actually, I was thinking of skipping again today. I might just grab a plate and then leave.”

“O-oh! Um, that’s fine, tomorrow maybe?” Amber stammered in a pathetic and small voice and Amity was picturing her hands around Amber’s neck, then her voice would be even smaller, gone even.

“Um, yeah, maybe,” Luz nodded slowly. “Bye, I guess.”

As soon as Luz said bye, Amity grabbed Luz’s arm and dragged her out of the gym. “I hate her with every fucking fiber of my being, I want to kill her.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t admit to that in this school,” Luz suggested, “you’d get your ass dragged back to your sessions, or worse, have to be followed around by a guard or something.”

“They don’t do that, Luz,” Amity deadpanned. “Unless it’s someone assigned to you by the person that enrolled you here or, like, the police. Boscha used to have that because of her anger issues but since she’s gotten better, that person kinda just… vanished.”

“Boscha totally killed them,” Luz chuckled.

“You know, I wouldn’t doubt it, but I don’t think she did,” Amity smiled.

Luz snickered, whispering just barely loud enough for the Blight to hear, "She totally did."

Luz Centric Here

At the end of the period, Luz had raced Amity back to the gym, and of course Amity won. Luz could only hope to one day be as fast as Amity. Amity also had beat Luz in the soccer game they had, which was also expected.

After Luz put the ball back on the rack (ha, that rhymes), she made her way into the locker room. Looking at the ground, she made her way to her locker. She had this problem when it came to locker rooms. If she dared to look up while there was another person changing, she’d end up staring and that’s creepy and weird and rude, so she kept her head down.

So yeah. Luz just kept her head down in the locker room to avoid being known as a creep.

Pulling her shirt on, she looked around for her converse shoes, which she could have sworn that she put them in the locker. Hadn’t she?

“Hey Amity?” Luz called out.

Amity peeked around the corner rather quickly, unashamed by the fact that there was always a chance that she’d see more than she asked to. Then again, the Blight is on a sports team and she has to change with them often, so it probably doesn’t affect her.

“Yeah, what’s wrong?”

“Have you seen my shoes? They aren’t in my locker,” Luz frowned, checking under the bench in case they fell.

Amity tapped her chin, “You mean those obnoxiously red shoes you wear every day?”

Luz huffed, looking at Amity, who wore a smirk. “Yes, Amity, the obnoxiously red ones.”

“Like these?” Amity lifted her hand, her smirk widening. There in her left hand was Luz’s shoes, and how in the hell did she manage to get them without Luz noticing. “I snatched them before you got in here, that’s kinda what happens when the school doesn’t give locks out to students for their lockers.”

“Give those back!” Luz got up and snatched her shoes from Amity, sticking her tongue out.

Maybe Luz was a child.

Tying both the laces on her shoes after she pulled them on, Luz crossed her arms and faced Amity. “First of all, don’t steal from me, that’s mean. Second of all, I’m hungry, let’s grab food before you give me my gift.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” Amity rolled her eyes, turning to walk off, Luz following right behind her. On the way out, they passed Amber, whom Amity ignored but Luz stopped to look at.

Amber sat on the bench in front of her locker, frowning and looking ready to cry. “Hey Blight, give me a second, will you?”

Amity looked back, scowling at Amber but nodding regardless, “Yeah, I’ll be out here.”

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Luz asked, kneeling in front of Amber, hands on her shoulders. “Why are you looking so sad?”

“No, nothing, I just…” Amber sniffled, throwing her arms around Luz to hug her. “Coach got a call about me and it was that I won’t be able to get pulled out until the end of the year because they caught me smoking earlier in the year.”

“You smoke? I mean, uh, why were you smoking?” Luz asked, awkwardly staying still for Amber to hug her.

“I was stressed because of… reasons, and when someone offered it to me, I didn’t consider the consequences.” Amber tightened the hug, “I was so close to getting out too.”

Luz frowned, patting Amber’s back, “I’m sorry to hear that, I know how excited you were to leave. Thank you for telling me though, I’ll try to think of ways to cheer you up.”

“Just you being here is enough,” Amber whispered, pulling back from the hug. “You’re a really good friend to me, and I know that we haven’t hung out much but I really like you! You’re cool, and cute, and nice, and- ugh.” Amber shook her head with a mawkish smile, then, before Luz’s brain could process it, the girl pressed her lips against Luz’s own.

And Luz panicked, pulling back quickly. “A-Amber!”

“I- I thought that…”

“I like you, Amber, I do,” Luz began, trying to keep Amber from crying because she was already emotional enough and rejection was not what she needed. “But I just don’t like you… like that. I mean, I did but then the feeling kinda just... went away? And you were just a great friend to me– and ay Dios mío, I’m making this worse, aren’t I?”

Amber wasn’t even paying attention, staring blankly at Luz. “You… you don’t like me?”

Oh, but she heard that part? Luz thought, having to stifle a huff of frustration.

“I’m sorry, Amber, but… no,” she frowned. “You’re still my friend though, is that not good enough?”

Amber pushed Luz back, getting up from the bench and storming off. Luz had stumbled backwards and landed on her bum from the force of the push, but what hurt more was that Amber was suddenly upset with her. And just for turning her down! Luz just didn’t like Amber like that anymore, she didn’t get why Amber had to push her though.

Amity had chosen that moment to run in, “Luz, are you–”

“She kissed me,” Luz whispered, getting up slowly. “But then when I told her I didn’t feel the same, she got upset and pushed me. Is being friends really not enough?”

The Latina then realized something as she spoke; Amity hated Amber, and only needed a single reason to light the flame to her short fuse. Luz looked down at Amity’s fists, which were clenched, “Amity… no.”

“She pushed you?” Amity narrowed her harsh gaze, and Luz felt inclined to cower in fear of Amity’s rage. “And, wait, she kissed you?”

Luz slowly walked forward, reaching for Amity’s tight fists. “I really don’t think that her kissing me is a big deal, Ames, neither was her pushing me. I'm fine! How about we just talk about this when I can lock you in your room and keep you from killing Amber? Let’s do that, because I’m not trying to be part of a whole murder scene.”

“Was…” Amity closed her eyes, shaking her head. “Nevermind. Okay. Let’s get food, then we go to my room and just move on from this.”

“Yay, no murder,” Luz cheered quietly, not sure if this was a good time to joke or not.

Amity glared up at her, so no, it’s not a good time. “Not now, Noceda.”

“Got it, no jokes,” Luz said.

As they walked out, Luz wondered to herself about multiple things.

Amber kissed me, that was my first kiss too! Why did it kinda feel like a waste of a first kiss though? And why was Amity so angry about it though, I mean, yeah, I know she hates Amber but to want to kill her for kissing me? That’s not a really big deal.

Amity’s been super stressed, Light’s voice of wisdom came from nowhere, ever since we heard yesterday about what will happen, Amity’s fuse is probably extra short now. She hates her parents, and for her to find out that they’ll be visiting? I can’t imagine that and I’m in your mind!

She hasn’t talked about it though, maybe there’s another reason? Luz suggested.

That girl is almost always having something happening to her, it seems, but among all of that, I think the fear she has of meeting her parents after a long time is probably the most contributing factor to her stress.

Luz glanced at Amity, seeing how tense the girl had been since yesterday. The Blight’s posture was straight, her chin was held higher, her hair was clearly touched up after gym, and she had this stoic expression to top it all off. All things that checked off the boxes of perfection, something that Amity told Luz that her parents taught her to be.

I think you’re right, Light.

Luz and Amity sat on the ground in the Blight’s room, eating in silence.

How should I start the conversation?

I don’t know, ask her how her day’s been, look for the source of all this tension, Light advised.

“So,” Luz started, tapping her fingers against her legs.

Amity groaned immediately, dropping her face into her hands, “I can’t with today, I just can’t! First I couldn’t take you to class, then Mrs. Gay pulled me to one of the sessions and tried to blame my behavior on you and now I have to do campus service when classes are over, then Amber tried to talk to me like we were friends! And then there was the thing earlier with you when I was mean, which is my own fault, but still. Then there’s this whole Amber kissing you situation.”

“Well–” Luz tried to get a word in, but Amity only continued.

“All of this on top of the fact that in a couple of weeks, I’ll have to come face to face with either my mother or my father, or both! I can’t take it, I just can’t!” The Blight pushed her hands back into her hair, letting out a frustrated “Ugh!”

Luz frowned, watching as Amity shook her head. “I’m sorry, I needed to get that off my chest. Um. God,” the Blight got up, grabbing something from the pillows on top of her bed, sitting back down on the floor while holding something out to Luz. “Here’s your apology gift.”

“It’s an otter,” Luz said, slowly reaching to take it from Amity. “I really like otters, thanks.”

“Of course,” Amity smiled. “I wanted to give it to you because you kinda remind me of otters. They’re small and cute but feisty and tough, not to mention really cuddly when they have strong bonds.”

Luz set the plushie down, moving the plates of food out of the way so she could hug Amity. “Thank you, really, but right now, I think you need this.”

The Blight sniffed, slowly putting her own arms around Luz. “Yesterday was supposed to be the last time we held each other like this,” Amity chuckled, her fingers digging into Luz’s shirt.

“Yeah, well, I’m really bad at listening,” Luz whispered, “I’m a bad boy.”

Amity giggled, hugging tighter. “Yeah, a bad boy, my bad boy.”

“Yours?” Luz blinked, feeling the same way she did yesterday, and what Amity just said seemed to fill the empty hole a little.

“Yeah, mine,” Amity hummed. “Because you’re my friend.”

And just like that, the hole was empty again.

Luz nodded, now realizing what this whole feeling was. “Okay. I'm okay with being yours,” she whispered.

Oh boy, I’m doomed.

—End—

Chapter Text

Luz tripped over herself and into the track when she had taken all of a handful of seconds to look at Amity, mesmerized by her figure, her attitude on the field, and calculated movements as she practiced with her teammates to dodge their attempts at tackling her.

“I swear, Luz, I’m going to kill you!” Boscha threatened, “Stop looking at Amity!”

[Earlier.]

Friday.

Luz had made it, a whole 4 days in the school. Today, so far, has been… okay. The Latina was sad at first because, by the terms of Amity and Luz’s agreement, they should be going their separate ways. And, yes, while Luz and Amity are friends now, they (really just Amity) want their relationship to be a secret.

But, other than that, everything has gone smoothly! She made it through all of her classes and now she was free for the weekend.

Except she had absolutely no clue what to do.

Deciding to travel around the campus, Luz had gone to the track because that’s where the rugby team practiced and she liked to watch them. Getting closer to the fence, she could see the team on the track, running laps to build up on their stamina.

She looked to her left, seeing the coach standing to the side of the track to time each lap. “Tatum, you better pick it up, I don’t coach slackers!”

“Yes ma’am!” The girl huffed, her face red from the sun beaming down on them, catching up to the rest of her teammates.

“Gee, Coach, you push them pretty hard,” Luz commented, catching the attention of the coach. “When was their last break?”

“Eh, about 30-some minutes ago,” Coach replied, “I’m about to give them a water break but I want them to finish this lap first. Say, why are you out here?”

Luz shrugged, “I don’t really know what to do now that classes are over and it’s the weekend, and I like watching the team practice.” Leaning onto the wire of the fence, Luz caught sight of Amity running alongside Boscha, the two of them leading the rest of the team. They hardly looked affected by the heat or extensive workout, disregarding their sunburns and sweaty foreheads.

“Are you going to join a sports team in the future here?” Coach asked, “It’s never too late, you know.”

“I want to play baseball but that’s not until spring,” Luz sighed, “Amity suggested I just play another sport while I wait, to get into shape and what-not.”

“Smart advice from her,” Coach chuckled, lifting her clipboard and stopwatch to write down the times of each member of the team as they finished their last lap. “5 minute water break!”

The team groaned happily, too tired to put any enthusiasm behind their cheers.

“Yeah, it was good advice,” Luz agreed, watching as everyone on the team exited the track to run up the bleachers, talking loudly to one another as they drowned themselves with their water. The Latina couldn’t blame them, it was surprisingly sunny out and they had to work in the somewhat warm weather. She honestly couldn’t believe that it was October, plus this is Connecticut, shouldn’t it be cold around this time? “Would I be allowed to join the training? Just to get fit?”

Coach looked Luz up and down, “I dunno, what we do is very demanding and to throw you in the deep end with the training, I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

“Pssh,” Luz waved her hand dismissively, “me? Get hurt? Nah, I’ll be fine, Coach! It’s not like I have to practice getting tackled like everyone else, how could I get hurt?”

“I mean, you could pass out, or get a concussion somehow, or–”

“C’mon Coach,” Luz clasped her hands together, using her secret weapon. Puppy eyes. “I promise I’ll be fine, nothing will go wrong, I promise!”

“Err..” Coach looked at her team on the bleachers, seeing that most of them were getting curious about what was happening between her and Luz. “Fine, but I’m giving you somebody to work with to make sure you don’t get hurt.”

“Yes!” Luz cheered, throwing both of her hands into the air, “Deal, you can pick anybody!”

“When I said anybody, I meant anybody but Boscha,” Luz muttered, looking down at the pink haired girl with a mildly disappointed expression.

Coach chuckled, patting Luz on the shoulder, “I think that you’ll both be fine. Boscha gets to work on her leadership skills, and you get to practice with us. It’s a win-win deal!”

“Except the fact that Boscha hates me!” Luz frowned.

“I don’t hate you,” Boscha countered, “hate is a strong word. I despise you, because despise is a stronger word.”

Luz gestured to Boscha with both hands extended out, looking at Coach with desperacy, “Please, why not Skara?”

Coach shrugged, “You either work with her or find something else to do. I have to go monitor the others now, so uh, good luck.”

Boscha snickered, “So, what would you like to start with?” Luz looked at Boscha, the smirk that spread across her face awfully unsettling.

“Um, sprints, I guess,” Luz shrugged. “Just 30 meters, preferably.”

“I’m not going to measure 30 meters on the track,” Boscha deadpanned, crossing her arms and shifting her weight onto her right leg. “You can just run to the 400 meter mark.”

“But that’s so unnecessary!” Luz gaped, “From one base to another on a baseball field is typically just 30 to 40 meters, why would I run longer?”

“Say you hit a ball super far, then you have more time to run, the faster you can sprint from one base to another, the better. But that also means you have to be able to run the distance in a single sprint,” Boscha explained, and much to Luz’s annoyance, it made sense. “Endurance,” the girl said with jazz hands.

Luz groaned, “Ugh, fine.”

“Your shoes are not good for running in,” Boscha pointed out.

“I don’t have any to change into,” Luz said. “It’s fine, I can run in these perfectly fine.”

“If you trip, it’s going to be because of those shoes,” Boscha sighed, “just don’t get distracted, focus ahead of you.”

Luz nodded, “Yeah, yeah, I got it.”

As Luz made her way to the start of the track, Boscha pulled out her phone to time the Latina. “Ready,” Luz put her foot up to the line, “set” she tensed her muscles, “go!”

Boscha started the stopwatch, Luz keeping her head ahead of her like she was instructed, seeing the white line marked on the track, 400m . Then her focus was thrown off by the ear-piercing whistle by the coach, starting the training that they were going through.

She looked over to see each player was paired with two others, practicing being tackled from two different sides. Luz’s gaze soon landed on the trio with a green-haired girl. Amity.

The Blight was on the receiving end of the tackles, but she was able to dodge them on most attempts. Luz was fixed on watching the Blight, her lithe figure, her competitive attitude, and her calculated movements. Everything about what she did was so precise, so perfect , as if she had planned the entire thing before it even happened.

And then Luz tripped and Boscha shouted at her.

