First big show
Luz POV:
The moment my alarm went off I shot up and out of bed, startling King in the process. While he groggily tried to figure out what happened, I quickly changed out of my pajamas and threw on my other clothes. "What are you doing?" King managed to say as he stretched out before flopping back down on my sleeping bag.
"Getting ready for the day!" I chirped back as I fiddled with the cuffs of my jeans. Then, I eyed myself up and down in the mirror. Tapping my chin, I turned back to King. "Do you think tucking my shirt would be too much?"
"But it's so early!" King whined, completely ignoring my question. I simply shrugged, then started to tuck my shirt. Glancing at myself in the mirror again, it still felt like something was off. King got up and trotted over to my bag, sifting through some of my stuff. I went over towards him, gently pulling him out of my bag before going through it myself.
I pulled a brown belt out of my bag, a smile finding its way on my face. "Just what I'm missing!" Standing up, I quickly started to loop the belt through my jeans, then once that was done, I put on my beanie and flannel.
I moved back over to the mirror, adjusting my beanie a little. "So, whaddya think?" I spun around to face King, popping the collar of my jacket. He eyed me up and down, lightly rubbing his chin.
"I think that it's too early to be up!" King said, folding his arms over his chest. "The King of demons needs his sleep! Especially since you were up late last night acting all lovey to whatever her name is." A faint blush rose to my cheeks, but I quickly brushed it off, bending down to scoop up the little demon.
"Look, I'm sorry I woke you up early." I muttered, giving him a quick pat on the head. "So, what if I were to make some pancakes to make up for it?" His eyes widened at the mention of pancakes, but he quickly tried to cover it.
"That could work." He said as he jumped out of my arms, quickly making his way to my door, laughing the entire time. I rolled my eyes and followed after the tiny demon, the two of us going to the kitchen.
He helped me gather up supplies, watching me as I mixed them all together into a thick batter. By the time I was pouring the batter into a pan, Eda made her way downstairs.
She glared at the two of us, rubbing her eyes before taking a seat next to King. "Do you two want to tell me why you two are up so early?" I started sifting through Eda's drawers, looking for a spatula.
"Well, I needed to be up early cause I have my first gig tonight, and I accidentally woke up King. So, to make it up to him, I'm making pancakes." Eda side eyed King before rolling her eyes at him.
"Really King?" King glared at Eda, folding his arms over his chest.
"What? I need my sleep." He said, making Eda shake her head. She poked him right between the eyes, nearly making him fall off his chair.
"No, you wanted an excuse to have her make pancakes since you're too short to do it yourself." Eda retorted, making me snort. That was was a low blow, and it clearly made King angry.
"I'm not too short!" He squeaked, smacking Eda's arm, but that only made her snort and shove him away. King froze, then a low squeal slowly rose up from his throat.
While King went through his squeak of rage, I put the pancakes on a plate, making sure to put out the fire under the pan. "Alright you two, you can stop arguing now." I said as I carried over King's plate.
"Hey, pipsqueak over here started it." Eda said as she jabbed a thumb over in King's direction, who gasped in response.
"I am not a pipsqueak!" He yelled, getting ready to charge at Eda. However, I placed his plate of pancakes in front of him, making him freeze in his tracks. King sat down in his seat and started to snarf down his food, making Eda shake her head.
"Do you want a pancake?" I asked Eda, who just shook her head. She stood up, stretching her arms over her head before she moved over to me and ruffled my hair and beanie.
"Nah, I'm not hungry. Thanks though kiddo." She smiled, then moved over to the cooler. There was a bit of sifting, then she pulled out a bottle of her elixir and popped off the cork. "So, are you excited for your first gig?" She asked as she moved to one of the cupboards, grabbing a glass.
"Definitely!" Eda chuckled slightly at my enthusiasm, lightly shaking her head. She poured her elixir in her glass then made the original bottle it came in disappear before she took a sip.
"Well, I'm glad you're excited." She muttered, taking another sip of her drink. "Sorry I can't make it to the show." There was a bit of guilt laced in her voice, but it was clear she was trying to hide it.
"It's alright Eda, I get it." I gave her a lopsided smile, making her grin. Behind us, King slammed his hands down on the table, his plate cleared.
"Done!" He exclaimed, then hopped out of his chair and scampered off to the living room. Eda shook her head, then drew a quick spell that grabbed his plate and cleaned it off before levitating it back to the cupboard.
"Anyways, what time do you need to leave?" Eda asked me as she finished off the last sip of her drink, cleaning her cup the same way she did with King's plate. "Cause if you need to leave sometime this afternoon, then you can come help me with the stand."
"Oh, Amity said I need to be at the studio in like, an hour or two." I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. "But I can still go help you with the stand until then!"
Eda raised an eyebrow at me, leaning against the counter. "Why does Lily's little apprentice want you there that early?"
"She told me that the ride to the stadium would take a couple of hours, that's why." Eda nodded her head, then sighed. Then, she ruffled my hair again, pulling my beanie slightly over my eyes.
"Well, if you've got to be there that early, I won't drag you to the stand and risk making you late. If that girl is anything like Lily was, she'll have a fit over you being late. I'll just drag King along again."
King popped his head back in the room at the sound of his name, making Eda chuckle. "Are you sure? I could still go if you need me too." She shook her head and started to walk towards the living room, I followed after her.
"Nah, you can just come help tomorrow morning, unless you've got something planned around that time too?" I shook my head, making Eda smile. "Great. Also, got a question for you." We both made our way into the living room and Eda flopped down on the couch.
"Ask away!" I chirped, sitting down on the couch next to her and leaning back.
