"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.
"First off, uniforms will be here sometime before your first game, which is next week, on Tuesday. As you could probably tell, the team colors are yellow and blue. We're.." The coach threw her arms out, accidentally smacking a girl beside her. "The Hexside Banshees!"
"That's pretty badass." Boscha said, smiling at the spectacle. Luz hummed in agreement, not taking her eyes off Mrs. Clawthorne.
"And, the leader of the Banshees is.."
Luz could already tell Mrs. Clawthorne really enjoyed making people wait. Or she really liked having dramatic effect. Either way, it worked. Luz stood there impatiently. She'd have been bouncing with anticipation if she wasn't crowded up against the doorframe beside-
"Boscha Linder!"
While Luz wasn't ecstatic about not being team captain, she was glad it was her friend. She looked over at Boscha, who was grinning and laughing.
"Now, you all get out and go practice or something. Nothing is mandatory, unless it's a game or a meeting. If you slack, I'll kick you off the team. We clear?"
Even though, they probably should've been listening to the important sounding threat from their coach, Boscha and Luz instantly went off.
"Hell yeah!" Boscha half-screamed, getting the attention of basically everyone.
"Congrats!" Luz said, smiling brightly as she bumped fists with Boscha.
"I bet it was close. Between us I mean, you're pretty good too." Boscha said genuinely, grabbing a stray ball and tossing it to Luz. "Wanna play?"
"Oh wait!"
Luz turned around to see the three girls from early walking over. "Hey!" Luz said, waving slightly at the three.
"We wanted to talk to you two. Since we have a game, I thought we should strategize." One of the girls said.
"I think we should actually know who we're playing with first." Boscha said.
"Oh. Yeah." The girl said, laughing awkwardly. "I'm Skara, master strategist!" She exclaimed.
"I'm Cat!" Said the girl to Skara's left, waving at the pair.
"Oh and I'm Amelia!" The last girl said, smiling.
"I'm Luz, nice to meet you!"
"I think you already know, but I'm Boscha."
"Back to the strategy, I was thinking.." Skara explained her idea, and had the five of them run through a few different plays and moves she'd come up with.
"You're really good at this." Boscha said, bumping shoulders with Skara.
"Thanks!" Skara replied, watching as Luz dribbled past Cat and shot the ball. "We all work well together too, so that helps a lot."
"Hey, come over here!" Boscha said, waving for the other three members to join them. "What's next?"
"Oh, actually I don't have anything else planned right now. We were able to run through everything quicker than I thought." Skara said, grabbing her phone and scrolling through what was probably an absurd amount of notes. "But if we can all meet tomorrow and practice, that'd be great."
"Yeah, that works." Boscha said. "8am tomorrow good with everyone?"
The five agreed on the time, and went their separate ways, Boscha and Luz instantly heading to the cafeteria.
"I have to get up at 6, and then not eat until 12? I'm a growing 19 year old, I need better than this." Boscha complained as they crossed the hallway.
"Agreed." Luz said back. Sure, they had the time to eat before practice, but eating right before playing wasn't a good idea in Luz's experience.
They quickly grabbed lunch, Boscha getting a plate of nachos and Luz getting a chicken sandwich. Luz was pretty sure Boscha had eaten half her lunch before they even got to the table, but was too hungry to comment on it. Once both had finished eating, which only took a few minutes, they just sat there quietly.
"This is weird." Boscha said, tapping on the table as she pulled out her phone. "Just me and you don't hang out outside of basketball, Flowers is normally here to keep the conversation going."
"Yeah, where is she?" Luz asked.
"I just asked, I guess she got held up by someone though. We have lunch at the same time normally." Boscha replied. "Hey, this weekend, do you want to hang out? I was gonna ask Flowers if she wanted to."
"Nah, I wouldn't want to ruin your date." Luz teased, getting an annoyed glare from Boscha. "I'm kidding, can I invite someone too?"
"Yeah sure, we were gonna just walk around town and see what there is to do." Boscha said back, looking at her phone again. "Oh yeah, I forgot she was helping move the stuff for the gardening club today."
"I didn't know we had one of those." Luz said, watching as Boscha stood up.
"Tell me about it. Ever since she found out we had one, she's practically lived there. I'm going to take her lunch, and go help move stuff. Give me your number real quick, and we'll figure out what we're all doing this weekend." Boscha said.
"Sounds like a plan." Luz replied, giving Boscha her number.
"Cool, see ya!" Boscha waved as she walked out, picking up a sandwich as she left. As Luz put her phone back into her pocket, a note fell out, and she was reminded of this morning.
"Oh yeah. I wonder if she's busy."
Luz put the number into her phone and smiled.
Luz: Hey Blight-y you did give me the right number, right?
A few minutes of no response passed, and Luz decided to leave the cafeteria and head back to her room. On the way, she passed Skara and Cat, who were hanging out near the gymnasium doors.
They both waved, and Luz walked over, asking for their numbers so the five of them could have a group chat. Luckily, Skara had Amelia's number, so Luz added them all to a group.
"Thanks! See you tomorrow morning!"
"Bye!"
