C6 Cyclamen
On Tuesday morning, Luz arrived with a fifteen-minute head start before the first class.
She was lucky that, unlike her, Lola was famous for never being late anywhere.
And, from the start she was more than happy to be taken to school and not have to go on her own in a region of her country that was not exactly known for being the safest.
Appreciating her new life, Luz finally reached her locker, but passed it when she saw that Willow was already there, rummaging through her own locker.
"Willow!" she greeted cheerfully approaching her new friend.
The black-haired girl poked her head out of her locker to look at the greeting brunette.
"Oh, Luz, good morning!" She greeted enthusiastically.
"Good morning!" Replied the young woman reaching over to briefly kiss the green-eyed girl's cheek.
Luz pulled back to watch as Willow's pale skin flushed.
" What was that about?" She asked her after laughing briefly.
Luz tilted her head in confusion.
" I' m... I'm saying hi to you?" she said hesitantly.
"Oh!" Willow laughed again. "Is that a Dominican greeting?"
Luz's eyes widened in understanding.
"Oh..." She mused. "Oh! I'm so sorry Willow, my sister told me not to be so touchy, I forgot and..."
Willow waved her hand dismissing Luz's concerns.
"It's okay, it doesn't bother me, you just caught me off guard." She told her while still smiling. "My parents are very affectionate, so I'm used to it."
The pout on Luz's face implied that she wasn't very convinced, but Willow reached over and kissed her cheek briefly as well.
"You do return the greeting, don't you?"
Luz smiled brightly at her.
"Yes!" she laughed. "Mostly at the same time, but we do."
They both laughed for a few seconds to calm down quickly.
"You're early." Luz told her.
" Oh right, I stayed with my sister and her girlfriend yesterday, so Becca brought me over really early, she said she wanted to talk to Boscha before classes started." Replied Willow with a shrug.
"Right! What was it that your sister wanted?"
Willow rolled her eyes.
"She wanted me to go with them to pick out outfits for the wedding, just Wionna's, she'll wear a dress at the ceremony and a suit during the reception, I guess that's why Becca wants to talk to Boscha, to go with them to pick out their wardrobe." Willow concluded, crossing her arms.
"Wouldn't it have been easier if you all went together?" Luz asked innocently.
Willow looked at her raising an eyebrow.
"Don't you remember what happened yesterday in the cafeteria?"
"Oh! Right!" Luz recalled, clapping her hands together briefly. "Sorry, I've been a little distracted since yesterday, a lot has been going on."
"Ah, I have to tell you about Miss Morningstar's class!" Willow told her in anguish.
"Oh, don't worry about that!" Luz dismissed with a slight wave of her hand. "I talked to Amity yesterday before I left, we're not exactly friends, but she forgave me and today we're going to-"
"She did what?!" Willow exclaimed in surprise in a raised tone.
Luz recoiled at the sudden shout.
"S-she forgave me?" replied the Dominican hesitantly.
Willow stared at her dumbfounded.
"Amity forgave you?" Willow repeated in disbelief. "What did you do?"
Luz fiddled with her hands uncomfortably.
"I told you yesterday..."
"Not that! What did you do to make her forgive you?"
Luz looked at Willow suspiciously.
"I just... I talked to her. I mean! It wasn't an easy chat! Especially with how much I have trouble expressing myself! But yeah! I just... Uh..." Luz slowed her speech as she saw Willow's uncomprehending face. "I just talked to her."
"You freed a horse, endangered her sister, embarrassed her in front of her father, had her phone taken away and... She forgave you? In less than a day? Just because you talked to her?" Willow enlisted in astonishment. "I... I can't believe it."
Luz shrunk in on herself.
"Hey! I know it was a lot, but I don't think what I did was unforgivable, it was an acci-"
"No Luz, no!" interrupted Willow again, denying with both hands. "I don't mean it that way, I'm sorry! It's just... I can't believe..."
