Chapter Text
“It hurts. It really, really hurts”, Luz groaned, clutching her leg, fighting back tears of embarrassment and frustration as a wave of pain washed across her body. It was her fifth grudgby game since joining the team and the first game she had worked up the courage to ask Amity to attend. She had been a natural at the game, quickly becoming one of the team’s best players since learning the sport only a few months prior. Her reputation as a great player soon spread throughout Hexside, earning her a new found respect and admiration from her peers that was previously unfamiliar to her. It wasn’t that Luz didn’t have friends, in fact, she had found a great friendship in two young witches, Willow and Gus, that she was extremely grateful for. However, being the only human in attendance, Luz struggled to fit in among the rest of her peers and thus sought friendship and belonging among her team and was happy to find that even beyond the bonds she created with teammates, her skill on the grudgby field had more people willing to give her a chance to belong.
There was one person in particular however, that Luz cared to get to know above all else - Amity Blight. A popular witch, befriending Amity always seemed out of Luz’s reach. Prior to joining the grudgby team, Luz was the furthest thing from popular, her outcast status creating distance between her and the girl she longed to know. Still, she felt compelled to try, though even her best efforts thus far had all resulted in unfavorable results. Having achieved the stardom that comes with in school athletics, however, Luz thought maybe now she would have a chance. Wanting nothing more than to impress the girl with her athletic prowess, Luz thought that perhaps inviting Amity to one of her games would be the perfect way to peak her attention. There was something about Amity that drew Luz to her after all; something that made her want to try. Maybe it was her drive, or her grasp on magic, or her beautiful golden eyes... wait, what?
“Luz!,” Eda, her mentor and guardian since arriving at the Boiling Isles, yelled as she ran onto the field alongside a frantic Principal Bump and school medic.
“Hey Eda,” Luz stammered, chocking back a lump in her throat as she fought the tears filling her eyes, “I’m okay. I think I just sprained my ankle...”
“I hate to break it to you kid, but from what we all just saw, what you have there is a lot worse than a sprain,” Eda remarked, recounting the tackle that sent Luz spiraling to the ground and her left leg twisted unnaturally.
“Oh geez,” Luz groaned, wincing in pain as the school medic splinted her leg before two additional medics arrived with a stretcher.
“These folks here will accompany you and Ms. Clawthorne to the healer,” Principal Bump spoke, noting the frustration growing on the new student’s face. “As it is likely you will be out of school for awhile, I will arrange for someone to pass along your course work but for the next few days, please try and get some rest.”
Luz gave an understanding nod before closing her eyes as the medics moved the stretcher to take her off the field. The last thing she wanted to see was the faces of her friends, and especially Amity, staring down at her as she was being carried off.
——
It had been several days since the faithful game that left Luz bedridden in a full leg cast. Being stuck at home had proven to be quite the lonely experience, with Eda and their demon companion, King, out at work during the day. With nothing to do, Luz found herself lost in thought, wondering what her friends had been up to and mulling over not being able to attend classes. Since arriving at the Boiling Isles from the human world, Luz wanted nothing more than to learn magic and become a witch much like her fictional hero, Azura. As such, being allowed to attend Hexside to accomplish this goal was nothing short of a dream come true, especially in combination with the mentorship she was receiving from Eda - a powerful witch in her own right. However, for the time being, it seemed that was another opportunity she had squandered given her current situation. Lost in thought, Luz was unaware of just how much time had passed before an annoying, yet familiar voice, brought her back to reality as she propped herself up to listen.
“Whatever you’re selling, we don’t want any, hoot hoot,” Luz heard Hooty, the owl house (as it was known) personified, spoke.
Curious, Luz continued to listen, trying to make out the muffled words from beyond the door. With her room situated a ways away from the front room, this effort proved to be futile as Luz let her body plop back into the mattress. “Ouch...” she groaned as the sudden motion of which sent waves of pain down her pillow-supported leg.
“Homework, you say? Well, I guess Luz might need that, though whether she wants it is another story, hoot hoot” Luz heard Hooty continue, propping herself up once again as she heard the door open.
“Luz?” a soft voice called; a voice Luz couldn’t immediately place.
