Chapter 21: Wanna Help?
It was a bustling early morning at Hexside. Skara and the crew ran down the hall throwing decorations, meanwhile Luz stumbled through alongside Amity as they offered assistance to the other tired students; mainly with Luz smacking them in the face with glyphs. Of course, there weren't many people still, as it was an hour before school actually started. Nevertheless, Willow's here to fulfill her duties.
This was her first experience ever being chosen to assist with Grom preparations; things are pretty hectic. As excited as she is, along comes doubt and anxiety. Will she mess up? Is she being a bother? Titan, she must look stupid just standing in the corridor.
It was then Boscha bumped into Willow's shoulder from behind.
"You're here!" Willow says with a not subtle grin on her face. She must still be too sleepy to bother with hiding her true intentions. "Are you here to help around?"
"Ah... No."
It seems that Boscha is too busy with her own troubling thoughts to notice.
Willow quirks her head. "Why is that?"
"Oh I'm... Not assigned. I'm just here because I like watching everything," She replies, though Willow felt as though she's not exactly telling the whole truth. But of course, she doesn't wanna pry any further.
"Well you could help me if that's okay with you?"
"Really!" A beaming smile spreads across Boscha's face and she clasps her hands together.
Willow giggles. "Of course!"
Anything for you!
Willow holds her hand out, and Boscha confidently grabs; Willow's fingers could barely even curl around Boscha's palm. It's so tiny.
They walk, and Boscha lessens her pace to match Willow's. "So what do you want me to do?"
"You know those glyphs I taught you?"
"...Yes."
"Well then, you know!"
Willow takes her empty hand and laces it with plant magic, and with a flick of her fingers lavender flowers emerge and decorate the unamused lockers on her left. Following the demonstration, Boscha pulls out a pen and lets go of Willow's hand to grab the small notebook she always kept in her back pocket; she draws a small plant glyph and chucks it at one of the lockers. It cracks and rotten thorny vines emerge as opposed to Willow's bright flowers.
"It's a nice foundation," Willow says as she laces the vines with more colorful flowers; a sense of pride bubbles inside of Boscha.
They continue down each hall on the first floor with the same pattern, and chat along the way. Their arms are woven. They can't possibly risk being separated.
It was then Willow confides in Boscha. "You know this is my first time being a helper. It's actually pretty fun."
Boscha hums as she quickly scribbles onto her notepad. "Really! Well I've never been able to help actually."
"Why so?" Willow says, her finger still up from casting another spell.
"Because they never let me!" Boscha chucks the ripped piece of paper with much more vigor.
Willow quirks her head. "Huh?"
A stray vine scratches Willow's left cheek. "Ow!"
"AH sh– I'm." Boscha stammers. Her hand quirks up and gently cups Willow's face. Blood drips down onto Boscha's thumb, and a searing warmth burns Willow's face as it goes red.
"It's fine! I'm okay! 'Tis but a scratch!" Willow chuckles awkwardly. Her eyes darting to the side to avoid directly staring into Boscha's eyes.
Boscha sighs. "Yeah, but we should still get you patched up."
She takes Willow's hand and guides her to the Healer's office. They stand outside, and while Willow expected Boscha to knock, she instead pulled out a key and opened the door.
The room was dark. Boscha lets go and flicks th lights open. Inside the room were the two tables that Hexside considers it's 'beds' in the middle. To their right side was a cabinet and a stool.
Boscha motions, and Willow sits, her feet dangling 2 inches off the ground. Boscha opens the bottom right drawer and pulls out a bandaid and approaches her. Willow holds out her hand, but Boscha doesn't notice. She pulls the bandaid's cover and places it gently over Willow's wound. She smooths it out with her thumb, the rest of her fingers unknowingly tilting Willow's chin up.
A sense of calm befalls Willow's tensed shoulders.
Willow sighs. She can't help but look at Boscha's lips. It would be so easy...
...To ruin a friendship...
Too easy.
As she ponders that thought she couldn't help but notice the irony of it all. How Boscha was now the one taking care of her in such a small way. It's what Willow has always done for others, and she never expected anything in return.
So why does it feel like she's been yearning for this?
They step outside. Boscha makes sure to shut the lights and lock the doors. All the while Willow's arm is hooked around Boscha's, as if she's drunk and looking for stability when walking. Which is stupid, it's just a scratch on her face.
They come across an empty locker. No plants in sight. Straight back to business, I suppose! But Boscha doesn't budge an inch.
