30 Days

Chapter Five: September 1st

"30 Days"
Chapter Five: September 1st

The obnoxious beeping from Luz's alarm clock caused her to roll over and stop it before trying to go back to sleep. Minutes later, Amity was pestering Luz to get up, or risk being late.

"Fineee-" Luz groaned as she got out of bed, seeing Amity already dressed in uniform and ready to leave, it was again reiterated in Luz's mind how weirdly good she looked in it. Luz trudged to the closet and got dressed inside, putting her basketball uniform on.

When she came back out, Amity was gone, presumably on her way to classes. Luz picked up her bag and looked around for her water bottle, which wasn't where she left it. "Why is it on her desk?" Luz wondered as she grabbed it off Amity's table. Below it was a note, and Luz assumed Amity moved her bottle to make sure she saw it.

She could tell it was hastily written, a last minute decision, by the smushed numbers. "My number. If you annoy me, I'll block you." The note said. Luz smiled as she pocketed the paper, and headed out the door. In the back of her mind, she wondered if she could catch up with Amity, and maybe walk with her. But Luz knew of the Blight's reputation, and what that family had gone through to keep it. With a sigh, Luz turned towards the court and walked off.

"Good morning." Luz said to no one in particular she walked into the gymnasium, the familiar beaming lights and squeaking of shoes welcoming her.

"Hey! We've been waiting for you." Boscha said as Luz walked over.

"Huh? I'm not late." Luz said blankly, looking around the court at small groups of kids passing balls to each other.

"Coach wanted all team members in her weird little office at 7. Which is way to early for anyone." Boscha said as the pair began navigating through the groups of students scattered around.

"No one told me that." Luz said back, obviously annoyed by the new discovery.

"Apparently, it was on the back of the slip you were given." Boscha sighed, stopping by an unlabeled door.

"Really? I thought that was just the paper saying I made the team." Luz said, watching as Boscha knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

Boscha swung the door open, almost hitting someone in the process. "That room is way to small." She groaned, gesturing for Luz to step in closer. Like Boscha had said, the room was packed. With four people. Mrs. Clawthorne and three other kids were there, not including Luz and Boscha who stood in the doorway.

Luz assumed that the coach's office was a converted closet; a small desk and chair were crammed inside, taking up 80% of the room. Dimly lit by a single lightbulb on the ceiling, Luz could barely make out the theme of the office. Were those.. owls?

"Okay! Glad you're all here kids. You five made the main team, but that doesn't mean you can slack off. If I think you aren't going to be useful, I won't hesitate to replace you!"

A muttered wave of 'okay's and 'sure's came from the office, the five students trying to rush quickly through the coaches opening messages to get to the stuff they all wanted to know.

"I'm sure you all want to know.." Mrs. Clawthorne began, practically reading their minds. "A) When do you get your uniforms. B) What's the team name. And C) Who's team captain."

Luz was barely containing her excitement as she stood there listening, hoping she'd hear her own name. Sure, it wouldn't be the end of the world if she wasn't team captain, but it'd definitely be an amazing opportunity.