Chapter 1: Her Fall Was Her Fault
Roaring can be heard from students spectating the game, cheering for their team's victory. As caps are thrown around in celebration, Willow could only think about Boscha in her arms.
And how she was the reason Hexside had lost.
Out on the Glandus field, Boscha can be heard yelling at the girl holding her, telling her to let go. Willow eagerly obliges, dropping her supposed 'captain,' the girl wincing when as her foot collides with the ground.
"Hey!"
"Sorry! My arms started hurting…" she says, kneeling next to her. "Are you hurt-"
"I don't need your sympathy, Half-A-Witch! " Boscha stands up, brushing off any dirt that may have stained her letterman jacket. "You're the reason we lost!"
"Me?" Willow closes the gap between them. "I wasn't the one who was being careless the whole game."
"I was the one being careless?! I could've had the shot if you didn't just screw it up with your stupid plants!"
"But you fell off!"
Willow couldn't take the girl's arguments any longer. She regrets even joining the team in the first place. If only she didn't feel bad when she came to her begging because of, oh would you look at that! Her own reckless behaviour! Who would've thought that the 'queen' who overworked one of her teammates so much to the point that she quit would be barking at her as well? Willow really thought that one through.
She wishes she could tell Boscha off straight to her face. But she knows enough that it would just lead to an even bigger scene. Instead, she decides to just walk away. It's done. They lost, why bother worrying? Can't do anything about it now.
"Hey!" Boscha yells from behind her.
Willow admits Boscha's voice is enough to make her head feel as though a 20 pound garbage bin was dropped on it. "What?"
"Don't just walk away from this!"
"You're clearly not going to go by our agreement, so please just leave me alone." Yes, the agreement they made that Willow would only join if Boscha would stop picking on her and her friends.
"Agreement my ass! Why would I follow our stupid agreement if you're the reason we lost in the first place!"
Willow doesn't respond. Tears form around her eyes.
She doesn't care! She swears she doesn't! It's done, it's over, please just move on. She only 'messed up' because she didn't want to see Boscha get hurt, and now suddenly... She's the monster for caring?
She doesn't understand.
A small sob escapes her, her hands cover her red face as they wipe away her tears.
Maybe it was her fault...
"What so now you're crying?" Boscha snaps at her. "Do you expect me to care?"
"N-no…" Her voice shakes as it lets out those words.
The crowd observing them had disappeared from their seats, save for the handful of students watching the melodrama unfold, namely Gus and Luz. However, before they had the chance to intervene, the other Banshees saw what was happening, and one spoke up.
"Boscha." Skara said, placing her hand on Boscha's shoulder. "Stop."
"Skara…?"
"Stop trying to blame it all on Willow, it was your fault too."
"But she made us lose!"
"No- Boscha, you made us lose." Skara turns to Willow, reaffirming her that she did great, even with Boscha as the captain.
Willow lets out a small giggle at the jab at Boscha. However, Willow notices Boscha's finger drawing what she can only assume to be another fire spell. Deciding it's probably best to walk away before things escalate any further, she wipes away her tears, thanks Skara, and makes her way to the stands. Willow jumps eagerly into her best friends' arms.
With them fangirling over Willow playing grudgby, Willow reminds them that she was only doing it for one game, to which Gus sighs in disappointment. He really wanted to see Willow playing grudgby again. But Willow was firm.
After a few healthy chuckles at the events that occurred during the match and a promise to meet up at Hexside, the three quickly part ways as their guardians are waiting to pick them up. Except for Willow's.
She sits on a bench, waiting near the gates As she's waiting, she hears a familiar voice calling to her.
"Hey! Willow!~" the lighthearted voice yells with a drawn out singsong. Skara runs up to the witch, panting from the amount of sprinting around she had been doing the whole day, no, week. "Glad I caught ya!"
"Oh, hi! Sorry about earlier..." Willow said. Upon closer inspection, she notices that Skara is wearing Boscha's jacket.
"Oh no no no it's fine!" Skara assures her. "I was just gonna ask if you actually wanted to stay in the team."
"Really?" Willow thinks about how Boscha would probably just boss her around again, which to be honest is the exact opposite of what she wants. "I don't think Boscha would want me around.."
"Yeah about that…" she starts off.
"Boscha isn't on the team anymore. The teacher saw-" Skara directs a small circular motion with her hand, looking Willow up and down with a pained expression on her face. "and well... she kinda got herself into some trouble."
Willow holds back a small chuckle trying to claw its way out of her throat. "Wait! So who's..."
"The captain? She's right here!" Skara does a small dramatic turn, her foot forming a spell circle, turning the jacket she's wearing to a shade of silver as the magenta B in front turns into a golden S. " And she thinks you should join the grudgby team! That is, if you want to?"
Willow thinks about Gus and Luz's disappointed faces when she said she would only be playing for one game, and figures, why not? Not only is Boscha not the captain, but she can also show off to Boscha that she is a much more capable grudgby player than her.
"Deal!"
Meanwhile, an ex-Banshee is found trudging through Bonesborough.
Boscha knows she's only prolonging the inevitable, her mother would scold her for losing, and she'd love to hear what she has to say about her hurting herself. Her ankle feels as though it was stepped on by a titan, and while she wouldn't wish for a titan to step on her right now, if this metaphorical titan did exist, she certainly wouldn't mind if it's foot made contact with her head and the ground simultaneously .
It's what she deserves.
Knowing she sprained her ankle before the game.
But she was fine. It was just a twisted ankle, she barely feels anything! It was Willow's fault for… For…
Damn.
It really was her fault.
Boscha stops, and she wasn't quite sure if it was because her ankle is aching like hell or because she was passing by Skara's home. She wishes she could stay over because she'd rather get a passing glance from Skara's father than be scolded by her own mother, but…. Skara… Doesn't really want her right now.
Whatever. She'll just continue trudging on with her left leg.
Quickly passing the Harper's Manor she makes her way back home. As much as she'd love to take her usual route of getting to her room via the window down the hall, her right foot would probably fall off if she tries that stunt. So instead she walks in through the door like a normal witch.
Walking through the door she's greeted by the usual passive aggressive remark from her mother. It turns into her lecturing Boscha for making a fool of herself in front of hundreds of people. Boscha barks back, remarking that Amity isn't in the grudgby team anymore. To which her mother replies with her usual mantra of 'Don't worry about them, worry about yourself! Just because they're a disappointment doesn't mean you have to be!'
After arguing with her mother for what feels like two hours, she finally caves in and shuts her mouth. And after what feels like another hour of her mother talking down on her, she finally leaves.
Finally. Peace. Boscha sprints up the stairs, only to be reminded of her fucked up ankle as she falls face first on the 5th step. Titan, she was pathetic. Finally making it into her bedroom, tears start pouring out her eyes, hitting the floor as hard her body hitting her bed.
She wishes she could just fall asleep, but her foot is begging to be put out of its misery, and the tears staining her face weren't as refreshing as one would think.
Defeated, the witch opens up Penstagram and searches for Skara's profile, and finds that Skara had soft-blocked her. She scrolls through numerous pictures before finding a post showcasing Skara taking a selfie with Willow with a caption that reads, "Welcome to the team W1llow_Park 3 !"
She closes her scroll, clenching her fist enough that knuckles crack harder than they should. Her head boiling with irritation, she turns on the humidifier next to her bed to avoid giving herself another nosebleed, allowing herself to fall asleep to the sweet scent of honey and lavender...
Until her scroll pops up again.
A direct message from Skara:
Hey Bosch.
Look out the window.