“I swear, Luz, I’m going to kill you!” Boscha threatened, “Stop looking at Amity! I literally warned you before you even started to focus ahead of you, not over there in the field!”

Luz rolled her eyes, standing up to dust off her legs and arms. “I was thrown off by the whistle,” Luz muttered, “sorry.”

Boscha groaned, shaking her head, “It’s fine… just don’t let it happen again.”

“Actually, could we take a break?”

“A break? We just started!” Boscha exclaimed.

The Latina shook her head, “I just, God, I can’t believe I’m asking you this. Can we talk? Privately, because I think there’s something wrong with me.”

Boscha raised a skeptical brow, but nodded nonetheless. “Yeah, sure.”

The two of them went to the bleachers, Luz sitting on the steps, her hands cupped over her nose and mouth. “I think I like Amity. Like, actually, genuinely like her.”

The pink haired girl went quiet, and Luz looked up nervously. “It’s just that you’re one of her friends, so I figured that you earned her trust so I want to trust you too. I don’t know, I can’t really explain it.”

“You like Amity?” Boscha asked, basically ignoring everything Luz just said. “Are you sure?”

“Quite sure,” Luz nodded. “Don’t tell her I told you this because she doesn’t want anyone else knowing that we’re actually friends now. But yesterday, we were in her room to eat and she had opened up to me about her parents. God, I hate them so much.”

“I do too,” Boscha commented.

Luz chuckled briefly. “Yeah, they suck. But I had hugged her as a way to comfort her, right? She had said before that we weren’t supposed to hug like that but I made the joke that I don’t listen because I’m a bad boy– don’t laugh at that!”

Boscha snorted, “You’re not a bad boy, you’re a hipster.”

“Tomato, tomahto,” Luz rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I had said that and she said, and I quote, ‘Yeah, a bad boy, my bad boy,’ ” the Latina imitated Amity’s voice to the best of her ability. “I felt so strange yet so pleasant when she said that, but then she said it’s because I was her friend, and the feeling just kinda was killed by that.”

Luz looked up at Boscha, “What’s wrong with me?”

Boscha sighed, sitting down next to Luz, “Well, do you want the good news or the bad news first?”

“Good news,” Luz said.

“You like Amity,” Boscha confirmed, putting a hand on Luz’s shoulder.

“And the bad news?”

Boscha gave a sympathetic smile, “You like Amity, and she hasn’t liked anyone since Willow, plus, with the risk of Amity’s parents finding out about you both even being friends, well, it’s risky.”

“So I was right then,” Luz frowned, “I am doomed.”

“I might be able to help you out. But first, how about we keep training, to take your mind off things?” Boscha suggested, “And that means you can’t be getting distracted.”

Luz laughed, punching Boscha playfully in the leg, “You got it, Captain.”

“Amity’s the captain, not me,” Boscha said, “ however , I like being called that, so don’t stop.”

“You’re actually a lot better of a person than I originally thought,” Luz snickered.

Boscha shrugged, “What can I say, I have a tough shell, but when it comes to Amity, I dunno. I just want the best for her, y’know?”

“Yeah, I get it,” Luz grinned, getting up and putting her hand out. “Well, Captain, how about we get back to practice?”

Boscha returned the smile, grabbing onto Luz’s hand and pulling herself up, “You know that this doesn’t mean I’m going to go easy on you, right?”

“Oh, I know,” Luz nodded, “I’m ready for whatever you throw at me.”

Luz was not ready, not at all. Boscha made her do sprints first, then she did two laps around the track, then push ups, then sprints again. In Luz’s opinion, there should’ve been more breaks, but Boscha only gave 3 during the entirety of their session.

Yes, Luz still did get distracted here and there by Amity, sometimes catching Amity looking at her too, usually whispering with one of her teammates. It motivated the Latina in a way; to impress, not just Amity, but the entire rugby team.

Boscha smacked Luz on her back, “Good job! You survived!”

“Was,” she interrupted herself with a wheeze, “was this a death run?”

“Eh,” Boscha shrugged, “for us, that’s more of a warmup, really, but since you’re just now getting into physical fitness stuff, pretty much.”

“This is definitely an example of throwing me into the deep end,” Luz huffed.

“You’ll be fiiiine ,” Boscha drawled, checking her watch. “Besides, we’re going to end practice now.”

“Really?” Luz asked maybe a bit too hopefully. “You’re not joking, right?”

“Nope,” Boscha chuckled, “you’re free.”

“Whoo! Yes!” Luz cheered, throwing her fists into the air. “But first,” the Latina threw her arms around Boscha’s shoulders, putting her in a headlock, “thanks for helping me.”

Boscha grunted, easily freeing herself from Luz’s arms and pushing her onto the grass, “Yeah, yeah. We’re not on that level of physicality yet, so uh, no touching please.”

“Mhm, yeah, okay.” Luz chuckled, “Say, I don’t have anything really planned, would you want to hang out? Get to know each other more?”

“I dunno, do I get anything out of it?” Boscha raised a brow.

Luz frowned, “Seriously? Even after the whole ‘I like Amity’ thing, you’re looking for a gain? That’s kinda fucked up, nevermind.”

“No, wait! I was joking,” Boscha said, laughing. “Of course we can hang out, I don’t want to hate you forever , especially if you and Amity do end up dating.”

“Cool, uh,” Luz rubbed at her nape, “wanna eat together then?”

“Let’s do that,” Boscha grinned.

The two put an arm over each other’s shoulder, rambling about random things like who would be better at one thing than the other. Luz was happy that she managed to make another friend, ironically one of Amity’s. But this could also help her, Skara and Boscha and Willow were Amity’s closest friends, so they’d know the most about her, meaning Luz could ask them for advice on how to appease the Blight.

Luz never thought she would try so hard just to capture someone’s heart, but here she was.

She regretted nothing.

Amity Centric Here

Amity watched through narrowed eyes as Luz and Boscha walked off the field together, a subtle bitter feeling rising in her. She doesn’t know exactly what it is, but it’s a feeling awfully similar to what she felt towards Amber.

Amber.

Amity still needed to confront her; give her a piece of her mind. But she could worry about that another time, she needed to change out of her training clothes first after a shower in her room.

Leaving the track, she went up the bleachers to pick up her drawstring bag, throwing it over her shoulder before she left the bleachers to go into the main building. As she walked, she could only really think of earlier in the day, when Luz was training with Boscha.

Luz had come up to the fence of the track and started to talk with the coach, Amity was immediately intrigued in what they could’ve been talking about but Boscha had waved a hand in front of her face to tell her that she was running slightly to the left.

Amity trudged through the halls, navigating off of pure muscle memory to get to her room.

Amity remembered letting out a small, almost unnoticeable grunt of disapproval when Coach had picked Boscha to help Luz, she didn’t understand why Coach didn’t pick her to do it. After all, Luz and Amity interacted with each other the most.

Entering her room, she practically slammed the door behind her once she was inside, throwing her bag haphazardly on the floor before she went into her bathroom to start the shower.

Then Luz had begun training with Boscha, and Amity was watching any time she had the chance. The pink haired girl had Luz doing sprints, but when Coach had used her whistle to get the rugby team to start their own practice, it had thrown Luz off and she tripped. Boscha scolded the girl harshly, threatening to hurt her.

Amity didn’t like that. Her reaction then when two of her members came running to her to tackle her was to just barge into them, knocking them over. Coach called her out for that.

She went into the shower and rested her head against the wall, the boiling hot water (which she considered just to be warm) running down from her neck to the shower’s tiled floor, soothing the Blight’s nerves.

Then Luz had dragged Boscha away for at least 5 minutes, and the two came back to the track much happier, more lively. Luz had Boscha smiling. Amity, while she appreciated Boscha as a friend, didn’t know how she felt about the two being so close with each other all of a sudden. Luz had done the same thing with Skara though, so maybe it was just the charisma that the Latina always seemed to carry with her lean figure, rebellious style, and smug comments and expressions.

Amity eventually got back out, changing into clothing that was more comfortable and baggy than what she wore on the regular. The Blight’s face scrunched up in thought, she wasn’t jealous , was she? Surely not, she’d never be jealous! Especially not if her friends were getting more of Luz’s attention than she was.

No, of course not.

Then again, this emotion is practically the same to the emotion she felt when Amber and Luz hung out and she knew that that was jealousy, simply because Amity felt Amber didn’t deserve Luz’s kindness and would much rather keep it to herself.

Ahem.

So maybe Amity’s slightly jealous. Of Boscha…

Amity groaned, grabbing her phone from her drawstring bag on her bed to text her siblings.

You: How does one get rid of feelings of jealousy for their friend because they get more attention from a person they like?

Drama Queen: Jealous? You? Of who?

Drama King: More importantly, who do you like!!??

You: I’m jealous of Boscha because she’s getting more attention from Luz and I don’t know, I don’t want to be that kind of person but I don’t like the thought of the two of them getting together.

Drama King: I know who Boscha is, but who’s this Luz you speak of? Are they anything like Willow? I hope not.

You: No, Ed, Luz is nothing like Willow. At least, not once you get to know her. She’s actually really sweet and kind and caring, her hugs are nice, and she’s quite funny too.

Drama Queen: Gee, Mittens, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you’re basically in love with this Luz girl.

You: I’m not in LOVE with her, that’s a strong word, love isn’t really a word you can just throw around.
You: I do really like her though, but I’m not sure if I like her in a ‘really good, best friend’ kind of way, or a ‘I wanna date her’ kind of way.

Drama Queen: Well, you have me and Ed as siblings, so give us some context to work with and we can help you figure it out

Drama King: I’d love to hear abt what goes on there, especially between you and a potential gf :D

You: Well, yesterday I had told her about Mother and Father, she comforted me with a hug, which are really nice, and I had actually told her the day before that we aren’t going to hug often and she said she was a bad boy and I said that she was my bad boy, and she didn’t even complain! She went along with it and said that she was mine, though I did recover by saying it was because she was my friend, so she may think she meant that I was her friend, I don’t fucking know.

Drama Queen: wife her

Drama King: right now

Drama Queen: Omg, I wanna be the flower girl!

Drama King: Then I call dibs on being ring bearer!!!

You: I’m not going to just marry her on the spot!

Drama King: So you’re not denying that you’d marry her

Drama Queen: You def wanna date her then.

You: Was that part of a test or what…

Drama Queen: We have our ways of figuring things out, dear sister

Drama King: Exactly, so don’t question it

You: I’m questioning how we’re related.
You: Anyways, what should I do about my dilemma?

Drama Queen: Oh, the thing abt you wanting all of your girl’s attention?
Drama Queen: Just tell Boscha, she’s told me herself who she likes and her heart belongs to.

You: Wait, really? Who?

Drama Queen: Technically it’s two ppl, and unfortunately I can’t tell you that, Mittens, sorry.

Drama King: How’s school going for you tho??

You: Umm… actually, the school’s gonna contact Mother and Father and one or both of them are going to get to visit, I don’t know if I’m mentally or emotionally prepared for it.

Drama King: Wait seriously?

Drama Queen: It’s not exactly legal, but if you want me to hack into their emails and delete the invitation, I can. Just say the word sis.

You: No, it’s okay, thanks. I need to learn to get over their controlling tendencies, so maybe this visit will prove itself beneficial. After all, I do graduate in a little under two years.

Drama King: Well, you tell us about it, okay? We’re here for you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

You: Thanks Ed, love you. Same goes for you Em, I love you as well.

Drama Queen: I like when you’re sweet over text. We miss you though, can’t wait for your next break. Love you! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Amity turned off her phone, sliding it into the pocket of her sweats before she got up from sitting on her bed to leave the room, having completely forgotten that dinner was about to be served.

When the Blight had gotten to the cafeteria, the food was already out, so she got herself a plate of the spaghetti before going to sit at her table with Boscha, Skara… and Luz.

“Oh,” Amity blinked, slowly sitting down, just a seat away from the Latina, “I didn’t know you’d be sitting with us today.”

Luz chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck, “Right, um. Well, I’m not really ready to confront Amber just yet so I’m just sitting here temporarily, I would never intrude on whatever happens here.”

Amity nodded, not saying anything further as she still was keeping up the act that she and Luz were not friends, even if she was dying inside wanting to talk to her.

“You guys were good on the field,” Luz said, “I wish I could do some of the stuff you do.”

“Well,” Boscha said, a large grin on her face, “if you keep stopping by during our practice, Coach might just let you do what we do!”

The three at the table laughed, Amity just listening as she poked at her spaghetti. Her hand clenched around the fork’s handle, not exactly enthralled by Boscha’s enthusiasm while talking to Luz.

“I may need more pointers though, like how to keep my focus,” Luz huffed. “Every time Coach blew her whistle, I was distracted.”

Skara giggled, “Don’t worry about it, Luz, it comes with time. The longer you stay with us, the more you’ll hear it, and the less it’ll bother you.”

Luz smiled, “That’s a relief then. What days should I come by though, like, when is your guys’ practice?”

“It changes throughout each week, you have Amity’s number, don’t you?” Skara then looked at Amity, “You should text her when we have practice or not, since usually Coach informs you before everyone else.”

Amity looked up, blinking at the three girls looking at her. “O-oh, um. Yeah, I could do that,” she looked down again, jabbing into the noodles, “it wouldn’t bother me at all.”

“Are you sure?” Luz asked, hesitantly reaching out her hand to touch Amity’s shoulder, “ You seem pretty bothered.”

“Don’t worry about me.” Amity stood up from her seat, “I’m going to just go eat in my room, you three have a good lunch.”

Quickly, the Blight picked up her plate of food and left the lunch room, ignoring the whines that came from the three about how she should just stay and talk with them, but Amity needed to take her mind away from them, away from Luz.

She doesn’t understand what she was feeling, or why she was feeling it. It annoyed her greatly. Maybe a visit to the school library would help her cool down, so that’s what she did, ignoring how her phone was buzzing in her pocket for the majority of the walk.

When she did make it to the library, she went to the corner where the beanbags were, hidden by the bookshelves. She set down her plate of food in her lap, finally taking out her phone to see why it was buzzing.

Skyscraper: Are you mad?
Skyscraper: Is it something I did?
Skyscraper: Just tell me if you’re okay or not, I’m kinda worried that it’s my fault.

Amity read each text, but replied to none of them, instead leaving them as read.

She needed to take her mind away from the source of the problem, even if the source of that problem is one of her friends and was genuinely worried about her and was also Amity’s crush.

With a groan, she put her phone under her and ate in silence, wishing for her problems could just whoosh away.

One last buzz of her phone.

Skyscraper: Sorry.

—End—

Chapter Text

It was Saturday, the day of the rugby team’s game against Glandus, and Luz wasn’t even sure she wanted to go anymore.

It was already sometime around 11 in the morning and she was still in bed, lying under her sheets facing the ceiling, thinking about possible reasons that Amity would suddenly decide to push her away.

She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and checked if Amity had replied yet to her messages.

Still left on read.

Luz frowned, what could she have done that pissed Amity off so much that she won’t even text her and tell her what she did?

Sitting up, she threw the covers off and finally got out of her bed, stretching her arms over her head to relieve herself of the aching feeling in her back.

She stood from the bed, combing her fingers lazily through her hair out of habit (a habit she only recently got thanks to not being able to wear her beanie).

With her having missed breakfast, Luz knew she had to have lunch. Even if she would much rather stay in bed.

Quickly throwing on a white shirt and black jeans, she left her room and made her way to the cafeteria, occasionally rubbing her eyes from having no time to adjust to the bright LED lights they used in the halls.

Then she realized that, wow, Hexside’s pretty hyped for the rugby game. The halls were decorated by banners with the team captains of both schools’ teams, being Amity and some girl from Glandus, with their arms crossed over their chests with competitive looks etched into their features.

