Chapter Text

Chapter 1: A friend (?) in need.

It was a warm spring day at the Luna Nova academy for witches. A gentle breeze was blowing through the school, carrying with it the suffocating heat of the sun and the sweet scent of flowers and grass. The birds chirped happily on the trees, the bees and butterflies searched for the sweet nectar of the surrounding flowers, and the annoying mosquitoes tried their best to bite the unsuspecting witches. The semester had just started a few days ago, so there wasn’t much activity as of yet; mostly students catching up with their friends and getting re-accustomed to their life at school.

However, laying on the grass at the courtyard was a solitary girl taking a break after having spent almost an hour showing off her exceptional flying abilities to the impressionable new students, earning herself yet another bunch of admirers. Yes, Amanda O'Neil might not be as popular as Diana, but she still had quite a few fans of her own.

Normally she would be catching up with her two roommates, or at least chatting with her other friends of the red team, but fate had conspired against her. Akko was in the infirmary after she’d fallen off of her broom, and her worried teammates were with her, along with Diana. Amanda had paid her a visit earlier, but she didn’t see the point in staying when the nurse had insisted only one of them could be at her side at a time, forcing them to take turns. So after wishing her a swift recovery and making a couple of jokes at her expense, she’d left.

Constanze, on the other hand, was working on some kind of new design for stanbot to allow him to take advantage of the new excess of magic in the world, so it was better not to disturb her. Jasminka had gone to town to buy some ingredients for a new recipe she wanted to try, and Hannah and Barbara… yeah, she’d rather be alone than spend even one second with either one of those two. Or worse: both.

It’s not like she hated them, exactly. But they were too girly for her liking. Too snobby. Too bratty. Too rich. They were, in summary, everything she was supposed to be but wasn’t.

She only tolerated them because they were friends with her friends, but she never talked to them directly, and they didn’t talk to her either, which was honestly best for everyone.

So a solitary Amanda closed her eyes as she relaxed to the sound of the wind, wishing to forget about all her worries and responsibilities for a least a couple more hours… but then her peace was rudely interrupted by a loud and high pitched voice that came from someone who had decided to stand next to where she was laying.

“O’Neill.” Hannah called as greeting, her voice being as irritating as usual.

Amanda only opened one eye and regarded her for a moment before closing it again and answering in a nonchalant tone.

“What’s up, England? Where’s your shadow? Did you forget to stich her to your soles?” She was obviously referring to Hannah’s best friend Barbara, since they were rarely seen apart from each other.

“She’s busy.” Hannah answered courtly, unamused by the American’s jokes. “And anyways, I wanted to talk to you.” She then sat down next to Amanda, which piqued the other girl’s interest. This was new.

“’bout what?” Amanda asked, finally opening her eyes and eyeing her with barely dissimulated curiosity.

“Well…” Hannah started, but then frowned as she looked down at the grass. After a moment she nervously started to pull it off the ground like it had personally offended her. “I just… uhm.” She grimaced, and Amanda had to fight the urge to tease her for looking so uncomfortable, least she decided to leave without giving her any more information. “Y-you like girls, right?” She finally said, averting her gaze.

Amanda felt her heart skip a beat with something akin to anticipation and hope. Sure, she had many admirers, but most of them were straight, and those who weren’t usually already were in a relationship, or just weren’t Amanda’s type. So the possibility of her being liked by someone else, someone new she hadn’t even considered, was nice. Plus, Hannah was one of the most beautiful girls in the school and also very feminine, which was a good contrast to Amanda’s more masculine attitude… even if her bitchy personality could be a problem.

Still, the redhead had to tell herself to calm down and not get her hopes too high, reasoning Hannah probably wasn’t about to ask her out… right?

“Uh… yeah? Why do you…?” Amanda cleared her throat when she felt her voice cracking a bit with nervousness. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, it’s just… you see, I…” Hannah blushed, again resorting to torture the poor grass in an attempt to calm down. “I like a boy.”

“Okay?” Well, now Amanda was more confused than ever before. That wasn’t what she’d expected her to say at all.

“I don’t know who he is though; I only have his picture and I need to find him!” She pretty much whined.

“And why come to me?” Amanda raised an eyebrow. “I’m the gayest girl in this academy, so literally anyone else would be a better choice for seeking boy advice. Barbara, for example.”

“I already asked her.” Hannah explained, her shoulders tensing in frustration. “And Diana too, but they’ve never seen him! And I don’t want to ask anyone else because I’m afraid they’ll steal him from me.”

