Witches Aren't Supposed to be Flowery

Chapter 6: Luz and Gus Expose the Truth

"What are you guys doing this weekend?" Luz asked eagerly, sliding into the bench at the lunch table.

Amity looked between Gus and Willow, waiting for them to respond as she shoved her food around with her fork. She kind of hoped one of them would say no and get them all out of whatever plans Luz had made for them.

Gus spoke up first, grinning mischievously, "Well, I'm gonna be busy doing whatever you're asking us to do right now."

Luz's face lit up and she raised a hand to high-five Gus with an "Alright!"

Gus and Luz looked across the table to Willow and Amity, waiting to see if they were in too.

Amity and Willow made eye contact, an action that was becoming increasingly normal for the two, and Willow understood Amity's concerns.

"Okay, you know I love a spontaneous hangout, but what exactly are you trying to get us on board for?" Willow questioned curiously.

"Well, Eda said that this Saturday is Lilith's birthday, and I wanted to throw her a nice little party to officially welcome her to the family! I know she did kinda try to kill me or whatever, but she's really been trying to become a better person and it's time for everyone to get over the past and focus on the present!" Luz explained with excitement.

"That sounds nice. I'm up for it," Willow smiled, forgetting that she needed to help cover for Amity.

Luz beamed even harder and swiftly turned her head towards Amity, clearly wanting her response. Gus locked in on Amity too, and Willow shot her a look of apology when she remembered the problem. With the three sets of eyes gazing into her soul, Amity felt the pressure weigh down on her.

She really wanted to go—any time with her friends was greatly appreciated and a guarantee for fun and adventure—but spending that much time with Luz was bound to end in disaster. So once again, the green-haired witch was caught in her somewhat familiar dilemma. If she turned down the offer, it might seem like she didn't want to hang out with them, which absolutely wasn't true. But she had taken the other route at the market, and look where that had gotten her.

So with an inward sigh of defeat, Amity settled on turning Luz down. Fiddling her fingers under the table to get out her nervous energy, she started with a sad expression while she considered how to word her rejection in the best way possible.

"I, uh...am actually busy this weekend," Amity said softly, dreading her friends' reactions.

Luz seemed disappointed for a few seconds.

"Oh...well, that's too bad. Maybe next time," she suggested with confident optimism.

Amity was shocked by Luz's quick recovery. That was it?

"Wait, you aren't gonna ask me what I'm doing?" Amity asked, her voice filled with confusion.

Luz stared, smile unfaltering.

"Uhhhh do you want me to?"

Amity played the words back through her head, realizing how self-centered she had sounded. She had just been surprised that Luz was actually decent about privacy and didn't immediately start interrogating her about what she was doing that was more important than doing whatever her friends wanted her to do. That's what her old friends did.

"Oh, no, I just thought—I don't know," Amity finished weakly as her cheeks flushed red.

Thankfully, Luz seemed to understand the situation. The human smiled sweetly at Amity.

"Hey, no sweat, Amity. If you want to tell us what's up, that's cool, but it's ultimately your business."

Amity felt her face heat up more. "No sweat"? Could Luz tell she was sweating??? That's so embarrassing! And Luz was being so nice to her! If Luz had been the one to reject Amity's offer to hang out, Amity would already be neck-deep in intrusive thoughts concerning all the reasons Luz probably didn't want to be around her. Luz was just able to brush stuff off with no problem. Amity made a mental note to add that to the list of things she admired about Luz.