Not to mention the small posters hung on walls and lockers reminding students to attend the game on their field later at 1 in the afternoon.

And for the the few other students in the hallways, they all got together to immediately start talking about the upcoming game, placing bets and whatnot.

“Hey, you!” A random boy called, running in front of Luz. “You’re coming to the game, right?”

“Uh,” Luz blinked, looking to the side to see more of her peers listening in. “I mean, why not? It seems like a pretty big deal, so…”

“It is a really big deal!” Exclaimed the boy, “Glandus is our biggest competitor and they always put slander on our school! Our rugby team always beats them though, especially with that Blight as captain.”

Ah, yes, a reminder that Amity was probably the center of attention for the day, meaning Luz would probably be hearing of her a lot more than usual.

“Well, uh, go Hexside, I guess?” Luz shrugged, not in the best mood to cheer. “I’m going to just go past you now.”

“But! Do you want to place bets?”

“No,” Luz called back, “I want to eat.”

Today was going to be a great day.

That’s sarcasm.

She had gotten her lunch, eating alone in silence. Nobody she knew was in the cafeteria, considering that Boscha, Skara and Amity were all on there rugby team and were probably practicing.

So she left as soon as she finished to go back to her room, change into a more presentable outfit and start making signs for the game.

Sure, she wasn’t in the best mood, nor was she the best at writing in fancy, big, bubble letters, but she wanted to support her friends.

And maybe even, with the one sign she made for Amity, be forgiven for whatever it was that she did.

There were 15 minutes left before the game began when Luz finished, and she scrambled to pick up everything and leave before she was late.

“Shit, shit, shit, shitshitshit!” She rapidly cursed as she sprinted from her room, making sure to close the door before she ran through the halls to the nearest exit, going outside to get to the field before she was late.

She could already hear the crowd of people already seated for the game.

Heaving when she reached the bleachers, she found a space in the front row where she could set up all of her signs, as well as have a decent view of the field.

Luz scanned the field, looking mostly for Amity, but she also saw Boscha and Skara so she whistled to them. “Whoo! Go Hexside!”

Skara heard her and looked over, her gaze landing on Luz and her face lit up. She threw the Latina two thumbs up, also pointing her location out to the rest of the team to see her signs.

“Thanks Luz-er!” Boscha hollered above the crowd, which was impressive because of how far she was and still she managed to outperform them.

The teams were simply organizing themselves at the moment, there was still 5 minutes before game time. She scanned the Hexside rugby team, looking for the signature green mane that Amity had.

There was only one greenette and that was, as Skara informed her, Amelia.

Luz groaned nervously when she couldn’t spot Amity, afraid that maybe the girl wasn’t going to show up.

That was, until the game started, and apparently the team captains came out last because Amity and the Glandus captain came out to the field at the same time, both sizing each other up when the reached the midfield.

The referee joined them in the center, and the crowd quieted to a low murmur as they watched anxiously for the ball toss.

The ball was thrown up by the ref and both girl leaped, but of course, Amity snagged the ball and immediately passed it sideways to Boscha, whom took off the second she got it in her hands.

“Yeah!” Luz jumped up from where she was, “You go, Boscha!”

She watched with excitement as Boscha dodged multiple players attempting to tackle her, then tossing it to her teammate behind her when there were two players blocking her. 

Kat, Skara had told her about, caught the ball and went to the left to avoid the players that still were focused on Boscha for the moment, taking advantage of the reaction times of her opponents to make a score at the end of the field.

The crowd screamed when Kat scored the point, and Luz covered her ears before they began to bleed.

Then it was a pattern. Point Hexside. Point Glandus. Point Hexside. Point Glandus. Point Hexside— oh, another point to Hexside, and! No, Glandus got the next point.

Finally, the half ended and it was time for the break before the final half of the game, teams going to the sidelines to converse with their coaches and revise their plans and get a drink of water.

Luz picked up her special sign from below, holding it up high and proud, “Hey Blight!” She hollered, and she saw, not just Amity, but all of the players on Hexside’s team face her.

She could see Amity’s face redden from where she stood, but she didn’t look flustered, no, she looked upset. The Blight gestured with her hands for Luz to put the sign down so she did just that.

Luz frowned when Amity shook her head and focused back on her team, but she passed it off as the Blight being focused on winning.

And win, they did. Amity and Boscha had gotten the final points in the second half, getting to carry the trophy they won proudly across the field as they ran for the locker rooms.

Luz was quick to react, picking up her signs and running towards the changing room building they had beside the field.

The second she reached it though, Amity had barged through and walked straight into Luz, the force of the collision causing the Latina to fall but the Blight, probably accustomed to being run into with all the tackles, stood steady.

“Am—”

“Are you fucking stupid?” Amity hissed, and Luz blinked.

“What?”

“I asked if you’re fucking stupid,” Amity repeated. “We made the agreement to be friends, but that it had to be a secret, and then you pull your little stunt? Seriously?”

Luz pushed herself up from the floor, crossing her arms, “No, you can’t pull that on me, because you made a promise to me that you’d stop pushing me away, then you go and leave me on read.”

“It’s only been a night, Noceda,” Amity sneered, “stop being dramatic.”

“Oh, so I’m Noceda again, am I?” Luz scoffed, “And how am I being dramatic? I simply wanted to know what I did wrong and you didn’t even tell me that.”

Amity rolled her eyes, going around Luz to walk away.

“Where are you going? I’m not done talking to you!”

“I am,” Amity said, continuing to walk away, leaving Luz standing there with her numerous sounds on the ground.

Luz ran her hands through her hair, gripping roughly before letting out a shout of frustration, kicking her signs. “Fuck!”

No, Luz wouldn’t let this slide, she needed a proper answer from Amity and she was going to get it.

She picked up her signs and started the walk to her room so she could drop them off there before finding the Blight.

It was about an hour later when Luz actually decided to confront Amity, as she knew she’d have to cool down if she wanted to have a proper conversation with the girl. Plus she wanted to look nice for it, throwing on her nicer clothing.

Luz practically ran to Amity’s room, about ready to start knocking on the door before she heard chanting, the sound of encouragement.

Wait.

“Fight, fight, fight!”

Luz looked back at the door, realizing that it was actually open. In a panic, she went in and looked around the room, only to find it empty. “Amity?” She called, just in case.

No answer.

“Oh, for the love of fuck,” Luz cursed, running in the direction of the chants.

Pushing through the crowd, she saw two familiar faces, Amber and Amity, with the former under the latter. Amber’s nose was bleeding, but so was Amity’s, so they must have been fighting for a while.

There were pages scattered across the floor, and the journal that Luz guessed the papers came from. 

Is that cover hand drawn? And it’s Azura themed, oh no.

Luz charged in, latching her arms under Amity’s and pulling her off of Amber, “Stop fighting!”

“You’re a fucking bitch, Amber,” Amity shouted, “you stay the fuck away from me!”

“I’m the bitch?” Amber scoffed, scrambling back, “You’re upset because of something that happened two years ago, and then a minor kiss that wasn’t even given to you!”

“That is not why! You invaded my fucking privacy!” Amity tried to pry herself from Luz, but failing. “What else are you if not a bitch for trying to post my diary papers on lockers?”

“Well, one thing’s for sure,” Amber huffed, “I’m not a psycho like you.”

“You asshole!” Amity yanked herself free from Luz and gave one final blow to Amber’s face, successfully knocking her out. 

Ouch.

The Blight looked around, and people quickly dispersed, not wanting to be the next victim. Luz and Amber’s unconscious body were the only others remaining.

Luz looked around. “Wow, I see you thought this through,” she began carefully, “the one hall without any cameras.”

Amity turned to look at Luz. “Why are you even here?”

“Seriously? You’re going to ask me what I’m doing here? I was just going to your room to talk to you, but then I hear the chants of people about a fight, not to mention your door being open.” Luz crossed her arms, “If anything, I should be the one asking you why you’re here.”

Amity scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I’m a Blight, Noceda, and Amber crossed a line. Blight’s don’t told tolerate people who think they can get away with things like this.”

“We’re still doing the Noceda thing?” Luz watched Amity go around to pick up the fallen pages of her diary and the diary itself. “And what about this Blight nonsense, I know for a fact that you don’t actually care about that shit.”

“If you actually knew me, then you’d know that I actually do,” Amity muttered, walking past Luz to go back in the direction of her room.

“Are you fucking serious right now?” Luz exclaimed, getting Amity to pause. “You’re walking away again when I’m trying to have a conversation? I have done nothing but try to help you, Amity, make up for my mistakes in the start, and now you’ve been pushing me away even though we fucking agreed that you’d stop doing this!”

“Not today,” Amity said, “please.”

“No! You…” Luz choked on her words. “You fucking promised me, you promised that you’d stop pushing me away, so why are you doing it again? I just want to know what I did wrong.”

Amity simply stood there and Luz was about to ask her again for an explanation when the Blight spoke up.

And, wow, that hurt.

Amity was about ready to start crying when she left Luz after the game; the Latina had the right to be upset and confused, but Amity had her reasons.

She needed to protect herself and Luz, last night made her realize that.

If she couldn’t control her emotions about Luz when she was hanging out with her friends, she knew that it’d be much worse if her parents said anything about her when they visited.

She couldn’t, wouldn’t, risk her parents finding out about their relationship, who knows what they’d do.

So pushing Luz away was the best option, for her safety. And yeah, Amity could let Luz in on the reason but that would defeat the purpose, Amity needed to distance herself, she needed to go back to her cold ways, she needed to be a Blight.

Amity had spent the entire night before reciting the Blight Laws, each and every one, until rays of sunlight poured into her room.

Her phone buzzed throughout the night, but, as a way of training herself, didn’t allow herself to check any of the messages.

Okay, she checked them, but she didn’t reply.

She needed restraint, she needed to control her emotions.

A Blight is not controlled by their emotions, they are controlled by their minds.

A Blight shall not give in to temptation.

And the one mantra that mattered most to her: A Blight has to make sacrifices, even their own happiness, for future benefit.

Amity was making sacrifices, for her and Luz, so that they could still be friends after all of this.

That is, if Luz didn’t give up on her before it ended.

She doubted that, though, because Luz was persistent, so this plan was very obviously fool proof.

When Amity had reached her room, she found that her door was open, which was weird because she could have sworn that she closed it when she left that morning to meet with her teammates.

Walking in cautiously, she gasped when she saw the mess that was all over the room, sticky notes were torn from her ceiling, drawers were pulled out and emptied, posters were ripped from the walls.

Amity ran to her desk, checking the bottom of the chair for her diary to find—

“Fuck!”

She bolted out of her room, looking left and right before hearing a bunch of giggles from her left. She went to check it out.

“That’ll teach her,” said the familiar voice of Amber. “Obviously the only reason that Luz doesn’t like me is because of Amity, always hogging her to herself, the bitch.”

There were two others, Amity didn’t know them, but she assumed that they were friends or at least partners in crime with Amber.

“Yeah, but let’s not forget how she’s always walking around on that pedestal of hers, it’s time to knock her down a level, give her a taste of the real world,” one said.

The other snorted, “Let’s not forget the days when she took her anger out on people for no reason other than being in a bad mood, always in the bathrooms, because she could never be seen and nobody was bold enough to rat her out.”

“Hey,” the first said, “give me a couple, there’s another hallway that I can put them in where everyone will see them.”

Amber snickered, “Here.”

A ripping sound, the tearing of paper from a journal.

Finally, Amity ran up to them, “Give me back my diary, you heathens!”

“Shit!” The two that Amity didn’t know dropped the papers they were given and bolted, leaving Amber on her own.

“Hey, come back here!” Amber called looking back at Amity, tensing as she saw how pissed the Blight looked. “Oh, hey, Amity, how have you been?”

“Terrible, but I have the feeling that this is going to make me feel great.”

Amity only remembered throwing herself and her fists at Amber, taking a couple hits from the girl as well, but successfully, she pinned her to the floor.

She hadn’t even noticed that a crowd formed around them, cheering as they watched the rugby captain repeatedly beat Amber’s face.

Then arms looped under hers and dragged her off the blonde, “Stop fighting!”

“You’re a fucking bitch, Amber, stay the fuck away from me!” Amity kicked her legs out as she was being help back while Amity scrambled further away.

“I’m a bitch?” Amber scoffed, “You’re upset because of something that happened two years ago, and then a minor kiss that wasn’t even given to you!”

“That is not why! You invaded my fucking privacy!” Amity tried to pull herself from whoever was holding her, unsuccessfully. “What else are you if not a bitch for trying to post my diary papers on lockers?”

“Well, one thing’s for sure,” Amber narrowed her eyes, “I’m not a psycho like you.”

“You asshole!” Amity forced whoever was holding her to let go to give one final blow to Amber’s face, knocking her out. 

Amity huffed, catching her breath. She looked to her sides, scoffing, and people quickly ran off.

She froze when she heard a familiar voice.

“Wow, I see you thought this through,” Luz commented, “the one hall without any cameras.”

Amity didn’t think anything through, she was running off of pure, unfiltered rage. She attacked Amber, disregarding all risks.

“Why are you even here?” Amity asked, turning to look at Luz.

“Seriously? You’re going to ask me what I’m doing here? I was just going to your room to talk to you, but then I hear the chants of people about a fight, not to mention your door being open.” Luz crossed her arms, her nose scrunching up, “If anything, I should be the one asking you why you’re here.”

Amity scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I’m a Blight, Noceda, and Amber crossed a line. Blight’s don’t told tolerate people who think they can get away with things like this.”

Amity went around and picked up the pages of her diary that had been ripped out, as well as the diary itself, putting the papers inside it.

“We’re still doing the Noceda thing? And what about this Blight nonsense, I know for a fact that you don’t actually care about that shit.”

See, Luz was persistent.

“If you actually knew me, then you’d know that I actually do,” Amity muttered, wincing mentally because, while this was the plan, it still hurt her to have to hurt Luz. She walked past Luz to go back in the direction of her room.

“Are you fucking serious right now?” Luz exclaimed, and Amity stopped just to listen. “You’re walking away again when I’m trying to have a conversation? I have done nothing but try to help you, Amity, make up for my mistakes in the start, and now you’ve been pushing me away even though we fucking agreed that you’d stop doing this!”

“Not today,” Amity said, closing her eyes and wishing that, for once, Luz could stop being stubborn and drop it. Just for another week, then they’d be able to go back to normal. “Please.”

“No! You…” Luz paused. “You fucking promised me, you promised that you’d stop pushing me away, so why are you doing it again? I just want to know what I did wrong.”

Amity stood there, and she knew what she’d had to say if she wanted Luz to leave her alone.

And, God, she regretted it the second it left her lips.

“I am a Blight,” she said, looking over her shoulder at Luz, watching the Latina’s face contort into frustration, then confusion, then concern. “And Blights only associate with a select few.”

“Amity…”

Amity focused ahead of her, sucking it up. “Go bother someone else, I have more important things to do.”

As the Blight walked away, she heard the sniffles come from Luz, she heard the thud of knees hitting the ground, and she heard the girl break down.

And it was Amity’s fault.

Amity did that.

But it’d be okay, this would all work out in the end.

It had to.

The day was quite uneventful afterwards, Amity simply going to her room to clean the mess and also her face and fists of all the blood, then she curled up in her sheets to cry herself to sleep early that afternoon.

She woke up at some time around 8 at night to a knock at her door. Who could be visiting at a time like this?

She sat up, stretching her arms above her head. She could feel in her skin how much she cried with how dry it felt, with how sore her eyes were when she rubbed them.