"When's the next time you go visit your mom again?" She asked, running her hands through her silver mane. King walked into the room, hopping up on the couch next to the two of us before curling up into a ball.
"I plan to visit her in two days unless something changes with our schedules." Eda nodded, glancing up at the door for a moment.
"Alright good to know." She took a quick look at the time before she stood up, scooping up King. "And before you ask why I want to know, I noticed you haven't gone to visit in a week or so, so I was curious."
I chuckled, popping my knuckles. "Yeah, her work was pretty busy last week, otherwise I would've gone."
Eda snorted, lightly patting my shoulder. "That's why I've got a job that doesn't have a tight nit schedule. Or really any schedule for that manner." Another snort escaped my mentor while King just rolled his eyes. "Anyways, we're gonna head out. I've got to send Owlbert on another trash haul and King and I need to go to the stand. Good luck at your show kiddo."
"Yeah! Good luck!" King quipped, giving me a small wave. I smiled, waving at the both of them as they made their way out the door.
"Thanks guys! See you later!" And with that, they were gone. I leaned back on the couch again, glancing around the room. It was quiet, way too quiet.
Standing up, I went back up to my room, pulling out my scroll and unlocking it. "Since the silence is bugging me and I don't want to talk to Hooty to fill that silence, let's see if Willow and Gus are up!"
I pulled up my messages, my eyes catching the last message I sent Amity last night. It brought a smile to my face, almost distracting me from what I was going to do. Lightly shaking my head, I pushed open the door to my room and pulled up the group chat between Willow, Gus and I, quickly typing out a message.
"Hey guys! Are you up?" I sent, waiting for a response. A few minutes went by, each of them agonizingly long because of the silence. Then, there was a ping from my scroll. I quickly picked it up and opened it, grinning the entire time.
"I'm up!" Willow sent, I could hear the cheery tone in her voice.
"Same here!" Gus sent shortly after.
"Well then, wanna call before I have to go to the studio?" I asked, sticking out my tongue a little. Glancing out my window, I noticed the sun was slowly traveling up the sky, still casting the tall trees in early morning shadows.
My scroll suddenly started to rapidly buzz, startling me enough to nearly make it fly out of my hands. I scrambled, then managed to catch it, the magic phone still buzzing. Instead of giving me a message answer, my friends decided to call.
I picked up the call, switching it over to video to match the others. There was a bit of buffering, then both of their smiling faces appeared on my scroll. "Hey Luz!" They both chirped, making me smile.
"Heyo guys! I knew you two wouldn't be able to resist calling." I finger gunned, Willow chuckled and Gus playfully rolled his eyes.
"Are you excited?" Gus asked, his ears flapping slightly. I gave him a vigorous nod, tightly gripping onto my jacket.
"Probably the most excited I've been in awhile! But I'm also pretty nervous." I chuckled, both of them nodding in response.
"I'm honestly surprised you aren't more nervous." Gus commented, making me scoff. I waved him off, smirking the entire time.
"Me? More nervous than this? Please! I'm Luz Noceda, I'm cool as a cucumber!" I placed a finger gun under my chin, wiggling my eyebrows at the two. Willow laughed, shaking her head.
"Sure you are, unless you're around Amity." That made me freeze up, a low squeak coming from my mouth that I struggled to suppress. "I'm not wrong, am I?" She smirked as I quickly sputtered and tried to answer.
"I'm not nervous around Amity!" I finally managed to say, struggling to keep my voice at the same tone it was before. Gus chuckled and Willow shook her head. "I'm not!"
"Whatever you say." Gus laughed, wiping his eyes.
"But, speaking of Amity..." Willow started, pushing her glasses up on her face. "How's that plan to confess coming along?"
"I... there hasn't been a good time yet..." I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. Willow's expression dropped as she eyed me up and down, then she sighed.
"You haven't thought of a plan yet have you?"
"No I haven't!" I pulled my beanie over my eyes with a groan. "I've been trying! But each one I come up with I've abandoned! On one hand, I want to go all out for it and make it some big reveal, on the other hand I kinda just want to invite her over and quietly confess."
"Both could work." Gus said, leaning his chin on the palm of his hand.
"But knowing Amity, it might be better to do a more quiet kind of confession." Willow quickly added, slightly glaring at Gus' side of the screen. "Seriously though Luz, just convince her to go with you somewhere sometime, then confess when the moment feels right. That's all there is to it."
"You make it sound so easy!" I whined as I lifted my beanie off of my eyes. "Here's the thing you two, I don't even know where to start!"
They both paused, glancing at different parts of their screens for a moment before looking back at me. "Start by being bold!" Gus placed his fist against his chest, a big smile on his face.
"What?" I asked, making both of them roll their eyes.
"Be bold!" They both said, excitement laced in both of their voices. I raised an eyebrow, trying to wrap my head around what they meant.
"That's a lot of help..." I muttered, sarcasm light in my voice. "Willow c'mon help me out here, you've got a girlfriend. What am I supposed to do?" Gus placed a hand over his chest, clearly looking offended.
"You don't trust my advice?" He questioned, putting on a fake pout that made Willow start to laugh. Gus' pout quickly cracked and he started laughing with her.
"I really don't know why you're asking me for advice." Willow said with a smirk, folding her arms over her chest. "After all, I'm the one that asked you for advice when I wanted to hook up with Boscha."
My arms fell limp at my sides, I blinked a few times, then let out a loud groan. "Right, you did." I muttered, leaning back until I fell onto my back. "How did I forget that?" Both of them shrugged.
