Chapter Text
WHUMP!
Willow practically jumped two feet off of her chair at the sudden sound. Turning to her left, she saw that it was Luz, who had just slammed her books and papers down unto the desk next to hers and was practically fuming as she slumped down into her seat. Luz, looking mad, didn't surprise Willow in the slightest because she always assumed it had something to do with a teacher or Amity. What was surprising, however, was Luz's attire.
"How come you're not wearing your jacket today?" Willow asked innocently, causing Luz's sneer to become more intense.
"Good question..." she growled. Willow was confused for a bit, but then she remembered something.
"Weren't you wearing your jacket earlier today?"
"Sure was!" Luz exclaimed, "But get this: After gym class, I took a shower--because I'm not an animal--and just left my jacket on a bench. When I was done, I went to change back, but guess what? Someone stole it!"
"They stole your jacket?"
"Yes! And here's the weird part: They only took the jacket. Not the stuff inside it like my phone, wallet, or god forbid, my switchblade. They left that stuff right on the bench for some reason, and instead, took a dirty old thing that I bought a year ago from a thrift store downtown."
"You could always buy a new one," Willow suggested with a shrug, but that only made Luz angrier.
"I shouldn't have to buy a new one!" she shouted, tuning down to whisper once the bell finally screamed and class had begun, "Besides, I love that jacket. It had personality and...I don't know. It felt safe."
"Maybe it'll turn up at some point today. Who knows, maybe the person might actually be wearing it."
"Please," Luz rolled her eyes, "Who'd be dumb enough to go around wearing the exact thing they stole."
***
But it turns out someone was dumb enough to wear it. Or, more specifically, cocky enough.
Because once school was over and Luz had stepped into the parking lot, a flash of bright green caught her eyes. Usually, Luz wouldn't give that green the light of the day unless it was necessary. But it was the different shade of green that caught her attention.
And as Luz turned to get a better look, that's when she saw it:
Amity Blight.
Wearing Luz's jacket, strutting along like she owns the place.
"You little--AY!" Luz shouted across the way, "GRINGA!"
At the familiar word, Amity stopped a foot away from her car and looked over a shoulder. Luz immediately wanted to punch the smirk off her face.
"Hey, Noceda!" Amity called back, turning around completely, "What's the matter?"
"What's the matter?!" Luz began to stomp over, "You stole my jacket!"
Amity pretended to be surprised, looking down at the article of clothing she wore that clearly wasn't hers.
"You mean this? Hm. I didn't even notice I was wearing it."
"I don't have time for your bullshit right now, Blight!" Luz outstretched her hand, "Give me back my jacket before I punch your teeth in! Now."
"Hm...No, I don't think I will. Bye!" Amity turned on her heel and briskly walked over to her car.
"Oh no, you don't!" Luz sprinted over to Amity's car, to which her rival had already gotten in, and locked the doors. Just as Amity started the engine, Luz was already there, beating her hand against the window.
"If you think I'm too afraid to break a car window, you've got another thing--"
HOOONK!
"...You've got another--"
HOOOOOONK!
"You've got--"
Amity raised her hand above the car horn again with her eyebrow raised and her grin amused. She was essentially challenging Luz to finish that sentence.
"..."
"..."
"...You'vegotanotherthingcoming--"
HOOOOOOOOOONK!
"THAT TEARS IT!"
Luz turned around so she could grab a rock. Because she wasn't dumb enough to just use her elbow as people did in the movies. But she was stupid enough to give Amity what she wants as she put the car in reverse and peeled out of the parking lot. Flipping Luz off the entire way. Luz, in response, started sprinting after the car, not caring about the fact that she couldn't possibly catch up to it even if she wanted to.
"IF I DON'T GET MY JACKET TOMORROW, YOU ARE GOOD AS DEAD, BLIGHT!" she screeched at Amity's bumper as it went further and further into the distance.
***
Amity tossed her car keys onto her bedroom desk, shutting the door behind her. While whistling a casual tune, Amity slipped off Luz's jacket and walked over to her closet. Opening it up, she flipped through several different shirts and dresses until finally finding an empty hanger. Amity then took the hanger off and was about ready to put her prize on it, but stopped.
Instead, she just stared at the jacket, her prize, her reward for screwing with the human. And she wanted to do...something to it.
'Should I?' One voice asked.
'No, you shouldn't," the other countered.
'It wouldn't be that bad.'
'It's quite possibly the creepiest thing you could do.'
'But what if I make it quick?'
'...'
'...'
'...Fine. But just a whiff.'
