Changes

Chapter Eighteen

Amity

Later that night I was waiting for Luz to arrive at the manor. This whole situation had kept me off balance as I felt awkward about its unfamiliar nature. To think I was waiting for Luz to show up so that we could go with each other, willingly, to a ridiculous Gala was odd to wrap my head around. As I heard a knock on the door, indicating her arrival, I ran to let her in before anyone else could see her.

"Hey, Blight..." She started as I opened the door revealing her standing there.

"You actually came," I whispered and she paused to analyze me for a moment.

"You asked me to." She answered before looking off to the side awkwardly. Something changed for me right then. I hadn't realized at the time what it was or what it meant. All I knew is that my heart was beating because of her and for an entirely different reason. A reason it hadn't before, a reason it felt like it shouldn't, yet a reason I couldn't quite pinpoint. And if it hadn't been beating for hate, racing with rage, then what else could it be? What else could I be feeling?

There was a part of me that knew deep down, in some unexplainable, unpredictable, and undepictable way, that how I had been feeling mattered. That it meant more than words could say or actions could express or that my mind could comprehend or understand in any way. That it wasn't something to shrug off and ignore. But it was too complex, too fear-inducing, and too much for me to bare to think of it any longer if I wanted to remain intact. 

All I know is that, for the first time since Edric had been gone, I didn't have to go through this alone. And that was because she was here. Luz came when I needed her most like she always did. Maybe in a way I secretly enjoyed her company in this form. In the moments when she shows me kindness I rarely return. Then I realized what had been going on and I shook it from my mind.

"Look-" She started yet I cut her off by grabbing her wrist and dragged her up the stairs toward my room with great speed. She stumbled, struggling to keep up with my pace, and mumbled words I completely ignored as I was on a mission. As we passed Emira's room to get to mine my sister opened her door and stopped at the sight of me dragging a girl unfamiliar to her behind me.

As she went to speak and ask me a question I threw my hand up. "Not now, explain later, this is my plus one." The words flew out of my mouth as I opened the door to my room and shoved Luz in. Closing the door with a force I turned back to see an out-of-breath, disheveled Luz looking at me as if I was crazy.

"I couldn't let my parents see you while you looked like that." I began while motioning to her new attire as she wore cargo pants and an old, worn jean jacket with a graphic shirt of something I could not distinguish. "They would never let you come if they knew that you dressed like that. No offense." I explained while going past her and towards my closet.

"Uh, the offense was taken." She said while catching her breath as she began to look around and examine my room. "Woah, your room is exactly as I expected it to be." She threw in an offhanded remark before leaning against the door frame as I approached my closet in search of something. "Very different from mine, the cluttered mess that it proves to be portrayed as, but we do happen to have far more in common than you'd think." She commented and it got my attention.

I looked back at her, watching her leaning against the doorframe and observing me. I simply rolled my eyes and scoffed. "I gonna need proof of that. Have any evidence that could suggest such a thing?" I asked curiously playing into her statement.

"I'll come up with something if given enough time." She retorted instantly and I sighed. Why I had even been entertaining her was beyond me. 

"Time is too fleeting to be wasted on something like that," I mumbled while continuing my search as a heavy feeling settled in my heart once I'd found what I was looking for.