They were walking back to the parking lot after another long day. It's a longer distance to the front of the studio from all the way in the back. It was a big building—no small building could hold that much movie magic after all. Or something like that. Her legs are burning from the cold but somehow Amity doesn't feel completely drained like she does when her day involves too much of a certain someone…
"Um," she stammers, breaking the companionable silence. She feels like something should be happening. It's too weird if everything is going well for once between the two of them. She wants to go back to being at each other's throats even if that's a bit childish. It's easier than feeling like she wants to cuddle up close to her. Because of the cold. That's weird. She doesn't get why that's happening. "Thank you. For driving me around so much lately."
"What do you want from me this time?" Luz asks only half joking, she just rolls her eyes. Maybe it was a punch in the face to be so civilized with her all of the sudden. Maybe Luz just liked it better when Amity was hostile and cold. Amity feels stupid and embarrassed for even trying to be nice to her. Now she remembers why she never does it in the first place.
Just when she was starting to warm up to her, just when she was starting to think, this isn't so bad. She's had lots of those moments lately. Perhaps it's better than trying to change anything, Luz is hopeless and not worth the time of day anyways. They had roles, they were rivals. They were supposed to hate each other. It wasn't supposed to change. Maybe it was less confusing that way.
"Nothing...I… I just wanted to let you know that I appreciated the help." Amity sighs, still slightly taken aback. She backed herself into this corner, this is what she gets for never saying thank you. Nothing she says, Luz will never take it seriously because— it was all a joke anyways right? They were only playing, that was their thing. It didn't get to be anything more. It was never serious or genuine.
But maybe that was her fault.
Honestly to Amity it felt like all of the days were running together. The filming studio had become her second home and she's probably spent more time here than in her house for the past month. The rest of the cast had gone home for the day and Amity was beyond ready to head home, de-stress a bit and have a good night's rest. Dealing with her all day long really was starting to chip away at her patience.
But, Luz insisted they stay after shooting hours and practice lines for a new episode for a little while. And she agreed because, well she couldn't imagine why. She felt obligated to stay here and suffer a little while longer because she liked to earn her rest, it made going home that much more rewarding. Actually, today was one of their better days and for being on a time crunch, they'd gotten a lot of filming done. And not to mention that Luz and Amity didn't even bicker once.
They were actually doing really good. Amity started to feel not-so-hopeless about this whole acting thing. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all. If they kept this up then maybe she could get through this. She feels ashamed almost, for having these moments of peace with her. It could have always been like this if she just let it. Maybe...Amity was the problem.
"This is much easier when we're getting along isn't it?" Luz says as she's digging through her messenger bag. She turns to look at Amity when she doesn't answer, there's a smug grin on her face. Leave it to her to point out the painfully obvious. Goodness, she makes it hard to want to be nice.
Amity decides that they're both the problem. Probably.
"I'm simply doing my job," Amity scoffs in that obnoxiously uppish tone she gets around Luz, pretending to look over her script.
"Me too," Luz says back very coolly. She zips her bag back up having successfully received her script—it's all crumpled and bent much to Amity's annoyance. How irresponsible of her. But she seems completely unbothered by it and she comes to sit down on the floor in front of Amity who's sitting on a stool.
"Noceda," Amity gasps in shock. "The ground is extremely unclean and—"
"Yeah, yeah," she waves her off playfully, giving her an obnoxious Luz smile. "It'll be alright, I swear."
"Sit on a stool." Amity demands, there's no room for argument in her voice. Luz groans and with a bit of a fuss she gets up and drags another stool to sit in front of Amity.
They have a sort of impromptu staring contest before she asks, "Happy now?"
"Immensely." She adjusts on her seat, hides her face behind her script book. Her face is burning from all of that eye contact. She hates Luz.
"Aww. You care about me," Luz teases and she leans forward to give her an affectionate little slap on her arm—an unnecessary gesture in which Amity really doesn't like. She flinches and gives Luz the dirtiest look ever.
"Don't touch me!"
