Part 3

Boscha stood back up and let out a sigh of relief. It had taken her nearly an hour to finish removing all the weeds. She set the final one onto the wooden tray, then picking the tray up to set aside with the others. It was the third one she had managed to fill since starting the chore. A part of her was wondering if maybe Willow had intentionally grown the weeds using her magic. There were far too many of them for Boscha to believe otherwise. Unless Willow and her fathers were just super lazy with tending to the garden.

"Alright, that's finally finished." She said, letting out a sigh of relief. "Okay, so what's…. next? Willow?"

As she turned around, Boscha noticed that Willow wasn't in the yard. She had probably stepped inside to use the little witch's room while Boscha had been busy. Boscha noticed that her letterman jacket was hanging on the corner of the fence and went to pick it up. Then she put it back on while she waited for Willow to return.

It occurred to Boscha at that moment that she had a prime opportunity right then to sneak away. She could just hop the fence into the next yard and take off. By the time Willow found out, Boscha would already be long gone and enjoying her day. It's not like Willow would come after her or anything like that.

No. That wouldn't sit well with her. That was the sort of thing a wimp would do and Boscha wasn't a wimp. She was a champion in the making. Her image was important and running away from something as trivial as a date with anyone would make her look bad. She didn't want that sort of thing coming out of the woodwork years later when she was going to be an idolized Grudgby star.

Still… Boscha wanted to give into the temptation. The day had only just started and she was already starting to feel a bit worn out. Yard work had not been what she was expecting to do when she committed to the date. She could only imagine what else Willow had in store for her. Plus, it would be so easy to do. Just a quick running start and she'd vault herself over the fence and then make a mad dash as far away as possible.

She stepped closer to the fence, gauging its height. Yeah, it would be super easy for her to scale that. It was almost starting to seem like fun to her the more she thought about it. But she still stuck to her principles and resisted the urge to bail. As she turned back around, she found Willow standing almost directly behind her. Boscha let out a cry of shock and stumbled backwards, almost losing her balance.

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to sneak up on you." Willow said. "But were you trying to leave?"

"What? Pfft. No!" Boscha said, waving her hand dismissively. "I was just waiting for you to come back. I finished weeding the garden. You know, unless you want me to get the ones you're growing on purpose."

"Growing on purpose?" Willow repeated. "We aren't growing weeds on purpose."

"Coulda fooled me. There had to be a hundred of the darn things in there."

"Oh, right. I use a special fertilizer that help the plants grow. It also unfortunately helps other ones grow too. We usually need to weed the garden a few times a week."

"Wow. Fun." Boscha sarcastically noted. "But like I was saying, your definitely growing weeds in there. The Octograss and Sniveling Snotweed over in the back corner there."

"It's called Mucus-thistle. And those aren't weeds." Willow corrected.

"Oh, they are weeds. You should know since you're on the plant track, Leaf-girl." Boscha replied, her eyes suddenly going wide and clapping one hand over her mouth. "Crap! Sorry, that slipped out."

Willow blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm not supposed to call you names or anything like that today."

"Let me guess. It's on the list?" Willow asked, getting a short nod in response. "Do you have it on you? I want to know what else is on it."

Boscha reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it and Willow held out her hand. Instead of giving it to Willow however, Boscha held the paper closer to herself, almost as if she were afraid to show it to her.

"I-I can just read it to you." She said, cheeks going slightly pink. "Let's see… I mentioned the one compliment an hour thing… no mean names or nasty comments… I have to go where you want to go and do what you want to do… um, pay for whatever you eat or want from a shop… and there's other stuff but it would be for later."

"Are you hiding something?"

"No!" Boscha said, stuffing the paper back into her pocket. "Anyways, about the weeds. Why are you growing them?"

"They're only weeds if you don't want them to grow in your garden." Willow replied. "And my parents use them. Mucus-thistle is used to make bug repellant."

"Oh yeah… the goopy nectar has a powerful scent that most bugs can't stand." Boscha noted.

"Exactly. I'm kinda surprised you knew that."

"Potions 101." Boscha replied. "It was one of the first things I ever had to make in class. So, what's the Octograss for?"

