If you want to read ahead, go ahead and check my Ao3. It's complete on there.
"Who the hell is she?!"
A hand slams down on the table in front of Amity, but the girl doesn't flinch and nonchalantly raises her head to look at a pink-haired girl standing above her with a scowl on her face. She's wearing a red and cream Rugby jacket with her initials and their school's logo printed on the left side. A group of girls stand idly behind her, watching the interaction with curious and worried eyes.
"Hello, Boscha." Amity greets, clicking her phone off and rising to her feet to stand eye-to-eye with the considerably taller athlete. "Wow, your nasty personality has not changed at all, has it?"
Ever since ending their supposed friendship, Amity has kept her distance from the girl by sitting on the other side of the classroom, arriving early, and leaving as soon as the bell rang. She was careful not to find herself cornered by Boscha, or her little clique.
"Don't try to act nice, Blight." Boscha spat, rage flickering through her blue eyes. Amity couldn't tell if her face was turning red from anger, or if it was her skin's natural hue. "Who the hell is she? How did you meet her?"
Amity crosses her arms and shifts her weight to one leg, lifting a brow with a bored look on her face. "Remind me. Why does anything involving my relationship concern you?"
Boscha laughs incrediculousy, straightening her posture as her expression becomes smug. "O-o-oh! I see!" She says with an irritating, high-pitched chuckle, "Now that you've become all famous, you believe that you are above me! Well, let's correct this right now…"
She scowls at her and comes closer, Amity can feel her breath against her ear and she wants to jolt away, her hand clenches at her side and her jaw becomes firm. "I helped you protect your interest in girls for many years, Amity. I am the only reason you were not kicked out of your home. Your way of showing gratitude?" Boscha steps back, their eyes meet. "You go and you stab me in the back like the ungrateful bitch you are."
Amity knows that Boscha is trying to get under her skin. She wasn't going to let her.
"Oh, what a terrible person I am!" She answers in a falsely cheerful voice, causing Boscha to step back in shock. Amity claps her hands together, knowing she's drawn the attention of the whole coffee shop. "Say, aren't you supposed to be training for the competition?"
Boscha lets out a strangled noise of protest.
Amity continues. "I may not have played on the team for quite a few years, but I do still remember the schedule. So, instead of worrying about what I do with my free time," she shoos the pink-haired girl out with a gesture of her hands, "you should be worrying about losing your place as Team Captain, skipping practice like that."
"Psch, whatever. Come along, girls." Boscha scoffs and pulls at the collar of her jacket, as if she were flexing her rank. She clears her throat and turns away, her head held high and her ridiculous ponytail bouncing behind her as she strolls out of the establishment.
"Goodbye!" Amity calls after them with a voice of feigned sweetness.
As soon as the glass door closes, she drops her act and her shoulders deflate as her lip curls in disgust. She grumbles in annoyance and sits back down at the table, seizing her coffee with one hand to take an aggressive sip.
Everywhere she turns, Boscha is there waiting with one of her rude, snide remarks. The most annoying thing is that the girl acts like she owns her, holding their previous agreement over her head like bait. Sure, Boscha did a favor for her once, but her debt has already been repaid. Boscha is the Team Captain, isn't she? That's exactly what she wanted, what more could she possibly desire?
Amity's love life was none of her concern. Why did that girl even care , anyway?
Suddenly, two more people appear to Amity and she glances up, recognizing them as her siblings. Ah, right, she'd come here because she'd received a text regarding some important information that they couldn't reveal unless it was in person.
"First of all," Emira starts as she sets her coffee down and folds her hands beneath her on the table, "Boscha is a bitch and I don't like her, never have."
Amity snorts in amusement.
Of course they'd seen everything. Well, it was refreshing to know that they would've had her back had she needed them. Sometimes, they were less annoying than usual. Tolerable.
"Secondly," Edric lifts a paper up and lays it down in front of Amity, "we got in contact with that person you're shooting the video with. They're rescheduling it to the 23rd."
"Yeah, right." Amity takes the paper from him and skims it over to ensure that it was authentic, recognizing the lady's signature at the bottom, she slides it back over to him with a nod. "It's true…" She hasn't checked her emails today, and the lady doesn't have her phone number, so she must've run into the Twins and requested that they relay the message for her.
Wow, she should really turn on notifications for her emails. Who knows how many messages are sitting in there unread?
"Lastly." The Twins share a solemn look and Emira continues speaking with a quiet voice, "We found where Amelia was buried…"
Her blood runs cold at the mention of deceased sister's name. She hasn't heard it in so long… Not since the day they were informed of her death.
Amity could never forget that day, it was the one night she regrets staying up so late. Had she been in bed, perhaps the weight in her stomach wouldn't be as heavy as it is.
