Hello guys, Camules here.

So this is my first job published on this site so I'm kinda nervous about how it will be received... Aaaanyway! I took some creative liberties with some spells and how they are cast. Don't worry, it's not a big change. Some small spells won't require a circle to be cast (like Amity's fireballs for example.) I'm also using the Beta designs for this fic (or at least for Luz and Amity.) Hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 1

I watched as Amity paced back and forth around the hideout in the library. She was angry, like red face levels of anger, and has been ranting about it for the last hour. Non-stop. Now that I think about it maybe the unnatural red color of her face could be because she's finally running out of air.

"...and it's all because that dumb human had to interfere!" She stopped for a second and took a deep breath and that's when I decided to intervene. I love my friend, I do, but no one can live through two hours of ranting.

"Alright, alright, I get it, you're mad and it's all the human's fault. Now could you please stop pacing around? You're going to open a hole in the ground!" I said while pointing at the spot on the ground where the youngest Blight was standing.

When she looked down and noticed that the spot she was standing on was slightly clearer than the rest, Amity sat down on a nearby chair with a sigh, running a hand through her wild mane of hair. "I swear...I'm going to burn her eyebrows off when I get the chance." And to add to her statement she produced a purple ball of fire in her hand.

"Woah! Easy there with the arson, Mittens! Do you want to burn our little secret sanctuary to the ground?"

"Our sanctuary?" She asks while dispelling the fire spell. "More like my sanctuary. I was the one that found this place all those years back. Besides Val, you only come here when I come here."

"Guess you're right, Blight. Heh...that rhymed." I said with a chuckle before gesturing to the room. "Then please, by all means. Feel free to burn this place to the ground."

"Hmmm… tempting," She says while glaring at me. "But then I'd have to lock you in here."

I fake a dramatic gasp and (dramatically) put a hand over my chest "You'd burn your best friend? You wound me."

"Without a doubt. Especially if you keep using that annoying nickname! It's childish."

I scoff and blow a strand of hair that was falling over my face "Oh please, if you wanted me to stop, you would have forced me. But since you haven't that means that you actually like the nickname, Mittens"

At that Amity glares at me and makes another fireball. She squints her eyes, and I can see all her previous arsonist rage directed towards me, so I do the only logical thing left to do: I opened the entrance of the hideout and ran out.

As soon as I placed a foot outside I came face to face with what could be my salvation….hopefully. Edric and Emira were standing right outside the entrance and so I ran around them and used them as cover. "Ed, Em help! Amity wants to burn me alive!"

Both twins looked at me, then at their sister, and chuckled at the same time. "What's up with you, Mittens?" Asked Edric while he placed a hand on his hip. "Yeah, Mittens. Why are you trying to burn up cute, little Val?"

And just as I predicted, Amity opened up her other hand to produce another fireball and the twins yelped and took a step back. "Welcome to the game. Now bye!" I said to them before running away and out of the library. As I made my way outside I could hear the twins running behind me and screaming as they did.

"Val you fucker!" Yelled Edric as they caught up with me. "You sicced her on us!" Quipped his twin before looking over her shoulder before yelping and ducked as a fireball sailed over her head. "She's going for the head, Val! The head!"

We kept running for a while, sailing through the streets of Bonesburrow with Amity hot on our trail. As we crossed a corner and faced a crossroad, an idea came to mind. "Well guys," I said while starting to trace a spell circle. "It was nice knowing you." As we reached the crossroad, I completed it and a clone of me ran down each street. "But I got to bail out!" And with that I kept running, praying that it would be enough to throw Amity of….or at least convince her to stay on the twin's trail.

After running for a bit longer I slowed down to a walk until I finally stopped to lean against a wall. My breathing was fast and I was sweating a bit, but it was nothing compared to a full match of Grudgby, so I was fine. I looked around to figure out where I ended up and was relieved to see that I was deep within the market area of the town so, hopefully, I was safe from Amity's arsonist rage.

With a relieved sigh I pushed myself off the wall and began to walk around. I took the chance to look at the different stalls and stores that lined up the town when, in the distance, I heard the unmistakable voice of someone trying to gather attention.