Amity groaned, groggily getting up from her bed. Whoever was there was about to get a mouthful from Amity, there was no reason to be at her room at this time.

Opening the door, she opened her mouth, ready to start chewing whoever it was out, but nobody was there, so she looked to either sides of the halls, seeing a figure with a beanie walking away.

Luz. What was she doing at Amity’s room?

Amity took a step forward, about to follow Luz because maybe Luz thought Amity was asleep with the time it took for the Blight to answer, her foot kicking something.

She looked down, the otter plush she gave to Luz and a note sitting on the floor. Kneeling down, Amity grabbed the note and opened it to read, feeling tears coming up already.

“You had given me this otter because you wanted me to think of you, but right now, that’s the last thing I want to do.

I don’t know what you’re going through, but I guess I also don’t really know you.

Don’t talk to me unless you're going to explain.

PS; I took care of Amber for you, she won’t snitch.

-Sincerely, Luz Noceda ”

Amity shook her head subconsciously, this couldn’t be right.

This wasn’t the plan. Luz wasn’t supposed to concede defeat.

She fucked up.

Luz and Amity hadn’t even been friends for a day, and now they’re back to being practically strangers.

Luz screamed and punched the wall in the shower, because she honestly doesn’t know how else to relieve her anger.

She visited Amity earlier, to return the otter. She loved it, she really did, but it reminded her of Amity like Amity said she wanted it to, but now, now that was something she didn’t want.

Getting back out of the shower to put on her clothes, Luz made her way back to her bed, dragging her feet until she fell face first into the mattress.

Then there was a knock.

“Amity, if that’s you, fuck off!”

“Actually, it’s me! King!” Chirped a young male from the other side, and Luz quickly got up to open the door. “Hey! How aaarrreee…. Um. Luz, why are your eyes bloodshot red?”

“Are they?” Luz rubbed her eyes, “Heh, dunno. Um, why don’t you come in, I’m really excited to hear about everything that you’ve been doing this week.”

“Oh, a bunch of things! We made these weird pi chains. Our math teacher gave us all a sheet of paper with the pi digits on it, and then a bunch of construction paper strips to turn into a chain,” King explained, “it was awesome!”

“That sounds pretty cool,” Luz giggled, listening intently as she seriously needed the distraction. “What else?”

“Well, we’re starting the volleyball unit in P.E., so I guess that’s cool too,” King shrugged. “We had a movie day in one class because it was based on mythology, you’ve watched Percy Jackson, haven’t you? Anyway, that was awesome too.”

Luz smiled absently as she listened to King rambling about how amazing his week had been, she hadn’t been prepared, though, when King asked her about her own week.

“So? How has it been for you?” He asked, leaning on her bed, “Is it everything you could’ve imagined?”

“It’s.. definitely something, alright,” Luz chuckled, her smile faltering. “I’ve made a couple friends, so I guess that’s cool.”

“That is cool. How about that Blight girl, how have things gone with her? Are you guys still rivals?”

Luz rubbed the back of her neck, “Yeah, you could say that. Let’s not talk about her today, please.”

“Oh, okay. But before I drop it,” King tapped his fingers together, “what did she do?”

Luz grimaced, the incident of yesterday flooding her mind. She shook the thoughts away and screwed her eyes shut. “Sorry, King, but I’d rather not talk about it. Not because it’s with you, it just hurts to remember.”

King nodded, “It’s okay, just know I’m here for you.”

“Thanks King,” Luz gave him a small smile.

The boy jumped up, “Hey, I have an idea! Wanna go to the gym? You know, punch some bags, release some frustration, I think it’ll help you.”

“Sure,” Luz shrugged, “I don’t see why not. Want me to carry you?”

“Duh!”

“Back or shoulders?”

King tapped his chin, squinting in thought. “Shoulders, I can touch the ceiling if I put my arms up, hehe,” he snickered, maniacally smirking.

“You got it,” Luz grinned, getting up and kneeling down while King scrambled onto the bed so he could get onto her shoulders. “Hold on.”

King wrapped his arms around her forehead so that he wouldn’t fall when Luz stood up. He squealed as she started walking to the door, opening it and telling him to duck as she walked out into the hall.

“I’m on top of the world!” King declared, his hands shooting up into the air, grabbing the attention of strangers in the hall, but Luz casted them all a stern glare to make them mind their own business.

“That’s right, buddy,” Luz contributed to King’s fantasy, “you’re the ruler of Hexside.”

“And you’re my right hand,” King went on, “you’ll always be by my side, won’t you?”

“Of course, King, I’ll always be in your side, that’s what siblings do.”

King hugged her head, and she chuckled. “I love you, Luz,” he whispered, almost sounding embarrassed.

“I love you too, King, te quiero ,” she replied, reaching up with her hand to hold King’s. “I promise that next weekend, I’ll spend it all with you, and then whenever our next break is, I’ll take you out to join me and Gus for skateboarding, teach you tricks and whatnot.”

“That’d be awesome,” he said.

“Yeah,” she smiled, “it would.”

As the pair went down the hall, Luz asked King for directions to the gym, with the boy also telling her about his week. He was more than happy to tell her about the group of friends he had been hanging out with, and that they should all meet up next weekend.

Of course Luz agreed.

When they got to the gym, Luz helped King carefully slide off her shoulders. It baffled her, though, that at 12, King was still super small and light enough for her to carry him on her shoulders.

King grabbed her hand and pulled her to the area in the gym where there were punching bag stands, with minor tears in the leather here and there.

“Now punch it!” King exclaimed.

Luz laughed, ruffling King’s hair, “Bud, I think I’d break my fist if I punched the bag without gloves.”

“Oh, right.” King ran to the wall where there was a foldable white table with buckets, and the boy came running back with gloves, “Here!”

“Thanks,” she said, taking the gloves from King and fitting her hand into the left glove. “How did you know what size gloves I needed?”

“Perks of being your little brother, I know things most people don’t,” King said proudly, crossing his arms and puffing his chest out proudly.

“Fair enough,” Luz went with it, putting the other glove on and tapping them together.

“Punch it!” King demanded, and Luz complied, providing a blow to the center of the punching bag.

The boy snickered to himself, “First the punching bag, then all of our enemies!”

Luz looked at him, “What?”

“What?”

“Okay then,” she nodded slowly, then focused back on the bag. Surprisingly, punching the bag relieved a lot of the frustration she had so she continued hitting it.

“So, wanna talk about your emotions now?” King asked, “I mean, with all this output you’re putting into punching, you must want to say something too.”

“Not exactly,” Luz said, clenching her fists tighter within the gloves.

“But talking about your problems is very healthy,” King countered, “I think it would greatly benefit you if you shared with me, your bestest brother, about what’s up!”

Luz huffed, punching the bag harder and more rapidly. “Please, King, knowing you, the last thing you care about is health. And I’ve already said no!”

“Come on! Just tell me!” He pressed.

“King.”

“Why won’t you tell me?”

“Because I want to forget!” Luz said, punching the bag one last time before beginning to tear up. “Amity hurt me, so fucking bad, and I hate her.”

King approached her, putting his arms around her. “Didn’t you already hate her in the start?”

“No,” Luz took the gloves off to hug King back, aware that tears were falling down her cheeks. “I just strongly disliked how prissy and privileged she was. But then I got to know her over the week, we settled our differences and became friends Thursday, then just yesterday Amity decided to tell me to fuck off in the Blight-iest way she could.”

“Ouch,” King muttered. “Do you know why she’d do that?”

“She’s an anomaly, I don’t think anyone will ever truly understand why she does anything,” Luz spat, “but my guess is that it has something to do with her parents coming to visit sometime this month.”

King opened his mouth to comment but Luz wasn’t done complaining. “That doesn’t matter though, she made a fucking promise to me that she wouldn’t push me away. If she wanted me to back off when her parents came, all she had to do was ask.”

“Maybe there’s more behind her reasoning?” King offered, though at this point, he was beginning to agree with Luz.

“Fuck her reasoning,” Luz said, putting the punching gloves back on and pulling from King’s hug to start jabbing the punch bag again. “She wants me to leave her alone? Fine, she’ll never have to worry about me bothering her again.”

“But Luz,” King winced as he watched Luz throw multiple throws at the bag, each one hitting harder than the last. “Maybe you shouldn’t cut her off so soon, I mean, there were still things you liked about her, right?”

“I liked everything about her!” Luz scoffed, wiping at her eyes before hitting again, “That’s why I can’t— King. It’ll probably take you a while to truly understand, but sometimes it hurts more to hold on than to let go.”

King muttered under his breath, “Fine, I guess I’ll have to do this myself.”

The boy ran out of the gym, leaving Luz to punch at the bag and relieve herself of the pent up frustration.

He had a mission to fulfill.

King asked people in the hallway where he could find Amity Blight, most people snickering at him because why would Amity Blight hang out with a child like King?

Either way, using the help he did get, he eventually found her in the library, hunched over a pile of books, along with a random otter plush.

“Uh,” he approached, “Amity?”

She quickly straightened her back, looking in King’s direction, “Yes?”

“You know Luz, right? My technically-sister?” King tapped his fingers together, “You kinda hurt her feelings and now she’s really upset. I just want to know why you’d do that.”

Amity narrowed her gaze on the boy, “You’re Luz’s brother?”

“Well, we’re not blood related but Edalyn kinda adopted us both as her own, so it works out.”

The Blight sighed, dragging her fingers through her messy mane of hair, “Well, I do know Luz, we were acquainted for a bit.”

“You know, you don’t have to be vague with me, I know everything,” King huffed. “You’re a real jerk, by the way.”

“Hey, don’t think I won’t punt you back where you came from,” Amity hissed.

“Do it and Luz will have your head,” King challenged and Amity faltered. He crossed his arms, “I knew it, you still care. So why the heck did you hurt Luz’s feelings?”

“It doesn’t matter now,” she said, looking at the otter plush on the table, “she already hates me, doesn’t she?”

King frowned, “She did say so, but she also said she liked everything about you, so I don’t know, maybe you still can make it up to her.”

“After what I said to her? Ha, that would take a miracle,” she said, wiping her face. Was she crying? “I hate myself for what I did but I thought that everything would follow my plan, that she would keep trying to talk it out or something. She’s really persistent.”

“Yeah, I know,” King said, slowly stepping closer until he was standing next to her.

Amity, from a closer perspective, had bloodshot eyes, as if she had been up all night crying. Maybe she was. “But I screwed up, and now she wants nothing to do with me,” her voice cracked. “I’ll never be able to make it up to her.”

“I’m the words of Justin Bieber, ‘never say never,’” King said, “I can help you! Make it up to Luz, I mean. Come on, I know her the best and if anybody can help you back into her heart, it’s me.”

Amity scoffed, “Really?”

“Yeah, really, is that so hard to believe?” King furrowed his brows.

“No offense, kid, but with your age, I doubt that you even know half of anything about Luz.”

“I know more than you,” King said, snorting when Amity didn’t say anything after that. “And you’d be surprised what a kid my age knows about her.”

The Blight nodded slowly, “Sorry then. How can I make it up to Luz, and God, I must be desperate if I’m asking you.”

“I’m going to ignore that,” King muttered, “but have you tried, I dunno, going to talk to her?”

“No, I came here after I woke up, to study how to fix mistakes,” Amity pointed to the many books splayed across the table.

“Right, well, literature’s stupid,” the boy tapped his chin. “Luz is currently in the gym, punching a bag to relieve the anger you caused her, so maybe you shouldn’t visit her now or you’ll get a blow straight to the face.”

“Makes sense,” Amity commented.

“Exactly, so, better idea, we can wait for her in her room for when she gets back,” King smiled.

Amity didn’t agree immediately though, she instead asked questions. “Um, but what if she doesn’t come back anytime soon?”

“I’ll lure her there, we’ll pick open the lock, get you inside, then I’ll get her. Once she’s in the room, I’ll close the door and she’ll be forced to talk to you!”

“I don’t know, I feel like that would just make her more mad at me,” Amity whispered.

King sighed, “You expected Luz to do all the work in your plan, to continue trying to talk to you and stuff, it’s only fair that in my plan, you take her part.”

The Blight groaned but finally accepted his plan, “Alright, let’s get started.”

“Hey Luz”, King greeted when he came to get Luz, having just gotten Amity in the Noceda's room. “There’s something in your room that I forgot, can we go get it?”

Luz pulled her key out of her pocket, “Here, just go get it.”

“But I want to go with you, I wanted to spend this day with you,” King guilt tripped her, even pouting to enhance the effect.

She groaned, taking her gloves off and putting them back in the bucket they came from, “ Fiiine , but only because I have really missed you over the week.”

“Yay!” He cheered, grabbing her hand and dragging her with him, “Hurry, hurry, the faster we get there, the sooner we can do other stuff!”

Luz chuckled, speeding up so she wasn’t tripping on her feet from King dragging her and the two ran through the halls until they reached Luz’s room.

“I definitely beat you!” King heaved, keeping up the act that they were just going to have fun.

Luz snorted, “Ha, you wish.” She pulled her key out and unlocked the door, turning the knob to push it open. “So, what did you le— Blight, what are you doing here?”

Amity was standing awkwardly, waving at Luz when she came in. King shoved Luz in the room so that he could close and lock the door again.

“King, what the hell?”

“I’m not letting you be sad! As your brother, I demand that you two work it out!” King said, blocking the door with his arms crossed.

Luz looked at Amity with a glare. “There’s nothing to work out,” she said, “Amity made her choice, I’m just doing her a favor and going along with it.”

“I made a mistake!” Amity shouted, “And I’m sorry, Luz, I am so so sorry.”

“I don’t care how sorry you are, you fucking left me in that hallway to deal with a mess you made! Not to mention you basically called me unworthy of your interaction,” Luz exclaimed, throwing her arms up.

And King was just now realizing that this was going to take a while.

“I didn’t mean it, I just—”

“You just what , Amity?” Luz scrunched up her nose, “You just wanted to make me hurt, you just wanted to see me cry?”

“No!” Amity cried, “I would never!”

“Then why?! After everything I’ve done for you! I comforted you when you needed me to, I supported you when you thought nobody else did; whatever you told me to do, I would do it without a second thought.” Luz sighed, “Because that’s what a good friend does and you, you payed me back by telling me to fuck off using one of those Blight Law things.”

“I just wanted to protect you,” Amity said, “when my parents get here, if they were to say something about you, I’d defend you, no questions asked. If they knew we were friends, they’d pull me out in a heartbeat and send me somewhere else, some other boarding school, probably, and I’d never get to see you again.” The Blight grabbed at her arms, “I had to distance myself from you so that I could restrain myself from making a mistake.”

“You could have told me,” Luz whispered, “let me in on your plan, then we wouldn’t be here.”

“I know, I could have— I should have,” Amity looked down, “I fucked up, but I just didn’t think you’d actually give up. I thought you’d be your persistent self and keep trying to bug me until I caved.”

King wished he had popcorn, this was a whole movie right in front of him and he was snackless.

“I’m sorry, Luz, and I know that that may not be enough but I just, I don’t want to actually lose you,” Amity trembled, “please.”

Luz stepped away, “I… I don’t know.”

Amity grabbed the otter plush from behind her, and King snorted, of course she brought that with her.

“Your letter, I read it at least a hundred times,” Amity chuckled solemnly, “I’m not asking you to forgive me, Luz, I’m just asking for a second chance, to really make it up to you.”

King gasped as he watched Amity hold out the plush to Luz, gnawing on his nails because he really wanted this to work.

Luz reached for it, and hope beamed in Amity’s eyes, but then she faltered and pulled her hands away. “I can’t, Am, not now. How about after your parents are gone, then you can really make it up to me, because I don’t think I’ll be able to handle the on and off between the you like this and the you in front of your parents.”