Although she doesn't have the full story, she knew more than the Twins did. Their parents lied to them the next morning, informing them that Amelia had been found and became aggressive when they tried to bring her home, she attacked a cop and as a result…
"Where is Amelia's grave...?"
Amity can barely hear her own voice over the thundering of her heart.
Edric opens his mouth to answer, but all that comes out is a choked sob. He covers his eyes with his hand and turns his face away from his sisters, attempting to pull himself back together.
Emira clears her throat, her voice is shaky. "The reason we couldn't find it for the last three years is because… Mother and Father didn't put her name on it, they just completely erased her existence from everything, even death certificates."
"Then, how did you find her…?"
Edric is the one to speak up this time, "We asked around after we found the unnamed gravestone… We managed to find someone who knew her, they told us that the grave was hers, their uncle was at the scene of the crime and came to inform them…"
Amity's hand clutches the edge of the table.
"We can go see her tonight." Emira promises, "Decorate it the gravestone, too…" Amity just nods her agreement.
After three years, they finally knew where their sister was laid to rest… Hopefully, this would bring them one step closer to discovering what had happened to her.
"Take the high road, we'll be out of their sights."
"No, that's where they'll be laying an ambush! We take the lowland."
Luz's fingers rapidly move the controls, her eyes locked on the screen as her character sneaks forward into the lowland after Willow's character. "But, we'll be spotted more easily this way," she tells her friend, who just scoffs in response, causing Luz to roll her eyes, "alright, fine, I have the weapons."
Willow's character appears next to her with a golden aura circling them, "I got the potions, but I don't think this is their actual-"
A loud shriek erupts from Gus as a thundering noise echoes through the game, causing the controllers to vibrate and the three of them to jump back in surprise. "Gus?" Luz calls, moving her character towards her friend, only to find his character's corpse laying at her feet.
Across from her, the boy is gazing at his screen with a paralyzed expression, his eyes wide and his controller slipping from his hands. Willow snaps her fingers close to his ears and it reels him back to the real world.
"Yo, what happened?" Luz asks in confusion, "You just-"
Movement across her own screen grabs her attention and she's a moment too late to react, hearing the wet slicing of a weapon she watches her character drop to the ground. Willow's own character falls just as her screen is fading to black.
"You said we would've been safe!" Gus sets his controller down in defeat. "Man, we were so far in! We just had one level to beat!"
Willow blinks as an attempt to bring herself back to her senses. "But, Wionna said that the lowland was safe… They've beat this game so many times…"
Luz leans to the side to look past Gus and lifts a brow, unwilling to believe what she'd just heard. "And you believed them?"
"I see your point, don't rub it in." Willow moans in irritation.
"Well that's done." Gus grumbles, pushing the gaming controller to the side and standing up. Luz and Willow follow in suit, turning off the televisions and the gaming console. "We'll just have to start all over again, so what now?"
"My Dads won't be home for another hour, so we could make a pizza!" Willow suggests with a shrug of her shoulders. "We gotta hold off on the movies until three, because it's the-"
Gus shudders and he wraps himself in his blanket, "The haunted hour." He finishes, Luz and Willow laugh in agreement at the boy's reaction.
"I still say we should go to Spring Falls' Cemetery." Luz sits down next to her friend, Willow seating herself on his other side. Gus lets out an 'eep' and cuddles deeper into his blanket. Luz grins devilishly and her voice drops down to a spooky whisper. "My sister used to tell me that the spirit of Rosetta Diaz still roams there in search of her lost love."
Willow leans over, "Do you know what he looks like?"
Gus squeaks. "What?"
Willow nods to Luz and the tanned girl slowly moves away from the boy, stepping out of his line of view as he is focused on their friend. "Well," Willow begins, "he had dark, chocolatey skin…" Luz creeps forward from behind Gus, keeping her footsteps silent. "His hair was black and he had an afro with sideburns." Luz extends her hands in claw-like motions, "He also had eyes that were nearly as black as night…"
"But, that's almost like describing me!" Gus whimpers.
"You're right!" Willow mock gasps with a hand on her chest, "You know what, maybe you shouldn't go. You know what happens to those matching His description…" Luz gives a slight nod to Willow and the other girl smirks, "Once Rosetta sees them, she comes up to them and she grabs them! Nobody ever hears their screams, and nobody ever finds their body."
Gus was trembling now. "But, that won't happen to-"
Luz launches herself forward with a loud warcry and she tackles her friend over, her hands clamping over his mouth in the process and muffling his terrified scream. Gus starts thrashing and she releases him in fear of being kicked in the stomach.
She and Willow break into laughter as Gus slowly returns to his senses, realizing that he was unharmed and that he was safe. "You guys are so mean to me!" He groans, momentarily causing the other two's giggling to cut short, wondering if they'd actually hurt his feelings. A wide grin crosses his face and his dark eyes light up, "Do it again!"
