Hey, readers. WaterDragonMaverick here with the next installment of "Palisman Café". Last time, Luz enjoyed her new average day at her summer job since coming to Bonesborough. With friends in and out of the café, Luz is liking her summer so far. But now, we'll be having her go someplace else. I think it's time that we returned to Hexside for her to see her friends and how they're doing in their summer school classes.
Class is in session.
The Owl House is owned by Disney and was created by Dana Terrace
At Hexside School of Arts and Science, the students were going about their usual business now that their main summer classes ended. Many were either heading home or spending time with their friends, but others were studying or attending clubs. One such club was the Unidentified Mysterious Animal Society, which Augustus Porter was the president of. "The wonders of the unknown," he said as he put several pictures on a desk for his fellow club members to look at while wearing a prop crown labeled 'President'. "The Chupacabra of Mexico. The Loch Ness Monster in Scotland. Bigfoot himself. All are creatures believed to be fakes, but only because most people don't keep an open mind or find the details," he states to his peers. "Any questions?"
The group of four people all had different expressions before a boy wearing a Construction Track uniform raised his hand. "Yeah, Augustus. Is this really what we should be talking about? All these common cryptids that we already know about," the boy said dismissively.
"Mattholomule, I was using them as examples because you're the newest member of our club," Gus stated to the older boy. "We'll be moving onto more obscure cryptids to talk about. Such as the Owlman, Cherufe, and Hibagon."
"Well, I don't need to discuss stuff like that because there was something I had at my old school that you don't have here," Mattholomule stated as he threw the pictures off the desk. As Gus grabbed them, the older boy dumped the contents of his bag onto the desk. "Actual evidence."
The other three members of the club gasped as they looked at several items Mattholumule revealed. An apparent skull of a small cryptid, a bag of black scales, and a large tooth-like object. A girl with freckles and a blue Hexside uniform named Bo was the first to speak. "So real. I wanna touch them," she said.
"Go ahead," Mattholomule responded. "In my club, we didn't have any dumb rules about not seeing things for ourselves."
Hearing the boy, Gus gasped before looking at the list of rules for the UMAS on the chalkboard behind him. "Shh. He didn't mean that," Gus told the rules as he treated them like an actual person. When he did, he started collecting the items that his club members were checking out, much to their annoyance. "Thankfully, this isn't your club," Gus stated as he slammed the bag he held down and a crunching noise was heard from it.
"Exactly," Mattholomule retorted before facing the others. "Who here thinks I should be the club president?"
The two girls eagerly agreed, but the other boy said he was undecided. Hearing what they were saying about possibly being voted out, Gus was worried as he held the 'cryptid skull'. As he did, he noticed something about it. "Wait a minute. These are fakes," Gus said before slamming the skull on the table, revealing it to just be a painted egg. "Ugh, should have done that over a sink," Gus muttered to himself while the others gasped in shock at the egg yolk coating the kid's hand.
"Matt, how could you," a girl with a yellow Hexside uniform and an eyepatch named Eileen asked.
Mattholomule saw everyone's expressions, but calmed down before explaining himself. "How else was I supposed to lure this one creature that my family's been tracking," he said, getting everyone's attention again. "We've moved around so much because we've been following this one cryptid for quite a while," he said as he pulled out a newspaper clipping to show everyone.
As the UMAS looked at the photo of a blurry animalistic shape, Gus was still suspicious and felt that the older boy was lying. "I don't believe you," Gus stated. "Besides, this isn't even in English," he added as he took the paper and inspected it closer.
"You're just saying that because you're afraid of getting kicked out of office," Mattholomule stated. "It's your word against mine."
The members of the club discussed the conflict happening while Gus kept investigating the paper and realized that the text was in Spanish. Realizing this, Gus smiled as he figured out who could help him. "What if I brought in a translator," he told the Unidentified Mysterious Animal Society, catching everyone's attention while Mattholomule dismissed it.
"Oh please, who could you bring in to translate that," Matt questioned as the UMAS President put the clipping on the chalkboard with some tape.
"A friend of mine I made earlier in the summer," Gus stated. "She's been busy at her job, but I can have her visit to help out tomorrow. All to prove the existence of the unknown."
"Sure you will, Augustus," Mattholomule said as Gus became worried at his tone.
At Palisman Café, Gus explained the situation to Luz and Eda while having a cup of hot chocolate. "Gus, I'd love to come to school and help you, but things have been getting busier lately for some reason," Luz told her younger friend.
"Besides, there's nothing for you in that dweebus factory," Eda said to Luz before looking at Gus. "No offense, Dweebus."
"It's okay," Gus replied. "I come from a long line of dweebuses."
