Chapter 19: The End of Detention

It's the end of detention.

As Boscha waits patiently for time to pass by, every second passing fills her with a small feeling of dread and anguish, almost yearning for time to stop or slow down. Even for just one more hour.

You'd think a girl would be happy going back to her regular classes. But what's the point? The only thing that she's felt useful for was tutoring Willow, but now, as the end draws near…

She's not good for anything anymore.

Boscha sighs, head in her hands. She wishes that she could be with her friends… But how Skara reacted to her, and how Amity completely told her to leave Willow alone? Clearly, she isn't wanted.

Maybe she just has to learn to be happy by herself…

Meanwhile, Willow's hands shake trying to reach for the doorknob. Boscha's in there.

She opens the door, and Boscha appears to be sleeping on her desk. Willow hopes that she got enough sleep last night. She sits down beside her, and Boscha's ear flicks up.

"You okay?" Willow asks.

"Mhm," Boscha mumbles.

Willow's heart troubles her, in both her exhaustion and her infatuation with this wreck. "Did you get enough sleep? Did you drink your medicine…?"

"What are you? My mom?" Boscha turns to her, "But yeah… I'm fine, I did."

Willow blushes at the stray hair stuck delicately dolloped on Boscha's face. But she refuses to feel things! Not for Boscha! SURE, she can be worried about her and think she's cute and admire her but–

"Now I gotta ask, are you okay?"

"H-huh?!"

Boscha leans in. She places her hand just above Willow's ear, and Willow is dying inside from both confusion and from how close Boscha was to her face. Her cool breath just barely grazes over Willow's face.

"You have flowers on you." Boscha tugs and pulls a petal out from Willow's hair.

"…"

Willow pats the soft ruffles of flowers around her head, taking in the sight of the red petal in Boscha's fingers before one pricks her.

They're roses.

"OH! I didn't notice them whoops haha!"

Willow attempts to pluck them off, but they refuse, almost as if they're completely melded onto her. "Huh."

Boscha hums curiously. She grabs ahold of a rose, and where her fingers touch, the rose blackens and burns.

"Uhm… Is this a bad thing?" She says, holding a small pile of a flower, turned into a pile of ash, in her hands.

"No…" Willow says. She doesn't know why or how, and honestly she has no energy to really think about it. But as far as she's aware, the plant magic around her never hurt her.

Boscha removes all the flowers in Willow's hair, though curiously, they grow back. But never in the same place. So Boscha assumes it's not infinite.

"How'd this happen anyway?" She asks.

Willow knows she's always had a habit of growing vines around her… But that's only ever happened when she was angry or upset. Not that she enjoys those memories. But this is different… It's never flowers, and it's never been on her directly.

"…I don't know."

"Well do you at least know what caused it?"

Willow doesn't. Or that's what she wants to convince herself. If anything she knows fully well why it's roses of all things, but it's not like she'll admit it, will she?

"Uhh… Emotions?"

The roses in Willow's hair only seemed to increase, the closer she is. And they come back much more vibrant. "Hmm, So will they go away then?"

Willow's voice cracks out, "HAHA! I think so!"

"Well if you say so," Boscha says. The weird shakiness in Willow's voice, how magic seems to follow her wherever she goes… She's endearing. It's no wonder people like her.

Boscha hums, paying no mind to Willow having a fluster fest beside her from the number of times she touched her face. How could she ever compare herself to someone so… Endearing?

Her eyes dart around the room, really taking in every detail she's grown so accustomed to in her time staying in this one classroom. The rough concrete floor still scrapes against her old shoes, and while the sound annoyed the teacher before, recently he's been too lazy to even show up. Some teacher…

And Willow… Well, they may never have to interact ever again after all this. She doubts Willow even needs to be tutored anymore. She seems to be getting by her classes all by herself. At least she did one thing right! But still.

It feels like the world's just moving on without her.

Where will she go? Who will she talk to?

Will she just stick to talking to herself for the rest of the school year?

Damn.

This must've been what Willow felt…

Well, at least she wasn't bullied…

At least…

Titan. Can she imagine how much worse it would be if she was? The awareness of being that person in Willow's life scares her. If karma is real, then she's horrified of what's coming to her. She turns to Willow, who's doodling little leaves on the cover of her notebook.

Right, she's preparing for everything to go back to the way it was.

Willow hums softly to herself, and Boscha wonders how Willow could be so laid back about it all… Or if she even was. It's not unreasonable to wonder if Willow is even comfortable being around her.

Not that it matters.

Soon enough, detention will be over, and Willow won't have to deal with her anymore. At least one of them is happy!

Good for her.

The hour draws closer. Even during recess or lunch, she couldn't even be bothered to talk to Willow. Not that Willow interested in talking to her, she thought. She drinks her medicine in solemn silence, not wanting to bother Willow more than she already has.

Please, someone, give her the courage.

Part of her really wants to apologize for putting her through so much shit. But words hard, and apologies harder.

The day felt too fast.

It's over, and she had her chance.

Tomorrow, it's back to normal.

Well, her new normal anyway.