"Well, if you still want me to give you advice, I can just tell you what you told me." I sat back up, staring at Willow for a moment, waiting for what she was about to tell me. "Take her to a place you're sure she'd like, wait till the moment's right, then take her by the hands, look her in the eyes and tell her how you feel."
"I told you that?" Willow nodded her head, I placed a hand against my cheek, leaning against my knee. "Wow, that's kind of hard to believe." Gus snorted, quickly covering his mouth to stifle his sounds.
"I can't even remember if Willow went through with that plan." Gus finally managed to say, making a blush rise to Willow's face, her ears going down slightly. She rubbed her hands together, avoiding eye contact with the camera.
"It wasn't exactly like that..." Her voice was suddenly soft, still not looking at the two of us. "I added a bit to the plan Luz gave me."
"Added what?" I asked, my curiosity peaking. Willow squeaked, then struggled to hide her face.
"Yeah come on Willow, tell Luz here what you added." Gus teased, pointing towards his camera. I could see Willow's blush deepen, but she took a deep breath in an attempt to regain her composure.
"That's not important right now." She said, her voice slightly higher than usual. I smirked, eyeing Gus' side of the screen for a moment.
I hummed for a moment, rubbing my chin slightly. "I don't know Willow, it does seem pretty important right now~" She furrowed her eyebrows, glaring at me.
"Don't you have a studio to be at right now?" She quickly changed the topic, already done with my teasing.
"Wow, such sass." I said, placing a hand over my chest before I glanced at the time, my eyes widening slightly. "But shoot you're right, I'm supposed to be at the studio soon!" I gave them a quick wave and salute. "I'll catch you guys on the flip side!"
"See if you can find me at the show!" Willow quickly added with a wave, I gave her a nod. Gus rubbed the back of his neck.
"You won't be able to see me at the show, but good luck Luz!" He smiled, giving me two thumbs up. "And hey, remember, be bold!"
"I'll try." I muttered, giving them one last wave before hanging up the call. With a sigh, I stood up and made my way to leave, quickly putting on a pair of red converse and then I made sure to grab my sticks before I left. Jogging down the old creaky stairs and out the front door, I gave Hooty a quick wave goodbye.
"Wait Luz! Where are you going?" He called out after me, making me quickly spin around to face him.
"To the studio! I've got a show tonight!" I spun back around, facing forward and picking up my pace. Glancing at the time I grimaced, I would be late if I didn't hurry. So, turning my speed walk into a light jog, I followed along the path I had been following for the past few weeks to the studio.
By the time I made it to the studio, there was a large looking cart parked in front of the door. I slowed my jog down to a walk, panting slightly as I walked past the cart. Very carefully, I ran my hand along its side, noting its smooth texture.
Going to the front door, I pulled it open and slipped inside, a few of my band mates chatting away. Both the twins perked up when they noticed me walk into the room. The two siblings were both dressed in all black. "Luz! You're finally here!" Edric said excitedly, leaning back slightly in his chair.
"Yeah, sorry about being late." I chuckled, taking a few deep breaths. Edric shrugged, placing his arms behind his head.
"Could've been later." He pointed out, testing his luck by leaning a little further back. Emira glanced over at him, a mischievous glint quickly filling her eyes. She moved closer to his chair, slowly moving her foot by one of the legs.
But, before she could do anything, Edric caught on and put his chair down, much to her disappointment. She sighed, then turned to me, eyeing me up and down for a moment before smiling. "By the way, nice outfit you got there cutie."
"Oh! Thanks!" I smiled, making the Blight twins smile back. Glancing around the room, I noticed no one else was around. "Where's everybody else?"
"Matt's off in the sound room doing who knows what and Boscha and Mittens are doing their makeup in their rooms." Emira said, a sudden look of realization flashing across her face. "Oh, that reminds me! You'll need to get Mittens to help you with your makeup!"
"Makeup?" I muttered.
Edric caught on to my confusion, chuckling softly. "Don't worry! It's nothing too extreme, just a bit of thick eyeliner to match the rest of the band, that's all." I nodded my head, slowly making my way towards our rooms.
"Well then, I'm gonna go get that out of the way now. See you guys here in a few!" I turned around the corner and quickly made my way over to mine and Amity's room. The door was closed, but behind the door I could hear the muffled sound of Amity humming.
Very slowly, I opened the door. I didn't knock, not wanting to risk Amity accidentally messing up her makeup. Peering into the room, I found Amity carefully applying her eyeliner and humming a tune.
When she pulled the small brush far enough away from her eye, I cleared my throat. She jumped slightly, then turned towards me, her eyes softening when she saw me. "Glad to see you here, I was about to message you and see where you were."
"Sorry it took me so long." I chuckled, stepping into the room and closing the door behind me. "And uh, before anything else, Edric said I needed some eyeliner?"
Amity's eyes widened slightly as she nodded. "Yeah you do. Here, come here I'll help." She waved me over to her, which I quickly followed. Standing up, she motioned for me to take a seat, which I did.
"So miss singer, what do you need me to do?" She rolled her eyes at the nickname, but I could see the grin slowly growing on her face.
"Just stay still for a minute, and try not to blink." She mumbled, dipping the brush in the tube for a moment before pulling it back out. I did as she asked, my eyes slowly glancing around the room.
The Blight went around to the side of the chair, leaning in for a moment before furrowing her eyebrows. She switched sides, getting the same result. "What's up?" I asked, my eyes following her as she moved in front of me.
"Can't get a good angle..." Amity muttered, moving to my side once again. She groaned, standing up straight and rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Just, move to the cot." I nodded my head and stood up, taking a seat on the edge of the cot.