Luz stares at her in shock, she confusedly raises an eyebrow. It's quiet for an awkwardly long time. "Okay," she laughs a little bit. "Can you tell me what your deal is, like, seriously?"
"I don't want you touching me like that. L-like we're friends. Because we're not." Amity stammers and it only makes Luz more confused. "Did I not make that clear?"
"Crystal." Luz deadpans. "But why do you hate me so much?"
"Because you're insufferable!" Amity groans, frustrated. "I have to put up with your-your escapades all day and I—"
"Wait, wait, wait," Luz holds her hand up. " Escapades?" She raises her eyebrows and tries her absolute hardest not to laugh.
"This is what I mean!" She wildly gestures toward Luz. "You're scrawny and you're rude, bad-mannered, reckless, you have no real regard for the fact that this is your job. You have terrible eating habits and you never listen to me—!"
" That's what you're mad about? You're mad because I don't listen to you?" Luz jumps off of her stool and so does Amity. She's getting out of here. So much for getting along. This just goes to show how quickly things can escalate with her. She's walking away when—"Listen here, Amity," Luz says, grabbing her by the sleeve and she pulls her closer. Amity blinks at the mere audacity of her to even think of touching her again. They're so close…
"I'm sorry to break it to you, but you aren't the boss of me. You can't control me like everyone else you know."
Amity yanks herself out of Luz's grip, stumbling back. "How dare you grab me like that! Who in the world do you think you are!"
" I'm your coworker and I work on this show too. We are equals , Amity. Got that?"
"I am not your equal." Amity says. She starts toward the door, grabbing her bag off the counter and slinging it over her shoulder. "You're barely sane!"
"Where are you going? Leaving like a coward just like you always do when we fight?" Luz crosses her arms, tapping her foot impatiently. Like she's being the bigger person about this.
"You're the one who grabbed me!" Amity whirls around to shoot back at her.
"Get back here and fight me then. Let's settle this like real men." She starts to roll up her sleeves and Amity has to bite down a laugh.
"Resorting to violence is incredibly immature, Noceda. As if I'd ever waste my time fighting you ." Amity laughs bitterly.
"You're the one who yelled at me for doing my job," she starts walking toward Amity, there's an aggressive little grin on her face. "If you ask me, you're the one being immature. We're seventeen, Amity. We should not be having these kinds of fights."
Amity gasps when Luz comes up and pushes up against her. And she works up the nerve to actually push Amity back against the wall. "This is our job. We're actors. Act like it ." Then she reaches around Amity and amidst her blood boiling anger, it melts away and her heart goes wild—she thinks—is she?
Instead, Luz grabs her jacket off the coat hanger and rudely pushes past Amity to leave the room. "I'm heading out," she hears her say to the rest of the crew in the break room but she's too in shock to even think of what to do next. Who does she think she is? Amity leans back against the wall completely frozen, her mouth hanging open.
How dare she?
She flicks off the light and bolts out into the hallway. There's no way she's letting Noceda get away with that. No one gets to put their hands on her like that and just walk away. "HOW DARE YOU—!" she screams after her, sprinting down the hallway,
"Don't follow me, Blight!" Luz calls back, cool as a cucumber, not even half as worked up as she's made Amity. She thinks she's just so funny doesn't she? She thinks she's above all of this. Luckily, That's all the fuel she needs to run even faster. She quickly signs out at the front desk, the woman tending it gives her an inconspicuous look. She runs out into the parking lot just in time, Luz is getting into her car. Amity runs up to the driver side and bangs on the window. She hears Luz groan and she rolls her eyes.
"Yes, your highnesses? What is it?" She rolls the window down.
"I have to ask," Amity crosses her arms over her chest. "What makes you think you could just yell at me—"
"You yelled at me first!" Luz says incredulously, her jaw drops.
"Don't interrupt me when I'm speaking." Amity says sternly. Luz just looks at her like she's a crazy person and then chuckles.
"Okay. Okay, okay, okay. I'm done. I'm sorry, okay? You win." She raises her hands up defensively.