"Eating of course." Willow answered with a smile. "It's got lots of fiber and iron too."

Boscha glanced at the aforementioned plants in the garden. The purple, tentacle-like blades of grass writhed around a small mouth with lots of long, sharp teeth. It was something she'd never say out loud, but Boscha thought they were creepy. She had done her best to avoid letting her hands touch them while working the garden, so the idea of eating them almost made her shudder.

While the plant itself wasn't very appealing, the thought of food in general caused Boscha's stomach to growl. Boscha remembered that she had skipped on breakfast and mentally scolded herself for doing so. Willow smiled and turned to head back inside, gesturing for Boscha to follow her. She led Boscha into the kitchen where a plate with some sort of green wrap on it sitting on the counter. Willow picked the plate up and held it out for Boscha.

"Here you go. I figured you might have worked up an appetite while you were weeding. So I prepared a little something for you. It's just some griffin egg whites and diced garden veggies in a lettuce wrap. You can eat while we walk."

There was no hesitation from Boscha. She reached out and took the food, grateful to have something to fill her stomach. As she took her first bite, Willow got some bottled water for her to wash it down. Boscha found the wrap to be very tasty. It was crisp and moist with a tangy sauce in it that she couldn't quite place.

"What's this sauce?" She asked Willow. "It's not like anything I've tasted before."

"Just some of the nectar from the Snotweed for extra flavor." Willow replied, smirking as Boscha started to turn slightly green. "Nah, I'm just kidding! It's a dressing my parents make from scratch. We put it on our salads all the time."

For a moment, Boscha looked annoyed with Willow. She scowled at her, Willow giggling in return. But then Boscha's expression softened a bit and she started to smile just a little.

"Okay, that was a good one." She admitted, taking another bite. "You have a decent sense of humor."

Willow's smile vanished. "Oh, well in that case I'm sorry for what I did."

"Huh? Why are you apologizing?" Boscha asked.

"If you thought it was funny, it must've been meaner than I intended. So, I'm sorry for going too far, even if only a little bit."

"What are you talking about? You didn't go too far."

"This coming from the witch who followed me and my friends around all day just to pick on us as much as possible." Willow replied, crossing her arms. "From the girl who dumped garbage on me, who wanted to use my best friend for target practice. The bully who put rancid meat into my school locker so it would vomit onto me! Thank you so much for that, by the way. It took almost five bottles of stain removal potion to clean my school uniform."

"Those were all just pranks!"

"I know. But have you ever asked yourself how you'd feel if any of it had happened to you?"

Boscha didn't know how to respond to that one. She had always had a strong reputation that kept people from messing with her, even before she started to attend Hexside. When her magical powers began to develop, she showed potential which put her right at the top of the list for witchlings in her age group. Anyone who would dare try to cross her would soon regret that decision. So Boscha never had to deal with anyone pranking her or teasing her, not even once.

But what would she do if it actually happened? She knew she'd get mad, that much was certain. Then she'd get back at whoever had offended her. It would have been swift, cruel, and done in front of as many witnesses as possible to establish her dominance over the idiot who crossed her. After that, she'd make sure to pay special attention to that individual and give them trouble any time she wanted. To set an example of why you didn't want Boscha Trilochana to be your enemy.

While Boscha was becoming lost in thought, Willow was observing her. The normally mean witch was looking surprisingly pensive, her gaze diverted downwards at the floor. Willow found herself being surprised by Boscha once again that day. She hadn't expected Boscha to start reflecting on the matter. It was almost enough to make her wonder…

"Do you actually feel bad about the things you've done?" She asked, almost in amazement.

"No!" Boscha said, snapping out of her thoughtful state. "I… I mean, maybe. It's just that, you never really did anything no matter how much I picked on you."

"Because I knew better! If I did anything, all it would have gotten me is more trouble from you! For the longest time I've only ever thought of you as a big thorn in my side!" Willow replied, clenching her fists for a moment before taking a quick breath. "But… I'm starting to think I may actually be wrong about you."

"Wrong how?" Boscha asked, growing curious.