"Is this any better?" I asked, a small smile on my face. Amity tried once again to get a good angle, both times failing. With another low groan, she stood in front of me, lightly tapping her chin. Suddenly, her eyes widened and her ears went down, a red tint crossing her cheeks.
"You don't mind me getting close, right?" I raised an eyebrow, then chuckled, shaking my head.
"Not at all, do whatever you need to." Smiling at the witch I waited for her to do her thing, but she hesitated. I could see her eyes darting for a moment, her grip on the tube of makeup tightening. Then, she sighed and muttered something under her breath.
She took a few steps forward, making me assume that she was just going to kneel in front of me. However, that wasn't the case. Amity took another step forward, then very carefully maneuvered herself so that she was sitting on my lap with her legs off to one side, facing me.
My face instantly flushed red at her actions, my heart ready to pound out of my chest at any moment, I silently prayed she couldn't hear it. She was so close to me, her face maybe a few inches from mine. The air was sucked from my lungs, quickly getting replaced by a tight, warm feeling.
Her gaze remained on the floor, her face and ears still red in color. "Sorry about having to get so close." She stammered before taking in a shaky breath, then she finally turned and looked at me. Her eyes widened slightly at the look on my face, which had to be some kind of mix of confusion and complete surprise, not to mention the fact I was beyond flustered. "Are you okay?" She asked, concern clearly laced in her voice.
I sputtered for a moment, my brain completely short-circuiting and only pulling up blanks. While I struggled to find something to say, my eyes quickly darted down to her lips for a moment before back up to her golden eyes, then I finally managed to squeak out in a shaky tone.
"Oh, Dios mío, voy a explotar, estás tan cerca de mí. Tus labios se ven suaves, ¿alguien te ha dicho eso alguna vez?" I gave an awkward smile, but Amity only raised an eyebrow and tilted her head in confusion before chuckling softly.
"What?" She asked, her ears going up slightly. I shook my head a couple of times, then I cleared my throat.
"I said I'm just peachy! Just didn't expect you to get that close." I lied, letting out a nervous chuckle.
"If you're uncomfortable I can move." She quickly said, her eyes flashing with a hint of panic. I quickly shook my head, holding my hands up slightly.
"No you're good!" I laughed, struggling to force down the blush that continued to rise on my cheeks. "You just caught me off guard, that's all." Amity seemed to sigh in relief, putting on a smile.
"Whatever you say." She muttered, opening the makeup tube and leaning in a little closer. "Now don't move, otherwise I might accidentally stab you in the eye." Very slowly, she started to apply the makeup, making sure to be careful.
Both of us sat like that for a solid five minutes, a nice red blush dusting across both of our cheeks due to how close we were to one another.
I genuinely thought she was going to be the death of me.
Finally, she pulled away, tilting her head slightly as she observed her work. Then, she put the cap on the makeup and stood up, much to my disappointment. I stood up as well, moving over to the mirror to see how I looked.
On both of my eyes were thick lines that trailed out into wings. "Well? How do I look?" I asked Amity as I spun around, placing one hand on my hip and the other as a finger gun under my chin. She eyed me up and down for a moment, then gave me a lopsided smile.
"You look great. The makeup really ties everything together." Taking a few steps closer, she gently took both sides of my jacket between her fingers, lightly rubbing the fabric. "The flannel looks good with the outfit by the way." A bright smile appeared on my face.
Amity fell silent, her gaze seemingly stuck to the floor while her ears slowly pinned down against her head. She still had her hands on my jacket, keeping me in place. After a minute, I slowly brought a hand up to her wrist, gently taking it in my hand. "You went quiet, what's on your mind?" I asked, watching as her eyes moved up to my hand, lingering for a moment.
She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Her grip on my jacket tightened as she let out her breath. "Luz, there's something I've gotta say." Those six words sent a jolt down my spine, mixing with the feeling I got when she suddenly met my gaze, my mind running as I tried to think of what she was about to tell me.
"What? Is it about the concert?" I carefully asked, watching her eyebrows go down slightly before she stared down at the ground.
"No." She mumbled, her voice slightly shaking and barely loud enough for me to hear.
"Then, what is it?" My hands slowly closed into fists and I noticed just how sweaty my palms were. I could feel my nerves slowly climbing as she fell silent once again. My nails were digging into the palms of my hands while I waited in anticipation.
Amity mumbled something, her voice too soft for me to hear. We both went quiet, then she looked up at me. "You didn't hear me, did you?" I noticed just how vulnerable her voice sounded in that very moment. Slowly, I shook my head, making her sigh. "Look, what I said was that I-"
Suddenly, the door to our room was thrown open, interrupting whatever Amity was about to say. Edric stood frozen in the doorway, a look of shock plastered on his face. "Am I interrupting something right now?" He asked, a smirk slowly appearing on his lips.
The youngest Blight sibling let go of my jacket, turning to face her brother. "You don't know how to knock? What do you want?" Her voice was sour, making Edric flinch before responding.
"We need help loading up the equipment." He muttered with half a smile, making Amity roll her eyes.
"We'll be out in a minute." She muttered, turning back to me. Amity motioned for me to bend down, which I complied. Then, I felt her adjusting my beanie and running her hand through the bit of my hair that stuck out towards the front. "There, that was starting to bug me."
"What were you gonna say?" I asked, my eyes meeting hers. She froze for a moment, then just chuckled and softly shook her head, a smile on her face.
"Don't worry about it. It's not important." Amity gave me a quick boop on the nose, then turned on her heel and headed towards the door, looking back at me with a smile. "Now c'mon, let's go help them load up the cart so we can hit the road."