"I thought you said your dad was a reporter," Luz questioned. "That's actually a cool job."
"He's still a nerd like me," Gus stated. "Why else name me Augustus?"
"Good point," Luz remarked. "Anyway, I'd come and help if I wasn't helping out Eda."
Seeing that Luz did want to help her friend, Eda rolled her eyes before speaking to her. "I can close the café for a bit and have a day off for myself while you go help Dweebus in the bane of my teenage years. Just make sure to stick it to that jerk he's talking about," she said.
"Really!? Thank you, Eda," Luz exclaimed as she gave the older woman a big hug, catching her off-guard and making something fall out of Luz's pocket.
"Knock it off and go take care of all the animals before I change my mind," Eda stated as she freed herself from Luz's arms.
"Okay," Luz said as she went to check on all the animals in Palisman. "See you tomorrow, Gus!"
"Bye, Luz," the boy replied before leaving the café. After he closed the door, Gus cheered to himself and did a little victory dance as he made his way home. "You did it, Gus! You're the best!"
Seeing the 12-year old celebrate, Eda only rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Let's hope he can stick it to that kid," the woman said before hearing a ringtone. Looking on the ground, Eda saw Luz's phone fell out of her pocket when hugging her earlier. Picking it up and seeing it was Camila, Eda answered the video call. "You've reached Palisman Café. Luz can't come to the phone right now because she's being smothered by adorable little animals," Eda jokes as she saw Camilia's face.
"Hello, Eda," Camila replied. "I take it that was my answer as to where Luz is?"
"Yup. Had her check on the animals since she's going to help a friend with something for a club," Eda explained.
"I'm so glad that she's making new friends here. But I'm worried about when the summer's over and she has to come home," Camila said with a smile before it turned to a frown.
"Yeah. I know I'll probably miss the kid. She's been helping out quite a bit and things are always entertaining with her around," Eda admits.
Camila smiled as she heard how her daughter was doing at Palisman Café. "If that's the case, I'm sure she doesn't want to leave either. But she does have to return to school in Fall, even if she's been in trouble there quite a few times. I'm not even sure if her classmates will want her back after everything that happened."
"Oh yeah, Luz told me about that. Fake guts in an audition, spider breath griffin, cheerleading tryouts, and snakes with her book report," Eda listed with a laugh. "I know I was a bit of a troublemaker in school, but she's just quirky. Her friends actually like that about her."
"I'm sure that they'd want her to stay as well," Camila voiced. "But I'm not sure if there's anything to do about that."
Listening to the nurse, Eda sighed as she realized what she had to do to make Luz happy. "I think I know how I can make sure Luz is happy before summer vacation's over," Eda stated, prompting Camila to listen carefully.
The next morning, Gus was speaking to Willow outside of Hexside as they waited for Luz. "I'm glad that Luz was able to stop by today and you didn't lie to her about anything," Willow told her friend.
"I just want to prove that Mattholomule is the liar," Gus stated. "And since the UMAS doesn't have its meeting until this afternoon, I can show Luz around while you're in class."
"Are you sure this boy is trouble," Willow questioned.
"You don't understand. The members were going mad. They were bloodthirsty. They were touching objects. I had no choice but to call him out," Gus exclaimed.
"What about Campus Security?"
"As long as Luz doesn't do anything that would give her detention as a student, she'll be fine," Gus stated.
"What about detention," Luz questioned as she arrived at Hexside with her bag over her shoulder.
"Oh, nothing," Gus said before he reached into his own bag and grabbed something. "Oh, and wear this," he told Luz as he handed her a cowl from the Hexside uniforms. "We'll keep you as a surprise until the club meeting starts."
"A little showmanship, huh? I totally get it," Luz says as she wears the cowl with the hood up. "You bring the razzle, I'll bring the dazzle," she says as she opens her hands to spread some confetti from a little presentation.
Seeing Luz being her usual quirky self, Gus and Willow were silent for a moment before the Korean girl spoke. "Do you always have confetti on you or..."
Suddenly, a ringing sound went off and Gus checked his watch, which resembled a one-eyed demon. Turning off the alarm, he turned to Luz. "School's about to start. Let's go inside and give you the tour," Gus told Luz as he took her by the wrist and guided her. "See you after school, Willow."
"Bye, friend. Be safe. Make good choices," Luz told Willow as they passed by her.
While Willow went off to her homeroom, Gus and Willow soon walked through the halls of Hexside before seeing a pair of boys playing 'Monkey in the Middle' with a third boy's backpack. Soon, a pair of men wearing guard uniforms grabbed the troublemakers and dragged them away as they reacted in fear. "Who are they," Luz questioned as she pointed to the guards.
