The following day Luz was the first to wake up and got ready early; she washed and ate breakfast and then put on her new school uniform, which consisted of a black dress with sleeves and trousers of six different colors separated by jagged divisions. Each of her sleeves were two shades of the same color, with the lighter tones near the cuffs: mint on the right, purple on the left. Her pant legs were divided similarly, but used different shades, with red and magenta for the right leg and blue and cyan for the left. Luz found that uniform to be very beautiful indeed and didn't mind wearing it at all, even though she much preferred the new clothes that Eda had given her.
Gus and Willow had woken up shortly after her and had spent the time watching her get ready and sometimes helping her to make sure she didn't forget anything. It was nice to see Luz back to being so happy and excited about something; even though she still wasn't even remotely comparable to the old carefree Luz, at least she no longer seemed ready to jump off the first bridge she found. Gus and Willow took that as a good omen that she was recovering from the bad experience she had gone through; finding Eda again and the prospect of becoming a real girl had helped rekindle her desire to live. And they couldn't help but be happy about it. "Well! You're really excited for your first day of school, hm?" Gus told her with a smile.
Luz nodded slightly. "Well... I can't say that I'm very happy at the prospect of spending my days with books..." she admitted. "... but it's right that I do it. I know too little about the world and I have too little judgment. I need to learn how things work, so that I'm less likely to make mistakes"
"And you're right" Willow said flying into her hand. She was really happy: Luz seemed to have matured a lot over the course of all their adventures. She couldn't help but say: "I'm really proud of you, Luz"
"We both are" Gus said as he climbed into her palm as well. "And you'll see, you'll be proud of yourself too. Even if you have some grievances now, I'm sure you'll like school"
Luz felt her heart warm at that cascade of compliments. "Thanks, guys... I don't deserve so much praise, I'm just doing what I should have done in the first place". A broad smile appeared on her face: "Well... say goodbye to the bad girl Luz, then! From today there's only the good girl Luz!"
"You, a good girl? I really want to see this" Willow said, but she did it in a rather joking tone that suggested she didn't believe in what she was saying in the slightest.
Luz knew that the cricket was only teasing her, but nevertheless she still responded to her: "Oh, come on! Do you think I can't be a good girl?"
"Uuuuh... I don't know. Let's see..." Gus said, also intending to make fun of his friend. "Good girls are always obedient and listen to the advice adults give them..."
Luz blushed slightly. "Well… I can improve on that front"
"Good girls are happy to work and are committed, whether it's at school or at work..." Willow added.
"Yes, I'm not good at that either... but I can change!" Luz replied, feeling a bit of shame forming in her heart, given that until that day to get her to commit or work threats, sometimes even death threats, had almost always been necessary.
"Good girls always tell the truth..." Gus said again.
"I-It only happened once! Well, twice... but the second time I wasn't really okay with my head..." Luz tried to justify herself. "And anyway, I don't intend to lied anymore!"
"Good girls are happy to go to school and learn..." Willow added again, who was now biting her lip to keep from laughing.
"And up until now, just the thought of going to school made me feel sick to my stomach, I know!" Luz exclaimed with her face completely red with shame. "Listen, I know I'm not exactly the best person to be called a good girl, but I have to at least try! Can't you believe in me even just a little?"
The two arthropods burst out laughing. "Of course we believe in you, you stupid puppet!" Gus told her while rolling in laughter. "We know that if you really want it, even you can become a good girl"
"If there's one thing we've learned about you, it's that once you stick something into that stubborn wooden head that you have, you will never change your mind" Willow told her. "So we know for sure that you will make it. First a good girl, then a real girl; there is no doubt that you will become one!"
Luz blushed again, this time not from shame but from embarrassment; she didn't expect her friends to believe in her so much. She knew they were ready to support her, but she didn't think they were so convinced she would make it. "Thank you, guys... you really are the best friends in the world"
"Well, you're our best friend, so it's only fair that we make an effort to reciprocate in the same way" Gus replied, then something seemed to come to mind: "By the way, we made you something! Willow, are you going to get it?"
"Sure, just give me a second!" the cricket replied, and she flew onto a beam in the ceiling; after a few moments she came back down carrying a note in her hands, a note that she was struggling to hold since it was almost three times as big as her, and she let it fall into the puppet's hands before collapsing exhausted on her shoulder.