Amity set the hanger back where she found it and slowly lifted Luz's jacket up to her face. For a while, she did nothing, choosing instead to just stare at it. And then, she briefly took a small sniff.
'Well, that was a mistake,' was all she could think as intoxicating smells of pinecones and lemons started overtaking her senses. Almost immediately, Amity grabbed the jacket with both hands and shoved her face into it, inhaling more of the scent. After letting out a euphoric sigh, Amity looked at it again, shrugged, and put it back on.
In a dreamlike state, Amity walked over to her desk, sat down, and pulled her diary out of a secret compartment hidden inside the top drawer. Because when you have two nosey twin siblings, it pays to be extra secure.
Flipping to the first blank page she saw, Amity began to write.
11/17
Today I stole Noceda's jacket, mostly because I thought it would be funny. Which it was. The look on her face was equally priceless as it was adorable. She was all red and pouty, and I wish I had the chance to take a picture of it. I was already half-tempted to keep her jacket just to piss her off. But after realizing how good it smells, I don't think I'm ever giving it back.
Amity took a break to quickly sniff the inside of the jacket's sleeve. She let out a lovestruck little giggle afterward, only to then look solemn as she continued writing.
At the same time, I also just want to tear out a piece of paper from this book and write a note that explains everything. To put it all out there and move on. I could probably even stuff it in Noceda's jacket's pocket so she can find it later. Give me some extra time for the rejection. Because, of course, she would reject me.
'Hi, Luz! Sorry I've been a rotten bitch to you ever since you came to Hexide. I just did it because I have a crush on you and decided to push you away because I'm scared of getting my heart broken again. Please go out with me.'
"Yeah, right..." Amity grumbled to herself.
The #1 rule of being a lesbian is to never fall for a straight girl, and I blew it. HARD.
But she's so cute! And funny. And, while she doesn't show it often, Luz can be just the sweetest person on the planet. Maybe in a different life, things would work out. But as is, I'm going to have to be satisfied with what I got. And what I got is a filthy jacket that somehow smells wonderful at the same time.
Amity set her pencil down on her desk and leaned back into her chair. Taking the jacket off again, Amity set it in her lap and stared at it, her face switching from smiling to frowning with each passing second. Eventually, she thought about getting back up and putting the thing back in her closet. But before she could even move, a few colors by the collar caught her attention.
Curiously, Amity opened the jacket up even more, and what she saw left her frozen in her seat.
Because sewn right into the collar was the bisexual flag colors. This caused several thoughts to bounce around in Amity's head.
‘Luz has a bi flag sewn in her jacket.’
‘Luz sewed a bi flag in her jacket.’
‘Luz is bisexual.’
‘LUZ IS BISEXUAL!’
‘I HAVE A CHANCE!’
Amity was filled with excitement at that last thought, but it only lasted for a second. Because another revelation made her pissed off at herself.
“I had a chance this entire time, and I acted like a bitch to my crush for no reason,” she said to herself, muffling her scream by pressing Luz’s jacket into her face, “I am a fucking idiot!”
The Next Day
"Hey, Blight!"
Amity stopped in her tracks as she walked down the hall of Hexide. Turning around, she saw Luz at the other end, pointing a bat with nails at Amity.
"...How did you sneak that into school?" she asked, feeling both curious and a tad bit impressed.
"Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to!" Luz responded, stomping over to Amity. "Now, give me back my jacket before I use Jorge here to beat some Blight a--"
"Alright, fine!" Amity said with faux annoyance. Sometimes, she feels as though she could be an actor with how good she was at hiding her emotions. She then pulled Luz's jacket out of her backpack and held it out for the human to simply stare at with confusion.
"...Gonna be honest, I'm a little disappointed," Luz nonchalantly tossed 'Jorge' over her shoulder and snatched the jacket out of Amity's hand. Amity felt her heart skip a beat or two just by seeing Luz hold the article of clothing.
'No going back now,' she thought.
"Aw, mi pobre bebé," Luz cooed as she held her jacket to her face, "Did the mean lady hurt you? She probably did, didn't she?"
"It's just a jacket. I have like ten more in my closet that are better than that one just collecting dust."
"I don't know if you know this," Luz glared as she slipped her jacket on, "But some of us aren't rich white girls who can have mommy and daddy buy us something nice and pretty when we lose something. And if you even think about doing this again, I will make you regret it!"
"Looking forward to it," Amity turned on her heel and went back to walking to her next class, "Later, Noceda!"
But while Amity seemed like she didn't care about anything, she was in actuality freaking out.
