Chapter Text
When Luz moved to a new town for her mom’s job, she was expecting to be the odd kid out like she had been her entire life. Her plan was to focus on her classes and just be another one of the brainless sheep that followed every instruction the teacher gave. She knew her personality was more than that, but after so many failed attempts at making friends throughout the years, she was done trying.
With said plan in her head, she walked into school and headed to her first class: Biology 101. She memorized her schedule the night before and took a picture of the school’s map to avoid having to ask someone where each room was. She had no problem asking for help in the past, but as she got more and more laughed at each day, she just stopped and started dealing with everything on her own.
She walked into the empty classroom and went straight to a desk at the very back. She got a notebook and a pen out of her red bag and started to doodle to kill the extra time she had. She didn’t know how long she had been drawing mindlessly, but surely the bell would ring anytime soon.
Luz didn’t look up from her spot as she heard students talking by the door. Why would she? She wasn’t expecting anyone to pay attention to the new kid that had to transfer on senior year. Everybody already had their cliques and possible childhood friends, so why add someone you barely knew?
Well, expect the unexpected, they said.
“Hey, you mind if I sit with you?” Luz heard the voice too close for the question to not be for her. She looked up from her notebook and saw a girl staring back at her through the round glasses the latter wore.
“Go for it,” Luz replied nonchalantly, going back to her drawings. She heard a shuffle beside her and snuck a glance. The girl seemed friendly enough; at least she had been nice enough to ask and was quietly getting her stuff out of her yellow bag. Luz looked away as the girl finished getting settled and turned the page in her notebook.
“You’re new here, right?” The girl suddenly asked. Luz turned to look at her and found her staring back. She avoided her intense gaze and looked back at her notebook.
“Uh, yeah. Just transferred,” Luz replied simply as she scribbled the date on the top of the page.
“I see. Welcome to Hexside, then,” the girl said with a small smirk on her lips. It wasn’t a mean kind of smirk, but it was still odd to Luz (also the fact that out of all the empty desks, she chose the one next to the new girl).
“Thanks,” the brunette replied, returning the smile for a split second.
“I’m Willow, by the way,” the girl finally introduced herself.
“Luz.”
“Nice to meet you, Luz.”
“Same here.”
“You don’t talk much do you?” Willow asked with a chuckle.
“You could say that,” Luz replied, clicking her tongue as she doodled around the date she wrote. A little swirl here, a star over there…
“Hmm,” Willow hummed. “You know anyone here?”
“Not really,” Luz shrugged, erasing a tiny mistake in her drawing before redoing it. “I’m new to Bonesborough, too.”
Willow hummed a second time. “Well, you seem cool so if you want, you could join my group at lunch,” she suggested, leaning her cheek on her hand that rested on top of the desk.
“Your group?” Luz questioned, glancing at the girl when she moved. She had learned to be extra observant when there was sudden movement around her.
“Yeah, I think you’d fit right in,” Willow smiled, an actual smile this time.
“Oh, really?” Luz chuckled. “What’s this group about?” She asked, a smirk tugging on her lips now. It was possible Willow was actually nice and genuinely wanted to hang out with her, but Luz’s past experiences didn’t let her believe it right away.
“Just people that like to fuck around after school,” Willow shrugged and took a glance at Luz’s bag’s zipper where a little, green skateboard keychain hung. “We sometimes go to the skatepark, too,” she added, finally catching Luz’s full attention.
“There’s a skatepark here?” Luz asked, turning in her seat to face Willow.
“Yup,” Willow replied, popping the ‘p’ rather loudly. “So, again, if you want, you can have lunch with us.”
Luz scanned Willow’s face for any sign of that could lead her joining this ‘group’ for lunch to a bad ending. After not seeing anything and accepting that the request was genuine, she replied: “Sure.”
“Great,” Willow beamed. “I don’t know if we’ll have another class together so when you get to the cafeteria, we sit right by the door. Can’t miss us,” she explained just as the bell rang.
“Sounds good,” Luz replied, turning to face forward as students started piling up and taking over the desks. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
———
Her morning classes went by in a blur. She barely paid attention to any them after the teachers’ announced that she was new. She ignored the stares the best she could and was glad that it would only happen today.