Luz frowned.
"Is it so unbelievable that Amity forgave me?" She asked unable to hide a note of anger as she crossed her arms.
"Yes! Luz, it is unbelievable! I've known Amity for over ten years, and besides her siblings, I've never seen her forgive anyone! And... Me... When we were friends... Until she stopped doing it..." She added awkwardly. "Amity is very cold, and at least since we grew apart, she only looks for ways to stand out in classes and be the best, if someone gets in her way, she pushes them away... She doesn't forgive, or give second chances."
Luz looked at Willow with distress, apparently the memory still hurt her.
The black-haired girl shook her head.
"That's... Impressive... But I still have to tell you about the class."
"But, I already made up with Amity." Luz affirmed. "You don't have to tell me anything..."
"Oh, right, you talked to Amity..." Willow raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "And she didn't say anything to you?"
Luz tilted her head to the side, confused.
"Uhhh... Am I missing something? We just agreed to meet today at recess and lunch to cover the hour Miss Morningstar requested."
Willow's eyes widened in surprise.
"She really didn't tell you anything..." She brought a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "Funny... I thought Amity didn't believe in such things."
Patience was not one of Luz's virtues.
"Wiiiillow..." She uttered insistently to get her friend's attention. "Is there something you want to share with me?"
Snapping out of her pensive state, Willow looked at Luz soberly.
"Yes. Did you notice the mood of the class yesterday when the work partners were being chosen?"
Luz frowned.
"Yeah... It got pretty weird, I remember when they said your name, you sighed like you'd been told you passed the hardest subject of all."
Willow laughed briefly.
"I wouldn't have been so relieved if it had been that, I was very close to being in the antepenultimate pair, and it's the least enjoyable of the last three."
"What does that mean?"
The black-haired girl took a deep breath.
"Miss Morningstar started teaching when my sister Wionna was in eighth grade, that year she was teaching only one group, a ninth grader, at that time no one noticed yet, but the next year, she started teaching in Highschool too, this time it was four groups, and in all of them the same thing happened, and the year after that, and the year after that, with every group she taught, of any level."
Luz grew even more impatient.
"Willow, enough with the mystery, you're scaring me!"
But Willow was too amused by Luz's expressions, so she continued to explain, in the most dramatic way possible.
"In this academy, we all know who Miss Morningstar is, and what's in store for you if you're part of the triangle of destiny."
"Triangle of destiny!" gasped Luz, then asked urgently. "What's that?!"
Willow pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.
"The triangle of fate is the last three couples that Miss Morningstar chooses in each group, each couple has a different fate, but always carved in stone, the antepenultimate one gets along well for the whole semester, they get to be best friends, but after the school year is over, they always have a huge fight that everyone hears about, it has even gotten to be physical fights, and it always happens."
"Good morning girls!" They heard Gus' cheerful voice approach down the hallway.
"Hi Gus!" Willow greeted enthusiastically.
The brunette gave a brief little jump coming back to reality.
"Oh, hi Gus!" She said as she leaned over to briefly kiss the boy's cheek.
Like Willow, Gus blushed faintly.
"Ah! Sorry, I forgot again, I'm just so used to saying hi like that!"
Gus looked at Willow curiously.
"It's a Latin greeting." Explained the black-haired girl." She kissed me, too."
Gus gasped in astonishment as his eyes sparkled.
"And why do you all greet like that?" he asked curiously, but before Luz could answer, Willow interrupted.
"Not now Gus, I'm explaining to Luz about the triangle of destiny, I'm just going on the antepenultimate pair."
"Oh!" Exclaimed the young man excitedly. "Last year a college boy sent his partner to the hospital because they slept with his mother!"
Luz's corneas almost popped out.
"BUT-"
"Oh, and that's just one of many Luz-"
"Gus." Willow interrupted. "We only have so much time, Luz is part of the triangle of fate."
The young man gasped.
