Changes

Chapter Twenty-Two

Amity

I placed the medal around my neck as I stepped out into the hall. My headache has dissipated so I flipped Luz's hat to face backward so it was more comfortable on my head. Letting out a sigh I looked down at the medal and I felt a small smile grow on my face before I lifted my eyes to see Luz sitting in the hall against the lockers. Taking the first step forward I walked until I was beside her. "So..." I started leaning my back against the lockers and sliding down so I was sitting next to her. "We lost," I mumbled and turned my head to look at her.

"We did." She said softly while gazing at the medal in her hands as she fidgeted with it.

"We were really close though. There was still a chance that we'd come out of this as winners instead." I said encouragingly.

"We did get close didn't we?" She smiled down at the medal before putting it into her pocket and leaning her head back against the lockers behind her.

"So, that bet that you and Gus made, you both lost. So, what does that mean?" I inquired, her lips stretched further as she chuckled to herself.

"It means Gus and you and I have to go through with the bet." She turned her head to look back at me though she seemed to freeze for a moment. I watched as her eyes search around my face and I saw a red flush spread onto her cheeks. Then she looks off to the side clearing her throat. "We're all losers here." She finished and my brows furrowed.

"That's how bets work with you guys? Isn't that a little weird?" I asked giving her a strange look.

"Maybe." She whispered as she seemed to grow distant, lost in thought. Her eyes remained off to the side. 

"So what does that mean you have to do?" I asked her curiously.

"Oh, you'll see very soon. He came prepared." She lifted one of her legs, bending her knee and resting one of her arms on it while connecting her eyes back with mine. "In fact, it may just remind you of a very distant part of myself you may have forgotten." Her tone drifted as the look in her eyes grew distant once more. She seemed to be recalling something from the past.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I saw a slow smirk grow on her face.

"I'll give you three guesses before I tell you. See how much you remember about your favorite enemy." She turned to look at me fully revealing a glint in her eyes and that smirk I knew all too well. For some reason, I felt my stomach flip but I pushed it to the back of my mind.

"Um...is he making you wear your glasses?" I tried first.

"Good guess, but no. Try again." I took a moment as I tried to remember the younger version of Luz I had met in middle school. It had been so long it was hard to come up with a guess on the spot.

"He's making you wear one of the nerdy graphic t-shirts you used to wear all the time?" I asked and this brought a surprised laugh to leave her.

"Nope, but you're on the right track, very close." She said through laughter before taking a breath and smiling wider. "Last one." She told me and I tried to think of something else though I grew frustrated.

"I don't know. Can I get a hint?" I asked her impatiently yet my tone didn't affect her mood.

"Let me think." Her smile slipped and she got lost in her thoughts again, something I'd noticed she'd done a lot today. Then her eyes lit up in recognition and there was a small upward quirk to the corner of her lips. "I'm not Luz. I have a disguise." She stated before looking away and avoiding my eyes. It took a moment for her words to settle before a memory I had long forgotten was brought to the forefront of my mind.