She looked at the map on her phone and groaned when she realized she went the wrong way. Turning on her heel, she sped walk down the right hall. She hoped she wouldn’t bump into someone like in those cheesy, romance movies. There was a slim chance of that happening considering the halls were completely empty, but still.
Finally finding the cafeteria, the loud chatter and noises coming from inside made her stomach turn. Again, she hoped it wasn’t like those movies and everyone would just mind their business instead of killing her with judgmental stares. She shook her head and forced herself to push one of the double doors open. She stepped in and sighed in relief when not a single person turned her way. She looked to the right, immediately spotting Willow where she said she’d be.
“There you are. I thought you’d bail on me,” Willow said with a chuckle when she saw Luz walk over and patted the seat beside her.
“Nah, sorry about that. I didn’t realize how far away my third class is from here,” Luz replied, sitting down. It wasn’t completely false, but she wasn’t going to admit she got lost to anyone other than herself.
“No worries,” Willow beamed. “Gus is getting lunch and we’re still waiting on another one.”
“Gus?”
“One of my childhood best friends. He’s cool,” Willow explained briefly.
“Gotcha.”
“Hey, girls.” As if he was called, who Luz assumed was Gus sat down across from them, setting his tray gently on the table. If she taught Willow had been friendly, this guy was a ray of sunshine. He had a bright smile on his face, his eyes squinted from it and he seemed like a genuinely good person like Willow. Maybe it was a good thing Luz agreed to hang out with them after all.
“Hey,” Willow greeted happily.
“You’re the new girl, right?” Gus questioned, turning to Luz. Lots of eye contact with these two…
“One and only,” Luz replied sarcastically, adding a laugh for them to know it was lighthearted.
“You must be getting that a lot, my bad,” Gus chuckled. “I didn’t catch your name?”
“Luz.”
“That’s a really pretty name,” Gus complimented, taking Luz by surprise.
“Thanks,” Luz said with a small smile.
“Where are you from?” Gus asked, starting to eat.
“Just moved here from Connecticut,” Luz replied, catching Willow sneaking glances between her phone and the cafeteria doors. She’s probably checking if the other person walks in.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but why on senior year?” Gus asked, taking a bite of his sandwich.
“My mom’s job,” Luz shrugged. “She got transferred, too and is working at the hospital here.”
“Oh, got it. My dad and I used to move around a lot, too when I was younger,” Gus said and looked over at Willow who was frowning. Before he could ask anything, Willow spoke up.
“Hey, Gus, do you know if she’s coming?” She asked, typing away on her phone.
“I don’t know. I saw her rushing out of her third class, but didn’t see where she went,” Gus replied, a frown making its way to his face as well.
“Great,” Willow huffed.
“Who are we talking about?” Luz dared ask.
“Oh, sorry, Luz. Our other friend, A-“
“Hey.”
The three of them turned to the rude interruption. Standing beside the table, was a girl with shoulder-length, pink hair that Luz didn’t recognize from any of her classes. The girl had a bored look on her face that match the harsh tone she had used to interrupt what Willow was saying. Luz could already tell she was bad news.
“What do you want, Boscha?” Willow asked with the same harsh tone, taking Luz by surprise. Was this the same girl she met in Biology that morning?
“Have you seen Am?” The girl, Boscha, asked, suddenly interested in her nails as she waited for an answer.
Willow scoffed. “No, and even if I did I wouldn’t tell you where she is,” she spoke roughly. Luz glanced over at Gus, his expression sour from the exchange. This girl was definitely bad news if these two didn’t like her.
“Ugh, whatever. I’ll find her on my own. Thanks for nothing, losers,” Boscha snarled, rolling her eyes and shoving her hands in her jacket’s pockets before walking away from the table as if nothing happened.
“Geez, what’s with her?” Luz mumbled under her breath as the pink-haired girl joined another table in the middle of the room. Guess she wasn’t in a rush to find this ‘Am’ after all.
“Don’t mind her, she’s just a bitch,” Willow grumbled, clear annoyance in her tone.
