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Chapter Text

Amity Blight immediately called her friends upon arriving home.

“I can’t do this anymore.”

Skara asked, “You only just arrived home now?”

“Yes. It was tragic. Smug, obnoxious and couldn’t stop talking about his ‘crazy’ exes.”

“Oof. One of those,” Boscha said.

“I cannot do this anymore.”

Boscha said, “Yeah, it’s depressing more than entertaining to hear about at this point.”

“This was the worst this month.”

“You really have to go every time?”

“Yes! My mom won’t let up! I keep telling her that I’m a raging lesbian but she won’t believe me! I can’t take these forced dates. At first it was more funny than anything, watching all these guys try to ‘woo’ me. Ridiculous. But now I genuinely can’t take it anymore. I need to do something.”

“What can you do?”

Amity paused for a moment. Think.

“Ams?”

THINK.

Her eyes widened.

“I need to find a girlfriend.”

Skara asked, “But who? Who would be your girlfriend?”

Boscha snickered. “That sounds terrible, Skar.”

“N-no! That’s not what I meant!!”

“I know what you meant.” Amity was bordering on chuckling, but her mind was too focused on her newfound plan.

Her tone was serious. “I need to find a fake girlfriend, to prove to my mom that I like girls and that I’m in a relationship, so she can finally back off. Yes. She'd back off if I found a girlfriend. Right? Is it worth a shot?”

“Honestly,” Boscha said, “isn’t anything worth a shot at this point?”

“Right. Right. Yes. Worth a shot. I’d try anything.”

Think.

“Oh, and now that I think of it, it’s the perfect plan, two birds one stone, because I also need one so that the stupid guys at school will finally stop trying to get with me. It’s ridiculous. Does nobody compute that I like girls?? If I have a girlfriend maybe that will shut them up. Worth a shot.”

“Yeah, worth a shot,” Skara echoed. “Though you do scare most guys away already.”

“Not those cocky athletes, clearly. The captain of the football team? Won’t let up. Douche. He’s the worst flirt of them all. That team can get royally screwed.”

Boscha chuckled. “Hey! Leave Gavin out of this.”

“Your boyfriend doesn’t count.”

“What about mine?” Skara asked.

“Yours either. Girls, focus.”

“Right! We have to find you a girlfriend.”

“Fake girlfriend. But yes. My mom might not believe me if I show up randomly one day with a girl, but she'll have to believe me if she also hears about it from her ‘sources’. Because of course she has sources at school. She's in the know, I don’t know how, but she knows what goes on in school. It’s like she's tracking me. So, if word gets to her that I’m dating a girl in school, she'll have to believe it. So she must be from school.”

“Who would be willing to pretend to be your girlfriend?”

“Please,” Boscha said, “this is Amity Blight we’re talking about. People would jump at the occasion.”

Amity smirked for a second.

“Bosch, you flatter me.”

Then she turned serious again.

Think.

“Who could I ask to be my fake girlfriend?” Amity mumbled. “It has to look believable. And it can’t ruin my reputation.”

Think.

Suddenly her eyes widened. 

Then they closed.

“I know.”

The bell rang. The students were exiting the classroom. Amity waited outside by the door.

She sucked in a breath upon seeing a red beanie approaching.

“Luz Noceda.”

Luz stopped in her tracks, a look of curiosity, yet skepticism, surfacing on her face.

“Amity Blight?”

“Can we… talk?”

The look of skepticism grew.

“Now that would be a first. Care to tell me why?”

“Meet me after our practices end in the parking lot.”

Now, it was curiosity that took the reins on Luz’s face.

She shrugged. “Sure.”

Amity bit back her sigh of both relief and dread. Why did it have to be Luz Noceda again?

Amity Blight and Luz Noceda had been classmates since Freshman year, yet not once had they really spoken to each other. It wasn’t due to silent hatred or the likes, rather indifference to the other’s existence. 

One would think they’d have communicated, Amity being head cheerleader and Luz being captain of the basketball team, but their interactions stopped at brief eye contact and the occasional nodding of the head to signal acknowledgment of each other’s presence. 

So when Amity asked Luz to talk, Luz was curious.

Basketball and cheerleading practices ended and both made their ways to the parking lot, spotting each other almost instantly. Amity started walking toward her car. Luz followed, curiosity, and boredom, getting the better of her.

“Get in my car,” Amity said.

“What the fuck?”

Amity sighed. Right. That could’ve been more polite, but she was so focused on her mission that she forgot about formalities.

“Can you please get in my car?”

Luz snickered. “Take me on a date first.”

Amity blinked.

“I want this talk to be in a private setting.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll get in your car.”

Amity unlocked her car and both got settled in.

“This is so sus. You gonna drive me to the woods or are we just here to get to know each other?”

“I need something.”

“And?”

“I need your help.”

Luz’s brow lifted. “We’ve never talked before. What the hell can I help you with?” 

“Listen. But this has to stay a secret. Got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I need you to be my girlfriend.”

Luz laughed.

“What the fuck?”

“Listen.” Amity sighed. She closed her eyes. “I need you to be my fake girlfriend. As in, pretend. We pretend to date.”

Luz laughed again.

“Amity Blight. What, the fuck? Why would you want that? That’s crazy. This is crazy. Pretend to date?” Luz shook in laughter. “Batshit. I’m getting out.”

Amity flung her arm out in front of Luz.

“Wait. Hear me out, okay?”

“Fine, sure. Please, elaborate.” Luz’s laughter calmed down, but her amused grin lingered on her face.

Amity released a deep breath.

“I need someone to pretend to date me so that I can prove to my mom that I’m gay and have a girlfriend, so that she'll stop setting me up on dates with guys. It would also stop the guys in school incessantly asking me out, if they know I’m in a relationship. Therefore, I need a fake girlfriend. Hence me asking you to be said fake girlfriend.”

Luz was silent for a moment. Then she burst out laughing again.

“Amity Blight, you’re killing me right now. You want me to be your fake girlfriend to fend off your parents and stop guys from flirting with you? Really?” She wiped invisible tears. “What the fuck?”

Amity grunted. “I knew this was a mistake.”

“Um, yeah? Why can’t you ask your friends?”

“Their parents are homophobic and if word gets to them then my friends are done for.”

“Can’t you ask another stranger?”

“You’re one of the only out-and-proud girls in school.”

“Can’t you ask another lesbian?”

“‘Dating’ you would be the most believable.”

“Because of the cliché cheerleader and basketball player?”

“Precisely.”

“Huh.”

“See?” Amity closed her eyes. “It makes the most sense that I ask you.”

Luz snickered. “I feel so special, Amity Blight.”

“So you’ll do it?”

“Get checked, Princess. Did a ball hit your head when you were dancing on the court?"

“Don’t call me Princess.”

“Or else what?”

“You’ll be the one concussed.”

Luz smirked. “Aren’t you supposed to get on my good side? Aren’t you the one who needs me?”

Amity sighed. “It’s not that I need you. It’s that you’re the”—she sighed again—“most ideal candidate.”

“You want to fake candi—date me alright.”

“Puns? Really?”

“You’ll have to deal with it, Princess.”

Amity blinked. “Is that a yes?”

“It’s a maybe.” Luz squinted. “Because what the hell is in it for me?”

Amity pursed her lips. “Street credit? Dating the head cheerleader will boost your reputation?”

“I don’t give a flying fuck about my reputation.”

“You can do it from the“—she cleared her throat—“ goodness of your heart?”

“My heart doesn’t give two damns about you.”

“Fine. I can pay you?”

“You want me to be your escort?” Luz asked, highly amused.

“N-no, I just thought—“

“We have a deal.”

Amity’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

“Yep. My ex is on your squad.”

“Celine?”

“Bitch cheated on me. Might piss her off if I date her beloved Captain.”

“That’s so petty.”

“Again, aren’t you supposed to be getting on my good side?”

Amity bit her lip. “Fine. I apologize for calling it petty.”

“No, it’s petty.”

Amity deadpanned.

Luz grinned. “And I get paid? Sign me up.”

Amity held her breath. “Are you certain?”

“Yep, so tell me, Princess, what’s the deal? Do we look at each other lovingly? Do we tie each other’s shoelaces on the court?”

Amity bit back curses under her breath, but her relief was evident on her now-relaxed face.

“You meet my parents, we hold hands at school. No more, no less.”

“Aw, no smooches?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Perfect. Because of all the people I could kiss, I’m not kissing you.”

Amity scoffed. “What’s wrong with kissing me?”

Luz snickered. “Are you really asking me that?”

“Fuck off. Can I tell you to fuck off or are you sensitive like that?”

Luz smirked. “You can tell me to fuck off, Princess. I’ll tell you to fuck off right back.”

“Fine. Then fuck. Off.”

“Fuck off to you too, my love. Can I call you my love or do you secretly love it? I’d hate for you to fall in love with me.”

Amity cursed obscenities under her breath. This would be way harder than expected.

“Will you always be this annoying?”

“Will you always ask stupid questions?”

Amity exhaled through her nose. This would be way harder than expected. But, relief washed over her once it settled in that she now had a fake girlfriend.

Yet Luz’s smug face caused her to narrow her eyes.

“What?”

“What, what?”

“Why do you look so smug?”

“Oh, nothing.”

Amity rubbed her temples. 

“Anyway, we start tomorrow. Before school. Parking lot. You come up to me at my car and we walk into the school together.”

“Holding hands I assume? Like the loving couple we are?”

Amity held back a grunt. “Holding hands, yes.”

“Want to practice now, my sweet honeypie?”

“Oh my god, please stop with the nicknames.”

“Hey,” Luz whispered, “I’m your girlfriend now.”

“Fake girlfriend.”

“You know what?”

“What now?”

“I bet you’ll fall in love with me.”

Amity’s eyes popped out of their sockets.

“Excuse me?”

Luz cackled. “I’m a catch, my love. Don’t fall too hard.”

Amity scoffed. “Please, falling in love with you? Are you dense? That would never happen.”

Luz continued laughing. “Bet.”

“That could never happen. Ever. As in, never.”

“Sure, Princess, sure. Reassure yourself.”

Amity’s brows lifted. “Are you being serious right now?”

“With how defensive you got?” Luz grinned. “Maybe I am.”

“Unbelievable. You’re delusional.”

“I’m just saying. I’m an awesome girlfriend.”

“Sure you are.”

Luz rubbed her hands together. “I’m loving this already.”

Amity rolled her eyes. “Just, stick to the plan, okay? You’re my fake girlfriend starting from tomorrow. It has to be believable. Word has to spread so that my parents hear about it and so that the boys will back off.”

“Get ready to be dazzled.”

“In your dreams, Luz Noceda.”

“I’ll be in yours, Amity Blight.”

Luz opened the passenger side door. She looked at Amity with the widest smile on her face. It was laced with smugness.

“See you tomorrow, mi amor.”

Amity clenched her fists.

“Goodbye.” But then her face relaxed, because all things considered, her mission was successful. She had a fake girlfriend. An irritating fake girlfriend.

She released a quiet breath, and said, “Goodbye, Luz Noceda. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

Luz flashed a more genuine smile. All things considered, this was going to be fun.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Luz arrived on her motorbike earlier than usual at school, to make sure she was there before Amity so she could be by her side once she arrived. Luz also needed to wake up earlier to go get something… special. It hid behind her back as she approached Amity’s car.

Luz opened the door for her once Amity turned off the engine.

“My love,” she said, offering up a smile. Amity rolled her eyes. But she froze when faced with a red rose, in Luz’s hand. “For you.”

Amity eyed it. “Really? A rose?”

“Can’t I surprise my girlfriend with a symbol of love?”

Amity’s eyes wanted to roll to the back of her head, but instead, she released a deep breath.

Remember. Pretend.

She took the rose and gave Luz a small smile. She had to admit, the flower was beautiful. And Amity was a sucker for roses, though she’d never admit to that out loud.

She sniffed it. It smelled nice.

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” Luz said. “Red looks good on you.”

Amity squinted.

Luz extended her hand for Amity to hold it.

“Shall we?”

Amity took Luz’s hand. It wasn’t soft.

As they started walking, fingers interlaced, Amity holding a rose against her chest, everything turned silent.

Amity looked around.

All eyes on them.

She glanced at Luz, who boasted the widest smirk.

Amity had to look happy, so she started smiling as well.

Luz squeezed her hand.

Amity released a deep breath.

Here we go.

As they entered the school, as per usual when Amity would be walking, the students separated to the sides to clear the way for her.

They could’ve heard a pin drop.

Some jaws were dropped, some eyes were wide.

Luz kept grinning. She winked at some people.

They were in the same class every morning so they both walked toward their classroom. Upon arriving in front of it, Amity let go of Luz’s hand.

“After you,” Luz said.

“How chivalrous.”

“It’s so I can stare at your ass.”

Amity’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me?”

Luz laughed. “I’m kidding, my love. I’m being a gentlewoman. Don’t you appreciate it?”

“Go off, Luz Noceda.”

“I appreciate you too, my lovely girlfriend Amity Blight.”

Amity wanted to sucker punch her ‘girlfriend’ in the face. Instead, she smiled. And she walked into the classroom toward the front row. Luz grinned as she made her way to the back row.

Amity thought for a bit while waiting for class to start.

Now people clearly knew, soon the entire school would know. Amity Blight, dating Luz Noceda. Two girls. The head cheerleader dating the captain of the basketball team. The headlines wrote themselves. Luckily, Luz Noceda had a great reputation, so ‘dating’ her wasn’t a blow to Amity’s. So Amity, upon remembering why the pretend dating was a good thing, relaxed. Luz could be an annoying twat, but Amity got what she wanted - a fake girlfriend. The plan was truly in action.

The breath of air she took felt cleansing. 

Yeah, it was a good thing.

When class ended, Luz was the first to get up and beelined toward the front row.

She cracked a smile at Amity. It was genuine. 

Amity rolled her eyes. But, Luz did amuse her, to some extent. So the corner of her lips tugged upward. Just a bit. But she deadpanned when Luz started wiggling her eyebrows.

They walked out of the classroom together.

“Alright, my love. I’ll see you at lunch?”

“I’ll be outside at the lunch tables with my friends.”

“Me too. I’ll come hold your hand for a minute.”

“How sweet.”

“Adios, mi amor.”

“Bye.”