"Maybe later when you're not expecting it." Willow chuckles, exchanging a grateful look with Luz. "Actually, going to the cemetery doesn't sound like such a bad idea now. What time is it?"
"I'll check." Luz climbs to her feet and strolls across the room quickly to check her phone, reading the time as 11:37. She relays the time to Willow and the girl claps her hands together, finalizing their decision.
Concern hits Luz like a cold wave when she sees that her notifications are blank. Amity hasn't called or messaged her all day… She was worried, Amity hasn't been her usual self for the last few days, it always seems like there's something eating at her.
She wanted to help, but how could she when she doesn't even know what's going on? She didn't want to pry into her privacy, that sort of thing was important to Amity.
"Awww," Willow laughs from behind her and Luz turns around with a smirk, "didja girlfriend text you?"
Willow has been teasing Luz relentlessly since she figured out that she and Amity were dating.
Luz sets her phone back down, "Aww, did you have to say it like that?" She mocks. "No, she didn't-" Luz is cut off by the sound of her phone ringing, she looks back and a nervous smile crosses her face. "Speak of the devil…"
It was Amity. A sense of relief tugs at her heart, thankful that her girlfriend was alright.
"Please no flirting over the phone." Gus pleads with his mouth full of cookies.
"Bet!" Luz responds and the boy groans, Luz giggles and answers her phone, strolling out of the room to avoid Willow eavesdropping.
"Luz?" Amity asks carefully as if thinking she were talking to someone else.
"Amity?" Luz says into the phone quietly, stepping into the bathroom and leaning against the door. "It's almost twelve, what do you-"
Amity interrupts, her voice wary and shaky. "Are you free?"
She was currently at Willow's house, they were having a sleepover that they'd been planning for the last week or so. "It kind of depends," Luz replies hesitantly, "what do you need?" She doesn't want to bail so early on into the night, but she would if Amity needs her. Her friends would understand.
"If you're busy, I can just call back later? It's not a big deal." Now that was unacceptable.
"No, no, Amity, it's okay." Luz tries to reassure her, now worried about the other girl; Amity was being avoidant and cautious, Luz didn't like that. "I'm here, just tell me what you need."
Amity is quiet for a moment. "I don't want to be alone right now."
Wait, what?
"I saw that you were with your siblings earlier, what happened?" Was it something to do with her parents again? Luz would fight them if she has to if they keep upsetting her girlfriend.
"It's nothing bad, I promise." Amity tells her before she can jump to conclusions, "I've just had a long, emotional day. I could use some company."
Luz sighs and her hand tightens around her phone. Well, Amity was her girlfriend, she could invite her over here, right? Surely her friends would be accepting of her. Maybe they can even learn that she's genuinely a good person.
The tanned girl swings the bathroom door open with a twist of the knob and quickly locates Willow in the kitchen, "Hey, Willow!" Her friend's head snaps up in acknowledgement. "Is it okay if I bring Amity here? She's had a bad day."
A sputtering noise erupts from Amity's side of the phone, a mixture of incohesive words of protest.
Uncertainty flashes through Willow's eyes and she bites her lip in thought. She sighs, "Alright." She relents almost reluctantly, "But only because you care about her, okay?"
Luz nods, "Understood." She grins her thanks and rushes out the door, grabbing her keys in the process.
[next morning]
"Bye, Willow!" Luz calls, jogging out of her friend's house to join Amity, who was already waiting outside for her. She gives her girlfriend a light jab in the side with her elbow and nods towards Willow, who is leaned up against the door, watching them expectantly.
Amity glares at Luz and reluctantly turns to face Willow, "Thank you for your hospitality."
There was an obvious tension between Amity and Willow, and despite how desperately Luz wants to figure out why, she has another task on her mind at her moment. But, it's been put onto her mental to-do list with a red underline.
As if she hadn't been expecting to hear it, Willow bows her head in silent acknowledgement and faces away from them, letting the door close behind her as the two begin to walk away.
The two of them walk in silence for a few minutes, Luz quietly allowing her girlfriend to slowly destress. She can see her shoulders relaxing the longer they walk, and her gaze softening from their guarded glare.
During the whole time Amity was at Willow's place, she hadn't said a word and instead kept to herself, she'd seemed to be more focused on her phone than anything else in the room. She'd looked like she was in deep thought, but sometimes her expression would become completely unreadable.
Luz had asked if jerks on Instagram were bothering her again, and Amity denied with a shake of her head, she'd had to trust that it were true. Now that they were alone, maybe she can convince her to open up about whatever happened. She has a strong hunch that whatever it was, it revolved around what happened to Amelia.
They stop at light, Amity staring ahead unblinkingly as cars pass back and forth in front of them. Luz rocks on the heels of her shoes, trying to figure out how to ask her unspoken question.
'I haven't had the chance to tell her about-'
Amity's sudden question brings Luz's mind to a screeching halt.
"Did you have a sister named Lucia?"