"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?
Besides, she told Luz not to write back at least four times, so she shouldn't expect anything back, right? Well, Luz would probably write back anyways.
Amity stole a final glance at the gap under the door before turning back to her worksheet. She neatly wrote her name and the date at the top; September 12th.
She heard someone pass by the door, a quick pause in their steps before they walked away. Amity practically jumped out of her chair as she turned her head to the door. Who knew waiting for a letter that wasn't supposed to be coming was so fun?
A small, purple envelope was tucked in below the door, a hastily written number scrawled across the top. A smile formed along Amity's face as she grabbed the letter and sat back down at her desk. With an ungraceful tear, a letter spilled out of the envelope and cascaded to the table.
"Hey Blight-y!
I'm deciding to write back cause I designed this system geniusly! (is that a word?) Anyways, we aren't technically talking we're writing! There's a difference!
Anyways, my game went good, didn't you see it? Actually, I could've sworn you were there.. maybe I'm seein things! Wait.. that's probably not good for my career. Or my life I guess."
Amity giggled quietly as she imagined Luz writing this at her desk, smiling brightly as she did.
"Anyways, do I say anyways too much? Doesn't matter. Anywa- damn it. Okay, so, I liked your letter! You said it was bad, but I thought it was really sweet! We should keep writing back and forth! I'm not sure what we could talk about though. Gosh, I feel like a little kid again, getting all happy over letters.
Oh! What did you like doing when you were a kid? I spent a lot of time reading 'The Good Witch Azura' and watching the tv show 'The Great Witch Azura'. They're different.
You ask a question in your letter back too, and we can make it a game!!
Love, uh wait-
From, Luz"
Amity laughed again, she found herself doing that a lot when she talked to Luz. Or I guess, wrote to Luz. Maybe it was the way she spoke, (wrote?) and how unapologetic her mistakes were. Luz didn't even bother erasing the last error, she just owned it, and Amity thought that was cool. Maybe cool wasn't the word. Luz was just herself no matter what.. inspiring? Maybe that was the word she was looking for.
Amity grabbed a piece of paper from her desk and began writing. Her answer to Luz's question was:
"Going to the library and reading. I started volunteering once I was 15, and helped out too. I used to read the Azura books when I was little. I didn't know there was a show."
Amity thought for a moment, trying to come up with the best question possible. After far too long, she decided to ask:
"Do you have or have you ever wanted a pet? I never had one as a child, but I've always wanted a cat. They seem so soft and cuddly!"
She folded her letter and tucked it into a new envelope, writing the address on the top. Was it considered an address if it was only a few doors down? It didn't matter. Amity stepped out of her room and walked to Boscha's. That was what Luz called her, right?
Amity slid the letter under the door and almost instantly heard ruffling.
"For Titan's sake! How many of these letters are you guys gonna send?" The girl called from inside the room.
"Does that mean you'll take it or not?" Amity asked, standing back up. The door opened, and Boscha stood there, her pink hair up in a messy bun.
"I'm not Amazon and I don't do same day shipping." Boscha grumbled. "You'll have to wait until the next available time slot."
"Is there an early shipping fee?" Amity asked, leaning against the wall beside the door.
"It'll be payment enough when I don't have to pass your love letters back and forth." Boscha laughed, as she grabbed the letter off the ground.
"They're not love letters!" Amity exclaimed, almost startling herself with how automatic the response was.
"Okay, okay. Whatever. I'll give your love letter to her, don't get mad." Boscha smirked, before retreating back into her room.
"I said-" Amity began, but Boscha had already closed the door, leaving Amity in the hallway alone. "Whatever." She groaned before starting back to her room.
Luz tore open the new envelope, practically jumping with joy as she flipped the paper over so she could read it.
"Amity used to read Azura too? That's so cool!" Luz said excitedly, a bit louder than intended. "We could watch the show together!" She scanned the rest of the page, eventually arriving at Amity's question. Luz grabbed a blank sheet from the small stack on her desk and began writing. While their letters mainly consisted of a question and an answer to the other's question, not much of a greeting or a goodbye, it was fun nonetheless. Maybe it was more accurate to call them notes, rather than letters anymore.
"We could watch The Great Witch Azura together if you want to! Anyways, I never had a pet growing up, but my aunt has two owls and a ferocious little puppy! I think most animals are cute, so I kinda want them all. Cats seem cuddly though, but one tried to kill me. Maybe. Okay, it was just a scratch but I swear it wanted to end me.
Okay.. for my question, drum roll please...
What's your favorite color?
Okay that's a terrible one, but I can't think of any others. Hopefully you've got a better one!"
Luz folded the note and placed it in the envelope before writing Amity's room number on the top and sealing it shut. She took it outside and slid it under Boscha's door, making sure to shout a quick thanks before running off.
Boscha walked slowly down the hallway, sighing to herself as she flipped the envelope over in her hands. She had grabbed it before going to basketball practice that morning and was on her way to deliver it to Amity.
"They don't pay me enough for this." She mumbled as she crouched beside Amity's door, sliding the note underneath.
"Thanks!" Was all she heard as the note was quickly picked up.
"Holy shit, she knows my schedule." Boscha laughed quietly as she turned around and walked away, picking up the pace as she realized she might be late for her date.
The days passed without incident as Luz and Amity happily exchanged notes. They talked about arbitrary things, like old childhood friends they hadn't seen in years, or favorite restaurants. Small things like now Amity wanted to dye her hair or how she volunteers at the library with Ms. Clawthorne. Or how Luz likes anime, and has an important basketball ball game on the 21st and wants Amity to watch.
Their friendship, if you could call the barely stable system of exchange that, was rocky to say the least. It had started from hatred, turning to tolerance than back to ice-cold ignorance. Slowly though, it was warming up, and the once ravine sized hole between them was starting to look more like a pothole. Soon, they'd fully bridge the distance between them, becoming closer without issue.
Or at least, it would've been like that if Amity wasn't having a serious issue.
A/N: This one is a bit shorter, since I want the next chapter to start focused solely on Amity, I ended it early. Anyways, I've realized I say anyways a lot, so that's weird. I wanted to get this one out fast (and I'm being incredibly lazy right now) so I didn't proofread this like I normally do. Just let me know if I messed up bad, please! Thanks!
About my month long absence;I was taking a few days off around Christmas, but the internet went out for almost a month. It was wacky dude. But I'm back! That's pretty good, I think. Updates should be kinda normal again, but I've never had a schedule so we'll see about that.
Thanks for reading! Have a good one!
Word Count: 2002