She glanced around and noticed people looking at her. She raised a brow, and they looked away.

Inside, she maybe grinned a little.

Yeah, it was a good thing.

Luz met up with her friends at lunch. She had called them yesterday upon returning home to explain the whole fake dating situation. Luz had said, “You’ll never guess the fuck what,” which prompted curious “What the fuck?”s and subsequent shocked “No fucking way”s.

“But why does she need a fake girlfriend??” Willow had asked.

Luz, wanting to stay vague so as to not reveal too much about Amity’s home life, decided to stick with: “To get guys off her back.”

“The Amity Blight asked The Luz Noceda to pretend to be girlfriends?” Gus exclaimed, stunned.

Luz chuckled. “I’m not ‘The’ anything, Gustavo.”

“Please, you have an insane reputation,” Hunter said. “Varsity captain? MVP of the team?”

“Yeah! Don’t forget proudly out,” Vee added.

“People admire you,” he said. “You’re”—he faked a gag—“cool.”

Luz laughed. “Hunt, did you just call me ‘cool’?”

“I wish I could take it back. Point is, of course she’d ask you to be her fake girlfriend. You’d actually be a power couple. She knows that very well.”

Luz’s smugness could be heard through the phone.

“Yeah, I know I’m a catch.”

“You are,” Willow said. It was her smile that was heard through the phone.

“You really are,” Vee echoed. Luz’s friends were so nice.

Hunter faked a gag again.

“My ball on your head, Hunter.”

“Okay okay, you’re a catch.”

Gus asked, “But wait, why did you agree in the first place?”

“I’m bored, it sounded entertaining, she’s paying me, and, bonus, it could piss Celine off.”

Willow grunted. “That bitch. Amity’s the upgrade that’s for sure.”

Luz snickered. “Yeah, and she admires her so much. This is golden. I couldn’t give two craps about her but man would it be funny if it pisses her off.”

Hunter chuckled. “Menace.” Then he asked, “How much is she paying you?”

“We’ll see, we haven’t discussed that yet. I was too amused by it all to actually ask her.”

Then she chuckled. A demonic chuckle. “I kinda joked that she’d fall in love with me.”

Hunter laughed.

“My ball will hurt you in places you don’t want to be hurt, Hunter.”

Silence on his end.

“I’m just saying,” Luz continued, with a smirk, “she’ll see how awesome I am.”

Willow sighed. “As long as you don’t play with her feelings.”

“Please, Amity Blight? Feelings? She’s stone cold. Ice queen vibes. But, she’ll have to act happy with me. Oh, this is going to be fun.”

And fun it was indeed, when Luz spotted Amity by the tables outside at lunch, and approached, smile already on her face.

“Mi amor,” she said as she arrived at her table. “Mi amor’s friends,” she added as she looked around at the people at the table.

Luz, by virtue of being an athlete at the school, knew the other athletes, so she easily greeted the two football players that were Amity’s friends’ boyfriends. Confidence also meant she had no trouble talking to people. But talking to the others wasn’t her goal.

“Just came by to say hello to my beautiful girlfriend.”

Amity blinked. Did Luz just call her beautiful?

She released a quiet breath. She had to act happy. People called her beautiful all the time, but, it felt… different? coming from Luz’s mouth.

To play the part, Amity smiled. She stood up to be face-to-face with her.

Luz grinned. She reached for Amity’s hand. Amity extended hers, but instead of Luz simply holding it, she brought it to her lips and planted a soft kiss on her hand.

Amity wanted to grunt. Really? That was not in the agreement. But, she had to admit, it looked believable. Luz was good.

“How are you?”

“Good, and you?” Amity replied.

“Better now that we’re together.”

Amity facepalmed internally. Luz was truly playing the part.

She smiled. “You’re so cute.”

Luz’s grin widened.

“I have to go back to my friends, I just wanted to say hi.” Luz winked. “I’ll accompany you to your class when lunch period ends?”

“Perfect,” Amity said. Indeed, randomly accompanying each other to classes meant more hand holding meant more believable. Amity was satisfied with Luz’s thinking.

“See you later.”

“Bye, my love.”

Luz went toward her friends at a table not too far away.

“I’m good,” she said upon returning.

“Honestly, it looks believable. She still has the rose. Nice touch,” Willow said.

Vee nodded enthusiastically.

Hunter swooned, “So romantic.”

Luz chuckled. “I try, I try. I’m accompanying her to her next class after lunch.”

“You’re really playing the part,” Gus said.

“And I’m having fun with it. It’s so entertaining to see Amity Blight try to act all happy lovey dovey when I know Miss Ice Queen is internally recoiling.”

“Well she’s playing the part well as well,” Willow noted.

Luz released a satisfied smirk at that.

Amity sat back down at her table.

“You’re so cute with Luz,” Skara said with a bright smile. “Right, Boscha?”

“So cute!” Boscha grinned. “Power couple. Right, Gavin?”

Gavin nodded. “Yeah? Amity, when did you even start talking to Luz?”

Amity bit her lip. Think fast.

“We started talking at Boscha’s party last month.” Good.

Boscha often hosted parties, big ones. Luz would often be there with the other basketball girls and her friends. They’d see each other but again, they never really spoke. But, them talking at a party was more than believable, and was a satisfying story to tell in case asked how they started getting to know each other.

“We ended up playing beer pong together and we really hit it off. We exchanged numbers and started talking. Then she asked me out on a date. The date went amazingly. She asked me to be her girlfriend. Now we’re together.”

Gavin and Barcus, Skara’s boyfriend, smiled.

“That’s cute,” Barcus said.

Amity released a quiet sigh of relief. Good.

“You look happy together,” Gavin said.

“Yes! So happy.”

“Yeah,” Boscha said, “They’re so happy together. Amity’s never been happier.” She smirked.

Amity kicked her from under the table.

Boscha winced.

“Aawww, we’re happy for you,” the guys said.

Amity smiled. “Thank you.”

“Well, our teammates won’t be happy.”

Amity grinned internally. Fuck yes.

“Angmar especially,” Barcus said, “He’s had the hots for you since Freshman year.”

“Oh well.” Amity stifled her grin.

“He better back down, he’s persistent,” Gavin noted.

Amity stifled her squint. She’d have to make sure he saw that she was fully invested in her ‘relationship’.

“Well, he’ll see that I’m in a happy relationship with Luz,” she said, fists clenched under the table.

“You do look happy,” Gavin said.

“I very much am. Luz is”—she cleared her throat—“amazing.”

“She’s really cool,” Barcus said.

“She really is,” Skara added.

“And so sweet too! The rose?” Boscha flashed a smirk. Then she eyed Gavin. “So thoughtful.”

Gavin faked a cough. “So sweet.”

Amity truly wanted this conversation to be over, so she changed topics.

Luz arrived back at her table a few minutes before the bell rang. She extended her hand which Amity took.

Boscha winked at Luz, who found it amusing. Luz winked back.

Amity noticed. She narrowed her eyes at both of them. Then Luz squeezed Amity’s hand and smiled at her. Her hand really wasn’t soft. But, for Amity’s plan’s sake, she had to hold it. 

It wasn’t like she was repulsed by Luz. Luz was charming, all things considered. Her face card was particularly attractive, her being of Dominican descent adding to the uniqueness of her features. Her brown eyes held depth, and were always tinted with a shade of mischief, which most people found enticing. Her nonchalant confidence was magnetic. Her Varsity jacket was always on her back too, which only added to her image. She was also proudly out with her bisexuality, which was respected in their school. It added flare to her already-great reputation. She had aura. Amity recognized that.

Yet, Luz was also known for her shenanigans. Some questionable jokes and drawings written inside the stalls of the bathrooms, arriving to school in rollerblades because it wasn’t against the dress code, taking over the PA system to announce random fun facts, but she’d never get detention because she was liked by Principal Bump, by virtue of being such an important athlete at the school, that brought home trophies and respect. And the students found it charming, coming from Luz Noceda. It added to her ‘cool’ aura. Luz indeed was beloved by everyone. And Amity recognized that.

Amity on her part looked fierce and untouchable. Her confidence was highly alluring, her beauty evident and disarming. She walked around school like she owned the place, and in ways, she did: head cheerleader, top student, future valedictorian, people admired her. Venerated her.

Thus, from an outside perspective, Luz and Amity truly looked like a power couple. The power couple.

Amity had to admit, she made the best choice. But Luz was just an annoying little shit, with her hand kissing and demonic winks. But the main problem, what especially irked her was Luz insinuating that Amity would fall in love with her. How cocky could one be? That was what was annoying about the situation. But, as much as Amity was reluctant to lean into the process of fake dating Luz Noceda specifically, Amity was satisfied with her plan, so she really had to lean into the process. But Amity wasn’t used to smiling all the time, so that was a muscle she’d have to practice. Looking happy, yeah. And she was supposed to be happy, with Luz. It was her idea after all. Her idea to have a fake girlfriend. Her choice to ask Luz Noceda, of all people. 

Remember. Pretend.

So, the corner of Amity’s lips curled up. This was her idea, and it was working. She had to let loose and lean into the process. But she didn’t realize how hard it would be to let loose with Luz Noceda. 

Luz squeezed her hand. Amity looked at her. Luz was smiling at her. It looked genuine.

But then Amity remembered again what Luz said yesterday, about Amity falling in love with her.

She squinted. Never going to happen. She clenched her fists, but because her hand was holding Luz’s, it felt like she was squeezing Luz’s hand. Luz looked at her, and her grin widened. But a glint of mischief tinted Luz’s eyes.

Absolutely not.

Amity leaned in to whisper in Luz’s ear. “I did not just squeeze your hand.”

But all Luz did was wink.

Amity disliked Luz’s wink.

Luz squeezed Amity’s hand again as they started walking back into the school.

Amity took the lead and all but dragged Luz toward her class. 

“Slow down, Princess,” Luz mumbled in her ear as they walked.

Amity grunted.

She mumbled back, “Stop calling me Princess.”

Luz squeezed her hand to respond.

So, Amity crushed Luz’s hand with hers.

Luz stifled a laugh. “Careful, squeeze it tighter and I’ll have to fall in love with you.”

Amity gawked. What a little shit.

“Shut up.”

“Make me, Princess.”

Amity released the deepest breath of irritation and despair.

“You’re impossible.”

“Yeah well I’m your girlfriend so deal with it.”

They’d been speaking in hushed tones so she knew nobody heard when she responded, “Fake girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend nonetheless.”

“Oh, there’s a difference.”

“Yeah, but you’re falling for me either way.”

“Can you shut up?”

“Make me, Princess.”

“You’re so fucking impossible.”

“I try, I try.”

Amity’s classroom came into view. They stood in front of it.

“You can go now.”

But Luz stood still.

“Red really looks good on you.”

For fuck’s sake. Amity didn’t realize she was clutching the rose against her chest.

She shook her head and almost snapped the stem.

She grumbled and lowered her voice. “Fuck off, Luz Noceda.”

“I like you too, Amity Blight.”

Amity clenched her jaw. 

Remember. Pretend.

She released a sigh. She really needed to be nicer. Luz could back away from their deal at any moment.

But Luz was clearly having fun. Too much fun. That reassured Amity, in the worst way possible. She knew she had leeway. Good. Because her visceral reactions to Luz being a little shit were sometimes too strong to control.

“Should we meet up after our last classes so I can accompany you to the locker rooms, my love? We might run into the football guys, my love. It could be a fine idea, my love.”

There it was. Luz smirking again.

Yep, she was having too much fun with this.

“Good idea,” Amity ended up saying. 

She told her where her last class was, then she went into the classroom.

After classes ended for the day, Luz made her way toward Amity’s class.

She held a bright smirk as she walked.

This is too fun.

The whole situation amused her. Pretending to date Amity Blight proved even funner than expected. She took a liking to annoying Amity: she had free rein and it was very much entertaining. Especially when Amity looked so pissed at Luz’s antics. The rose? Amity had to lug it around all day. Kissing her hand? Brilliant. Amity looked like she wanted to gag. Calling her all the cutesy nicknames? Her cringing was prime TV. Amity telling her to fuck off? Music to Luz’s ears.

It wasn’t like it was hard either, to pretend to be Amity’s girlfriend. All Luz had to do was show up a few times a day. Luz didn’t have much better to do anyway, and it cured some of her boredom in the best way. So, Amity could be as complicated as she wanted, but Luz was most definitely going to stick around.

And then there was the bet. That Amity would fall in love with Luz. She wasn’t serious because she doubted whether Amity felt any positive emotions at all, but it was a fun little thought that encouraged Luz to want to be even more extra when it came to being her fake girlfriend.

Yes, Luz was having fun. So she smirked on her way to get Amity.

“My love,” she said upon reaching her.

Amity looked at her pointedly.

“Let’s go.”

Luz extended her hand and Amity held it.

They made their way toward the locker rooms, and as expected, they saw some football players on their way as well.

Amity straightened her back even more, if that was possible. Her posture was always so perfect. Her eyes scanned the players. No Angmar in sight. She grunted. Maybe after practice in the parking lot.

“Let’s walk to the parking lot together after our practices end.”

“Yes, sir.”

They entered the girl’s locker room together. The cheerleaders and girls’ basketball players shared the locker room as they had practice at the same time. The school was large, and sports were big at the school, having multiple sports teams, and the locker rooms were huge. Upon entering the locker room together, they were about to say their goodbyes when a thought crossed their minds.

They glanced at each other, eyes wide, having realized the same thing.

Luz whispered, “Would it look weird if we don’t stick together and change side by side now that we’re girlfriends??”

“Shut up.” Amity whispered back, “Don’t even consider it.”

“I’m not, I couldn’t care less. This is your ruse.”

Amity paused. Would it seem strange?

“Are you actually thinking about it??”

“No!” she whisper-shouted. “We are not changing next to each other.”

Luz stifled a laugh. “Suit yourself, Princess. See you later,” she said before heading off.

Amity grunted. She headed toward her friends.

“No Luz?” Boscha asked, holding back a devilish smile.

Amity squinted. “Seriously?”

“What? I’d just assume you’d want to be spending as much time with her now that you’re together.” She was clearly having a good time with this.

Boscha could get punched.

But Amity’s brows furrowed. “Do you think it looks suspicious?”

“No,” Skara reassured. “Don’t worry, Amity. Right, Boscha?”

