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1.
Amity’s not usual one to let insecurity get the best of her. Actually, insecurity might not be the best word for it. Whatever you call the feeling when you see someone and just know in your gut, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they’d never be interested in you. That’s how Amity feels when she meets Luz the Lifeguard, capital letters and all.
It goes like this:
Her parents have been members at the Bonesborough Country Club for years, but Amity’s never really spent much time there until now. Sure, they’ve gone to family dinners and various company events at the place, but she’s never gone of her own accord.
Except the twins, on their never-ending quest to be her problem, had forced her to come to the club’s pool with them when it opened for the season. It was only at her mother’s insistence that she joined them, not wanting to anger the proverbial beast more than she had to. Fighting with her mother is pretty much masochistic, given that it never works out in her favor. (Amity knows this for a fact—she keeps a running tally list in her diary and everything).
But it didn’t take her long to be glad she went because, sitting up on the lifeguard chair, was the singular most beautiful person Amity’s ever seen and no, she’s not being dramatic.
This is what Amity’s learned about the lifeguard of her dreams so far:
- Her name is Luz (but she said that already)
- She’s friends with two of the other lifeguards (Gus and Willow, who also happen to be Amity’s classmates)
- There’s a nonzero chance that Amity has a small, tiny, miniscule crush on her
The last one is ridiculous because she just knows it’s hopeless, for a number of reasons she doesn’t really want to get into.
She’s not weird about it or anything, doesn’t come to the pool more often than her siblings want to and doesn’t bother her at all. The most she does is glance at her from across the pool and try not to think about how beautiful she is. Importantly, Amity makes sure her siblings don’t pick up on it. They’d never let her live this down. They’d call her useless, which is a fair assessment, but an annoying one when it comes from them.
Today, though, something is different. Luz looks far less sunny than usual, which makes Amity frown. Sure, it’s not her problem, but she still sends out a silent hope that everything is okay.
“I’m going to get in the water,” Emira says, “Edric, you’re coming with me!”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he says, “Race you!”
They’re off after that. Sometimes Amity swears they’re five years old. They’re also on the swim team, which might explain the water competitiveness.
She leans back into her chair, flipping to the next page of her book. It’s the sixth installment in the Good Witch Azura series and Amity is dying to know if Hecate actually betrayed Azura or not because, if she did, Amity may start crying right here at the pool. That would double the reasons for Luz to be utterly appalled by her. If she even noticed, Amity reminds herself.
Speaking of Luz, there’s some sort of commotion going on over by her lifeguard chair. At first, Amity can’t tell what’s happening, just that some old guy is waving his hands emphatically at her and she looks like she’s trying to hide her annoyance.
Amity pushes her sunglasses up and squints over at them, glaring at the man in the process. He’s talking loudly enough that she can hear snippets. Something about incompetence and bad service that sounds like it could’ve been ghostwritten by Odalia Blight herself. A burst of rage hits her.
Sure, she pretty much sucks at standing up to her own mother, but she’s not about to let this random man antagonize someone who is probably not allowed to talk back to him.
She places her bookmark and sets Azura to the side. The Battle for the Ice Palace will have to wait. Amity glances at the table holding her and her siblings’ stuff, eyeing Edric’s mostly-full cup of soda. He can cope, she decides. Inspiration has struck.
Picking it up, Amity starts her decidedly-casual walk over to that side of the pool. It helps that it’s near the bathrooms and concession stand, so the whole thing doesn’t look too staged. Now that she’s almost there, she can hear them much better.
“Sir,” Luz says, “if you need a refund you’ll have to talk to the concessions manager. I don’t have any authority over that.”
“You’re paid to help me and you’re being—”
That’s when Amity crashes into him, spilling the entirety of the soda down the front of his shirt. It’s white too, so Edric’s Cherry Coke is almost certainly going to stain. Somehow, she’s able to get all of it on him in one go, only splashing herself the tiniest bit. She’s actually quite impressed with how nonchalant she’s able to be about the whole thing.
