30 Days

Chapter Eight: Rekindling

"30 Days"
Chapter Eight: Rekindling

Luz sat at her desk, grinning. Her room illuminated by the small lamp beside her. She turned the vanilla envelope over in her hands a few times, looking at the neatly printed number on it: "302"

As she gently opened the envelope and removed the paper, Luz was practically glowing. She nervously swallowed, unsure of how to feel. Of course she was happy, ecstatic really, but what if the entire letter was exactly like the rest of her interactions with Amity; cold, sad, and left her feeling like she'd gotten throw out a window.

Luz put the letter down and leaned back, not sure if she really wanted to read it.

"Well, she wrote back, so that's a plus?" Luz tried to reason, but it ended up a question instead of the hopeful statement she'd intended. "Okay, so what if she wrote something.. condescending or.. something telling me she'll never forgive me? I can't change what she wrote, I just have to accept it... right?"

Luz picked up the letter, repeating her previous thought as if it were a magic spell to change the words on the page. She unfolded the paper and looked at it, her eyes instantly racing to the top of the page.

"Dear Luz,
Thank you for your letter. I mean, thanks for checking on me. I appreciate it, really. I'm sorry for how I acted. I have no excuse. It's hard to bring myself to write back to you, if my mother found out, we'd both be in massive trouble. So, you probably shouldn't write back.

How did your game go? Oh. I just told you not to write back, then asked you a stupid question, didn't I? Just.. ignore that, please.

I'm not very good at writing informal letters, am I? Damn it, I asked another question. I really hate this. Not you, of course, I don't hate you. I actually miss you quite a bit, your obnoxiousness made it hard to concentrate or get anything done, but you always find a way to make others laugh. So, thank you for that.

About what happened, please forget about it, and if possible, me. It was a family matter, like you guessed, and I can't explain much more than that. It's a matter of nobility though, and who my family is, that much I can tell you. And who your family isn't.

Thank you for sending your letter,
Sincerely,
       Amity"

Luz put the letter down and took a deep breath, most of her worries already melted away. Amity had apologized in the letter, meaning she probably wasn't ignoring Luz out of her own free will. Of course, there was still the matter of Amity's mother that they had to worry about. Amity had said that it wouldn't end too well if she caught on.

"I don't expect to get caught. I designed this weird little system well! Ah wait, don't tempt the fates Luz! You know better!"

She took out a piece of paper and a pen, already starting on her next letter. Working late into the night, Luz finished writing it, and packaged it neatly in another purple envelope. After printing the number "310" onto the side, Luz stood up from her desk.

"I'll give it to Boscha tomorrow."

She decided with a yawn, before laying down in her bed.

Amity sat at her desk, books sprawled around her like they'd been tossed from the sky, working diligently. At least, she hoped she was. She couldn't help but turn expectingly towards the door every time she heard approaching footsteps. Since when had so many people used these hallways?