The Owl and the Frog

Chapter 10: Birthday Box (End of Arc 1)

So the first Arc is almost over. It's been an interesting ride to get to this point. This story got a lot more popular than I ever would have thought, and more popular than anything I've ever written before. That said, if you like this story and are also a fan of Kingdom Hearts, I encourage you to take a look at the Kingdom Hearts stories I wrote or, I guess, any of my other works on this site. I would love to hear what you thought of them as well.

Stay tuned at the end of this chapter, as I'll be talking a bit about the future of this fic.

And now, the end of the first Arc...

When Marcy arrived at school on Monday, she sensed that something was off. She didn't see Anne, Luz, or Sasha before school, and when she saw Anne in a class later, she looked dispirited and downtrodden. She saw Luz in another class and noticed how she also looked sad. The biggest surprise came at lunch, though, when she went to sit down and saw Sasha and Anne sitting together but not Luz.

"Hey, where's Luz?" she asked.

Sasha turned to Marcy and pointed to a table where Luz was sitting alone.

"Why is she sitting alone instead of with us?" asked Marcy.

"Oh, that's right, Mar-Mar, you had to leave the dance early, so you weren't there," replied Sasha slyly. "Anne, do you want to tell her, or should I?"

"I don't really want to talk about it," said Anne morosely.

"Luz kissed Anne," said Sasha quickly.

"What?!" said Marcy in surprise.

"Yep, Luz asked her to dance, and then, while they were dancing, she decided to force herself onto Anne for the whole school to see. Oh, but don't worry, Ms. Bryant put a stop to it, but poor Anne was nearly traumatized by the whole thing," said Sasha.

"Traumatized is maybe a little strong. But in any case, I said I don't want to talk about it right now," said Anne.

"What about Luz, though?" asked Marcy. "Is she okay?"

"Who cares what she feels?" said Anne bitterly. This caught the attention of both Marcy and Sasha, who looked at Anne with concern.

"Well, why don't you go ask her yourself, Marcy?" said Sasha. "Anne and I will be having a gossip-free lunch."

Marcy decided to take Sasha up on her offer and went over to the table where Luz was sitting. Luz wasn't eating and was just looking at her food, and she didn't even notice as Marcy came over and placed herself at the table until Marcy said hi.

"Oh, hey, Marcy. Did you talk to Anne already?" asked Luz, not really caring.

"I heard Sasha's version of events, so I'd like to hear yours," said Marcy kindly.

Luz shrugged her shoulders and looked away. She hadn't talked about what had happened at the dance with anyone, not even her mother. While part of her didn't want to discuss it with anyone, another part of her saw that Marcy was trying to offer her an ear to listen and support, so perhaps she should talk to her about it.

"I have to start at the beginning," she said. "It started at the sleepover." Luz took a breath before continuing, "I know that we're all still young and going through puberty, but even so, I always found myself attracted to guys. I had one or two crushes at my old school, and I told you I think Chris Rivera is cute. But then something happened at the sleepover. Anne leaned up against me and asked if I would be her pillow and then... I can't even really explain it, but at that moment, I felt something—that feeling you get when you're near a guy you like. The butterflies in your stomach when you hold hands with a boy are just a feeling of happiness and contentment you get when a guy compliments you. I was feeling those feelings... for a girl... for Anne, and I swear that had never happened before. It was so confusing, but it felt so right! I let her sleep against me, and it just felt good! Ever since then, I have wanted to tell Anne how I feel. I thought the dance would be the perfect opportunity to show her how I felt. It was shortly after you left that I asked Anne to dance, and while we were dancing, I guess I got carried away and just kissed her. After that... I actually don't want to talk about what happened after that, but Anne was not happy with me, and that's the whole story. Sorry, I've been rambling for a while. Well, what do you think?"