“Oops,” her voice is monotone, “my bad.”
They both stare at her in shock and, for a solid thirty seconds, none of them move. The man looks like he’s trying to decide if he wants to explode at her or not and Luz just looks…shocked. Amity figures there’s no better time to employ her signature standoffish facade, staring the man right in the eye.
“You—” he cuts himself off, seeming to recognize her. Its not entirely surprising considering her parents’ reputation in these circles. “Ah, Miss Blight, that’s alright,” he says it like he also doesn’t mean it, all sickly polite and everything. “I was leaving anyway.”
She gives him a similarly sour smile and crosses her arms, tilting her head ever-so-slightly to the left in the same way her mother does when Amity’s disappointed her. “Have a nice day then.”
Wasting no time, she walks right past the both of them and into the bathroom, not daring to look back to see Luz’s reaction. Being acknowledged by her would most definitely undermine the cool, stony demeanor Amity had been trying to project. She throws the now-empty cup into the trashcan and takes a painstakingly long time to wash the drink off her hands.
The whole thing must have worked because, when she exits the bathroom, the man is nowhere to be seen. Luz is still sitting in her lifeguard chair. Naturally, Amity takes the opposite path back to her seat and avoids looking at her.
The twins are there when she gets back. Their expressions are pretty priceless, in her opinion, a mixture of astoundment and disbelief.
“What was that?”
She slides back down into her chair and picks up her book. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Mittens,” Edric says, “did you have to use my soda to stick it to that jerk? You could’ve taken Emira’s!”
“Her’s didn’t have enough left,” she replies, “besides, it was an accident.”
They exchange a look.
“Summer Mittens is way more fun than school year Mittens,” Emira says with false solemnity. Edric nods in agreement.
“You’re both equally annoying year-round.”
With that, Amity turns back to her book and tries her hardest not to think about the whole thing.
They stay for another hour and she somehow manages to avoid looking at Luz that whole time. It’s about the little victories.
(It helps that she discovers that Hecate didn’t actually betray Azura, so Amity doesn’t start sobbing in public.)
2.
Amity is embarrassed to admit that she skips the next two visits to the pool, citing summer homework and exhaustion from rugby training. Her mother, fortunately, is too far away on a business trip to care and her siblings don’t object much, save for intrigued expressions.
It’s nice to have time alone in the house and all that, but Amity is surprised at how quickly she gets bored of it.
This is the reason that she decides, against whatever mortification she feels about the soda incident, to go back to the pool a few days later.
There isn’t much for her to do this time except ruminate on her emotions and past mistakes, which is less than ideal. She has finished the latest Good Witch Azura book and has no desire to start on the mountain of other work she has left to do before summer ends. It’s not for a few more months, Amity reminds herself. There’s plenty of time for it all and her mom isn’t going to have any reason to take issue with her performance.
She sighs.
“Mittens,” Emira calls from the other end of the pool. “Come here!”
Amity rolls her eyes, but goes over anyway, walking past Luz’s chair on the way.
“What?”
“Judge our cannonball contest!” Edric cheers.
Like she said: five year olds.
“Fine,” she says grouchily, knowing they’ll only bother her more if she doesn’t agree to help. “But only if you promise not to splash me.”
“I’ll make no such promise,” her brother grins mischievously. Excellent.
Their cannonballs look the same to Amity, but she’s not about to tell them that. About halfway through, she decides to just make the winner whoever splashes her the least. Except, they’re both pretty equal at that too.
“Edric,” she says when they ask her who won.
“You’re only saying that because you threw his soda on that guy the other day!” Emira protests.
“Am not!” Amity says, even though that’s undoubtedly the reason. “And I didn’t throw anything, I spilled it. It was an accident.” She’s very aware of the fact that Luz’s chair is within hearing distance and she does not want any implication that she orchestrated the whole thing. It would be embarrassing.