"Gather 'round, gather 'round!" The woman yelled from atop the table she was standing on. "Come forth and delight yourself with the wonders of the human realm!"

Human realm? Well that sounds interesting

I started to walk in the direction of the stand and, as I got closer, I started to notice the stuff that filled her stands. It all seemed like trash, but it was interesting trash if you asked me. And it seemed like I wasn't the only one who was interested in what the witch had to sell because, soon enough, the little stand had a few assortments of witches and demons looking around.

As I looked through her stuff something caught my eye. It was a small cube that was formed by smaller cubes, each with a different color and it seemed like I could move its part and rotate them around. "Excuse me, what is this and how much it's worth?"

As soon as I asked that the owner turned to look at me, then at the cube in my hand, and smirked. "That, dear customer, it's a funny little human artifact that will let you hypnotize almost anyone! And it can be yours for the nice price of ten snails."

I looked at the cube in my hand, then back at the woman that was clearly trying to scam me, then back to the cube. I scoffed and placed the "artifact" back on the shelf "Yeah right like I'd fall for that one. I'll give you five and I won't tell the rest you're trying to scam them."

The vendor smirked, her golden tooth glistening as she did. "Ya got a good head over your shoulders, don't you? Give me eight and you've got yourself a deal."

"Six and you've got yourself a deal."

Just as the woman was about to say anything someone snatched up the cube from my hands and both the owner and I turned to look at who dared to interrupt our negotiation. So you could imagine my surprise when I turned around and found myself face to face with the human who had infiltrated Hexside. I would have complained when the vendor interrupted me.

"And now she shows up! Where were ya, kid?"

"I was doing… stuff." To my surprise the human started to move the parts of the cube without looking at it, just occasionally glancing at it as she spoke. "Got caught up on an errand. You know, the usual."

And this is when I decided to step in by putting both hands on my hips and glaring at the human. "Stuff? Thanks to you my best friend lost her spot as the .best student." She turned to look at me, her hands still playing with the cube. "Thanks to you I almost got burned today!" Not entirely her fault but she doesn't need to know that.

"Wait top student… you're friends with Amity?" She then scoffs and has the nerve to place the cube back on the shelf, now with each side filled with only one color. "Well that's what she gets for being a bitch to Willow and trying to get me dissected."

"Wait, wait, wait what's this about top student and shit?" Then, with a gasp, the vendor pointed a finger at the human. "You snuck into Hexside, didn't you? Even after I told you not to go there… I'm kinda proud."

"Well sorry Eda, but you haven't taught me a single spell yet and I wanted to learn something!"

The human and the vendor kept bickering back and forth, but I was more busy focusing on what the human had said. She said that the stall owner's name was Eda… and there was only one person she knew with that name.

"You're the Owl Lady, aren't you?" Then I couldn't help but chuckle. "Now everything makes sense."

"What makes sense?" Both asked me at the same time while turning to look at me. If I weren't used to the twins I would have found this a bit creepy.

"That a troublemaker would work for a criminal."

At that the human walked closer to me and, thanks to the height difference, I had to tilt my head to look up at her. "And what if I am?" She asked, her voice getting lower. Was she trying to intimidate me? How cute.

Before things could escalate further The Owl Lady shoved her arms between us and pushed us away. "Alright, alright, no fighting in front of my stall. Don't want you girls attracting the wrong kind of attention so you either take this somewhere else, or you both calm the fuck down."

I glared at the human for a couple more seconds before walking past her, but not before shoving the human aside with my shoulder. I heard her complain loudly, but I decided to ignore the ruckus and kept on walking. After all, it was starting to get dark and I didn't plan on staying out till late.

After abandoning the market I started to make my way to a more residential area of Bonesburrow. As I walked by I looked around the street and admired the work on some of the houses, all were simple but homey. But none of those were my destination, after all, we Aerins are a prominent family and deserve the best. So after walking out of the city, I stuck to the road that would lead me to the Aerin State: A big house (not as big as Blight Manor, mind you), with two floors and a beautiful garden. I opened the door, walked inside, and, just as expected, the Head Butler was waiting for me.