I hesitated for a moment, my mind silently questioning what she was going to say. It had to have been important, she wouldn't have acted like that if it wasn't. But, because Edric showed up, she shrugged it off, meaning that she wanted us to be alone.
What would she be saying that was so important to me and me alone?
A few different ideas came to mind, but I quickly shook my head. Following after Amity and leaving the room, I found everyone out in the main room, Matt, Edric, and Emira all lugging out equipment to the cart.
Matt caught sight of the two of us and scoffed, picking up a few of the speakers. "Look who finally arrived." He muttered in an irritated tone before carrying the speakers out the door. The twins glanced over in his direction with a confused look on their faces, but they both shrugged it off, following after him with more supplies.
I quickly went over to some pieces of the drum set, carefully stacking them before picking them up. "Be careful!" Amity called after me, making me smile. Carrying the pieces outside, I followed the twins to the back of the cart and set the pieces inside. Emira made sure to push them towards the back, tightly strapping them in.
Edric nudged his twin, muttering something to her before disappearing back inside. "So, how's your morning been?" I turned towards Emira, who chuckled softly.
"Hectic. Like every morning before a gig." I tilted my head slightly, raising an eyebrow.
"Hectic how?"
"Hectic as in, Edric's still out cold in his bed in his pajamas, Mittens nagging the two of us because she's nervous, me trying to make sure we've got everything." Emira listed off, slightly nodding her head to each different scenario. "That kind of hectic."
"Oh." She nodded her head, then turned back to strapping things in, I took that as my cue to go back inside and get more things. When I went back inside, I could hear Amity's voice pretty much whisper yelling at her brother.
Walking into the main room, Amity didn't notice me walk in. She jabbed a finger in Edric's chest, who slowly took a step back from his younger sister. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but based on how Edric was reacting, I assumed it was because of one of his pranks
Edric noticed me walk in the room, his eyes widening slightly. He tried to motion to Amity that I was there, but she didn't listen. Walking past the two of them, I managed to catch a snippet of their conversation. "You couldn't wait a few more minutes? The timing was perfect!"
"Timing to what?" I asked, making Amity shriek in surprise, stumbling before catching her balance. She eyed me up and down for a moment, her ears going down in response. Then, she nervously laughed, her gaze avoiding mine.
"Just the timing for the show!" She said in a shaky voice before letting out a chuckle, lightly patting her thighs. I shrugged, then went to go pick up more speakers to take them to the cart.
Passing by the two siblings again, I noted that Amity was beet red in the face, her hands fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "Are you good Amity?" I asked, pausing in my tracks. Amity's head snapped up as she gave me a quick smile.
"Totally fine!" She chirped, her voice wavering slightly. "Just Ed pissing me off like usual. But anyways, I've gotta make sure we grabbed everything from the sound room!" Amity spoke quickly before darting off towards the sound room, closing the door behind her.
Her brother and I stared at the door for a moment, then Edric sighed. "Y'know, sometimes I really do worry for that witch." He muttered, taking a few of the speakers off of my load.
"What'd she mean by the timing for the show?" I asked, following after Edric. He glanced back at me, then continued looking forward.
"I was talking with Boscha about one of the effect we have planned." He started, adjusting the speakers in his arms. "According to Mittens however, the effect would be off putting at the time we were gonna set it off. And since it's the day of the show, Mittens is all high strung, so she just snapped at me."
The two of us went to the back of the cart, carefully setting down the speakers and strapping them in. Emira stood by Edric's side, counting off the speakers we brought in. Clasping her hands together, Emira turned to her brother with a smile. "That's pretty much everything! We've just gotta get the mics, which I'm sure Matt has. What time did Mittens say we were leaving again?" Edric shrugged.
All of us slowly made our way back inside to find the other three gathered around the table. Boscha was leaned back in a chair, typing on her scroll, Amity sat next to her with her arms folded over her chest, her ears down slightly. Matt leaned against the table, a scowl on his face as he glared in the direction of the hallway.
"Matty!" Edric called with a smirk, making the witch slouch down. "Do you got the mics?"
"Do I look like I'd forget them?" Matt hissed, stepping to the side to reveal the mics. Edric tapped his chin, before chuckling.
"Maybe?" Edric's twin snorted, making Matt's eyebrows knit tightly together. His lip twitched, but he held back his words for a moment. Pulling out his scroll, he turned his gaze towards that.
"Well I'm not that stupid, unlike you." That made Edric hiss, clasping a hand over his heart. I moved over towards Amity, leaning on the part of the table to her right. Emira lightly patted her brother on the back, but Edric shrugged her off.
The twin moved over to Matt, leaning onto his shoulder much to the witch's annoyance. "Geez Matty, that blow was so low it almost took out my knees. But that's about how high you can reach, isn't it?" Matt twitched, snapping his head towards Edric, who only looked at him with a smirk.
But, before either of them could do anything else, Amity stood up and sighed. "Before these two get into a fight, let's get going." A giddy grin instantly found its way to my face when she said that.
The six of us went outside and piled into the cart, Matt taking the passenger seat, the twins taking the front, and Boscha, Amity and I taking the back. I stared at the inside of the cart in awe. "This thing's like a limo!" I said, making Boscha and Amity raise an eyebrow.
"What's a limo?" The three eyed witch asked with a chuckle, taking a seat and crossing her legs.