“That’s as true as Edric’s victory!”
“Hey!” Edric objects. “At least I actually got in the water! Mittens hasn’t been in once since the summer started!”
They share a look.
“No,” Amity says. “No! You guys better not—”
It’s no use. Before she can scramble away, they’ve each grabbed one of her arms and are throwing her into the water with an unnecessary amount of force. Only, the idiots decide to catapult her in head-first with enough momentum that, when her head hits the water, it makes a resounding crack.
Her vision goes dark for a second before she comes up, sputtering and seeing double. She’s going to kill them. Once she stops spinning, that is.
Faintly, she hears a whistle blowing and someone jumping into the water, but she doesn’t really process it. Instead, she focused on figuring out if the twin in front of her is Edric or Emira.
“Ed?” she decides. That must be the wrong answer, because she hears her sister’s voice reply.
“Amity? Can you see me?”
Someone’s pushing her onto a rescue buoy, but she’s still not sure what’s going on.
“Hey,” the person’s voice is too gentle to be either of her siblings. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
“I don’t want to count,” is what she says. “Ask Edric.”
“He’s not the one I’m worried about at the moment,” the person says. “How about now? Can you count?”
She tries to focus, her vision starting to straighten itself out. The first thing she notices: the person is holding up three fingers. The second thing she notices: the person is Luz.
“Hi,” she says and instantly wishes she had hit her head harder. “I mean, three.”
Luz laughs. “Nice counting.”
“I can count,” Amity’s still a bit out of it. She looks around for the twins, only really able to make out their green hair. “I hate you both.”
They look appropriately ashamed of themselves, once their faces come back into focus.
Her head is pounding, but she paddles over to the ladder anyways. It’s only a few feet away and Amity doesn’t care if she is concussed or whatever—there’s no way in hell she’s letting someone carry her out of a pool. Talk about humiliating.
“Careful!” Luz calls, sounding genuinely concerned. She pushes herself up on the ledge of the pool and climbs out, coming over to Amity. “Here,” she extends a hand, presumably to help Amity up the ladder. Even though she wants to, she doesn’t take it.
“I can do it,” Amity says stubbornly. “I promise I know how to swim.”
Luz laughs lightly. “I believe you,” she says. “You should go see a doctor, though.”
“I’ll do that,” Amity’s voice is distant. She’s now coherent enough to be distracted by the fact that Luz is actually in front of her, talking to her. “After I kill my siblings.”
“You could do that,” Luz leans toward her, holding her hand to her mouth like she’s going to tell Amity a secret. “Or you could just throw some soda on them.” She winks. Amity thinks she might die.
“Spill,” she says offhandedly. Edric and Emira are now flanking her on either side and Amity’s brain reminds her that Luz acknowledging the soda incident should be humiliating. “Thank you! I’m fine!” Amity practically throws the rescue buoy back to her and walks back to her chair far faster than someone who has just hit their head should.
She doesn't stick around to see the matching expressions of confusion the twins and Luz don.
She wants to go home and never reemerge into society. That would be less painful.
3.
The good news? Amity doesn’t have a concussion. The bad news? She once again looked like a fool in front of Luz and it’s the twins’ fault.
Although, they did get thoroughly chewed out by Odalia for it and have been strangely apologetic, so she’s not that mad anymore. They’ve been waiting on her hand and foot while she laid in bed for a week and a half, as a doctor-ordered precaution, but Amity's starting to get sick of their clinginess.
When they finally do go back to the pool, she guilts them into getting her a root beer and makes them leave her alone to read. They oblige immediately and Amity starts to think she should’ve let them nearly-concuss her a lot sooner.
Luz isn’t in her chair today. Amity’s not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Hopefully she’s taking some well-deserved time off and has forgotten about the whole incident. That would be great.
After about an hour of lounging, Amity decides she needs to acquire some food.
As she goes to stand up, however, the twins rush over to her with record speed.
