Chapter Text
"Yes mom, I know. You don't have to worry, I'm technically an adult. I know my way around the campus. Yes, I have money. Yes, I have a job. I'm on a scholarship here too, don't worry... Okay mom. Bye, I love you too."
Luz hung up the phone and slid it into her pocket with a groan. Sure, she was glad her mom cared about her and wanted to check in, but Luz was on a fixed schedule. And as much as she wanted to spend the day on the phone with her mother, she wasn't too sure the basketball coach would like that.
She pushed through the wooden doors that led into the main hall of Hexside College and turned to the dorm hallways. Luz was on her way to drop off her bag, which was the only thing she had currently. The rest was in boxes on the floor of room 302, her dorm.
Sliding the key into the lock, Luz swiftly opened the door and flung her bag full of books onto the bed. Flicking on the light switch, she realized her roommate had been there, neatly stacked boxes on the far wall and another desk were present. Despite being in a rush, Luz grabbed one of the pens off her roommate's desk and made a quick note on the notepad.
Hey, pick whatever side of the room you want. I'll take the other. I'll be back once the b-ball coach is done.
-Luz, your roommate
Luz grabbed her water bottle and bolted out the door, having to double back and lock it before continuing her dangerously paced sprint to the court.
"While I don't condone running in the school's hallways, I like your enthusiasm." The coach said as Luz ran into the room, sliding into the lineup. "But don't be late next time."
"You got it." Luz said, cracking a smile as she gave a salute.
"Okay. Listen up kids." The coach shouted. She looked like an older woman, a mane of frizzy gray hair hung down to her waist. In contrast, her eyes were bright yellow, matching a golden tooth that appeared when she spoke. She wore a red tracksuit, and a silver whistle hung from her neck that shone in the gymnasium's beaming lights. "We're going to do some drills today, I'll see what we're working with here."
One by one, each student dribbled down the court, weaving between cones and dodging others. Eventually it was Luz's turn. She grabbed the ball and started dribbling in place, getting a feel for it. After a second she ran, dodging between the cones expertly, than she moved towards the other student. A taller girl with pink hair stood in front of her. Luz faked left and swiftly moved right, but was stopped. After a moment, she tried again, this time faking right, then actually going right. She barely sped past and took a shot at the basket, sinking it in from the 3-point line.
Luz turned to Mrs. Clawthorne, the basketball coach, and waited for a score. She looked mildly impressed as she jotted something down, before flipping the page and writing something else. "Luz, good work. Impressive." She said. "Boscha" Mrs. Clawthorne began, causing the girl behind Luz to groan and look over. "Well done, you blocked her first try."
The other girl grinned and went off the court, Luz followed behind her, going to the bleachers. "Hey. Luz, right? You're good for a short kid." The girl, who Luz assumed was Boscha, said.
"I'm not that short, but thanks." Luz said back, rolling her eyes. Was that supposed to be a compliment?
"How tall are you?" Boscha asked, swiping a strand of bright pink hair out of her face as she sat down on the bleachers.
"5'9." Luz responded blankly, hoping Boscha would get the message and stop talking to her. Just as Boscha was about to say something else, her phone chimed and she paused to read the message.
"I'll catch ya later, Luz." Boscha mumbled as she walked away, typing out a message.
"Yeah." Luz said back, though she was positive Boscha was too far away and too distracted to hear her.
Luz sat impatiently, watching the others speed down the court. As she expected, they were all good. Of course they were, Hexside was an incredibly prestigious college, they wouldn't hand out scholarships or letters of admission to just anyone. No, almost everyone at this school was of high-class. Luz wasn't the only exception, but there weren't many, probably a handful. Maybe fewer.
"Okay students! Line up! I've seen your agility, time to showcase your shooting." Mrs. Clawthorne said, pointing to several spots on the floor.
Luz winced, her strong suit was agility, and while she wasn't bad at shooting by any means, it would be easy for these kids to out-do her; Especially when it came to blocking. In basketball, the taller you are, the more blocking potential you have. Luz was 5'9 and sure, that was tall, but when the kid shooting is 6'2, that 5'9 feels really small.
Luz trudged over and stood in line, closer to the back. She watched as each kid took their shots, 5 chances in total. Most kids sunk them all, occasionally one would barely miss, but as expected, they were all incredibly skilled.
When it was finally Luz's turn, she stepped up, taking the first ball. With a swish it went into the net, boosting her confidence.
Second ball; swish. All net.
Third ball; swish. Hit the rim, but went in.
Fourth ball; miss. It hit the backboard and bounced off, landing to the side. Luz swallowed hard and took a breath, dreading the next shot.