"Campus Security," Gus explained. "Since your last visit, Principal Bump had them step up their work. They smell trouble and anybody who gets caught by them is taken to detention."
"Yeesh. Good thing I'm here as a guest," Luz said before Gus took her hand and guided her down another hall.
"You shouldn't do anything that would send you to the principal's office," Gus told Luz as he looked at her, not paying attention to where he was going and bumping into somebody at a water fountain.
As the contents of Gus' bag spilled out, the young boy was quick to collect everything before seeing his presidential crown prop rolled to the feet of who knocked him down. "Augustus, you should really watch where you going," Mattholomule stated as he gave a sinister smirk and picked up the crown. "Don't want the president of the UMAS getting hurt on his last day in office," he added, mocking Gus further before seeing Luz help him up. "This must be your translator. Hmm. Looks like a regular girl to me," he said as he got in Luz's face.
"¡Oye! ¡Fuera de mi cara, asqueroso," Luz exclaimed in Spanish as she shoved Mattholomule aside, making him drop Gus' crown as he gasped in shock.
"She speaks Spanish," Matt squeaked out.
"And English," Gus added.
"And some Japanese from anime and tokusatsu shows," Luz admitted. "I'm a nerd like that. Hey, maybe Willow could teach me some Korean."
"Wouldn't hurt to ask later," Gus said to his friend as he picked up his crown. "But first, she's here to authenticate that newspaper you brought yesterday. See you at the meeting," he told Mattholomule smugly, knowing that he would be able to prove he was right about the would-be usurper.
Mattolomule leaned against the lockers and talked to himself as the weight of the situation finally hit him. "Oh, no, no, no, no! They can't know I lied. Then they'll never make me president," he muttered to himself before overhearing Luz and Gus again.
"As I was saying, we better not do anything that could get you in trouble with Campus Security or Principal Bump," Gus stated.
"I've learned my lessons about that from my last school year," Luz replied.
Thinking about what to do, Mattholomule had an evil grin on his face as he laughed to himself. "I have you now."
At the entrance of Hexside, Eda groaned as she looked at the building. "I've had this nightmare before," she muttered to herself. "At least I'm wearing clothes and not being chased by a giant bathtub of cockroaches this time," she said as she remembered one of her dreams involving school.
Walking through the halls, Eda made her way to Principal Bump's office and knocked on the door. When the old man answered, he looked at Eda with a neutral expression. "Edalyn. To what do I owe the pleasure of another visit," the principal said as he gestured for the silver-haired woman to have a seat.
"You know, it's a little weird to be sitting here after so long. Usually, you were yelling at me for picking fights or stealing," Eda joked while balancing a pencil on her upper lip while leaning back in the chair.
"What are you doing here, Edalyn," Bump asked again as he pressed a button on his desk, causing the front legs of the chair to be magnetically sealed to the floor and startling Eda.
Blowing her hair out of her face, Eda got to the point. "I want to enroll Luz Noceda at Hexside. I've already spoken with her mother and she asked me to do so while she applies for a new job in Bonesborough," Eda stated. "Now before you judge me abou-"
"That's not a bad idea," Principal Bump said, interrupting Eda. "Ever since her first visit, Willow Park has been excelling in her Botany Track classwork. If that's what she could do for one student, imagine if she were to join Hexside for the remainder of the summer program before attending normal classes in the Fall semester."
Eda was surprised at Bump's agreement, but smiled as the elderly man stood up. "Well, I'm glad that we could talk this through."
"Yes, I think the student body could learn a lot from having such an exchange student," Bump stated as he took a collection of files from a cabinet. "But before I even consider that, there's a lot to be answered for."
"I thought the Automaton incident was handled already," Eda questioned before Bump returned to his desk.
"Oh, I'm not talking about Luz," Bump explained. "I'm talking about the dissected animal displays, the graffiti, the scams, the cheating, Miss Jenkinmeyer's teeth," he listed, making Eda sink down in her chair like she was a guilty teenager at Hexside once again. "The trouble you caused when you were here, Eda," he said as he dropped the gathered files in front of the woman, showing that it was all her permanent record from her days as a student.
Looking it over, Eda only had one thing to say. "Huh. I thought there'd be more."
After their confrontation with Mattholomule, Gus and Luz were taking near a trophy case on an upper floor. "As president of the UMAS, I should feel bad about dunking on one of our own members. But as a Gus, I feel like doing this," the boy said before doing another victory dance and singing to himself.
As he did this, Luz was checking out the trophy case in awe. "Wow!" Looking at the various sports trophies and academic achievements, Luz even saw some for other categories. "Who got the trophy for the most broken bones," she asked Gus as a guard noticed her and tilted their head curiously.
