PS. Chapter Word Count: 2,312

PSS. If it's not obvious, this is an outsider's point of view on Luz/Vee. Basically, written post Yesterday's Lie but before anything else. It will have more chapters and perspectives and a lot of OCs (for obvious reasons). It also has a post YL plot that I kinda made up that the reader will have to figure out based on the different perspectives you're getting.

PSSS. I wrote this all in four hours straight. That's crazy because I've never written for more than an hour and a half on end so it usually takes me two weeks to write a chapter half this long... This has got to be the most fun I've ever had writing anything for any fandom so enjoy!

Maggie Minty was a simple girl. Shy and unpopular, but simple. She was the second least popular girl in school. Not because she was weird or anything, but because she purposely avoided confrontation.

The least popular girl in school was Luz Noceda. She was the opposite. She was unpopular because she made herself known as the weirdo.

Neither Maggie or Luz had any friends throughout their lives. The two were next door neighbors though, so they should have each other, right? Nope. Luz was forced to learn in second grade that Maggie wasn't interested. Luz was, in her opinion, loud and obnoxious. So, everyday, they stood at the bus stop- the only two there- and never talked. For seven years.

During that time, Luz's activities (while changing through the years) usually involved snakes, fantasy, yelling, and other gross, obnoxious "entertainment". Maggie's usually involved reading. And reading. And… Well, mostly reading.

It was her passion. Becoming an author was her dream. It has been since first grade. She was gifted in that subject. Well, Maggie was gifted in general, but reading was the only subject she enjoyed. That never changed.

And that was that. Sure, once or twice they crossed paths at school or at neighborhood get-togethers their parents forced on them. They were neighbors after all. Still though, the interactions were minimal. They weren't enemies exactly, but certainly not friends.

Maybe, in some freak circumstance where one of them needed the other, they'd give in. They were both relatively nice after all. But, they (admittedly mostly Maddie) avoided each other. It was a spoken law. And, well, they both agreed to follow it.

Then, after freshman year, the red head was ready for another summer of snakes in her yard and loud fantastical roleplay sounds in the back yard over when she got some news. Luz Noceda was spending the summer at summer camp! It was a miracle, a dream come true, a quiet summer alone in her room with Moby Dick and Grimm Brother Fairy Tales!

It was a Luz Noceda free summer. A chance to clear her head and write. Jump start her career! She was a rising sophomore after all.

o0O0o

Speaking of her upcoming sophomore year, it wasn't upcoming anymore. The summer moved so fast that it seemed like five seconds ago, she was internally narrating those thoughts.

It was the day before that Luz returned and this would officially be the first time Maggie would see her this fall. That thought in mind, the walk to the bus stop was as slow as possible. This both delayed and shortened the time they spent together.

By the time the book worm made it to the curb, she managed to cut the time she'd spend there to five minutes tops! Go her-

"Hello Maggie," Luz greeted the girl and all rhyme and reason lept out the window.

"W-What?" She stuttered, speaking to Luz for the first time in two years.

"Your name is Maggie right? Cami- I mean- Mom told me- reminded me that was your name," The weirdo explained.

Maggie took that chance and got a good look at Luz. Really look at her. Her hair was brushed and she looked acceptable. There was no sign of a spider hidden in her backpack and the air around her had changed. "Err- yes? My name is Maggie.

"Oh, good," Luz sighed in relief.

The bookworm was confused before remembering something she overheard her parents discussing. Luz's camp was for reforming idiotic weirdos into acceptable members of society. While obviously those weren't her parents exact words, the hint was there. The camp seemed, at first glance, to have done just that.

Maybe Luz was reformed and normal? That seemed to be the case so far. Still though, Maggie had to keep a closed mind for this one. This was Luz Noceda. She could pull anything. Maggie wouldn't be surprised if her neighbor was a fae that replaced the real Luz at birth or a magic sucking monster from the demon realm. Well, she would. For obvious reasons, but you get the point.

"So, Luz…" Maggie began. As awkward as this was, it would be worse to close off the conversation now that there was one. Even if it broke the spoken law.

"Yeah Maggie?"

"How was camp?"

"It was great! I'm a changed girl. I really am! Whoever you knew me as before all this, just forget that. I'm different now. I think I'm… normal?" Luz admitted. That was, in itself, a weird thing for Luz to say.

"R-Really?" Maggie asked, shocked to hear those words leave Luz's mouth. She had to refrain from a screech of pain when she pinched her arm behind her back.

"Yeah! Don't worry, I'm cool now I think?" Those words really managed to push themselves out of the Noceda girl's mouth in that order. After a few seconds, she stuck out her hand and continued, "You wanna start over?"

And, you know what, by the second week of school, they both had a friend. Luz was new, reformed, just like the camp was attempting to do. It worked. Sure, they weren't close still. Luz had some friends from camp whom she hung out with most of the time. But, hey, the bus stop wasn't a toture mechanism for Maggie's subconscious anymore.

Sometime during the fifth week of school though things began to change once more. Though, the change was less with Luz, but with her mom, Camila Noceda.

That week on Monday, Camila walked Luz to the stop. From the look on Luz's face, Maggie could tell the woman insisted on the deed.

That day, Camila also made what seemed to be an excess amount of time telling her daughter that she loved her. Maggie brushed it off as them having some sort of fight and Luz lashing out with a remark about feeling alone or something. Like all kids did. It didn't change though.

The rest of the week the older Noceda was there with hugs and kisses and pleas of gratitude. By the next though, she was finally gone. The behavior didn't change though. Maggie could see from her house into the Noceda household. She watched the mom praise her daughter for everything and make sure Luz was happy. It seemed to Maggie that Camila was trying to make Luz feel at home and loved. Like Camila felt sorry for the girl and was making sure that she knew she had someone there for her.