Luz looked at the note, and she burst out laughing and at the same time a tear of emotion rolled down her cheek: the note was nothing more than a sheet of paper cut out by the sturdy pincers of a cricket and surrounded by lines on all sides as if it were a professional badge, and in the center there was the writing 'Real girl in training', whose disjointed letters suggested that the authors of it must had been very small creatures who had gotten dirty with ink and had walked on the paper; given the signs, Luz suspected that it was Gus who had written while Willow watched from above and told him how to move. "Thanks, guys. It's... It's very beautiful"
"It's not much" Gus and Willow said sheepishly.
"That's not true, it's a wonderful gift. I will always carry it with me!" Luz said taking some glue and sticking the note on top of her uniform, directly under her left shoulder. She continued until she was sure it wouldn't risk of coming off the dress, then she took her friends and, not being able to hug them without risking crushing them, she simply brought them closer to her point and slightly curved her hands to bring their bodies closer to the sun; they returned that 'hug' by leaning with their arms and heads on her. All the three of them felt that it was depressing not to be able to actually hug each other... but after all, they had anatomical limitations that they couldn't overcome with willpower alone.
If Luz had woken up and got ready on time, the same could not be said of the landlady: Eda got out of bed very late and every step she took was so heavy that it seemed as if her body had become made of lead. Fortunately, Luz, on Hooty's advice, had previously prepared a rather generous quantity of coffee, and after having drank it, Eda began to look less like a zombie and more like a person, or at least she managed to regain enough mental faculties to be able to get dressed and accompany Luz to school. "I'll show you where the school is and what route you need to take to get there" Eda told her as they walked out of the house. "To return you will just have to take the same route again"
Luz nodded, but a shadow passed over her face and she asked in an uncertain voice: "Um... could you also come and pick me up? I would feel safer if you were next to me"
"You can rest assured, kiddo, the streets of this town are safe" Eda assured her. "No one will hurt you"
"It's not the others I'm afraid of" Luz murmured. "I want... well, I want someone next to me who will make sure I don't change my way and go somewhere else. You know..."
Eda patted her forehead. "Luz, I told you to let go of what happened in the past. You made a mistake but you learned from your mistake, and that's enough for me to know that you won't do it again. I trust you"
"The last time you did so it didn't end well" Luz reminded her.
"So what? Again, it's in the past. Today is today. And I trust you today" Eda replied.
Luz rubbed her hands together and twiddled her thumbs. "Can... can I at least bring Gus and Willow with me?"
Eda sighed. It was clear that Luz was terrified of making a mistake again and that she didn't trust herself at all, which was normal after what had happened. Eda would have preferred if she could overcome her fears and move forward, but she knew that it wasn't something that could be done in a day. For the first day, it might have been enough that she was able to return home accompanied only by her friends. "Ask them. Do you guys want to go with her?"
"Of course yes!" both Willow and Gus cheered as they jumped onto Luz's shoulder. "We wanted to ask you, but we didn't know if it would be appropriate! We've always wanted to visit a school!"
"Then it's decided. Just stay hidden in her pocket. From what I know the janitors at the Bonesborough's school are obsessed with cleanliness, I don't want them to mistake you for cockroaches and start a disinfestation" Eda told them. The three nodded and Luz opened the pocket on her chest, and the two arthropods entered. Eda thought there was something extraordinarily endearing about seeing the puppet fully dressed in school attire looking lovingly at a cricket and a spider protruding from her pocket.
The group set out across the countryside and soon reached Bonesborough, which despite it being early morning was already quite active. Eda led Luz to a large building where many kids were entering, above the door of which was the sign 'Hexside School'. "Here we are. Happy first day of school, kiddo"
Luz admired the school and the courtyard; it was the first time he had seen so many people his age gathered together. "Thank you, Eda. I promise that as soon as lessons are over I will go home immediately"
"No need to do so" Eda said shaking her head. "School is also a place where you can make new friends. When lessons are over, go wherever you want and have fun with the new acquaintances you'll make. I just need you to get home before sunset"
Luz didn't seem very convinced of what Eda had just said, but she nodded anyway and after a final pat on the shoulder of encouragement from the fairy she headed towards the school and entered. Once inside she looked for the classroom she was supposed to go to, and as soon as she found it she looked for a desk that seemed free and sat down there. Gus and Willow peeked out of her pocket and looked at their surroundings in amazement. "Wow! So this is where young humans learn all the amazing things they know as adults!" Gus exclaimed, his eyes shining, and then he pointed to the blackboard: "Look at that strange dark thing! What do you think they do there? Maybe it's like a snake's eye, hypnotising the students and introducing the knowledge of all the things..."