Boscha released her chuckle. “Right. Don’t sweat it.”

Amity’s shoulders relaxed. “Good. Good.”

Luz arrived by Vee’s side at the other end of the locker room.

“You’re not staying with Amity?” Vee asked, slightly confused.

Luz blinked.

“Is it really that suspicious??”

“I actually don’t know. Probably not?”

Luz chuckled. “That’s her problem.”

“Luz!” Katya said, coming next to her. “You’re with Amity?”

Luz turned to face her. Bo was by her side as well.

They were her teammates. They weren’t extremely close, but they were on great terms. Luz was on great terms with everyone on the team; she was a great captain and they all admired her.

“Yes! We’re in a relationship!”

“That’s amazing! Congrats!” they said.

“Thanks!”

Katya said, perhaps a bit too invested, “We’ve never seen you with her before, since when have you been talking?”

Luz froze. Right. She and Amity were never seen together before today. Now that was suspicious.

“We started talking at Boscha’s party last month.” Right. Amity was there with the others from the cheer squad. “We ended up playing beer pong together.” There was indeed a beer pong, and Luz was known for her beer pong mastery. “We hit it off because we actually played well together and it was fun.” Did Amity even know how to have fun? “We exchanged socials and started talking more.” Believable. “Then she asked me out on a date.” Luz smirked internally. Heh. “It went amazingly, and she asked me to be her girlfriend.” Would Amity kill her? Oh well. “So now we’re together!”

That, was a success. Katya and Bo were swooning.

“That’s so cute! I’m so happy for you!” Katya said. Bo nodded vigorously.

“Thanks!”

There was a part of Luz that felt bad about lying to her teammates, but Amity would definitely kill her for sharing the secret with even more people. Amity didn’t even know that Luz had told her friends. Now that was going to be a discussion. But no way was Luz about to hide that from her best friends. Amity would have to deal with it.

Katya and Bo left to the side to get changed.

Vee winked at Luz. “Well played,” she said in a hushed tone.

Luz wiggled her brows. “I’m locked in.”

“You’re really taking this thing seriously, huh.”

“A deal’s a deal. And I have honor!” she said. “Sometimes.”

Vee chuckled. “Hey, you half-ass a lot of things but you keep your word.”

Luz’s hand floated to her chest. “Why thank you, my dear Vee. I appreciate the vote of confidence.” She rubbed her hands together. “Besides, I’m having fun annoying Amity Blight. You can bet I’ll keep my word with this one.”

Vee said, amused at the determination in Luz’s eyes, “I’m happy you’re having fun.”

Luz held a wicked smile. “Oh, I am.”

After getting dressed in their basketball uniforms, they made their way toward the court. Practically every girl from the team came up to Luz to congratulate her on her relationship with Amity. Luz shot a lot of winks and grins. A couple of the girls even mentioned the term “power couple.” That made Luz chuckle. 

She didn’t care much about her reputation — the thing she cared most about was being out and proud, because she’d hoped it inspired others to come out, but the idea of her being part of the power couple of the school was too amusing to her. But more seriously, she found it awesome because now the power couple was two girls, and Luz was always for representation. So, Luz loved the term. It proved that yeah, two girls could be a power couple. That was a big bonus for her in the whole fake relationship ruse. Something she appreciated. Even more of an incentive.

Almost everyone on Amity’s squad came up to congratulate her on her relationship with Luz as well. Amity’s face was all but sore with how much she was forcing smiles. A lot of “thanks”’s, a lot of “We’re happy”s, a lot of bullshit coming from Amity’s mouth. But, it was working. Nobody seemed to be suspicious, so some smiles were a bit less forced. Relief was one of the main things Amity was feeling.

She knew the squad would be supportive of her new relationship, because the girls supported everything she could ever do. They revered their captain.

Almost everyone came up to her.

Amity remembered what Luz had said about her ex girlfriend and how it would maybe piss her off. She couldn’t have cared less. She didn’t even notice that Celine had not come up to congratulate her. What she did notice, was that Celine wasn’t looking her in the eyes. Unreadable expression. Didn’t matter. As long as Celine was still concentrated during training, Amity couldn’t care less. And Celine was doing well, so no problem.

Practices ended and Luz and Amity met up by the door of the locker room to head toward the parking lot together.

“My love,” Luz said as she extended her hand.

Amity exhaled through her nose. She took Luz’s hand.

They walked together, Amity glancing around a few times, until they arrived at Amity’s car.

“Get in,” she said.

“Take me on a date first.” Luz grinned. “Heh.”

Amity rolled her eyes. She unlocked the car. They both got in.

“Today was a success.”

“My love is happy with my performance?”

Amity rubbed her temples.

“Yes. You did good.”

Luz tapped her knee. “Great!”

She glanced out the window to see some girls from the cheer squad coming closer to get to their own cars which were parked next to Amity’s. Luz reached out to grab Amity’s hand, with a smirk.

Amity’s eyebrow raised when she glanced out the window as well. A smile immediately appeared on her face as she glanced back at Luz.

Her eyes were filled with mischief. More than usual.

Amity grunted through the smile.

When the coast was clear and nobody was around anymore, Amity relaxed her face.

Then she felt her hand being squeezed. Her gaze whipped toward Luz’s, who was still holding hers. She instantly let go.

“I’m starting to think you don’t like holding my hand, my love.”

“You don’t have to call me that when we’re in private, Luz Noceda.”

“Okay, Princess, I’ll save it for the audience.”

“You can stop calling me Princess too.”

“Okay mi amor, I’ll save it for special occasions.”

Amity wanted to bang her head against the steering wheel.

“You’re having fun with this, aren’t you?”

“Yep.”

Amity bit her lip. She sighed. “So, you’ll continue pretending to date me? Was today… okay for you?”

“Wow, Amity Blight, you really care about me? I’m so touched. You’re even sweeter than I thought, my love.”

Amity truly wanted to bang her head against the window.

“Of course I want to check in with you. I want to make sure you’re still okay with the plan.”

Luz offered up a more relaxed smile. “Yeah, I’m good. I actually like us being the power couple of the school. Did you see everyone’s faces? I kept wanting to laugh but had to keep my cool.” Luz chuckled. “It’s fun.”

Amity deadpanned. “Glad you’re having fun.” Luz was clearly having a better time than Amity. But Amity was so satisfied that the plan was working, so she released a more relaxed smile as well.

“Good. Nobody seems to be doubting us.”

“Nah, everyone’s so excited. It’s crazy. You think we’ll make front page of the school’s newspaper?”

Amity almost chuckled. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Oh yeah, I told my friends.”

“You what??”

“I told my friends. Deal with it.”

Amity closed her eyes. “Who exactly?”

“Willow, Vee, Hunter, and Gus,” Luz stated. “The Hexsquad.”

“The Hex— you have a name for your— never mind.” She sighed. “No one else, okay?”

“Works for me,” Luz said, satisfied.

“We have to get our get-together story straight.”

Luz snickered. “Story straight. Story gay!”

“Really? Really?”

Luz stuck her tongue out.

“Anyway, I was asked today how we started getting close.”

Luz nodded. “Me too, I said we met at Boscha’s party last month playing beer pong.”

“Wait. Me too. It’s what seemed most likely.”

“Definitely. We’re always at the same parties. Crazy to think that we never talked before. You weren’t interested in getting to know me, Amity Blight?”

“As much as you were, Luz Noceda. I had no reason to come talk to you.”

“Yeah, fair, same.” Luz chuckled. “And now we’re here. Pretending to be girlfriends. Plot twist of the century.”

“Yes. But luckily, it makes sense.”

“It really does. Oh, and,” she said with a shit-eating grin, “you asked me out.”

Amity’s brows arched the fuck up. “Excuse me??”

“Yep! You asked me to be your girlfriend.”

“Are you kidding me?? I said you asked me out! Me asking you out makes no sense. I would never ask anyone out.”

Luz laughed. “Princess? You literally asked me to be your fake girlfriend.”

Amity scoffed. “That’s different. In a realistic scenario, you’d be the one to ask me out.”

“Fat chance. I would never ask you out.”

“And why the hell not?”

“You’re really asking me that?”

Amity sucked in a deep breath. Relax.

“Fine.” She crossed her arms. “I asked you out.”

Luz smirked. “Fuck yeah you did.”

Amity crossed her arms tighter. She huffed.

“Anyway. How much do you want?”

Luz was still smirking, fully satisfied about having gotten her way. The Amity Blight asking her out? That was even more entertaining. She wouldn’t hesitate saying that to anyone who asked. Hell, she’d say it unprompted. “What?”

“How much do you want? I have to pay you.”

“Oh, right!” Luz put her negotiating glasses on. “How much were you thinking?”

“Two hundred dollars.”

Luz choked on her spit.

“Two hundred— really??”

“I’ll give it to you at the end of the month, if nobody sees through the ruse. It also depends on whether my mom believes it or not. I’m serious. She has to believe it.”

“For two hundred I’ll do more than hold your hand, Amity Blight!”

“Shut up. I don’t need more. I just need us to be believable.”

“You can bet we’ll be believable!”

“Good. It’s settled then.”

“I mean it was already settled but damn, woman, I knew you came from a rich family but damn.”

Amity glanced at Luz, then glanced out the window. She sighed.

“You’re really helping me out, Luz Noceda. It’s the least I can do.”

The corner of Luz’s lips quirked up. Amity was more generous than she thought. Luz was expecting to negotiate to fifty bucks, not two hundred dollars. Now Luz was even more incentivized to uphold her end of the deal. She’d show Amity just how good of a girlfriend she could appear to be.

“When am I meeting your parents, then?”

“It depends on how fast word travels to them. I’ll tell them tonight. I’ll have to say that you asked me out.”

“To your parents? No problem.”

“My mom probably won’t believe me at first, which is why I’ll be waiting for her to hear it via her sources at school. She’ll want to meet you. That’s where you come in, and you come over for dinner or something. Sound good?”

“Yeah. That works.”

“We can prepare for that another day.”

“Prepare?”

“Yes, I have to coach you.”

“Coach me?”

“Yes, she’ll be asking questions about you. Testing you. Because she wants me to be with the best. So you’re going to have to pretend to be the best.”

“Hey, I am the best.”

Amity deadpanned. “I’ll coach you.”

“Fine, fine. You’ll see, she’ll believe us one hundred percent.”

“She better.”

“Don’t sweat it, my love. I’ll be the best girlfriend ever.”

“You better.”

“I will.” Luz flashed a smile. “Trust me.”

Amity paused. She did have to trust Luz.

She looked at her. Luz’s smile was genuine.

Amity’s shoulders relaxed a bit. “I do.”

“Good! Anyway, I’ll head. See you tomorrow morning, same place?”

“Yes.”

“Great.” 

Luz was about to get out of the car when Amity said, “Wait.”

Luz looked at her curiously.

Amity inhaled a deep breath. Then released it.

“Thank you, Luz Noceda.”

Luz’s smile softened. “You’re welcome, Amity Blight.”

She left the car to go toward her motorbike.

Amity turned on the engine and gripped the steering wheel. Then she saw the red rose that she had placed on the dashboard. She picked it up, and held it for a moment. She took a whiff. Her eyes closed. Today went well. The plan was going well. Everybody believed them. Luz was a little shit but she was proving to be a good fake girlfriend. Tonight she’d tell her parents. Hopefully her mom believed her. The rose smelled nice. Her eyes popped open. The rose landed on the passenger seat. Amity gripped the steering wheel again, and started driving home.

Chapter Text

It was dinner time at Blight Mansion. Amity arrived at the table dead on time. Not a minute before, not a minute after.

“Dear, how was school?” Odalia, her mother, asked her after they had all settled into their seats and the home chef was bringing out their dinner.

“It was good. I received an A+ in AP Chemistry today.”

“As expected, dear.”

Amity fought hard not to roll her eyes. An A+ in AP Chemistry during senior year was an excellent grade. It was beginning October, so only about a month into the school year, so she didn’t receive many grades back yet, but good ones, great ones, were expected to come indeed.

She’d hope her mother would recognize how excellent her grades were, but that proved to be unlikely, clearly, which would have pissed Amity off if she cared about her mother’s opinion in the first place. And she didn’t.

But Odalia was strict. When Amity was younger, Odalia would ground Amity and take her phone away if she got anything less than an A. Thankfully, Amity was a straight-A student, so that hadn’t happened in a long time. Her getting As was satisfactory enough, though Odalia would make comments when she’d ‘only’ receive As, but all in all, Amity’s school performance was excellent, so Amity didn’t have to face any wrath on that front.

But Odalia was strict when it came to Amity’s reputation. Because Amity was a Blight. And Blights had to be perfect. Picture perfect. To uphold the family’s image.

Their business, Blight Industries, was a successful one. They sold technologically-advanced products to the public, ranging from drones to technological home defense systems, and sold military tech in private, like AI targeting surveillance systems. They were thus successful with both the public and with private contractors and the government.

The business bringing them riches was an understatement. Swimming in money. Floating in status. And drowning in expectations.

Amity had older siblings. Twins, Edric and Emira, who were in college. Them being a born duo made it harder for Odalia to sink her claws into them both simultaneously as they were harder to control as a pair. They still upheld the family image, by appearing put-together in front of the public, but in reality they were pulling pranks on teachers and sneaking out to party with friends.

Amity learned techniques to sneak out from them. But she didn’t need them, because Odalia let Amity sleep at her friends’ to ‘study with them.’ Odalia had trust in Amity’s friends. She was the one who chose them, after all. Amity, since preschool, was forced to spend time with the children of her parents’ business partners, namely Skara and Boscha. Amity couldn’t choose who she associated with. It was hard at first, being forced to go on play dates with girls she didn’t choose, but with time she took a liking to Skara and Boscha, perhaps because they were the people she knew best. Now she considered them friends.

And Odalia was content with that. Amity associating with the children of other wealthy and high-status people was ideal for her reputation.

But Odalia wanted more. She wanted Amity to be in a relationship with someone with a stellar reputation. So, she’d arrange dates that Amity had to attend. Someone that Amity could bring to events, someone that would add positively to Amity’s, thus the family’s, image.

“I’ve been dating someone,” she said while cutting her fish during dinner.

“Oh? Who is he?”

“She’s a girl.”

Odalia put her fork down. Her eyebrows raised.

