you kept me like a secret [lumity au]

(the air was cold)

⠀I walked through the door with you,
the air was cold.
But something about it felt like home somehow.

-

Luz Noceda first spoke to Amity Blight in October.

October 3rd, to be precise. When most of the other kids in their Creative Writing elective were mingling about, making jokes about Mean Girls while Luz had to physically restrain herself from going on a rant about how Fullmetal Alchemist came first! and their teacher passed out the papers containing information on the project they'd be working on throughout the month of October.

"The seating chart is posted at the front of the room," Ms. Clawthorne--an older woman who preferred to be called by her first name (Eda) that every student practically adored --had said.

There was a small whine that'd come from the class as a whole, a few students even being bold enough to call Eda cruel for her arrangement.

"It's up to you if you wanna follow it or not, but the person beside you in the arrangement is your partner for this assignment."

Groans rang out across the room, and Luz moved to collect her things with the rest of the students as she stood, making her way to the front board along with everyone else. Eda had never been very organized, and she used to forgo the seating chart entirely--until a specific incident with snakes last year, when Luz was in Eda's Pre-AP English I class.

...okay, so maybe the seating chart was kind of her own fault. But Luz honestly didn't mind! She had no friends in this class. It was easier this way, she didn't have to worry about sitting with the wrong people or intruding where she wasn't wanted.

Finally, the crowd up front began to disperse, the other kids finding their own tables and beginning to discuss the assignment. Luz scanned over the messy paper taped to the whiteboard.

There it was, Luz Noceda, placed near the far side of the room, along the windows. And her partner...

Amity Blight.

Luz turned, her eyes drifting to where her new seat was located, an area positioned ridiculously close to the teacher's desk. Again--her own fault. Eda didn't exactly fully trust her after the snake incident. It was fine.

It'd been the most entertaining thing to happen since Eda was a student here, according to the teacher, but that didn't change the fact that she had a job she didn't want to lose to Luz's unintentional chaos.

From the look of it, her partner was already seated, unpacking the usual school supplies required for this class--a journal, pencil... wait, were those pastel highlighters?

Where did someone even get pastel highlighters?

Luz quickly made her way back across the room, weaving through the precariously placed two-person tables and settling down next to the girl.

Her hair was a bright, pastel green, the roots showing through and exposing the natural brunette color. It was quite pretty, Luz thought. It reminded her of The Good Witch Azura.

And so, Luz told the girl--Amity--just that.

"I like your hair," she said, slipping into the uncomfortable plastic seat, the one by the window.

"Oh," Amity looked surprised at Luz's sudden proclamation, a deep rouge color creeping across her cheeks, " ...thank you? "

The girl looked down at the paper before her, flustered, and Luz found herself following her gaze.

The assignment was pretty simple--write a short story together, using the techniques and methods discussed in class. It had to be at least 1,000 words, and would be checked for plagiarism.

Most work would have to be done outside of class.

"My mom is at work most of the time, so I don't know if your parents would be okay with no adult supervision, but we could ask-"

"My house is fine," Amity cut in, before seeming to recoil at her own words, "Or, um, my parents usually aren't home either. But my siblings share an apartment nearby. We could do our work there."

Luz shot a confused look at the green-haired girl, but brushed off her reaction. She was probably just shy.

"Sure, that'll work."

The two of them exchanged numbers quietly, and Eda called everyone's attention to the front.

Luz couldn't quite forget the strange, blush-filled reaction to her complimenting Amity's hair.

__________

sooooo,,, i never really imagined i'd start posting on wattpad again, but i recently downloaded the app to re-read some of my favorite fanfics from back in 2014/2015, and saw that this place is severely lacking in toh content. this is my attempt to help remedy that

there are 12 separate "chapters", though they're really just various scenes. this was originally posted on ao3 as a one-shot, but it's a bit long haha.

updates will be daily until completion.