Luz giggled at seeing Gus so excited. "We'll find out soon. Class will start soon"
"It's still early anyway" Willow pointed out. "You could try to use this opportunity to talk to someone. There are a lot of kids here, why don't you try to make friends?"
Luz shook her head. "No, I don't think I will. I'm not in the mood to try to make friends today"
Gus and Willow looked at her with a little pity in their eyes. "Luz, I know it's not easy, but you have to try to move forward. You don't have to hold back from making new friends" Willow told her. "I know that opening your heart to someone else right now scares you... but waiting for that fear to pass won't get you anywhere. You have to face it"
"Yeah. After all, you said it yourself: you want to become a real girl so you can do all the things real people do, including being able to surround yourself with family and friends! You have to start somewhere, right?" Gus encouraged her. "Come on, go talk to someone"
Luz seemed to become a little less fearful at those words. "Okay" she said with a confident smile. "But... can I ask you not to intervene?"
Willow and Gus raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why?"
"If I have to learn to be a real girl, then I can't always have you guys giving me advice and correcting me when I'm wrong. I... I should try to figure it out on my own" Luz answered. "I want to at least try..."
"Luz, that's very mature of you" Willow said with a smile. "Okay, but never forget that we are here for you, and that it is not weakness to ask friends for help. You just say the word and we..."
"Hey! Who left a puppet here?"
Willow and Gus barely had time to hide in their uniform pocket again before two girls appeared in Luz's field of vision. One of them had a slender build with pale skin, gray-blue eyes and red-purple, almost magenta hair, long up to mid-back tied in a ponytail, and around her forehead she wore a red bandage in the center of which there was a fake eye embroidered; the other however had a dark brown skin tone, eyes with gray irises, and pinkish-grey hair, also held in a ponytail. "Those from the art club must have forgotten it here" the latter said. "Let's put it back in its place, maybe they'll give us extra credit for this!"
"Good idea. I'll take it from the head, you take the legs!" the girl with magenta hair said grabbing Luz by the cheeks. The sudden unsolicited contact made the puppet recoil: "Hey! Don't touch me like that, your hands are cold!"
Both girls almost jumped. "What the… can you talk?" the dark skinned girl exclaimed.
"I can move too! Look!" Luz responded by standing up and doing a twirl under their surprised gaze. "And by the way, the art club didn't leave me here, I came in this class this morning. I'm your classmate starting today!"
The two girls had the expression of someone who had just received a stick on the head. "A puppet... is our new classmate?" the dark skinned girl murmured. "Wow. Now I've really seen everything"
The magenta-haired girl was clearly confused too, but she recovered much more quickly than her friend and called attention to herself with a loud cough. "Well, I don't know what kind of magic is at play here, but I don't care. If you really are our new classmate then it's time to introduce ourselves. I'm Boscha, and this here is Skara. What's your name?"
Luz took a deep breath. This was het first interaction with anyone at the school, so she wanted to try to make a good impression. "Um... my name is Luz. Luz Noceda"
"Luz? That's a cute name. I like it" Boscha commented. "Tell me, what qualities do you have?"
"Uh... qualities?" Luz repeated confused.
"I'm trying to figure out if it's worth letting you into our circle of friends" Boscha explained, smiling warmly, but using a rather firm tone of voice. "The fact that you are made of wood makes you interesting, but that's not enough for me. I don't want to risk having a loser next to me"
Luz felt a little irritated by those words. She didn't want to antagonize the first two people she'd met in that school, but she wasn't willing to let them push her around either. "I'm not a loser! For your information, I lived adventures you could only imagine!"