"Oh, well limos are like, really long cars. And cars are like carts except they don't need something to pull them!" I then went on to explain how there's different kinds of cars back on Earth, the two witches hanging on my every word. Halfway through my explanation, the cart lurched forward, meaning we were on the road. "I'd have to take you guys to Earth sometime! It'd be fun!"
"Yeah, fun." Amity muttered, leaning back against the seat. The three of us fell silent, my gaze wandered around the different parts of the cart for a moment.
"So now what do we do?" I asked the two, both of them looking in my direction.
Boscha shrugged, leaning her head back against the seat and closing her eyes. "Well, I don't know about you two dorks, but I'm gonna nap." Amity snorted, shooting a smirk in Boscha's direction.
"What? Did you stay up late texting Willow?" Boscha didn't move, but I could see that she tensed up. Then, very slowly, she flipped Amity off before raising her head.
"No, I didn't." She put her head back against the seat, making Amity laugh.
"Whatever. You better be able to wake up quick though. The show starts pretty much once we get there." The green hair witch said, Boscha hummed in response. I turned to Amity, who glanced over at me for a minute.
"It's gonna start that fast?" I asked and Amity nodded her head.
"Yep. Since we're so far away from the stadium, we're basically gonna get there thirty minutes before the show starts." She sighed, resting her chin on her palm. "Let's hope my siblings can set up quickly."
I waved her off. "Knowing the two of them, it'll be easy." I leaned my chin onto the palms of my hands, shooting Amity a smile. "Now, I've got a question for you!"
"What is it?" She asked with half a smile, and for a second I thought she was leaning closer towards me.
"Okay, so for you guy's last show, you did that awesome spotlight reveal, are we doing something like that again?" I asked excitedly, remembering their reveal. But, Amity shook her head.
"Not necessarily, since you're new to the band, we've decided to do something a little different." She started, sitting up and popping her fingers. "I've planned to have your side of the stage dark at first while the rest is lit up so we can give you a big reveal."
A squeal quickly rose from my throat at that idea, making Amity smile. "That sounds awesome!" Amity nodded her head. Boscha suddenly groaned, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
"Look, if you wanted me to stay awake you could've just said so." She mumbled, shooting a subtle glare to our singer, who only laughed. "Honestly, I could get you to shut up by muting you if I wanted."
"Bet." Amity smirked, making Boscha squint. Very slowly, Boscha brought her hand up and started to draw a spell circle. However, I jumped up and stood between the two, giving a nervous chuckle.
"How bout, we don't do that? Especially since there's the show soon." Boscha stared at me for a moment, then sighed, waving away the half cast spell. Then, she turned to Amity, trying to remain serious before chuckling.
The three of us continued to chat to pass the time, cracking jokes and playing a few games while we waited to make it to the stadium. About halfway to our destination, Amity's scroll buzzed with a message.
Pulling up the message, she laughed and showed it off to the rest of us. It was from Emira, the message simply reading "Payback." with an image attached. The image was of Edric slouched over in his cart seat asleep, sporting a drawn on pair of glasses and a loopy mustache.
I had no clue what Edric could've done for that to be payback, but it was pretty funny.
An hour or two later, the cart suddenly came to a stop, nearly making me fall out of my seat. There was a loud couple of knocks that came from the front of the cart, then we heard the others getting out. "Alright, we've got half an hour, let's go." Amity said as she stood up, stretching her arms over her head.
We flooded out of the cart, Boscha complaining about how her leg had fallen asleep. Outside, the twins and Matt were already taking things inside, using their magic to quickly float a large chunk of our gear where it needed to be. The sun was setting, casting the land in orange light and long shadows.
I was quick to help, stacking up equipment and struggling to carry it to the stage. The stadium was large, but maybe not as big as the one from the last show. On the opposite side of the building stood a long line of people, waiting for when they'd be allowed in.
Once we piled all our equipment on the stage, Matt quickly tested all the mics to make sure they were all working properly. Then, once he was done with that, he waved us down. "I'm gonna go tell the guards to start letting people in, you guys get ready." We all gave him a nod as he disappeared.
Edric and Emira worked on setting up a few of their more extreme special effects, I worked on setting up my drums in the spot Amity told me to, Boscha and Amity worked on tuning their guitars.
Once all that was done, we had a little over ten minutes to spare. Matt came back and was quick to move to the sound board, the sound of voices trailing after him. The twins continued to set up their effects, darting from one side of the stage to another. "Try and not knock over my set this time sis." Edric nudged Emira with a chuckle as they both moved to the other side, Emira simply shook her head.
I sat on a box behind the stage, staring at the drums. My nerves were completely shot, yet I couldn't stop smiling. "My first show..." I muttered to myself, running over the different songs in my head.
Boscha appeared next to me, still tuning her bass. "You good?" She asked, giving the guitar an experimental strum. I drummed my fingers against my leg and gave her a nod.
"I'm a little nervous, but I'm fine!" She gave me half a smile, then placed a hand on my shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"That's good to hear. And hey, if it makes you feel any better, once that spotlight lands on you, you'll barely be able to see the crowd. At least, that's what Edric says." She motioned towards the twin, who was leaning on Matt with a smile, the drawings on his face smudged.
"Good to know." She gave me another smile, then walked off. I turned my gaze back down to the floor, letting my mind wander for a moment.
I eventually started thinking about my call with Willow and Gus this morning. I thought about Willow's advice, well, okay more like my advice. Bring her to a place I'm sure she'd like?
What better time to come up with a plan to confess than ten minutes before a big show?
A few places came to mind, but most of them were either too close to the town or a dangerous spot to be at during specific times. Like they said, a more private confession would probably be better, and I didn't want to be mauled by some creature in the middle of confessing.