"Miss Aerin," He said with his usual bow. "Welcome back."

"Yeah, yeah I'm back, Byron," I answered while closing the door behind me and shoving my hands in the pockets of my sweater. "And haven't I told you to drop the formalities? You practically raised me, Byron."

"And as I've said many times before, I'll drop the formalities the day I am no longer under the employment of your family." He said with a slight smirk.

I sigh and shake my head. "Ah well, I had to try."

"I would be disappointed if you didn't." He says while gesturing for me to follow him. "Dinner is ready and waiting for you, Miss Aerin."

"Are my parents back?" A foolish question really, since I already know the answer.

"Unfortunately they are out on a business meeting and won't be back until late in the evening. But if you'll allow it I could keep you company."

"You know you don't have to ask, Byron. I enjoy your company."

Dinner was a not-so-quiet affair, with Byron it never is. I have a lot of respect and affection for the old butler. He has been working for my family for as long as I can remember, I'm even sure that the reason there are a bit more butlers and maids in the State was because they hired them when I was born.

Byron is…well handsome is a word my friends like to use a lot when talking about him. Not that I agree, but I also can't deny it. He's tall with a sharp face and features. His hair, which used to be pure black, is now filled with some grey hairs that "add to his good looks." He has the kindest pair of eyes I've seen, their color a deep green.

After I was done with my dinner and Byron took care of the dishes, I went up to my room to shower and get ready for the night. I like to think that my room is nice and simple: a queen-sized bed (that is too big for me but I certainly won't complain), a desk, a full-body mirror, a big wardrobe, and a joint bathroom. There's also a window that looks towards the city and, sometimes, I like to sit there and look at the city as the night falls. A bit romantic, I know. But I like it.

After taking a nice and relaxing bath and changing into a baby blue nightgown I sat on my desk to work on some homework about how illusion magic can be used to manipulate light into solid objects. A subject that, for me, is kinda easy since my family has been using that specific kind of illusion magic for generations, and the culmination of all that effort is shown on our signature spell: The light chain.

The theory behind the spell is quite simple: Condense the light around you into the shape of a chain, and then use it to restrain your target. easy, right? Well surprise, it's not. The "easy" part is to shape the chains after that, you need to have great aim to actually hit your target and then keep your concentration so that they don't break. It took me three whole years just to get the first step right. But now? I could even do it in my sleep.

After finishing my report and chatting some more with Amity on my scroll and went to bed and, as I fell asleep, I couldn't help but think that things would start to change.

Well turns out I was right. And I hate to be right when it comes to things like this. It was a couple of weeks after the Abomination Incident (as Amity and I have begun to call it) and we were now attending the Covention. Well more like Amity dragged me here as she tends to do year after year. I don't know what she likes about coming to this event. I mean sure, it's a good chance to take a look at the many covens there are, and maybe to even check out some of the girls from the Bard Coven. I mean… how come almost every girl in that coven or track is either hot, cute, or an unhealthy combination of both? Just look at Skara! She's really cute, with a killer body. Too bad she's more preoccupied being Boscha's lap dog. It's a real shame if you ask me.

But moving past that….wait, where was I? Oh, right! Covention! So there we were, enjoying the event when suddenly someone crashed against Amity and sent her almost falling to the ground if it weren't for her kind best friend.

"Hey!" I said while making sure that Blight was okay. When I looked down to see who was that crashed against her, my scowl deepened. "Well of course it had to be you, human. What are you doing here?"

"Oh look," she said while standing up and fixing her beanie. "It's Bitch number one and Bitch number two."

"Piss off, human." Said Amity while making a ball of fire. "Or I will burn your face off."

And like someone with a death wish, the human stepped closer to Amity. What happened after that? I'm not sure. But I think that the human girl (whose name apparently is Luz) has a death wish. Who in their right mind would go and challenge Amity fucking Blight to a duel. And to make matters worse, she swore an Unbreakable Oath.

"Come on, Val" Said Amity while turning around and flicking her hair, making sure that it hits the human on the face. "We have a duel to get ready for."