"Maybe we should get to the club room so you know where it is," Gus remarked as he pulled Luz away from the glass. "Besides, that trophy case isn't the strongest and we don't want you getting in trouble."
"Okay," Luz said dejectedly as her question was never answered. "But you better give me the tour later since I'm here."
"Promise," Gus told her.
Soon, they were about to turn into another hallway when Luz recognized somebody familiar. "Oh hey, it's the Automaton professor," she pointed out. "I should introduce myself and apologize for the incident," she told Gus before walking over to the diminutive teacher. "Hey, Mr. Automaton Professor. Remember me," Luz said as she caught the man's attention, then started posing like she did when she was passing herself off as Willow's project.
Seeing the familiar pose, the teacher noticed how familiar Luz looked to him. "Ah, I thought you were recognizable," he said as he remembered that day.
"Yeah, I just wanted to apologize for everything back then. I'm Luz Noceda," Luz said as Gus stood to the side. "I only wanted to help Willow that day and I didn't mean for Amity to get in trouble with you."
"Everything's been settled from that day," the professor explained. "I've heard Willow has been doing much better with the Botany Track's assignments and Amity's been showing she's still Top Student material."
"That's great," Luz cheered as she heard her friends were doing well in class.
The teacher only chuckled as he felt Luz's infectious positivity. "I can tell you would be an eager student if you attended Hexside, Miss Noceda," the teacher remarked. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must go grade some papers."
"Okay, bye," Luz told the short man as he walked off.
"That went better than I expected," Gus voiced before checking his watch. "We still have time until the club meeting. Let's take that tour," he told Luz.
"Yes! Let's go," Luz exclaimed as she and Gus went off.
Making their way outside, she and Gus sat in the bleachers next to a basketball court. "Here's one of the school's many sporting areas," Gus explained as Luz looked around. "We might be a school for nerds, but we need to keep active." Luz checked the stands and saw two other girls sitting down to watch another pair on the court with a dodgeball in front of them. Luz recognized the one girl with a yellow Hexside uniform as Boscha, groaning as she remembered her bullying from before. Looking at the other girl with red sleeves and leggings, Luz thought she was familiar as well.
"Okay, here's what I'll do. Off the backboard, punch the ball, and send it flying back for nothing but net," the girl in red told Boscha before running up to kick the ball while the bully recorded the trick shot attempt. When the Music Track student's foot made contact, the ball flew toward the basketball hoop and bounced off the backboard. However, the angle was wrong and it started to ricochet off of the bleachers and ground before reaching her. Trying to do what she claimed, she threw a punch at the ball, but only hit air as she missed the timing and the last thing she saw was red rubber flying at her. On the ground in pain, the girl moaned as she held her eye. "I hate this game," she muttered while Boscha laughed at the video she recorded.
When Boscha walked away, Luz and the others in the bleachers went down to see if the other girl was alright. "You okay," Luz asked as she offered her hand to help the girl up.
"Yeah," the red-clad student told her. "I've been through worse."
"Hold on, I've got some ice water on me," Luz said before reaching into her bag, causing a few things to fall out when she kept digging around, prompting the other two girls to check the cards on the ground. "Here you go," she told the girl as she gave the bottle of water to her.
"Thanks," she said as she held the bottle against her eye. "I'm Skara."
"I'm Luz," the Dominican girl replied, introducing herself.
"Nice to meet you, Luz," Skara happily said before the two other girls offered to take her to the nurse. "I'll probably see you around later."
"Okay, see you, Skara. I hope we can be friends," Luz said cheerfully as Skara left with the other girls.
"Bo, don't forget about the meeting later," Gus said to one of the girls taking Skara, prompting her to turn with a thumbs-up.
"One of your club members," Luz asked as she looked at Gus.
"Yeah, you'll get to talk with her later," he said. "Come on, I'll show you some of the homerooms next."
Back inside the school, Eda groaned as Principal Bump showed her a set of lockers that were covered in graffiti. "I don't wanna do this," she complained.
"There's the whiny rebel teen I remember all those years ago," Bump said in amusement before handing Eda a mop. "You'll need this to clean up your graffiti you left us. Also, lots of elbow grease."
"I feel like if I use that, my hands will come off," Eda remarked.
"Good luck," Bump said with a laugh as he walked off, leaving Eda to clean up her artwork from when she was 14.
After blowing a raspberry at the elderly principal, Eda got to work scrubbing and didn't see Luz passing by with Gus. Making their way through the school hallways again, they came across a room with tons of plants, including fully grown trees. "Ooh. What's in here," Luz asked as she saw the various flora.
"The Botany Track Homeroom," Gus explained. "Everyone likes to call it 'The Greenhouse' for short."