Luz kept walking and turned the corner, heading to room 302. Someone was standing outside the door, knocking on it.
"Hey! Do you need something?" Luz asked the girl.
She wore the Hexside uniform, except it was orange where Amity's had been gray, so Luz didn't doubt she was supposed to be here. Her dark green hair was tied back in a braid, showcasing her golden earrings. "Oh sorry, do I have the wrong room?" She asked, stepping back.
"Depends on what you're looking for." Luz shrugged.
"I was looking for my sister, but I live over in 206, so I don't know who lives where here." She explained.
"Who's your sister?" Luz asked, trying to remember everyone she'd seen while walking around.
"Her name's Amity, she's got green hair, is kinda tall, and really seems to hate everyone." The girl said the last part quieter.
"Oh, I guess you do look like her. Than you do have the right dorm, but she's probably in class right now." Luz replied, grabbing the key out her pocket. "Luckily, I live here too. You can wait inside with me if you want."
"Thanks.. what was your name?"
"Luz."
"Emira, but Em is fine."
Luz unlocked the door and they went in, luckily, Luz remembered and hastily took down the agreement they had posted on the wall. She folded it and put it in her desk, where no one was going to see it.
"I don't know why I suggested that, but it was almost terrible."
"So, do you get along with Amity?" Emira asked as she walked in, glancing around the room.
"We've only been here for three days, so we aren't really friends. She said she can't stand me, so I guess we're just roommates." Luz said, pulling out a chair and sitting down.
Em copied her, pulling out Amity's chair and sitting at her desk. "She can't stand anyone, that includes me and Ed."
"So, why are you here? Personal thing?" Luz asked, grabbing her phone out of her pocket.
"I just came to talk. I passed Amity this morning in the hallway, and she seemed extra annoyed, like way more than normal." Em said, gesturing as she spoke.
Luz laughed, before asking. "I know you probably have her number, but do you want me to text her? Tell her you're here?"
"If she knew I was here, she'd never come back." Em said. "She also blocked me, apparently I was annoying her."
"She told me the same thing this morning." Luz replied. "But wouldn't it be kinda.. weird to just spring this on her? I'd feel bad, especially if something was actually off, you just being here might make it worse. Oh, sorry, that sounded bad..." She stopped, watching Emira's reaction.
"No, it's fine. That actually makes more sense. I'll go head back to my dorm, text me if something's bad. If not, then there's not really a problem!" Em decided, standing up.
"Okay, that works." Luz said. "Wait I don't have your number."
"Oh yeah, almost forgot that part. Want me to just tell you, or write it on your forehead?" Em asked, grabbed a pen.
"No pens involved." Luz said, taking a precautionary step backwards.
"Marker then!" Em declared, picking one up.
"Nope, just tell me it!" Luz said back, positioning both the chairs between them.
"Fineee... just like Mitten's you're no fun." Em said.
"Who's that?"
"Who's who? Mittens?"
"Yeah."
Emira cracked a smile, but instead of the bright one she previously wore, this one was mischievous. "That's what we've called Amity for as long as I can remember."
"That's an adorable nickname for someone so.." Luz began, trying to find the word.
"Mean? Annoying? Rude?" Em tried, but Luz shook her head.
"I was thinking more: Adorable? Or cute?"
"I'm not sure of the word. Anyways, give me your number, I'm sure Amity will be back anytime now." Luz said, changing the conversation.
"Okay." Em said back. She gave Luz her number before leaving the room, probably on her way to mess with someone. Luz checked the time before texting Amity. It was 2:30, and Luz suspected Amity would be out of class anytime now.
Luz: Hey, when do your classes end? I wanna talk to you.
Amity: I'm on my way back to the dorms. Did you miss me that much?
Luz: Yeah, it's weird not having your sarcastic quips around.
Luz heard the doorknob rattle minutes later, then the door opened. "Oh you were almost here anyways." Luz said, watching as Amity walked in.
"Yeah. What did you need?" Amity asked, looking at both the chairs pulled out. "Thanks?"
"Oh, I didn't pull it out for you, that's what I wanted to talk about." Luz began. "So, don't hate me or anything, but when I got here, Em was outside. She wanted to talk to you because apparently you looked extra annoyed this morning and seemed really angry I guess. Anyways, she came in and we were going to wait for you, but than I thought that if you were actually upset about something, you might just want to be left alone, so she gave me her number and left."
"That's a lot to take in." Amity said, sitting down in her chair. "Explain it slowly, why was my sister here?"
"She saw you this morning, and she said you looked really annoyed about something." Luz said, earning a confused look from Amity.
Amity sighed. "She's messing with you, we almost never see each other, and we certainly didn't this morning. She's in her third year for veterinary science and animal keeping. I'm in my first year for law and business, there's no reason for us to bump into each other." Amity explained, watching as it clicked for Luz.
"You mean she came up with an elaborate prank, just because..?" Luz replied.
"She just wanted to. I'm glad my brother doesn't go here too. Ed and Em have always been the type to prank everyone around them. At first, they just messed with each other, then they realized what was possible when they team up..." Amity sighed. Luz supposed as the youngest, she'd been the target of said pranks.
