11. Birthday Box (End of Arc 1)

When Marcy arrived at school on Monday she sensed that something was off. She didn't see Anne, Luz, or Sasha before school and when she saw Anne in a class later she looked dispirited and downtrodden. She saw Luz in another class and noticed how she also looked sad; the biggest surprise came at lunch though when she went to sit down and saw Sasha and Anne sitting together but not Luz.

"Hey where's Luz?" she asked.

Sasha turned to Marcy and pointed to a table where Luz was sitting alone.

"Why is she sitting alone instead of with us?" asked Marcy.

"Oh that's right Mar-Mar, you had to leave the dance early so you weren't there," replied Sasha slyly, "Anne do you want to tell her or should I?"

"I don't really want to talk about it," said Anne morosely.

"Luz kissed Anne," said Sasha quickly.

"What?!" said Marcy in surprise.

"Yep, Luz asked her to dance and then while they were dancing decided to force herself onto Anne for the whole school to see. Oh, but don't worry Ms. Bryant put a stop to it, but poor Anne was nearly traumatized by the whole thing," said Sasha.

"Traumatized is maybe a little strong, but in any case I said I don't want to talk about it right now," said Anne.

"What about Luz though?" asked Marcy, "is she ok?"

"Who cares what she feels," said Anne bitterly. This caught the attention of both Marcy and Sasha who looked at Anne with concern.

"Well why don't you go ask her yourself Marcy," said Sasha, "Anne and I will be having a gossip free lunch."

Marcy decided to take Sasha up on her offer and went over to the table where Luz was sitting. Luz wasn't eating and was just looking at her food, she didn't even notice as Marcy came over and placed herself at the table until Marcy said hi.

"Oh hey Marcy, did you talk to Anne already?" asked Luz not really caring.

"I heard Sasha's version of events, I'd like to hear yours," said Marcy kindly.

Luz shrugged her shoulders and looked away. She hadn't talked about what had happened at the dance with anyone, not even her mother, while part of her didn't want to discuss it with anyone, another part of her saw that Marcy was trying to offer her an ear to listen and support so perhaps she should talk to her about it.

"I have to start at the beginning," she said, "it started at the sleepover." Luz took a breath before continuing, "I know that we're all still young and going through puberty, but even so I always found myself attracted to guys. I had one or two crushes at my old school and I told you I think Chris Rivera is cute. But then something happened at the sleepover. Anne leaned up against me and asked if I would be her pillow and then….I can't even really explain it, but at that moment I felt something, that feeling when you get when you're near a guy you like. The butterflies in your stomach when you hold hands with a boy, just a feeling of happiness and contentment you get when you a guy compliments you. I was feeling those feelings…..for a girl……for Anne, and I swear that had never happened before, it was so confusing, but it felt so right! I let her sleep against me and it just felt good! Ever since then I wanted to tell Anne how I feel. I thought the dance would be the perfect opportunity to show her how I felt. It was shortly after you left that I asked Anne to dance and while we were dancing, I guess I got carried away and I just kissed her. After that…..I actually don't want to talk about what happened after that, but Anne was not happy with me and that's the whole story. Sorry I've been rambling for awhile. Well what do you think?"

"Wow that is a lot to take in," said Marcy, "but if this is a lot for me to take in then it must have been even more for you to deal with. I can't imagine what you've been feeling these past few weeks."

"I just, I just, I don't know what to do about all this," said Luz in frustration.

"I don't want to just tell you to get over it or that things will work out, because I don't know that," said Marcy, "but I think you should at the very least consider talking to Anne about this."

"Are you crazy!?" said Luz, "she doesn't want anything to do with me right now."

"But if the two of you don't talk about this at some point then it will just fester between you and it will create bad feelings for you both," said Marcy.

"Even if she wanted to talk to me I have no idea what to say," said Luz exasperated, "also did you not react at all to the fact I just told you I was bisexual?"

