Rectification

Chapter 8

Moonlight conjuring tonight! No humans (or FRIENDS of humans) allowed! Xoxo

Luz frowned, peering over Amity's shoulder at the photo of Boscha, Skara, and Cat's smug grins and the caption displayed on Amity's scroll screen. "Wow," Luz said. "What losers. I'm sorry, Amity."

Amity shrugged and pocketed the scroll. Looking at Boscha's post wasn't going to make her feel any differently about the treatment she'd endured from Boscha's posse since the duel yesterday afternoon, so why let it distract her now? "It's fine."

"Not really!" Luz protested. "They were your friends, and they just up and ditched you as soon as they learned that Lilith isn't teaching you anymore. And now they're being extra mean to you, on social media of all places."

"If you think that's bad, you should have heard what my parents said to me when I got home last night."

Luz's eyes were round with sadness. "I feel like this is all my fault. If we hadn't stood together during the duel..." She buried her face in her hands, muffling her voice. "Talking about it probably isn't helping you, is it?"

I did it for you. It's okay. You're more than worth it. Amity's throat felt tight, and she couldn't bring herself to say the words out loud, so instead she allowed her hand to creep up to Luz's shoulders and rest on the small of Luz's back. Luz spared her a grateful glance and leaned into the touch.

"Maybe it's true that Boscha would still want to be my friend if we'd actually dueled," Amity murmured. "But I also know that if I had brought myself to fight you I never would have forgiven myself."

"You didn't actually have to hurt me, you know."

"I might have, with that glyph on my neck. Who knows what I would have done with that kind of strength?" Of course, she knew, though she didn't want to admit as much to Luz. She could recall their first duel as though it had been yesterday rather than three and a half months ago. With that construction glyph stuck to her, her rational thoughts had become fuzzy, and her focus had narrowed so that she could only think of one thing: her need to show the annoying and destructive human what for.

Looking at Luz now, peacefully sitting on the couch cushion beside her, it made her heart hurt to think that she'd ever been like that.

I've made too many mistakes.

"Hey!" Amity jerked her head up. Willow and Gus were couched in the corner of the room over a strange-looking human doll, and Willow was waving.

"Be sappy another time!" Willow called. "Come help Gus and I decide what we should animate tonight! He wants to use this weird buff doll, but I was thinking of maybe something prettier, like... a plant."

"Oh, cool!" Luz wasted no time in flinging herself off the couch and seating herself next to her two friends. She chatted animatedly with Willow for a moment, with Gus breaking in occasionally to argue, and Amity found herself zoning out. Her attention was trained on Luz, and the other noises of the house faded into the background. From afar, it was all too easy to notice the little things about her crush, like the way Luz's chocolate eyes shone when she was excited or the way she got dimples when she smiled or the way she tucked stray strands of hair behind her adorable round ears...

Amity was overcome with such a wave of affection for Luz that for a moment she feared she might collapse. Here she sat, only a few feet away from a girl who was adorable and kind and beautiful and cared for her friends more than anything else and had such an endearing way of looking at the world and sharing her passions that Amity could sit and listen to her talk for hours. And Amity was this girl's friend. They cared for each other. Even now, Amity struggled to wrap her head around it.