Amity bit her lip and nodded. “That’s okay,” she said shakily, wiping away at her eyes before the tears in them had a chance to fall, “I can do that. I can wait. For you, I’ll wait.”

King sniffled and both girls looked at him, having probably forgotten he was even there. Luz looked back at Amity before sighing, “King, open the door please, I’d like to go for a walk.”

The boy did as he was asked, closing it behind the Noceda once she was gone. He looked at Amity, who immediately fell to her knees to sob. “Oh, sh- hhhhooot , shoot. Amity, are you okay?” He ran to her side, putting his arms around her.

“I’m great,” she said, looking up at him with a smile. “She’s going to give me a second chance.”

King grinned nervously, because, uh, Amity did not look okay. “Yay..?”

“Your name is King, right?” Amity leaned on the boy’s shoulder.

“Yeah, King Clawthorne.”

“Thanks,” she whispered, “I really appreciate you helping me.”

“Of course,” King said. “Would you want to go to your room now, to rest and all that? I’m sure all this emotional, uh, stuff has tired you out.”

“It has,” Amity agreed, wiping her eyes with her wrist. “Walk me?”

King nodded, “Yeah.”

Sitting in Amity’s room to make sure she didn’t break down was strange to King, especially because he was still wide awake while she was fast asleep under her covers, clutching a stuffed white cat from Build-A-Bear to her chest.

He looked up, seeing the crazy, multi-colored sticky note mural she had. He was both impressed and scared, because who spends their time like that?

He got up from the desk chair where he has been sitting (and drawing), deciding that it wouldn’t hurt to snoop around. Immediately, the first place he checked was the closet, looking at all of the suitcases inside, as well as a shelf with folded blankets, bed sheets, pillow cases, and towels.

Wait, what was that at the very top?

King pulled the chair from the desk over, locking the wheels so it wouldn’t move when he stood on it. Grabbing the folded item at the top, he waved it open to find out that it was Luz’s green bomber jacket. 

This was Luz’s favorite jacket, surely she would know that it was gone, so why did Amity have it?

Better question, why hasn’t Luz taken it back?

Amity knew she was having a bad memory dream when she saw her 14 year old self wearing her dark grey tunic and red leggings.

Standing outside of the local library, Amity knew what memory this was. And she groaned when Amber came running over to her with a wide grin on her face, confirming her suspicions.

“Hey Amity! You said you wanted to meet her for the project, so here I am!” The girl said way too enthusiastically and Amity wished she hadn’t been so gullible in trusting it.

“Yeah, it’s just the one place we can be without too many troubles,” Younger Amity said, holding her notebook close to her chest. “I really hope that we do good on the project, so let’s make sure to know each other well.”

“Sounds good to me,” Amber smiled, and Amity watched the younger pair go into the library, following after them.

The two sat at a table in the middle of the studying section, both of their notebooks open to a blank page. “So, Amity, do you like anybody at the school?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, I’m actually kinda dating Willow Park, if you know them,” Young Amity laughed, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Really?” Amber wrote that down. “What do you mean by ‘kinda’ though? Are you or are you not?”

“It’s difficult to say,” Young Amity tapped her pencil on the table. “We’re friends but with benefits, like, if we need ‘ relief ’, we can call each other and there’s no romantic feelings for the most part. We might date in the future, though, and I wouldn’t mind that.”

Amber narrowed her eyes, “That’s strange, never heard of those. Let’s move on though, what do you like to do in your free time?”

Amity frowned when the memory swapped itself to a week later when they came back to school, Amity and Amber going to the front of the class to share about what they learned about one another.

Young Amity opened her notebook, “Hello, I’m Amity Blight, and my partner is Amber Dennis. Over the break, I learned that her favorite color is pink, and not hot pink, but pastel pink. Her favorite food is waffles from the Waffle House, and her favorite drink is eggnog. I thought it was weird at first to like that drink but she let me try it and it’s actually really good.”

She went on, “Her favorite animal is a cat, she wants to have one some day. And in her free time, Amber likes to dance, she even goes to dance classes when she’s able to.”

God, Amity missed being that sweet, now she was cold and dark, like the Blight manor she used to live in.

Then Amber opened her notebook, and here was the moment that Amity dreaded. Young Amity closed her notebook and looked at Amber with a bright smile, and Amber returned it with a smirk.

“I’m Amber Dennis, and my partner is Amity Blight. Over the break, I learned a lot about her. I learned that she’s practically ignored by her parents other than when she doesn’t meet their expectations, her siblings are never around.” The class gasped and Young Amity looked at her partner in disbelief, none of that was what they went over!

Amber only continued, closing her book to go off the top of her head. “The reason she’s here is because she attacked a poor girl and burned them. And, for the final thing I learned, Amity Blight is basically a pornstar.”

The teacher got up at this point, yelling at Amber.

“But I’m not wrong! She told me about her friend-with-benefits, Willow Park, and after some research, I learned that it mean that basically have sex without actually being in a relationship. The only way she could go any lower than that is if she was getting paid,” Amber smirked at the Blight while the teacher yelled at her.

She whispered low to the point that only Young Amity heard it. “You’re just another prissy white girl.”

Amity wished she could close her eyes but she was forced to watch herself lunge at Amber, screaming at her for tricking her, for sharing things that weren’t part of the project.

Eventually, security came in on the request from the teacher, yanking the two girls apart, dragging Amity out of the room as she cursed Amber out.

Then the memory ended and Amity was left in a dark space, with nothing and no one.

That’s how the memory always ended, right before she woke up.

And right on time, Amity’s eyes shot open and she was back in her room, sitting up in her bed. She pulled her legs to her chest, holding back tears until she heard a light thud.

“Amity..?” A boy’s voice spoke, and she looked up to see King. “Why do you have this?”

Her eyes widened with panic; the jacket, Luz’s jacket.

“I…”

She sighed, she needed to stop lying. Only the truth.

“I like her.”

—End—

Chapter Text

It was Monday, with the events of the weekend still affecting Amity, she couldn’t help but want a distraction from it all. Now would be a great time for Olivia to come back from that trip…

She sat in the library, fidgeting with her pencil against the table as she stared at the blank page in front of her. All of her classes were over, but her ELA class had given an assignment to write something of their own about something significant that occurred or was occurring presently in their lives.

It could be a poem, a haiku, maybe an essay, or a video if someone wanted to put the effort into making it. If there were characters, one wouldn’t even have to call them by their actual name, they could give them a faux name, or only describe them by their features, actions, and/or personality.

So, there Amity sat three hours past her ELA period, and she still was left with a blank sheet of paper.

There was so much in her life that could be seen as “significant.” Both good and bad. She could write about how she ended up here in Connecticut to attend Hexside. She could write about how home was never really home, and rather it was just a house; a big house that was often the reason she questioned what was even the point of having such a large estate.

Or she could write about Luz. How they met, how they’ve progressed, the struggles, the good times. She could make a story about her regrets, like how she pushed Luz away to the point of impossible recovery, risking losing her forever.

Amity groaned and dropped her head to the table. This should not be hard, with all of, well, everything in her life, there was an unimaginable amount of possible stories to write about!

But she couldn’t just pick one. And there was no way in hell she was writing her entire life down on a piece of paper.

“Amity,” called the librarian, coming up to her table.

The Blight lifted her head to peer at the lady, “Yes?”

“I’m about to close the library, curfew is soon,” the librarian reminded her, and she nearly groaned again because she had wasted all of her time staring at the paper.

“Oh, sorry, I’ll leave,” Amity apologized, sitting up to gather her stuff.

“That would be appreciated, thank you. Have a good night, will you?”

“Of course,” Amity muttered, pushing her chair in and bowing politely to the librarian out of habit. “Have a good night, ma’am.”

She wanted to hit something, so badly, but with her hands full and the halls being patrolled by more security than during the day, she didn’t want to risk one seeing her and thinking she was trying to damage school property.

Instead, she went straight to her room, put her stuff on the desk, and fell face-first into her bed. Half her body still hung off though, because she refused to put in the effort to pick herself up.

She did anyway, lazily climbing into her bed and rolling onto her back to stare at the sticky notes on her ceiling, the muted colors of orange and blue and pink, a few yellow, a few blue, she could only really see one green.

Closing her eyes, she just… thought. Mostly about yesterday, after she had woken up from her nightmare. 

Memory. Memory-mare? Ugh.

Amity recalled catching King (that little rat) in her closet, standing on a chair and holding up a green bomber jacket. She didn’t know what had occurred in her mind to admit to the boy that she liked Luz.

Heck, she didn’t even know when she came to the conclusion that she liked Luz!

“You… you like Luz? Like, like-like her?” King had asked, his eyes wide as he got down from the chair and came to the side of her bed.

“Yeah, a lot. I don’t know why I kept it at first, maybe just because I kept putting off giving it back to Luz, but then it became sentimental to me,” she had told him. “The day when we officially became friends, as I was getting ready for bed, I hugged myself in it, pretending that she was still here with me, holding me. It’s stupid, I know, but now I don’t think I’ll ever be able to give it back to her.”

King had blinked, and Amity feared that he was judging her, planning to tell Luz after this was all said and done. They were technically siblings, of course they’d tell each other everything.

“It’s not stupid,” he had said instead, “it’s actually weirdly sweet how obsessed you are with my sister.”

“I am not obsessed, little boy, ” she had scolded him, reaching forward to take the jacket from him, thumbs running in circles on the fabric. “It doesn’t matter anyhow, now that I know that I won’t get to capture her heart like she has mine, ” she had sniffled, hugging the jacket to her chest. “She’ll never feel the same after what I’ve done. Fuck, I wouldn’t like me either.”  

Amity opened her eyes, she refused to think. Not if her mind was going to make her think about Luz.

Her mind needed to be Luz-free, for at least a week longer, and— fuck, how in the world was she supposed to last a week without the cute and rather eccentric comments of the Latina girl. How could she go a week without her laughs, her smiles, her eyes that Amity still believed were wearing contacts? How could she go a week without the hugs, without the reassurance, without the genuine comfort and empathy that Luz gave her?

Amity didn’t know.

Amity Blight, allegedly one of the smartest girls to walk the halls of Hexside, didn’t know.

Sitting up, she looked to see that the jacket was hung up on a hanger, keeping it wrinkle-free. She knew that eventually she would have to give it back, but she wanted to indulge in the sheer pleasure of knowing that she had something of Luz’s in her possession, even if she technically stole it.

She pulled her phone out, trying to find Willow’s contact before the tears in her eyes blurred her sight to the point she couldn’t read the screen.

She then called them, listening anxiously to the trilling of the line until Willow finally picked up.

“Hello?” They croaked, clearly Amity had woken them. Oops. “Ammy?”

“I fucked up,” Amity whispered, trying to hide the tremble in her voice. The sniffle gave her away.

There was an abrupt sound among the sheets on Willow’s side, “Ammy? Are you crying? What’s wrong?”

Amity’s hand clenched around her phone, all the events of this entire past week flashing through her mind. She had to ask herself if she should even tell Willow; knowing them, they’d beat Amity’s ass (in the not hot way) if they knew she had hurt Luz.

“I’m…” she screwed her eyes shut. “I’m really stressed. I don’t know. I don’t know how to process much of anything since Luz came around, if I’m being honest.”

“Are you okay though?”

“I don’t know, Wills. I’m fighting with Luz, I’m fighting with Amber, I’m fighting with my team, I’m fighting with myself,” Amity curled in on herself, choking on a sob. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Willow, I can’t ever just have a good time doing anything.”

Willow groaned, clearly in disagreement. “Amity, there’s nothing wrong with you.”

“No,” Amity cried, “there has to be. Because the second things start to go right for me, I’m finding out that one or both of my parents will be coming to the school, Amber is spreading pages of my diary, Luz and I are drifting apart because I can’t control anything I say, and her little brother went through my stuff and I… admitted something to him that I haven’t even really taken the time to come to terms with myself!”

Willow was silent for a moment, for a long enough period of time that Amity glanced at the phone’s screen to see if her phone had either died suddenly or Willow hung up. Nope, they must still be thinking of what to say in response.

“A lot of those things… seem to be out of your control and therefore cannot be something wrong with you,” they started carefully, “but maybe you just have really bad luck.”

The Blight scoffed, wiping at her eyes. “It’s still 100% my fault that Luz and I are in this complicated situation right now.”

“Complicated situation,” they echoed. “Imma need you to elaborate on that.”

“Too bad, I’m not going to.” Amity cleared her throat, trying to change the subject, “Can you just distract me before I stress myself out more with thoughts of how I’m a terrible person?”

“Can I ask how you’ve been doing? Like, emotionally?”

Amity grimaced. “No.”

“Fine then,” Willow said, only a silent hum escaping them as they considered other conversation starters. “Can I ask about the good things that have happened with you and Luz?”

“Thinking about her will make me sad or mad or both.” Amity forced herself to sit up, her head was starting to hurt from the uncomfortable lying position she was in with her phone under her. “But fine, um. Anything specific?”

“What have you learned about her? I know how observant you are, so that being said, you probably have a mental chart in your head about all the things you’ve learned about her,” they chuckled.

“I do not!” Amity puffed up her cheeks, her lip pouting out. It was quiet, the silence between them gave Amity all she needed to know that Willow was probably wearing that doubtful, knowing smirk and was waiting for her to fess up. “Okay, fine, whatever. I do.”

“Ha, knew it,” Willow snickered. “Spill the beans, tomato-face.”

“I feel personally attacked by that,” she laughed softly. “But, okay, let’s see.”

Thinking long and hard (actually, it didn’t even take more than five seconds for her brain to provide numerous happy situations between her and Luz), she clicked her tongue when a single situation came to mind. 

“It was actually a bit earlier in the week, I had to go to a session with Mrs. Gay and Luz insisted on coming with me,” Amity fiddled with her hands as she spoke, vividly reliving the memory. “I figured that she probably wouldn’t have listened anyway if I said no, plus, it was a free period, so she didn’t have anything else to do.”

“Sounds like her,” Willow commented.

The Blight giggled, “Yeah. But, not even ten minutes in, Mrs. Gay and Luz are having this staring competition and I’m just sitting on the sofa waiting for it to stop. Then Mrs. Gay asked me why Luz was there, I explained why, and Mrs. Gay decided to call me aggressive. Can you believe the gall she must have had to say that to me? I am not aggressive.”

“Right,” Willow chuckled, their voice having an underlying tone of doubt. “Continue.”

“Well, Luz just… defended me, and I don’t know, maybe that’s when I first realized that she really wasn’t that bad.” Amity smiled to herself, “She ended up telling off Mrs. Gay and had us leave, which I mean, obviously I got in trouble for, but it was still really cool.”

When Willow hadn’t added anything for a while, Amity only continued. “She stood up for me that day, even though I hadn’t been the kindest to her. She just… helped.”

“Because Luz isn’t a mean person. At least, not at heart.” Willow sighed. “Luz is a kind person, Amity, regardless of the fact that someone is mean to her, even if they made her feel like shit… she’s not like that. She can hate someone as much as she wants, but she’s not the type of person who leaves people to deal with their shit. She’ll help, and she’ll stand by them.”

“Even… even if someone broke her heart?”

“Yes, even then, Luz would still help.” Amity had to keep herself from crying again, and she subconsciously wished that someone was here to just hold her and tell her that everything would work out. “Amity,” Willow called in a soft voice, “I may not know what exactly happened between the two of you but… I know that Luz cares so much for you. And no matter what the outcome of what you’re going through is, she always will.”

Amity cracked. She pulled her legs up to her chest, laughing softly but also so brokenly. “Thanks Willow.”

