Work Text:
“Luz.”
Luz froze.
She slowly turned around.
Vee stood in the doorway, arms crossed.
“What?”
“Did you put googly eyes on all my books?”
Luz’s lips twitched.
“No.”
Vee narrowed her eyes.
“Luz.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You put googly eyes on my books.”
“I would never.”
Vee pointed toward the bookshelf.
Every single book had two enormous googly eyes stuck to the cover.
Luz stared at them.
“Huh.”
“Huh?”
“That’s crazy.”
“Luz.”
“Maybe the books did it themselves.”
Vee’s eyes narrowed further.
“Okay.”
Luz smiled innocently.
“Okay?”
“Okay.”
Vee walked away.
Luz watched her go.
She waited.
Five seconds.
Ten.
Then—
“YES!”
Luz pumped her fist into the air.
“Victory!”
From the hallway came Vee’s voice.
“Round one.”
Luz’s smile disappeared.
“…What?”
She heard a giggle.
Then silence.
Luz frowned.
“Vee?”
No answer.
“Veeee?”
Still nothing.
Luz cautiously stepped into the hallway.
She immediately noticed something.
There was a sticky note on the wall.
YOU’RE NEXT.
Luz gasped.
“Oh, you’re going down.”
⸻
By lunchtime, the prank war had officially begun.
Luz opened the fridge.
A pair of plastic vampire fangs sat on top of her juice.
She stared at them.
“Really?”
From behind her came a snicker.
Luz spun around.
Nobody.
She narrowed her eyes.
“Vee.”
Silence.
“I’m going to find you.”
A voice whispered from behind her.
“Are you sure?”
Luz screamed.
She spun around again.
Vee was standing directly behind her.
Luz clutched her chest.
“VEE!”
Vee burst out laughing.
“You should’ve seen your face!”
“You shapeshifted!”
“Technically, I used my abilities creatively.”
“That is cheating!”
“There are no rules!”
Luz pointed accusingly at her.
“Fine.”
She grabbed a marker.
Vee’s smile faded.
“What are you doing?”
Luz grinned.
“Making rules.”
⸻
RULE ONE: No shapeshifting into the other person.
RULE TWO: No permanent damage.
RULE THREE: No involving King.
King, who had been eating snacks nearby, looked offended.
“Why not?”
“Because you’re too dangerous,” Luz said.
“I am perfectly reasonable.”
“You tried to overthrow a civilization yesterday.”
“That was unrelated.”
Vee giggled.
“Fine.”
She signed the paper.
Luz signed underneath.
They shook hands.
And immediately broke Rule One.
⸻
Luz woke up the next morning to her own voice screaming:
“WAKE UP, LUZ!”
She bolted upright.
“What?!”
Her bedroom door swung open.
“Luz! You’re going to be late!”
It was—
Luz.
Luz stared at herself.
Her double grinned.
“Morning!”
“VEE!”
Vee burst into laughter.
“You should see your face!”
“You literally shapeshifted into me!”
“You did it first!”
“I did not!”
“You absolutely did!”
Luz grabbed a pillow.
Vee squeaked and ran.
“GET BACK HERE!”
“RULES ARE A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT!”
“YOU SIGNED THE PAPER!”
“AND I REGRET NOTHING!”
They tore down the hallway.
Eda poked her head out of her room.
“What are you two doing?”
“PRANK WAR!”
Eda nodded.
“Carry on.”
⸻
By day three, the house was a disaster.
Luz replaced Vee’s toothbrush with one that had tiny plastic vampire teeth glued to it.
Vee retaliated by filling Luz’s room with balloons.
Luz hid fake spiders inside Vee’s shoes.
Vee replaced every picture of Luz in the house with pictures of Luz wearing increasingly ridiculous hats.
Luz retaliated by putting a tiny paper crown on every apple in the kitchen.
Nobody knew why.
Least of all Luz.
“It felt right,” she explained.
Amity walked into the kitchen, stared at the apples, and slowly walked back out.
⸻
Eventually, Luz decided it was time for the ultimate prank.
She waited until Vee was asleep.
Then she quietly crept into the room.
She placed a small box beside Vee’s bed.
Inside was a note.
OPEN ME.
Vee woke up the next morning.
She stared at the box.
She stared at Luz, who was standing in the doorway.
“What is this?”
“Open it.”
Vee cautiously opened the box.
Inside was—
A mirror.
Vee blinked.
Then she looked at Luz.
“What?”
Luz grinned.
“That’s your face when you realize you’ve lost.”
Vee stared at the mirror.
Then slowly smiled.
“Oh.”
Luz’s grin faltered.
“What?”
“You think you’ve won?”
“…Yes?”
Vee reached beneath her pillow.
She pulled out another box.
Luz’s eyes widened.
“No.”
Vee smiled.
“Oh, yes.”
Luz opened the box.
Inside was a photograph.
It was Luz.
Sleeping.
With approximately twenty-seven stuffed animals arranged around her head like a ceremonial circle.
Luz’s jaw dropped.
“WHEN DID YOU—”
Vee collapsed into laughter.
“You sleep like that!”
“YOU TOOK A PICTURE?!”
“Evidence!”
“That is SO unfair!”
“You never said photography was against the rules!”
Luz stared at her.
Vee stared back.
Then they both started laughing.
⸻
Later that evening, Amity found them asleep on the couch.
Luz had fallen asleep with her head against Vee’s shoulder.
Vee had fallen asleep leaning against Luz.
There were still googly eyes on several books.
A balloon was stuck to the ceiling.
A plastic spider sat on the coffee table.
And taped to the wall was their official scoreboard.
LUZ: 14
VEE: 14
Amity smiled.
She reached for a marker.
She added another line underneath.
AMITY: 1
Then she drew a tiny mustache on Luz’s face.
She walked away.
Neither girl noticed.
Not yet.