"I'm not sure. But I don't want to just think you're only a bully who's good at Grudgby. So I'd like to ask you some things while we're out today. We should get going while it's still early. I need to run an important errand before anything else."

Boscha groaned a little. "More chores?"

"You have to do anything I ask of you, remember?" Willow reminded her. "Don't worry, this should be nice and quick. Then I'll find something fun we can do."

Holding back the urge to complain, Boscha just took another bite of her food and followed Willow out of the house. The two made their way up the street, Willow waiting for Boscha to finish eating before saying anything. By that point however she couldn't seem to think of anything to ask the other witch about. With their history, it proved to be a little difficult for her to decide where to start.

"So…." She began, attempting to break the silence.

"The wrap was good." Boscha said. "Thanks."

"Oh… I'm glad that you liked it. You earned it after all the work you did in the garden. Anyway, um… what other foods do you like?"

Boscha shrugged. "I'm not really picky. Healthy foods are my first choices though and I don't really like sweets."

"I'm the same. I'll take fresh fruit or veggies over cookies or cake any day." Willow said, grateful to have found common ground so soon. "It's the added sugars. I just don't like food with them."

"Don't get me started on that." Boscha replied. "Amelia and Skara are always scarfing down chocolate when we hang out. They used to have it before every game way back when we started Grudgby and they'd end up having sugar crashes. That's why I created my Victory Brew, so they could have something tasty to fuel themselves before we started to play." She said, her face then turning sullen. "At least I think it's tasty. Apparently, they don't."

"I liked it." Willow said sincerely. "Even with the odd aftertaste, it was pretty good. The Toadfruit you use in it gives it such a nice, bold flavor."

Boscha looked up at the other witch, her eyes lighting up a little. The corners of her mouth perked up a little from the praise for her creation. Her ego began showing as she had a bit of swagger to her step and she gave into her guilty pleasure of bragging.

"Yeah, it is pretty good, isn't it? I'm amazing at potions so it was a total cinch to prepare. All the ingredients were selected for the purpose of bringing out the top form for any athlete. Toadfruit is super healthy with all its vitamins and I use powdered minotaur horn to add protein too."

Willow gasped. "That's why there was a strange after taste! Powdered minotaur horn is very bitter, so when it's mixed with something like Toadfruit, it would have a weird flavor!"

"It doesn't taste weird!" Boscha said defensively. "I'm supposed to be nice to you today, so don't make that difficult for me!"

"Don't take it the wrong way. It's still good, even if it's a little strange. And with how much protein you get from the keratin in minotaur horns, I'd say it's more than makes up for the taste."

"Thank you!" Boscha exclaimed, throwing her arms up a little as she dropped her sour tone. "Seriously, why don't the other Banshees get that? You know what? It's about time for your next compliment. You're smarter than my teammates."

"Just because I like your brew more than them?" Willow questioned, raising an eyebrow judgingly.

"Because you get that there's more to it than just the taste. It's about what you get out of it that really matters. You get it and I can respect you a little for that."

"Uh, thanks, I guess. Anyway, we're almost at the store. You're good with heavy lifting, right?"

Boscha lifted her right arm and flexed it a bit. "You know it. I do carry my whole team after all."

If that had been intended to be a joke, Willow didn't laugh. She approached the door to a moderately sized shop and reached for the handle. Boscha cut her off however and opened the door for her, forcing a small smile. For a moment Willow was slightly surprised, but it occurred to her that Boscha was simply following yet another of the listed conditions for the day.

The inside of the shop had a charming, sylvan look. Stacks of planting pots were lined up against the far wall, with varying colors and patterns etched onto them. An ornate stand was set beside the counter with numerous packets of many kinds of seeds. Built into the counter were sets of shelves behind a display window with potions crafted specifically for plant life to promote things such as strong roots, resistance to cold, and accelerated regeneration.

Willow approached the counter, tapping the eye on a lump of flesh which was sitting there. As her fingertip made contact, a shrill shriek sounded. It alerted the store owner, a large, portly, middle-aged male witch with a mane of auburn hair, who stepped into the main area from the back room and greeted Willow with a smile.