Luz put her nails to her mouth and evoked Willow to continue anxiously.
"The second to last pair always does something amazing and impressive, and they become really good friends, that's how Gus and I met."
Luz gasped and Gus took the floor.
"We were a pair two years ago in eighth grade, we made a short film in Willow's garden at her house, in her HUGE garden, and it went viral, we even got interviewed a few locations."
"Wow!" Luz exclaimed. "And why didn't you do more?"
"I don't really like the idea of public life, and Gus has too many hobbies to devote himself to just one thing." Willow said with a slight laugh. "But we've been friends ever since."
"The best." Gus affirmed raising a palm to bump it with Willow's.
"But..." Willow continued. "What you're interested in is the last pair."
" Luz is part of the last pair?!" Gus exclaimed. "With who?!"
"Hold on Gus." Said Willow stopping her best friend's bouncing. "Luz, the last pair is the most famous of all. The members of the last pair... They always end up together."
Luz was silent for a few moments.
"Together?" she asked. "Together as in... a couple?"
"Oh, it sounds so simple." Willow continued. "But the first couple that formed in a class of Miss Morningstar's got married five years ago, and she announces in class every time her former students invite her to a marriage."
Gus added. "Not even for a while, they end up together and in ten years, none of them have broken their relationship, it's not like the other two, it's not always something showy, sometimes there are public declarations, once a guy saved his partner when a crazy guy came in with a gun and got shot, but everyone always realizes who they are, and they always end up together."
A myriad of expressions crossed the Dominican's face as her friends explained in detail the last part of the triangle of fate.
And she felt a pressure in her chest that she couldn't tell if it was excitement or distress.
Uncertainty?
"Always?" She questioned with emphasis.
"Always." Willow confirmed. "At least in ten years, she hasn't failed once, with any of the last three couples.
"Are you sure?" Luz asked holding her nails to her mouth uneasily.
"My sister studied here until she finished college." Willow counted. "She's almost ten years older than me, and she always swore to me that Miss Anika hadn't been wrong once, and, since I've been here, I've never heard of a time when the prophecies didn't come true either, and that rumor would spread pretty fast, believe me."
Luz squeezed her cheeks with both hands and tugged at her skin until her eyelids visibly stretched.
"What am I supposed to do with this information?" she turned to the lockers and leaned her forehead against them. "First day and I'm part of a school prophecy! Just my luck!"
She slid to the floor making the metal squeak against her skin.
Willow patted her head gently.
"Yeah...As far as I heard, Amity didn't take it too well either, for the first time in life I heard she argued with a teacher...She always asks for extra points, but she never begrudges a teacher's decision."
Willow tilted her head and quirked an eyebrow as she folded her arms.
"Amity's done a couple of weird things because of you..."
Luz gasped dramatically and stood up facing Willow and Gus again.
"Amity! Oh cramity, what am I going to do now?! I have to see her today!"
Gus bit his lip thoughtfully.
"Well... Miss Morningstar had never chosen a same-sex pairing as her last. Maybe it can be a different case?"
Luz frowned.
"And why should it be any different?" She claimed, crossing her arms.
Willow raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"Luz... You like Amity?"
The brunette blushed instantly.
"What?" she snorted feigning a relaxed posture. "Of course not! I barely know her! And she doesn't even like me, plus she's terrifying when she gets mad! I mean, yeah, she's really pretty and I feel really comfortable talking to her! You could say we have chemistry- AND I'VE TALKED TOO MUCH ALREADY!"
Willow looked at her with a more than surprised expression, Gus looked a little less shocked and Luz cringed with discomfort.
She took a deep breath, and continued speaking.
"No... I don't actually like her, I do like her, but I don't like like her, I'm not exactly the type of person who falls in love quickly, in fact I'm very clumsy with flirting, and although I do think Amity is cute, I don't want something like that with her... Rather I'd like her to be my friend."
Willow sighed.