'Please, please, please read the note!' she internally begged as she walked.
***
At the end of the school day, Amity nervously drummed her fingers onto the steering wheel of her car, watching other students walking through the parking lot. Some were walking to vehicles of their own while others began their long trek home. And yet, Amity still waited for Luz to show up.
Checking the time, Amity saw that it was currently 3:25, meaning that school had ended for a while now. But she expected this. Knowing Luz, she would either be late just to piss Amity off or because she was getting chewed out by Bump. Most likely because of 'Jorge.' But once it became 3:30, Amity decided that maybe Luz wasn't coming after all and let out a sigh as she started the engine.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Startled by the sound, Amity looked to her window to see Luz leaning a hand on the car, her expression unamused. She then reached in her pocket, pulled out the note Amity shoved in last night, and put it up against the window.
'Meet me at my car after school,' it read, 'I want to talk.'
'It's not a love letter, but it got results,' Amity thought as she unlocked the passenger door. Luz took her time walking over to the opposite side, showing how disinterested she is in talking, and got into the car. After shutting the door behind her, Luz then instantly put both her feet onto the dashboard.
"Care to explain why you're forcing me to be in a confined space with you?" she asked.
"I'm not saying a word until you get your feet off my dash," Amity ordered. This time she was actually annoyed with the human.
"Vete a la mierda. You stole my jacket."
Amity kept quiet as she glared at Luz, at least expecting that she would show some cordial decency. Coming to the conclusion of that being a pipe-dream, Amity let out a sigh as she looked ahead out of the windshield.
"I wanted to say..." Amity clenched hard onto the steering wheel, keeping her eyes forward before proceeding, "I wanted to say that I'm sorry."
What followed was silence. A silence that was so quiet that Amity was sure that Luz wasn't even in the car anymore.
"...You're what?" at the sound of the human's voice, Amity glanced over to see Luz staring at her with an expression of bewilderment.
"I said that I'm sorry." Amity continued, "Not just for the jacket, but for everything. The insults, the name-calling, and especially the fighting. I'm sorry for all of it."
"...Are you dying?"
"Wha--No!" now Amity turned to face Luz, "Why is that the first thing that came to your mind?"
"I don't know, man," Luz shrugged, "This just seems like some sort of final repentance type of shit. Like when Tom needed Jerry to sign him off to take the escalator to heaven."
"Who the hell is Tom and Jerry?"
"The greatest comic duo of all time, that's who!" Luz genuinely seemed insulted that Amity didn't know, to which she rolled her eyes in response.
"I'm not dying. I'm actually being genuine."
"Oh...Well, damn. I, uh...I actually don't know what to say now."
"You don't have to say anything," Amity sighed, going back to looking ahead out the windshield. The silence that followed was awkward this time.
"...Can I ask you something?"
Amity shrugged.
"Why the sudden need to apologize?" Luz asked, "What was it that made you go from hating me to being all: 'I'm so sowwy.'"
"I never hated you..."
"Pfft! Could've fooled me!" Luz countered, "You know what, I don't care. Be all cryptic you want, 'cause I'm out of here."
Luz opened the door and was about to leave. But then:
"I saw the bi flag."
After Amity spoke, Luz froze in her place. One foot was out the door, and her face was already turned away from Amity's, so she couldn't gauge an expression. So Amity took her chance to go on.
"It's hidden in a spot a person could barely notice, so there's no way that it came with the flag already sewn it," she explained, "Even if you bought the jacket from someone else, you could have easily torn it out. I've seen you done worse. But you kept it in, which makes me think that maybe...That maybe you're bisexual."
Luz didn't say anything.
She didn't do anything.
Instead, she stayed frozen in place, and Amity still couldn't tell what was going on in the human's mind at the moment. Not that she ever could. Eventually, Luz slowly and stiffly sat back in the passenger seat and slammed the car door shut. Her eyes were tight shut, and breathing was ragged, and Amity thought Luz was seething. But then Amity recognized what Luz was doing. She had done the same thing many times when forced to talk with her mother.
Luz was forcing herself not to cry.
After taking one last calming breath, she finally spoke in a tone so quiet that Amity barely heard her.
"Who did you tell?"
"...What?"
"Who. The fuck. Did you tell?" Amity would have had been an idiot to not notice the venom in Luz's voice.
"I...I didn't tell anybody."
"BULLSHIT!" Luz snapped, whipping her head to glare at Amity.
"It's not bullshit!" Amity raised her hands while defending herself, "I'm being honest. Really."
