"Shake on It"
Chapter 11

"-ake up already! We're going to be late if you don't get up."

Luz sleepily rubbed her eyes and sat up, looking around the room.

"Oh finally, you're up. It's 7am and school starts at 8." Amity said, standing near the door. "We both need to go get ready, make sure you're on time." She ran out the door, leaving Luz half asleep in the bean bag chair.

"Huh? Oh school, yeah." Luz mumbled as she stood up and stretched. She grabbed the empty mugs and blanket before walking back to her aunt's house.

"Good morning Eda!" Luz said while walking in. She dropped the blanket on the couch and put the mugs in the sink.

"Good morning." Eda said from her chair at the kitchen table. She was holding a cup of coffee and petting the sleeping King in her lap.

Luz quickly ran upstairs, taking a shower and putting on her school uniform. She walked back downstairs before checking the time.

"Oh it's only 7:30am, I've got time." Luz said to herself. She grabbed an apple off the counter and walked out the door, waving to Eda before she closed it behind her.

Luz quickly arrived at Hexside, pulling out her phone to check the time again. "7:40am? I'm super early." She thought as she walked inside, seeing only a few people standing in the normally packed hallways.

"I should probably get to class before the hallways fill up." Luz mumbled as she went to her locker and grabbed the books she needed for her first two classes of the day – History and Math.

"Hi Mr. Jackson!" Luz said as she entered the classroom.

"Good morning Luz. Glad to see you here early." He responded before looking back down to the stack of papers on his desk.

She sat down in the front row, waiting for the class to begin as the desks slowly filled around her.

"Hey! Luz!" Gus chimed as he sat down beside her.

"Hey Gus!" Luz said back.

"Did your study session go well?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yeah. It was-" Luz stopped herself looking for the right words. "okay.." She said, giving a weak smile. She hated lying to her friends, but they'd be worried if they found out she was hanging out with Amity, let alone having fun.

"I'm glad it's going well." Gus said reassuringly, putting a hand on Luz's shoulder.

"Yeah."

The bell rang shortly after, signaling the start of the class. History was easy for Luz after studying with Amity, and she had confidently answered questions throughout the period.

"Luz, great job today. Keep it up." Mr. Jackson said as Luz and Gus walked out of the classroom.

"Thanks!" Luz said back.

"Yeah, he's right. What's got you so motivated lately?" Gus asked.

Luz thought for a minute, she couldn't tell him about all the bets and about wanting to impress a certain Blight, so she quickly came up with a good excuse.

"I want the top spot on exams!" Luz declared, looking over at Gus. "It's technically not a lie." Luz though, waiting for his response.

"Oh yeah, you were super close last time! 4th place!" Gus said back, holding his hand up for a high-five.

"Yeah! You were too!" Luz exclaimed. "Oh wait, we need to head to class-"

"You're right! See you at lunch!" Gus ran off, waving over his shoulder as he rushed away.

Luz walked to her next class, somehow arriving early despite her hallway hold-up.

"Oh no." Luz muttered, seeing two big bold words scribbled on the whiteboard behind the teacher's desk;

Pop Quiz

Luz took her seat beside Amity before putting her head down and sighing. Suddenly, an idea came to her. Luz pulled out her phone and began quickly typing, causing Amity to look over.

Luzura: I bet I can get a higher score than you on todays pop quiz

Amity's phone buzzed in her pocket, she pulled it out and read the message before sending one back.

RichChick128: Is that an official bet?

Luzura: Ofc

Luzura: Loser buys the winner lunch? On Saturday?

RichChick128: Sounds good.

The pair made eye contact and smiled at each other.

"Hey." Luz quietly said "Shake on it."

They quickly looked around to make sure no one was paying attention before shaking hands, confirming the terms and locking in the bet.

As the class started, the teacher called for the classes' attention. "As you can see, you'll be taking a pop quiz today. It will not count for your grade, and will only serve to measure your academic level. Do your best."

The teacher passed out the quizzes, making sure all students had one. "You may begin."

The class was silent, the only noise came from the turning of paper and scribbling of pencils. Luz carefully answered each question, taking care to double check her equations.

45 minutes had passed and Luz was on the last question. Amity stood up beside her, walking to the front of the classroom and turning in her paper.

"Why is math so difficult?" Luz thought to herself, erasing her answer in favor of a different method. She was unsure of what the question was asking, and like all math, it didn't make sense. "Oh come on." She grumbled under her breath, careful to not let the teacher hear her 'talking.'

"You know what? 15.7 is close enough to 16 for me. It's definitely that one." Luz thought, circling the answer on the page. She not-so-confidently stood up and turned in her paper, the teacher informing her to leave the classroom.

"So, Luz, I was thinking, I want you to treat me to a place with great cookies." Amity said from beside the doorway.

"Oh that's weird, I was thinking about getting you to take me somewhere with oatmeal cookies too." Luz fired back, a smile creeping onto her face.

"The teacher said our quizzes would be graded and posted on the bulletin board by the end of the school day." Amity explained, pointing to the bulletin board across the hall. "Probably that one."

"Cool, we can see my winning score at the end of the day!" Luz said back.

