Skara, Willow, Amity and Luz all laughed as King and Hooty wrestled for control of the pillow fort the girls had built in the living room. Eda shook her head and told the two demons to leave the girls alone, it was supposed to be a girl's night.
"Girl's night? Eda, are you trying to include yourself in it?" King asked, one hand still trying to hold on to Hooty's beak. His attempt failed.
"HOOOOT, that's not fair. Why can't IIIIII join? I have great stories to tell too! I can do shadow puppets, throw pillows, make chocolate covered insects with cookies, watch movi-"
"Alright you two! Let's have our own sleepover upstairs, come on" Eda shook her head as King raced past her up the stairs.
"Now that's what I'm talking about, HOOT HOOT" The house demon crashed through the window and snaked its head towards the second floor before returning back to the living room. "Oh, I'm going to be needing one of these tonight. Good niiiiiight" Hooty called as he stole one of the pillows from the fort and broke through another window.
The four young witches laughed as they were left alone. As Skara began to yawn and Willow grabbed her bag, Amity became anxious. The sleepover activities were about over, now they were going to have to sleep.
"Aww you guys are tired? I was just going to suggest watching my Azura movie!" Luz said as she pulled out her DVD and an unpopped bag of popcorn. Amity stayed quiet, not knowing what was the best (or worse) choice here. Watching a movie with Luz, in the dark, maybe accidently touching hands… or going to sleep already and watch each other's dreams.
"Come on Luz, we need to get started on our assignment. Maybe we can watch your movie another day." Willow replied, setting her sleeping bag on the floor and bringing out a flowery night gown.
"Should we sleep in two separate rooms? I think the professor said something about dreams projecting in large spaces. I'm not sure if having two dreams in the same room would interfere with our observations" Skara was really just trying to do her assignment right but Amity couldn't help but wonder if she was trying to give her a heart attack by suggesting she and Luz shared a room alone.
"Oh! Good idea Skara. You and Willow can sleep here, Amity and I will sleep in my room. Grab all the pillows you want!" Luz smiled and took out a few blankets for the girls to use during the night. Willow and Skara thanked her and began discussing who would sleep first. "Lets go Amity, you can sleep on my bed if you want, I'll take the floor."
Amity's face flushed as she followed Luz to her room, Willow snickering in the background. The girls changed into their sleeping attire and then returned to the room. Amity was wearing the dark blue and purple gown she had bought that day along with her lucky socks. Luz was sporting an oversized T-Shirt of stars and pink pajama bottoms.
"So, do you want to take the first shift sleeping?" Luz asked Amity. Amity thought about what her dreams could possibly show to betray her and became nervous. What if she dreamed about kissing Luz again?!
"I'm actually not that tired. Do you want to take the first shift instead? I'll take great notes! Also if you have any problems with casting your dreams spell I can help since I'm fully awake" Amity spoke fast as she tried to talk while her brain still worked.
Luz looked a bit concerned too, a hint of sadness poking through a forced smile, but agreed and grabbed her notepad and pencil. She drew the symbol for the sleep spell and placed it above her forehead as she laid down on the floor. Luz instantly fell asleep, possibly from the spell or possibly from finally being allowed to mentally rest.
As Amity waited for Luz's dream to be projected, she couldn't help but look at all of her facial features. She loved her lips, which gave her smiles every day and spoke words that sent her floating far away. She loved her little human ears, which were round and sometimes poked out of her hoodie when Luz was trying to be funny. The way her nose wrinkled when she became focused or frustrated on something was also noted by Amity. However, Amity's favorite part of Luz was her eyes. The way her caramel eyes shined in the light caused her heart to melt away and the spark they got when Luz got excited (which was often) was something Amity could never get out of her head. As she sighed, a spark began to appear above Luz. The dream was beginning to project, slowly forming shapes and getting color. A woman, slightly darker than Luz, with glasses and a pony tail was smiling and looking around the room. Luz soon joined the woman in her dream and a look of relief appeared on her face.
"Mija, is this your camp room?" the woman asked. Luz's face was hard to read but her voice was a bit higher pitch and shaky.
"Si, mama. Pues, kinda. I uh, no. Well, it IS like summer camp and it IS my room, but its not the camp room you're thinking about. Not really." Luz fidgeted with a hoodie she was now wearing. Her mother turned around to face Luz. Her face was kind and a small smile had formed.
"Lucecita, this camp looks fine to me. Even if it's not the one I chose for you. You said you made friends?" Luz looked up with hope in her eyes. Willow and Gus appeared soon next to her, both introducing themselves and talking to Camilia. Amity couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed to not be included in Luz's dream. Did she not consider her a friend worthy of meeting her mom?