Luz studied the witch's face. Seeing if there really was any dishonesty in her actions. Feeling somewhat satisfied, Luz looked out the passenger window. Not even wanting to glance at Amity.
"...Did you not tell anybody?" was all Amity could ask.
"...I told Willow," Luz confessed, "She has gay dads, so I thought: 'Hey, she gets it.' Other than that, nobody else knows. Except for you."
"Not even your mom?"
"Especially not her! She's super religious! If I came out to her, then I might as well pack a suitcase and get ready to live on the streets!"
"Why?"
"Because humans are not like witches," Luz looked back at Amity, clapping her hands for emphasis, "For humans, what matters in life is the color of your skin, the people you like, and the gender you're given at birth. Go against any of that, and you're screwed!"
"That's awful."
"That's life!" Luz stated, her eyes glistening, "And I had to put up with that bullshit for all of it! I had to deal with dumb gringas in the locker room who might think that I was a pervert just because I liked girls. I had to deal with pretending to be interested in one gender and hide a part of myself that people think I should be ashamed of! I had to deal with the fear that the one person I trust the most might throw me to the curb because of something that shouldn't even matter!"
Luz paused to wipe tears that had leaked out from her eyes.
"I had to deal with all of that," she went on, "Because that's just what humans are like. I wish we were like witches. I really do. But we're not, and the sad part is, we might never will."
Amity sat stunned, with her jaw slack and her eyes wide. She was so shocked that it took her a second too long to notice that Luz got out of the car. Shaking off her shock, Amity then got out of the car and started sprinting after Luz, who had already walked a decent way away.
"Luz, wait!" Amity called.
"You know, I think I finally get why you apologized to me," Luz claimed as she turned to face Amity, to which the girl in question felt as though her heart came to a stop as well.
"You...You do?"
"Yup! You see, you wanted me to think that I could trust you. That I would think, 'Wow, turns out that Blight isn't the biggest bitch on the planet. Hey, maybe I could air some dirty laundry for her. See how she reacts!' But nope! You probably just wanted me to give you more material to work with! So go ahead!"
Luz spread out her arms.
"Hit me with your best shot! Because there isn't anything you can say that can be worse than what other people have already said when they found out too!"
Amity didn't know what hurt more. The fact that Luz thinks that she would sink that low, or the fact that Amity didn't give any reason to assume otherwise.
Amity was at a loss of what to say to fix this. But she did at least have an idea of what to do.
Steeling her emotions, Amity walked right up to Luz and did something neither expected Amity to pull off.
She hugged Luz.
The hug itself being something warm and nurturing. Something that Amity never had in her life. As for Luz, she was once again frozen with both of her arms hanging in the air. Not knowing what to do with them.
"I'm sorry for pushing," Amity whispered into Luz's ear, "It was none of my business, and I should have just left it alone. I had no idea why it's a big deal to you to keep who you are a secret. I still don't get it, but I won't object to it."
Amity pulled away to look at Luz, whose face was blank and unreadable.
"I promise that your secret is safe with me," she said, "I swear that I won't tell anybody you don't want me to tell."
Amity then turned away so she can walk back to her car, but a hand grabbing her wrist forced her to stop and turn around to see Luz. At the moment, the human's eyes were wandering around to look at anywhere but Amity.
"I...that...you..." Luz struggled to form a sentence, and eventually, her hand slid down to clasp around Amity's. Amity blushed in response.
"Thank you," Luz finally spat out, a blush of her own beginning to form. "Seriously. Thank you."
"Yo-You're welcome," Amity cringed at her stutter, her blush growing darker.
"And honestly, I'm kind of glad that you know," Luz confessed while nervously rubbing the back of her neck, "It sucks when the wrong person finds out, but when the right person does...it's actually pretty freeing."
"I bet," Amity joked, getting a light chuckle out of Luz.
"I don't know where this nice version of you came from, or what me being bi has anything to do with it," Luz smiled, "But I won't lie, I like the nice version of Amity a lot better."
"Me too," Amity smiled back while squeezing Luz's hand in the process. Luz then slipped her hand away and stuffed both of hers into her jacket's pockets.
"Pbbt. Welp!" she said, popping the 'p' and hooking a thumb over her shoulder, "I, uh, I better start heading home. It's a long walk, after all."
"I can give you a ride."
"Thanks for the offer, really, but I'm good. Besides, I need the walk. I need to clear my head and...think about...certain things."
Luz gave a small awkward wave as she walked away. Amity waved back just as awkwardly, heading back to her car. And as she did, she couldn't help but be happy that she stole Luz's jacket.