"I hope you mean what you say." She told her with concern." Because Amity is straight as a board, when we were kids she was always talking about how she would have the perfect husband, her perfect kids in her perfect house... I would dare say she's even homophobic."
Luz's eyes widened in surprise.
" Right..." She mused doubtfully. "You told me something about that yesterday. Is it something I should be worried about? can you tell me more?"
Willow hugged herself and Gus looked at her with concern as he rested a hand on her shoulder.
" Luz." The green-eyed girl began in a wispy voice. "I still don't feel comfortable telling you this, and if it weren't for the pin I saw yesterday I probably wouldn't tell you, but if you're going to be Amity's partner, it's best that you know, so you can... Protect yourself."
Luz stepped forward, approaching Willow with an apologetic gesture.
"Willow, you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to, I can manage..."
"I want to tell you." Willow interrupted. "It's just... A little difficult."
The black-haired girl took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly.
"I... I have two dads Luz." She said cautiously.
Luz tilted her head to the side and smiled slightly.
"Oh... Ok, thanks for sharing that with me."
Willow sighed with relief.
"It's not that it's a secret, in fact most of the school knows, but my family wasn't always open about it, we, my sister and I, always knew, but daddy and papa told us not to say anything, to always say that papa was our godfather and that he lived with us."
Luz and Gus were silent for Willow to continue.
"Amity and I were inseparable since preschool, we did everything together, homework, playdates, my dads would take us camping and Amity's driver would take us to music lessons in the afternoon, she spent a lot of time at my house and I at hers, but for some reason, Amity always preferred being at my house... She got along great with my parents and my sister, we loved to bake with my daddy, and my papa would read to us before bed when we had sleepovers... I never called him Papa when Amity was around, but Amity loved them... I knew it... She got to tell them, so I was very surprised when..."
As she said the last sentence, Willow's voice broke, and she was having difficulty continuing.
Luz came closer and her hand accompanied Gus's, resting on the black-haired girl's opposite shoulder.
"Willow, really, you don't have to do this." She told her empathetically.
The green-eyed girl took a deep breath.
"No... I'm fine, it's just not something I've told a lot of people, it's kind of hard." She told her as she regained her composure. "When we entered Middle School, a lot of things started to change, my sister is pansexual, our parents never forbade her to express it, she became close to the community, she went to pride parades, at school she was discreet, but never denied what she was, and... She inspired our parents to come out."
Luz gasped softly and Gus moved his hand from Willow's shoulder to instead wrap his arms around her back in a hug.
"It wasn't a public announcement, they just stopped hiding that they were a couple, Wionna and I stopped calling papa godfather, gradually people noticed, I'd told you, at this school they're not the most tolerant, especially parents, we suffered bullying for a while."
Luz's eyes widened as her hand lightly tightened on Willow's shoulder.
"I didn't really get a chance to talk to Amity, she heard me call my papa the first day and the next she told me we couldn't be friends anymore, that she couldn't believe I had kept something so horrible from her, that she never wanted to talk to me or my family again... That was practically the last time I talked to her, the next day she started hanging out with Boscha and the rest of her friends who were always abusing me... We were best friends, and she turned her back on me just because my dads loved each other." A tear welled up in her eyes with nothing she could do to stop it. "Then her father tried to expel Wionna and me, we had to file a discrimination report so we could keep coming to school."
Luz gasped audibly and threw herself on Willow and Gus, hugging the black-haired girl tightly.
"Oh Willow, I'm so sorry you had to go through all that!" She exclaimed as she squeezed her new friend into her arms along with Gus.
"It's okay Luz." Assured the green-eyed one much more calmly. "It happened years ago, remembering it hurts, but it doesn't affect me anymore."
She then raised her arms between the sheet of friends that covered her and gently pushed them both away from herself, then turned to Luz and took her gently and firmly by the shoulders.