The bell informing students of the current classes' end rang, and the sound of chatter was soon to follow. As students began filling the hallways at rapid speeds, their peering eyes drifted to Amity and Luz who were still standing side by side. The occasional whisper was heard, and while it probably wasn't about them, being the focus of attention wasn't good in this situation.

"We should get to lunch." Amity said, walking to the cafeteria.

"Yeah." Luz quickly agreed, following behind her.

Luz walked through the cafeteria's open doors first, grabbing a lunch tray and sitting down with her friends at the corner table.

"Hello!" Luz exclaimed, sitting across from Willow and Gus, who seemed deep in a conversation.

"Hey Luz!" Willow said back, giving her a smile.

"Hi!" Gus said, waving as he spoke.

"You guys seem like you're in a good mood. What happened?" Luz asked.

"Boscha hasn't bothered us at all for almost a week. It's like something huge changed!" Willow exclaimed.

"Yeah! It's like she's a completely different person now, not her or her lackies have been messing with us!" Gus continued. Willow continued watching, her happy smile fading as she thought for a moment.

"Luz, do you think this has something to do with you studying with Amity?" Willow paused, trying to figure out the right words. "The Blight family own this school, so they could have Boscha kicked out too. Did you do something to get on Amity's good side?" She asked. Her tone was a mix between a serious question and a joke, as if she knew the answer but still asked anyway.

"Well, she did say my 'accomplishments were respectable' or something." Luz joked, using air quotes and a light tone in an attempt to change the topic.

"Yeah that definitely sounds like her. All studying and seriousness, nothing fun." Gus said, shaking his head disapprovingly.

At that moment, Luz wanted to tell him how wrong he was. How the Amity she knew, no, how the real Amity was. How she cared about studying but also liked having fun. How she liked chocolate chip cookies and amusement parks and flower gardens and bee orchids. How she liked reading Azura books and drinking hot cocoa, curled up under a warm blanket with a friend. How they'd playfully banter and tease each other. How when she was around, no words needed to be exchanged in their silent conversations. Luz wanted to tell them how fun it was to be around her, and how warm it made her feel. Most of all she wanted to tell them how sweet she was. How her smile seemed to make everything better and how her laugh could brighten anyone's day, especially Luz's.

But she couldn't.

It's not that she lacked the words, or the means to do so, she certainly could tell them. But it would break Amity's trust, it would be utter betrayal. In the past week, the pair had warmed up to each other, making them seem more like lifelong friends than people who met a week ago. And Luz wouldn't risk Amity's trust for the world.

So she kept quiet and agreed.

"Yeah. That's true." Luz said. "I guess she just wants to maintain a good grade."

Willow and Gus nodded, before the conversation turned to something else, and they got distracted in their conversation. As Luz finished her meal she decided to leave the cafeteria, she wanted to be alone for a bit, to clear her head. Thoughts crowded her mind as she put on a confident smile and came up with her best lie, to not worry her friends.

"One of my teachers asked me to meet them before the end of lunch, so I need to go." Luz said.

"Did you get in trouble or something?" Gus teased.

"Luz, don't commit crime without us!" Willow joined in, shooting her friend a mischievous smile.

"Oh c'mon that was one time!"

The remaining two classes passed by sluggishly as Luz waited for the test scores to be put up. Looking at the clock that hung above her science teacher's doorway, she mentally celebrated.

"Only 5 more minutes." She thought, switching her focus from the teacher's boring lecture on molecular structure to the more interesting bet she made earlier.

"Where should we go for lunc-" The bell rang, cutting off Luz's train of thought. "It's already time?" She said, mindlessly grabbing her books off the desk.

Walking, or rather running, through the hallways, Luz stopped near a circle of people. Recognizing Amity in the center of it all, Luz weaved between everyone to reach her side. The pair looked silently at the chart as the crowd slowly dissipated, the loud chatter turning into a soft hum as conversation ended.

"Well" Amity broke the silence. "I'll tell you once I figure out where we're going for lunch." She said teasingly.

"Whatever." Luz grumbled, pretending to be angry at her loss. Amity had aced the quiz with a 100% while Luz (who probably shouldn't have guessed the last question) got a 96%.

"One away from tying." Luz paused. "I didn't want it to be a stalemate." She declared, shrugging her shoulders.

"Mhm. Thanks." Amity laughed, a warm smile reaching her face. "So about that bet" her smile quickly turned to a mischievous one, as she paused to think.

"We should go to the place you bought our dinner from during the first study session." Amity vaguely explained.

"Oh The Burger Shack? I love that place!" Luz said back. Amity nodded in agreement and the plans were made.

"Let's meet there at 12:00pm." Amity suggested.

"Sounds great!" Luz shot Amity some finger guns before adding "It's a date!"

Luz meant this in an innocent way, a way between friends to express plans made.

Amity didn't know this.

"You okay?" Luz asked, concerningly looking at her friend's panicked expression.

"Uh- yeah. See you then." Amity quickly waved, turning away from Luz in what was probably an effort to hide the surprise and growing redness on her face.

