Rhododendron
Lola snorted failing to hide a laugh, causing Luz to return to the present time.
"Excuse me? I didn't catch that..." Said the auburn girl regaining her balance on her own feet.
"Díselo en inglés, Bichita!" Howled Lola, causing a blush on her little sister's cheeks.
Both the girl and Lilith's faces reflected total cluelessness at failing to understand the language the Noceda sisters were using.
"Uh... " The young girl mumbled. "You can let go of me now..."
Luz realized her posture and quickly jumped three feet back, letting go of the young woman's waist and hand as her sister continued to laugh silently.
"Sorry..." Luz said at last in the right language "I didn't know you were coming in and opened the door on impulse."
The young woman smiled politely, showing a neat and pearly set of teeth.
Wow...
"Don't worry, it could have happened to anyone."
Lilith cleared her throat, drawing the attention of those present.
"Good morning Amity, I didn't hear you come in..."
"Oh, yes, the doorbell didn't ring."
"I need someone to fix that..." The subdean sighed. "Anyway... Luz, Lola, this is Amity Blight, she is Dr. Blight's daughter, she will be in your group and I asked her to give you a school tour before classes start, she will be able to solve any doubt you have, she knows completely all the regulations and policies of the school."
The chestnut-haired girl extended a hand towards the Noceda sisters, Lola being the first to take it.
"My pleasure." Said the older one shaking the young woman's hand. "My name is Lola."
"Likewise." Replied Amity releasing her hand and turning to Luz.
It took two moments for the brunette to react and rush to take the girl's hand.
"My name is Luz."
The pale skin was very soft, its temperature slightly cooler than hers and that hand, elegant and delicate, was so small shaking hers, that Luz was sure she could surround it with her own fingers.
Wow...
Maybe she would try it later.
"Thank you for sparing me a public humiliation." Said the girl drawing Luz's attention from their joined hands.
The brunette smiled at the young girl's cheerful face.
"Oh, it was nothing! You wouldn't have tripped if it wasn't for me in the first place."
The brunette smiled at the young girl's cheerful face.
"Oh, it was nothing! You wouldn't have tripped if it wasn't for me in first place"
The brown-haired girl laughed softly.
"Thank you anyway."
After the brief talk, the room was silent for a few moments.
"You... can let go of me now." Amity said for the second time with an awkward smile.
Luz quickly let go of her hand.
"I'm sorry, I'm just nervous and very distracted!" She excused herself in an almost unintelligible way.
Lola moved to her side and nudged her playfully with her hip.
"What is it that you´re so distracted Bichita?" She asked mischievously.
Luz glared at her as her cheeks tinged slightly red.
"What does Bichita mean?" Amity asked curiously.
"Ah, it's Spanish." Luz hastened to answer. "It means little bug."
"Where do you come from?"
"From Dominican Republic carajita." Lola answered proudly. "I've been living here for a while, but la Bichita moved just a week ago."
"Oh!" Said the chestnut haired with mild surprise. "And how are you feeling so far?"
Luz scratched the back of her neck uneasily.
"It's... Quite different, but so far I feel good, especially because I can be with my family, on the island I was taken care of by an aunt who..."
Lilith cleared her throat with little subtlety, interrupting the conversation.
"I'm very sorry to interrupt your small talk, but unfortunately there is relatively little time left before classes start, plus I still have a lot of work to do, so I beg you to start with the tour and continue chatting on your way." Stated the deputy dean.
"My apologies Miss Lilith." Amity replied lowering her head slightly as she headed for the door. "Shall we go?"
Luz and Lola nodded and walked after the brunette.
"Nice to meet you girls." Lilith pronounced lastly as a farewell. "And welcome to Jacob Blight Academy, Luz."
"Thank you Lily!" Luz enthusiastically remarked, surprising Amity with her words.
Lilith's eyelid twitched briefly.
"Please address me as miss Lilith, or sub dean Lilith. Okay?"
Luz covered her mouth with her hands quickly.
"I'm sorry Miss Lilith." She said in a muffled voice.
"No problem, have a good first day."
"Thank you." Luz replied again walking out the door.
"Thanks for everything Lily~!" Crooned Lola. "See you on Friday~!"
"Friday?"
"Oh, yeah, mami's having a dinner party and wants to invite you, she'll probably do it later today."
Lilith looked genuinely surprised.
"Oh... All right, see you on Friday then."
The three young ladies walked out the door and consequently, out of the room into Lilith's office.
"Well, first of all, I welcome you to Jacob Blight High School, founded in 1945 by my great-great-grandfather Jacob Blight, it is the first Catholic institution in New York City, it started as a men's college, but over the years it opened its doors to women and eventually acquired different levels of education. Let's go to the first building, now, please follow me."