"But I'm telling you this because I don't want you to end up hurt or in danger." She told her with concern. "I know it's not nice to hide what you are, I know that better than anyone, but if you're going to be Amity's partner for the whole semester... It's better you avoid having a bad time, besides, your mom is the new nursery director. Right?"
Luz gasped and clenched her fists in concern.
"Amity's family tried to get us out of school, I don't want you to go through what I did, I don't want anyone to go through something like that, so, at least with her, please be very careful."
The brunette felt her jaw clench and her stomach knot, the excitement she felt the day before when Amity finally forgave her, vanished in an instant.
She couldn't help the displeasure she felt for the girl who had captivated her just the day before, the birth of someone else's grudge.
And the prophecy of the triangle of destiny...
"Mierda!" Luz exclaimed bringing her hands to her face again pressing her fists hard against her skin in frustration. "What am I going to do?"
She looked at her friends in despair.
"The pairings that get together! Do they have toxic relationships or something?" she asked hurriedly.
Willow and Gus were surprised at the question.
"Uhhh..." mused the boy. "Not really, not as far as I know."
"In fact it's quite the opposite..." Complemented Willow touching her chin. "They're always very cute couples, they've never been seen fighting, they're famous for that too, many say "if you're part of the last couple, you found the love of your life."
Luz stroked her hair.
She didn't know how to feel.
When Willow told her about the school legend, she felt curious, Luz would be lying if she said she wasn't at least a little superstitious.
And with a flawless track record, even more so, being something that apparently the whole school knew, and moreover, believed, it was hard not to believe it too.
At first, while she didn't actually liked her, the idea of falling in love with Amity didn't seem unpleasant to her.
It had even got her a little excited.
Hey! The girl is cute!
But with this...
She was scared.
Now she disliked Amity and was grateful that she didn't agree to be friends with her the day before.
But with the prophecy.
No...
She couldn't fall in love with a straight girl.
She couldn't fall in love with a homophobic girl.
And as usual, Luz's train of thought was derailed.
What if Amity found out and tried her hardest to avoid the prophecy?
What if her mom got fired from the job she'd always dreamed of?
Willow said a same-sex couple had never been chosen?
What if it was one of those sad stories where you fall in love with your straight friend and stay there forever just wishing for more?
Besides.
Luz couldn't imagine loving Amity.
Not with what she had just heard.
Then why was she so upset?
"LUZ!" She finally heard the voices of her friends, coming out of her trance.
Gus reached over and touched her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" he asked with concern.
"I... Uh..." She stammered. "I'm just really worried... With the prophecy thing, I don't even want to be around Amity right now, I know it sounds silly... But I don't want some weird magic forcing me to like her."
Willow came closer too and took her hand.
"Luz, no one can force you into anything, if you don't want to, you're not going to, no matter what the prophecy says."
Luz looked away, not entirely convinced.
"Hey..." Willow mused, touching her cheek to make her look her in the eyes again. "My dads have told me "If the others already did it, I can too, and if no one else has made it, I can be the first," it's your choice Luz, you just have to work with her for a semester."
The brunette smiled slightly, a little more motivated.
And their conversation was interrupted by the beeping of Luz's watch.
"Ah..." She said. "Sorry, my watch beeps when it's five minutes before a class starts, sometimes I get distracted and don't notice until the bell rings and I'm late for class."
She pulled both kids in and gave them a very warm hug.
"I feel so much better, thank you guys." She told them in a soft voice. "I'm glad to have met you."
She separated from them and went to her locker, grabbed her books, put them in her backpack and headed to her first class.
Gus and Willow walked a few feet behind her.
"Do you really think Luz could be the first one out of the prophecy?" The young man asked curiously.
The green-eyed remained silent and continued to move forward.
"Willow?"
"I don't know Gus." She replied dryly at last. "It's not the first time the last pairing is absurdly mismatched, it's also not the first time someone tender and kind has been paired with an asshole... I just hope Amity doesn't ruin this for me too."