Fifth ball: swish. All net.
"4 outta 5, good job." Mrs. Clawthorne said as Luz walked past, earning a weak grin. Luz plopped onto the bleachers, and grabbed her water bottle, gulping down some. Lowering it down, she spun it around in her hands until she found the familiar sticker; old and faded from the sun, but comforting nonetheless. You could still make out the distinct colors of blue, purple, and pink. A bisexual flag. The corner was tore from years of it being there, but it was mostly intact. Luz traced her finger around the outside edge of it, smiling at the memory.
Her attention was pulled back as Boscha stepped forward, sinking all 5 shots with ease before stepping back to the side and yanking out her phone. Luz sighed, drawn back to thoughts about her missed shot. She knew it was fine, she wasn't going to be kicked out for missing a single shot, but it was disappointing. "Well, I got four of them! That's four better than some people can do!" Luz thought, cheering herself up as the rest of the kids finished their shots.
"Okay, kids! Last thing today before I let you all go." Mrs. Clawthorne said, clapping her hands together. "Blocking drills."
Luz groaned and stood up. All she could do now was pray to the Titan that she'd be against someone her height. Mrs. Clawthorne had randomly lined people up, not matching heights or skill levels. Of course, the opposing team wouldn't care that you're short, so why should she?
"Group one, begin!"
The first two students went up, one blocking and one shooting. The first student successfully blocked, and they switched. The second student blocked and they went off the court, being handed a slip of paper from Mrs. Clawthorne before leaving the gym.
"Group two, begin!"
Luz was part of group four, with another girl she'd never seen. Luckily for Luz, girl was only a little taller, maybe 5'11.
"Group three, begin!"
Luz was trying to recall if she'd seen this girl shoot early, but couldn't seem to. "I should've paid more attention."
"Group four, begin!"
Luz and the other girl walked to the section of the court they were using. Luz was handed the ball, and confidently got into position, this was her strong suit. In a matter of seconds, Luz had maneuvered around the girl and jumped up, tipping the ball into the net. Despite being shorter, she could still slam-dunk the ball, albeit more tap-dunking.
"Nice." The girl said quietly as Luz passed her the ball.
"Thanks." Luz nervously smiled as they changed places. "Good luck."
The girl stepped back and began dribbling, she took a step forward and jumped, shooting the ball directly toward the net. Luz jumped and stretched her arms up, barely tipping the ball enough to send it off course and to the backboard. Landing back on the ground, Luz sighed, relief washing over her as she watched the ball bounce away.
She walked off the court, receiving a slip from Eda before leaving the gymnasium. "What is this?" Luz muttered, flipping the paper over. She saw the scores she received, along with score average for each, and improvement suggestions from Mrs. Clawthorne.
"Damn, they go all out here." Luz said, looking over the paper.
Overall Score: 9/10
Score breakdown;
Agility: 10/10
Shooting: 8/10
Blocking: 9/10
Comments: You did good, be more confident. Work on shooting under pressure, needs to be quick but accurate.
"Huh, that's surprisingly nice." Luz said, squinting at Mrs. Clawthorne's sloppy writing. "I think?"
"Hey!" Someone ran out of the gym behind Luz and patted her on the back. "What'd you get? Mine's a nine!"
Luz turned around to see Boscha talking to her. "I got a nine too, messed up that shot earlier." Luz said, holding out her paper. Boscha grabbed it and glanced over it before handing it back.
"I'm better at running through people than dodging them, so I didn't do good in agility." Boscha groaned, looking at the red marks on her agility section.
"She doesn't seem that bad, I wonder if we'll be friends." Luz thought.
"Hey! Boscha!" A new voice called, causing both to turn around.
"Hey Willow!" Boscha waved at the approaching girl; her shoulder length hair was black, and a green streak through it matched her eyes. She wore black glasses that she pushed up as she ran over, almost dropping her textbook in the process.
"Oh, hey!" Willow said to Luz. "I'm Willow, who are you?" She asked.
"I'm Luz." She said, giving an awkward little wave.
"She's on the basketball team too, she's hella quick." Boscha said, lightly bumping Luz with her shoulder.
"Thanks." Luz replied, smiling at the friendly gesture. "Are you on a sports team?"
"Oh nah, I'm here getting my botany degree." Willow explained, tapping on the cover of her textbook. "I only know Boscha because we went to the same school last year." Boscha hummed in agreement as they all began walking to the dorms.
"So Luz, meet your roommate yet?" Boscha asked as they navigated the hallways, only getting lost twice as they went.
