Rectification

Chapter 12

Leaves crunched under Amity's feet as she made her way to the stairs that led up to Hexside's student entrance.

Fall is almost here. I'm almost out of time.

In the month that had passed since her... outing with Luz, she'd made almost no effort to further their relationship. She hadn't known if she should bother or not. Surely after their time together at the festival, Luz had to have picked up on some clues and would maybe even make a move if she was interested, but she hadn't acted any different towards Amity. Amity wasn't sure how she could get the point across to Luz without directly stating it. Dancing with Luz, walking her home, and kissing her hadn't done the trick... what else could she possibly do?

Do I have to spell it out directly? 'Hey, Luz! I'm a time traveller and I'm in love with you maybe! Or at least about as in love as a high school freshman can possibly be! Sorry about the creepiness, but will you go out with me and help me with these romantic daydreams I'm probably not supposed to be having?' No... I should probably leave out the bit about time travelling. Even if she absolutely had to know about that, she wouldn't believe me. Best to only freak her out once.

Amity was so caught up in her inner monologue that she didn't notice that she'd reached the door until she smacked into a pillar next to it.

Pain shot through her face and she was sent reeling, along with all the papers she'd been carrying, which fluttered to the ground. She couldn't help but let loose a few profanities as she gathered them back up in arms. When she stood, her left cheek throbbed, and she winced when she touched it. Great. My second time-travelling induced injury. She contemplated going to the healers' office for a moment but decided against it, realizing she really just needed to get to class. She couldn't afford to be late to anything on the first day of the fall semester. But, just in case, she checked her reflection in her scroll to make sure the injury wasn't noticeable, and lo and behold, her cheek was very visibly swollen and bruised. She sighed. Kids would definitely notice that.

Before she could move, a hand wrapped itself around Amity's arm. Amity leaped away, but she relaxed when she realized that it was none other than Luz herself. "Hi," Amity said awkwardly. It even hurt to talk. She looked Luz up and down, noticing that Luz was wearing the gray-and-white uniform of a student who hadn't yet been placed in a study track. "Did... you take your entrance exam yet?"

"Nope," Luz replied cheerfully.

"Are you nervous?"

"No. I know four whole spells now. I'm a shoe-in."

"Well, okay. Good luck, then." Amity hoped Luz wouldn't need it. After all, Luz knew two more spells this time around than she did last time she'd taken this exam- this attempt couldn't possibly be more horrible than the last.

Luz rolled her eyes. "Silly. You just condemned me. This is showbiz, you can't wish me good luck."

"It's not... showbiz," Amity said, confused. "This is school. Unless you join the bard track..."

"The proper way to help me to do my best is to tell me to break a leg. Speaking of breaking things," Luz went on, "what happened to your face?"

"Oh." Embarrassed, Amity shied away from Luz, suddenly self conscious. She didn't really want to tell Luz that she'd been thinking about her so hard she ran into a pillar. "Uh, it was a failed... magic... spell?" She made it sound like more of a question than an answer, and Luz narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"Did you run into that pillar?"

Biting her lip, Amity nodded.

"Poor you. Does this hurt?" Luz asked, bringing her hand up to cup Amity's cheek. "Aww, your face is all red! That must feel awful. You need to go to the healers' office before class starts and get something put on that." She placed her backpack on the ground and rummaged through it for a moment before producing a pencil and a sheet of paper. She sketched out a small ice glyph, created an ice cube the size of her palm, and passed it to Amity. "Hold this to the bruise until we get to the healer," she instructed.