"Well?" Willow asks.
"Uhm, I think you should do it." Boscha's ears twitch, and her face scrunches slightly in disappointment. With herself most likely. "Plants were getting a little boring for me anyways!"
"Oh? But you don't look very sure..."
The two argue back and forth. Boscha insists that she's bored, but Willow doesn't buy it. All the while they're causing more ruckus, and a teacher soon overhears them and steps in behind them.
"Excuse me, Boscha. Stop bothering Ms. Park here." He says. "You're not supposed to be here either. Your mother informed us that it's too dangero—"
Boscha sulks, which catches the teacher off guard. She turns around, her eyes on the ground. "I know. Sir. I just wanted to help around..."
And even that broke his heart to hear, and so did Willow's.
"She's fine!" Willow adds. She quickly turns around. "She's just been helping me with the plants, sir. They're harmless!" She says as she turns her bandaged cheek away from him.
"Hngm.." The teacher groans. "Okay..." He gestures at the both of them with tired eyes. "But if you two cause any more trouble then I'll have to call her mother to take her home."
"Will do!"
One 'montage' and an utterly confused Boscha later, Willow tightens a small pink ribbon on one of the bushes. The light pink contrasts against the dark purple color. "There we go! All done!"
She clasps her hands together delightfully, proud of her achievement. Boscha laughs.
"So much effort just for a bunch of plants."
The statement irks Willow a bit, plants are no laughing matter! Though it would be hypocritical of her to say that now considering the show she put on earlier. "I don't think it's much work at all!"
"Hm? Oh not that!" Boscha exclaims. She motions at the sheer amount of flowers covering each corner of the school. "I meant there's way more decorations this year!"
"Oh. Really?"
"You're not very observant are you?"
Willow's ear irks up. It's not like she consistently avoided going through crowded halls to avoid being ridiculed or something... Ah, but why worry about that? It's in the past. "Maybe it's because there were two grom queens last year. Who knows? Maybe grom comes back twice as powerful."
"Would that mean that there needs to be two grom royalty this year too?"
"I mean... I sure would hope not."
Grometheus the fear bringer gains his power from fear. If two people were to be grom royalty again, then grom would come back just as powerful. So Hexside is playing on the "safe" side.
By making it a bigger celebration... You know, as Hexside does.
Soon enough, more students pour into school. As typical with every grom season, there aren't any classes. Teachers are too busy finding weapons for the children to use. School stuff, you know the gist. 'Tis the perfect time for cheesy confessions and heartbreaking rejections! Speaking of...
Willow wonders if she should…
No! No. That's stupid.
Why does she like her again? Is it the inherent nerdiness, the intense unbeatable passion, was she cute?
Ah questions questions! You can't control your emotions, Willow. It'll fade away if you ignore it enough.
Or so she's been convincing herself since that night…
Nevertheless it doesn't matter now. She finished everything she needed to do! She can technically go home now, but it's always fun to stay at school during Grom season.
So why not have a little chat?
Luz sits across from Amity at the canteen, and to her left was Gus. They've been chatting for 20 minutes after finishing their work early. Gus mentions how Boscha was kind of being a nuisance and was trying to 'demonstrate how to actually set up a statue'. Which apparently includes nearly getting Mattholomule crushed before running off. Which held absolutely zero of Gus's interest.
Willow enters the canteen. She sees the trio chatting and praises the Titan. The social cliques at school eventually returned to how they used to be; minus the rivalries and the fights. Much to Willow's joy; she can't comprehend so much change, especially when it comes to close friends. It's the introversion inside her. Or maybe ambivert?
"Have you guys thought about Grom dates yet?" Willow asks.
"Yeah of course!" Luz says. Amity blushes as she does. All the while Luz pats the empty space to her right and beckons Willow to sit, and she does.
"Why the sudden question, Willow?" Gus adds. He smirks and leans over. "Thinking of anyone?"
Willow gulps. It was a mistake asking that question when Gus is here! He can read her like a book. Quick! Turn the pressure on him! "No. Just curious because you've been sneaking off with Mattholomule lately!"
"What?!" Gus blushes and averts his eyes. He huffs and folds his arms to his chest. "I have not!"
Luz and Amity laugh.
"There's nothing to be ashamed of, Gus," Amity says. She rests her chin on the back of her hands, hiding a subtle blush as she glances at Luz. "Matt does seem very fond of you."