“Sit down!” Emira says.
“What do you need? We can get it for you!” Edric nods enthusiastically.
“I’m not incompetent!” she snaps. “I can get my own snack!” They both look hurt at the sharpness of her tone, so she tries again. “Look, I get that you’re sorry and you’ve apologized like, a million times, but I don’t need you to coddle me.”
“You’ve got it, Mittens,” Edric mock-salutes her. Emira follows suit. She shakes her head at them in affectionate exasperation and makes her way toward the concession area.
It’s less of a concession stand and more of a mini-restaurant, only partially-affiliated with the rest of the country club for some reason. What Amity’s currently concerned with is their excellent soft pretzels, which exceed the quality of any she’s had.
This mission is all-consuming enough that she doesn’t look at the person working the register until she’s standing right in front of them, ready to order.
“Soda Girl! What can I get you?”
Amity freezes. Standing behind the counter with an exceptionally friendly smile and bright brown eyes that are even more up-close, is Luz.
“I thought you were a lifeguard,” is all Amity manages to say, opting not to acknowledge the fact that Luz associates her with the soda incident.
“I am,” Luz says. “I’m filling in for a friend today,” she explains, “he had to get his wisdom teeth out.”
Amity winces in solidarity. She had to get hers out last summer and it was a truly miserable experience. “Ouch.”
Luz nods. “He’s out of commission for a few days so Eda asked me to fill in. She’s the restaurant manager.”
“I understand the feeling,” Amity says. “I’ve also been out of commission.”
“Yeah, how’s your head doing? Do you have a concussion? Should you be walking around right now?”
She winces internally. So much for hoping Luz had forgotten the whole thing. “It’s alright,” is what she settles for saying.
“I’m glad,” Luz says genuinely. “I was worried about you! Oh right! What can I get for you?”
“Uh—” Amity is caught off guard by the fact that Luz had thought about her. She shakes her head. Luz is probably just saying that to be nice. “A pretzel and a root beer, please.”
“You’ve got it!” Luz smiles at her, going to retrieve them. Amity takes the opportunity to compose herself.
“Thanks,” Amity says as Luz hands the stuff over to her. “I think you can put it on our account. The number is 811.”
Yes, this is one of those clubs that lets you have a tab at the restaurants and yes, Amity feels obnoxious each time she uses it.
“You didn’t strike me as an Odalia,” Luz says. Amity grimaces on reflex. She must’ve gotten the account pulled up.
“That’s my mom,” she sighs. The idea of being mistaken for her mother, especially to Luz, is enough to make her nauseous.
“That makes more sense,” Luz grins at her. “Well, I’ll let you get back to the pool! Have a great day, Soda Girl!”
“Amity,” she says. “I’m Amity.”
Luz grins. “Alright then Amity, have a great day!”
“You too,” Amity smiles back, starting to head for the door.
“Hey Amity?” Luz calls, right as she’s about to exit. She turns around. “Try not to throw that soda on anyone?”
“I spilled it,” she says instinctively, matching the teasing tone of Luz’s. “And I make no promises.”
Needless to say, Amity spends the rest of the day replaying this interaction in her head.
Her conclusion is that it’s the least embarrassing interaction she’s had with Luz. Her second conclusion is that that isn’t saying much.
4.
Amity should probably mention that she doesn’t spend the entirety of her summer lounging by the pool having a hopeless crush and getting accosted by her siblings. She also, despite her parents’ protests, has a job.
This is why she’s currently sitting at the front desk of Bonesborough Library’s main branch, skimming over a test prep book her mom had instructed her to study. Amity much prefers the days when she gets to do storytime with the kids, but sitting around and pretending to work isn’t a bad gig.
The library is also great in that it provides Amity with a nice break from her family, especially considering how much time she’s been spending with the twins. She loves them, but they’re…a lot.