The next day, as much as she's glad she no longer has to sit through so much silence, she still dreads going to class. Well, they start a bit later than detention did, so maybe she'll catch a few more Zs before going.

Boscha arrives at school, 15 minutes later than when she usually does. She passes her classroom and heads straight for the detention track. She looks through the door, and unsurprisingly, nobody's there.

"You know detention's over right? Go back to class." The teacher says.

"…You're here." She sneers at him.

"Yep… Just here to lock the door after you get anything you may have left," he says, dangling the key in front of her. "I really don't recommend getting attached to detention, kid. You think it's fun not listening to teachers but trust me the jobs you get are just… SHEESH! I told your friend the same thing, and she just laughed."

Her ears perk up. "Wait. Willow was here?"

"Hm? Oh yeah. She went here pretty early actually."

Willow… She came here. Which means…

Oh lord. Was she looking for her?

Boscha yanks him down to her level and yells at his face, "Where's her classroom?!"

"Agh! Titan! It's down that hall to the left!" He says, pointing down the hallway.

"Thanks!" She yells.

She dashes through the hallway, and when she turns the corner she bumps directly into Willow. They clash, and Willow whines, "Please watch where you're go– OH hey, Boscha!"

"Hey… So I heard you checked out the detention track too before class? Felt a bit sentimental too huh?"

Willow laughs. "I guess you could say that… But actually, I just wanted to tell you something."

"Oh?"

Is this it? Their last encounter. Willow's probably going to get her back, and honestly, she wouldn't blame her… If anything, Boscha is already bracing herself.

"You can talk to your friends," Willow says. "I don't mind."

…What?

"Huh?!"

Willow doesn't understand! Her 'friends' wouldn't want someone like her!

Willow opens her notebook and grabs a small stack of sticky notes. "They miss you, y'know."

She hands them to Boscha, and she recognizes most of the handwritings. Most notably Amity's large but fancy letters, and Skara's messy and excessive sentences.

'Tell Boscha I'm sorry about the other day.'

'How's Boscha? Is she still mad at me? Can you ask her why she blocked me? -S'

'I'm glad she's finally grown up. I kind of miss her.'

'Are we still friends? Has she said anything about me? -S'

"I've been collecting these the whole month. Of course, I was never the one to pry into someone's relationships… So I think you should answer them, don't you think?"

Boscha softens as she clutches the small notes, and it's taking everything in her power to stop herself from crying. "I-I… I don't think I know how."

"I can help with that. Meet me later at lunch. You know where."

Willow checks her watch, emphasizing that she may be late. She shuffles off into her classroom, and waves at Boscha with a coy smile on her face. Boscha waves back, not knowing that it took Willow all her composure to not be a wreck at such an important moment. And as Boscha goes through her day brewing potions and catching up on lessons she missed, she clutches that stack of notes to her chest quite dearly. A warm feeling fills her at every moment.

Lunch arrives, and as Boscha walks out of the school building, Skara is waiting right beside the door. "Hey~"

"S-Skara?" She says.

Skara immediately pulls her into a tight hug, and while normally Boscha sneers at Skara's spontaneous hugs, at that moment she really did not care.

"I heard ya missed me!"

"Pfft! as if!" Boscha jokes.

Skara quirks an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, you're right! Come here you fucking dork!"

Boscha wraps her arms tightly around Skara's waist, and while Skara's completely smothering her face into her, Boscha feels her torso getting damp.

"A-are you crying?!"

"I MISSED YOU I THOUGHT I DID SOMETHING WRONG?!" Skara sniffles, clutching Boscha closer.

"Hhh Wait! For! Us!" Luke, the Oracle kid, calls out as he's struggling to sprint towards them. Kat and Amelia casually jog beside him.

"I told you we were gonna be late if you didn't hurry up!" Amelia yells.

"Sorry!"

Suddenly everyone's just dogpiling on Boscha, and she's surrounded by all her friends.

"I can't hug all of you ack!"

Willow approaches them with Amity beside her, and Willow giggles at the commotion.

"Wanna join them, Ami?"

"Aaah I'll do it when they stand up," Amity says.

Boscha looks over at Amity and attempts to wave. But she's still pinned down! Her friends have decided to use her as a pillow it seems. Not that she minds, in fact she can't wipe the goofy smile on her face. Amity decides that maybe she wants to join in too. Amity sits down beside her, and holds Boscha's hand.

"I'm glad you're having fun," Amity says.

Boscha can't hold back anymore. Her face goes warm from both embarrassment and comfort.

She may not be talented. She may not be powerful.

But hey, at least she's not as hated as she thought she was.

While Boscha haves her tender moment with her friends, Willow can't help but feel like a 6th wheel, and a small rose manifests itself behind her ear. Luz and Gus creep up behind Willow. Luz wraps her arm around Willow's neck, and they both shoot her a smug look.

"Eeee~" Gus teases.

Willow shoves them away playfully, "Shhh! Now's not the time."

Author's Note:

Nothing says friendship unlike laying on your friends, right? Anyways, does this count as found family trope now?