"Hello, Miss Park. Here to pick up the order for your school's greenhouse?" He asked, leaning on the counter.

"Yes sir. Mrs. Amaryllis said it was already paid for?"

"Indeed it is; you're all set. I'll be just a moment while I fetch them."

He stepped out back again, returning not even a minute later with three large bags of fertilizer and set them down on the counter. The bags were all more than half as large as Willow herself, the stack easily higher than the top of her head while on the countertop. Willow grabbed the top one, carefully pulling it down and passed it to Boscha, who needed to cross both arms over the heavy bag to handle it. While she hugged it to her body, Boscha watched Willow take the other two bags for herself. She carried one on her right shoulder while the other she tucked under her left arm. After taking a moment to ensure she had both bags secure in her grasp, Willow thanked the store owner and made way for the door, Boscha once again beating her to the punch.

With a bit of trouble, Boscha shifted the weight of the bag to her right arm while she quickly opened the door for Willow. Then she quickly put her back to the door to hold it open and she returned her free arm to holding the bag. Willow had to turn sideways to get through since Boscha was slightly obstructing the way out. As she passed by they were very close to each other, the distance between them almost nonexistent. Their faces were almost as close, Boscha feeling the heat rising in her cheeks from the proximity.

After getting back outside, Willow noticed Boscha was staring at her again. She started getting a feeling like the one she had not so long ago at her house. Boscha caught onto what she was doing this time however and averted her gaze while she stepped away from the door, letting it shut. Willow debated silently on how to address the matter, if for no other reason than to deal with the mixed feelings she was experiencing.

"Is something bothering you?" She frankly asked of the other witch.

"I, uh… do you have those alright?" Boscha asked, gesturing to the bags Willow was carrying with a tilt of her head. "It seems kinda unfair that you have two. So I was just wondering if you needed help."

"Funny, I could ask the same of you with your one bag of fertilizer." Willow countered, smirking as she noticed the bag slowly slipping out of Boscha's grip. "Careful you don't drop it on your feet."

Boscha quickly readjusted the bag in her arms to hold it more securely and smiled uneasily. Willow started to head up the street, moving at a steady pace with Boscha following not far behind. For the first minute or so, it wasn't so bad. However, the bag she was carrying soon began to become more of a burden to Boscha the further they walked. She had to keep readjusting the bag every other minute to avoid letting it fall to the ground.

The further the two walked, the harder it was for Boscha to manage keeping up. Willow seemed to be getting a considerable lead, not hindered by her heavier load in the slightest. Boscha couldn't figure out if she was more impressed or annoyed with the ease Willow was handling the task. What she did know was that she wasn't about to be shown up.

Hefting the bag up again, Boscha hugged it tightly to her body and picked up the pace. She closed the distance between her and Willow, slowing down again as she fell into step beside her. Willow glanced at her briefly, a smile tugging at her lips almost as if she were amused by the idea of Boscha struggling to keep up with her. Boscha ignored it, along with the fact that her arms were starting to ache.

"So, we're gonna just drop these off at the school?" She asked.

"Yup. And then we can go do something we can both enjoy." Willow replied. "Do you have anything you'd like to do?"

"I'm supposed to do what you want to do, remember?"

"Well I'd like to do something you'd want to do. So there." Willow countered. "Just think about it and let me know if anything comes to your mind, okay? We've got plenty of time."

There was something about that which came across as slightly suspicious to Boscha. Was it a test? If she said she wanted to do something, would Willow really be interested or did she just want to tell her 'no'? What if she didn't suggest anything? That wouldn't be going against Willow's wishes, would it? Would there even be any consequences for that?

Boscha cleared her mind of the matter. It was beginning to make her head hurt. Maybe if she just changed the subject, Willow would forget about it after a little while. She took a few seconds to think up something else to talk about, finding a topic easily enough.

"I've been wondering… what's the big deal about the human anyway?" She inquired. "I just don't get what Amity sees in her."

Willow, after experiencing a moment of surprise, let out a giggle. "Luz is a lot of things, so it's kinda tricky to say just what Amity likes so much about her. But if I were to take a guess, I'd say it might have something to do with how Luz is always putting others before herself. Or how she can own her mistakes and work to make up for when they happen. Plus, she is a lot of fun to be around."

