Amelia first met Boscha over Penstagram.
They had seen each other around before, or course, but they weren't that close. The first time they interacted in any capacity outside of being schoolmates was when Boscha posted a selfie of herself, Amity, and Skara in front of a large trophy.
Witch_with_a_B: Me n the girls just won the junior grudgby championship! #grudgbychamps #gobanshees #hexside4life
Funyungurl306: OMT congrats! Girl you are rockin that jacket!
Witch_with_a_B: U know it! -;P
Amelia followed Boscha on Penstagram after that. To her surprise, Boscha followed back.
Amelia Benning had never been very interested in grudgby. She always showed her support whenever there was a big game, but that was mostly just school spirit talking. At the same time, though, Amelia had always been a curious girl. New hobbies and interests could grab her attention at the littlest provocation, and grudgby was no different.
Prompted by this exchange, Amelia decided to look further into the sport. She read up on the rules, looked up the history, but none of it kept her attention for long. Amelia's attention span was a notoriously fickle thing, as easy to lose as it was to gain. Her interest in grudgby did remain, however, and actually watching it on the crystal ball played proved much more entertaining than researching it.
Soon enough, she became familiar with the various teams, and the various rivalries that came with them. The local team, the Bonesborough Reapers, had a notoriously one-sided rivalry with the Netherburg Wyverns, and a more matched one with the Wriston Wraiths. Although far from being an Isles-class team, Amelia enjoyed watching the Reapers give it their all. Of course, given that each game promised plenty of magical explosions, player-on-player violence, and down-to-the-second plays, she enjoyed each game regardless of who was playing.
Eventually, the time had come again for grudgby season at Hexside. The school was once more abuzz with excitement, and this time Amelia joined in. Each time the players would walk by in the halls, the students would either watch in quiet awe, or cheer as they passed with their heads held high. Amelia was one of the former: while grudgby players had always been held with a sort of reverence around Hexside, it was only now that she understood the excitement of grudgby that she also knew why this was.
It had cost her (or, more accurately, it had cost her parents) a pretty penny, but Amelia had been able to get her hands on tickets to the upcoming match-quite desirable ones, at that. On the night of the big game, she found herself right up close to the action, each pillar of fire and writhing tentacle mere feet in front of her face. To say it was exciting would be an understatement. After one particularly impressive goal by the Banshees (Amity Blight had summoned an abomination arm to catapult Boscha up to the goalpost), Amelia had taken a selfie, with the celebrating team behind her.
Funyungurl306: Front row seats!1!
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SpoonyBard88: Hey look u can see me!
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Incidentally, the Hexside Banshees won that game.
Amelia had decided. She had been debating from the moment she first saw the star athletes walk by in the halls, but she had finally made up her mind. She wanted to be among them as they strolled through the school, venerated as heroes by their peers. Plus, watching grudgby was getting old-it was time to actually play it. After the last bell of the day had screamed, she made her way to the field for tryouts.
Unsure of exactly where she needed to be, she peered into the locker rooms. "Um...hello?" she asked. "Is this where I sign up?" Nobody seemed to be inside at first, but someone rounded a corner when she had spoken. Amelia recognized her as one of the team's stars.
"You're here for tryouts?" asked the girl, throwing on her jacket. "Down on the field. I'm headed that way myself." It wasn't said outright, but her words implied an offer to walk with her, something Amelia immediately took her up on.
"So...Boscha, right?" asked the green-haired girl, as the two of them walked to the grudgby fields. "And you're, like, the team captain?"
Boscha smiled. "No, but pretty close," she said. "That's Amity you're thinking of. But I'm basically her second in command." She glanced over at Amelia. "Why? Were you trying to butter me up for a better chance at being picked?"
"No!" Amelia laughed, waving off the idea. "Wait...would it have worked?"
"Well, that's for the captain to decide, not me," said Boscha, slipping her hands into her jacket pockets. "But between you and me," she whispered, "it definitely would have helped!" Boscha laughed at this, and Amelia joined in once she realized it was a joke. "What did you say your name was?"
"I'm Amelia, Amelia Benning. And...you are Boscha, right?"