"Why should I react?" asked Marcy, "so you're bi, that doesn't change who you are, or what interests we share. We both like the same video games, we both like anime, we both like Azura."

"Azura," said Luz longingly, "you know one of the things I love about reading those books is the fact that I can escape to a fantasy world. A fantasy world where magic is real, a fantasy world where women are powerful, a fantasy world where I don't have to worry about mistakes I make. I would give anything to just open a book and escape into the world of Azura so I didn't have to worry about how I totally screwed up my chances with Anne."

Marcy's eyes lit up at this statement, her eyes shifted a bit before she spoke to Luz, "I feel you Luz, the world we live in is so bland and sometimes I feel there's no place for people like you and me here. But if we lived in a fantasy world, think of what we could do…."

"Do you think we could learn magic? Or becomes knights? Or go on an epic adventure that would test our resolve?" asked Luz finally smiling again.

"Luz….."began Marcy, "if you had the chance right now to leave this world and escape into another one would you take it?"

"Are you kidding?!" said Luz, "of course, yes, one hundred percent for sure!" Luz eyes seemed to light up at this before becoming depressed again, "but of course there's no way for that to happen."

"But what if there was?" asked Marcy

"Huh?" asked Luz.

Marcy shifted uncomfortably in her seat and looked away from Luz before saying, "I mean hypothetically what if there was a way you could open…..say a box…..and when you opened that box, you would be transported to a new world. Would you take that chance?"

"I mean I just said yes," said Luz, "but come on Marcy be real. Something like that isn't going to happen."

Again Marcy shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "well we got a little off topic, but listen I have an idea! Anne's birthday is on Wednesday, why don't I talk to her tomorrow and see if I can smooth things over with her, then, on her birthday, the two of you can talk and hopefully come to an understanding. How does that sound?"

"I…I…just don't know what to say to her," said Luz, "what can I possibly say to her to make this right?"

"I don't know, but you have a day and a half to think about that," replied Marcy, "good luck!"

Anne awoke from her bed on Wednesday morning, normally she would have been excited on this day because it was her birthday! But the past few days had been a bit stressful for her. Anne wanted to enjoy today, but was still feeling down from the events of the dance last Saturday. She hadn't spoken to Luz at all since then, part of her wanted to talk to Luz, but another part didn't want to have anything to do with her anymore. What was even more confusing were the feelings she was having. Anne didn't want to admit it, but a part of her did enjoy the kiss that Luz gave her that night. She was just so surprised about it that she had acted the way she did. Anne couldn't reckon with the duality of the feelings she was having for Luz, partly never wanting to see her again, but also partly wanting to see if perhaps their friendship could become something more. Anne took so long contemplating that soon there was a knock at her door and her mother entered

"Sukhsant wan keid!" said her mother loudly entering her room with a big smile on her face though she was quick to notice Anne's sullen demeanor.

"Anne, are you ok? I thought you'd be excited. It's your birthday your finally 13!" said her mother.

"Oh yeah, I am excited," said Anne trying to hide her sadness, "I was just in shock you know! Still can't believe I'm officially a teenager now!"

"Well get dressed, I've made you breakfast, come down when you're ready," she told Anne. Anne got dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen.

"Your father had to leave early to take care of some things at the restaurant," said her mother, "after that he'll be getting things ready for the party we're having tonight."

"Oh yeah the party," said Anne, honestly Anne wasn't in the mood to party, but she knew how much it meant to her parents.

"Hey mom! The party is not until 6pm right?" asked Anne.

"Yes," said her mom.

"I guess, um would it be cool if I didn't come home from school right away. Maybe I can hang with Sasha and Marcy for a bit to celebrate my birthday with them before I come home?" asked Anne.

"Yeah that's fine, oh and Luz too right?" asked her mother.

That simple statement caused Anne to again feel sad as she muttered, "yeah and Luz too I guess."