"So it's not just because she thinks her ears are cute or whatever?"

"Oh, Amity definitely thinks everything about Luz is cute. But you and I can say we both know Amity well enough that it'll take more than looks to really win her over."

"I guess. Dang it." Boscha muttered. "I owe Skara five snails now."

Again Willow let out a giggle, this time getting a tiny, genuine smile from Boscha. They spent the rest of the walk to the school's grounds going back and forth exchanging questions. Most of them regarded things about school. Opinions of certain teachers, what each other's classes were like, whether the cafeteria demons were really bad at cooking or secretly trying to poison them little by little. and other similar subjects were discussed until they finally arrived at the greenhouse.

The two girls set their bags down by the door of the greenhouse, Boscha letting out a sigh of relief. Willow unlocked the door with the key that had been entrusted to her by Mrs. Amaryllis. When she opened it, Willow let out a surprised gasp and stared at the inside of the building. Then she took a hurried step back, nearly bumping into Boscha as a very worried look came into her eyes.

"Oh no. Oh no, no, no! This isn't good!"

"What, what's wrong?" Boscha asked, peeking over Willow's shoulder. "Did one of the plants eat somebody?"

"Worse, the Spiderbell bloomed!" Willow replied, pointing to something inside the greenhouse.

Boscha stepped beside Willow for a closer look. Within the greenhouse, sitting on a table towards the very back, was a tall flower sitting in a pot. Its stem and leaves were dark grey in color, with a bulbous black bloom that had eight spindly pistils protruding from the center. A white, weblike material was dangling from the pistils, like a large cotton ball which looked like it had been torn asunder. From what Boscha could see, there were countless little white bits of something like the weblike material floating in the air all around.

She stepped closer, in slight awe of the sight before her. The floating objects were akin to tiny tufts of rotten-candy and they were all over the greenhouse. Boscha noticed one drifting close to her and she held out her hand to let it land in her palm. Before it could touch down on her skin however, Willow stepped in and blew it away.

"Don't! If you touch them, they will die!" Willow informed her urgently, taking Boscha by the arm and tugging her back "They're very delicate!"

"How was I supposed to know that?" Boscha asked, pulling her arm free. "I don't even know what those are!"

"Those are the Spiderbell's seeds. If one of them touches your skin, it will absorb the oils like it would moisture from soil and die from it! The best way to handle them is using magic to gently plant them. We'll need to get started right away!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you talking about? I thought we were just dropping off the bags and then leaving!" Boscha replied, looking at the many seeds floating in the air. "There's got to be hundreds of those things!"

"Thousands actually." Willow corrected, using her magic to levitate a large bag of potting soil nearby, keeping it very close to the ground. She then did the same with a box full of biodegradable little cups. "I can gather the seeds, you just need to fill all the little seedling cups with some soil."

"You have got to be kidding me! That is gonna take forever! Why can't the teacher just do it?!"

"We need to plant them and water them, NOW." Willow stressed. "These seeds won't survive without nutrients and water and there's no telling how long it's been since the seed sac burst! Please Boscha, I need you to help me with this! There isn't time to wait for anyone else!"

Willow took both of Boscha's hands, squeezing them and looking her in the eyes. Boscha was experiencing conflicting emotions. She hated the idea of doing more work, but the way Willow was looking at her was making her feel… odd. But it was odd in a really good way. Despite her common sense practically screaming at her to just refuse, Boscha found herself caving into that pleading gaze from the other girl and nodded in consent.

"Thank you so much!" Willow said, suddenly beaming. "I'm so happy I could hug you!"

Boscha blushed, a tiny smile appearing on her face. "Well, I guess that would be okay."

"I said I could, not that I will." Willow replied, stepping cautiously further into the greenhouse. "Now let's hurry and get started."

The smile fell from Boscha's face. She looked at the numerous seeds drifting this way and that. Just thinking about how long it would take to deal with them was already making her feel drained. Willow began drawing small spell circles and capturing the seeds one at a time in little green bubbles of magic. Slowly and carefully, Willow moved them over to Boscha, letting them hover near the ground where the cups and soil were sitting.