"Well, that could've gone better." Luz mumbled, causing Amity to smile.
"Yeah. Thanks though."
"Huh? What did I do?"
"For getting her out. She might just be one of the last people I'd want to talk to if I was upset about something. 90% of the time, she's the one who upset me." Amity said, standing up to move her chair back. She turned around and saw the blank space on the wall, where they'd hung the agreement. "Shit." Amity mumbled, turning to Luz.
"Don't worry about it, I came in before her and took it down." Luz grabbed the paper from her desk and held it up. "Not sure why we decided to hang a secret agreement on the wall, but I know she didn't see it."
"Thank the Titan." Amity said, sighing in relief.
"Don't worry, Blight-y. I had the situation under control." Luz assured her, and handed her the paper. "You pick where we should keep that."
"Put it back in your desk, I can't see you using it anytime soon." Amity said back with a smile.
"Yeah, sure." Luz replied, rolling her eyes. "One more thing, you want to hang out this weekend? Boscha asked me if I wanted to, Willow's coming too, and she said it's cool if I invite someone. So?"
"Who all are you going with?" Amity asked skeptically, reminding Luz of her own mother.
"I just told you, Boscha and Willow, the two sitting at the table when you came by yesterday." Luz explained.
"Who else is going?"
"I don't think anyone else."
"Where are you going?"
"Walking around town."
"What time?"
"Saturday, not sure exactly. Are you done with your interrogation? Do you want to go?" Luz asked, breaking the cycle.
"No, I'll pass." Amity said, sitting down at her desk and pulling out a thick book about law.
"Really? I wanted to hang out with you." Luz said back, leaning on the desk beside her. "Please?"
"No, I don't want to."
"Hey do you have plans tomorrow?" Luz asked.
"Tomorrow? Nothing besides school. Why?"
"It's settled then! We're going on a date! If you have something against that, take it up with the agreement you signed!" Luz declared, grinning widely.
"What?" Amity said, shooting Luz a glare.
"Oh c'mon Mittens.." Luz said, her smile growing as she spoke.
"Why do you..? Did Em tell you that? I'll toss you out this room if you call me that again." Amity said sternly, turning her attention back to the book.
"Okay then Blight-y, you never gave the all clear to my idea." Luz said back. After not getting a response, Luz wasn't sure if she was being ignored or if Amity was too focused to notice her talking. It was hard to tell with Amity. "Earth to Blight-y? You home?" Luz asked, putting her hand over the page she assumed Amity was reading.
"What is it now?" Amity asked, her tone inpatient.
"You didn't answer me when I asked. About the date, I mean. Tomorrow I have practice at 8 it'll probably run until lunch, but until 2 at the latest. After you get out of class, we can meet up for a date. Is that okay with you?" Luz asked.
Luz had explained it in a way that made it seem like a fact, like Amity would have to go. So, Amity was surprised when Luz asked for her input, normally her mother forced her to go on dates with the boys of promising wealth. She was taken aback by the question, and spoke defensively while she sorted her thoughts.
"Why do you want to go?" Amity asked quieter than intended.
"Cause I want to hangout with you, and how else would I make you fall for me? You don't have to go if you're busy though." Luz said, before adding. "Or if you don't want to go. I'm not going to make you."
"Hypothetically, where would we go?"
"We could go wherever, I haven't figured that part out yet. Maybe just walk around the park and talk? Stop by a café?" Luz suggested with a shrug.
Amity felt warmer, not like she was sick, but- Wait, was she? Probably not. "It's nothing." She told herself, pushing down the sudden feeling and allowing the coldness to return. "But it was nice."
"That sounds nice." Amity contemplated aloud after realizing she'd been silent. "Fine, I'll go with you. But-"
"But?" Luz asked, already knowing it would be something bad.
"If you'd let me finish, you'd know." Amity said, before continuing. "But, you can't tell anyone we're going on this hangout. Fair?" She emphasized the word 'hangout' making it clear this wasn't a date like Luz suggested.
"Seems fair to me." Luz said back, grinning widely. Even though it was only just past 3pm, Luz already knew she'd have trouble sleeping tonight.
Amity was slightly less excited. She had turned back to her desk, and was now trying to make heads or tails out of the situation. "What if someone sees us? What if Luz tells someone? What if someone doesn't believe that this isn't a date? Is it a date? No, this is totally platonic. I'm glad it is. Soon, this whole thing will blow over. She can't be committed to the full 30 days, right?"
Amity stole a glance at Luz, who was happily smiling as she looked at her phone screen. Luz looked up, meeting Amity's gaze. "I'm not telling anyone, don't worry. Just letting Boscha know I'm not inviting anyone this weekend." Luz assured, as if she knew exactly what Amity was worried about.
"Who am I kidding? Of course she's committed to a full 30 days."
A/N: So, I gave some people who didn't have last names, last names. I've never heard a set last name for anyone who didn't have one in the show, and I don't think there is. Well, that was cute. Em is here, Ed isn't yet. Next chapter will be Amity's pov, so you'll get to see what she does.
Word Count: 3647