"I'm not trying to win this argument, I have valid reasons and sources—" Amity's eyes widen when she's cut off again. Luz is laughing at her.
"What are you talking about?" She giggles, nodding her head in disbelief. "I'll see you tomorrow, 'kay?" She starts rolling her window back up.
"No! You can't just leave. We aren't finished—" Luz switches on the radio and the boom of the loud music interrupts Amity once again. She screams irritably, stamping her foot—she's completely and totally at her wits end. "I have the legal rights to sue you for physical harassment!" She sees Luz laughing again, letting her head drop against the steering wheel, her shoulders shaking. She nods her head slowly at Amity and sticks up her middle finger.
That was her last straw. Amity's so angry she's shaking with chaotic energy. She really doesn't know what to do but she's going to do something . Right here, right now. She's done holding back. So she jumps on the hood of her car and clambers up to the windshield and she can see Luz's astonished expression through the glass. Amity relishes in it. Now that she's up here she doesn't know what to do—she thinks she's going to cause some destruction, really get under her skin. The thought makes her giddy with shame but she doesn't care one single bit.
"What are you doing?!" Luz squeaks, jumping out of the car. She runs up to the side where Amity's leg hangs off as she struggles up to the top of the car. "Get off my car!"
"Get out of my life!" Amity shoots back, out of breath from trying to keep herself upright. She wasn't a very athletic person but for this she was, just to do this and ruin Luz's life. She'd do anything to ruin her life.
"You maniac! Get off my car!" Luz groans and kicks her shoes off, climbing up the hood after Amity and tries to grab her foot. Amity isn't done yet, this whole thing is so delightful to her. She feels incredibly stupid and embarrassed but at least it was all worth Luz's annoyance, that's all she wanted. She keeps kicking and flailing to keep her away and eventually gets herself up to the roof. She sits right in the center and the metal creaks under her, she can already feel a dent forming under her weight. Luz is trying to get up the windshield but she keeps slipping. Amity watches, bemused to her heart's content and Luz eventually gives up.
They stare at each other for a moment. "What are you going to do?" Amity asks sweetly.
"I'm gonna kill you, that's what," she says breathlessly, trying again to pull herself up. "You're crazy, Blight. Crazy bi—"
Amity stretches her arms high into the air, yawning loudly much to Luz's annoyance. She leans back on her hands, watching Luz with a lopsided little grin on her face. " Getoffmycar. " Luz drops her head on the windshield and Amity lets out an amused chuckle.
After a short while, Amity gets her fix of powerless Luz and she actually starts to feel a bit awful now. She crawls up to the front and offers her a hand. She pulls Luz up and they sit up there beside each other for a weirdly tense moment before Luz makes her move.
She gently rests her hand on Amity's thigh and she gasps. "Don't touch—!" She tries to scream but then Luz quickly walks her fingers up and—"Luz!" Amity flails, she loses her balance and almost falls clean off the car if it wasn't for Luz grabbing her by the sleeve for the second time today. She can hardly believe that was only a few minutes ago.
Luz leans in nice and close to Amity's face and— "Get off."
Amity squeaks and all but flies off, down the windshield and jumps off the hood. She feels like her legs are going to give out underneath her any moment. What just happened? Her mind is blank but all she can think about is her hand—"I've got you all figured out, Blight." Luz jumps down from the roof and she quickly steps back into her shoes. "You're weak."
Amity makes a desperate little noise. "That's harassment!" She stammers. "I can sue you!"
Luz gets back in the car, slams the door. "Sue me then!" She buckles her seatbelt and starts the car. "But you won't! Because you're all talk!"
"I hate you!"
"Love you too!" She rolls up the window and pulls off. This was going to be the last time she did that.
The initial anger wearing off, Amity heads back into the studio and—she's already signed off for the day. She left her jacket and script in the choreo room so she heads back down the hallway to retrieve them and—she gets all kinds of funny looks. She feels like a whiny little baby.