So far her shift has been fairly uneventful, other than the ungodly amount of time she spent explaining the exceedingly simple return system to someone and the person who refused to pay their fines. Those are pretty standard occurrences.
She’s stuck on a particularly difficult practice question when an alarm bell goes off, signaling that someone needs help at one of the self-checkout stations. Amity groans internally, reluctantly grabbing her keycard and heading over. The self-checkout stations are a source of much contention among herself and the library patrons. Not to mention the grating sound they make.
“Hi,” Amity says as she turns the corner of the station, “what seems to be the problem?”
“Amity!”
With the speed at which Amity turns her head, she’s surprised she didn’t get whiplash. Standing at the self-checkout station with a sheepish look on her face is Luz. It takes Amity a few seconds to process that she’s actually here . Foolishly, Amity’s brain had convinced itself that her interactions with Luz would be safely, totally confined to the Bonesborough Country Club pool.
“Hi,” she repeats herself, shifting into work mode with a concerted effort. “What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t know you worked here,” Luz says. “I mean, of course I didn’t, that would be weird. Not that it’s weird to see you here, I know you like to read, it’s just—I’m going to stop talking now.”
“You know I like to read?” Amity is confused.
Luz is wringing her hands. “I mean, I’ve seen you reading books at the pool. That probably sounds weird, but I promise it’s not”
“I know,” she smiles, now having regained some of her wits. “It’s your job to be aware of your surroundings, and all that.”
“Mhmm,” Luz nods but it doesn’t really seem like she agrees. Her face is flushed and she’s still fidgeting with her hands. Amity wonders if she’s sick.
She decides to move on. “What’s wrong with the machine?”
“Oh! Right,” Luz is back to normal in an instant. “I tried to check out these books but it wouldn’t let me.”
Amity frowns. “Do you have any outstanding fines?”
“Nope!” Luz shakes her head. “I’m an upstanding library citizen!”
This makes her laugh quietly. Then, she looks at the books in question and instantly knows exactly what happened. Luz is trying to check out the same Good Witch Azura book she had been reading. Amity is now realizing that, in her not-concussion stupor, she forgot to properly check it back in.
“Uh—can I see your library card?” Amity grabs her own and swipes it into the machine.
Luz hands it over. “Is something wrong with it?”
“Er—no, this book wasn’t checked in properly,” she avoids eye contact. “I’ve got to do it manually.”
“I didn’t even realize you could do that,” Luz remarks. “I bet they’ve got all kinds of late fees.”
“Staff don’t have limits on how long they can check out books,” Amity’s response is automatic. “Unless someone puts in a request for it.”
“Wait,” Luz pauses. “You were reading Good Witch Azura?”
Amity freezes. “What?”
“That’s amazing! I love the series with my entire heart! Why didn’t you check the book in?”
“It was after I hit my head,” Amity says defensively. “I was a bit out of it.”
“Are you sure you didn’t have a concussion?”
She shrugs, continuing to type away on the computer. “It doesn’t matter now.”
“It definitely does,” Luz objects.
“I’m fine,” Amity insists, “and I’ve got the book checked out for you.”
“Sweet!” Luz cheers. She instantly gets shushed by someone out of sight and turns red. It only endears Amity to her more.
“Enjoy the book, Luz,” she says.
“You know my name?”
“It’s—on your card?” Amity isn’t trying to phrase it as a question, but she doesn’t know how else to tell Luz that she knows her name because she’s seen plastered on the side of her lifeguard chair. That’s not something a normal, well-adjusted person would notice and Amity wants to maintain some illusion of being both of those things.
“Right,” Luz sounds disappointed for some reason, although Amity couldn’t guess why. It’s gone as quick as she notices it. “See you around, Amity!”
She’s about halfway to the door before Amity notices that the Good Witch Azura book is still sitting at the self-checkout stand. Naturally, she grabs it and runs after Luz in a horrifying display of unprofessionalism that would send her mother to an early grave.
“Wait!”