"Aahah. No! That.. That's only because I'm his best friend!"
Willow pouts jokingly, "Aw! I thought I was your best friend?"
"Okay but I'm his best friend." Gus says confidently with a hand on his chest; before he recoils and sinks back down. "Plus I. Don't wanna make things weird around him."
"Heh. I know that feel." Willow trails off, the words slipping off her tongue much easier than she anticipated.
And silence befalls them.
"WAIT—"
"Ah HAH! I KNEW IT! YOU WERE TRYING TO CHANGE THE CONVERSATION!"
"YOU WERE TOO!"
"OKAY. Okay. Calm down you two."
Amidst the ruckus Willow and Gus caused, which surprises the handful of students still in the canteen since most of the time it was Luz and whatever bad luck that followed her, a screech echoes into their ears.
"Attention Hexside students! We will now be announcing this year's Grom royalty!"
Willow and Gus hold their tongue.
"This year, the honor goes to…"
Willow's heart jumps into her throat, and the next thing she knew her mind ran awry in a dizzy haze.
No no no nonono.
"Willow Park! For her excellent performance in the plant track."
She gulps down as much air she can muster. Why her? Why why why did it have to be her?
Gus snaps his fingers.
"Huh."
"Willow? Are you gonna be okay?"
"Oh yeah! Yeah I'll be…" Willow huffs, and glances towards the window, where the bright pink flowers outside only worsened the thoughts running through her head. "Fine."
Willow groans. She plants her soft face into her tired hands and lets her shoulders relax.
It'll just be one night. She can face her fears! And then completely forget about it the next day! She's capable. She is.
Except, she isn't. And she knows.
She couldn't even stand up to her ex best friend for years. She had to have someone hold her hand to do it. And she can't even get over a stupid confession without planning on asking Gus to do it for her! Gagh! She's so stupid. Can she actually handle this on her own?
Just outside the school's door, she sat there pondering on one of the poles, flicking pebbles she sorts out her frustration.
"Hey." Boscha says from the door.
"Mhm." Willow hums in response, not even bothering to look her in the eye.
"Heard the news."
"Yeah…"
"Well it sounds…"
Willow looks up at her.
"Amazing! YOU are going to defeat grom!?" Boscha squees. "You'll do so well with your plants and hey maybe you can even use glyphs huh! Aren't you excited? Do you already have a plan to—"
"Boscha. I appreciate trying to lighten the mood but this isn't the way to do it."
"Oh…" Boscha sits down beside Willow. She hugs her knees to her chest and quirks her head. "Don't want to?"
Willow shakes her head before she replies, "It's not like I don't want to. It's just I don't want to."
"Uhm?"
"Look I want to! I want to do it! I don't feel like actually doing it. But I'm going to do it!"
Boscha chuckles. "You look distressed!"
Willow fluffs the back of her hair and giggles. "AHAH! Maybe! Maybe…"
"Okay well how about… I do it?"
Willow stops. Her eyes widen in shock and she grips her arms just a bit tighter than she already was. She turns to Boscha with a disappointed look in her eyes. One that says, 'you didn't just say that.'
"Please!" Boscha begs. She melts into the floor, possibly getting a lot of dirt on the back of her uniform. Not that it mattered. She's wealthy enough to buy a new one.
"NO. Boscha please. I'll do it."
It's not that Willow doesn't trust Boscha. She does! She really does! But part of her aches. She'd be so worried, just aching on the edge of her seat to jump in and save her. It's that urge inside of her to protect everyone she loves.
But she also knows that if she told Boscha that, it would break her. She wouldn't want to be looked down on. She may be nicer now, but fundamentally Boscha has always been the same. Always wanting to be the best. Looking for every opportunity to prove her worth.
"Please." Boscha grabs Willow's wrists and brings them up to her face. Her eyes pierce through Willow's with a fiery passion filtered only in blue and lavender. "Let me do this for you."
Willow swoons inside. She always loved that about her. Without the fiery temper, the puppy-like need to prove herself was always so endearing.
And… This may still be Boscha. The one she's always known…
But at the same time, why is she so protective of Willow? Always wanting to help her, even if she can't always do it right.
Willow's hand break free from Boscha's, only to find their way onto Willow's cheek. Her bandaged cheek. With each passing second Willow forgets everything that she was worried about. It's a force of habit, one she always had when she was little.
And in that moment.
Boscha seemed fearless.