"Sweetheart are you okay?" asked her mother with concern in her voice, "Anne I'm your mother I've known you since before you were born. I've noticed that you've been acting strange these past few days. Is something bothering you?"

Anne wanted to tell her mother the truth, she wanted to tell her about what happened at the dance. She wanted to tell her about the strange feelings she was having about Luz. She wanted to ask for her mother's advice on this rather complicated matter, but she also knew her mother had grown up in a world that was not kind to "gay" people. Her mother was of an older generation that didn't understand the problems of today's youth. Her mother loved her, but would she still love her if she told her the whole truth of what had happened that night? Anne decided to try and appease her mom's concerns and tell a little bit of the truth.

"I guess I was a bit bummed after the dance on Saturday, I didn't get asked to dance even once and I guess it did a number on my self esteem, made me wonder if I'm unattractive," said Anne.

"Sweetie come here," said her mom, she pulled her daughter into a tight hug, "you are a bright beautiful young girl. Don't let something like that get you down. Someday you will either find someone who sees you for who you are wants to be with you because of that, or you will be too much for anyone and you can be your best self without anyone else."

Anne couldn't help but smile at her mothers words, smile and even get a little emotional.

"Thanks mom," she said as she hugged her mother tighter. The two eventually separated and although she hadn't told her mother the truth Anne did genuinely feel better having told her mother something. She was about to leave out the door when her mother stopped her

"Oh Anne wait here take this with you," she said handing her daughter a green wrapped snack.

"Ah no way you made me some khao niew bing!" said Anne excitedly.

"Happy Birthday Anne!" said her mother hugging her one more time, "see you tonight for the party!"

"Bye mom!" called Anne as she raced out the door.

Mrs. Boonchuy looked at the door after Anne left, she still couldn't believe how much her child had grown over the years. Now she was thirteen, soon she would be eighteen. At the very least Anne was now in the difficult transition stage between child and adult, even so Mrs. Boonchuy couldn't help but feel emotional at this. She went back to her room to find the silver bracelet she had leant Anne for the dance. Anne was growing up and her mother felt it was time for Anne to have a real piece of jewelry for herself. She decided she would give it to Anne tonight as a gift, it was real silver after all, and she believed every woman should own at least one piece of real jewelry.

"I'll put this in a box and wrap it," she said aloud, "I'll give it to Anne tonight at the party, it will be wonderful to pass on a piece of jewelry from mother to daughter…."

Luz woke up from her slumber, and starred at the ceiling. An alert from her phone caught her attention, as she read it she found herself even more miserable. The notification was reminding her that today was Anne's birthday. Luz looked across her room at the portrait she had worked on of Anne, the one she was originally going to give her as a present for her birthday. She hadn't worked on it since Saturday although it was mostly finished, all it needed were a few touch ups here and there. Luz walked over to her painting and while there was a small desire in her to take the portrait and rip it up, another part of her simply couldn't bear to destroy something that she had worked on. She gazed into the portrait, she felt she had done a good job on capturing Anne's features especially her eyes, her hair, and her smile. Luz had no idea what she would do with the portrait now, it seemed inevitable that any chance of being either lovers or friends with Anne was over. Even so she still wanted to finish it, perhaps she would keep it as a memento. As she was thinking of this her mother knocked on her door and opened it.

"Mija are you up?" she asked.

"Yes I'm up, I was just going to get dressed," said Luz dispiritedly.

"Uh actually take your time Mija, I've got breakfast ready downstairs, don't rush," said her mother.

Luz was a little puzzled by this, usually her mother tried to rush her out the door so that she wouldn't be late to school. Not only that but her mother wasn't dressed for work. Luz got dressed in her school uniform and went downstairs to find her mother waiting for her at the kitchen table. The two of them ate breakfast in relative silence, at some point though Luz looked at her phone and realized how late it was.

"Oh Mom It's after 7:30am!" said Luz in alarm, "shouldn't we get going?"