Luz stops abruptly and Amity almost crashes into her. Thankfully her balance doesn’t fail her.
“Yeah?” Luz says expectantly, a ridiculously attractive half-smile on her face.
“You forgot this,” she extends the book in her hands.
“I guess I did,” Luz grins at her, brushing her hand over Amity’s as she takes the offered book.
Then, before Amity can muster together a response, she’s gone.
She’s still reeling when Emira comes to pick her up at the end of her shift, climbing into the car and slumping into her seat.
“Bad day?” Em’s voice is sympathetic.
Amity sighs. “Not really.”
“What’s with the sad face, then?”
“This is my normal face,” Amity says stonily.
“Sure it is,” Em laughs, then grows serious. “If you need to talk about something…”
“I’m fine!” Amity snaps, instantly deciding that she’s being too harsh. “I’m just tired,” she adds.
Emira seems to accept this, at least for now. And it’s not totally a lie, but Amity isn’t really talking about a physical feeling. Mostly, she’s tired of herself getting her hopes up every time she talks to Luz.
Dreaming is nice, Amity thinks, but not when it stops you from sleeping.
It’s a bad metaphor but that doesn’t stop it from sticking with her for the rest of the week.
5.
Amity learns a few more things about Luz the Lifeguard in the following weeks:
- Her last name is Noceda
- She’s going to be in Amity’s year at Hexside in the fall
- There’s no way these feelings are going away anytime soon
The second discovery is an accident, really. It’s also the source of the very thought spiral that leads to the third.
She’s at the pool about a week after seeing Luz at the library, finally starting on her summer reading. It wouldn’t be bad, if not for the fact that Amity cannot focus to save her life. It also doesn’t help that she’s extremely exhausted. Her eyes gloss over the words on the page, hardly processing them as she simultaneously struggles to keep her eyes open and on the book. Just as she’s finally getting into it, Amity is jolted out of concentration by someone calling her name.
It’s Skara’s mom, waving amicably enough at her from the other side of the pool. Much to Amity’s misfortune, she starts walking over. Skara’s mom is nice enough, Skara is now too, especially since she and Boscha stopped hanging out so much. But she knows exactly how the conversation is going to go.
“Hi dear,” Skara’s mom says. “Will you tell your mother to give me a call?”
No need for pleasantries, Amity thinks wryly.
“Sure,” is what she says back, devoid of the proper politeness. The odds she relays this message are slim to none. She’s historically good about being her parents’ lackey, but Amity is annoyed enough by this to ignore her obligations.
“We’re supposed to meet this month but their secretary is being exceptionally difficult,” she continues, seemingly oblivious to Amity’s disinterest. “Ah, you’re doing the summer reading? Skara finished her’s last month. If you’re having difficulty, I’m sure she could help you—”
A shrill whistle cuts her off, startling Amity enough that she drops her book. It startles Skara’s mom too, a look of displeasure settling onto her face.
“Anyhow,” she says. “I’ll leave you to it. Let your parents know I said hello?”
It’s not really a question, but Amity doesn’t really care. She’s grateful the conversation is over.
A few moments later, a far more welcome guest walks over to her chair. It’s Luz, carrying her rescue buoy and looking slightly sheepish.
“Sorry about that,” Luz says, scratching the back of her head. “It just seemed like that needed to be over.”
Amity isn’t sure how to respond to the implications of that. “Thanks,” she manages to get out.
“I owed you for throwing the soda,” Luz teases.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Amity says cooly. “I don’t throw things.”
“Of course not,” Luz nods. “Whatcha reading? More Azura?”
“I wish,” Amity sighs, holding up her copy of Frankenstein. Don’t get her wrong, it’s an excellent book, but nothing brings her unadulterated joy quite like Azura.
“Ah,” Luz says knowingly. “Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.”
“Impressive memory,” Amity raises her eyebrows. Ironically, it’s a quote straight from the part she’s currently reading. “It’s for school.”