Luz opened her eyes, staring straight up at the ceiling above her bed. She looked to the side, where the window was letting light sleep in through the blinds.

Tuesday.

She slowly sat up, combing her fingers through her hair only to get them stuck, and she cursed at the pain of pulling through the knots. “Guess I have to wash my hair tonight.”

Luz grabbed her phone off her nightstand, seeing that Willow had texted her late at night. Around 11 to be exact. Why was Willow up? They never stayed up late like that.

Glasses: Luz, u up?
Glasses: Amity was crying a lot on our call… idk what happened between the two of you but if you could make sure she’s okay, I’d appreciate it.

Amity was crying?

And Luz wasn’t there to help comfort her.

God, even though the two were taking a break from each other, it hurt Luz that she couldn’t be there for Amity, as much as she wanted to be, so very badly.

Getting up, she went to her closet to change into something simple, a white tee and jeans, and her beanie because fuck security, if they search her because of her hat, well, so be it.

She brushed her teeth and combed through her bangs to get the tangles out, then grabbed her phone to put it in her bra before leaving her room to get breakfast.

Though, the first thing she saw after entering the hallway was Amity with tired eyes, carrying a notebook and pencil with her. She also realized that the Blight was wearing her green jacket over her crop top and running shorts, and two thoughts coursed through her head.

Amity’s wearing my jacket, when’d she get that?

You know what, Amity looks good in my clothes…

Luz shook her head to clear her mind before following behind the Blight because the cafeteria was in the same direction, even though it awkwardly felt like she was following Amity just to follow her.

When Luz sat down at the table she had chosen near the exit of the cafeteria, she poked at her food while watching Amity, sitting at her own table with Boscha and Skara, poking her cheek with her pencil as she glared at the notebook.

The Blight looked up briefly to lock gazes with Luz, looking rather panicked when they did before looking down again.

Weird.

Someone then sat at the table with Luz, and she looked over to see, oh, it was just Skara. When did she get up from Amity’s table?

“Hey Luz,” Skara said, “I saw you staring from over there so I thought that I’d come say hi. Is something up?”

“What?” Luz glanced between Skara and Amity before bringing her attention back to the girl sitting beside her. “Oh, no, I’m fine. Uh, is Amity okay? She seems… agitated.”

“She is,” Skara nodded. “Apparently, her ELA class has this assignment where she has to write about something significant in her life and she’s having a hard time picking one thing to write about.”

“Oh.” Luz swished her fork through her corn. “Yeah, that must be pretty stressful, I hope she figures it out.”

“So do I, she’s been weird since yesterday. She skipped practice, and she never skips practice, and when me and Boscha visited her in the library, she snapped at us.”

“Seriously?” Luz looked up at Skara, finding that the girl’s expression seemed rather dejected.

“Yeah, but me and Boscha are her friends and we’re always going to be there for her, even when she says she wants us to go away.” Skara looked away, quickly wiping her face. “I guess I just wish that she knew that too.”

Luz frowned. She knew why the Blight was pushing her away, even if it didn’t make the most sense, but she had no idea why she’d push away her own friends. Friends that she had known for who knew how long. Friends that her parents were okay with!

“I’m sure she’ll come around,” Luz replied, “she’s weird like that. In the time that I’ve known her, there’s a certain point that she reaches where she would probably go to just about anyone for some form of comfort.”

“I hope so,” Skara sighed, resting her face into the palm of her hand. “You know, I never expected you to care for Amity, with your guys’ history and all.”

“Our history?” Luz chuckled, “We don’t have history.”

“Sure you do,” Skara smiled, “you guys practically radiate enemies to lovers trope vibes.”

“Hah, come on now, Skara, this is real life, not fan fiction,” Luz smirked, reaching over to playfully punch the girl’s shoulder, getting hit back in return. “I think I should head out though, my class is… a good distance from here.”

“Okay! I’ll see you later, have a good day!”

“Bye Skara,” Luz waved at her as she got up, going to the exit. Just before she left, she looked over her shoulder to see if Amity was there, possibly still sitting in her spot at her table.

She wasn’t.

Luz shouldn’t be surprised, as far as she knew, Amity didn’t eat breakfast. At least, she had never seen Amity eat breakfast. The girl merely came to socialize, most likely, or to make it seem to everyone else that she was okay, that she didn’t need help.

Luz would like to testify against that, Amity needed help, a lot of it. She blamed the Blight’s parents, mostly, they stole the girl’s childhood to teach her business and politics and basically forced her to live under a rock.

The poor girl was basically Rapunzel, trapped in the tall, isolated tower. Kept away from normal things like drawing in the dirt, or going to birthday parties, or having sleepovers.

Luz couldn’t imagine a life like that, she’d probably lose her mind.

But Amity was living that life, she had been since birth, and she was still holding steadfast. Luz just wondered how much more the girl could take before she crumbled.

Like the night they had in the Blight’s room, sitting against her bed, holding each other in a tight embrace for comfort. Amity had cracked that night, she broke in front of Luz. At the time, Luz was like Amity’s relief, but now Amity was without Luz, without relief, without comfort, and it’d only be a matter of time before she crumbled again.

Eventually, Luz reached her class, just in time too, the bell had just rung. She leaned back in her chair, staring up at the ceiling, still lost in her thoughts. Too lost in them to focus. 

The visitation week wouldn’t be until next week, so she had to wait out this week and next week before she’d be able to be with Amity again.

Luz huffed in frustration.

“Ms. Noceda,” her teacher’s voice brought her out of her thoughts, “is there something you’d like to say to the class?”

“No,” Luz sat upright, “I was daydreaming, sorry.”

“Right. Let’s pay attention to the board, please.”

Silently, Luz nodded and pulled out her notebook from her desk to start taking notes, even though she was about 3 slides behind the rest of the class.

She’ll be fine.

Luz was not fine.

It was nearing the end of third period now, meaning she was just 5 minutes from having to start going to her next period in the gymnasium, which was also a class she had to share with Amity.

How were they supposed to avoid each other if all Luz was thinking about, was worrying about, was Amity? What if they got paired together again?

Luz didn’t really think this whole ‘avoiding each other’ thing through. Luz never thought things through.

When the bell rang, she was the first to get up, the first to leave, but she didn’t go to the gymnasium. Instead, she went to the bathroom and stormed into a stall to lock herself in.

The best way to avoid Amity was to not show up at all.

Well, until security eventually, inevitably, found her.

She sat on the ground with her head tucked into her arms, listening to people come and go from the bathroom.

Then it was quiet, everyone was leaving to go to class and she still sat there on the floor, head leant against the tiled wall.

The door opened again and she looked under the space between the floor and stall walls, seeing quite familiar sneakers. The same ones that Amity was wearing when she last saw her.

The water turned on, and Luz just listened.

“You know, Luz, if you’re trying to skip, maybe don’t be so obvious with your hiding spot,” Amity said.

How did–?

Luz got up and opened the stall door, seeing Amity wetting her hands to comb her fingers through her hair and fix it up. Luz’s gaze shifted to see that Amity was watching her through the reflection of her in the mirror.

“Um. I wasn’t skipping,” Luz lied.

Amity scoffed, turning off the water and shaking her hands before she looked at Luz with a bored stare. “Luz, I’ve basically lived at this school since 8th grade, do you know how many lies people make up, hell, even I’ve said a few. Do you really think I’d believe that?”

Luz looked down and sniffed, “No, I guess not.”

“Right, well, Coach said to tell you that if you don’t come to class within the next 5 minutes, she’s reporting you missing,” Amity grabbed napkins to dry her hands and open the door before she threw them away.

“You can walk with me if you’d like.”

“But what about—”

“I know, but you know that Coach always pairs us together, so this class is kinda an exception, I suppose,” Amity whispered, and if it wasn’t deathly silent already, Luz likely wouldn’t have heard her.

Luz sighed, stepping out of the stall to follow behind Amity, “Okay.”

The pair walked side by side down the hall, the air around them felt so thick with tension that Luz swore she could breathe better on the moon.

Obviously not, the moon doesn’t have oxygen for her to breathe— you get the point.

Luz scratched at her cheek, glancing at Amity briefly, “You’re, uh, wearing my jacket. When’d you get that?”

Amity looked down, humming. “Yeah, I suppose I am. I’ve had it since your first day, but it kept slipping my mind to give it back to you.”

Luz nodded slowly, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. This was so painful, to be so close and yet it was as if this were the farthest they’ve ever been from each other.

“I…” Amity began, getting the brunette’s attention. She bit her bottom lip, and Luz could practically see the gears churning in her mind. “Thank you, you know, for giving me a chance. I mean, I don’t officially get that chance until my parents are gone but I have something to look forward to now.”

“Uh, you’re welcome.”

They were approaching the doors, and Luz was about to turn to go into the gymnasium but Amity grabbed her arm to stop her. “You do know that I’m genuinely sorry, right? I should have never said those things to you and I know I can’t take them back but I am willing to do whatever it takes to make it up to you when all this- this drama is over with.”

Luz looked at Amity’s hand on her arm, fingers wrapped tightly around her wrist so she couldn’t easily leave. Lifting her gaze to meet Amity’s, she panicked and started to look everywhere but the Blight. “Well, you know. Everyone deserves a second chance… err. Okay, maybe not everyone everyone. I know that you just made a mistake and that you’ve learned from it. I just want to take this time to, y’know, reevaluate some things so that it never happens again.”

“Right,” Amity nodded, “right.”

“Can we go in now?”

Amity quickly released Luz, “Yeah! Sorry, uh… yes.” The shorter girl pursed her lips, her hands clenched on the hem of Luz’s jacket that she wore as she speed walked around Luz into the gymnasium.

Going in after the Blight, she went to apologize to the coach for her tardiness after changing, being let off with a warning and the punishment of having to put out the mats for them to do their daily exercises.

She did get to pick two others to help her though, so she obviously picked Amity and then some other girl because Amber, even though she did want to check in on the girl, probably wouldn’t be a good option after the incident between her and Luz and also between her and Amity.

Luz picked up two of the rolled up blue yoga mats, restating beside Amity. “Can I ask you a question?”

“You just did,” Amity snorted.

“Amity,” Luz pouted, “I meant a serious question.”

Amity sighed, rolling out and flattening the blue yoga mat until the corners stayed down. “Fine, go ahead.”

“What do you think is going to happen when your parents visit?” Luz asked quietly, “And you don’t have to answer, I know that talking about them with you is a very sensitive thing but, I dunno, every time you do tell me a little about them, I only get more questions.”

The Blight sighed, “It’s hard to really put into words, Luz, sorry. I think the only way for you to really understand would be if you had grown up with them like I had. I guess the only insight I can offer is directed toward your imagination.”

“Then give me something to imagine,” Luz urged.

“Okay.” Amity cleared her throat, “Imagine growing up under a constant spotlight, I guess. Think about it like you’re always being watched, like there was always someone around every corner waiting for you to slip up. Even minor mistakes, oh who am I kidding, especially minor mistakes had the biggest consequences.”

Luz just listened as she half-assed putting down her third mat so she could follow Amity to get more.

“Like, when I dyed my hair,” Amity said, “Mother didn’t like that I chose such an absurd color. So… she got physical. I was only around 9 or 10 at the time, but when you have Odalia Blight as a mom, you know how to use makeup to cover up bruises.”

“That’s not right,” Luz said. “And over hair? That’s fucking abuse.”

“Yeah well, it’s not like little ol’ me knew that at the time, I was raised like… like, ugh, what’s a good analogy,” Amity groaned. “You know how samurai were taught, right? They weren’t allowed to admit to being in pain, it was against their code. So if they ever got injured and someone were to ask, they were taught to say that it itches.”

“So, basically, you were raised to stay quiet.”

“Yeah,” Amity nodded, “basically.”

There was a whistle, it was the other girl that Luz chose to help set up. Apparently while the two were chatting it up, she had put the rest out.

“I’ve missed you, Luz,” Amity whispered, “like so much it hurts, that’s probably the real reason I’m wearing your jacket. Oh who am I joking, that’s exactly why I am.”

Luz stood up after setting down the last mat she had, Amity doing the same. “When this is all over, I promise that I’ll make up for everything, for the lies and secrets I’ve been telling and keeping from you. I promise.”

“I know you will,” Luz grinned. “I can’t wait until we can be close again, I’ve been missing our talks lately.”

Amity flashed a small grin, tucking an invisible strand of hair behind her hair (what a gay thing for her to do). “Neither can I.”

“Alright girls,” Coach clasped her hands together, moving to the front of the gym, “and the boy that somehow managed to get into the girl’s P.E. class. We’re obviously doing as we’ve always done and starting with our daily exercises, so get to your mat quickly and get ready for 20 squats.”

The entire class groaned with dissatisfaction, moving like zombies to a mat to begin the exercises with the coach.

Luz couldn’t help herself from zoning out of the exercises to watch Amity. She treated P.E. like she did her rugby practice, with great focus and even better performance.

Just 2 weeks , her conscience (the one she thought had ditched her) reminded her, then you both can start over and maybe you can finally confess!

I dunno, I get the feeling that Amity’s going to be too emotionally scattered by her parents’ visit, it wouldn’t be fair to her to add my own feelings on her plate.

Light gave a hum, Look at you, maturing. I’m proud.

Shut up, Light, I may have given you your own name, but you’re still me. We share the same accomplishments.

And yet you treat me like a totally separate entity, Light countered so Luz did what she didn’t know she had the power to do before and muted Light.

Luz got the feeling that if she knew how to mute her thoughts sooner, she wouldn’t overthink so much. But something also told her that this was likely the only time she’d be able to just turn her brain off.

Dammit.

Amity huffed from exhaustion. Classes had ended now, but she still had to go to practice. She forced herself to double her efforts to make up for missing practice the day prior, even though her friends advised her to take it easy, especially with the fact that she hadn’t been eating or drinking well.

Of course, Amity rebutted their arguments by saying, “It’s okay, I’ll make up for my deficiencies later.”

She had taken off Luz’s jacket that she had worn the entire day, folding it neatly before putting it in her assigned locker in the team changing room near the track.

She had only gotten searched twice, surprisingly, while wearing the jacket, though she had been expecting to get searched at least ten times that amount.

It didn’t matter. She was currently too upset to dwell over it.

Boscha and Amity practiced together usually, but Luz had struck a deal with their coach so that she and Boscha could practice together instead to allow the Latina to prepare herself for baseball season.

It was a big inconvenience for Amity though because now she had to adjust so she wasn’t going too hard on her new partner. A sophomore on the team, Kat.

Amity really never talked to her other teammates outside of game planning, so she only knew Kat from what Skara had told her and from their most recent game against Hexside in which Kat had scored a decent amount of their points.

But the girl was still way behind Amity’s level and it was frustrating every time the girl told her she was going too fast or pushing too hard.

“Okay, time out,” Amity grumbled, throwing her arms up to hook around the back of her neck. “I can’t fucking do this.”

“It would help if you taught me some of your skills rather than expect me to keep up with you without any sort of practice,” Kat muttered under her breath, likely believing that Amity wouldn’t hear.

Amity glared at the girl. “Excuse you? I am team captain and maybe I don’t see you fit to be on this team if you can’t adapt to changes—!”

“Well then maybe you’re not a good captain if you can’t keep your teammates at the same skill level!”

The Blight gasped, stomping up into Kay’s face. “You take that back.”

Kat scowled, “Make me.”

The two girls started to basically silently challenge each other, seconds away from an actual brawl if it hadn’t been for Coach splitting them up.

“Okay, what is happening here?”

“I can’t train with her, she can’t handle my pace!”

“Well Boscha’s helping Luz.”

