Chapter 2: Let Me Be Your Emotional Support!

Luz sat there for about ten minutes, just processing this revelation. Someone else having a crush on her? That NEVER happened back in the human realm. It was always the other way around. Add to that someone of Amity's status, and it just didn't seem possible. Anyone that high up on the food chain would never even acknowledge her. Nothing about this made any sense to her. What did Amity even see in her? She just couldn't wrap her head around it. Eventually, she stood up to go back to the Owl House, but instead of leaving, she just started pacing. This lasted for about another ten minutes. But eventually, she started making her way back to the Owl House.

She arrived at the Owl House, still confused. She had stopped to ponder many times as she walked back, and she was a full hour later than usual. Eda was concerned when she came home that late and had to know what happened.

"Hey, kid, what happened? You're not usually this late.", she asked.

"I…uh, don't really want to talk about it right now."

Eda was surprised. Usually, Luz wanted nothing more than to talk about her day in great detail. To Eda, it usually sounded utterly mundane, but she listened anyway, partially because she had no choice, and partially because she knew it was exciting to Luz. In a way, hearing about it from an outsider's perspective made it exciting in its own right. It was simultaneously her most annoying and most endearing quality. Eda wondered what possibly could've happened to make her not want to talk it. But then a grin came across her face as she said, "Ah, I see what's going on here. You finally got afterschool detention, didn't you? Oh, that's practically a rite of passage to becoming a wild witch like me! I'm so proud of you, little rulebreaker!"

"No, Eda, it's not that. It's just…I need a minute."

"Whoa. What's gotten into you?" She knew it was something serious.

"It's nothing. Really. Just…keep doing what you're doing!", replied Luz as she proceeded to her room.

Eda could tell it wasn't just nothing. But she knew she needed space for a bit, so she let her go on to her room, ponderously wondering what's going on. After about 15 minutes, she knocked on her door.

"Kid, I know there's something going on here. You're usually a big ball of radiating energy. You're not yourself right now. Something is bothering you for sure. Tell me who did this so I can afflict them with something nasty! You get to choose the spell!"

Luz quickly replied, "Eda, no! It's nothing like that! No curses! It's actually a good thing…I think. Maybe? It's complicated."

Eda pondered this for a moment. She said, "Alright, kid. It's clear you need to talk this out with someone. I'm here to help. Why don't you join me on the couch? We can talk things out. I'm here to listen."

A minute passed. "Alright, it's clear you need some time to think. But whenever you're ready, I'll be waiting on the couch."

About five minutes later, Luz came down the stairs and sat down with Eda at the couch. She told her, "Alright, I'm ready."

"Good. Now lay it on me."

Luz paused a bit, and briefly wondered how best to say it. "Well, it's about Amity." She blushed a little as she said her name. Eda noticed this and had a feeling what she was about to say. But she stopped herself from saying what she was thinking too soon. It was best not to push this. Not too hard, anyway. "Oh. What happened with her?"

"Well, she left a note on my locker asking me to meet her by the Grudgby field after school today. She wanted to talk to me about something privately."

Eda had a feeling her intuition was correct. But she needed confirmation. "And what did she wanna talk about?"

"Well…um…she wanted to give me this note."

She reached into her pocket and produced the note that Amity gave her. She unfolded it and gave it to Eda as her cheeks went pink.

Eda read the note and gasped a little, and then delightedly said, "Oh my." She handed the note back and asked her, "So, what did you say?"

"I told her I needed some time to think."

Eda took a moment to process all of this. She had never seen Luz so rattled by something. It was clear that something was different. So, she asked her, "Why did you need time?"

"Because I don't even know how to respond. I don't even know what I want. I don't even know how I feel about her. I don't know if I feel the same way. Would it even be fair to either of us if I said yes if I don't feel the same way?"

Eda thought for a moment. "Luz, if you don't want to go to Grom with her, then tell her. It would not be fair to either of you otherwise. Sure, she would be disappointed for a time if you tell her you're not interested, but it's better than lying to her about it. Trust me, I know. Honesty is important in every relationship. I learned that the hard way…". She paused as she thought back to an old relationship. "And more importantly, it would not be fair to you either. You are your own person. You are not obligated to say yes to someone you don't want to date. Remember, your own feelings matter too."

Luz thought about it, and said sadly, "Oh…um…yeah, I…uh…I guess I'll go tell Amity."

Right as she was about to leave, Eda quickly stopped her before it was too late. Luz was about to make a huge mistake and she would not let it happen. She asked, "Luz, wait. Just because you're not obligated to say yes doesn't mean that's not an option. Are you absolutely sure you don't want to go to Grom with her?"

Luz, in a panicked voice, blushed and quickly said, "Oh yeah! Haha, quite sure. Amity is great, she really is, but she's really just a friend!"

Eda raised a skeptical eyebrow. She saw how she was acting, and she knew there was more going on. No one ever blushed this much over "just a friend". But she knew she had to tread carefully. It was best not to force it. Fortunately, she didn't need to say anything else because Luz noticed her look.

She said defensively, "What? I mean it!...She's a really close friend, though. I wouldn't have thought it possible when we first met. I mean she literally tried to dissect me when we first met. But she's changed so much since then. It's like she's becoming more honest with herself." The more she kept talking, the redder her face grew. "And she's a friend who really cares. Sure, she makes mistakes. I mean she almost erased like half of Willow's memories like a week ago. But she owned up to her mistake and helped me restore her memories. And what she did to Willow all those years ago was wrong, but when the Inner Willow confronted her about it, she owned up to that too. She told her the truth about why she did it. She didn't even try to defend herself, she admitted she was wrong. I admire that level of honesty. And she's also pretty awesome. I mean, she really pulls off the green hair look...although I bet she could also pull off pink hair. Not to mention that she's smart, cool, classy, and—"

Luz abruptly stopped midsentence. Something had just clicked in her brain. She had a sudden realization. She DID like Amity. A lot, actually. At this point, her face was as red as tomato. She couldn't believe she had almost gone and told her she wasn't interested! She was so glad Eda had stopped her from making a mistake. She looked back at Eda, who had a knowing look on her face.

She took the note from her pocket and wrote down one word at the bottom of the page. She turned to leave and said, "Thank you, Eda. You're a lifesaver! I'm gonna go find Amity now and tell her how I feel!" Eda watched her leave, a proud smile on her face.