With a heavy sigh, Boscha knelt down and tore open the bag of potting soil. She started to set out all the little planting cups and began filling them up. Then she poked a finger into the soil for the seeds before going to use her magic to start planting them. In the time it took her to set up just a dozen little planting cups, Willow had already managed to gather more than twice as many of the seeds, all floating in little green bubbles nearby.

Willow stepped over, bringing in an additional three bubbles to add to the group. Boscha held back a groan as she looked at how many had been gathered already. There was no way she could keep up and even if she could, this was just a drop in the bucket. Unable to even try and tolerate the immense task before her, she instinctively pulled out her scroll and opened it up. She tapped away, her focus solely on the magical item in her hands.

A shadow loomed over her, impairing her ability to see her scroll a little. Boscha's third eye shifted its gaze up, finding Willow directly in front of her. She stood with her hands on her hips while she glared down at Boscha, one of her feet starting to tap impatiently on the greenhouse floor.

"What? I'm helping." Boscha told her.

"And just how does Penstagram help me plant all of these seeds?"

"I'm contacting Amelia." Boscha replied. "She can come down and help out."

"Oh. That's… a really good idea." Willow admitted, feeling slightly abashed for jumping to conclusions. "Thank you, Boscha."

"You should contact your teacher and see if other students in your track can do the same." Boscha advised. "If it's so important to get this done then it only makes sense."

"I don't have her contact information." Willow told her. "Or for anyone in my class either."

Boscha looked up at Willow, disbelief in her eyes. "You really don't have anyone's info?"

"Not for any of the other plant track students. Only Gus, Amity, and Eda, so I can contact Luz."

Resisting the urge to make a comment about Willow's social life, Boscha sent another message to Amelia to get her to spread the word to the other plant track students instead. She then put her scroll away and begrudgingly set to work. Under Willow's instruction, she guided the magic bubbles one by one over the planting cups. With a gentle influence from her own magic, she made the bubbles dissipate, allowing the seeds to settle into the soil.

As Boscha expected, the process was incredibly tedious. Time seemed to drag slowly by, the repetitive motions steadily making her feel more and more irritable. She was just about ready to call it quits thirty minutes later when Amelia finally walked into the greenhouse. Amelia had also brought Cat along for whatever reason. Not that Boscha was going to argue having another set of hands to help.

The two newcomers set to work right away, Cat kneeling down beside Boscha while Amelia assisted Willow with seed gathering. Feeling less stressed over the whole thing, Boscha continued working. She prioritized filling the cups with soil to try and get ahead of the game while Cat gingerly planted the seeds. Once she had filled as many cups as she thought was needed, Boscha returned to planting the seeds as well.

It wasn't long before Boscha felt her antipathy for the project returning full force. She kept checking the door to the greenhouse, hoping more students from the plant track, or at the very least the teacher for the plant track would enter. The more time passed, the more frequently Boscha found herself peeking. To make things more frustrating for her, there was another factor that was making things difficult.

Amelia would not shut up. Ever since she had started to collect the seeds with Willow, she started talking almost nonstop about the Spiderbell. It was starting to feel like Boscha was stuck in class with all the facts being listed so quickly.

"Has she always been this chatty?" Boscha whispered to Cat while Amelia rambled on about how the Spiderbell's seed sac exploded in order to propel the seeds out into the air.

"She's just excited, that's all." Cat replied. "This is a big project for the plant track. Apparently that's a highly endangered flower and their teacher has been caring for it since it was just a seed. So this means a lot to Amelia. The entire way here she was practically dragging me along because she couldn't wait to get started."

"So that's why you're here." Boscha noted. "Good to know I'm not the only one doing this against her will."

Cat frowned. "Amelia didn't ask me to help. I offered to do this. If it's important to her, then it's important to me too."

"And yet there are only two plant students out of the entire track here so far." Boscha grumbled. She then set aside the planting cup she had just placed a seed into and waited as Amelia brought over some more seeds. "Hey, when is your teacher going to be here?"