“Boscha really irks the shit out of us.” Gus piped in.
“She’s that bad, huh?” Luz commented, making Willow let out a dry laugh.
“Well, who would like their best friend’s toxic ex?” Willow scoffed.
“Ex?” Luz raised a brow, looking over at Gus. Did he…
“Yeah, she and our friend Amity recently broke up,” he shrugged, passing his unopened drink to Willow. That made much more sense than what Luz initially thought.
“And I’m so damn happy they did,” Willow smirked, happily taking Gus’ drink and taking a sip.
“It took Amity too long to realize how poorly Boscha treated her so I have to agree. Not so happy about Amity’s one-week-long moping, but glad she finally stood up for herself,” Gus explained as he saw Luz’s slightly confused expression.
“That sounds like a lot of drama,” Luz commented with a light laugh.
“You don’t know half of it,” Willow grumbled. “Guess you’ll meet her later on during the week since she’s probably avoiding that ticking time bomb,” she added, pointing in the direction Boscha had gone.
Luz chuckled, “That’s fine.”
Willow peeked over to where the food was and smiled. “The line finally went down, let’s go get something,” she said and basically dragged Luz from their table to grab some food.
“Wait, don’t leave me alone! What if she comes back?” Gus called after them as Willow pushed Luz towards the food.
“Flip her off!”
———
“Luz, wait up!” Luz stopped by the school’s entrance and turned around, seeing Willow and Gus running towards her. She had just finished her last class and was so glad the first day was over.
“What are you doing right now?” Willow asked once they stopped right in front of her.
“Walking,” Luz replied sarcastically, smirking smugly as Willow rolled her eyes at her.
“I mean, are you busy right now?” Willow rephrased the question, hooking her arm with Luz’s as they began walking again. It surprised her a little bit, but she didn’t mind.
“Not really,” Luz answered.
“You want to go to the skatepark with us, then?” Gus asked, basically hopping down the entrance’s stairs.
“Right now?”
“Yes, right now!” They yelled out in sync, which was much more terrifying than the sudden loud volume.
“Uh, okay, but you guys don’t have your boards…” Luz stated rather than asked.
“Who said?” Willow beamed and the next second Gus was in the bushes. Luz raised a brow as she watched the bushes rustling against each other by Gus’ doing. He hummed happily as he looked and bent down once he found what he was looking for.
“Ta-da!” He beamed, picking something up from the ground and showing it to Luz. Behold, two skateboards; one with yellow accents and one with dark and light blue.
“We can’t bring them into school so we hide them here,” Willow chirped, taking her board from Gus as he stepped out of the green mess of plants. Luz stared at them, then blinked a couple of times while staying silent.
“You okay, Luz?” Gus asked, confusion in his face as he stared back at the taller girl. Without a word, Luz stepped into the bushes, going behind the stairs wall. Willow and Gus looked at each other and back at Luz when she came out of the bushes, holding her own red and black skateboard.
Willow laughed. “They do say great minds think alike.”
“Is that a yes, then?” Gus chirped happily, making Luz laugh.
“Lead the way,” Luz said, dropping her board and stepping on it. Willow and Gus followed suit and pushed themselves away from the school with Luz trailing behind them.
They rode their skateboards for about ten minutes, passing various houses and shops and cafes along the way. It was a nice neighborhood, that being the main reason Camila took the job and the buildings weren’t too far from each other which was perfect for Luz to get around when her mom was stuck at work.
Luz took a final turn and saw Willow and Gus stop a little further ahead. She glanced to the side and saw the skatepark. Stopping right behind them, next to the small recreation area, she took a closer look. It looked like it was built recently, the cement not having many wheel marks or the walls too much graffiti. It was mostly empty as well, except for the one girl that was doing a trick right in front of them.
Luz watched as the girl pushed herself on her purple board, looking ahead as it moved at a medium speed. She bent her knees, moving her right foot back to the tail and stepped on it before jumping. The board flipped between the girl’s legs once, landing upright as she came down from the jump. She stumbled slightly as she landed back on the board, but nailed the trick. She looked up, having a bright smile on her face and that’s when Luz noticed just how pretty she was.