Boscha's eyes narrowed. "Mh. As much as I appreciate the presence of a fighting spirit and admire your guts, I don't like that you talk to me like that when I was trying to be nice"
"Nice? You call that being nice?" Luz snapped. "It looked like you were interrogating me!"
"Oh, believe me, she was nice" Skara told her with a wicked giggle. "Just the fact that she spoke to you right away instead of waiting for you to crawl to her is a sign of kindness"
Luz's eyelid quivered. "You know what? You two are really mean! I was hoping to make friends with you, but now I've changed my mind"
"Pff! As if it's your choice to befriend people like us" Boscha told her. "Losers like you can only wait for the favor of people like us! Too bad, you just lost it"
"Tsk! As if I would want the favor of an arrogant pompous girl like you!" Luz growled.
Boscha's eyes widened as if someone had just told her that they had just killed her cat. "Excuse me, what did you call me!?"
"You heard me very well. Besides being arrogant and pompous you are also deaf, by any chance?" Luz teased her. "Well, I can understand that... I guess your whole ego can't stay in your head and it's spilling out of your ears, that's why you can't hear me!"
Skara burst out laughing, but she stopped when she saw her friend's glare. "I hope you know you've made a powerful enemy! You just destroyed your social life in this school!"
"Uuuh, that's scary! If the alternative is having to spend my time kissing the ground you walk on, then I'd much rather be alone for the entire school year!" Luz retorted. "Don't worry, at least I'll have my thoughts to keep me company. Unlike you who because of all your ego your head is as empty as a balloon!"
Boscha became livid. "Listen here, you little…!"
"What are you doing?"
Luz and Boscha turned and faced where the voice had come from. Three other girls had appeared next to them. One of them had green eyes, short light green hair and a pointed chin and nose, while another had dark skin and wavy brown hair with side-swept bangs and wore square black-rimmed glasses over her brown eyes and had red lipstick on her lower lip; but the one who attracted the most attention and who seemed to shine like a beacon in the middle of the class was the girl in the center, who walked with such a poise that it seemed almost natural that people would politely step aside as she passed. She was a thin girl with pale skin, so much so that she seemed to be made of the same material as a pearl, and she had bright golden eyes that seemed to have been artistically crafted by the best jeweler in the world using the finest metals. Her hair was chin-length, with a ponytail pulling it away from her face and a mostly covered undercut visible at her temples; such hair was two-toned, dyed aquamarine green with just a hint of brown visible at the roots, and in turn was combed and cared for so extraordinarily well that it didn't show the slightest imperfection; it almost seemed like heresy that a brown hair had sprouted among the green ones and vice versa. The girl walked with a straight and almost regal posture, and her every step seemed designed to be perfectly symmetrical with the others. There was no flaw on her school uniform, her painted nails, the black high-heeled shoes she wore, or anything else; everything about her seemed to scream the word 'perfection'. More than a girl, she looked like a sculpture made with extreme care.
As soon as she saw her, Boscha pointed to Luz: "Sorry, Amity, I was trying to discipline this newcomer. She's particularly stubborn, she doesn't know her place!"
"Amity?" Luz repeated, and suddenly remembered what that shopkeeper, Morton, had told her a few days before. "Are you… Amity Blight?"
"Absolutely yes!" Skara exclaimed, then she pointed to the three girls one by one. "In this order we have: Amelia, Cat, and last but absolutely not for importance, Amity!" The girl dropped to her knees in front of her and raised her arms as if she were giving a performance. "The youngest of the Blight family, absolute jewel of the humble town of Bonesborough, prodigy of Hexside School, champion in every sport, top of the class in every subject, prom queen, role model of inspiration for all the young boys in the region! Beautiful, intelligent, shrewd, crafty, she's everything! The personification of the perfection!"
Amity moved her head slightly and her hair danced for an instant, moving in a perfectly symmetrical way, as if to underline Skara's words. "Um... was that really necessary?" Luz murmured, since she had only asked for confirmation of the name, not the list of all those qualities.
"Of course it is. A Blight like me must always be recognized for all her extraordinaryness, even by the ignorant" Amity said stepping forward and looking at her with a wicked smirk. "Who are you, anyway? Since when have we had cheeky talking puppets in our classroom?"