Amity's professional and fluent speech implied that it was not the first time she had given a tour of this style, her tone and good use of words commanded attention.
Wow...
Luz was excited, the way the girl spoke so confidently of her knowledge fascinated her, and she was eager to hear more, so she hurried to walk alongside Amity.
Before she had taken five steps, Lola gasped dramatically.
"Oh no!" She exclaimed in a rush. "I completely forgot! I have to... Do... Stuff! I have to go!"
Luz frowned along with Amity's puzzled expression.
"Stuff?" The younger girl said in disbelief. "What kind of stuff?"
"I have to... Uh... edit my latest song so I can upload it to my channel!" She said in an extremely believable tone.
"¡Pero tú me dijihte que me iba 'a acompañar!" The minor complained.
"¡No sea' tonta Bichita! ¡¿Qué no ve 'que la' quiero dejar solas?!" Said the oldest slowly walking away.
"¡¿Y sola'pa'qué?!" Luz cried out, following in her sister's footsteps.
"¡Junta do' neurona' Bichita!" Lola said with a chuckle. "¡La carajita e' bonita!"
"¡Lola no me...!" But the eldest had already gone far away.
"Bye-bye Bichita! I'll pick you up at 15:00!"
Luz sighed resignedly.
"Bye-bye Bichota!" She exclaimed receiving a smile from her sister who was reaching the gate.
Luz returned her attention to Amity, who watched the whole scene without understanding a word.
"What was that all about?" she asked with an amused smile.
"She has diarrhea." Luz stated in revenge to her sister's abandonment. "She was about to explode and was ashamed to say it."
Amity snorted trying to hide a soft, charming giggle.
Wow...
"That sounds like a good reason for leaving, although I think it was enough saying she wasn't feeling well."
"Oh, that's my sister, she's dramatic!"
Amity smiled.
"Let's go to the first building." She re-stated.
Luz followed her with cheerful steps.
"Tell me... How come you talk to sub dean Lilith so casually?" the auburn asked to crack the ice.
"Oh, Lilith is Eda's sister, she talks about her a lot, so I feel like I already know her!" she answered simply.
"Eda? You mean coach Edalyn?
"Is that how they call her here?" Luz asked quizzically, Eda hated formalities.
"Uh... Not exactly, most students just call her by her first name, but I don't feel comfortable talking so casually to an adult."
"Oh... I... I don't usually notice." She said following by a short laugh."When someone makes me feel at ease I talk to them casually, unless they ask me to be formal."
"And how do you know Coach Edalyn?"
"I live in her house."
"Oh really?" said Amity with surprise.
"Yes, my mami and Eda met each other a few years ago in college when mami traveled to this country to do a Master's degree in health administration and school health, she received her Master's degree about 6 months ago, she was recommended to work here, she's the new nursing manager."
"Oh! I haven't met her yet."
"Then I guess you don't hurt yourself very often." Said the brunette with a wink.
The auburn laughed briefly.
"Not really, I'm usually very cautious."
They finally arrived at the doors of the first building.
"This is the St. Nicholas building, patron saint of children, here are the Elementary school kids." Amity began to explain pointing to the building. "Their uniform is yellow and brown, our schedules are very different, so we hardly ever run into them, let alone at recess or lunch."
"Each uniform is different?" Luz asked curiously.
"That's right, this is to tell the students apart." Amity continued with her polite smile.
Luz and Amity continued walking through the vast campus as the auburn explained in detail the history of the buildings and educational logistics.
She learned that each building was named after a saint who was usually the patron saint of the students to whom it corresponded.
St. Expeditus for the middle school building, patron saint of the young people.
St. Joseph of Cupertino for the College building, patron saint of students.
And...
St. Judas Thaddeus for the high school building, patron saint of... impossible causes.
Apparently one of the old deans thought it was funny to name the building that way since he considered that at that age, teenagers were more problematic.
Haha.
It was also the building where she and Amity would be studying in the company of other teenagers.
Amity promised her that they would return to the building to show her inside.
But first she showed her the impressive greenhouse, full of local and exotic plants.
Amity explained that this was where the botany club students worked, just in case she was interested.
There was a girl there, shorter than her, with a chubby build, short wavy black hair, and pretty green eyes hidden behind large round glasses.
The interaction was odd, for as soon as they entered, the girl briefly looked at Amity with defiant eyes, quickly excused herself, and walked away carrying two sacks of fertilizer that, in Luz's eyes, looked quite heavy.
" She is Willow." Amity told her. "She was the middle school club leader, she'll probably get into the high school club this year."
