For she is a good student - Sunset

It was a peaceful spring afternoon at Luna Nova that day, the weather was warm and the sky was clear, albeit the daylight was running out, the sun still could be seen painting the large walls of the towers of a orange tone followed be the rising shadows casted by the horizon.

It was a perfect time for most of the students to take a break from the daily routine of school work and studying, some of them in fact, were doing exactly that. Scattered across the courtyard, various groups of witches were enjoying the comfort of the last minutes of daylight. Chattering among themselves, taking a quick nap or having an outdoor snack, there was no lack of activities outside of class related issues.

It was indeed a moment reserved for relaxation and enjoyment. In moments like these, friendships and relationships were established in the community of little witches. In moments like these, memories would be formed and bonds would be forge.

But this was not such moment for her, perhaps another time. For now, she was doing exactly the opposite, a class related issue nonetheless, for it was her duty at the moment. And Hannah England was no slacker. No. She was a good student and with that position came responsibilities. And Hannah England was no stranger to responsibilities.

The rest of her school mates would be having a free afternoon to do whatever they pleased, but she will fulfill any chore she is appointed to, no matter the hour or the chore itself, she will do as she is instructed, for she is a good student.

So, if said chore happened to be carrying 'heavy' stuff to the teachers' house because "Our frail bodies are too worn out for such an activity" the professors would say, she would do it without hesitation, for she is a good student.

Not that she minded helping out, not just because it was more of an order rather than a suggestion, she truly looks forward for anyway of helping the professors, to stand out of the rest and bring proud and good word to her teammates. But it was the fact that said chore happened to be carrying heavy stuff. She minded that. She expected to be ask for other tasks, magic related tasks to be precise. Not some meaningless errand that could be done by any school goblin. But she comply, for she is a good student.

And so, she was pacing through the same courtyard where her peers were enjoying themselves. Under the same warm spring afternoon with the last rays of the sun bringing a nice orange tone to the landscape. Carrying a heavy box of who-knows-what to the teachers' house almost at the far end of the practice field. For she is a good student and that is what they do. And of course such a 'good student' would forget her wand in her dorm and make this chore a little more taxing, but that's beside the point.

In hindsight, maybe that happened for a reason, whether a good or a bad one, it gave her a moment to think. Not that she couldn't think in any other moment, she had plenty of time to think. But those moments were heavily related to gossip thinking with Barbara or to studying thinking when Diana was around or there was a test or a magic spell that needed to be practice on, among other thinking stuff of course. But she rarely had these alone moments where she could occupy her mind with more personal matters. Those of the kind where your beliefs are tested and strange ideas lurk from the unknowns corners of your mind.

As she was walking down the pad to the practice field and her trademark ponytail tied by her yellow ribbon bounced from side to side, the other witches were unaware of the turmoil happening inside Hannah's head.

Sure, the seed was planted long ago and yes, she thought the idea was long forgotten in between one of her childhood books resting on her counter beside her bed. It had been almost a year since she got that insufrible item. The source of all her strange ideas. She would have been happy right now, strange-ideas free of her mind, if not for Barbara who insisted on looking through her old stuff. And by the nines she was lucky to find it first, what would Barbara had said to her if she knew of the existence of that item? But her luck reached just that moment and left indefinitely. Now she remembered and now she was looking for a way to get a little sense out of it.

Setting foot on the cafeteria vestibule, she was halfway down the pad. Here were much less witches outside, save for some goblins brushing some leafs and one or two witches reading alone. She wondered, would they have the same unresolved issues as she? Were they pondering their beliefs right now, like she was? Do the goblins think about this kind of stuff? A lot of questions and few answers.

One thing was certain for her and that was plain doubt.

Since she was a little girl, maybe six or seven years old, she was certain, no amount of doubt could fit in her mind, well, she was uncertain about other things, like, what was under her bed at nights, but that only lasted until her twelfth birthday. No, there was only one truth and that was that she liked boys.

It was a fact, it was a solid truth in her existence. She liked boys and that was it. There was no room for any other liking. Her parents would always tell her that someday she will get married to a handsome (and rich) man. She would have children of her own and they in turn will get married with their respective couples and so on and so on. That was the pad before them, like it has always been since who-knows-when.

But.