And with that, we left the complaining human and her small demon behind. We walked a bit away from them before I grabbed Amity by the wrist and pulled her to a small alley. "What was that?"

"Oh, that?" She asked before chuckling and shaking her hand free from mine. "You mean the duel or the Oath?"

"Both!" I said before letting out a deep sigh. "You know you can't solve all your problems with either fire or a big Abomination, right?"

"What? You're worried I might lose to a dumb human?"

"Yes! Because, if you didn't know, that dumb human is the Owl Lady's apprentice"

"Well, I," She says while putting a hand to her chest. "Am the apprentice of the leader of the Emperor's Coven. Speaking of… I need to find Lilith. Let's go."

"Amity, wait!" But my call fell on deaf ears. "Ugh, she's going to be the death of me."

And so our quest to find Amity's mentor, Lilith, began. Surprisingly, it was easier than I thought. We just had to follow the mass of stupid fans to find the black-haired witch. When we did I spotted the Owl Lady and the human walking away, the latter looking a bit worried.

"Greetings girls." Lilith greeted us after Amity caught her attention. As the two of them talked for a bit about the upcoming duel, I just stood to the side and watched. Now Amity may respect and admire her…but I'm not fond of the Coven leader. There's just something off about her. I don't know what it is, but I don't like it. It's the same feeling I get with Lady Blight: People are means to an end.

After talking for a while, Lilith took Amity who-knows-where and left me all alone. The nerve. Anyway, I took this time to wander around the convention and look at the different covens there are. It's really funny how there are so many small covens. Most probably exist as nothing more than a pastime, but they may be worth checking out. Later of course. Right now I have a duel to watch.

It wasn't much later after Lilith and Amity went… somewhere, that an announcement for the duel was made. And I, being the great best friend that I am, went and got myself some great seats to watch the carnage. Or they would have been great if it weren't for the people sitting next to me.

"Valyria? What are you doing here?"

With a sigh, I turned to greet the boy sitting to my left. "Hello, Augustus." Now don't get me wrong. I don't have anything against Porter, he's just a bit… eccentric. Not like the twins, mind you, but his obsession with humans tends to get a bit annoying. Speaking of humans. "Are you here to cheer her on?" I ask while pointing at the center of the arena where said human is standing beside the Owl Lady, with Lilith and Amity on the opposite side.

"Yup! Willow and I are going to cheer on Luz!" From the other side of the "prodigy" was, indeed, Willow Park. She was wearing an overall with a pastel green shirt underneath and some flats. She looked kinda cute, but she's not my type. Way too meek and shy… well it could be fun to try and get a reaction out of her… but it's not worth the trouble.

Willow simply nodded. To be honest, her reaction is understandable. Boscha and her little gang have been making her school life a living hell and I am part of her group. Sure I haven't formed part of the "Let's bully some people" gang in a while, but I haven't done anything to stop her either so I might as well be just as guilty as the Three-Eyed Bitch.

Shortly after that awkward interaction, the duel began. The human was wielding some kind of club but, for some reason, it was red. She seems to know what she's doing with it because the human was swatting away every fireball Amity was throwing her way. After a while, Amity seems to have realized that she was going to get nowhere with her fireballs and instead decided to summon an Abomination that… looks bigger than what she normally uses? Well, maybe she's using everything she has. Typically Amity, being overkill on something that should be a walk in the park.

Amity commanded her Abomination to walk towards the human and it didn't even take more than three steps when the thing burst out in a big explosion. This shouldn't be possible because humans can't do magic, right? Besides, I never saw her draw a spell circle. And you would need one to take an Abomination that big.

After that, I started to keep a closer look at the human. She has to be doing something to take out Amity's Abominations that fast. Which was hard with the human's obnoxious friend screaming right beside me.

"Woohoo! Go, Luz!" Augustus yelled right beside me. "Show her how it's done!"

"Would you stop screaming, Porter?" I asked while turning to glare at him. "I'm trying to watch the duel. There's something odd going on and I'm going to figure out what it is."

"Aww, are you mad that Amity is losing?"