Odalia was not a fan of Amity liking girls. But, Amity’s father, Alador, had no problem with it, having many gay friends himself. So that was one thing Odalia couldn’t say much about, because Alador held power in the house, by virtue of Blight Industries being his business first. That kept Odalia in check, for most things.

Alador was mostly absent. His main care was the business — constantly working, constantly elsewhere — he never took a particular interest in Amity’s life. Amity, when younger, wanted her father’s affection, of course. But, after a while of searching for it, she gave up on the idea of having a dad. It used to make her sad, now it made her indifferent. But in the case of her being a lesbian, she appreciated that her father had no problem with it, because that meant she could voice her interest in liking girls. And Odalia couldn’t do much about it.

And she was about to voice it again.

“Her name is Luz Noceda. She’s MVP captain of the basketball team at school.”

Odalia’s eyes closed. Then she glanced at Alador, who looked tired. He was scribbling away on his notepad.

Then she squinted at Amity. “Again this nonsense about liking girls.”

“Yes, she’s a girl. A very popular girl. She has a stellar reputation. She’s—”

“I just cannot believe it. Look at you, you look so… feminine, and beautiful.”

Amity’s jaw loosened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You do not look like a… lesbian, dear.”

Anger bubbled up inside of Amity.

“A lesbian can look however she wants. A lesbian can—”

Odalia rolled her eyes. “I just simply do not believe it. Believe that you like… girls.”

“I’m telling you—”

“Didn’t you like the date last week? A fine young man. The son of our new business partners.”

Amity grunted.

“Mom, I’m dating a girl.”

Odalia narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t do much about that. Alador was next to her, working on a project. And when he was focused, he was focused, not interested in lingering on something else.

He didn’t care much about Odalia sending Amity on dates. He didn’t really see the harm in it. He didn’t really care. He didn’t care about a lot of things, mostly just his inventions and working on them. “Just listen to your mother, dear,” was what he would say as his eyes kept focused on his work when Amity would protest. 

Amity at the table said, “Dad, I’m dating a girl.”

He didn’t look up from his notebook. “Sure, dear.”

Odalia narrowed her eyes. “But Alador, darling, shouldn’t Amity be with a fine young man?”

His eyes kept on his notebook. “A girl is fine.”

Amity stifled her grin. Odalia ground her teeth.

“I still don’t believe you’re a lesbian, dear. Let alone dating a girl.”

“Fine. I can prove it. I can bring her over.”

Odalia sneered. “You bringing home a random girl wouldn’t prove you’re dating her.”

“She’s not a random girl, and you’ll hear about it.”

Amity knew that Odalia knew that Amity was referring to her sources at school.

“In all cases, she has to be of high standing. Remember, dear. Our reputation is paramount.”

Amity knew she was pushing the limits already with her bringing home a girl, so she released a quiet sigh of relief when she said, “She’s captain and MVP of the basketball team.”

Odalia’s brow lifted. “Captain of the basketball team, you say? The school’s basketball team is quite renowned. I’ve read interviews. Very… popular in the state. They won the State Tournament last year, correct?”

“Yes. An incredibly impressive feat. You might have read some of her interviews after big wins for the school.”

Odalia eyed her for a moment.

“And that’s the girl you’re supposedly dating?”

“Yes, Mom. I’m dating Luz Noceda.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Fine. I’ll bring her over.”

“Friday for dinner.”

“I’m sure she’ll be available.”

“Oh she must, darling. She must be available for you, if you two are serious.”

“We are.”

“I’ll see on Friday.”

Odalia gave her a pointed look before continuing her dinner.

Amity sighed quietly, in massive relief. Her plan was working. Soon, her mom would see that Amity was in a relationship, and she’d have to stop the forced dates. Amity would have someone to go to their events with.

Right. She had to ask Luz to attend events with her. Hopefully Luz would agree to that. And she’d also have to ask Luz whether she was free on Friday.

Amity would ask tomorrow. Right now, she basked in her soon freedom.

“Good morning, my love,” Luz said after opening Amity’s car door in the morning.

“Good morning,” Amity replied after getting out of the car and locking it. She had favors to ask, so kept the eye rolling to herself.

“How are you?” Luz asked. It sounded genuine.

Amity eyed her. “I’m fine. And you?”

“Better now that you’ve graced me with your presence.”

Amity fought really hard not to roll her eyes.

“Cute,” she said. Then her voice became less hostile. “Listen. Are you free on Friday night?”

“I normally have pizza night with my friends on Fridays.”

“Oh. Okay. Just, could you maybe… come over for dinner? To meet my parents? My mom kind of insisted on Friday.”

“Of course! I’ll tell my friends it’s important.”

Amity’s face revealed somewhat surprise.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I told you I’d be there, so I’ll be there, no problem!”

Amity nodded slowly. “Thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

Hm.

Amity, for some reason, released the faintest smile.

“Amity Blight.” A grin grew on Luz’s face. “Is that a smile I see?”

Amity crossed her arms. “No.”

“My love smiled at me!”

Amity rolled her eyes. She mumbled, “Fuck off.”

“I like you too.”

Amity grunted. Then she sighed.

“You’re impossible.”

“I try.”

Amity shook her head. “Let’s go.”

Luz extended her hand. “Mi amor.” They started walking toward the school. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get you a rose today, I woke up later than expected.”

“No more roses, Luz Noceda. I had to lug it around all day yesterday. Impractical.”

“You don’t like flowers?”

She did.

“I don’t.”

“Right. Do you hate rainbows too?”

“Overrated.”

Luz gasped. She released Amity’s hand.

Amity whispered, “Get back here!”

Luz stuck her tongue out before taking Amity’s hand again. They entered the school.

“Then what do you like? I actually know nothing about you.”

“Yes, you know nothing about me. I know nothing about you. You want that to change?”

“I mean yeah, we’re going to be spending some time together now, might as well get to know each other.”

Amity glanced at her. “You really want us to get to know each other?”

“Why not?”

She thought about it for a moment. Luz Noceda and her weren’t exactly friends. But they weren’t exactly strangers anymore either. She was her fake girlfriend after all. And, it could be good to know some basics, in case it would come up in conversation with others.

“Alright. What do you want to know?”

“I don’t know, what’s your favorite color?”

“Pink.” She wore it all the time. “Yours?”

“Green.” The school’s colors, checks out.

They arrived in front of their classroom.

“After you, m’lady.”

“How chivalrous.”

“Always.”

Amity made her way toward the front row, Luz toward the back.

“You guys are kind of cute,” Willow said from beside Luz as she sat down.

Luz chuckled. “You think we look good together?”

“You actually do. Your pictures for Homecoming will look great.”

Luz paused. The Homecoming dance. Next week.

She didn’t think of that.

“You’re going to Homecoming, right?”

“I mean, I have to. It would look so weird if I didn’t go with my ‘girlfriend.’ Right?”

“Definitely. You have to go with Amity.”

“Shit. You’re right. We have to talk about it.”

Then, a sneaky smile flourished on Luz’s face.

“We actually don’t have to talk about it.”

“What do you mean?”

Luz’s grin widened. “Let’s just say I have an idea.”

After class ended, Luz made her way toward the front row.

“You’ll be outside at lunch, right?”

“Yes, why?”

“Oh nothing, like yesterday I’ll come see you, right?”

“Yes, that would be good.”

“Good. See you later then, my love.”

Every single time, Amity wanted to roll her eyes at the nicknames. But she was starting to get used them. “See you later.”

During lunch period, Luz and her friends were chilling at one of the tables outside. There were about a dozen tables all filled with students. 

Excellent.

“Watch this,” Luz told her friends.

“Oh no,” Willow said.

“Oh yes.”

Luz got up and started approaching Amity’s table that wasn’t too far from theirs.

But, when Luz arrived, she spoke up, loudly. Her voice rang above the chatter of the other students.

“I have something to say!”

All the students quieted down, eyes darting toward Luz. It was silent.

“Amity Blight,” Luz said loudly, so that everyone could hear, “You set my heart alight. Will you go to Homecoming with me, and brighten up my night?”

Coos and swoons and “Aaaawww”s travelled across the students. Everybody held their breath as they awaited Amity’s response.

Amity blinked. Her fists clenched. Really? Really??

“Yes!”

The students clapped and cheered.

“So cute!!” “Luz is so sweet!!” “This is amazing!!”

Luz’s grin was diabolical. She extended her hand that Amity had to take and squeezed it.

She then lifted their hands. “She said yes!”

The cheers grew louder.

Amity’s jaw clenched. Tightly. But she forced a toothy smile.

Luz lowered their hands and winked at Amity.

Amity shot her death stare, but it looked like she was gazing into Luz’s eyes.

Luz looked around the students and said, “That is all.”

They all boasted smiles on their faces when they started conversing between themselves again.

Once the attention was finally off of them, Amity leaned in and whispered in Luz’s ear, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“What, mi amor, you didn’t like me asking you to Homecoming?” Luz replied innocently. “We’re going together, no?”

“Yes, but, in front of everyone??”

“They loved it and you know it.”

Amity grunted quietly. Luz was right. They looked even more believable now.

For fuck’s sake.

And Luz’s grin was punchable. “You should be thanking me.”

Amity glared at her. She was about to say something snarky when she remembered how she told herself to be kinder to Luz, Luz was actually doing good, and that Amity had to lean into the process. But, for fuck’s sake.

Her eyes closed. She released a deep breath. Then she looked at Luz with a bit less hostility.

“Not bad. It wasn’t bad.”

A more sincere smile grew on Luz’s face. “Anything for the plan.”

Amity sighed.

Remember. Pretend.

“I’ll go back to my friends,” Luz said.

“Good idea.”

“See you in a bit, mi amor. I’ll accompany you to your next class.”

Amity nodded before Luz turned away.

“That, was spectacular,” Hunter said when Luz came back to their table.

Vee swooned. “So sweeeeeet!”

Willow chuckled. “That was your plan? A public proposal?”

“Yep! And it worked!”

Gus held his hand against his chest. “It was so romantic. You wrote that yourself?”

Luz rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah.”

Hunter looked amused. “You sure you didn’t use AI?”

Luz elbowed him. “Hey, I was inspired.”

“By Amity?” he teased.

She squinted. “My ball. Your head the hoop.”

He raised in hands in defense.

She chuckled. “I’m a great fake girlfriend.”

“Yes!!” Vee said.

“Thank you!”

Amity sat back down at her table.

Boscha was smirking at her. “That, was adorable. She clearly really likes you. You two are so cute. So cute!”

Amity couldn’t squint outwardly, because their boyfriends were there, but inside she was.

“Yes, she’s so cute.”

Then Boscha eyed Gavin. “So cute.”

He coughed. “So cute.”

“So cute!” Skara said. “Right, Barcus?”

“Yeah, Amity, that was cute. She really likes you. It’s so obvious.”

Amity flashed a smile. “I really like her too.”

“Yeah you do,” Boscha said.

Amity pinched her knee from under the table.

Boscha snickered.

“Anyway,” Amity started, “Skara, you were saying?”

The bell was about to ring so Luz made her way toward Amity’s table.

“Let’s go?”

Amity took Luz’s hand, and they started making their way toward the entrance of the school.

“Are you a cat or a dog person?”

Amity paused. “What?”

“Just getting to know you. So?”

“Cats. I actually have a cat.”

“Aww, you do? What’s her name?”

“Ghost.”

“Why ghost?”

“Because she’s completely white.”

“Adorable.” They entered the school. “Do you have a picture?”

Amity was taken aback by Luz being interested in that.

“I actually do. She’s my phone’s wallpaper.”

“Can I see?”

Amity lifted a brow. Was Luz really interested in that?

She reached for her phone in her pocket and got it out, then showed Luz the picture.

“Aaaww! She’s so cute!”

Amity squinted. But then she looked at the picture and released a small smile.

“She really is.”

She cleared her throat. “What about you? Cats or dogs?”

“Dogs! Man’s best friend. But after seeing your cat? I change my mind.” She winked.

Amity deadpanned.

They arrived in front of her classroom.

“See you before practices?”

“Yes. See you later,” Amity replied.

“Bye, mi amor.”

“Bye.”

Amity entered her classroom, and while getting out her things, thought about how Luz asked to see a picture of her cat. So weird. Why was Luz interested? Amity shook her head, and prepared for class to start.

Classes ended for the day and Luz headed toward Amity’s classroom.

“My love,” she said with a smile.

“Will you ever stop calling me those stupid nicknames?”

“Nope! Deal with it.”

“Clearly I have to.”

“Yep! Let’s go!”

“I have to grab some stuff from my locker. Come.”

“Yes, sir!”

Amity led them to her locker. When they arrived, Amity unlocked it and Luz peeked inside. It was so organized, and not decorated nearly enough for it to feel personal.

“We need a picture of us.”

“What?”

“We need a picture of us inside your locker, so that if people see it, they’ll see us being a happy couple. Genius.”

“We don’t need a picture of us inside my locker. We don’t even have a picture of us.”

“We’re clearly changing that right now.” Luz reached for her phone in her pocket and instantly set it to selfie mode, positioning herself in front of the phone with Amity beside her.

Amity was glaring.

“We are not taking a picture together.”

“But mi amor, we not only need it for your locker, but we also need it for social media. We now have to add pictures of us together. We would look even more believable if we’re social media public, and you know it. It would look suspicious if we’re not on each other’s pages.”

Amity truly hated to admit it, but Luz had a point. Going public on social media was a serious step, that all couples did to flaunt their ‘perfect’ relationships. It only made sense that the power couple started posting their relationship as well. Shit.

“Fine. We need pictures.”

“Yes! Now smile mi amor. Look happy.”

So Amity smiled in front of the camera as Luz went beside her and pointed her phone toward them.

“Damn, look happier.”

Amity squinted. Luz snapped a picture just to get a shot of Amity looking pissed.

“Now serious, look happy to be with me, Princess. Let’s make this believable.”

Amity had a real hard time smiling. But, she had to relax. A couple deep breaths. She tried smiling again.

“That’s better. Doesn’t look like you want to kill me anymore.”

“Thinking about it,” Amity said through the smile.

Luz snapped the picture. They looked at it together.

“Good,” Amity said before grabbing stuff in her locker. “Now let’s go.”

Luz looked at the picture again. “We look good together.”

Amity’s face fell flat. “Great. Now let’s go.”

