Chapter Text
It was a frantic morning at Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. Grom decorations were being set up in the hallways, people were passionately chatting. Gus, Luz and Hunter were awaiting the announcements, standing by their lockers. Gus was fiddling with a bizarre, colourful human artifact he called a “Rubik’s cube”, which Hunter observed in great detail.
“Whoa!” he exclaimed, upon seeing Gus solve the cube. “How did you do that?”
“It took me many months to learn all the strategies,” Gus humbly replied. “Do you wanna give it a shot?”
Hunter accepted and attempted to solve the cube himself. To his frustration, he wasn’t able to get anywhere with it – the colours remained scrambled, with at most 5 of one colour on a face. Besides this, he enjoyed playing with the cube: it eased his restless fingers.
“Do you want me to solve it for you?” Gus offered, seeing him struggle.
“No, no, I’ve got it,” Hunter insisted, fixated on the cube.
Not far from them, Luz was lost in thought, fidgeting with her hands. It felt like the previous Grom was only yesterday, and yet her relationship with Amity had changed so drastically since then. She wondered how she could’ve ever been so oblivious: Amity had clearly wanted to ask her out, afraid of Luz’s rejection. Their conversation in the hallway just before the dance still resonated in Luz’s head: Amity had been amazed at her courage to take on the responsibility of Grom Queen, even if it was reckless.
She wondered who would be announced Grom royalty this year, and if she’d be able to take on the monster again if she had to. What would it manifest as, now that Luz and her mother were on good terms again?
“Hola Batata,” her train of thought was interrupted. Amity had just arrived and took Luz’s hand. “Are you excited for tonight?”
Luz smiled. “Hey, Sweet Potato! Yeah, I can’t wait to get overdressed, take awkward photos and become slightly traumatized. Do you think I could pull off that otter costume? Oh, gosh, sorry – I forgot to ask how you’re doing! How do you feel about tonight?”
Amity chuckled and kissed her girlfriend on the cheek. “No te preocupes, batata,” she said sweetly. “I can’t wait to dance with you, and now that we’ve both been through that duel, I don’t think there’s anything more to fear. And you know I don’t care what you’re wearing, silly. I love every part of you, otter with a dark side.”
A little further away, they heard Hunter’s frustration noises as he continued to fiddle with the Rubik’s cube. “You sure you don’t need help with that?” Luz suggested. “I used to be obsessed with these, I could teach you some tricks if you’d like – “
“I’ve got it,” Hunter grumbled.
A few minutes later, Willow arrived. She smiled, Clover sitting on her shoulder. Seeing her, Hunter looked up from the Rubik’s cube and waved to her with a wide grin. She was his favourite person, his first genuine friend, and to be honest, he felt that she was way too good for him. He was nervously excited for Grom, having heard all about it from his friends (mainly Luz). He wanted to ask Willow to be his date, but he needed to needed to find the right moment.
“Attention, students,” Principal Bump’s voice resonated through the loudspeaker as he prepared to announce the Grom royalty. The students’ passionate chattering faded, and Bump continued: “It is my duty to bestow our highest Grom honour to this year’s champion:”
A moment of tense silence followed, before he continued:
“… Hunter Deamonne!”