“Fuck!” Amity cursed, “You know what, I’m taking a break.”

Storming off the field, the rest of her team slowly went back to their own training while she went to the bleachers to cool off.

Maybe it was the heat getting to her head, making her more aggressive the hotter she got. Or maybe it was the stress.

It was probably the stress.

The stress of her parents coming to Hexside, the stress of her assignment, the stress of the confinement of her feelings for Luz.

Amity grabbed her water bottle and carried it to the fence so she could sit in the shadow that the bleachers casted, watching her team practice without her before her gaze slowly shifted to Luz and Boscha’s own training.

The two had brought out a ball and gloves to the field this time, Boscha testing how good Luz was at catching. Not bad but not good, as the Latina occasionally fumbled with the ball in her mitt before it fell to the grass.

Amity sighed. She’d much rather be the one to do that, but maybe Coach knew that she would be so distracted by Luz just being Luz that she would forget what they were even training for.

She leaned her head back against the metal fence and closed her eyes, just trying to get her mind off Luz.

So, in an attempt to take her mind off of her crush (which she no longer denies Luz being), she thought about her assignment.

Maybe she should write about her experience in her time in Hexside. She didn’t see why not, there was a lot she could say about it and she definitely knew what words to use to express her emotions throughout the time she has had to live in this hellhole.

She could mention her first impression of the school, of its students, and the opportunities it offered her. How it definitely saved her from time in juvenile detention. How grateful she was for the second chance to start her life anew, something that people wished for often but never had.

And she could also talk about how her mentality has grown from her experiences, from the struggles she had gone through to the points in time that it almost felt like a dream to be where she was.

Hell, there were times that Amity looked back on her life and wondered how she got this far. 

She could even find a way to include the people she has met that have made her life much better: Skara, Boscha, Willow, certain teachers, definitely Olivia, and especially Luz. And she supposed King, too.

There was a tap on her shoulder, and she opened her eyes to look up and see that Coach was standing over her with a small smile. “Hey Cap, feeling any better?”

Amity smiled, “Yeah, actually. This time out gave me time to think on something that’s been bugging me.”

“Oh yeah?” Coach smirked, “Wanna talk about her?”

“What?”

“It’s about Luz, right? I mean, I’ve noticed how you act around her, so I just thought…” The coach cleared her throat. “If it’s not her, what is it?”

Amity blinked away the thoughts of her coach being able to figure out how she felt towards Luz, instead answering with: “Oh, just an assignment I was assigned recently. I’m supposed to write about something significant that has happened or is actively occurring in my life. And I just thought that I should write about my time here at Hexside.”

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“Well, it’s kinda the source of all my memories anyway. Most significant things that have happened in my life happened here, on this campus or somehow revolved around the school,” Amity sighed. “Usually I talk about how I can’t wait to leave this place, finally be done with it, but I guess I never realized that it’s also the only reason I can say that I can leave and continue with my life afterwards.”

Coach sat down beside Amity, setting her clipboard with the team roster on the ground. “Go on, I like getting to talk with you like this, you’re kinda one of my favorite students. Don’t tell Boscha.”

Amity giggled, “Of course. Well, I guess after that incident I had back in middle school, I was sure that I was going to go to jail, serve my sentence. And, I dunno, deep down sometimes I think that I totally deserved to, I fucking assaulted someone! With fire!” The Blight pulled her knees in, “No matter the reason behind why I did it, I endangered someone’s life, so why would I get the privilege to continue my own as usual? But then Hexside took me in, gave me a second chance, resolved a lot of my issues.

If it weren’t for this school, I wouldn’t be sitting here in the field, I’d be in a cell losing track of time, of reality, probably. But here,” Amity scoffed and smiled, “I got to thrive, and learn, and actually improve myself freely. Don’t get me wrong, I miss being able to go out places without constant supervision, but if it had been any other way, I wouldn’t even be able to go out at all.”

“So you’re happy here?”

“I wouldn’t say I’m happy,” Amity shook her head, her eyebrows pinching together as she thought about it more, “I’m forever grateful though, for the second chance and multiple opportunities this school has offered me. Really makes one realize how life is more of a privilege than a right.”

“Heh,” Coach put her arm around Amity and the girl leaned into it, “you’ve always been one of the most mature students I’ve met, Amity, I’m proud of you.”

Amity gasped.

I’m proud of you, she repeated the words in her head.

She looked up at her coach, who was looking at her with a genuine smile and Amity couldn’t help but smile wider at that. “You have no idea how great it feels to hear that, you’ve always been like a second, way better mom to me, Coach.”

“If that’s the case, maybe you should be able to call me more than just your coach.”

“What do you mean?”

“I never let my students know my last name because I’m related to a criminal and it kinda brings some kind of reputation to my name, both good and bad,” Coach sighed. “Coach Clawthorne, Lilith Clawthorne.”

Amity’s eyes narrowed as she swore she recognized the last name from somewhere but she could place a finger on it. “I don’t recall the last name but I’m honored to have the privilege of being able to refer to you as Coach Clawthorne now.”

“You ready to get back to practice?”

“Yeah,” Amity smirked, “and I challenge you to a one-on-one, Coach.”

Lilith gave a smirk of her own, “You’re about to witness your first loss, Amity.”

—End—

Chapter Text

A lot had changed in the past week, strangely. Amity and Luz haven’t talked recently, at least, not casually. They don’t meet up anywhere, excluding the one class they shared, they don’t plan things together, and Amity couldn’t recall if she had seen Luz at any of her games other than the one, the one when Amity messed up a lot.

She hadn’t even talked to her friends about it, assuming they already knew that she and Luz were split. Boscha had been surprised when Luz hadn’t shown up at any of their practices, but when Amity told her that it wasn’t something to dwell about, the pink-haired athlete didn’t say anything.

But now it was that week, the week in which parents were invited to the school to check in on their kids, decide if they wanted to finally take them out. And it was about to truly start, at nine in the morning, and it was Sunday, so it wasn’t like they had to worry about classes taking up time.

Amity and a bunch of other students all waited anxiously outside the front doors, and most of them were dressed… better than usual. Boscha stood beside the Blight, her arm strung over her shoulder as though trying to protect her.

“I’m scared,” Amity said, slightly startling Boscha because of how silent it was even amongst the crowd. “I don’t know who will come, but regardless of who, I don’t know anything about what they’ll say or do or–”

Boscha pulled her closer. “I wouldn’t think too much about it, Amity… you’ll only stress yourself out.”

“I’ve been stressed out since the day I found out they were going to visit.”

“Same.”

Boscha’s parents, however few times that Amity had had the chance to meet them, were nowhere near as strict or demanding as her own, but they definitely held high standards for their daughter. They were also more accepting, considering Boscha’s parents were two women.

Amity could only wish that her parents were similar, they had only instilled in her since the day she was born that homosexuality was wrong. Even though they knew Boscha’s moms, and talked to them, and allowed for Amity to hang around them, they told her day in and day out, that she would never be like them.

Finally, cars were beginning to roll in on the paved road leading up to the school, parking at the end and making a line.

Parents got out, searched for and approached their children. Most of the parents that Amity saw were a lot friendlier than her own, asking about their kids and their progress, making sure they were okay. Not Amity’s, no, they just cared that she hadn’t made any extra scenes.

At last, the back door to a car opened, and out came a blonde-haired woman, hair pulled back into a tight, neat bun. Amity tensed upon making eye contact with her mother’s ice blue eyes, feeling her blood run cold and goosebumps form on her skin. Boscha also saw the woman, continuing to hug Amity. “It’s okay,” she whispered to the Blight. “Calm down.”

Odalia came up the steps towards Amity, giving everyone else rather judgmental glares. “Amity,” the woman greeted in a curt manner, looking at her youngest daughter with a slightly softer expression than she usually gave. She then turned her attention to Boscha, “Boscha.”

“Miss Blight,” Boscha hummed, looking down at the woman.

The elder Blight scrunched up her nose, “If you would release my daughter, I’d like to spend time with her. Your mothers should be here soon enough.”

The two held each other’s gazes for a moment longer, Boscha scoffing. Reluctantly, the pink-haired girl took her arm off of Amity’s shoulder. As soon as Amity was no longer under that wing of protection though, Odalia grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside of the school.

“I’m hoping that you and Boscha are nothing more than acquaintances?” Odalia inquired, but it was less of a question and more of a “if you are, I will hit you” type saying.

Amity shook her head.

“Use your words, Mittens, I raised you better.”

“No, ma’am,” Amity said. “Me and Boscha are just friends…”

Odalia sighed, exasperated. “Now, Amity, you know how much I despise that word; friends .”

The young Blight nodded, “Sorry, mother. We’re only teammates though, on the rugby team. We won our most recent game, we’re off to the finals now. It’ll be us against St. Epiderm.”

Regardless of how proud Amity was of herself for making it so far, Odalia didn’t seem to share the enthusiasm, nor did she seem impressed. “Oh… well, I wish you luck. But I really shouldn’t have to, you’re a Blight. Blights don’t lose.”

“Of course not,” Amity agreed.

“Anyway,” Odalia continued, her gaze dragging across the hall, judging it all. “I was informed that you have had a few incidents since you got back from your break.”

The teen felt her blood freeze, skin paling. “Um, what incidents?”

“Nothing much, the only thing I care about is if this girl is a distraction to you.”

“What girl?” Amity dared to question.

Odalia’s cold eyes landed on her, and she had to stifle a flinch. “Luz Noceda. Is she a distraction? I heard that you and her had been… hanging out .”

“Oh, her… uh. She was new to the school, and someone had asked me to be her guide. I was just, um, showing her the ropes, I guess is how one would put it.” Amity rubbed the back of her neck, hoping that it was convincing enough.

“And nothing more, I hope. After all, the people here are here for a reason, and if people were to find out about you having any sort of relationship with them like you had with that one girl… what was her name? Willow?”

“ They weren’t that bad.”

“ She exploited you for your body,” Odalia argued, “and she was not the ideal partner I’d see for you. You know that relationships like that are wrong, you’re supposed to find a man, one that can support your ideal lifestyle, and have a couple kids. Not… whatever unnatural relationship those barbarians have.”

Amity frowned, she forgot just how homophobic her mother was. This was why she wanted out of this family so badly, so she could just be herself for once. But she also hated how right Odalia was about her and Willow’s relationship. It definitely wasn’t the healthiest.

As they walked, it was rather silent. It was intimidating in a way, because if Odalia wasn’t speaking, she was thinking. She was formulating something in her head and it was going to put Amity in a bad position.

“Show me your room,” Odalia ordered, no room to refuse.

The young Blight nodded, “Yes ma’am.”

Odalia was pacing around Amity’s room, searching through her drawers, scrutinizing the posters she had. Then she went to the bathroom, scoffing at the lack of beauty products. “This place is very minimal, if you ask me. Where’s all the make-up I had lended to you?”

“They took it,” she lied, knowing very well that she threw away most of it. Amity despised make-up, other than her eyeliner, that was about it. “I don’t know what they did with it but they didn’t want the risk of me using any of the items to… self-harm.”

Her mother scoffed, “The precautions this place takes are rather, what’s the word, err, excessive.”

“But necessary,” Amity ventured. “I think that this school is only as tame as it is because of the precautions they take. So, in a way, I appreciate it.”

Odalia hummed, her lips quirking into a small smile. How strange it was for Amity, to see her mother smile for once in her life. Her mother was not one to genuinely smile, so to see it was weird.

“You’re truly growing, sooner or later, I can see you working in politics. Debate seems to be a strong suit of yours.” Way to ruin it.

Amity’s fingers fiddled with one another, “Can we move on from my room? I could show you the cafeteria, or the field. Or… literally anywhere else.”

“How about you show me this Luz Noceda girl, I just want to, you know, double check that she’s not going to distract you from getting better.” Odalia looked at her nails, huffing, then lifting her gaze to meet Amity’s. “That’s not an issue, right?”

“No ma’am,” Amity frowned.

To think that after avoiding Luz just so her mother wouldn’t inquire about them and still, the woman knew. Amity felt like she had no privacy, because how could Odalia know otherwise that she had been involved with Luz Noceda unless there was someone within the school talking to her.

“Luz is rather wild, I doubt she’ll be here,” Amity said as they approached Luz's room. “She might even be with her brother today, maybe we should just go somewhere else.”

“No, Mittens, I want to meet her. Stop stalling and knock already, if she’s not here, then we’ll keep walking until we find her.” The tone her mother used was not leaving room for any suggestions, and Amity really should know by now that there was just no winning with Odalia. Amity frowned, it was either she found Luz or Odalia punished her for disobeying.

Lifting her hand, even though it trembled, Amity knocked on the door. The both of them waited, with Odalia right behind her and her hand on her daughter’s shoulder. It was cold, Odalia’s hand, as if she were cold-blooded and hadn’t been in the sun for decades. Amity honestly wouldn’t doubt it, her mother was definitely a strange one.

It had been a solid two minutes and there was no answer, so Amity turned. “I guess she’s not here, come on–”

The door opened just at that moment.

Fucking hell.

“Oh but Amity, it seems that she is here.” Odalia smiled, a wicked undertone hidden in her voice and expression. Pushing the young Blight aside, Odalia looked up at Luz, who was standing there with a bewildered face, mostly directed at Amity.

It felt like they were telepathically communicating. What the fuck? Luz’s face read.

Sorry, Amity’s casted in return.

[This is in Luz's POV, but it's short so, uh, yeah.]

“Luz Noceda, am I right?”

“Yes ma’am. And who are you?” Luz scrunched up her nose, returning her attention to this woman with a striking similarity to Amity but yet so different. She had a bad feeling already.

The woman grinned, “Odalia Blight, Amity’s mom. I see that you’re still in here so my assumption is you don’t have a parent or guardian meeting you. Which is great because that also gives us plenty of time to chat .”

There was definitely something up here.

“May we come in?”

Luz casted another glance at Amity, who wasn’t even able to lift her head to face her. The Latina huffed, even if this was strange, she needed to help Amity somehow. “Sure,” she said, stepping back and opening the door wider, “be my guest.”

Odalia must have thought Luz wasn’t paying attention or maybe she didn’t care as she grabbed Amity’s shoulder, nudging her forward into the room with a force that made even the strongest girl that Luz had come to know nearly fall forward.

Upon them entering the room, Luz closed the door. “There’s not much furniture other than what we’re given, but you can sit on my bed.”

“I prefer to stand,” Odalia dismissed, and though Amity made a move towards the bed, she stopped when she heard that. “I’ve come to discuss your… err, relationship, I suppose, with my daughter. You see, I was informed that you have been more involved with each other past the guise of just a guide and new student.”

Luz crossed her arms, leaning against the wall. “Well, I can assure you that that was all it was. We had met up before returning from break, coming to the agreement that she would help me out for a week and then we’d go our separate ways. We haven’t interacted for a long time.” And it technically wasn’t a lie, Luz and Amity hadn’t spoken in a while. Now, sure, she did miss them talking and having a good time, but for Amity’s sake, she respected the little Blight’s wishes to split apart for some time.

Then Odalia brought out her phone, humming. “So, I guess that this is nothing, right?”

To both Luz and Amity’s astonishment, Odalia turned her phone to show a picture. The two of them, from the week prior, it seemed. It was the day after King had helped Luz and Amity mend their issues (at least, enough that they wouldn’t completely cut the other off), when Amity was wearing Luz’s jacket. The picture was taken from the hall, but far off, Luz was sure because of how the quality was a bit blurry due to the distance. Whoever took it was likely far behind, and had to zoom in to even capture the two of them. Amity was holding Luz’s arm, Luz looking down at her. The two seemed close, even though they both knew that that was not it.