"Is everything okay?" Luz asked hesitantly as she rested a hand on Amity's shoulder.
The young girl was a little startled and took a step backwards moving away from the touch.
Luz shrank and stepped back as well.
"Ah... Yeah." Amity excused herself returning the polite smile to her face. "We just... We don't get along very well."
The chestnut haired girl regained her composure quickly.
"Let's get going." She said solemnly.
Despite her stubborn curiosity, Luz didn't ask any more questions.
She then showed her the orchard, where there were multiple vegetables and some fruit trees, Amity explained to her that the products grown in the orchard were what they used to cook in the cafeteria, and that it was the students themselves who were in charge of taking care of and harvesting what was planted in the orchard.
A little further on, behind the vegetable garden, Amity showed her a sown plot of land, without any sprouts, but surrounded by grassland.
"This is the garden, there are many flowers planted, but they will grow until spring, it's one of my favorite places, you're going to love it when it blooms." She mentioned with a smile and soothing voice.
"Do you like flowers?" asked Luz calmly, following the tone of the conversation.
"Yes." Amity said still smiling. "I like them so much, sometimes I'd like to join the botany club..."
"And why don't you?"
Amity tensed up as if she hadn't expected the question.
"Uhhh..." She hesitated. "Because of Willow! Like I told you, we don't get along very well, it would be awkward."
Luz wasn't entirely convinced...But she had just met Amity, it didn't seem fair to try to interrogate her.
"Let's continue." Amity continued, quickly changing the subject. "Only two more spots to go before we get back to the Judas building."
Luz snorted.
"Is that how you call it?"
Amity blushed slightly.
"That's how everyone calls it, it's easier than saying "St. Judas Thaddeus building," some people just outright call it Judas."
Luz laughed softly.
"It's okay, I wasn't really judging you, it's just that you seemed to take it all so seriously."
Amity frowned.
"Of course I take it seriously, he's a saint!"
Luz flinched at the loud voice, Amity recoiled, and her irritated face changed to one of discomfort.
"You... You think it's disrespectful?"
Luz waved her hands hurriedly in denial.
"No, no, not at all!" Professed the brunette in a nervous voice. "I was just kidding, sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable, it's just that the name "Judas" is a little weird and... I don't know, it kind of cracks me up."
Amity looked down.
"I'm sorry, religion is a big thing in my family... I worry about this kind of thing."
Luz approached again and hesitantly raised her hand in Amity's direction, hesitating a little.
When the girl didn't move, he gently rested a palm on her shoulder.
"Easy... I really don't think you said anything offensive, quite the contrary, it's nice that you defend your family's values like that, you're very brave, sorry if I offended you."
Amity smiled very slightly.
"It's okay, you didn't offend me, I thought I said something wrong."
The auburn took a step back and Luz's hand fell gently from her shoulder.
"Let's move on." Pronounced the auburn again. "There's not much time left, and there are still places to visit."
The next point of visit was the gigantic church.
As Luz had first suspected, the statue in front of the cathedral was that of the founder, Amity's great-great-grandfather, but the the church...
It was impressive.
The ceilings were so high, decorated with beautiful murals with cherubs and saints that Luz did not know.
...
She had always wondered how artists painted those murals on such high ceilings.
It must have been long and frightening.
The windows, larger than her entire body, were covered in colored glass, which illuminated Amity with a gorgeous spectrum of color as Luz strained to hear the words coming out of her mouth.
Wow...
After explaining to her that every Monday they had to attend mass before the clubs activities began, they continued to the last, and furthest, point.
Amity guided Luz towards a path that stretched until it reached behind the dense forest that was at the back of the facilities.
That school was absurdly large, she was even surprised that it went everywhere on foot.
During the few minutes they walked down the path, Luz told Amity about how she had come to the country when her mother had finally gotten a job with which she could afford for Luz to live with her and her sister, who had recently graduated from college which she had paid for by working part time, of how she had lived with her extremely strict and not very supportive aunt that, because of her curious nature that tended to get her into some trouble, did not always make her feel welcome, she told her about the boxing team, how she was the best pitcher on the baseball team, and Amity listened to her with genuine interest and attention.
The young foreign girl was strangely fascinating to her, her enthusiasm and bubbly personality caught her attention, she had never met someone who showed so much enthusiasm and energy to someone who was practically a stranger.
Luz was very different... Weird.
But nice.
"Where are we going now?" She asked curiously.
"To the last point." Amity answered simply. "We're going to the stables."
Luz's face lit up with excitement.
"So you do have horses?!" She asked excitedly.