"I dunno." Amelia said with a shrug. "I don't have Mrs. Amaryllis's contact info. But I posted a pic of me and Cat on Penstagram when we got here. Maybe that will get someone's attention."

Boscha let out a groan, her head hanging as she held back a snarky remark. Amelia looked to Cat as if to ask her what the problem was and Cat simply shrugged in return. Both she and Amelia returned to their respective tasks, Amelia spouting off facts about the flower again. Willow joined her this time as they initiated a full-blown conversation and Boscha began to silently wonder if they were doing it to intentionally torture her.

The minutes continued to drag by, the two plant witches going on and on about the Spiderbell. Boscha was trying her best to ignore it, but was unable to shut all of it out. Blah, blah, blah… seeds carried by the wind. Yadda, yadda, yadda… eaten by invasive birds. Yap yappity yap… dying from poor soil quality or lack of water. She just wished they'd shut up already. It was getting to the point where she'd rather sit through the potions lecture on cauldron safety all over again.

To her relief, the door to the greenhouse opened again after a short while and someone else came in to lend a hand. Although she was confused at first as she saw the newcomer had pink leggings, the color of the abomination track. It wasn't until she saw he had green sleeves that she realized he was one of the few multi-track students at Hexside.

As he stepped further into the greenhouse, Jerbo let out a low whistle. "There's so many of them. How many have you managed to plant so far?"

"Not enough." Boscha grumbled. "We'll still be trying to finish this by the time the sun goes down."

"I think I can help cut down the time a bit." Jerbo replied, looking towards his fellow plant trackers. "Is there more potting soil?"

Willow drew a magic circle and levitated an unopened bag over to him. Jerbo then made his own circle and called forth his abomination. It tore the bag open and absorbed the soil into its arms, then doing the same with the remaining soil from the first bag. Jerbo gestured for Amelia and Willow to step back so he could put his plan into motion. Guiding the abomination's movements, Jerbo had it extend and flatten its arms as much as possible. Then he had it slowly move into the center of the greenhouse, making it maneuver its arms in every direction to capture the seeds.

"I'm going to need more soil." He told the others. "Just one more bag should be enough."

Amelia got another bag and opened it for him. The abomination grew another set of arms and grabbed the bag to combine with the soil and continue the seed capturing process. The four girls watched as slowly but surely the seeds vanished into the summoned being's limbs, leaving hardly more than a dozen left floating in bubbles near them.

With the gathering of the seeds completed, Jerbo had his abomination slowly flatten itself completely onto the floor. Willow and Amelia joined his side and the three began to rapidly draw spell circles, making all the little seeds within the soil of the abomination to sprout. The flattened abomination was soon covered with patches of green and the three all let out a collective sigh.

"Well, the hard part is done." Jerbo said, wiping a bit of sweat from his brow. "Hopefully Mrs. Amaryllis will be here soon. After I saw Amelia's post on Penstagram I made sure to contact her and let her know."

"Thank you so much!" Willow exclaimed pulling the boy in for a side-hug. "You too Amelia!"

She went to give Amelia a side-hug as well, but Amelia gave her a full embrace instead. Both Cat and Boscha frowned at the sight, seemingly jealous. Amelia noticed Cat's expression and turned to her, placing her hands onto her hips.

"What? I'm allowed to hug other people!" She said, then turning to look at Boscha. "And why do you look mad?"

"I'm not." Boscha replied, standing up and stretching. "I'm just annoyed it couldn't have been that easy to start with. But whatever. It's done now so we can finally leave. Let's go Willow."

"We aren't done yet, Boscha." Willow told her. "There's still the matter of placing all the new seedlings into their own cups and then they need water."

"Aw come on!" Boscha snipped, throwing her hands down angrily. "Why can't you just water the stupid things and leave them?! We've already wasted so much time!"

"I don't consider any of this a waste of time." Willow countered. "So you still need to help out!"

"Well maybe I don't want to anymore! This has sucked so much! I'm so freaking happy that I'm not on the plant track because I would hate to be stuck with this crap for schoolwork! Compared to this, anything potions class throws at me is a breeze! You'd have to be crazy to want to do this!"