Luz peered through the window of the door to see several students taking care of the plants. She also recognized a girl with green hair that helped Skara off the basketball court. As the girl was writing down some notes, Willow walked up to see how she was doing before pointing out something. "You misspelled the scientific name of this flower, Amelia," Willow helpfully showed.
As the girl thanked her classmate, Luz smiled when she saw her friend. "Willow, hey," Luz called out from the door. When Willow turned and saw her friend, she smiled and waved as Gus popped into view as well.
"Hi," Gus greeted. "Come on, Luz. I want to show you more," he said before leaving the vicinity of the Greenhouse and reaching another room. "And this is where I spend my time. The Entertainment Track Homeroom."
Looking around, Luz saw posters of various celebrities, directors, and even shows decorating the classroom. She also saw a number of mirrors, computers, and several other things before noticing a trio of students showing their latest projects to their teacher. "Hi, guys," Luz said as she easily noticed the green hair of Edric and Emira Blight.
"Hi, Luz," the twins greeted before they showed off their projects to their teacher. Emira created a projection of herself with longer legs while Edric created a hologram of himself as a handsome prince. "Oh, wait," both twins exclaimed before they put a flash drive into a third projector nearby since their classmate was nervous. Putting in the commands, the twins created a version of Luz that wore a unique belt on her waist.
Seeing the item, Luz gasped with stars in her eyes as she knew what was happening. The hologram of Luz soon took a held a bat-shaped item that soon bit her hand while the belt started to make sounds. "HENSHIN," the hologram shouted before placing the bat on the belt and armor formed on her body.
Everyone watched in amazement as the twins' projection changed from Luz into an armored figure with a bat-shaped helmet. "Oh my gosh! You made me into Kamen Rider Kiva! That's so cool," Luz gushed as the twins smiled.
"Hey, you showed us those scenes," Edric remarked. "Personally, I think an owl theme would have made more sense."
"We couldn't find one, though. It would have taken much longer to do one from scratch," Emira added.
"In any case, the two of you earned an A+ for that amazing effects display," the teacher said as she gave the twins their grades. The Blight twins smirked before they high-fived each other. "Augustus, I'm glad to see you helping your friend around. Make sure to turn in your homework from last night," the Entertainment teacher said when she saw the boy.
"You're in this class," Luz asked as she thought Gus was a little young to be a high school junior. "Wow, you must be good."
"Yeah, I moved up a couple of grades. I'm actually in the freshman grade, though," Gus admitted before his watch alarm rang. "Oh, time for the UMAS meeting. We gotta go."
"Okay then," Luz said as Gus showed her the way. "Bye, Edric. Bye, Emira," she told the twins as they left her sight.
"Bye, Luz," the Blight siblings answered back while Luz was still in earshot.
In the Unidentified Mysterious Animal Society clubroom, the members of the club were excited to meet Luz. They would have kept chanting if Gus didn't start the meeting. "Unidentified Mysterious Animal Society, it is my distinct pleasure to introduce to you, Luz Noceda," Gus announced. At his declaration, Luz revealed herself and tossed some confetti into the air. "Her family is from the Dominican Republic, so she knows Spanish," Gus added.
"Yup. Raised knowing two different languages is pretty cool," Luz stated. "Then, I discovered anime and I started learning Japanese for fun because I'm a nerd. And proud of it!"
Everyone in the UMAS except for Mattholomule was amazed at Luz's statement. Seeing the newspaper clipping the aforementioned boy brought in, Gus took it and held it in his hands. "Luz, would you be so kind as to translate this apparent cryptid report," Gus asked.
"I'd be delighted to," Luz said as she reached for the paper. As she grabbed it, Mattholomule tried to make a jump for it and ripped it out of her hands. "Matt! What are you doing," Luz exclaimed along with the other UMAS members.
"Don't make another move," Mattholomule yelled as he jumped onto the table. "I have something to say," he then said in a more somber tone. "I'm new here at Hexside. M‐Making friends has been hard, so I lied. They're all fakes. Even the newspaper article," he admitted. Shocked at what he said, Bo and Eileen gasped while Gus' eyes widened at how the other boy was acting now. "I thought if I was important enough people would like me. But I've caused enough drama. So, I'll go. I'm sorry," Mattholomule told everyone.
As he was speaking, Luz and Gus looked at each other and realized they might have been wrong about Mattholomule. "Hey, man. It's okay," Luz voiced. "You're only human."
Gus nodded in agreement. "Mattholomule, you aren't alone. You have a place here in the UMAS," he stated with the other three members giving their own encouragement.
"Thanks, guys. I knew you'd understand," Mattholomule said.