They headed toward the locker room. While walking, Luz glanced around, and spotted Celine walking not too far from them. Luz looked ahead again. She had no idea what Celine was thinking when seeing them, because she knew Celine saw them together, and Luz didn’t really care to read her expression. But, curiosity got the better of her, so she glanced toward her again. Celine was looking straight ahead, unreadable expression. Hm.

Then she felt Amity’s hand squeezing hers. Luz’s brows furrowed. She looked at Amity.

And Amity had a blank face.

Luz glanced around some more and saw some football guys, staring at them.

Luz smiled smugly. And she could’ve sworn she saw a hint of a grin growing on Amity’s face.

Then Luz noticed one of the guys staring more intently at her. The captain. She couldn’t tell whether it was anger or sadness on his face. But he sure looked affected.

Luz squeezed Amity’s hand. Amity glanced at her. She flashed a smile. Luz recognized it was for the act. So, she smiled back. She knew Amity wanted to get guys off her back, so she was hoping that this fake relationship helped with that. So, she smiled. But it was a bit more genuine.

They separated when they arrived at the locker room, still having no envy whatsoever to get changed next to each other. And they met up after practices ended, to go to the parking lot together.

“You think the plan is working? Getting guys off your back?”

“With how Angmar was staring at me earlier? I think he’s getting the hint.”

“Awesome!”

“Yes. I don’t know what girls see in him.”

“That’s because you’re gay.”

“What?”

“I mean, he’s objectively attractive. Blond, blue eyes. Jawline chiseled by the gods. Quarterback. Captain of the football team. Girls are all over him.”

Amity snickered. “Yeah, well, clearly not me. And he clearly knows that. And yet, he never lets up. Hopefully now he will.”

“Now that you have a girlfriend, yeah.”

“Yeah. Now that I have a fake girlfriend.”

Luz winked at her.

They walked for a bit until they arrived at Amity’s car.

“You want me to get in or are we done for today?”

“Homecoming is in a week, should we talk about that now?”

“Sure!”

Amity unlocked the car and Luz got comfortable in the passenger seat.

“Did I really go overboard with the proposal?” Luz asked, but her self-satisfied smile revealed she didn’t care about the response.

“Um, absolutely?”

Luz stayed amused. “The crowd loves us. They love a show. I think it was brilliant.”

“‘You set my heart alight.’ Really?”

“I’m a romantic, what can I say?”

“Luz Noceda? A romantic?”

“Does it surprise you?”

“With your ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude? Yes.”

“For you I give a fuck. For you I give three fucks. For you I give a thousand fucks, mi amor. A thousand fucks filled with—”

“You can stop now.”

“Passion. A million fucks overflowing with desire and—”

“I get it.”

“—craving! A billion fucks—”

“Oh my god.”

“Brimming? With yearning—”

“Can you not?”

“—and passion!”

“Luz Noceda.”

“One fuck blooming with love.”

Amity stared at Luz.

“Are you done?”

“Another fuck blossoming—”

Amity wanted to bang her head against the steering wheel. But, instead, she couldn’t help it when the faintest chuckle escaped her mouth. Luz Noceda was an idiot.

Luz’s eyes popped open.

“Did you just chuckle?”

“No,” Amity said, but Luz’s wide eyes and mouth dramatically hanging open caused Amity to unwillingly chuckle some more.

“Amity Blight, are you laughing right now?”

Amity rolled her eyes but she had a slight grin when she said, “You’re an idiot, Luz Noceda.”

Luz started grinning, brightly.

“An idiot who makes you laugh! Let’s go!! The Amity Blight knows how to laugh!!”

“Fuck off.”

“I like you too!!”

Amity shook her head, but the small grin kept on her face.

“Anyway! Homecoming.”

Luz looked so satisfied. She continued grinning, but, it softened a bit, when seeing that Amity seemed more relaxed. 

“Yes, Homecoming.”

“We should match.”

“Definitely. I don’t have any pink tops but I can try to find one.”

“You want to go pink?”

“It’s your favorite color, no?”

Amity blinked. Luz remembered?

“We don’t have to go pink. We could go dark green, it’s the school’s colors, it would be appropriate.” She added, “And it’s your favorite color.”

Luz smiled a bit. Amity remembered?

“Or we could go flashy. Red.”

“Red would be different. I have a red dress.”

“I have a red shirt.”

“So, red?”

“Red it is,” Luz said. “We’re gonna look good. I think we look good together.”

Amity paused, before nodding slowly.

“Yeah… We do.”

Luz cracked a smile. It was an amused one, but laced with… sincerity?

Amity, slowly, cracked a small one back.

She cleared her throat. “That’s it for today.” Then Amity remembered the dinner on Friday, which was after tomorrow. “I’ll coach you for the dinner tomorrow. Alright?”

“Yes, my love, can’t wait,” Luz said before exiting the car. “See you tomorrow morning.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Amity released a breath as she turned on the engine. She watched Luz walk toward her motorbike. Luz Noceda, her fake girlfriend. Amity had to admit, Luz was doing a good job. That stunt today? Stupid ‘romantic’ public proposal? Completely unnecessary, but she did appreciate the effort. Luz was truly playing the part. Amity appreciated that. Slowly, she was feeling herself lean into the process. 

Chapter Text

“My love,” Luz said when she arrived by Amity’s side in the morning, by her car. At seeing Amity’s deadpan stare, she added, “Still don’t like me calling you my love, my love?”

“What do you think?”

“I think you secretly like it.”

“Oh, trust me, I don’t.”

“You will.”

“When?”

“When I’ll mean it.”

Amity raised a brow. “You think you’ll ever mean it?”

“Depends.” Luz was stifling a laugh. “On who falls first.”

“This again?? Luz Noceda. Listen to me.” Amity grabbed Luz’s hand so they could get to class and get this over with. “I will never fall in love with you.”

They started walking.

“What if I fall in love with you?”

Amity glanced at Luz, who was so evidently trying not to laugh.

But she couldn’t hold it in.

“I can’t even joke about that. I’m funny. I’m actually so funny.”

Amity slowly exhaled through her nose. Every time she thought it easier to lean into the process, Luz would say some shit that made her want to rip her hair out.

She squinted. “Because it’s so funny the thought of falling in love with me?”

“No, actually. You’re smart and beautiful.”

Amity stopped dead in her tracks.

“What the fuck did you just say?”

Luz squeezed her hand. “That you’re a bitch.”

Amity blinked. Luz Noceda did not just call her smart, beautiful, and a bitch.

She felt… something rise in her chest. Something she didn’t like.

She looked at Luz. Then, she continued walking, hand still interlaced with Luz’s. She kept her gaze ahead, refusing to turn her head.

Luz was smirking. Success!

They arrived in front of their classroom. Amity marched straight in.

Luz stifled a laugh as she made her way toward the back row.

“What’s so funny?” Willow asked her.

Luz spoke low so the people around couldn’t hear. “Nothing, I just love being a fake girlfriend.”

Willow chuckled, speaking low as well. “What did you do?”

“I riled her up with a compliment.”

“Did you mean it?”

Luz paused for a second. Did she?

“Maybe.”

Willow sighed. Then she chuckled again.

“Just, be careful, okay?”

“Of what?”

“Feelings could get involved.”

Luz scoffed. “Please. Feelings? For Amity Blight? Yeah, right. I’m just trying to be an excellent girlfriend is all.”

Willow eyed her. She held a small grin.

“Sure, Luz. Okay.”

Luz started getting her things out of her bag to place them on the desk. She glanced toward the front row. Feelings her fucking ass. She shook her head. Then she thought back at Amity’s reaction when Luz complimented her. Then when she insulted her. Luz couldn’t help but chuckle at herself. Feelings her fucking ass. She was just having fun. A lot of fun.

After class ended, she waited for Amity by the door.

“Mi amor,” Luz exclaimed, rather loudly. To really make sure others could hear her.

Amity approached and elbowed her in the ribs. She whispered, “Quiet down.”

Luz smirked. She whispered back, “Ooooh more physical touch. We’re getting closer by the day. I like it.”

Amity shook her head. For fuck’s sake.

She came closer to Luz’s ear. “Fuck right off.”

Luz whispered in her ear, “I like you too.”

Amity’s grunt was audible.

Luz stepped back and shot her a bright smile. “I’ll see you at lunch, my love?”

“Cannot. Wait.”

Luz blew her a kiss.

Amity’s jaw loosened. She clenched her fists. Her middle finger really wanted to make an appearance, but, not in public. She’d save it for later. She turned on her heel and walked toward her next class.

At lunch, it was just Boscha, Skara, and Amity at the table, the football boyfriends being with their teammates this time.

Boscha glanced to the side and from a couple tables down noticed Luz, laughing at something with her friends.

“How’s the lovely couple doing?” She smirked.

“We’re doing great!” Skara replied.

Boscha chuckled. “Not you, her!”

Amity narrowed her eyes. “Just fine.”

“Just fine? Come on, Ams. How’s it going?”

Amity released a breath. “It’s going well. She can be… annoying sometimes, but, it’s going well.”

“Annoying?” Skara repeated. “Why?”

“Because she calls me all these stupid nicknames and she squeezes my hand and she winks and blows me kisses and keeps insinuating that”—she rolled her eyes—“I’ll fall in love with her.”

Boscha stifled a laugh. “She sounds fun.”

“She thinks you’ll fall in love with her?”

Amity released a grunt. “Yes. It’s like she’s convinced.”

“And are you?”

“Skara.”

Boscha released her laugh. “Yeah, are you?”

“No! I could never.”

“Hey, she’s cool,” Boscha said. “Power couple.”

“I am not about to fall in love with Luz Noceda.”

Boscha and Skara glanced at each other. They shrugged.

“It is farfetched,” Skara said. “It’s not like you’re getting to know each other.”

Amity nodded slowly. “Right.”

“But like, do you like her company at least?”

Amity thought about it for a second.

“I mean, it’s okay. She’s really not the worst. It’s just she gets on my nerves sometimes. But, she’s a good fake girlfriend. She shows up, and sure she can be extra, like with yesterday’s stupid proposal, but she’s imaginative at least. Thinking about things that work. It helps sell our image.”

Boscha glanced behind Amity.

“So you like her?”

“Please. She’s too cocky for her own good and never knows when to shut up.”

Boscha started smirking.

“You don’t see any good in her?”

Amity sighed. She truly did know that Luz wasn’t all that bad. “She can be funny at times. And she seems kind. She’s missing her pizza night with her friends to accompany me to dinner on Friday.”

“That’s really sweet!” Skara said. She held a small smirk as well. “She’s really showing up.”

“She’s cool too, no?” Boscha asked. “Admit it.”

Amity pursed her lips. “She could be considered ‘cool’.”

“Aaaawww my love considers me cool?” Luz grinned as she slid next to Amity to sit beside her.

Amity’s eyes widened. “That is not what I meant.”

She shot her friends glares. Traitors.

Luz’s smile was fiendish. “Good to know you think I’m funny. I know I’m funny. Oop! There’s the cocky! Should I shut up now to be as kind as you say I am?”

Amity’s mouth hung open. Her hands balled up into tight fists that she wanted to use to strike Luz in the chest.

“Fuck. Right. Off. Luz Noceda.”

“I like you too, Amity Blight. Add that to the list of qualities. You can also add ‘amazing girlfriend’ while you’re at it.”

“The only thing amazing,” Amity growled, “is my patience. You’re impossible.”

“I try, I try. But I’ll add patience to your list of qualities. First entry.”

“Add ‘rational’ because i’m rational enough to not punch you in front of people. Despite me truly wanting to.”

“I just added violent to the list. What next? Affectionate? Your hand is so soft, I love holding it. Can you hold it now, my love?”

Luz placed her hand on the table, palm up.

Amity shot daggers at it with her eyes.

Boscha and Skara watched, eyebrows arched. 

Amity exhaled through her nose. Deep breath.

Luz wiggled her fingers. “My love?”

“Get that hand away right now.”

Luz’s smirk was so criminal.

“It’s fine, mi amor. We’ll hold hands later. Right? Girlfriend dear?”

Amity had never felt so violent.

Remember. Pretend.

Luz was doing her the favor.

The grandest sigh of defeat escaped her mouth. Her fists unclenched. Deep breath.

“We’ll hold hands later.”

The grandest sigh of satisfaction left Luz’s mouth. She looked so cheeky.

Amity closed her eyes.

“I’ll get back to my friends, mi amor.”

“Bye.”

Luz left, and Skara and Boscha stared at Amity, eyes wide.

“What the hell was that?” Boscha asked, stifling a massive grin.

“Nothing.”

Boscha and Skara glanced at each other, then they looked back at Amity.

Boscha couldn’t help her grin. “That was… something.”

“It was nothing. It was Luz Noceda, being Luz. Noceda.”

“Is she always like that?” Skara asked, amusement hiding on her face.

“Like what? Irritating? Exasperating? Sometimes. Mostly.”

“I’d have said hilarious,” Boscha said.

“Boscha.”

“I thought her nicknames for you were cute! ‘My love?’ ‘Mi amor?’ Cute!”

“Skara! They’re not cute, they’re infuriating.”

Skara and Boscha still held badly-hidden grins.

“Power couple,” Boscha said, with a sneaky chuckle. “You said so yourself, good fake girlfriend.”

Amity couldn’t deny that. It calmed a bit of her lingering annoyance.

“Right.” She smoothed out her hair. “Right.”

Remember. Pretend.

“Right.”

Amity instantly changed topics and avoided any and all mentions of her fake girlfriend until Luz came back a bit later to accompany her to her next class.

When she arrived by the table, she opened her mouth and Amity immediately cut her off.

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“You know what I mean.”

“You mean, don’t say myyyyy looooo—”

Amity’s hand covered Luz’s mouth.

Luz poked her tongue out.

Amity instantly recoiled and whipped her hand away.

“Did you just lick me??”

Luz laughed.

“Salty.”

“You are vile,” Amity exclaimed, wiping off her hand on her pants. “Vile.”

“I’m holding your other hand.”

Amity glanced at her menacingly, before glancing up and shaking her head. 

“So help me,” she muttered to the sky.

Luz giggled. “Your hand!”

Amity looked back at Luz. Defeated.

She grabbed Luz’s hand with the one she licked.

“Deal with it.”

That only made Luz smile.

“Anything for you, my love.”