Amity begged her parents for a car. She begged them for days and everyday they said no, if she wanted a car then she'd work harder to afford one. And she did work hard didn't she? She considered herself a veteran for putting up with Noceda every day she went to work. She was a trooper being able to pretend she's in love with her for the cameras and actually have it look believable.
So when she finally got one months later, she couldn't complain right? Beggars can't be choosers can they?
" This is my car?" Amity asked, trying not to sound too disappointed. It was a car after all. It'd get her around fine. It wasn't like showing off to Luz was the only reason she'd even asked.
"Is there something wrong?" Odalia asked albeit slightly annoyed. Amity turned to glare at her, the sparkle of her new pearl earrings caught her eye.
"Not at all, mother," Amity forces a smile. "I'm happy. Thank you."
"Take good care of it," she scoffs. "It was expensive."
Amity glances back to the disgraceful hunk of metal called car , the front headlight slightly hangs off. " Really ?" She rolls her eyes at the scraped paint on the passenger door. It looks like they went to the junkyard and picked the first one they saw. And...come on. Her parents weren't exactly financially tight or anything. Why couldn't they get her anything nice for once?
Odalia leaves Amity alone with her new car. It's quite a disappointing sight and she admittedly knows it won't even hold a candle to Luz's. But she can't be petty. And you can't judge a book by its cover, so with a sliver of hope left, Amity opens the door and an eye wateringly terrible smell hits her in the face. She's already felt like crying so she ignores it and sits down behind the wheel anyways.
This is her car. She reaches up to turn on the light but it doesn't come on.
It'll do. Probably.
She puts her hands on the wheel. It feels familiar. Even the car she test drove to earn her license was nicer than this one. But it would get her to work and that's all she really needed it for anyways…
Amity's putting on her jacket the next morning when she hears a car horn outside. A rush of excitement hits her and she rushes down the stairs, out of the house, locks the door behind her. There's Luz sitting in front of the driveway. She keeps coming back. Amity feels her heart skip but she ignores it because it's probably just the cold morning air.
Amity walks to her car, pretending not to see Luz parked there. She pulls out her keys and she's unlocking the door when Luz rolls her window down and sticks her head out. "Hey!"
Amity's head snaps up and she pretends to be surprised. "Morning!" She waves at her, smiling brightly. Luz looks on confusedly as she climbs in. Checkmate, Amity grins as she pulls her seatbelt across and buckles it. She glances up at her mirror and sees Luz getting out of her car. Amity hears the door slam and Luz runs up to the drivers side, her eyes wide.
"What's this?" She sounds flabbergasted. Amity grabs the wheel, biting back her giddy little laugh.
"My car," she says simply.
"You have a car?" She asks and Amity nods. "You have your license? You know how to drive?"
"Yes," she nods again. "I took your advice."
"My advice?" Her nose wrinkles in confusion. Amity just wants to reach up and pinch her cheeks, she's kind of adorable when she's not in control of everything. Stupid Luz. Never knows what's going on.
"You told me that I should learn to drive myself, so I did."
Luz is quiet for a moment and Amity relishes in her shock. "Close your mouth, Noceda. I'm perfectly capable of driving, don't worry about me." She says complacently, thoroughly pleased with the reaction she's getting. It was quite funny.
"So I guess you don't need me anymore."
"I've never needed you. Trust me on that, Noceda." Amity says— she's incredibly sure of herself and it feels so good to prove Luz wrong on something for once. Even if her heart sometimes flutters and she gets nervous and she can't understand why, it feels great to be sure of something around her.
"Okay, Blight." She crosses her arms.
Without a word, Amity leans out of the window and gives her an obnoxious toothy grin. She feels weird doing it and even Luz recoils from the shock of her doing something so bizarrely out of character.
And that's when Amity does what she's been meaning to do ever since she got this stupid car. The only reason, quite honestly. She rolls up the window and backs out of the driveway, leaving Luz standing alone. Exiting the cul-de-sac at turtle speed, Amity squeals to herself. She won and this is what victory tastes like and it's so good. She's nothing like Luz.
She's better.