"Boscha, I don't like your attitude right now." Willow said sternly.

"Yeah, you need to calm down." Amelia added.

"You need to shut up!" Boscha spat.

Amelia flinched in response to the abrasive way Boscha replied. Suddenly, Cat was standing between her and Boscha, giving the triclops a very angry glare. Boscha found herself almost starting to shrink away from Cat. She had never seen her look this mad before; Cat was always an even-tempered girl and preferred to avoid confrontation. This time seemed to be an exception for reasons beyond Boscha's understanding.

"Do not talk to her like that." Cat told her, using a tone very much like a scolding mother. "Whatever is getting on your nerves is not her fault. So don't give her any of your attitude!"

"Boscha, if you want to be a thorn in the side then just get out!" Willow ordered, pointing to the door. "I cannot afford to argue with you right now. Just wait outside until we're finished in here. You can do that much, can't you?"

"Finally! Thank you!"

Turning on her heel, Boscha stormed out of the greenhouse, barely able to resist the urge to slam the door behind her. She let out a frustrated cry and leaned back against the building, hot tears forming in her eyes. After wiping them away, she sat down and crossed her arms while she silently griped about what had just occurred. Her bad mood only continued to fester as she found her wait was to be a long one.

Eventually the plant track teacher, Mrs. Amaryllis, arrived along with some of her other students. Boscha kept her eyes on her lap, not bothering to so much at glance at any of them. After they went inside to begin working with the others, Boscha found herself starting to peek over at the door every couple of minutes. By the time Willow stepped outside at long last, Boscha was at the limit of her patience.

Willow stepped over to her, looking down at her in annoyance. Boscha got back up onto her feet, but didn't meet Willow's eyes. She could tell Willow was waiting for her to say something but Boscha wasn't going to apologize. Although there was one thing that she was more than willing to say to Willow.

"That completely sucked!" She blurted out, her voice cracking just a bit. "I knew today wasn't going to be great, but I didn't think it would be this bad! But you know what? I shouldn't be surprised! Today isn't supposed to be fun like a real date. It's just an excuse for you to get revenge on me!"

"You know, Boscha…" Willow said, her voice soft, almost sad. "I was wondering if you'd surprise me today and you did. With how you act at school, I always thought you were tougher than this."

"Whatever." Boscha replied, scowling and turning away from Willow. "Just hurry up and drag me to whatever stupid task you want me to do next. I want to get this day over with already!"

Letting out a sigh, Willow started to make her way back towards Bonesborough. Boscha lagged behind, looking down at her feet while they walked. Willow glanced back at her, trying to think of what to say. The other girl looked up at her at that moment and she quickly averted her gaze, placing her focus on the ground. In the brief time they had locked eyes, Willow saw something that bothered her.

Boscha had seemed absolutely crestfallen. Over the years Willow had known Boscha, she had made an effort to keep away from the bully. But during the occasions she had found herself unwillingly interacting with her, she had never once seen the other witch's eyes so despondent. For a minute she wasn't able to figure out why it bothered her exactly, but then she was hit with a realization.

She felt bad. The very idea was foreign to her considering just who she felt bad for. But the recent outburst from Boscha echoed in her mind and part of her regretted how she had acted in response. It wasn't even noon yet and things were feeling tense between them now. Willow wasn't looking forward to spending the remaining hours like that with Boscha. If there was any chance to salvage the rest of their day together, Willow knew she had to address the matter. Hopefully Boscha would be willing to cooperate.

"Hey, Boscha?" Willow began. "I know you aren't happy right now. But please understand I wasn't trying to upset you. So let's find someplace nice to eat lunch and we can talk about it, okay? You can pick the restaurant too. How's that sound? … Boscha?"

Willow turned around to look at the other teen. But she was surprised to find that Boscha was gone. After taking a moment to scan the area, Willow confirmed she was nowhere nearby.

"And she's gone." Willow muttered, looking mildly annoyed. "Who could have seen this coming?" She wondered aloud, letting out a sigh. "Me. I saw it coming. Well, you aren't going to get away that easily, Boscha. I planned for this."

To be continued.