I scoffed and crossed my arms over my chest. "You wish. The human is doing something and I know it."

"She has a name you know," Willow commented from the other side of the still screaming boy. "The "human" has a name. It's Luz, Luz Noceda."

"Oh I know her name, Park. I just decided not to use it." And with that Willow glared at me before turning again to look at the match. See? This is what I mean. That girl has no spine.

The duel went on for a bit longer before I finally noticed something odd on the field. It seemed to be some… bumps on the ground. And whenever one of Amity's Abominations stepped on one, something happens. Now I'm sure that I'm not the only one that noticed that, hell I'm sure that Augustus saw it as well but is keeping quiet about it. But as I was going to say something about it, Amity started to walk forward, one of her feet got dangerously close to one of the traps. My eyes widened in panic and terror and I was getting ready to run and jump in when the human did something unexpected.

"Amity, wait!" She said while dropping her weapon and extending her hands. "Don't take another step."

Amity stopped and moved her foot back, away from the bump. She glared at the human and crossed her arms. "Why? What happens if I do?"

Instead of answering, the human looked down at the bump and then to the side as if she were ashamed. I took this chance to run down the bleachers and grab the railing of the barrier.

"If you do, something will happen!" I yelled. Both girls, and their mentors, turned to look at me. "That human is cheating! There are some traps laid out on the entire floor of the arena!"

Amity, Titan bless her, took a couple of steps back and summoned a small Abomination. Then she commanded it to walk forward and, just as expected, when it stepped on the bump something happened. In this case, a bunch of spikes sprouted from the ground and impaled the Abomination.

The entire arena gasped and the human turned to look at the Owl Lady with a horrified expression on her face.

"Eda! I just wanted to teach her a lesson not, " She signaled with her hands at the spikes. "not kill her."

The Owl Lady dared to shrug and scoff, saying something about "it's the same thing." I honestly wasn't paying too much attention to what she was saying. I was busier coming up with a myriad of ways in which I could kill her. As I did that, Amity turned around and started to walk away from the human.

After taking a couple of steps she stopped and turned her head around to look at the other girl over her shoulder. "You're not worth my time." And then she flipped her hair, just to be dramatic. As she did that I noticed something on her neck. Is that… oh fuck. I hope that no one else noticed it.

But obviously, the Owl Lady noticed it. Because it wasn't even a second after I thought that the criminal ran towards Amity and peeled the Power Glyph from the back of Amity's neck. What happened after that was a total mess: Eda turned to look at her sister (who would have thought), Amity was glaring daggers at her mentor before running away with what seemed to be tears in her eyes. And, for reasons I can't explain, the human ran after my best friend.

I didn't stay still for too long either, not even the Clawthorne sisters began a real witches duel. I ran as fast as I could, looking everywhere for Amity. I even sent some doubles to look for her. Eventually, one of them found her and led me to Amity's location and, to my surprise, the human was there and they seemed to be… talking?

Since things seemed to be calm between the two of them, I decided not to intervene. But I stayed close, keeping an eye out just in case. Eventually the Owl Lady came and took the human away, so I waited a bit before trotting to where Amity was. She seemed to be okay and her mood was a bit better. After that whole fiasco, there was nothing else programmed during the Covention so Amity and I decided that it was time we left.

On our way to Blight Manor, Amity and I made small talk. But during our conversation, she didn't mention the human. Not even once. This was odd since that has been the only thing she's talked about for the past few weeks so I decided to address the Slitherbeast in the room.

"What was that about?" Amity turned to look at me with a puzzled expression. "That conversation with the human after your duel."

"You… You saw that?" I simply looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Of course you saw it." She stayed silent for a couple of seconds before sighing. "She apologized to me, said that she had no idea what the Owl Lady would do, and then she actually managed to cast a spell in front of me. Sure it was a simple light spell, but she did it. A human managed to cast magic."

"Wait… are you telling me that she managed to cast a light spell without a bile sack?" Amity nodded to answer my question. "How?!"

"She used some kind of drawing. It was… weird. But she did it."