Soon after, everyone spent the rest of the club meeting getting to know Luz and her thoughts on various cryptids. She was even able to show them a cartoon series about a family of scientists that studied cryptozoology while fighting a number of villains, which she previously showed Gus during their sleepover at Palisman Café before. Eventually, the meeting came to an end and Gus dismissed everyone. "That concludes today's meeting everyone. We'll talk about some of the show at the next one," Gus told the club members.
The three bid farewell to Luz and thanked her for visiting. Soon, it was only Mattholomule in the room with Gus and Luz. "Hey, Augustus, Luz, thanks for being so forgiving," he said to them.
"We've all been the new kid before. Right, Gus," Luz remarked.
"Yeah," the preteen agreed.
"Well, I just have one more thing to say," Mattholomule said before reaching into his pocket. "Catch," he shouted as he pulled out something and threw it at Luz. Reacting as fast as she could, the Latina caught the object and accidentally clicked a button on it. Hearing some beeping, a loud noise was heard, as if several firecrackers were popped all at once. After that, a pair of campus security guards that were covered in paint came bursting through the door. "There she is! She's the one that set it off," the older boy exclaimed as he pointed at Luz with a sinister glare on his face.
"WHAT," Luz and Gus both yelled before the guards saw the switch in Luz's hands.
"You're going to detention, troublemaker," the guard stated as they grabbed Luz, dragging her away while she could only call out her friend's name.
"Gus, help!"
"Luz," Gus cried out as Luz was forcefully escorted out of the room. Angry at what Mattholomule did, he turned to the boy and started yelling at him. "Why did you do that!?"
"I can't believe you two fell for that. Like I'd actually apologize," Mattholomule stated without a single care. As he spoke, Gus clenched his shaking fists and started grinding his teeth with barely restrained fury. "Ah, boo‐hoo. I'm sorry. 'I am the new kid'. 'I want friends'. Ha," Mattholomule said in a mocking tone with fake tears in his eyes. "No. I want power. And I want drama. And I got one of those right now," he stated before marching toward Gus, making him back up toward the wall. "So, what are you gonna do, Mr. President?"
Angry at the boy in front of him for framing his friend for a paint bomb, Gus pulled back his fist like he was ready to punch the boy in his smug face. "Executive action," Gus replied. But instead of throwing a punch, Gus pulled the fire alarm behind him and caused the sprinklers to go off. As the two were soaked with water, another guard arrived to see what was happening. Seeing the two boys and the pulled alarm, they grabbed them by the arms and dragged the two off, ignoring Mattholomule's protests.
As Willow was watering a few plants in the Botany Track homeroom, she saw Luz get dragged past while stated that she isn't even a student at Hexside. After a few more minutes, she watched as Gus got dragged away with Mattholomule protesting the entire time. "Oh no. I need to talk with Principal Bump," Willow said to herself before running off to find the principal, seeing the splatter of paint from several small paint bombs that went off.
In the Hexside cafeteria, the doors burst open and a few students watched as Eda was carrying a large burlap sack on her back before setting it down in front of Principal Bump. "There. The girl's changing room is now weasel-free," Eda stated as the sack started to move.
"I still don't know how you got so many of them in the locker room in the first place. Or how they managed to have so many children over the years," Bump muttered to himself before facing Eda again. "Are you ready to give up? You've only scratched the surface," he told Eda. The woman only growled at the elderly man before hearing the laughter of two girls nearby.
Bo and Skara were sitting at a table near the door where the former was showing the latter a few videos on her phone. Watching the two, Eda smiled. "Luz would love it here," she commented, remembering some of the fun times she had with her own friends at school in her youth. "Alright, what's next, Bumpikins," Eda said to the principal, who then held up a plunger.
As Eda groaned, Willow came running in through the doors. "Principal Bump! Something's happened," the Korean girl exclaimed.
"Willow, slow down," the elderly man told the girl as he handed Eda the plunger. "What's wrong?"
"Luz was taken to detention by campus security! I think she was framed for a paint bomb," the Botany student told the adults.
"What!? Luz would never do something like that," Eda shouted as she tossed the plunger aside, making it clatter against the floor. "Sure, she'd probably freak somebody out with snakes and spiders, but she wouldn't do property damage unless in a tight squeeze."
Hearing that Luz was mentioned, Bo and Skara were curious. "We met her earlier," Skara told Principal Bump. "She helped me after I hurt myself. I don't think she'd be a delinquent prankster like that."
"I just saw her at the UMAS meeting before," Bo added. "She's a sweet girl."