“Woah…” she mumbled under her breath unconsciously. Willow heard it and smirked while Luz was too busy staring at her lavender-haired friend.
“Amity!” Gus called out, rushing to the girl.
“Hey, Gus,” Amity greeted happily.
“You finally got the hard-flip down?” Gus beamed, bouncing on his feet from excitement.
“Yeah, I did,” Amity giggled.
“Awesome! Hey, come meet someone real quick,” Gus said quickly, rushing back towards where Willow and Luz were standing.
“Uhm, okay?” Amity replied, confused. She pushed herself on her board, stopping right in front of the girls. “Hey, Willow,” she greeted her childhood best friend with a warm smile as she balanced on her skateboard.
“Hey, Ames,” Willow happily returned the smile.
“Amity, this is Luz. She just transferred to Hexside,” Gus piped in, pointing at the still stunned brunette.
Luz forgot how to speak for who knew how long and just stared. This was that rude, pink-haired girl’s ex? She seemed just as sweet as Gus and Willow, for fuck’s sake. Not to mention how pretty she was up-close (even if Luz had to tilt her head a little bit to actually look at her the way she was).
“Oh! You’re the girl from my math class. Nice to meet you,” Amity beamed, her bright smile even brighter in Luz’s trance. Willow’s elbow hitting her arm snapped her out of it, however, and she remembered what speaking was.
“Hi, nice to meet you, too,” Luz said finally, smiling shyly. They shared a class together? How did Luz not notice her before? Willow and Gus gave each other a knowing look that went unnoticed by the two other girls.
“Hey, Blight,” Willow interrupted their staring contest and reached for something in her bag when Amity looked at her. “You forgot these at my place last time,” she said, throwing Amity a pack of marshmallows shaped like bunnies. She almost lost her balanced when she caught them, but the sweet treat saved Willow from one of her death glares.
“That’s where they were! I’ve been dying to eat these,” Amity’s eyes basically sparkled as she opened the bag. Luz thought it was one of the purest reactions she had ever seen. Amity took a bunny out of the pack and put the box down on the table before taking a bite of its ear. “You can take some if you want,” she offered to everyone, covering her mouth to not show any chewed up candy.
“Ew, Amity. Swallow before you talk,” Willow scolded playfully. Amity rolled her eyes and swallowed before speaking again.
“What are you, my mom?” Amity joked, one of her hands on her hip while taking another bite of her candy.
“You’re lucky she isn’t seeing you right now,” Gus snorted, taking a marshmallow bunny for himself.
“Yeah, yeah, anyway,” Amity giggled and turned her attention back to Luz. “How are you liking Hexside so far, Luz?”
“It’s alright,” Luz answered truthfully.
“Right? The website makes it seem like it’s all that, but it’s a regular school,” Amity rambled, almost losing her balance, but managed to stay on the board. “How did you get rounded up with these two losers?” she asked, pointing a thumb at Gus and Willow.
“Hey!” They defended in unison, making Amity laugh.
“I’m joking! I love you guys,” she beamed. Her smile was really contagious, Luz noted. She couldn’t help but smile herself when she wasn’t speaking.
“Well, Willow and I have Biology together and she invited me to lunch where I met Gus,” Luz replied, staring at the girl in front of her. She had never liked eye contact. Heck, when Willow and Gus had spoken to her, she avoided it… but this girl was so intriguing she couldn’t keep her eyes away.
“Yeah, she met Gus and Pinkie-dye,” Willow mumbled and the smile was gone from Amity’s face immediately.
“What?” Amity questioned, her attention going to her childhood friends.
“Boscha was looking for you at lunch,” Gus said.
“Again,” Willow followed, a deep frown on her face.
Amity sighed. “Sorry, guys. I really can’t do anything about it.”
“We know,” Gus assured.
“But at least tell us when you’re going to avoid her so I can mentally prepare myself to not punch her in her stupid face,” Willow grumbled.
“Or reply to our texts, you know? We worry,” Gus added.
“You guys texted me?” Amity’s eyes went wide and quickly fished her phone out of her pocket. “Damn, I forgot to turn the little moon off, again.”