“So you came to me because you know I’m gay and I wouldn’t be interested.” Amanda said, figuring out the rest. Hannah just nodded, at least having the decency to look a little bit ashamed. “Alright.” The American sighed, sitting up and extending her hand towards the other girl. “Let me see this guy who’s handsome enough to make you resort to such extremes to find him.”

Hannah immediately reached into her pocket and pulled a folded photo out of it before placing it on Amanda’s waiting hand. The redhead unfolded it with utter disinterest and looked into it… only to find something she really hadn’t been expecting. At all. Not even in her wildest dreams.

It was a picture of herself dressed like a boy. She vaguely remembered Akko having taken it during the past summer break at the request of some of Amanda’s fans, but she never imagined Hannah of all people would have one. And besides, if she had been the one to ask Akko for a picture of Amanda dressed like a boy, she wouldn’t be searching for this “handsome guy”, right? So…

“W-where did you get this?” Amanda asked nervously, her cheeks blushing brightly.

“I don’t know.” Hannah huffed in annoyance. “It just appeared one day inside my drawer, during the past summer break.”

“R-right.” Of course she didn’t remember anything! How many times had time been reset? She’d have to ask Akko later how on Earth had Hannah England of all people came into possession of one of those photos. For now though, she had a heart to break.

“You’re blushing.” Hannah commented, wearing an odious smirk. “Is he handsome enough to turn the self-proclaimed gayest girl in school straight?” She teased.

“Heck no!” Amanda immediately answered, absolutely offended Hannah was even suggesting that. But then she remembered the real reason she was blushing (a.k.a. Hannah having a crush on her without even knowing it) and had to deviate her gaze and clear her throat in order to speak as normally as possible. “The real reason I’m blushing is…” She sighed. Poor Hannah, she didn’t want to do this, but she knew it was necessary. “I know who he is.”

“Really?!” Hannah asked, coming dangerously close to the other girl, as her entire face lighted up in happiness and stars practically shined on her eyes.

“Y-yeah…” Wow, Hannah looked so beautiful when she was smiling like that, without any malice. How had she never noticed before? Oh right! Because she was a bitch.

Okay O'Neill focus; just take a deep breath and tell her the bad news. The sooner the better.

“H-he… he's…”

“Wait, don’t tell me!” Hannah interrupted her. “He’s your brother, right?!”

“Huh?” Okay, this was getting out of control.

“I knew it!” Hannah yelled, practically radiating excitement and happiness. “You both have the same dumb hair, but it looks wickedly good on him.”

“Hey!”

“I’m sorry, O'Neill, but it’s the truth.” The girl answered, condescendingly patting her shoulder. “You’re really not my type.” Well, now that hurt... why did it hurt? “Will you give me his number?” Hannah kept asking without giving her a moment to answer. “Better yet, will you give him my number? I want him to ask me out! Just tell him a beautiful girl is interested in him and, if he’s smart, he’ll take the chance.”

Okay, this is too much, you have to say something!

“Wait… he’s single, right? Well, if he isn’t just tell him to break up with her. I’m sure I’m a better option anyways.”

Freaking say something Amanda! It’s not that hard.

“He’s single.” Amanda managed to croak out somehow.

Not that!

“Perfect!” Hannah answered with a wide grin. “Then just give him my number, will you?”

Tell her! Tell her!

“S-sure.” If Amanda could move a muscle she probably would have slapped herself in that moment, but she seemed to have turned into stone.

“Thank you!” Hannah exclaimed, practically throwing herself at her in an enthusiastic hug. And sure, Amanda had hugged tons of pretty girls before, but as she inhaled Hannah's scent and felt the heat of her body pressed against her, she felt something… different. Was it because she knew Hannah liked her male alter-ego? Or was it something more?

Either way, she didn’t have much time to reflect on that, since Hannah quickly let go of her and pulled a pen out of her pocket, instantly taking Amanda’s hand and scribbling something on it. The feeling of the pen against her skin gave Amanda the good kind of chills for some reason.

“Here’s my number.” Hannah said once she finished writing it down. “Please give it to him a soon as possible, okay? I can’t wait to hear his voice!” The poor American girl could only nod in response, absolutely overwhelmed because of what was happening. “You’re the best!” She said as she hugged her again (damn, Hannah was awfully touchy that day, which was absolutely not helping her gay brain), but this time she got up as she let go of her and practically ran away radiating an aura of excitement, which was honestly odd on her. A good odd. Adorable even.

Amanda watched her go feeling very conflicted, especially when she looked down at the numbers written on her palm in perfect penmanship.

“Fuck.” She could only say as she let herself fall back to the ground.

Just what did I get myself into?