“You go to Hexside? I’m going there in the fall!” Luz looks excited.
Amity’s first feeling is happiness. The idea of getting to see Luz even more regularly is a welcome one, but it doesn’t last long enough for her to forget about what will almost certainly be the reality of the situation. Luz will definitely not want to associate with the Hexside version of her, or any version of her, really. She’s shocked that Willow and Gus haven’t said anything about it yet. Or maybe they have and Luz is simply being polite.
“Small world,” Amity says lamely. “Are you excited?”
“Super!” Luz replies. “Even more so now! It’ll be amazing.” She glances back at her chair. “I’ve gotta get back! Enjoy your book, Amity.”
It’s worth noting that Amity does not enjoy the book after that, not because it’s bad—it’s quite great—but because she’s in an awful mood. The thought of Luz rejecting her is playing over and over again in her brain. It’s what she told herself at the beginning: there’s no way Luz would ever be interested in her. Especially once there are so many better people to be around.
Amity wonders if Mary Shelley would consider this a great and sudden change. Objectively it’s probably not great or sudden enough, but it’s definitely painful to Amity’s very human mind. She hates being insecure and, more than that, she hates the person she’s made herself.
Even if she could figure out how to change without getting disowned, she's pretty sure it wouldn’t instantly fix her massive unrequited crush. Amity’s gotten so used to this summer version of her, as Edric and Emira have dubbed it, that the reminder of her reality is crushing.
By the time the twins are ready to go, Amity’s properly sullen and partially sunburnt, both of which are decidedly her fault.
Maybe she just needs a break.
+1
She does take a break. A two week long one, in fact. That seems to be Odalia’s limit.
“Amity, this is getting ridiculous,” her mother chastises her the moment she sits down at the table for breakfast. “I don’t know what this sudden laziness is about.”
“I’ve been taking a lot of shifts at the library,” Amity tries lamely. She instantly regrets it.
“Well, if they’re working you too hard, you need to quit,” her mother says sternly.
“They aren’t!” Amity immediately replies. No way is she quitting her job, especially when its not actually the reason for her increase in reclusiveness. “I’m going to the pool with the twins today, you don’t have to worry.”
Not that worry would be her mother’s reaction, but that’s semantics.
Odalia nods. “Good.”
She’s off the hook—for now. Except, this means she has to follow through and accompany her siblings.
They’ve both noticed her weird behavior, but haven’t done much besides sharing concerned looks when they think she can’t see them.
But apparently they’ve chosen this moment, after they’ve all piled into Edric’s car and started the drive to the country club, to stage their pseudo-intervention.
“Ok Mittens,” Edric says. “What’s going on?”
“Yeah, why are you mad at the cute lifeguard?” Emira adds.
Amity chokes on air. “What do you mean?” she sputters out, but there’s no use.
“We aren’t stupid, contrary to popular belief, we know that’s why you haven’t been coming to the pool,” Emira pushes.
“Fine,” Amity admits. “That’s why. I’m not mad at her, though.”
“Then what?” Edric asks.
“I’m…mad at myself,” she concedes. “For getting my hopes up. It’s her job to be friendly and I’m being weird about it.”
The twins exchange one of their annoying looks.
“Amity,” Emira says, in a rare use of her given name. “You aren’t being weird. Also, she was definitely flirting with you last time.”
“That’s not true,” Amity huffs. “Don’t mess with me, Em.”
“I’m not! I promise,” Emira does really sound sincere. “I think you should talk to her. Plus, isn’t she coming to Hexside?”
“How do you know that?”
“We know how to use the Internet, dear sister,” Edric says. “And you’re not the only one who can talk to her.”
“Edric!” Amity’s pretty sure her eyes are bugging out of her head. “What did you say!”
“I didn’t say anything! It came up in conversation” His reply is adamant. “A conversation that started because she was asking about you.”
Amity’s heart skips a beat. “Why didn’t you start with that?” she all but yells this at him.