All that truth came to shattered with one single item. Not that the item itself could be capable of doing on its own, oh no. Hannah's mind played a crucial role on her own turmoil. But what she was supposed to think? After all, she has always been prompted to look forward those things. For example, when Andrew show up that night some months ago, in the visit of his father, the minister of state to Luna Nova, she was ecstatic to see him, such a handsome young man wearing a suit that fitted on him perfectly. She was melting, alongside most of her classmates. She definitely like him, in a sort of platonic way of course. She knew Andrew will be fitter for someone like Diana, given their status and pre-establish relation. And she was okay with that. But most importantly, she was more than okay with the fact that Andrew was a boy.

So, why? Why on the Nine's name, when Akko give her that photo, that stupid photo, did she not recognize the person at first glance? And second and most importantly, why did she keep it?

Yeah okay, at first she thought he was a boy, a devilish handsome boy, from Appleton. He looked confident in himself, like no matter what, he would get his way in any given situation. That was strike one. Unlike Andrew, whose body shape was fit but not really the athletic one, this boy displayed a tune up body, she could clearly saw it on his uniform. That was strike two. And last but not least, his expression, those green eyes and sly grin. He surely would be someone fun to handout and would keep things interesting. That was strike three. She was out of her mind and now she needed to know who this boy was.

But.

She knew Akko didn't meant ill for her, albeit they weren't great friends at the time, she knew the little witch only wanted to help her, and so she did. But she could've save that last piece of information for herself. That way Hannah would've never find out who he was and although she would be sad about it for a time, she eventually would get over it and move on. But no. Akko had to spoke, she had to tell her the truth. Stupid nice dunce of a witch. She told her that, first: He was not from Appleton. Okay, she could live with that. Two: He was not a man. Okay, she cou- Wait what? And three: She was, in fact, none other than Amanda O'Neill…

Just when she was about to round the corner to the main path to the practice field, she was softly stopped by the Minotaur from the staff. Hannah hadn't even payed attention in her way. She almost crashed with him and she didn't even notice. Fortunately the big humble fairy didn't pay attention to her lack of awareness and he just gave her an apologetic nod and continued on his way. She offered him a soft smile and nodded too before go on as well. She could swear that every time she took this path, he was always coming out of the practice field. Maybe it was just a coincidence, like their encounters with the green troll that seems to be guarding a different room every time they passed by. But again, maybe it was just a coincidence, a matter for another time. What was she thinking before her almost accident?

Oh yes, that.

WHAT?! There was no way, it couldn't be possible. Surely she was the target of some random hex. Because, Amanda O'Neill did not dress like a boy and most importantly, Amanda O'Neill did not look stupidly handsome dressed like a boy. Hannah had to double check the photo just to be sure. Just for it to reassure her that she was in fact Amanda O'Neill, dressed as a boy and looking awesome as one. How it was even possible? How could someone be so damn good looking? Hannah didn't had time to answer her self-asked questions, Akko was looking at her with a quirked brow. She was a hundred percent sure she was gaping and she was hoping she wasn't drooling. So she played it cool. She told Akko that it was okay and she would keep the photo, because of reasons. And that was it.

The seed of doubt was planted.

So then, her mind wandered into uncharted territory where the truth she had always known was just a part of a bigger map. A vast map of things she didn't know and she wasn't sure she would like to know. But she was a teenager. And so her mind disregarded her logical sense and opted to look forward. If someone like Amanda could be so handsome wearing boys clothes, could any other girl do the same? No. That was not the correct question. That would be: Could any other girl do the same to her mind? She was in a all-girl school after all and never has she looked at her peers with the same level of desire. Wait, desire? No, that couldn't be right.

She has desire many things in her life, a new toy when she was a toddler, a new pair of shoes when she was a preteen, to study in Luna Nova like her mother before her. But to desire a person? By the Nine's, she hasn't even desire a boy. Yes, there had been a lot of handsome boys back in her home. Little crushes, no more than that, but always boys. And now she takes a look to a photo and now she is desiring another person? A girl person? A girl that just so happened to be Amanda O'Neill from all the girls in the world? Clearly there was something wrong with Hannah.

Amanda was, for the lack of a better word, an acquaintance. Sure she was a good person, she care for others beyond herself, she helped Akko and Diana with the missile thing and they were getting to spent time together more often, which wasn't a bad thing, she could be quite hilarious sometimes. But a good student, she was not. Not in the sense of bad grades or poor performance, like Akko in those times. No, she was a good student regarding that, she was skillful, at least above the average. But she was a rebel. She would always find a way to piss off the professors, to skip classes and to bring havoc among the other students with her antics. How does she managed to stay in Luna Nova this long? At the end of every period she would deliver the final project or get all the answers right in her tests to every professor dismay.

And for Hannah to 'desire' such a person was out of a question, for she is a good student.