Then, it hit me.
There was a spot not too far from the owl house that had a decent hill and an amazing view of the ocean. Not only that, but it'd be a great place to watch the sunset and go stargazing. It was an isolated spot.
It was the perfect spot.
Standing up, I quickly went around backstage, trying to find the lead singer. "Just see if she's free tomorrow! Take her to the owl house to hang out, then take her there and bam! You can confess!" I thought to myself, finally finding the singer.
"Seven minutes left guys!" Emira called out, making me tense up slightly. I couldn't move for a moment, my brain going a million miles a minute.
Was this really a good idea to do now? I don't even have a full plan yet, all I've got is the bare bones of a plan. I've got a spot, but no idea what to say.
I quickly shook my head, making the thoughts disappear. It was a good time, I'd just ask her now, then come up with what I'm gonna say by tomorrow. And if I couldn't come up with anything, I could just wing it. Easy peasy, right?
Taking a deep breath, I made my way over to Amity. "Amity! Hey!" I winced when I heard how shaky my voice was, silently hoping I could blame it on me being nervous about the show rather than me being nervous about what I'm going to do.
"Hey Luz, what's up?" She asked, not even questioning my tone as she looked up from her guitar. I hesitated for a moment, clasping my hands together as I struggled to find what I wanted to say.
"So I know it's a little out of the blue, but I was wondering if you were busy tomorrow?" I stammered, rubbing the back of my neck. Amity froze for a moment, blinking a couple of times before softly shaking her head, snapping herself out of her trance.
"I mean, I've got to go to a shop to get some new strings for my guitar before the next gig, but that's all I have planned. Why do you ask?" She raised an eyebrow, making me chuckle.
"Well, I thought maybe we could hang out! And, I've got something kind of important to tell you..." I trailed off, making her eyes widen slightly. "Not only that, but I've got a really cool spot I wanna show you, so whaddya say?"
She seemed to hesitate for a moment, the gears in her head clearly turning. "Five minutes!" Emira called, making her tense up.
"If you want, I can even tag along with you when you go to the shop, then we can go hang out! Save some of the hassle." I suggested, making her nod her head. A small smile appeared on her face.
"That would work." I could feel the giant smile that was on my face as I shot her a quick set of finger guns.
"Is meeting up with you at Eda's stand at noon a good time for you?" I asked.
"It'd be a perfect time." Her eyes were glittering, they were honestly so mesmerizing to stare at.
"Great! It's a date!" I spun on my heel, ready to walk off towards the drums, but I paused. "Be bold! Do something!" My mind was screaming at me, making me take a deep breath.
Was I going to regret this? Maybe.
I spun back around to find Amity still staring at me. Then, I blew her a kiss and shot her a wink. "See you on the stage mi amor~" Her ears instantly went down at my actions, her face going red. Spinning back around, I quickly sped off, heading towards the stage.
This is one of the times I'm glad Amity didn't understand Spanish.
Suddenly, I slammed into someone. "Luz? What are you doing back here? And where's Mittens?" Edric placed his hands on my shoulders to steady me. I looked up at him, struggling to not laugh at all the smudged marker on his face.
"I was just getting to the stage! And Amity's back there, I think." I jabbed a thumb behind me, making Edric nod. I could hear how loud the crowd was now, clearly they were all pumped for the show.
"Well, you better get on stage, I've gotta get Mittens up there too." He quickly disappeared, heading further backstage. I took in a quick, deep breath, then made my way to the drums. Taking a seat, I took a stick in each hand and waited, bouncing my free leg up and down nervously.
Amity soon appeared after, her face still red. That worried me, making me wonder if I made her mad or something like that. She took her place on the stage, then shot a thumbs up to one of her siblings in the wings before turning forward.
A sudden deep voice rang out, making me wince a little at their volume. "Welcome to the show folks!" The crowd erupted into cheers, excited that the show was finally going to begin. "We'd like to thank you for coming out here tonight! Now let's hear some noise!"
The crowd exploded in a wave of voices, making me smile. Boscha and Amity glanced over at one another, giving each other a nod before turning back to me. They both gave me a smile, which I smiled back.
"Now let's move on to the real reason why you all are here, please help me welcome, The Abominations!" Somehow, the crowd got even louder as the curtains to the stage opened. From off in the wings, I could see the faint glow of a spell circle, then smoke instantly appeared at our feet, slowly seeping off the stage in a waterfall of clouds.
Spotlights suddenly flickered to life, bathing Boscha and Amity in their light. The crowd broke out into more cheering as Amity slowly made her way up to her mic, taking it off the stand.
"Good evening everybody!" The crowd blew up once again at the sound of her voice, and honestly I couldn't blame them. "How are you tonight?" Another wave of a cacophony of voices flooded our direction.
"Now, tonight's show is pretty special." Boscha started once the crowd had died down a little, making a ripple of hushed whispers flow out from the crowd. "We'd like to introduce you all to a new member."
"As most of you know, we held our drummer auditions a few weeks ago." Amity picked up, side glancing in my direction. "And because of that, we are proud to present our new drummer, Luz!"
The spotlights sudden flipped on, basking me in their bright light. I blocked out the light with my hand for a moment, waiting for my eyes to adjust. The crowd blew up once again, loud cheers and whistles coming from the sea of people.
I gave a little chuckle and a wave as the people cheered. "And by now I'm sure you guys are ready to hear some music!" Boscha said, barely being heard over the crowd, which only got louder at her words.
"So let's start off with a classic." Amity sent a nod to Boscha, who started to strum her bass. I immediately recognized the tune and waited, ready for my cue.