Listening to everyone talk about Luz, Principal Bump hummed in contemplation. "I'll go and investigate for myself," he said. "Edalyn, come along. You too, Willow." Eda and Willow went along and soon reached the lockers where the paint bomb went off. "Have you seen Luz walk through this hallway earlier, Willow," he asked the girl.
"Yes, but she was with Gus the whole time. I saw him and some other boy get dragged off for pulling the fire alarm," Willow answered. "I think he was trying to see why Luz got framed."
"Sounds like the other kid was responsible," Eda remarked as she inspected the damages. "And even if Luz was responsible for this, she'd definitely be more creative with the paint splatter. Probably make art from her flowery witch story," she said with a groan after mentioning Luz's Azura novels. "Ugh, so terrible. Like Shakespeare was butchered by a candy factory and put into a blender with Harry Potter."
"They aren't all that bad," Willow muttered, not minding Luz's love of the fantasy books.
"It doesn't matter," Bump stated. "We'll go to the Detention Hall right now and clear up this whole mess."
Inside the Detention Hall, Gus and Mattholomule were tossed into the room and the door was slammed shut before Luz could reach it, resulting in her crashing face-first into the glass of the door when she tried to make a quick and reckless escape. "Ouch," Luz moaned as she slid down the glass. A few of the other students in detention chuckled at her misfortune before the teacher in charge gave a stern glare to immediately silence them. "I just wanted to help my friend," Luz moaned as she stood up.
"You did," Gus said and got Luz's attention. "It's just that the guy you were trying to help me deal with is a huge jerk!"
"I'm not supposed to be here," Mattholomule exclaimed before a piece of chalk was thrown at his head. "Ow!"
Gus and Luz snickered along with some of the other students in detention before the teacher gave them another glare. After quieting down, the two friends spoke to each other while Mattholomule sulked in the corner next to the door instead of sitting at a desk. "Why did you get thrown in here," Luz asked Gus. "That was stupid of you," she stated.
"I know," Gus replied as he looked at his feet.
"Why did you do it," Luz questioned.
Gus sighed as he sat on the floor and hugged his knees. "Being younger than everyone is hard. You're overlooked. Ignored. But at the UMAS, I mattered. I could make sure no one would ever get left behind. I didn't wanna lose that. I'm sorry," Gus said and apologized to Luz for unintentionally getting her in trouble.
Hearing his worries, Luz put a comforting hand on Gus' shoulder as she sat down next to him. "I get it," Luz said. "I'm not exactly popular back home myself because of my 'quirky and creative free spirit' as my mom says. You could have just told me and I would have helped you."
Gus smiled at Luz in gratitude before a knock was heard at the door. Suddenly, the door was slammed open and the knob slammed into Mattolomule. "Okay, where's my kid," Eda shouted as she marched inside and looked for Luz with Principal Bump calmly stepping into the room and Willow cautiously entered with them.
"We heard about what happened with the paint and we'd like to speak with Miss Noceda," Principal Bump told the teacher in charge of Detention.
"Luz," Willow exclaimed as she saw her friend.
"Willow," the Latina said as she saw the Korean girl hug her tightly.
After the girls ended their hug, Eda spoke to Luz. "Now that 'touchy-feely happy hug time' is over, can you explain what happened about that paint bomb," the older woman questioned.
"I'm innocent! Matt tossed a thing into my hands and the guards came into the club room with paint on them," Luz exclaimed.
"She pressed the switch," Mattholomule retorted back as he moved away from the door, working through the pain from the doorknob hitting him.
"Because you were trying to usurp the UMAS from me," Gus shouted at the boy, still mad he framed Luz for his vandalism.
"Enough," Bump ordered with a voice that gave no room for questioning his authority. "Luz isn't a student at Hexside, so she's not supposed to be in Detention. Unlike Edalyn, who essentially turned it into a clubhouse. However, there's still the issue of who vandalized school property and their punishment."
"And the fire alarm that Augustus pulled," Mattholomule stated. "I had nothing to do with it," he smugly stated, only for Willow to grab him by his collar.
"If you do anything to hurt my friends, you'll regret it until graduation," Willow exclaimed as her angry stare burned into Mattholomule's soul, terrifying him.
"Willow, calm down," Gus told his friend before she dropped the boy, making him fall onto his face. "Principal Bump, I'm willing to take whatever punishment you give me. I'll even take the blame for the paint bomb that Luz was clearly framed for."
"Gus, you don't have to do that," Luz voiced.
Principal Bump and everyone in Detention were impressed that Gus was willing to stick up for his friend like he was offering. "Very well," Principal Bump said. "Because you're willing to accept more than your own punishment, I suppose that the first course of action will be removing you from the Unidentified Mysterious Animal Society," he stated, holding out his hand for Gus to give him the crown he wore as the club president.