This was, in all honesty, a weird concept. And while Maggie brushed it off as stupid paranoia due to that movie she'd recently watched, a note was made in her diary multiple times over that time.

Luz was still cool now. Just like she insisted on the first day of school. It was… nice to actually have a friend though and it made the loner ask herself why she never tried it before. She confided in Luz stuff that would always head straight to the diary and Luz listened and gave advice. The little blue book she kept on her could only do one of those things.

Maggie would rant to Luz on how she's struggling on her science presentation, and Luz would share what she knew. Luz would complain about not getting enough sleep the night before and her friend would console her. It really was nice to have a friend.

Her parents were happy she found someone, she was happy that Luz wasn't a total weirdo, and she felt like she could breath while waiting for the bus, and everything was going great! Maggie never wanted to go back to the old tension she and the other girl had.

So, when the Camilas left for a while without a trace or forewarning the second week of second semester (as well as Luz's camp friends), she was probably the most fearful out of everyone. That included the police, the other kids' parents, the neighbors, etc.

When not at school, Maggie sat in her room even more than usual that week, writing a continuously growing story about two outcasts who became friends. One of them moved (rather than disappearing off the face of the Earth) away and the other went through the five stages of grief as this was a time before technology so all contact was lost. The junior author wasn't ready to add the implied death of the friend. Not until Luz was either proclaimed dead or alive.

After nine days though, the small family of two returned to their house to find police everywhere. They claimed to have headed to visit (very) distanced relatives up north and left their technology behind because there was no internet there. It was apparently a very old school town.

The camp friend's parents "suddenly" remembered agreeing to let their children go and the police force, for some reason, didn't feel the need to ask some obvious questions. They just agreed to it. Maggie wasn't complaining though. Her friend wasn't dead and the character in her book would soon move back.

As soon as all was cleared up and the police left, Maggie walked over to Luz's house for the first time in years. They were bus stop friends after all.

"Hey Maggie!" Luz greeted, her energy all the same. Maggie had to force herself into believing that she didn't see some other version of Luz quickly duck the corner.

"Luz! Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?" Maggie cried, pissed at her friend but also glad to see her.

"It was short of notice. My… um… great uncle on my dad's mom's sister's side(?) had a heart attack and were his closest relatives? We had to leave immediately to take him to a better hospital than the local clinic who were trying to heal him with old fashioned remedies like chocolate and my friends were over so we threw them in the car and took them with us!" The previously absent girl ranted.

And, well, that was the end of that. It was late on Monday when this all happened so Maggie was sent home five minutes later and everything was fi-

o0O0o

This was not fine! Maggie didn't didn't know what her best and only friend was pulling, but she needed to stop!

It was too early on a Tuesday morning to deal with Luz taking a rat to school and seeming to forget that Maggie and her were friends for a couple seconds.

"Luz- wha- what? Why in the world do you have a rat?" Maggie asked, exasperated.

Shocked by this question, the animal carrier responded, "Because rats are cool?"

"Since when?"

"Since always!" Luz replied. Something was off. The air around Luz had changed again, almost to how Luz was in years past.

The most disturbing thing was that it happened over night. Luz was fine and normal old (new) Luz last night and then- Bam! Her friend is acting like a lunatick and bringing a plague infested rodent to school. Maybe, when the friend moved back she was a bit different from when she left the other just a couple months before. Damn, this story based on reality was getting confusing!

"Well-" But then, the bus arrived and her friend ran on without giving Maggie a second glance. The latter heard a couple screams when she got on the bus and took her usual seat in the front.

This continued. The rest of the week, Luz lost all the character development she earned at camp and as her friend. Maggie felt like crying when Luz treated her nice, but not like she used to and reverted back to her old, obnoxious self overnight.

The friends from camp (from what Maggie could from the bus) seemed to think this was normal Luz behavior and it hurt Maggies to quickly lose her first and only friend. Let's just say, her 40,000 plus word story never showed what happened when the friend got back. It hurt too much.

Next Monday though was even weirder. Luz came to the bus stop and right away, something about the way she held herself felt like the old new Luz from post-summer pre-vacation. She greeted Maggie with a, "Hi!" and looked at her expectantly.

"-Err, hi?"

Luz seemed normal that day. She also was fine Tuesday, shrugging off Maggie's concerns about the previous week. Wednesday though, the first Luz made an appearance till Friday. Monday through Thursday next week was her friend and Friday was annoying Luz and- and-

It was almost as if Luz suddenly developed a split personality. She was her friend sometimes but a total freak the others! By the third week of this, Maggie had had enough.

She felt used. She opened her heart to this person, opened her gates and let her in, and now she was playing some game with her and she was the master. That Thursday, when weird Luz was back once more, Maggie didn't even try with her. Friends were stupid and pointless. That was final.

Next time nice Luz came to the bus stop with a smile on her face and a nice greeting, all Maggie dared to say was just that.

"B-But- I- I can explain!" The brunette tried.

"Just stop Luz, it's done. I can't do this anymore," Maggie muttered, on the brink of tears.

That night, her story got an update. The friends became old acquaintances who sometimes passed each other in the mines (school) and saw each other every morning at their favorite diner (the bus stop) for breakfast. The law was up again but this time it went unspoken. The kids in her story started like her and Luz and ended that way.

It was hard, But Maggie wasn't about to be a part of this game. She never did like choose your own adventure stories.

PS. Hands down, Maggie is the most complex OC I've ever made. I'm trying to make my OCs more layered and detailed and I think she's a really great start.

PSS. I am obsessed with reviews so please review! Review your ideas, theories, constructive criticism, criticism, I don't care. I just want to know what ya'll think of this, even one liners are great!

PSSS. Like, seriously, either my obsession can be reviews or stop signs. Decide my fate.