Boscha and Skara, who had been watching the scene, glanced at each other again, clearly amused. And Amity looked so fed up.

“We’re going,” she said to her friends, and they could’ve sworn she had a ‘save me’ look on her face.

Luz and Amity made their way toward Amity’s classroom.

“How’s Ghost?”

Confusion instantly surfaced on Amity’s face. “What?”

“How’s your cat? She alright?”

Why was Luz interested in her cat?

“She’s fine.”

“Nice, nice. Do you often spend time with her or is she a more distant cat? Like the ones that are only there for food?”

Why in the world was Luz interested in that?

“… She comes into my room sometimes, and climbs onto my lap while I’m studying.” Amity felt herself relax a little, at remembering last night when it happened again. It was cute.

“That’s cute! It must be nice to have a buddy like that.”

“Yeah, it is. She’s adorable.” Amity felt herself relax even more when thinking about her cat.

Then, she immediately stiffened up.

“We’re here.”

“Okay, I’ll see you before practices.”

“Yes.”

“Bye, my love.”

“Bye.”

Amity entered her classroom, caught off guard by Luz asking her such questions. What was she up to? Why was she… interested? Amity shook that thought away as she starting unpacking her things.

“My sweet girlfriend dear,” Luz said upon seeing Amity in front of her class.

Amity looked at her, quizzically.

“I’m switching it up, you don’t like it?”

“No.”

“Okay, cutie. Is ‘cutie’ better? You’re cute.”

Amity blinked. Did Luz just call her cute?

“We’re going.”

“Yes, sir!”

Walking toward the locker rooms where all the athletes were headed was prime time for public couple vibes, so Amity was ready to smile.

And indeed, there were some football guys. Luz turned her head slightly and noticed Angmar. But the way his eyes lingered on Amity really irked her, and by reflex she held Amity’s hand tighter.

Amity felt it and glanced at Luz, whose brows were furrowed. Then Luz shook her head and looked ahead as they continued their path toward the locker room.

Amity followed her line of sight when she had been looking slightly behind and noticed Angmar, already looking at her. Eyeing her. 

What the hell was he looking at? Amity hand squeezed Luz’s out of reflex when they turned the corner to arrive in front of the girl’s locker room.

Amity was squinting as she said bye to Luz.

“Are you okay?” Luz asked.

That made Amity pause. Luz was asking whether she was okay?

“Yes.”

“You sure?” Luz couldn’t possibly care.

“Yes.”

“… Alright. See you later.”

“Bye.”

Amity was again caught off guard. Why was Luz asking all these questions?

She shook it off as she made her way toward her friends.

She had to shake off a lot of things, when it came to Luz. Luz was many things. Many things. She kept getting on Amity’s nerves. Every time Amity felt herself lean into the process, Luz would do something, say something, that made Amity regret all her life choices. But every time, she remembered. Remembered that Luz was really doing her a solid. So Amity was stuck in this limbo state where she was both disgruntled and grateful. Often more disgruntled. But, she was grateful. Perhaps she should show it more. But she feared it would egg Luz on. Stupid Luz Noceda.

Remember. Pretend.

When practices ended, Amity waited for her at the entrance of the locker room.

“My love,” Luz said upon arriving by her side.

Remember. Pretend.

Amity extended her hand.

Luz took it, with a smile.

They started walking in silence toward Amity’s car.

“So, you’re gonna prep me for tomorrow?” Luz asked when Amity unlocked the doors.

“Yes, for the dinner with my parents. We have to prepare.”

“Great. I need the debrief on the Blights.”

They got settled in.

“So, the main problem is my mom. My dad will be there but he’ll probably be writing in his notebook or using his laptop. He’s always working.”

“Okay, Papa Blight is an absent father, got it.”

Amity could’ve narrowed her eyes, but Luz was right. He was an absent father.

“So it’ll mainly be my mom at the table.”

“Mama Blight is the boss in the battle, got it.”

“She’s convinced I don’t like girls, and is convinced I’m not dating one. So I have to prove that I’m dating a girl. And maybe then she’ll back off and stop trying to set me up with guys.”

“But how do you know she’ll back off?”

“Multiple reasons. Essentially, my mom’s obsessed with image and reputation. That is what matters most to her. That’s why she sets me up with guys, who boast excellent reputations, to lift up mine. She wants me to be accompanied by the best guys to events.” She pursed her lips. “About that.”

Luz eyed her curiously.

“Would you come to some events with me? As my partner?”

Luz rubbed her chin. “Fancy events?”

“Yes. Some fancier than others. I’d need a partner who adds to my image, thus adding to the family image.”

“And I add to your fancy image?”

“By virtue of being an all-but-famous young basketball player, yes.”

Luz’s hand floated to her chest as she grinned. “I’m ‘all-but-famous’?”

Amity rolled her eyes. “You do interviews after big matches. Articles in papers are written about you. You’re expected to play in the Division 1 team of an elite college thanks to a scholarship because you’ve been scouted since last year. You’ve made a name for yourself, Luz Noceda. You and the team. Even my mom has heard about it.”

Luz’s brows arched up. “You’ve been following all that?”

Amity glanced to the side. “You’re one of the most popular and admired people in school. Who hasn’t heard?”

Luz grinned widely. “Well, good to know you admire me.”

Amity squinted. “Who says I admire you?”

“You kinda just did.”

“I did not.”

“So you don’t?”

Amity huffed.

“I respect your path.”

Luz’s grin widened. “Amity Blight respects my path.”

Amity squinted again. “Focus.”

“Yes, yes,” she said, “your ‘all-but-famous’ girlfriend will focus.”

Amity sighed. She did respect Luz’s reputation. Not that she admired it, per se, but she couldn’t deny that Luz was admirable. But she could be so damn annoying.

“Anyway, my mom would back off if she knew I was dating you.”

“Perfect. That’s what we want. Happy to know my awesome reputation will help.”

“Yes. Your ‘awesome’ reputation sells it.”

“Great!”

Then Luz asked, curiously, “But why do you even need a date? What would happen if you just refuse to go on those dates she sets up? Like, what would happen if you just don’t listen to her?”

“She’d ground me, lock me in my room, and take away my phone, for one. But, more importantly,” Amity said, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel, “She threatens to cut me off. If I can’t act like a ‘Blight’, then I won’t be a ‘Blight’. It’s not that I really care about being a ‘Blight’, but, I could really use the money for college and, it just makes life easier. I obviously could make it in life without my parents’ financial help, evidently. I will succeed, no matter what. Obviously. But, it’s a shortcut, a substantial one. And all I have to do is pretend. Pretend to be perfect. I can handle that. Just a couple more months until I go to college. Then she won’t have her claws on me that much. Just a couple more months. I can do it.”

“So you’re doing all this mainly for financial reasons? How much are we talking?”

Amity released a breath.

“Millions.”

Luz gawked. “Yeah, nope, be perfect, Amity Blight. Continue being perfect.”

Amity sighed. “I need to. But, at the same time, I don’t want to betray who I am. Which is why I’m so open about my sexuality. I don’t want to hide that.”

“People really respect that at school. You talk about my reputation, but yours? Excellent. You’re all-but-perfect. People admire you.”

Amity eyed Luz. Luz didn’t look like she was making fun of her. Luz held a small smile.

Amity blinked.

“So you’re not scared of telling your parents that you’re gay?” Luz asked.

“I was scared, before, but luckily, neither of them are that homophobic. My mom just ‘wants what’s best for me,’ and my dad… I won’t go as far as to call him an ally thanks to his gay friends, but he really doesn’t mind. He just doesn’t care.”

“I mean, in our world, wouldn’t it even be good publicity if the Blight daughter is with a girl? Shows ‘open-mindedness’ and all?”

“I think that’s also why my mother isn’t vehemently against me getting with a girl. She cares so much about image, that it wouldn’t shock me that her being seen as ‘progressive’ would be a reason why she’d be okay with me dating a girl.”

“She sounds slimy.”

“She really is.”

“So, you wanted to coach me?”

“Yes. She’s going to be asking questions about you, and you need to have the correct replies.”

“Because there are wrong replies to questions about me?”

“Absolutely.”

“Okay…? Give me an example.”

“What’s your GPA?”

“2.7.”

“So mostly Bs. That’s actually higher than I expected.”

“Hey! I need to keep my grades up to get scholarships. I try. It’s hard okay? I have trouble concentrating.”

“That’s keeping your grades up?”

“Um, yeah?”

“Hm. Still, higher than I expected. But not good enough.”

“Hello?”

“Not good enough for my mom.”

Luz paused. “Yeah, checks out. So what should I say?”

“3.5 minimum.”

“Yikes.”

“Just go with it, okay?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Good.” Amity clapped her hands together. “What are your hobbies?”

“Running from the cops.”

Amity looked at her bewildered. 

“What?”

“Just kidding! Though there was that one time, I was doing graffiti and we heard the sirens—”

“Enough. You’re absolutely not saying that.”

“Relax, Princess, I know.”

Amity grunted. Princess? Back to that?

She pressed on, “What are your real hobbies?”

“Scrolling on my phone, going out with my friends, trespassing, theft, reading—”

“Reading. That’s good,” Amity said, choosing to ignore the bullshit, that she wasn’t certain was bullshit actually. “What do you read?”

Luz, with pride, said, “Fanfiction.”

“Fanfiction? Really?”

“Yes! There’s some great stuff out there, don’t knock it.”

Amity inhaled a breath.

“Hey, we’re living through one now,” Luz stated.

“Excuse me?”

“Um, yeah? Fake dating? One of the juiciest tropes?” Luz rubbed her hands together. “Fanfic core.”

Amity’s eye twitched. “You are not saying that at dinner.”

“Of course not, Princess.”

Amity grunted again.

“You read non-fiction books about history and politics.”

Luz cringed. “Seriously? Can I be interesting at least? Psychology?”

“Fine. You read psychology.”

“You should really try fanfic though.”

“I will not.”

“You should.” A cheeky smile grew on Luz’s face. “You might like enemies to lovers.”

Amity grit her teeth. “Don’t even think about going there.”

“Just saying, sometimes hating someone can lead to love, my love.”

Amity flexed her fingers to avoid clenching them.

Luz’s smile turned innocent. “Are we in the falling in love stage yet?”

Amity flexed her fingers to avoid strangling Luz.

“In your dreams.”

“Am I in yours yet?”

“You’re a nightmare.”

“Still counts.”

“You think I think of you when we’re not together?”

“Obviously.”

“If so, it really wouldn’t be in the good way.”

“I’ll take it, mi amor! Think of me all you want. I’m thinking of you too.”

“Don’t.”

“But it’s in the good way. Really. I think about your pretty eyes.”

Amity paused. Luz was smiling.

Did Luz just say she had pretty eyes?

She blinked. Then she immediately squinted. Stupid Luz Noceda.

“What are your main goals in life?” Amity asked.

Luz thought about it for a moment.

“I guess, having fun. I want to have fun. I want life to feel fun.” Her smile softened. Then, her brows furrowed the tiniest bit. Her lips curled down so subtly. “It’s too short”—she fidgeted with her hands—“to not be having fun.”

Then she cleared her throat.

“And I want to play basketball professionally.” The corners of her lips quirked up. “Yeah. Be a professional player, playing in the big teams, the WMBA.” Her smile widened. “That’s my dream. And I know I can achieve it.”

Amity watched Luz light up as she got lost in her thoughts, her thoughts about her dream. Luz looked so happy, and determined, thinking about her dream.

Amity couldn’t help how the smallest smile appeared on her face. Luz looked so happy. It was infectious.

Then Amity turned serious again, taken aback by how she had felt compelled to smile. But then she looked at Luz again, who was beaming.

“Yeah, that’s my dream,” Luz said as she snapped out of her thoughts.

“That’s… a great goal in life,” Amity admitted. And she knew Luz could achieve it. Luz was incredible at the game. Amity had witnessed her playing, as the cheer squad would dance at half times during their matches. She wasn’t really interested in sports, but she did watch the matches, albeit passively. So not only had she been hearing practically everyone laud Luz on her playing at school, but she’d also seen it. And Luz was amazing.

“You’re really good. You’ll make it.”

Luz looked at her, surprised.

“Was that a compliment?”

Amity fidgeted with her hands. “Yes. You’re great at the game.”

Luz’s smile was genuine. “Amity Blight thinks I’m great. Wow. I’m touched.” 

Amity glanced out the window.

Luz then said, “I think you’re a great dancer.”

Amity looked back at her. She stayed silent for a moment.

“Thank you.”

Luz grinned. “It’s true. No wonder you’re head cheerleader. You got them moves, my love.” She wiggled her eyebrows, and shot her finger guns. “Moves.”

A small, silent chuckle slipped out of Amity’s mouth. Luz Noceda was an idiot. But she immediately faked a cough to cover up the stupid slip.

Luz clocked the chuckle. Her grin turned into a wide smile.

“Anyway. Excellent response,” Amity quickly said. “What do your parents do?”

Luz’s smile fell, subtly. She glanced down before looking back at Amity.

“They’re vets.”

“Veterinarians? Both of them?”

Luz’s jaw stiffened. “Yes. They work at the clinic.”

“Okay. Now my mom might judge. I don’t, of course. It’s a noble profession. But she might.”

“What? You want me to lie?”

Amity thought for a second. “Well—”

“I’m not lying about that.”

Luz looked serious. Amity looked at her curiously.

“Okay. You won’t, then. She’ll have to accept it.”

“Good.” Luz’s shoulders relaxed a bit. She looked down, closed her eyes, before looking at Amity again. “… Thanks.”

Amity was still looking at her curiously. “It’s fine,” she said. “So, I think we’ve covered the basics.”

“Cool, cool. Basically, appear more put-together than I actually am. I can do that.”

“Is it… okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. I’m already pretending to be your girlfriend, I can pretend some more. Beside, she needs to back off so we’ll do everything we can to make her back the fuck off. Go team!”

Amity released a small smile. A genuine one. 

“Thank you, Luz Noceda.”

At seeing that smile, Luz couldn’t stop her grin. “Is that a real smile? Amity Blight is giving me a genuine smile right now?”

Amity rolled her eyes. But a chuckle escaped her mouth. Stupid Luz Noceda.

“Oh go off,” she said. “We’re done for the day. See you tomorrow?”

“Yep! See you tomorrow,” Luz said as she got out the car. She waved through the window before heading off toward her motorbike.

