Something was definitely not right.
Here I was, standing in front of Luz's locker to say good morning (and for a chance to see my crush in the morning) and something wasn't right. Luz wasn't right. Her usual, chipper hyper active self was gone and replaced with this carbon copy. She was so out of it... So sad. I've never seen Luz sad. That's how I got my mission for the day. Find out what's making Luz so upset and do everything I can to make her happy again.
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Her phone.
We were in class, and I purposefully sat near the back so I could watch Luz undetected. I watch her pretty much all the time, my eyes drawn to her always seeking her out. Totally not creepy. Still, she kept glancing at her phone, a device you can use for contacting people and playing mobile games. At least, that's what Luz told me. She taught me about texting and calling, and she even showed me how it worked while on the phone with her mother. I had to admit, humans were pretty smart to be able to make such a thing with no use of magic. I almost didn't believe her, but she's Luz. When does she ever lie? Anyways, something about her phone was causing her to act weird. She kept looking at it, as if staring at a picture, with such a somber expression. A very cute, somber expression, but it still broke my heart how miserable Luz looked. I wanted to run up to her and give her a huge hug, even if my face would flush one million shades of red. The girl can be so clueless.
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"Hey Luz, wait up!" I called out, running towards the girl after class ended. She practically bolted out of the classroom once the bell rang. Luz usually never wants to leave school. She spends every second she can before reluctantly getting dragged away by Eda.
"Hey Amity," she replied once I caught up to her. I stopped walking. Her voice sounded so empty and broken. This had to end I can't handle seeing my fearless Luz like this. I still felt a faint rush of blood go up my cheeks, nonetheless. I grabbed her arm and span her around so she was facing me.
"What's going on with you today?"
"Nothing, just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," she replied. I raised an eyebrow at her, silently asking her what that meant. She let out a small smile, but it was gone just as fast leading me to believe if I even saw it at all. "It means I didn't have a good sleep."
I gave her a once over, and knew she was lying. I knew her better than she probably thought I did. Once, Luz, Willow, and Gus had a moonlight conjuring and were up all night and still functioned well enough throughout the morning after only a short nap. Plus, she looked fine, no bags under her eyes and she wasn't drooping her eyes closed like she usually did when tired. I sighed, but didn't push it as we started walking towards the lunch room. I was about to grab Luz's hand in comfort, when I noticed something slowly sliding out of her sweater pocket. Her phone.
Before really thinking my plan through, i grabbed the edge of her phone and pulled it out, quickly slipping it into my pocket. I had to know what was going on with Luz. And because she was clearly not going to tell me, I set matters into my own hands. Literally. I gulped, praying to whoever may be listening for Luz not to notice her phone was missing until the end of the day. I was so lost in thought, I didn't realize Luz and I arrive at the lunch room and were sitting down with Willow and Gus. Wow, I must have really been out of it. Luz stood up, saying something about getting some food. I watched her silhouette walk far enough away before leaning closer towards Gus and Willow.
"You guys notice something's up with Luz, right?" I asked them. They both gave me a look, and I nodded my head. Of course they did, they're her best friends. "She kept staring glumly at her phone during class so.." I trailed off, taking the phone out of my pocket and showing it to them. They both looked from me, to the phone, to Luz, and grinned. they snatched the phone out of my hands, and started touching it as if they knew what they were doing. I realized Luz probably taught them more about human things than she taught me. I sighed. For some reason that gave me a weird feeling in my stomach, but I pushed it away instantly. Luz was more important than any jealousy I may have with her and her friends. They probably have all sorts of inside jokes and -
"Do you guys know what a birthday is?" Gus asked, looking at something written on the screen.
"No," Willow and I both said in unison.
"Apparently, today is Luz's fifteenth birthday and she was supposed to have a... I'm not even going to try to pronounce that word."
Willow snatched the phone from him and read it herself. "A Quinceañera. Her and her mom planned this whole party. Her mom said she would pick her up from camp but Luz replied that it was okay and something cool was going to happen today."
"Camp is her cover story to her mother. No wonder she's so sad. Her 'birthday' is today and she was supposed to celebrate with her mom and have a party!" I exclaimed. My excitement from figuring out the reason behind Luz's behavior dimmed, realized how sad it actually was. She probably misses her mom so much. Homesick. How could none of us have figured that out?
I noticed Luz approaching the table once more, and I quickly grabbed the phone out of Willow's hand and put it where Luz was sitting moments ago, hoping she won't realize she never actually left her phone. I silently let out a breath of relief when she looked at the device, and put it in her pocket. My relief fled when I saw her face, basked in inner turmoil.
But I had an idea.
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"Places everyone! I hear someone coming!" Eda shouted.
I quickly shut the light, being the one closest to the lamp and hid behind the table. She was here. I looked around the dark room, not able to see anyone but knew Eda, Willow, Gus, King, Edric, and Emira were hiding somewhere around the living room. I heard the doorknob turn, as the door began to squeak open. The lights slowly turned on, seconds feeling like hours. Luz called out a 'hello anyone home' before the lights finally flickered on and we all jumped from out hiding spots.
"Surprise!" we called called out as Luz screamed and dropped the Azura book she was holding. Once she composed herself, Luz glanced at every person in the room (I had to force my siblings to come) as her smile grew bigger and bigger, and of course I had to be the last person she saw and her face looked so overjoyed I thought I was going to burst. I knew I was blushing, but I just didn't find it inside me to care. Luz was happy. Luz was smiling.
"How did you know it was my birthday!" she giggled giving each of us a hug as she jumped up and down after seeing all the decorations. And the cake.
"I sort of stole your phone to find out why you were so mad..." I said softly, hoping she wouldn't be angry. Instead, Luz's smile grew. "We figured out it was your birthday and so we opened a portal to the human realm, leaned what we'd need to do using the internet thing. And so..." I waved my arms around, gesturing around the room.
"We threw you a surprise party!" King shouted.
Luz laughed, picking up the demon and spun him around the room. Her short hair rustled in the wind, leaving me to stare open mouthed at the beautiful human. It should be illegal to be that adorable. I let out a small sigh, one my siblings had to have heard as they both grinned at me evilly, making kissy faces and pointing to the two of us. I flushed even more red, if that was possible, and went up to hit them, which is when they decided to both bolt. I looked around the room at everyone laughing, gaze lingering on Luz. As if she could feel me staring, she chose that moment to look at me, too, and jumped up, heading towards me. I smiled at her, and certainly wasn't expecting her to wrap her arms around me and give me the Boiling Isle's tightest squeeze.
"Willow told me it was all your idea. Thank you, you don't know how much it means to me. Especially seeing my mom."
My smile grew wider at the praise. I contacted Luz's mom, telling her I was a friend from this 'camp' and asked if she could send a video of her saying something sweet to Luz. And I picked out all the decorations. And made the cake.
"I would've done it for anyone," I stammered, looking away as my face went red. Luz gave me a strange look, but gave me a bone shattering squeeze once again before skipping away towards Gus who was trying to take a piece of the uneaten cake.
Only for you Luz. Only for you.