"No don't worry about that, I already called your school and told them you would be late, likely missing first period," said her mother.

"What! Why?" asked Luz.

"Because we need to talk," said her mother sternly.

Oh no, thought Luz, the school called her and told her about what happened. What am I gonna do?!

"Talk about what," said Luz trying not to sound suspicious.

"Luz," began her mother, "Something has been bothering you. I noticed it on Saturday when I picked you up from the dance, your mood was entirely different than normal. I didn't say anything that night because I wanted to see if you would bring it up, but ever since then you've seemed depressed and out of sorts. You haven't talked about it yet so I decided I would bring it up now. Did something happen at the dance? Did the kids make fun of you for your otter costume?'"

Oh she doesn't know the truth, thought Luz feeling relieved, but what should I say to her? I hate lying to mom, but can I tell her what happened? I'd have to tell her I'm bisexual, would that be too much for her to handle?

Luz's mind was racing as she tried to think of what to say, what can I tell her that isn't an outright lie? Finally she settled on telling her mother the truth, from a certain point of view.

"Okay," began Luz, "I'll tell you what happened. It actually wasn't the otter costume. In fact Marcy and Anne both liked it," Luz paused as she recalled how Anne had said she looked cute in that costume.

"I was dancing with a boy, and I liked this boy he's pretty cute I've had a crush on him," Luz continued, "anyway we were dancing and then he…..kissed me while we were dancing."

"What?! Mija that's terrible! He forced himself on you! What happened after that?" said her mother with concern in her voice.

"One of the chaperones saw what happened," continued Luz, "they…..they kicked him out for that. They asked if I was ok and I told them I was, but I guess it affected me more than I thought."

"Oh mija come here," said her mother as she approached Luz and wrapped her in a warm embrace, "I had no idea, I'm so sorry that happened to you." Luz accepted the hug but couldn't shake the feeling of guilt she had over lying to her mother. She had to ask more questions.

"Mom, listen for a second," began Luz, "I know it was wrong of that guy to do that, but well I kind of liked it, and like I said I did have a crush on him, was it still wrong?"

"Of course it was wrong Mija," said her mother, "if he liked you he should have said something to you. He should have asked you out on a date. You can't just kiss someone you like while dancing, that's not right." Luz winced as she heard her mother say those words.

"It's just I want to try and empathize with him a bit mommy," said Luz, "what if he was just really shy and didn't know how to say he liked me."

"Mija, I know you have a big heart, but you shouldn't be defending a boy like that, even if you had a crush on him. Do I need to call the school and talk with them about this?" asked her mother.

"No!" said Luz a little too hastily, she paused before adding, "Mama I understand what the boy did was wrong, but I also want to know if you think I should forgive him for this. If he came and told me he was sorry, what should I do?"

"I would say that if he truly is sorry it's fine if you want to forgive him, but you have to be sure that he's being sincere in his apology and not just saying it because a teacher or his parents made him." advised her mother.

"How would I know if his apology is sincere?" asked Luz, "what should I be looking for to know if it's real?"

"Listen to what he says, look in his eyes when he apologizes, look at his actions, remember actions speak louder than words," said her mother, "does he actually do anything to improve his behavior towards you?"

Luz listened to her mother as she tried to think of how she could apply what she was saying to Anne. They talked a bit more about school and how Luz was doing. Luz told her mother she was fine, even if that wasn't true, Luz did feel slightly better talking to her mother. They finished their breakfast in better spirits and Luz got ready to go to school. Eventually Luz and her mother left the house and Camilla dropped her daughter off at school. First period was just about over so Luz went to her next class, though as she was walking through the halls she thought she heard voices, she peered around one hall and spotted Anne and Sasha talking.

"Forget the sick room, forget school, lets get out of here and celebrate your birthday in style," said Sasha

"Oooff skip school, I don't know Sash," said Anne clearly unsure about this.