But.

She simply couldn't help it. Amanda looked good in that photo and she liked it. Wait. Did she like Amanda? Those were her mind's words not hers. Oh. Right. Her mind. Of course. Nevertheless, did she? Like she said, none other student had awaken this strange new feeling in her. Some boys had, but not like this, those feelings were something entirely new to her.

What she should do? Maybe it was just a stupid crush, it does felt like it, a little more burning and strong, but like any other crush at the end. She could fight it back, she will fight it back, for she is-

And just when she thought her resolution was adamant, she saw her at the center of the practice field. The same girl she had been thinking about the entire afternoon. Because of course she will meet her at this perfect afternoon.

There she was, thirty feet above the ground, riding her broom like any other day. She seemed concentrated, a lot more than Hannah has seen her before. Her hands were pressed tight around her broom handle, and her gaze was focused on the distant horizon. She was hovering in a circle, like she was waiting for something. And then she saw it.

Just as the last ray of sun left the peak of the New Moon Tower, Amanda rocked up to the sky, her orange-redish hair pulled back by the force of the wind, her torso pressed close to the broom and her head just a little flexed upward. She wasn't wearing her witch coat, just her uniform shirt and skirt, not even her vest, was she not could? Hannah couldn't tell.

Less than ten seconds later, when Amanda was a good hundred feets above ground, she began to slow down, she advanced just a few more feet until the inertia that was pulling her upward left her and in after a slow weight-less moment, she started to fall down.

If this were a class, professor Nelson would be halfway already trying to stop the reckless witch, but this was no such moment and Amanda had no one to stop her. So Hannah saw, with a bubbling sense of anxiety growing on her chest, how Amanda was falling head first at great speed. She even had her closed.

Hannah was about to yell at her, to yell at anybody for help. But just in that moment Amanda began to roll on the broom axis, halfway to the ground and with one quick movement she threw the end side of her broom in front of her, still rolling in the air and a mere inches from the floor the stopped. Using the force of the roll Amanda descended alongside the broom handle while she was still rolling with it, making circles in few feet up with her body until finally she hit ground and been a little dizzy by so much movement she let herself fall back into the ground with a loud thud.

Hannah couldn't believe it, that was the stupidest stunt she has ever seen and now Amanda was just lying on the ground and laughing? No, she clearly was out of her mind for thinking that maybe she lik-

"Hey! Hannah!". Amanda was waving at her from her landing spot.

Since when she spotted her? Sure she hadn't seen her before she made that stupid trick, does she? Because if she did, she would thing Hannah was staring. Well she was staring, but from afar, like any normal stalker… Okay, 'stalker' doesn't sounds good. Like any normal admirer… No! That sounds worst! Now she is blushing, why is she blushing? Why is any of this happening? Why-

"Hannah?".

"Hannah? Are you alright sweetie?". Barbara's soft voice took her out of her memories.

She was no longer at Luna Nova. This was no longer that warm and comfortable spring afternoon all those months ago. Where was she? Why did her eyes sting so much?

She shut her eyes hard, looking for a relief of the pain and then she felt them, tears. She was crying, why she was crying? Where was she?!

"Would you like to sit down?" Barbara's voice bring some balance to herself once again.

She only managed to nod and felt herself been pulled down to a close chair. She felt dizzy and numb, something hurt in her chest and besides Barbara, all the other noises were tuned out. Why did she felt so bad?

"Hannah... Talk to me, did Amanda-".

Amanda.

She was with Amanda, she was talking to her, they were on… They were on a date! She had invited her on a date and she was about to confess. No. She did confess to her. And then… And then she left. Amanda left.

"This was a mistake".

A mistake, that word stung hard against her chest, she could feel a newly set of tears running down her cheeks. Her last words rumbling inside her head, pounding hard against her skull.

She opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Barbara, her dear friend, looking back at her with a great amount of concern in her eyes. She couldn't take it anymore and so she lunged herself to her friends arms. Still sobbing between hiccups.

She could feel Barbara's arms embracing her tight, so she let herself dig into it, hoping that would spare her of more pain, because she didn't want to feel that, she didn't want to feel that she made a mistake.

A/N

Wow, barely any dialogue, that's a first.

So I was suppose to continue this long ago, I know, but better late than never amirite?

As the summary states, this would follow the relationship of Hannah and Amanda as the main couple, there will be Diakko of course, but I'll try to keep it down. Among other pairing as well. So...

As always, thank you so much for reading and I hope you stick around for the next ones.

Best regards!