"The one and only," Boscha said.
The pair walked in silence for a little while, before Amelia spoke up once again. "You know, you really do rock that jacket," she said.
"Aw, you're too kind," Boscha said with a grin. "You know what? I think I like you, Amelia. And I don't say that to just anyone."
"Thanks. I like you too, I think," Amelia replied.
They soon arrived on the field, which was already full of hopeful young witches vying for a spot on the Banshees. "Welp, here we are. I'd better meet up with the others," said Boscha, heading over to Amity and Skara. "Good luck out there!"
"Thanks, you too!" Amelia said with a wave. She looked around at the other girls on the field, sizing up her competition. She couldn't help but smile-this would be too easy.
As soon as she heard the package arrive, Amelia raced to the door. The delivery demon didn't even have time to ask her name when she had grabbed the box and carried her reward, the spoils of her labor, back up to her room. The past three days had been agonizing, but now it was finally official: she was a Banshee.
She tore open the package, gazing at the gear in awe. She was so excited that she would have set there staring for a while if the familiar buzzing from her scroll hadn't jolted her back to reality. She opened her scroll to read the message:
Witch_with_a_B: Well? It arrive yet?
She hastily typed back a message:
Funyungurl306: Just got here!
SpoonyBard88: What u waitin for? Send us a pic!
Amelia placed down her scroll, taking the chestpiece out of the box. Slowly, she slid it on over her head. It wasn't as tight as she had expected, but it still felt somewhat snug. She quickly took out the shoes and pads and slid them on as well. A complete set of grudgby armor-all that was missing was the facepaint. She picked up her scroll again, taking a moment to admire how it all looked before snapping a photo.
Funyungurl306: Meet the newest member of the Hexside Banshees!
SpoonyBard88: Yay!1!1! It looks soooo good on u!
Amity_Blight: Congratulations. You earned the position!
Witch_with_a_B: Oh yeah, no competition! Can't wait for your first game, we'll show those Glandis nerds whos boss!
Amelia chuckled. Yeah, they definitely would.
"So, uh...were you nervous on your first game?" asked Amelia.
"Nope." Boscha closed her locker. "Of course, my first game was against Arcane Academy, so it was kinda like taking candy from a bunch of babies."
"I was!" Skara bounded up to the other two, seating herself down next to Amelia. "Why, are you nervous?"
"...A little," Amelia said. "Excited, too. But mostly nervous."
Skara threw an arm around her shoulder. "Ah, there's nothing to be worried about!" she said. "It always seems a lot bigger the first time around, but you'll get used to it. Besides, win, lose, sustain grievous bodily injuries-the crowd'll cheer you on no matter what!"
"Yeah, and you blew everyone away at tryouts," said Boscha. "If anyone should be nervous, it's Glandis!"
"Y-you think so?" Amelia asked.
"What, are you kidding?" replied Boscha. "Some of those clowns didn't even make it past the vines, and you breezed through the fireballs on your first try! You belong here, Amelia-you're one of us."
"Speaking of us," said Amity, making her way over to the group, "Is everyone ready?"
"Definitely!" said Boscha, pounding her fist into her palm. "Let's knock these bozos into next tuesday!"
"Hang on," said Amelia, as the other three were about to leave. She summoned her scroll with a spell. "Pre-game selfie?"
"Sure!" Skara squeezed in close, followed by Boscha and Amity. Amelia held up her scroll and snapped the photo, putting it up on her Penstagram account.
Funyungurl306: Meet the new team! #firstgame #gobanshees #hexside4life
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"Now let's show 'em what for!" said Amelia. The Hexside Banshees headed towards the field. She could already hear the crowd cheering from here-she could only imagine how loud they would cheer when her team scored the winning goal. Or caught the rusty smidge. Whichever came first.
"Hmm?"
A few days after they won their game against Glandis High (Amelia caught the rusty smidge!), Boscha felt the familiar buzzing of a message on her scroll. She summoned it to find a simple message waiting for her:
Funyungurl306 has sent you a friend request
Boscha clicked her tongue. "Took her long enough." She pressed the button with her thumb.
Request accepted
And that is how Amelia became Boscha's friend.