"Anne this is your 13th birthday you only get one of these, besides I can tell from your mood your still bummed about what happened at the dance. Skipping is not just about celebrating your birthday, but also about cheering you up. I want to help you forget about Luz, I want to help you be your normal self again."

"You're right I am still bummed about that, and while a part of me doesn't want to talk to Luz, I also kind of wish she's at least apologize to me about it," said Anne, "honestly what bothers me more is the fact that she won't talk to me about it. Though another part of me doesn't even really want to ever talk to her again."

"You deserve an apology for sure," said Sasha, "but in the meantime let's get out of here and go party!"

"Alright, I gotta be home by 6pm though, my parents are throwing me a big party and they really want me to be there," said Anne.

"Right, right you got it," said Sasha dismissively, "now lets get this thing started!"

With that the two girls raced down the hall out of site, and out of the school to go celebrate, leaving Luz alone in the hall to think about what she had heard them say.

At lunch Luz found Marcy sitting in the usual spot, she wasn't surprised to not see Anne or Sasha, but she was surprised to see Marcy on her phone looking up something and muttering under her breath.

"No good rasan frasan, Uh I get that it's here in LA, I want to know where exactly in LA it is," she grumbled to her phone.

"Hey Marcy, what are you doing?" asked Luz as she sat down next to her.

"Oh Luz, hey," greeted Marcy quickly hiding her phone, "looks like it's just you and me today."

"Oh you heard that Anne and Sasha ditched," said Luz.

"Sasha sent me a text, says she wants to meet up later," said Marcy.

"Yeah I didn't get a text," said Luz bitterly.

"Oh about that, as it so happens Sasha asked me for a location to meet up, and if I pick it then I can tell you about it. Then you could meet us there and have a talk with Anne," suggested Marcy.

"Uh I don't know about this," said Luz, "I mean I tried thinking about what to say, but I still can't think of anything."

"Luz I know things between you and Anne are awkward right now, but if you don't at least try to smooth things over with her then things will only get worse. Oh I have an idea, why don't you text your mom and tell her you'll be hanging with us tonight. This way you can come to where we're going to meet up and then have a talk with Anne," said Marcy.

"I just feel so scared," said Luz, "I don't think I can do this."

"It's okay, you don't have to worry, I'll be there too, all you have to do is speak from the heart and it will all work out," said Marcy. At that moment she got an alert on her phone and went to look at it. Curious to see what she was doing Luz took a look at her phone, she noticed a picture of what looked like a music box of some kind.

"Hey a Mar-Mar what was that thing you were trying to find earlier?" asked Luz.

"Oh this," said Marcy showing the picture to Luz, "I was trying to find a birthday gift for Anne, I think I found a good one what do you think?"

Luz looked at the picture on Marcy's phone, it was an ornate box that looked to be made of gold and jewels. It had an image of what looked to be a frog on it. Most prominent though were the jewels that were on the box. Luz could see four jewels: a red, a blue, a green, and a purple jewel all grouped together in the upper left corner on the box. If those gems were real, the box was likely worth hundreds of dollars!

"I think that gift might be a bit out of your price range Marcy," said Luz, "especially if those gems are real, they do look shiny."

"Well maybe I can get a discount on it, but never-mind that," said Marcy, "tell you what Luz, I know what will sweeten the deal. How about if you and I hang out after school until about 6pm? We can go to the library and work on the next chapter of your fanfic. If I help you with that will you come with me to meet Anne?"

"You know writing always did help me get out of a funk," said Luz, "and I have been looking to work more on that story. Ok you've got a deal!"

After school the two girls went to the library where they spent time working on Luz's fanfic. They made some good progress, though at one point Marcy got a text from her father and had to leave for a bit.

"I shouldn't be gone too long Luz," said Marcy to Luz before leaving, "I'll call you with the meet-up location later."

A short while later Luz did indeed receive a call from Marcy, though there was something off about the way Marcy was talking.