Then, in a flash of sparks made by the twins, the spotlights dimmed down a little, setting the mood for the song.
"I'm going back to 505."
"If it's a seven hour flight or a forty-five minute drive."
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see one of the twins prepping another spell, waiting for the perfect moment.
"In my imagination you're waiting, lying on your side."
"With your hands between your thighs."
Amity strummed out a few chords with her guitar, making Boscha's strumming fall silent for a moment. There was the first strum, then the second, and that made me quickly prepare for my cue.
"Stop and wait a sec."
With that third strum, I started tapping my sticks together, occasionally hitting a cymbal. A sudden shower of soft sparkles flowed over the crowd, making them gasp in surprise.
"Oh, when you look at me like that, my darling"
"What did you expect?"
I glanced up at Amity for a moment, noting the neutral look on her face.
"I probably still adore you with your hands around my neck."
"Or I did last time I checked."
Amity stopped singing, but we continued playing our instruments, waiting for her to continue.
"Not shy of a spark."
My pattern changed slightly, now tapping my sticks together and alternating between hitting a cymbal and a tom. A smile slowly found it's way on my face as I stared out at the blurry crowd, noticing them swaying with the beat.
"A knife twists at the thought that I should fall short of the mark."
"Frightened by the bite though it's no harsher than the bark."
"Middle of adventure, such a perfect place to start."
There was a slight pause, then Amity started the chorus, making me change my pattern once again.
"I'm going back to 505."
"If it's a seven hour flight or a forty-five minute drive."
She took a step closer to the mic, a smirk appearing on her lips as her eyes slowly scanned the crowd, which she was seeing a lot clearer than I was due to her position on the stage.
"In my imagination you're waiting, lying on your side"
"With your hands between your thighs."
Another pause, repeating our pattern for a moment, then about halfway through I stopped hitting the drums and just continued to tap my sticks together, occasionally smacking a cymbal before quickly returning to the sticks.
Eventually, Amity's guitar died out, leaving just me and Boscha playing. The blurry crowd seemed to slowly bounce up and down, waiting for the next bit of the song.
"But I crumble completely when you cry!"
Our instruments fell silent, but only for a moment before we all kicked it into gear. The crowd shouted along the lyrics with Amity, making her smirk grow wider.
"It seems like once again you've had to greet me with goodbye!"
"I'm always just about to go and spoil a surprise."
"Take my hands off of your eyes too soon."
I stuck out part of my tongue as I continued to drum, struggling to keep my focus on only my drumming. I knew the song now by heart, I could look up and turn my focus to something else if I wanted.
But I knew if I did that, I would only focus on Amity.
And all memory of the song would fly out the window.
So I kept my focus only on my drums, listening close enough for my cues and nothing more.
"I'm going back to 505."
"If it's a seven hour flight of a forty-five minute drive."
The crowd somehow seemed to get louder, still singing along.
"In my imagination you're waiting, lying on your side"
"With your hands between your thighs and a smile!"
Amity stopped singing, but our instruments kept playing, blazing through the finale of the song. I struck my final pattern and fell silent, Boscha following in my footsteps, leaving Amity playing out the last chords.
The song ended and there was a moment of silence, then the crowd exploded in applause with quite a few whistles thrown in. I could feel the giant smile on my face somehow get bigger as I listened to their claps.
Our singer grabbed the mic, holding it close to her face for a moment but not saying anything. Then, after a minute of probably regaining her breath while the crowd lost their minds, she spoke up. "Glad to see you guys still remember that song! Now, how bout we move to something a little newer?"
The spotlights changed color, slowly shifting from different shades of pinks, purples and blues, meaning that we were starting Prom Night. While we started with the first part of the song, both the twins set off another special effect.
Their effect shot off into the air like fireworks before silently exploding in different colored bird creatures, their colors matching the spotlight's. They gently swooping down above the crowd before disappearing, the crowd watching them in amazement.
We blazed through Prom Night like it was nothing, much to the crowd's excitement. Then, we followed up with our third song, and once that was finished the stage blew up in a cloud of purple smoke and the curtains closed.
I wiped the sweat off of my forehead, panting slightly. The deep announcer voice from earlier said there was a ten minute intermission, and the crowd quickly started talking.
Amity and Boscha started walking backstage, Amity grabbed me by the arm and lifted me up, taking me backstage with them. We met up with the Blight twins, who were holding cups of water for us.
"You guys are doing great!" Emira said, passing off her cups to us. I quickly took a sip, the cool drink was refreshing.
"So are you two." I remarked, making the twins smile. They both chuckled, Edric shrugging his shoulders.
"Hey, we try." He said, turning to Boscha before striking up a small conversation. Emira muttered something to him about setting up effects, then disappeared. Amity turned to me, placing a hand on my shoulder.
She didn't say anything, rather, she shot me a small grin, her ears flapping softly.
Her actions made me smile, a light blush rising to my cheeks that I didn't bother to suppress.
When we all finished our drinks, we slowly made our way back to the stage. "Ready for the last half?" Amity asked, giving me a nudge.
"Are you kidding?" I chuckled, giving her a nudge back. "I've never been more ready in my life! Let's blow them away with our talent!"
That made her laugh, giving me a pat on the back. I took a seat back at my drums, gripping both sticks tightly in my hands. My nerves from earlier weren't as severe now, which was nice.
Once we all made it to our spots, Matt sent a signal to the announcer, and soon enough his voice rang out across the crowd. I twirled my sticks in my hands for a moment, then stopped when the curtains opened, revealing the crowd once again.
Now, it was time to finish the show.