Amity sighed. That was successful. Everything was successful. The whole fake dating ruse was a success. Tomorrow Luz would meet her parents, and hopefully, that would be a success too. Luz was truly proving to be a great fake girlfriend. Amity couldn’t deny it, how good Luz was being. She could be so exasperating, so so exasperating, like earlier, in the morning, at lunch. Fucking exasperating. She made Amity want to be violent. Violent. But, Luz was good. Amity sighed as she gripped her steering wheel on her way home.

Chapter Text

“My love,” Luz said upon approaching Amity in the morning by her car.

“Luz Noceda,” Amity responded. The only thing she’d respond after one of those stupid nicknames.

“I hereby request your hand to march into school like the power couple we are.”

“I hereby grant your wish,” Amity said, playing along for once, extending her hand.

Luz seemed surprisingly satisfied at that. “So you do know how to joke around.”

Amity’s extended hand balled into a fist. Oh, regrets.

Luz offered up a wink before extending her own hand.

Amity took it, and they started walking toward the school together.

“Are you ready for the dinner?”

“Never been readier.”

“I’m serious.”

“Me too! I’m so ready. Ready to woo your parents into loving me.”

“We just have to be believable, no wooing, no over-the-top attempts at impressing them.”

“Over-the-top? Please. My awesome presence is enough to make them love me.”

Then, she smirked a demonic smirk.

“Not the only ones who’ll love me.”

Amity gawked. Her hand that was holding Luz’s loosened.

“Seriously?? Again??”

Luz’s laugh wasn’t contagious.

“I’m kidding, my love.”

Amity’s grunt wasn’t quiet.

“But so yes, I’m ready,” Luz said. “Really. Don’t worry, okay? I’ll be on my best behavior. We really have to make them believe we’re together. I take that so seriously. So don’t worry.”

Amity’s shoulders relaxed a bit. Luz looked confident. Amity sighed. “Okay.”

They arrived in front of their classroom and made their way toward their desks, then after class ended, Luz went up to Amity to say bye for now, until lunch.

At lunch, Luz came up to Amity’s table as usual for a moment. It was sort of unnecessary at that point to do that, but Luz still did it. So she arrived and poked Amity on the shoulder to signal her presence. She said ‘hi’ to Boscha and Skara.

After standing up, Amity talked low enough so that the others couldn’t hear. “I don’t think you need to come during lunch anymore.”

“I know, but I just like seeing you.”

Amity paused.

“Don’t you see me enough?”

“Maybe, but I like your face.”

Amity blinked. What was Luz on?

“Anyway,” Luz said, “I’ve seen your pretty face now, so I can go.”

Amity’s brows arched up. Did Luz just call her face pretty?

She muttered, “Yes, go.”

Luz offered up a smile. She said, “See you in a bit, my love,” before leaving.

Amity sat back down, brows still lifted.

“What did you say to each other??” Boscha asked, clearly curious at seeing Amity’s expression.

“Nothing. She just complimented me. She keeps complimenting me.”

“That’s so cute!” Skara said.

“It’s not.”

“Oh, why not?”

“Because she doesn’t mean it. She’s trying to get on my good side.”

“How do you know?”

“Just— I know, okay? I know.”

“How can you be so sure? Does she look sincere when saying them?”

Amity thought about it.

“She does, actually.”

“Then she means it.”

Amity paused for a moment. Did Luz really mean those compliments? Amity was confident that they were, in fact, true. Amity was attractive, and she definitely knew that. She took advantage of it, pretty privilege and all. But coming from Luz… doubts lingered. But maybe Luz was sincere, and spoke what she thought. Maybe.

And the compliments always caught Amity off guard.

She cleared her throat.

“Luz Noceda is trying to make me fall in love with her.”

Boscha snickered. “And is it working?”

“Boscha.”

“Just asking. Are you falling for her charms? She is charming.”

Amity glared at her. “No, it’s not working. I’m not falling for anything.”

Boscha looked highly amused. Skara as well, but she was hiding it.

Amity clocked their grins.

She whisper-shouted, “I’m not falling for Luz Noceda!”

Boscha stifled a laugh. “Okay, okay, we believe you.”

“You better.”

Amity then quickly changed topics.

Before the bell rang, Luz came up to their table again.

Amity prepared herself for another stupid nickname, but Luz didn’t say anything. She only reached for Amity’s hand.

Amity had a curious look when taking Luz’s hand.

Then Luz squeezed it.

“My love.”

There it was. Amity could’ve sighed, but instead she stayed silent as they walked back into school. But when she glanced at Luz, Luz was already looking at her, holding a smile.

“What?”

“What?”

“Why are you smiling?”

Luz chuckled. “I like seeing your pretty face.”

There it was again! Amity was yet again taken aback. But Luz looked sincere. Her smile genuine.

It caught Amity off guard.

“Shut up,” she said.

“Can I not compliment my girlfriend?”

“Not when you don’t mean it.”

Luz stopped them in their tracks. Amity looked at her, confused.

“I mean it.”

And Luz looked sincere.

Amity couldn’t help but actually believe that. It was in the way Luz’s eyes softened.

“I always mean it.”

Amity glanced away. But her attention was brought back to Luz when Luz squeezed her hand. 

Amity’s eyes softened as well, for just a second. Then she immediately deadpanned.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay, my love. Let’s get you to your class.”

They continued walking until arriving at their destination.

“See you before practice, yeah?”

“Yes. See you later.”

Luz blew her a kiss before leaving.

Amity walked into the classroom, thoughts indecipherable.

Luz arrived by Amity’s side after classes ended, already with a smile.

“Do you like ‘my love’ or ‘mi amor’ better?”

“None.”

“Both! Got it. Let’s go, girlfriend dear.”

Amity was getting used to it, so all she did was extend her hand for Luz to hold.

“I have to go to my locker.”

“Let’s go then.”

Once they arrived at Amity’s locker, Luz started searching for something in her bag. She held a grin as she got them out — tape, and a picture. Their picture.

She stuck it inside the locker. 

Amity stared at her. “Really? You printed the picture?”

“Yep! Now you’ll see me every day.”

“I already see you every day.”

“Now you’ll see me between classes.”

Amity sighed. “Just what I needed.”

Luz looked so smug.

“Hey, I printed one for my locker too. So now we’re both whipped.”

“I’m not whipped.”

“You have to look like it. Let’s take another picture!”

“No.”

“Yes!” Luz got her phone out, set it to selfie mode, and went close beside Amity. “Smile!”

Amity sighed again but ended up smiling.

“We really do look good together.”

Amity eyed the picture. Luz was right. There was something about both of them that made them look particularly good together. Perhaps it was the fact that both looked good separately. Amity had to admit, Luz looked good. She shook her head, shaking that thought away immediately.

“Let’s go.”

They made their way toward the locker rooms.

Other athletes were walking toward the locker rooms as well, but Amity wasn’t glancing around. Luz either.

“What’s your favorite superpower?”

Confusion on Amity’s face.

“Just trying to get to know you some more.”

“By asking what my favorite superpower is?”

“Yes. Very important question. Reveals a lot about you.”

“Sure it does. I don’t have a favorite superpower.”

“Really? I’d have assumed mind reading or something.”

“I don’t care to know what others think.”

“That actually checks out. Okay.”

“But on the other hand, it could be used to manipulate.”

“Damn, woman. Are you manipulating me?”

“I don’t care to manipulate you. Besides, I’ve always been honest with you. You know my motives and intentions. I’m not lying to you.”

“That’s fair. You are quite straightforward with me.”

“What’s yours?”

“Flying! I’d love to be able to fly.”

“Makes sense.”

They arrived at the locker room.

“See you later?”

“Yes.”

And they saw each other later, after practices ended. They made their way toward Amity’s car.

“So, you’ll come for dinner. Eight. Don’t be late.”

“I won’t!”

“See you later.”

“Goodbye for now, my love.”

“Bye.”

And Amity got into her car, and thought for a moment.

Luz was meeting her parents. Hopefully it would go well. She had to trust Luz. And Luz had been proving to be a great fake girlfriend. Now she’d have to step up even more in front of Amity’s parents. Hopefully Luz realized how important this was, how much was at stake. Amity released a deep breath. She’d see soon.

Luz rode all the way to Blight Mansion on her motorbike and parked down the street after Amity’s request, to hide the fact that she rode a motorbike.

Amity waited for her at the gate and once together said, “Okay, remember. Act like a well-adjusted member of society.”

“I am a well-adjusted member of society. Mostly.”

“I’m serious. No mischief in your eyes or whatever it is you emanate.”

“I emanate mischief?”

“You emanate a lot of things.”

“Like coolness?”

“Like chaos. No mention of shenanigans, no snarky quips, no ‘Princess’—”

“No fun, got it.”

“Just, act civilized.”

“I am civilized. Mostly.”

Amity deadpanned. “Just, act normal. Don’t say anything stupid.”

“Fine, my love. I’ll make you proud.” Luz then released a more genuine smile. “Don’t worry. They’ll believe us, trust me. I’ll make you proud.”

Amity sighed. Luz looked confident. Good. This needed to work.

“Okay. My mom’s surely heard from her sources that we’ve been seen together as a couple. That already makes us more believable. Let’s go. Dinner’s ready.”

Amity opened the door to the house and Luz looked around as she walked in.

She whistled. “Damn. This is a sick place.” Then she grinned. “Imagine the parties you could throw. I’d try hanging off the chandelier after a couple of shots.”

Amity rubbed her temples. “Just don’t say that in front of my parents.”

“Relax, my love. I told you to trust me. I’ll be on my best behavior. Look, my posture’s perfect!”

“Do you want a trophy?”

“From you? It would be my most prized possession! Fuck Championships.”

“No swearing in front of my parents.”

“I won’t, promise.”

“Good.” Amity paused before turning the corner that led toward the dining room.

Luz noticed her taking a couple of breaths.

She slid her hand into Amity’s, and squeezed it.

Amity looked at her, and at first she squinted. Then, upon seeing Luz’s confident smile, Amity relaxed a bit.

“Ready?” Luz asked.

“Ready.”

So they turned the corner and entered the dining room.

“Good evening, Misses Blight, Mister Blight. I’m Luz Noceda,” she said as they stepped into the room.

Odalia eyed them. Alador glanced up from his laptop.

“Good evening, Luz Noceda,” Odalia said. Squinting.

“Hello, Luz,” Alador said before shifting his attention back to his laptop.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Luz said, with a smile.

Odalia said, “Likewise.”

Luz and Amity sat down side by side in front of the parents, Luz directly in front of Odalia.

The home chef brought out the food.

“How are you?” Luz asked out of politeness.

“Fine,” Alador said.

Odalia said, “Well, thank you. And yourself?”

“Great! I’m happy to be here. It’s great to finally meet my girlfriend’s parents. I’m honored.”

Odalia eyed her. Amity knew her mother was scanning Luz’s appearance. That was when Amity realized that Luz had removed her god forsaken beanie. Good. Amity thought it made her look unkempt. So, it was good thinking for her to remove it. Well played.

“So, Luz. I’ve heard quite a bit about you.”

“Amity’s been talking about me?”

“Partly. I’ve heard of your reputation.”

“Basketball?”

“Indeed. You have quite the reputation as the captain of your school’s basketball team. Apparently an excellent team.”

“Yes. My team is exceptional. The girls are amazing, and we play expertly together.”

Amity said, “Luz became captain as a Junior, last year. It’s very impressive. The coach saw her potential. And it proved successful. She always leads the team to victory.”

Luz glanced at Amity and released a small smile.

Odalia said, “Yes, you won the State Championship?”

Alador looked up from his laptop.

“Yes! The final match was close but we made it.”

“Luz made the last shot that led to them winning.”

Luz glanced at Amity again, smile a bit warmer. Amity knew that?

“Yes. I scored a three pointer at the end.”

Alador asked, “Top of the key? From deep?”

Luz paused, taken aback. Those were technical terms.

“From deep, a splash.”

“Buzzer-beater?”

“Ten seconds on the clock.”

Alador nodded. “Very impressive.”

Luz’s brow was raised. She said, wanting to see Alador’s reaction, “The sixth man on the other team had airballed during his heat check, but they were a point up with two minutes left. Then I was at the top of the key and could’ve attempted a teardrop but instead went downtown.”

He said, “And then you got the bucket. Walking bucket?”

“Yes, sir!”

Amity looked so incredibly confused at the esoteric jargon. Odalia just held a flat face.

“So you like basketball?” Luz beamed.

“I used to play.”

“That’s awesome!”

Alador smiled. “A good sport. My favorite.”

“Amazing!”

“You won the State Tournament. Truly impressive feat. Well done, Luz.”

“Thank you, sir. It made me proud.”

“You can be.”

Amity was watching the interaction, stunned shut. Was Luz really getting along with her father? That was absolutely unexpected. But, excellent. Amity was so satisfied. Luz really was good.

“Yes,” Odalia said. “Impressive indeed.”

“Thank you, ma’am. I’m extremely serious about basketball.”

“Is that what you want to do in college? You are going to college, right?”

“Yes, I’ve been offered scholarships to continue playing. Division 1.”

“Have you chosen yet?”

“Not yet, but they’re good schools.”

“Ivy’s?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Odalia looked satisfied at that.

“Good.” Then she asked. “Don’t you need a good academic track record? What is your GPA?”

Luz glanced at Amity. “3.5.”

Odalia eyed her for a second.

Luz gulped.

“I suppose that’s good, for a basketball player, that is. You know the stereotypes.”

“Yes, but I’m serious about the academics too.”

“Good.”

Odalia looked at Amity, who had a smile plastered on her face.

“And in your free time? What do you do?” Odalia asked.

“I read books.” Luz held back her grin. She did read all right. Amity held back a squint.

“What kind of books?”

 “I’m particularly keen on psychology.”

She was indeed interested in the psychology of why people read angst.

“Very interesting,” she added after taking a bite of her food.

Odalia said, “You should try politics.”

“I read the news every day. Crucial to be aware of the state of the world.”

“Indeed.”

Luz was inwardly smirking. She thought this was going very well.

“And your parents? What do they do?”

Luz’s heart dropped a bit. She fidgeted with her hands.

“They are veterinarians at the clinic.”

Odalia stayed silent for a moment.

“Hm.”