After that we spent the rest of the walk in silence. Maybe things will start to change. Hopefully for the best.

Okay so it seems I was right. Mostly. I think? It's complicated. You see, it turns out that during the passage of the Wailing Star the human, Amity, and the twins (why am I not surprised?) got into some kind of trouble during the Library Incident.

"So let me get this straight: the twins and the human snea-"

"Luz."

"Huh?"

"Her name is Luz. Please use it."

Huh… so even Amity is using her name now. Guess that means she's a nice person. Otherwise Amity wouldn't be calling her by her name.

I grabbed my crystal ball and moved to the bed. It's way more comfortable to talk gossip while laying down on my bed.

"Right, Luz. So they snuck into the library, messed around with the Star's magic, then found your secret room and tried to find your diary. Then the human found it and tried to hide it away from the twins, that's when you arrived and thought that she was helping the twins. Then they left and an evil version of Otabin came to life and tried to stitch you and the hu-Luz to the book?"

"And then I helped her fix her mistake and we left the library. But before we left… she lent me the fifth book of Azura."

"Wait, isn't that the series of books that you love?" Amity nodded. "Huh… what are the odds?" Then we both stayed silent for a while before I broke it. "So, what? You two are friends now?"

"Well I wouldn't say friends. But we are definitely on better terms. She's nice, a bit rude and with a tongue to match yours."

I scoffed and almost laughed. "You're saying that she curses as much as I do? Well that I'll have to see for myself."

"Val don't do anything stupid."

"You know who you're talking with, right?" *Amity didn't answer. She didn't need to. Instead, she glared at me with a raised eyebrow. "Alright, alright I got it. I won't do anything you wouldn't do."

"I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult. Anyway, I'll be seeing her in a couple of days to return the book so I'll let you know how that goes."

"Alright Amy, whatever you say." At that, I heard Byron calling me to let me know that dinner was ready. "Whelp gotta go. See ya, Mittens." And, before Amity could complain about me using that "embarrassing" nickname, I hung up the call and left my room.

So Amity's idea of spending the last day of vacation relaxing is to go to The Knee to practice her magic. Who does that? Besides nerds and desperate people. Well, this is Amity I'm talking about. And for all her "Bad Bitch" persona, she's actually a huge nerd so yeah, it makes sense.

Me? I plan to do nothing the entire day. Maybe a walk to the park would be nice. Yeah, I think I'll do just that. So after getting dressed and eating breakfast (and letting Byron know that I would be probably eating lunch out), I left the state.

The walk to the park was a nice, quiet one. Or as quiet it can get on Bonesborough. I got to the park close to midday so I decided to get something sweet to snack on. Once I secured my treat I began to walk around, eventually finding a nice bench under the shade of a tree to sit on.

Once there, and after I finished my snack, I leaned back and closed my eyes. Now, I know I don't seem like the kind of girl that would just sit on the bench of a park and close her eyes like that but I liked how calm the park is today and couldn't help but do it.

Being like that helped me come to terms with a few things: One, Boscha is a bitch and I can no longer be her "friend." Maybe I won't cut her off immediately, but I won't let her bully any more people. Two, I think Amity's starting to think the same. Or I hope she is. Maybe she could find a new friend in Luz.

As I went on with my unusual introspection I got distracted by the sounds of footsteps coming towards me. Maybe it's just someone passing by so I won't open my eyes.

"Valyria?"

Or maybe I will. When I opened my eyes, and after they readjusted themselves, I found that it was Willow who called my name. She was wearing the same outfit she was wearing from the day of the Covention (which I can't point out because I am doing the same) and had a few bags on her hands.

"What are you doing here?" She asked me with clear confusion on her face.

"Well, it's the last day of vacation before the school year starts again," I said with a small smile. "and so I wanted to relax. The day is nice so I thought to take a walk in the park. What about you, Willow? What brings you to the park on this fine day?"

She lifts her hands a bit to show the bags that she's carrying. "My dads asked me to fetch some things for tonight's dinner. And I like to use the park as a shortcut."