"Nope, but her stuff was in there before I went to the court." Luz replied. "How about you?"
"I'm with Flowers here." Boscha said, slinging an arm over Willow's shoulder.
"Sadly, I was put in the same room as her." Willow added, shaking her head as she slid out of Boscha's reach. The trio laughed as they turned into the dorm hallway. Boscha and Willow waved as they walked down to room 309. Luz unlocked room 302 and went in, the lights already on.
"Oh hey!" Luz greeted as she walked in and set her bottle down. Someone, who Luz assumed was her roommate, was unpacking a box as Luz came in.
"Hey." She said, not sparing Luz a glance.
"Silent type? Okay." Luz said, walking past with a shrug. "Which bed did you want?"
"Left side." The girl responded.
"Fine with me." Luz said back, plopping onto the other bed. "So, I'm Luz, nice to meet you!"
The girl sighed and put down the box. She turned to Luz and brushed a strand of green hair away. "Amity." She said coldly, sticking out her hand. Luz hesitantly shook it as she looked at the girl. Her hair contrasted her piercing, golden eyes, a few strands hung down from her ponytail and swayed as she moved.
Luz grabbed her bottle and took a sip, her throat suddenly dry. Amity was staring daggers at Luz as she silently sat there, unsure of what to do. "Did you need something, or?" Luz asked.
"Nothing." Amity said back, turning to her box.
"So.." Luz said, standing up to start unpacking her own stuff. "What are you here for? Degree or sports?"
"I'm majoring in law, minoring in business." Amity answered blankly as she arranged stuff on her desk.
"I'm here on a scholarship, playing basketball." Luz stated as she pulled something out of the box.
"I didn't ask." Amity replied.
"Oh, well I thought we were sharing facts." Luz said back, rolling her eyes at the girl's attitude. Of course, Amity couldn't have cared less, she still wasn't paying attention to poor Luz.
"I have no interest in knowing about you."
"Whatever." Luz mumbled as she stood on her bed, hanging up something. She got down and backed up, admiring her work.
Amity finally turned around, wanting to know what Luz had done. "That's not straight." Amity said.
"No, it's a bi flag."
"I mean it's not leveled."
"Oh." Luz said, looking back up at it. It was, in fact, not hung up straight. "A straight bi flag would be ironic. I'll leave it." Luz shrugged.
Amity groaned. "I don't want to deal with you for a whole year." She muttered.
"I think I'm pretty great to hang out with." Luz said back, taking some framed pictures out of her box and placing them on her nightstand.
"You're certainly not.." Amity trailed off. "What was your name?"
"I just told you." Luz said, not sure if Amity was just messing with her, or genuinely forgot. "Luz Noceda. Want me to write it down for you?"
"No." Amity said, glaring over at Luz.
"Woah calm down.." Luz smirked. "What was your name again?"
"Amity Blight. I'd be surprised if you forget it." She said back, her confidence evident.
"And why's that?" Luz asked nonchalantly. Of course she knew why, and she honestly couldn't believe it. Blight Security was the largest home protection business in the world. What were the odds the owner's daughter would be here, in the same dorm as Luz?
Amity smirked. "You look like you know why."
"Yeah whatever, Blight-y." Luz teased, grinning at the girl. Amity spun around and walked over to Luz, getting right in her face. Luz realized how tall the girl was when standing face to face with her, probably around 5'11, maybe 6'0; not much taller, but a noticeable amount.
"Don't call me that." Amity said harshly. Her intimidation attempt seemed to have the opposite effect, as it only egged Luz on.
"Okay Blight-y, calm down. If you wanted a kiss you just had to say so." Luz said, leaning back. Amity stepped back after realizing how little the distance was between them, glaring angrily at Luz.
"Shut up, Noceda." Amity said back before walked out the door, shutting it with a slam.
"Bye Blight-y!" Luz called out, not getting a response. "Guess she didn't want that kiss." Luz laughed as she continued to unpack.
After a while, her boxes were emptied and Amity still hadn't returned. "I wonder what she's up to.." Luz shook her head, trying to remove the thoughts of Amity. Luz pulled out her phone and checked the time: 6:24pm.
"What's the food situation in this place?" Luz mumbled, standing up from her bed. She walked to what she assumed was a closet and opened the door, wanting to put her clothes away before leaving.
"Oh- this place is massive." Luz said as she peered into the closet. It was at least half as big as the room. Unsure of whether Amity wanted to choose which side she got first, Luz left her clothes folded in a box, and ventured out into the wilds.
A.K.A: The cafeteria.