"Yeah? See you then!" Luz said back, watching her friend walk away.

"What's up with her-" Luz thought aloud, stopping mid-sentence as realization struck. She felt her face heat up, quickly raising her hands to cover it.

"I can't believe I said that." She muttered, shaking her head in disbelief. She breathed deeply, calming down her rapidly pounding heart.

She began walking out of the school, hoping she'd never have to think about anything ever again as she constantly relieved her cringy actions.

"I even gave a finger guns! Who does that?!" Luz muttered, looking up at the sky as she walked to Eda's house. She was now alone with her thoughts, no longer surrounded by the distracting buzz of conversation.

"Why was I so panicked anyways, it's not like I see Amity as more than a friend." Luz reasoned, deciding she'd leave the issue alone for now. (and possibly ever.)

She entered her aunt's house, and shouted a greeting. When it wasn't returned, she looked around, spotting a note on the table.

Getting groceries, I'll be back by dinner.

-Eda

"Guess I'll get some homework done." Luz decided, walking to her room and pulling out a worksheet. She finished the first problem before stopping to pull out her phone and open Penstagram.

Luzura: Hey wanna come over and help me with my hw?

Luz continued working getting an entire sheet done without hearing a chime of response. "Maybe I missed it?" Luz thought, checking her notifications. Nothing was there, so Luz tried again.

Luzura: Jk you don't have to help

Luzura: But it would be nice if you did

She put down the phone, taking out paper to start her rough draft for an English assignment. About to begin writing, she heard the phone chime, quickly picking it up to read it.

Richchick128: I'm bringing my hw and we're getting it done.

Luz giggled at her friend's sternness and typed out a worthy response.

Luzura: I expected your hw to be done before you left the school building

Richchick128: You sound like my mother.

Luzura: Is that a compliment?

Richchick128: No.

Luzura: Harsh. How long until you're here?

Richchick128: I can see your doorstep.

Luzura: Why did you word it so creepy??

Luz raced downstairs, opening the door as Amity went to knock, almost resulting in Luz getting smacked.

"We should start working." Amity said as she walked in behind Luz.

"Jeez, you just got here." Luz said, leading Amity upstairs to her room. They sat down at the desk and took out their papers, occasionally joking about something as they worked.

"Where's the answer for this one?" Luz asked, tapping on a question.

"That one? I think it's here." Amity said back, pointing to a section of the book, her hand brushed over Luz's as she reached towards it. Luz felt her face heat up again and was instantly reminded of the day's events.

"We're just friends." She thought, focusing on her questions in an attempt to calm herself down. It failed.

"I'm going to grab a snack. Do you want something?" Luz asked, standing up from her seat.

"No thanks." Amity replied before turning back to her book.

Luz walked down stairs and grabbed an apple from the basket off the counter, taking her time grabbing a plate and slicing it.

"She just sees you as a friend." Luz paused for a moment, feeling a wave of sudden gloom as she acknowledged the truth. "You just see her as a friend. Nothing more, nothing less." She said under her breath. She breathed deeply, pushing her feelings away, she ascended the staircase.

"I'm back." Luz said as she entered the room. Amity hummed in acknowledgment without looking up from her book. Luz put the plate on the table and sat down, popping an apple slice into her mouth. Amity looked over before grabbing one off the plate too.

"So much for not wanting a snack." Luz teased as she pushed the plate between them.

"I just wanted to take yours." Amity said back, grinning as she grabbed another.

"I'll remember that next time you have a cookie." Luz tried to act annoyed, but her smile betrayed her.

"We're never going to get anything done." Amity groaned, choosing to ignore Luz's previous threat.

"But this is way more entertaining!" Luz said back, quickly getting a glare from Amity. "Fine, fine. Work now, fun later." Luz said, raising her hands in defeat.

They continued working on their homework, eventually finishing the dreadful pages within an hour. As they began putting their papers away, they heard the front door open and close.

Luz looked at the clock beside her bed. "Oh that's Eda. It's already 7pm."

"I should be getting home then." Amity said, taking her bag she headed to the door before turning around. "Thanks for inviting me over. I'll see you on Saturday." She added with a wave and warm smile, before heading down the stairs.

Luz felt grounded in her chair, zoning out as she heard faint conversation before the front door shut. She was battling with her thoughts and emotions, a mental struggle to determine how she felt.

"We are just friends, right?" She whispered to herself, quickly snapping out of it when a knock came at her bedroom door.

"Hey kid. Your study session go well?" Eda asked from her spot against the door frame.

"Uh yeah. It was good, we got a lot done." Luz answered, giving a thumbs up. Eager to change the topic away from Amity, Luz asked "What were you going to make for dinner?"

Eda answered, leading Luz downstairs as she gestured to the ingredients she'd gotten at the store. "Sounds good!" Luz said before running back upstairs and plopping onto her bed.

"Somethings up with them." Eda said to herself, her gaze still focused on the stairs Luz just ran up.

A/N:
Woah development! I didn't think I could write that. Maybe it's too sudden.. I'm not very good at pacing lol. Tell me whatcha think! Thanks for reading! Have a good one!

Word Count: 3068