Amity looked at her with her characteristic polite smile.
"That's right, for the equestrian club, we also have a small dairy farm and a chicken coop, they're just finishing the trail."
Luz, who had never seen a real horse before, and seeing the relatively short plane that remained, hurried to run a few yards to shorten the trail.
When she saw that Amity wasn't following, she fleetingly turned back and grabbed her hand.
"What are you waiting for, come on!" she said excitedly then broke into a run, dragging the auburn with her.
After running the remaining space, they reached the end of the path, and Luz marveled at the vast green space where, nearby, she could see small buildings made of wood.
The stables.
With renewed energy, she ran towards them again, dragging Amity with her.
Once in front of the stables, Luz gazed with fascination at the small wooden construction, the horses, in individual barracks, were quietly eating or just existing.
"Wooooow." She couldn't help but exclaim.
"Luz..." Pronounced the girl beside her, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Can you please let go of me?"
Amity's voice sounded uncomfortable as she watched their joined hands.
Luz watched as well, marveling as her early suspicion proved correct.
Her hand completely wrapped around Amity's.
"Luz..."Pronounced the auburn again, Luz released her hand quickly.
"Sorry!" Apologized the brunette hurriedly. "It's just that I've never seen a real horse, and I got a little excited!"
"You got a little too excited." Amity stated rubbing her hand after the brunette's tight grip as she took a cautious step backwards.
The new girl was very... Effusive.
And she wasn't used to that much physical contact.
It was a bit uncomfortable.
But Amity said nothing, her job was to leave a good impression, she had to avoid Luz's touch subtly.
She approached the horses' stalls and began to explain to Luz the way she could have access to them, she also told her the names of each one.
When she reached the last horse, Amity showed a slight change in her face.
A gesture that was almost tender and almost imperceptible.
But Luz noticed it.
"This is King." She said approaching the horse, who affectionately brought his muzzle close to Amity's upturned palm and nuzzled against it. "He's Coach Edalyn's favorite horse... And mine too."
The horse reached over Amity's palm and affectionately rubbed his muzzle against her cheek, causing the young girl to let out a soft, delighted chuckle accompanied by a tender smile.
"He's very cuddly."
Wow...
Luz couldn't help but watch completely mesmerized, a dopey smile taking over her face so subtly that she didn't even notice.
Amity turned her face towards her, catching her red-handed as she stared at her shamelessly.
"What's wrong?" She asked her still sporting the sincere smile the horse had elicited from her, which was completely different from the polite smile she had offered her several times.
Oh, wow...
Luz turned her head quickly, rubbing the back of her neck, she was about to let out a myriad of incoherent gibberish, when she was interrupted.
"Heeeeeeeey Mittens!" A male voice was heard from behind.
"What are you doin' here?" complemented a female one.
Amity rolled her eyes stifling a grunt of annoyance.
Both girls turned to see two young people coming trotting towards them.
Both were clearly twins, it was obvious that they were older by at least a couple of years, they were wearing sports clothes that, in Luz's eyes, were a bit...
Revealing.
They were both wearing mid-thigh length shorts and tank tops, sneakers, bright golden blond hair that shone with dazzling highlights in the summer sun and a cute little mole on the opposite side of each of their faces.
As they ran towards them Luz was wondering if she was dreaming of the Baywatch series again.
If Luz wasn't bisexual before she came to this school, she definitely was now.
"Hey Mittens." Said the boy when they finally reached the spot where they stood, as they both took shaky breaths.
"I've told you guys a thousand times not to call me that in public." She spat angrily as her face turned an adorable shade of red.
"Who's your friend?" the girl asked.
Amity huffed with resignation.
"This is Luz Noceda, she's new on campus, I'm giving her a tour." Then she turned to Luz. "Luz, these are-"
"We're Amity's siblings." The girl interrupted.
"And we're way cooler than her." Complemented the young man.
Huh...
Siblings.
There must have been something in the water at the Blight house.
Amity looked at them with a disgusted gesture.
"Are you two done making fools of yourselves?" She asked with annoyance.
"Aw~ Mittens, don't get jealous, we're just trying to be nice."
Amity rolled her eyes at her brother's words.
"I'm Emira." Said the girl extending her hand, which Luz took after a hesitation.
"And I'm Edric." Complemented the young man extending his hand as well, which Luz shook, this time immediately.
"We saw you girls running to the stables and came to say hi." Edric continued speaking. "We were running a few miles."
Emira nodded her head.
"Buuuuut."Edric said stretching the word. "We're leaving now, because Dad's over there."