“We weren’t sure what had happened!” Emira explains, smirking. “But it makes sense now.”
“She probably thinks I hate her,” Amity groans. “I’m such an idiot.”
“You are,” Emira nods. “It’s fixable, though. If you talk to her.”
“I will,” Amity says, more to herself than to them. “I’ll do it.”
This seems like a great plan until she’s actually there, sitting in her pool chair and trying not to hyperventilate. It’ll be okay, Amity thinks. Worst comes to worst, the whole thing is awful and she gets rejected and pretends not to know Luz next year. Hopefully it won’t come to that.
The time passes painfully slowly until the pool finally closes at 5 p.m. As other people start to filter out, Amity stays firmly planted in her chair, hoping she’ll be noticed without having to make herself known. She gets lucky.
“You’re here later than usual,” Luz walks up to her, holding something in her hands that Amity can’t quite see.
“Yeah,” Amity tries to hold onto her quickly fading courage. “I—uh, wanted to talk to you.”
“Well, here I am!” Luz says cheerfully. “I’m glad you’re back! I was starting to think you were avoiding me.”
Amity decides to opt for honesty, even though every fiber of her being is begging to make an excuse. “I…sort of was.”
Luz’s eyes go big. “What? Why?” She sounds hurt, understandably. “Did I do something?”
“No!” Amity says quickly. “You didn’t do anything, I was just…being ridiculous.”
“Being ridiculous about what?” Luz’s voice is cautious.
She takes a deep breath. “Look, if this makes you uncomfortable, I’ll stop coming to the pool and leave you alone forever,” Amity tries not to get emotional at the thought of that. “I like you,” she finally says. “I was mad at myself because I know it’s foolish and that you’re doing your job being nice to me, but I do really, hopelessly like you. If you still want me around, I’m sure I can get over it, I just—I had to tell you.”
The last part is a lie. Amity still feels like a weight has been lifted off of her chest.
“You like me?” Luz appears to be in a state of disbelief.
“Yeah.”
It’s quiet for a second. Amity hears a car door unlocking from far away, likely her siblings. She’s surprised they aren’t trying to listen in.
“Amity,” Luz says finally. “You know it’s not part of my job to flirt with people, right?”
“I—what?”
“I don’t talk to you ‘cause it’s my job,” she says. “I talk to you because I like you too.”
“What?” Later, Amity is going to chastise herself for this absolute lack of coherence.
“I like you,” Luz repeats herself. “Also, I got you a pretzel.”
“Why?”
“Because I like you,” she says again. “And I was happy to see you and I know you like them.”
“I don’t think you’d like me if you got to know me, Luz,” Amity admits. She’s trying not to cry—the whole thing is very emotionally overwhelming.
Luz places her hand on Amity’s, looking her dead in the eyes. “I think you’re wrong. But I’d like to decide for myself, if you’ll let me?”
Amity exhales, then nods. “Yeah,” she says. “I think that’ll work.”
“So,” Luz pauses. “How do you feel about ice cream?”
“I’m generally a fan,” Amity smiles.
“I mean, how would you feel about getting ice cream right now?”
“Like, as a date?”
“Yes, if you want,” Luz looks slightly nervous now.
Amity beams at her. “I’d like that. I’ll go tell my siblings I don’t need a ride home.”
They start to walk over to the parking lot together, intermittently bumping their hands together and making Amity’s heart flutter in an unbearably cliche way.
“Wait,” Luz says, stopping as they reach it. “Is that why you threw soda on that guy who was bothering me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Amity says coyly. “I spilled it.”
Luz grins at her. “As long as you don’t throw any on me.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
(Needless to say, Amity spends the remainder of her summer at the pool, visiting her girlfriend. And, in case you’re curious, she finds that it’s not as impossible to change as she thought. Especially now that she’s not spending so much time beating herself up ).
(Yes, you read that right).
(She can’t believe it either).