"Hey Luz are you there?" asked Marcy quickly and frantically.

"Yeah I'm here," replied Luz.

"Okay great! Listen there's a park near downtown, I'll text you the address, meet us there." instructed Marcy.

"Marcy are you okay?" asked Luz, "you sound a bit nervous, is everything alright?"

Marcy took a deep breath before replying, "everything is going to be just fine Luz."

Time seemed to fly by and before long the 6 o'clock hour approached. Luz left the library and headed towards the rendezvous point. She arrived and began to wait for Marcy and the others to show up. Though it took a lot longer than Luz thought it would. At one point she even got a text from her mother asking her how much longer she would be out. Luz saw the text but decided to ignore it. She was trying to clear her head and focus on her inevitable confrontation with Anne.

I'll text mama back after I talk to Anne, thought Luz.

Finally she saw the other three girls round a corner, they noticed her immediately, and Sasha was the first to comment.

"What is she doing here?" she asked in an accusatory tone.

"I invited her here," said Marcy, sticking up for Luz, "Anne, Luz here wants to talk to you. Sasha why don’t we leave them alone for a bit."

"Actually I think this will be a very short conversation," said Sasha.

"What?" said Marcy in shock.

"Oh Anne and I were talking while we hung out today, I think Anne knows exactly what she wants to say to Luz," said Sasha with a grin.

"Luz," began Anne, as she walked up to Luz, "if you came here to apologize then save your breath. I've had a conversation with Sasha, and she gave me some good advice. I think….I think we shouldn't be friends anymore."

Luz felt as though she had just been stabbed in the heart with an icicle. She didn't think it possible but hearing Anne say that somehow hurt even worse than the night of the dance. Already she was fighting back tears as she tried to think of something anything to say in response to that.

"Well now that that's settled," said Sasha, "let's open up that box and see if there's anything good in it, Anne."

Luz saw out of the corner of her eye Anne take out a box from her backpack, it was the same one that Marcy had shown her earlier. How in the world had she been able to get it for Anne? Luz hardly had any time to dwell on this though as Anne in one swift motion opened the lid on the box.

Luz saw a bright rainbow colored flash of lights emerge from the box, it danced and flashed like lighting around the girls. After a second a bright flash of white engulfed her vision.

When Luz opened her eyes again she discovered she was no longer in the park. Although she was still a bit woozy from the light burst in her eyes she slowly started to take in her surroundings. It looked like she was in a swap of some kind. There were strange plants and watery bogs as far as the eye could see. Luz got up (having landed in the water) the first thing she noticed was how dirty she was. There was mud all over her school uniform and she could feel water leaking into her shoes getting her tights and feet wet and soggy. Luz looked around some more just to confirm that she was indeed not seeing things. After her surroundings didn't change she began to call out for her friends.

"Sasha!" she yelled, "are you out there?" no response.

"Marcy!" she yelled, "Marcy do you hear me?" no response.

"Anne," she said softly, before increasing her volume, "Anne, I know you don't want to be friends anymore, but will you please at least let me know if you are alright?" no response.

"Anne I'm sorry I really am sorry for what I did at the dance," said Luz on the verge of tears, "if you hate me then you can go ahead and hate me. But please at least let me know that you are ok. If you let me know you're fine I promise you can hate me all you want. I won't ever bother you again." the tears began to flow out her eyes.

"But please let me know you're okay!" she yelled.

"Please let me know you're okay," she said almost in a whisper.

In desperation Luz pulled out her cell phone and tried to call her mother, only to instantly be told her phone had no service. Luz looked around and noticed quite a few giant bugs. If the bugs of this world were that big, she shuddered to think of the size of the whatever ate those bugs were. The situation was quickly looking hopeless, Luz didn't know what to do. Finally she broke down and cried, not just because of losing Anne, but because the realization was setting in that she herself was lost, and likely very far from home….