Edric pointed with a thumb a few dozen meters behind him, where a tall man could be seen, dressed in an elegant burgundy suit that just by looking at him, Luz felt like she was stealing, hair, just barely long and bushy arranged neatly combed back, and an immaculately trimmed lock beard closed over his chin and around his lips, the man walked relaxedly around the fields.
Yep.
The water at the Blight house was definitely special.
Luz hadn't noticed, but there were several students in the field, some running, some sitting under the shade of the trees, and a couple riding horses.
Amity grimaced uncomfortably as she watched her father near the trees.
She glanced at her watch quickly and sighed.
"Looks like we took a little longer than I expected, he left his office..."
The twins looked at her sympathetically.
"Well, we won't delay you any longer." The boy concluded.
"I'm going to do some stretching and leave too." Emira stated, then stepped forward and leaned in closer to Luz. "Luz, if you ever want to take a more fun tour..."
Her brother imitated her and approached her as well, leaning his face next to his sister.
"... You can look for us, we'll show you the real fun places around the school."
Luz swallowed saliva as the twins stood upright turning around to run away in the same direction.
The brunette couldn't look away for a few seconds as a faint pink colored her cheeks.
Amity looked at her with a raised eyebrow, then rolled her eyes.
So typical.
The auburn cleared her throat to get Luz's attention, who shook her head as she snapped back to reality.
"Come on, you have to introduce yourself to the dean."
Suddenly, Amity's phone rang.
The girl pulled it out of her pocket with a frown, but when she saw the who was calling her, she smiled brightly.
"Can you hold on a bit? I have to take this."
"Sure!" Luz said nonchalantly. "Take your time."
Amity tapped the screen to answer.
" Hey Melie!" She said excitedly as she walked a few feet away from Luz. "How was your flight?"
While Amity was busy, Luz returned her attention to the horse that was still behind her, inside his crate.
She approached him curiously and cautiously, holding out her hand in front of him.
The horse sniffed her palm and, after a few seconds, puffed and rubbed his muzzle against it.
Luz smiled brightly, and with a little more confidence, reached her other hand out to stroke the equine's jaw.
King seemed to be enjoying the affections as Luz became more and more excited moving closer and closer to the horse, even nuzzling her own cheek against his.
"Oh~! Who's a cute little horse, you are, yes you are!" She said sweetly as she scratched under his chin.
The horse whinnied happily.
Luz wanted to see it fully.
She looked to the side briefly.
King looked like a very calm and docile horse...
Surely there would be no problem if...
The young girl reached out her hand to the latch of the little door and opened it carefully, then took hold of the door and pulled it out slowly.
King stood still and didn't seem to flinch.
Luz smiled mischievously and continued to pet the horse as he carefully stepped into the stall.
The horse was magnificent.
The jet black coat was shiny and silky against the skin of Luz's palm, and the girl was delighted with the pattern of patches on it.
Or rather... Patch.
The entire coat was black except for the mane and the one around his head, that was white, not completely covering his eyelids and lower jaw, giving the appearance that he had a bare skull.
To Luz's eyes, it was captivating.
Completely inside, Luz stroked the horse's back until she reached the rear, where she scratched at the end of the back, getting another joyful neigh from the horse.
Completely fascinated and touched, Luz took her phone out of her pocket with the purpose of taking a picture.
And, as often happened to her, her clumsy hands failed to pull the phone out, which slipped out of her fingers.
Desperately, trying to keep the phone from falling, Luz tried to catch it by juggling a little with it...
Until she slammed her palm against it at last managing to grab it...
Slapping King's thigh in the process.
The horse whinnied in fright, and in a panic, bolted out of the stall.
Oh, mierda!
The runaway horse ran at full speed across the field without Luz being able to do anything about it.
"WATCH OUT!" she shouted desperately to get the attention of anyone who might be in the equine's path.
The people in the field quickly turned around at the thunderous scream.
Two in particular were the most worried.
"KING!" Amity shouted in panic. "KING, STOP!"
But King didn't stop his mad dash.
"EVERYONE! GET OFF THE FIELD!" shouted Alador Blight, trying to keep his composure.
The teens on the field quickly got up and began evacuating.
All but one.
The blonde girl, with her back turned to the catastrophe that was happening, was stretching nonchalantly, with the music in her headphones too loud to hear the yelling.
The horse was heading right in her direction.
"EMIRA!" Amity cried out frantically, running in the same direction as the horse. "EMIRA, RUN!"
The young blonde finally snapped at the screams and turned around, panicking at once as she saw the horse running towards her at full speed.
Frightened, she tried to run, but the urgency made her stumble when King was already a few meters away from her.
She only managed to cover her face with her arms.
"EMIRA!" her father shouted desperately.