As Willow spoke I noticed that a heavy feeling settled on my chest. But what is this feeling? As I tried to figure out what it is, my face turned into a frown as I looked down, not meeting the Plant witch in the eyes.

"Is everything okay?"

That question snapped me out and brought me back to the conversation. I looked up at her and nodded.

"Yeah it's just…" I stayed silent for a bit and trained my eyes on my lap. Why can't I look Willow in the eye? Ah… I think I know. Guilt. "I… I wanted to apologize. For… For not stopping Boscha and her goons when they were bullying you and for anything else they might have done to you and-" I stopped talking when I realized that there was a hand over mine that wasn't my own. I turn to look and find that Willow is sitting right beside me, with her hand over mine. When did she even sit down? And why is she looking at me like that? Why is she smiling? Why isn't she angry with me?

"Because you realized that what you did was wrong." Wait, did I say that out loud? "And because you want to make things right. Or am I wrong?" She says with a smirk. A fucking smirk.

I chuckle and smile "Are you mocking me, Park?"

"Who? Me? I would never do that." Then she giggles and why is that making my face feel a bit hot? It wasn't this hot a minute ago. "But in all honesty Valyria, you don't have much to apologize for. Sure you didn't actually bully me and just stood there, but I also know that you've been good with Gus during class and have never tried to harm anyone on purpose."

"Outside of a Grudgby match."

"Outside of a Grudgby match." She says while rolling her eyes. "And you've also been the only real friend of Amity since… We'll since that happened."

"Yeah, she told me about it. And I know there are some unresolved issues between you two, but it's not my place to talk about that. Just know that she regrets it. A lot."

We both stayed there, in silence, for a bit longer before something clicked in my mind. "You know what? I've changed my mind."

Willow looked at me, completely confused by my sudden shift in tone. "About what?"

"About ditching Boscha and her squad of bitches." I couldn't help but smile at Willow's reaction. "Yeah, they are not worthy of my amazing presence," I said with the best haughty and "noble" tone of voice I could muster.

And that made Willow laugh. It's a nice laugh. Maybe I should try to make her laugh more often.

"And...and if I may know, " She asked after calming herself down and catching her breath. "who is worthy of your "amazing presence"?"

That….that is a great question. And why am I being all shy now? This is not me! Get hold of yourself, Aerin! "Well… If you'll have me, I would like to, you know, being your friend?"

"Oh really? And why is that?" And there it is! That smirk! Oh Titan how I hate that smirk. It's making me all shy and I am not like that.

"Well after seeing how Amity could forgive Luz after everything that has happened between them I thought that, if she can do that, then I can start to change. And what better way to do that than getting rid of one toxic friend and, hopefully, make another real friend."

Willow stayed silent, her face an unreadable mask. Why isn't she saying anything? Did… Did I say something wro-oh! There it is. A smile!

"I'd like to be your friend, Valyria. Besides, anyone willing to be a better person is a good person in my book. Wait that's redundant… You get my point!"

I chuckle and shake my head a bit. "Yeah, yeah. I get your point. And now that we're friends, feel free to call me Val. Only my friends get to call that, it's quite the honor."

"Well thank you for such high honor, Val." Says Willow with a giggle before standing up and stretching and when did it get so late? The sun's already coming down and I swear it wasn't this late when I got here. "Well I have to get back home to deliver these. I'll see you tomorrow at school?"

"Sure thing, Willow. See ya tomorrow at school."

And with a wave and a smile, the plant witch left the park. As for me, well I stayed on the bench for a little longer. I had to process everything that just happened. After all, it's not every day that you ditch a long friendship and gain a new friend by being nice. Or at least, not for me.

As I stood up from the bench I received a notification on my Scroll. I summoned it and noticed that it was a message from Amity. After unlocking it and reading the message I couldn't help but laugh. A lot.

Mittens: Val… I think I might be gay for Luz. 6:38 p.m.

Oh yeah, this is going to be an interesting school year.

If you're reading this it means that you got to the end of the chapter so thanks for reading! I'll be posting the next chapter next week so look up to that. Umm most chapters won't be as long as this one, just so you know.

Anyway, thanks for reading and see you all next week!