“Uhm, yeah? Who is it?,” Luz questioned, wondering who exactly the voice belonged to and why exactly it was here.
“Uhm, its Amity. Principal Bump asked me to drop by your coursework.”
“Oh geez, why Amity?” Luz thought to herself as she glanced down at her leg, the last thing she wanted being Amity to see her like this.
“Oh hey, Amity!” Luz stammered, trying to think up a reason to get the green-haired witch to leave. “I um, I can’t make it to the door right now. Well, I mean I can but it would take me quite awhile and I don’t want to waste your time so you can uh, you can just leave the homework on the coffee table. Eda can bring it to me later.”
“Oh well, Principal Bump told me that a few of our professors said it may be helpful if you received some tutoring to help you understand what we learned,” Amity began as she made her way towards where she thought Luz’s voice was coming from, “and since he had already asked me to bring you your coursework, he asked me if I could...” Voice trailing off, Amity’s eyes locked onto Luz as she stood at her doorway where the voice had come from.
“Hey Amity...” Luz said sheepishly, face red from embarrassment as she turned her head to look away. Under normal circumstances, Luz would be thrilled with the opportunity to get to know Amity better; this was her hope in inviting her to her game after all. However, in knowing how Amity had reacted to her attempts to get to know her before, the bulk of which often resulted in Luz aggravating the girl, Luz was fearful that her failure on the field would be a point of contention between the two as ultimately, Amity had wasted her time by attending a game Luz only lasted one round in.
“Oh Luz...” Amity said, voice laced with concern as she made her way into Luz’s room. “That looks really bad,” Amity said, glancing down at Luz’s leg, her swollen toes tinged with purple the only thing visible under the large cast that engulfed the remainder of her leg.
“Yeah...” Luz mumbled, “and it hurts about as bad as it looks.”
“I bet,” Amity said, placing Luz’s coursework on her nightstand. “I’ve only ever broken my wrist when my par...” Amity cut herself off. “Well it hurt really bad anyway so I know how you must be feeling.” There was no reason for her to go into the details of what happened that night, Amity thought, they hardly knew each other after all.
Catching Amity’s sudden discomfort, Luz made a mental note to revisit the conversation some day, not wanting to pry into something Amity clearly wanted to keep to herself for now. “Yeah,” she said, wincing as she adjusted her position on the bed, so as to sit and face her visitor. “It’s no walk in the park, thats for sure.”
As she heard Amity let out a small chuckle at her very unintentional pun, a wave of relief washed over Luz, hopeful that Amity didn’t feel like she was a waste of time. “Do you want to sit down? You’re welcome to use my desk chair,” Luz remarked.
“Uhm, yeah, that would be great,” Amity said, pulling the chair from Luz’s desk and positioning it beside the bed. “So did you wan’t to start tutoring now or?”
“Oh,” Luz said realizing she had no clear course of action beyond offering Amity a seat. “Yeah, that would be great. Theres not much else to do besides read so I may as well get some work done,” Luz said, glancing over at the Azura book that lay next to her.
“Oh, you like Azura?” Amity said, curiosity peaked seeing that the injured girl was on volume 5.
“Yeah, its my favorite! Wait, you have Azura here on the Boiling Isles?” Luz said, half in shock and half in wonder.
Seeing the genuine look of amazement on Luz’s face, Amity couldn’t help but chuckle. Admittedly, Amity had not been thrilled when approached by Principal Bump to help Luz. The times they had interacted previously often resulted in Luz landing Amity in some sort of trouble. Attending the game, Amity thought, would be the last chance Amity would give for any kind of friendship to spark between the two; after all, they could always hang out at the inevitable victory party afterwards. However, when that didn’t pan out, Amity took it as a sign that perhaps the universe just didn’t want them in each others lives. Being here though, in Luz’s home, in her room, finding common ground between her and the girl, gave Amity a glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, they could be friends. Nodding her head, Amity smiled, “Yeah, it is my favorite as well. Which book did you like the best?”
Bright eyed and embarrassed no more, Luz couldn’t contain her excitement as the two launched into a conversation about the series, listening with intent and admiration as Amity discussed her favorite elements of it. Perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad, Luz thought. Perhaps there was hope for them after all.