“Put a reminder, genius,” Willow teased.
“Where did you even go?” Gus asked, going for his second marshmallow bunny.
“Library,” Amity replied, doing the same as Gus. “The only place I know that she’s 100% not going to look for me in.”
“That’s why you’re top student,” Willow chuckled.
“Anyway, enough about her,” Amity waved them off. “How long have you been skating, Luz?”
After hearing the whole conversation, Luz wanted to know more. She wasn’t going to ask, hence just meeting Amity and noting it was a sensitive topic for her. She also didn’t know how recently the break up had been. That didn’t stop her from wondering why Willow called Boscha ‘pinkie-dye’ or why Boscha was still after Amity. She figured that if they actually became friends (and weren’t hanging out with her out of pity), she might find out later on.
“Since I was thirteen so about four years,” Luz replied, rolling her board back and forth under her foot.
“Do you know any tricks?” Gus asked, sitting on his own board and moving from side to side.
“Basic ones, mostly. I don’t think I could do what Amity was doing earlier,” Luz replied, seeing Amity’s sudden shy smile. Willow and Gus gave each other another look and discreetly smirked. They could basically talk with their faces from knowing each other for so long.
“Well, you’re in luck, Luz!” Willow piped in. “Amity here is the one that got us into skating in the first place! If anyone can teach you a trick, it’s her,” she beamed, nudging Luz’s side eagerly.
Knowing her friends, Amity suspected what they were up to. They would never try to raise her ego like that on purpose. However, playing along couldn’t be that bad, right? If Luz really wanted to learn a trick, why not be the one that helps her with it?
“For sure,” she chirped happily. “If you want to learn a trick just let me know and I’ll help you out.”
“Really?” Luz asked with raised brows.
“Really,” Amity confirmed with a smile.
They spent the rest of the afternoon talking, joking around and doing tricks around the park. Luz didn’t remember ever laughing as much as she did that day. These three were definitely good people and she was happy she agreed to hang out with them. She was half-listening to Willow talk about some shenanigans they had gotten into, her attention mostly on the lavender-haired girl next to her. Amity was laughing and trying to refute whatever it was Willow was saying, but neither of her friends were letting her get a word in.
“You’re telling it wrong! I wasn’t the one that came up with the idea to spray paint Bump’s car, it was-“
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Amity glanced at her watch and Luz swore she saw her pout.
“That’s your alarm?” Willow asked, watching as her friend got up from her spot.
“Yeah, I have to go,” Amity said with an apologetic look.
“No worries. I should get going to. It’s almost dinner time,” Willow said, getting up and stretching.
“You should add Luz to the group chat,” Amity said, her contagious smile back as she packed up her things.
“Yeah, I think she’s officially part of our group,” Gus beamed, throwing away the now empty box of marshmallow bunnies.
“Obviously,” Willow smiled.
“Seriously?” Luz looked at them, a small smile on her lips.
“Duh, you fit right in,” Amity said happily.
“Agreed,” both Willow and Gus nodded.
“Save your number and I’ll add you,” Willow said, handing her phone to Luz. Luz took it and typed in her number before returning it. Willow took it back, saved Luz’s number and quickly added her to the group chat. “There you go.”
“Thanks,” Luz said happily, looking at the notification on her phone for a second before putting it away. Everyone picked up their boards and bags and started walking away from the park after making sure nothing was left behind.
“I’ll see you guys, tomorrow,” Amity said, dropping her board on the sidewalk and stepping on it.
“Better not ditch us again,” Willow warned jokingly.
“Text us if anything happens,” Gus chimed in.
“Will do,” Amity agreed and turned to Luz, offering another big smile. “See you tomorrow in math, new girl.”
“See you,” Luz chuckled. With that, she was off and soon enough they all bid their goodbyes and skated to their homes. As Luz skated, she couldn’t stop smiling. It had been great first day for everything.
When Camila had told her they were moving, Luz was expecting to be the odd kid out like she had been her entire life. She had a plan to focus on her classes and not even try to befriend anyone. Who would even talk to the new girl that transferred on senior year, anyway?
Apparently, the answer was three weirdos that were just like her.