"Okay," Gus said as he gave Bump the prop.
"As for the rest of your punishment, you will be cleaning the mess made by the paint bomb for your detention and will be finished when I see it meets standards," Bump told the boy, who agreed with the understandable punishment.
"Now that this is taken care of, let's get back to why I'm even here," Eda said. "If I remember everything, I still have to apologize to Miss Jenkinmeyer for stealing her teeth and catch all the wild dogs around the area. After that, we should be good on our deal."
"Yes, that will suffice, Edalyn," Bump said. "It will be very exciting to have a new exchange student here," he remarked, catching Luz's attention.
"Wait, what," Luz asked. Suddenly, she got a call from her mother and answered it. "Mami?"
"Hola, Luz," Camila said. "I know you've been loving it at the café so much and you'd hate to leave all your new friends when summer's over. Especially since things back home aren't exactly okay with you back at school. So, Eda and I talked about something that would benefit everyone. I'm going to try getting a job at the Bonesborough Hospital and we'll live in town."
Hearing her mother's news, Luz gasped loudly and nearly passed out. Luckily for her, Willow and Gus caught her before she hit the floor. "¡Mamá, eso es asombroso! I'll really be able to stay with all my friends!?"
"Si cariño. Quiero que seas feliz," Camila replied. "Eda even offered to speak with the local school's principal about you attending classes there in the Fall."
Hearing more about that, Luz looked at Eda, who only shrugged before Luz hugged her tightly. "Ah! Kid, enough with the sudden hugs," Eda exclaimed. "I still have stuff to do before you're enrolled here."
Willow and Gus were just as excited as Luz was about her moving to Bonesborough, happy to be with their friend for the foreseeable future. "Luz, this is wonderful," Willow said. "I'll show you everything in the greenhouse when you're a student here."
"Why wait? You guys do the tour and show Luz's mom," Gus said. "I've got something to do," he added, knowing that he had paint to clean up.
Luz and Willow smiled as they went to see Hexside with Camila on video chat to see everything for herself. As they left, Eda smiled at the sight. "She's a pain at times, but I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world," she said. "Let's go. I have an old woman to apologize to and dogs to get to the animal shelter."
After finishing the tour at Hexside, Luz was ecstatic to know her mom intended to move them to Bonesborough. Her chipper mood lasted through the rest of the day until Eda returned to the Palisman Café. "Eda, I'm so excited to know I'll be staying here in town after summer vacation," Luz exclaimed.
"Hey, can't have my best employee leave in the Fall," Eda remarked as she carried a large stack of papers and placed them down in front of the couch.
Seeing all the papers, Luz was curious about what they all were. "What's all of this?"
"After finally finishing up what Bump wanted me to do so you could attend classes, he gave me my permanent record since it was 'taking up too much space' and he needed to get rid of it," Eda said before she sat down and started looking through the various incidents that she was responsible for.
Luz sat down and joined Eda as she looked through the reports. "Filling the girl's locker room with weasels, starting a food fight because a bully took your sister's lunch money, rigging the intercoms to play 'Weird' Al songs for 5 hours straight and it only stopped when you started a fan war between two different boy bands, releasing animals from their pens and feeding them spicy snacks until they threw up all over the soccer field," Luz read as she saw each file and how the person writing the reports up kept getting snarkier with the commentary with each one. "Wow! Bump was not exaggerating. You were a terrible student."
"Hey! I worked my butt off to get you into this school for when you actually move here. I better expect some gratitude," Eda stated.
Luz chuckled nervously before apologizing. "Sorry, Eda. Thanks for doing all of that for me."
The older woman only gave a curt laugh. "What can I say? You've grown on me, kid. I'm sure we've got a busy day tomorrow, so let's put all this stuff away," Eda said before grabbing as many papers as she could carry. Luz did the same as they both headed upstairs to put everything away, then returned to handle the chores in the café.
Okay, I'm finally finished with this chapter of "Palisman Café". It took a while because of life and wanting to focus on another fic, but I managed to get it done. I hope you enjoyed the character interactions and how I adapted the plot. I wanted to give Skara and the Blight Twins some moments because they're good characters that deserve more love. Plus, Skara would definitely be friends with Luz if Boscha wasn't involved. The Bard Track girl seems like the friendliest of Amity's old group and would get along with Luz's friends.
Now that this is finished, I'll attempt to write up this AU's version of "Escape of the Palisman" and show more about Owlbert and the Bat Queen. In that chapter or after, we'll get away from the regular story to focus on the café itself and what I've been wanting to do since starting this fic. You'll see what I get there. Until then, give some reviews and even suggestions for this story so far. I'd love to hear your feedback.
WaterDragonMaverick, signing out.