But the issue was how Odalia interpreted it.

“So, as you can see,” Odalia turned her phone back to herself, scoffing at the image. “I don’t believe what either of you have told me so far. Unless I need to resort to more… rather drastic measures, I suggest that the both of you confess.”

Luz scowled, but she didn’t exactly have an idea in mind of how to convince Odalia that what she was seeing wasn’t in the right context. She looked to Amity for some sort of assistance, though she didn’t find any. The girl was standing beside her mother, her eyes wide with… shock? No, that… that was fear.

For the first time, Amity showed fear. Luz looked back at Odalia, who stood there in the middle of the room with a grimace on her face, and when her icy blue gaze fell onto the younger Blight, Amity flinched.

Amity was afraid of her mother. The Blight parent didn’t just desensitize Amity throughout her childhood, but they traumatized her to the point that she was genuinely frightened of them.

“Ma’am, forgive me for being blunt, but you’re wrong,” Luz started strongly. Odalia gave her a bewildered glare, begging to differ through her gaze alone. “Me and Amity aren’t in any way friends, not even acquaintances. We’ve been in more fights with each other within the week that we interacted. And now we don’t even talk to each other or see each other. I don’t know where you got that picture from, but even I can’t be duped so easily to believe that Amity and I were actually friends.”

The woman raised an eyebrow, “And the jacket on Amity? Not something she owns, as far as I’m aware. Unless,” she turned to Amity, “you had gone to that mall again over the break, didn’t you? To see that stupid girl that used to take advantage of you. Gods, Amity, how stupid can you be!?”

Within a moment, Odalia was raising her hand, and Luz saw Amity tensing. Without a second thought, Luz rushed forward, grabbing the woman’s wrist and holding her arm up. “I might not be her friend, or been the kindest of people towards her, but I refuse to stand witness to abuse.”

“Abuse? Child, no. This is discipline , something you must have lacked, since you’re here.”

Luz chuckled, “Amity’s here too. Your discipline clearly lacks effectiveness.”

Odalia grumbled, ripping her arm from Luz’s grip and grabbing Amity’s hand with the other. “We’ll be headed out then, Luz. Thank you for your compliance,” she sneered. “Come Amity, you still have to show me around. But, let’s stop at your room again, I think I left something there…”

The Latina had a bad feeling of whatever that meant, but this was out of her control now. She watched as Amity was dragged out of the room, with little to no resistance from the young Blight, as if she had already accepted defeat.

Another issue at hand though, who took that picture…?

She stifled a sob when another stinging slap touched her cheek, irritating the skin and turning it red in the shape of her mother’s hand. Amity hugged herself, her body trembling as she sank to her feet, her legs no longer capable of carrying her.

“The fact that you think you’re so smart, Amity. You forgot that I am your mother ! And to think that you thought you could hide a secret from me? I have told you, time and time again, not to be with that girl anymore, haven’t I?” Odalia shouted, pulling Amity up from the ground by her hair, causing her to yelp and raise her hands to her mother’s own, nails digging into skin. “Gods,” Odalia scoffed, dropping Amity back down, “how can one of my daughters be such a failure to our name?”

Amity pushed herself away from her mother, against the wall. Her hands covered her hair, and her eyes were screwed shut. “I-I’m sorry, Mother. Please just… stop hurting me. Please.”

Odalia scowled down at her, rubbing her wrist as though abusing her daughter hurt her. “Get up, child. And fix yourself, Blights don’t cry.”

“Sorry,” Amity sobbed, wiping her eyes.

The next half hour, Amity had to sit on her bed while her mother cleaned her face, even rubbing her thumb over her cheek that was tinged red still. It was moments like this that Amity imagined that Odalia actually cared about her, like when she was a kid. If Amity had fallen and scratched up her knees and hands, Odalia would have cleaned them and kissed her skin like it was the cure for all her problems.

Amity felt tears bubbling up, her lungs and throat tightening and choking her. Odalia squeezed her face. “Why are you still crying, girl?”

“It hurts,” the young Blight said, her voice lost of that cocky and remarking tone she typically had. “ You hurt me.”

Odalia hummed, her other hand combing through Amity’s dyed hair. She knew her mother didn’t like the color, she would have much preferred that she dyed it blonde to match her, or if she had at least kept it auburn to match with her father. “The real world will hurt you so much more, Amity. And don’t you know me by now?” The woman tilted Amity’s head up, their gazes locking. Those blue eyes so sharp and intimidating seemed… soft. “I love you, Amity. I do everything that I do because I love you.”

Nodding, Amity pulled her head away and looked down. “Right… I love you too, mom.”

After a lot of pain, and a lot of conflicting emotions, Amity and Odalia finally left the room to walk around the school. First they went to the media center, then the cafeteria, the track and field, and Amity’s feet were starting to kill her after all this walking.

“I don’t think there’s much else to see, mother…”

Odalia hummed. “Then just tell me about you, mittens. How well do you think you’re doing here?”

Amity felt like there was a second meaning to the question. Her mother was asking her how she thought she was doing, so maybe it was a trap. She’d tell her mom that she thought she was doing good, and then Odalia would correct her. Pursing her lips, Amity fell for the trap anyway. “I… I am doing well. I haven’t gotten in any serious trouble, and I’m making a lot of progress. And I know you don’t like the fact that I do sports but, mother, if you’d just come to one of our games and see me out there, I promise you’d be proud.”

“Proud? Child, I’m already disappointed in you for the fact that you’re even here!” Odalia snapped, “Do you know how much it costs our family each day to hide the fact that you’re here? Media thinks we have you locked in our basement, and honestly, that’d be a million times better than having a daughter who thought that setting her peer on fire was okay!”

The young Blight turned her head downwards, “She was messing with me, and it’s not like you or dad really helped me handle my emotions properly. I have to shove everything down and all it does is bubble up into something dangerous. I’m not here because of me, I’m here because of you!”

“Amity Blight,” Odalia hissed out her name, and she flinched at the venom laced in her name. “You have no right to blame me for your stupidity, nor to talk back at me. I’d say that this was all just a waste of my time, maybe I should just let the cops take you away.”

Her eyes widened, her mouth falling agape. “What?! You can’t do that.”

“I can, dear. And I will if you don’t get a hold of yourself.” Her mother lifted her hand to cup her cheek, then pinched it, hard. “Do I make myself clear?”

Amity pulled her face away, her own hand rubbing the spot that her mother pinched. She already wished that this visiting week was over. “Yes, mother. I understand.”

“Good girl.”

The words made her cringe; it made her feel as though she was dirt compared to her mother. It didn’t mean praise, no, it was implying that she was lower class. Amity scowled, crossing her arms. “Where to next?” She asked, otherwise she would’ve said something else. Something that her mom definitely would not tolerate.

Odalia narrowed her eyes, the sliver of blue that she Amity could see was fixated on her. “You can take me back to my vehicle. I think I’ve seen enough for today.”

“You’ve only been here for like… four hours.”

“Four hours too many, if you ask me,” Odalia sniffed, “I wouldn’t have to be here at all had you just ignored that little girl back then. Any Blight would have ignored her, but no, just one Blight, Amity Blight , wants to be special.”

Amity furrowed her brows, her own eyes squinting at her mother. “Okay, well. Let’s get you back then, since you clearly want nothing to do with me,” she added that second part a bit quieter.

Odalia didn’t seem to have heard, luckily, and now they were walking back to the front of the school. In the corner of Amity’s eyes, she saw Boscha with both her moms as they walked past, they were all sitting together on a bench. Boscha had her head on the taller of the two women’s shoulder, and her hand was holding the hand of the one with glasses. They seemed so much closer, so much healthier. So much less toxic.

Looking back at Odalia, Amity only wished her mom could be the kind and loving type that her friend had, but, then again, she also supposed that her mom being either would be rather strange. “Unbefitting of a Blight,” Odalia would likely have said if she knew what Amity was thinking of.

Finally at the front, Odalia’s car still parked on the side, Amity stood back. She was glad her mother was leaving, even if she’d be visiting again the next day. Odalia opened the door to the car, pausing. Amity raised an eybrow, wondering what was going on in her mother’s head at that moment.

“When is your next game?” Odalia asked, slowly and unsure. Amity perked up.

“This Saturday,” Amity said, having to stifle the smile that wanted to come up. Was Odalia finally interested in something Amity was proud of? “I have a strong feeling that we’ll win, and… it’d be nice to have people cheering for me.”

Odalia hummed. “I’ll be sure to inform your father and siblings. I…” Her mother paused, and Amity was so sure that the woman would just stop there. “I will see you tomorrow. I love you.”

As much as Amity hated to say those three dreaded words, especially to her mother, it wasn’t like she could just stay quiet. “Love you too,” she gritted.

Nodding, Odalia frowned as she got into her car, shutting the door. And then she was driving away, a feeling of relief settling in Amity’s chest.

A hand grabbed her wrist.

Screaming in surprise, Amity whipped around, her first instinct being to hit the person. A pained groan made her eyes widen. “Luz!” She kneeled down as Luz crippled to the ground, clutching her gut. “I’m so sorry, you just scared me.”

“No, it’s– fuck – fine,” Luz smiled, “I shouldn’t have grabbed you like that. Is… is your mom gone?”

Amity looked behind her, having to actually make sure for herself. “I hope so,” she grimaced.

Luz slowly stood back up, hand still placed over her stomach. “Listen, I know that we’re trying to play this safe and whatnot but,” the Latina looked concerned, fearful. “Can we talk?”

That same feeling was going through Amity now, fear. What could be so serious that Luz would risk their secret to talk about it. “We should probably talk in one of our rooms, since we apparently have a stalker…”

Luz furrowed her brows, looking around. “Right. I don’t know who that could be but I’m making it my mission to find out. But, uh, not the point. We can talk in my room.”

Not bothering to argue, Amity nodded and the two walked back into the school. Dread continued to pool in Amity’s stomach; what if Luz wanted to go back on their word of becoming friends again after this? What if Luz was being taken out already? What if Luz found out she was dying and only had so much time to live?

Okay, maybe that was a bit farfetched, but Amity still worried.

Upon reaching Luz’s room, and making sure that nobody saw them together entering, the door was shut and Amity was being pushed back roughly until she was sat on the bed. Amity’s eyes widened when Luz’s hands cupped her jaw and lifted her face, leaning in.

Feeling blood rush to her cheeks, she pushed her away. “Uh! I thought we were talking?”

“I need to check something.” Luz walked off to the bathroom without another word, leaving Amity in confusion. The brunette came back with wipes, one hand holding a wipe and the other holding Amity’s chin.

Awkwardly, the Blight sat still as Luz wiped away at her check, the grimace on her face growing.

“Did your mom hit you?”

Amity froze, the hairs on the back of her neck rising. “I… why would you think that?”

“She tried to hit you in front of me, Ams,” Luz narrowed her eyes. “Then she was all like, come with me, Amity, I forgot something in your room ,” she mocked, “but I don’t believe any of that bullshit. Did she hit you?”

The question was direct, the only answers allowed were yes or no. But Amity didn’t want to admit to Luz that her mother was, indeed, abusive.

“I don’t see why it matters, I mean, she’s my mom.” Amity looked away, “Mother knows best…”

“Amity.”

The Blight frowned, knowing that Luz was giving her that look. The one when she was being dead serious, that it was no time for jokes, or schemes, and definitely… “No shenanigans,” Luz said, finishing the Blight’s thought. “Be honest with me, please.”

Pulling her legs up on the bed, Amity became a hermit. As she always did when she was away from the public. “She… she hit me more than once. Four times, twice on each cheek. Then she yanked my hair and, you know, just… screamed a lot. Then when I tried to talk back to her like an idiot while we were walking, she pinched my cheek knowing it’d hurt. She knew how sore my face was.” Amity trembled, “She always knows how to hurt me.”

Luz climbed onto the bed, reluctantly pulling Amity closer.

“I don’t get it,” Amity cried. “How she can go from so cruel to telling me she loves me. That everything she does and has done has only been an act to help me, to prepare me.”

“Prepare you for what? I can’t think of anything in the world where you’d be getting physically abused, yelled at, and twisted emotionally.”

Amity just hid her face in Luz’s shirt, a small smile rising to her face even considering the situation at hand. “But, she’s coming to my game. My mom has never come to my games before. Maybe she’s getting slightly better, even… even if some habits stick.”

Luz scoffed, and the Blight lifted her head. “What?”

“Listen, I’m going to be pretty straight-forward with you.” Luz gave her a deadpan stare, “Your mom’s a bitch, a cunt even. No matter how much you think she’s changing, she’s still abusive and manipulative.”

“She just raises us differently, to toughen us up. Maybe once I’m out of here, then she’ll be kinder…”

“Amity! Ay dios mío! Can you hear yourself?” Luz shouted, Amity shrinking in on herself. “You’re defending a woman who has beaten you, screamed at you, locked you in your room until you were literally starving ! That woman is NOT your mom.” The brunette seemed enraged by the topic. “A mother is supposed to nurture and protect her kids, not be the direct threat to them. And the fact that you’re trying to shrug it off? You can’t just pretend all your problems aren’t there, Ams.”

“Oh, like you know any better,” Amity scooted away, still trying to act like it was no big deal. “Where was your guadian angel of a mom when you were getting bullied?”

Luz’s nostrils flared. “I’ll have you know that my mom was there. She was always there, but it’s not like she could do much when I was so fucking cut off that I was never home! Why do you think I’m here, Amity? Really, why do you think?”

“I… I was told by Will that it was because your mom missed the old, happy you…”

“I’m here because I got caught taking drugs, got caught trying to sell them. Not to mention the several times I’ve attacked people, leaving me with multiple counts of assault.” Luz stood up, grabbing the wipes she used to clean Amity’s face of the makeup that covered her reddened (and bruising) cheeks. “I’m also here because my mom didn’t think she was doing a good job on her own raising me. She believed I was depressed from when my dad passed away, and that since she was never home, I resorted to other methods to keep myself sane.” She set the stuff on the nightstand, huffing. “And, not at severe as the other reasons, but pretty bad regardless,” Luz reached under her bed, pulling out the bag she had brought with her, flipping the bag over and pulling the fabric at the bottom until she could reach into the hole and… oh.

“I’m here because I hurt myself,” Luz showed her a blade, it was small and concealable. “I’ve… stopped, for a good amount of time, but I could never find it in me to throw this away.” Turning the blade in her fingers, Luz sighed. “My mom sent me here because she didn’t know how else to help me. Your mom sent you here because she doesn’t want to help you, she just wants to fit you into the square hole in those shape block box games for kids.”

Amity frowned, looking down. She felt bad for making Luz have to bring up something so personal.

The brunette kneeled at the side of the bed, her hand on Amity’s knee. “So yeah, I might not know everything, but I know enough to say something.”

“I’m sorry,” Amity muttered. “I keep… acting out. You shouldn't have had to bring any of that up, you wouldn’t have had to if I just–”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Not entirely, but you had to use it to tell me off–”

“It’s not your fault,” Luz repeated.

Amity sniffled. “I just like to tell myself it is, to give a reason for the pain that is inflicted on to me.”

Luz sat back on the bed again, moving to the headboard and pulling Amity back with her so they could rest on the pillows. “You should never have to blame yourself for someone else’s cruelty. And,” Luz brought Amity closer, until her ear was resting over the Latina’s heart. “You should never have to deal with it alone.”

“Neither should you,” Amity mumbled.

“Well,” Luz chuckled, “if you let me help you with your fucked up family.” The girl turned to her, smiling softly. “Maybe I’ll let you help me with my fucked up habits.”

“Fucked-up friends?”

“Yeah, sure. Fucked-up friends.”