"My name is Luz, and yes, I am a puppet! Last time I checked there wasn't a rule that prevents me from attending class!" Luz snapped. "And I'm not cheeky, it's your friend with the hair that looks like a roast pig who started acting superior when I was just trying to make conversation!"
Boscha's eyes flashed when her hair was compared to a roast pig, but she still didn't lift a finger or say a word, almost as if she felt she didn't have the right to speak until Amity gave her permission. "Tsk. You really have some bad language" Amity muttered, then she looked down at the note Luz had taped to her uniform that morning. "And what is this? 'Real girl in training'? Are you training to be a real girl? I bet you're not very smart, right?"
The other girls giggled. Luz clenched her fists angrily. "Well, at least I'm smart enough to understand that having a personal slave list your resume every time you introduce yourself to someone is really ridiculous!"
Skara opened her eyes wide and almost choked on her saliva at hearing herself defined in that way; Amity, on the other hand, didn't move a muscle, but her eyebrows arched dangerously. "You're really quite annoying. You really should..."
"Okay, kids, the bell has rung! Go sit down!"
The entrance of the teacher, a lanky guy with a flattened head and two rather long canines that resembled a snake's fangs, stopped whatever was about to happen. Amity gave Luz a disdainful look, then she turned and went to sit at her desk, and so did the other four girls. Luz, for her part, crossed her arms in irritation and sat back down on her desk, letting out an enraged growl. Willow and Gus peeked out of her pocket. "Damn, those girls are really arrogant" Willow muttered. "Don't let yourself be influenced by what they told you, they are clearly just bullies"
"Tsk! As if I care about the opinion of someone who can't even introduce herself on her own" Luz commented sourly.
"Well done! This is the right spirit!" Gus said giving a thumbs up. From his point of view it was only a good thing that Luz hadn't let herself be trampled on, so he had nothing to reproach her for how she had behaved.
The teacher placed some things on the desk, and then turned to the class: "Kids, we have a new classmate with us today! Luz, please stand up and introduce yourself!"
The puppet didn't expect to be called upon so soon, but she obeyed; the rest of the class seemed surprised to see her move (she had probably been so surrounded by Amity and her friends before that no one had been able to look at her well enough to realize she was made of wood), but she slapped her hand on her chest and exclaimed: "My name is Luz Noceda, and from today I will be your new classmate! And yes, as you can see I am made of wood, but I assure you that my heart beats with the same intensity as all of you! I already inform you that I'm quite a mess and a naughty girl, but I'm also fun, radiant and willing to experience all the beautiful things about this school together with you! My favorite things are eating, drinking, sleeping and doing whatever I want from morning to night, but despite this I will do my best to be a good student and a good classmate for all of you! I know I have many defects, but I will make the most of my time in this school to correct them; and above all, among these defects there is no pomposity like some other people!"
Despite the less than perfect content, Luz's speech aroused some sympathy from her classmates and even the teacher... except of course from Amity and her friends, who naturally understood the dig she had aimed at them, and so the puppet's satisfied expression was enough to send them into a rage. "Thank you for your introduction, Luz. I'm sure we'll get along very well together" the teacher said. "Since you're new, you might have trouble following the lesson at first, so... Amity, since you're so far along in the program, would you like to sit next to her and support her?"
It was clear from Amity's expression that she would much rather be covered in horse manure than be within five meters of Luz, but nevertheless she stood up anyway and replied: "Of course, teacher" and she went to sit next to Luz. As soon as the teacher turned around she whispered in the puppet's ear: "Woe betide you if you embarrass me, is that clear?"
"The warning is mutual" Luz replied. Glaring at each other, they both took their books and began to follow the lesson.
"And that kids is how I met your mother"
Jokes aside, in case some of you find Amity very unpleasant, I remind you that in the first season in her first appearance she tried to have Luz dissected alive only because through her fault she had come second in a test, and in the second appearance she did everything to make Luz give up on becoming a witch. She wasn't just the "awesome girlfriend".
Oh, and the "Real girl in training" note is a reference of the second episode of the first season, in which Luz after wearing a witch dress write a note saying "Witch in training". And in case someone didn't get it, the Hexside's uniform is the same that Luz actually had in canon, so when she is at school you have to imagine her with that outfit, while outside of it you had to imagine her with the "trauma outfit" that Eda gave her.