Amity said, “They’re the ones who check up on Ghost.”

Odalia rolled her eyes. “Yes, the cat. I suppose they’re useful.”

Luz’s jaw stiffened. What the fuck? ‘Suppose they’re useful?’ Her fists clenched.

“Yes, they’re useful.”

Amity quickly glanced at Luz. Luz released a deep breath.

“This chicken is splendid.”

“Yes,” Odalia said, “the chef is elite.”

“Evidently. I’ve never had rice like this.”

“I am glad you are liking it,” Odalia said with an eery smile.

They ate in silence for a bit.

“So,” Odalia spoke up. “You’ve been… dating. Since when?”

Luz and Amity glanced at each other.

“We started really talking a few weeks ago,” Amity said.

"I had a question on an assignment and asked Amity, who was truly helpful. We then got to talking more after class every day, and that's when I realized I really liked her."

"And I realized I liked Luz too."

"So we started spending time together at lunch."

"Yes, we went on lunch dates."

"And the more I got to know her, the more my feelings for her deepened."

"Mine too."

Odalia stared at them for a couple of moments.

"How... interesting."

Before Odalia could start questioning, Luz quickly said, “We’ve known each other since Freshman year. We’ve always been classmates."

“Luz’s class presentations were always so interesting.”

Luz grinned. Amity was gassing her up? Heh.

“And Amity’s questions are always so full of thought. They always make me think. She’s so intelligent. Always the most intelligent in class.”

Amity blinked for a moment. She glanced at Luz, who was looking at her, with a smile. Amity immediately glanced away.

Odalia said, “Indeed. Straight A’s.” She narrowed her eyes slightly. “And only sometimes A+’s.”

Amity rolled her eyes.

“And she dances amazingly too. Captain of the cheer squad? What doesn’t she do?” Luz put her fork down and went to lightly rub Amity’s shoulder. “She’s amazing.”

Amity froze. She glanced at Luz again. Luz was still smiling at her. It looked genuine. A quiet breath escaped Amity’s mouth. Then, she offered the smallest smile back. Remember. Pretend.

“Thank you.”

“It’s the truth.”

Amity glanced away.

Odalia said, “Amity is doing fine.”

Luz squinted. Just fine?

“So,” Odalia continued, “Amity must have told you about some of the events that we host, and the ones we attend. Are you aware of those?

“Yes, ma’am.”

“So we’ll be expecting your presence?”

“Yes! I’ll happily come with Amity to your events.”

Odalia eyed Luz some more.

“You’ll have to dress better.”

Bitch.

“I’ll wear my finest outfits.”

“Good. Amity will guide you on what to wear.”

“I can’t wait.”

“You’ll have to be on your best behavior, young lady. There are important attendees. You’ll be accompanying a Blight, so you have to act accordingly.”

“Understood.”

Luz glanced at Amity and noticed that Amity’s leg was bouncing rapidly. Luz looked at it for a moment, then, she placed her hand on Amity’s knee to stop the bouncing.

Amity’s gaze darted toward Luz. Luz whipped her hand away.

Then Amity looked at her mother, who was cutting a piece of chicken. Her father was focused on his laptop.

She glanced back at Luz, who stuck her tongue out discreetly before turning back to her dinner and continuing to eat.

Amity took a bite of rice.

This was going well. Luz was doing a great job at appearing put-together and respectful. Perhaps Amity didn’t give her enough credit going into it, but so she was so pleasantly surprised when in reality, it was going smoothly. More than smoothly, considering Luz got along with her father. Completely unexpected. Shocking that he took a pause from his work to converse with Luz for a bit, over a shared interest no less. Amity was more than satisfied.

Then there was her mother. Odalia seemed satisfied. Not necessarily content, but at the very least satisfied with Luz to talk about inviting her to the events. Luz was passing the tests, and Amity couldn’t be more relieved.

Luz was doing a great job. The plan was working. So Amity relaxed in her seat.

She glanced at Luz again, and noticed her excellent posture, and was confident that Luz could handle whatever Odalia threw her way, like she’d been doing. Luz looked calm. She was having a hard time cutting the chicken though, so looked focused as well. She then glanced at Amity, who was caught red-handed looking at her. Luz released a smile. She then continued trying to cut the chicken, focus face reappearing.

Amity let out a small smile. Luz was doing a great job.

“Luz, say, you get injured. What would you do if basketball wasn’t an option for the future?”

Luz’s eyes widened. She really hadn’t thought about that. Basketball was her life.

She glanced at Amity furtively, whose eyes were subtly wide as well.

“I’d go to med school.” Classic. That should work.

Odalia looked satisfied at that.

Luz quietly sighed in relief. She always respected doctors. She truly respected doctors.

“If you are really in a relationship with Amity, you’d know what she wants to do in the future. What is it that she wants to do?”

Luz gulped. She glanced furtively at Amity again, whose eyes were wide as well.

Think. Med school? Law? STEM? What other cliché smart people thing was there? What did her parents do… Blight Industries. Perhaps that. Yes. Business. Or not? Safest answer.

“She wants to join the family business.”

Luz braced herself.

But, Odalia nodded. “Yes. Amity’s joining the family business. She’s going to study engineering.”

Success! But, oh? Engineering?

“Yes, she told me all about it. Truly impressive career path. She’ll be an excellent engineer.”

“Indeed. Right, Amity dear?”

“Right.”

Luz noticed how Amity’s leg started bouncing again.

She placed her hand on Amity’s knee again. This time, Amity didn’t glance at Luz, instead she kept her focus on her food. Luz’s hand lingered on Amity’s knee, that stopped bouncing, before she took it back.

Amity, for some reason, felt a bit more relaxed.

“She’s talked to you about the family business, then?”

“Yes! Very successful business. Extremely impressive.”

“Yes. Alador designs excellent products. Right, darling?”

“Mhm,” Alador mumbled, still focused on his laptop.

“Always working. Good. So serious. Amity will follow in his footsteps.”

Luz, for some reason, knew that Amity’s leg would start bouncing again, having analyzed that anything to do with Amity and her future as talked about by Odalia would cause a reaction in Amity. So, Luz’s hand automatically went toward Amity’s knee again before it could start bouncing.

Amity glanced at Luz, brows lifted. But it did stop her leg from shaking. And it made her feel more relaxed, for some reason. Luz gave her the smallest smile. Amity glanced away.

“Aren’t you excited to join the business?”

Luz’s hand kept on Amity’s knee.

“Yes, Mom.”

“Excellent. Now you have to keep your grades up to get into excellent schools.”

Luz gently rubbed Amity’s knee.

She said, “She’ll definitely get into an excellent college. No doubt. Me too. Maybe we’ll end up at the same one.”

“Well won’t that be good for your… relationship.”

“It would be amazing!” Luz said, “Right, my love?” She squeezed Amity’s knee.

Amity tapped it away. Luz retracted her hand, with a subtle grin.

Amity gritted her teeth. Luz did not just call her a stupid nickname in front of her parents. She had no idea what her mother would think about that. Though, Odalia looked unfazed.

Good. But did it actually make their relationship more believable? It sounded sappy alright, but, would it be considered normal for two people in a relationship to use such nicknames? Probably yes, but it was so weird. But, it could actually work to make them more believable. Could it? Could it help? Could it?

“Right…” Amity said, “honey.”

She immediately wanted to gag. What the fuck was that? Honey? Really??

And Luz lit the fuck up. Her grin widened. Amity’s fists tightened. That was a pure mistake. Luz looked like an idiot with her stupid smile. Instant regret. She didn’t even know if it helped them look believable. In front of her parents? Amity cursed under her breath. What a mistake.

But, Odalia had no particular expression. She was probably recoiling internally. What a mistake. Stupid Amity.

Luz was still grinning. Did Amity just call her ‘honey’? HEH. HEH HEH HEH.

“Amity’s getting into an Ivy,” Odalia said. “She’s sending out early applications next month.”

“I’ll get in, obviously.”

Luz said, “Yeah she will! We’ll be celebrating with every acceptance letter. So, we’ll be celebrating a lot. Pop the champagne.”

Amity lightly slapped Luz’s leg.

Luz cleared her throat.

“Do you drink, Luz?” Odalia asked with a pointed look.

Yes, sir!

“No, ma’am.”

“Good. Kids these days. Partying, partying, partying. Amity’s better than that.”

Yeah fucking right

“Indeed.”

Luz wondered why Amity went to parties. Amity didn’t look like the type to have fun at parties. She didn’t look like the type to have fun, full stop. Luz snickered to herself. But so why did Amity go to parties? It made her look cool, that was for sure. It added fun to her reputation. Perhaps that was why?

Amity was reminded of why she went to parties. It boosted her reputation. It made her look social. Odalia clearly didn’t think going to parties was a good thing, but Amity knew that for her reputation’s sake, it was fruitful. Attending the biggest parties with her squad and the other athletes? Of course it added to her reputation. It wasn’t out of pure envy to party and socialize, it was purely strategic. And it worked. It made Amity seem even cooler. Popular. ‘In’. And it made the party even cooler. “Amity Blight was at that party?” people would say the following week. “Yes!!” She knew how to forge her reputation. And she made it stellar.

Luz came to the same conclusion. She knew it made Amity seem more fun. Luz went to parties to actually have fun. And damn did she have fun. And it made the party seem cooler as well. “Luz Noceda was at that party?” “Yes!!” And Luz was at all the biggest parties. Most often hosted by Boscha, who had this huge house and whose parents were often away on business trips. Most of the athletes would be there — basketball, football, cheerleaders — and Luz was social and played all the party games, which was why she knew so many people. And yet, she had never talked to Amity.

She thought about Boscha’s next party. After the Homecoming dance. It was going to be a big one. Luz was thrilled. But now she was in a ‘relationship’ with Amity, so she wondered how that would go, now that they’d have to be spending time together at a party to look believable. And she was looking forward to it.

Amity thought about the next party. How she’d have to spend time with Luz. How she’d have to look happy spending time with Luz. And it was particularly important, because the football players would be at the party too, and so looking happy with Luz was key.

They finished dinner.

“That was amazing, thank you for having me over,” Luz said.

“The pleasure is ours,” Odalia responded, with an eery smile, and a sharp look. “It was… nice, meeting you, Luz.”

“Yes, good meeting you,” Alador said. “Good luck with the season next month.”

“We’ll win it, sir. You’ll see. Then the State next year. We’re very confident.”

Alador chuckled. “Good. Amity will keep me up to date.”

Amity’s brows lifted high up. Her father was actually interested in Luz’s basketball exploits? Amity clearly didn’t realize the extent to which basketball was a sweet spot for her father. That was excellent. That meant Luz was truly on his good side. Absolute win.

“Goodbye, Mister and Misses Blight,” Luz said before Amity dragged her toward the front door.

Once there, Amity stepped out with her and accompanied her to the gate. 

“How was that? How did I do?”

“That went better than expected. You did good. Great.”

Luz pumped her fist to the sky. “Yes!” She said, “Your mom is kind of intense but your dad is so cool.”

“I can’t believe you bonded with him.”

Luz winked. “I think he likes me.”

“And my mom wasn’t as hostile as I thought she’d be.”

Luz pursed her lips. “I don’t know if she likes me.”

“She doesn’t need to like you, she just needs to believe you’re my girlfriend.”

“You think she bought it?”

“Honestly, yes. I think she did.”

“Awesome!”

“She even gave the approval for you to come to the events.”

“Hell yeah she did, I told you I’m good. See? You can trust me.”

Amity paused for a moment. 

“You really did good, Luz Noceda.” A small smile grew on her face. “Thank you.”

Luz shot a smile back. “You’re welcome, Amity Blight. I’m so happy it went well.”

“Me too. Wow. It worked.”

“It worked!” Then, Luz held the most criminal smirk. “… Honey.”

Amity’s jaw dropped. “Don’t.”

“You called me ‘honey’, my love. I loved it. Can you say it again for me please? The way it rolled off your tongue… music to my ears. Oh sweet ‘honey’. ‘Honey honey honey’. I’m your honey, mi amor.”

Amity shoved Luz. “Fuck right off, Luz Noceda.”

“I like you too, Amity Blight.”

Amity gritted her teeth. “I regretted it the second it came out.”

“It slipped out? Like it was… natural to call me a sweet name? It came from the heart?”

Amity shoved Luz again. Luz smirked as she tried to regain balance.

“So violent, my love. Does you touching me come from the heart too or is it instinct to want to be close to me?”

Amity scoffed. She did want to touch Luz, to strangle her. But clearly Luz would see that as affection.

So instead she crossed her arms. Tightly.

Luz extended her hand. “Quick, the squirrels are watching us. Hold my hand.”

Amity slapped her hand away. “You really can be insufferable, you know that right?”

“I know. But you like it.”

“I actually do not.”

“Okay, honey. I’ll head off. But don’t miss me, okay? Though I know I’ll miss you.”

Amity sighed in defeat. Every time it was going better with Luz, Luz would pull some shit, say some shit that made Amity’s hostile side pop out.

But, tonight went so well. And Luz did good. She did great. So Amity couldn’t help how a wave of appreciation flowed through her when looking at Luz.

So, she sighed. “See you on Monday,” she said. Her voice gentled. “And thank you, again. You really did good.”

Luz released a genuine smile. “It was my pleasure.”

She waved before turning around and walking down the road.

Amity released a deep breath, before walking back into the house.

She was heading toward her room when her mother called her name from the sofa in the living room.

Great. Now debrief time.

She approached. “Yes, Mom?” 

“That was… interesting. Luz seems to be quite the young lady.”

“Yes, she’s great. I’m happy with her.”

Odalia’s lips formed a thin line.

“She’s… adequate.”

“She’s more than adequate. She’s impressive. And she’s the one I really like.”

“It is true that her basketball background is quite a feat.”

“It really is. So can I bring her to events?”

Odalia eyed her for a moment.

“You’ll have to train her, but, yes. She’ll be the one to accompany you to events.”

Amity grinned internally. Excellent. No more dates!!

“Thank you. I have to do homework now.”

“Good.”

She left to go up to her bedroom.

Once there, she closed the door and sat on the bed.

Tonight was a success. Luz was good, passed with flying colors. Amity wouldn’t be sent on dates anymore because her mother now approved her fake relationship, with Luz. Luz was good. Amity felt a rush of contentment. Luz was great.