"Why don't you show me around honey? I'd love to see all the things you've been writing to me about." Luz looked confused but didn't question her mother. For every new thing she showed, many things continued to be hidden. When she introduced Eda, she didn't mention she was a wanted wild witch. She showed her Hexside but didn't mention it was a magic school. When she showed her the market, many of the magic and non-human elements she tried to downplay as 'cultural differences'. Her mom nodded along but became more and more skeptical of the things Luz continued to say. At the end of the tour, Camilia simply smiled at Luz with only a bit of concern breaking through.
"Well I'm glad you had fun and made a few friends. Make sure you exchange numbers before we get back to your room to pack!"
"Pack?" Luz said in a panic. A sudden realization hitting her straight in the face.
"Si mija, we have to go back home! School is waiting for you and I have to work tomorrow so we need to leave…latest tonight." Camilia's voice was soft but firm. She knew Luz would argue but was ready to stand her ground.
"But, you haven't seen everything yet! I mean, I haven't even seen everything. Mom, there's so much left for me to explore! Can I just stay a bit longer? I promise I'll go home soon! I'll even join the accounting group at school and watch novelas with you!" the pleading in her voice sounded familiar. Amity knew what it was like to try and compromise when you already knew your parent would never change their mind. Seeing Luz go through this in her dream made Amity uneasy, maybe she wasn't supposed to see this.
Luz's mom shook her head and began walking toward the owl house. Luz's panic grew and suddenly, Amity joined the dream. It was her! Amity was finally in Luz's dream! She was reading one the Azura volumes near a bench where Luz's mom was walking. Camilia noticed the book and stood in front of dream Amity (Dramity).
"Are you one of Luz's friends?" she asked with a stoic face.
Dramity looked up and nodded, her face emotionless. Luz quickly rushed towards the pair and tried to stand between them.
"Heyyyy Amity! Uh, this is my mom. Mom, this is Amity, she's the top student at Hexside! She's super smart and very friendly too! Teachers and students ALLL love her." Camilia's eyes narrowed with suspicion. Amity blushed as she heard Luz brag about her but wondered why Luz's mom was not very happy. Dramity, however, seemed to have a sudden realization and began to talk fast. Too fast. Word vomit.
"Nice to meet you Mrs. Noceda. Wow, I see where Luz gets her good looks from! I would've guessed you were her older sister if I didn't know better. Hahaha. Cause. You both look, really nice. I mean, not in a weird way, I mean good looking as a mom. Not my mom! Luz's mom. My mom looks nice too though, we uh, don't look alike at all. I just meant Luz is very beautiful and you are too! Uhhhhh, yeah, I'll stop talking now."
Amity wanted to die right in the spot or kill Dramity herself, she knew she would probably want the same. Was this how Luz thought of her? Probably more accurate than she'd like to admit. Luz shifted in her sleep, hugging Amity's leg as if it were a pillow. Amity froze in panic but tried to keep her focus on the dream.
"What are your intentions with my girl?" Camilia asked, putting a hand over Luz to move her away from Dramity. Luz seemed to panic even more.
"Well, I uh, wanted to ask her out actually!" Dramity exclaimed as she got up from the bench. She had more guts than Amity, who was now trying her hardest not to scream. Luz covered her face with both hands as her mother frowned.
"Luz, we're going home NOW. You don't need to hang out with girls like that. It's not normal. Willow better not be like that too. Ay Dios mio, who have you been hanging out with this summer?! Let's go." Camilia dragged Luz away from Dramity and Amity was left in shock. Did Luz know about her crush? Was she disgusted by her? Was she afraid her mother wouldn't let them be friends? Again, she thought of her own parents and their dislike of Willow. Maybe she should just hide her feelings forever, if Luz's mom didn't know she liked girls then she would be okay with them being friends. She thought about Grom and Luz's fear. This whole time, was she actually afraid Amity would confess to her and anger her mother? Was she too… abnormal for the Noceda family? When Luz began to wake up, Amity did her best to wipe away the few tears that had formed.
"Amity? Did you…see all of that?" Luz asked, a worried look over her face. Amity looked down at her empty notepad. Her lack of notes could make a good lie.
"Um, I wasn't really able to hear anything. I just saw a few things like Willow and Gus and then you giving a tour to some lady." Amity's voice was calm and casual. Hiding her true feelings, especially those of sadness and disappointment, was a skill she was quite proficient in. Luz looked relieved but not fully sure. "Yeah, I didn't take many notes since I was trying to figure out if I could read your lips or something but, yeah I couldn't. I can still write some observations though! Great visuals, very realistic setting and only minor inconsistencies. For example, I wouldn't be reading my Azura book out in a random bench!" Amity tried to joke and make Luz smile. At the mention of this detail Luz froze but then relaxed a bit. For all she knew, Amity had just seen a lady talking to her in a dream with no real context of the situation. Amity couldn't know she sometimes dreamt about being asked out by her – even if it often turned into a nightmare.