Chapter 9: A Photo, A Box, and A Mirror

Luz Noceda sat on her bed in her room, thinking. She had been doing a lot of that over the past few weeks. She had also spent a lot of time on the internet, searching various terms and even chatting (anonymously) with various people online. Luz had been asking a lot of questions about herself ever since that incident at the sleepover two weeks ago. She still couldn't quite explain it, but somehow she found herself attracted to Anne.

What was most puzzling about this was the fact that she had never before felt an attraction to a female. Luz had watched a great deal of anime and had always found herself attracted to the guys in it, especially that one anime about alchemy. She had played many games and was again drawn to the male heroes, especially that one where a great evil known as Sin was going to destroy the whole world. Heck, she had even written fanfiction in which her self insert OC character had made out with the Prince from Azura (in very long and descriptive detail). Why, all of a sudden, did she now find herself attracted to Anne?

These feelings had been weird, but what was even weirder was that school was starting tomorrow. It would be the first time Luz would see Anne since the sleepover. Luz wondered how she would react. Would Anne say something to her? Should she say something to Anne? Many questions replayed in her head over and over. Luz turned her attention to her computer, where she had read a few stories online about various people who had "come out" to their friends and family. Some stories were sad, with their parents getting angry or even disowning them. Some were happy, with their parents and friends saying they already knew or didn't care (in a good way). One particularly funny story had a parent reply to their son coming out as gay by responding, "Oh, come on, I don't care about that. I thought you were going to tell me you were a Republican!" Luz had chuckled at that one.

In her head, Luz tried to think of what she would tell her mother. Luz was pretty certain she wasn't gay. Her research on the internet led her to believe that she was, in fact, bisexual. What would her mother think? Her mother was a pretty progressive person in her attitudes and politics, but she had also been raised Catholic, and the Catholic Church was, at best, trying to have it both ways, saying gays were "god's children", but still refusing to honor or perform gay marriages. It seemed as though Luz's life had gotten a lot more complicated since that night at the sleepover.

One thing at a time, thought Luz. First, I need to know for sure if what happened at the sleepover was a fluke or a one-time thing. Maybe when I see Anne tomorrow, I won't feel anything. Maybe then this whole thing will be over, and I won't have to worry about it anymore. With that, Luz crawled into bed and did her best to purge the wild thoughts from her mind to try to go to sleep.

Luz and her mother arrived a bit early at her school. Before Camila dropped her daughter off, she handed her something.

"Oh, Mija, I meant to give this to you earlier. I saw it on sale during back-to-school shopping and thought you'd like it," she said. Luz took the objects. It was a sketch pad and a set of nice colored pencils.

"Wow, these are really good quality," said Luz in amazement as she examined the sketchbook and pencils.

"I feel you've come a long way since getting expelled last year. I've seen how happy you are now that you have a group of friends to hang out with. You really have grown, Mija. I think you deserve something like this to help cultivate your artistic talents." said Camila.

"Gracias, mama," said Luz.

"Have a great first day!" called her mother as she drove away. Luz opened her sketchbook and immediately began experimenting with the pencils to see how they felt. She was so busy trying them out that she didn't notice Anne approaching her.

"Hey, Luz, there you are. Are you ready for eighth grade?" asked Anne as she offered Luz a high five.

"Oh, yeah," said Luz nervously. "Now we're finally at the top of the school!" Luz returned the high five, only to be surprised as Anne grabbed her hand and spun her around like they were dancing. Luz almost fell over and tried to play it off, but she could feel her cheeks blushing, though Anne seemed not to have noticed.

"You okay there, Luz?" asked Anne.

"Oh, yeah, I'm great," said Luz. "How have you been since…" Luz trailed off, realizing what she had said.

"The sleepover," Anne finished. "Oh, I've been great. Thanks again for being my pillow. Hope it wasn't uncomfortable having me on top of you."

"Oh, no, not at all," replied Luz, rather quickly and nervously. "I'm glad I was able to help."

"Well, here we are in 8th grade. Do you feel any different, Luz?" asked Anne.

"Oh, you could say that," said Luz nervously.

"Oh, look, there's Marcy and Sasha." Anne had noticed the other girls and waved them over.

Sasha was full of energy as she approached the girls. "Hey, girls, good to see you all here. Now, I know it's the first day of school, but there are two major events coming up that we have got to start planning for. The first is the fall dance."

"There's a dance coming up?" asked Luz rather loudly.

"Yes," replied Sasha, "it's in two weeks, and shortly after that is…"

"My birthday!" exclaimed Anne.

"Yes, and it will be an excellent birthday, for sure," said Sasha. "But first things first, the dance. Now I want all of you to send me pics of your clothes so I can help coordinate what you'll be wearing for the dance. I'll also need to know what nail polish and lipstick colors you have. Don't any of you worry. I will make sure and help you look fine for this evening."

"I, uh… actually don't have any make-up," said Luz, somewhat embarrassingly. The girls all looked at her. For a brief second, Luz felt small and insignificant.

"Oh, don't worry about that," said Sasha warmly. "I can lend you some. I have a lot."

"It's okay, Luz," said Marcy. "I don't have a wide selection of polish either. I tend to stick with a few basic colors. Oh, I have this really cool green, though. It's called Emerald." Marcy showed off her fingers, revealing the emerald green polish on her nails.

"Eh, you don't really need it," said Anne. "I don't really wear it either. I think we look good without it, don't you, Luz?"

Luz's stomach once again felt light and fluttery at hearing Anne say she didn't need makeup.

"In any case, we still have two weeks to figure this out. But I also thought that to mark this occasion, for the first day of 8th grade, we should get a picture of the four of us. We are, after all, Best Friends Forever! Hey, Margo, get over here," Sasha called to a red-headed girl standing a few feet away.

"Yeah, what do you want, Sasha?" asked the girl as she approached.

"I want you to take a picture of the four of us," said Sasha, handing Maggie her phone. "Get close, girls!"

Sasha, Anne, Marcy, and Luz all came together for the photo. They all smiled for the camera, all of them happy and ready to capture this moment in a picture. Maggie took a few on the phone before handing it back to Sasha.

"I'll send you all a copy, don't worry, but I think I'll also print one out for each of us. That way, you have something to keep in your locker or keep with you as a memento, and so that you remember that we are… best friends FOREVER!." declared Sasha.

For most of the day, Luz didn't see Anne. At lunch, she was surprised to see her sitting alone. Anne explained that Sasha was using her lunch break to practice for cheer tryouts, and Marcy had said she was busy looking up something online.

"Sasha's real devoted to her cheerleading," explained Anne. "She was training hard over the summer. She really wants to be captain."

"You think she will?" asked Luz.

"The tryouts are today after school, so we'll see. That's why she wants to use any spare moment she has to train," said Anne.

"So, Anne, do you want anything for your birthday?" asked Luz.

"Eh, I haven't thought about that too much," replied Anne. "My parents said they want to throw me a party. Actually, Marcy said she was trying to find me a gift online, but honestly, it's cool. You guys don't have to get me anything."

"But what if I want to?" asked Luz.

"Nah, don't worry about that, dude," said Anne. "Tell you what, the four of us will hang out and do something later. That can be your birthday present to me."

"Yeah, that would be great!" said Luz. "But well, I still want to get you something."

"Aw, that's sweet of you, Luz," said Anne, causing Luz to blush, "but it's cool. Besides, we're still kids. It's not like we have that much money."

Luz thought for a moment before saying, "What if I could get you something that didn't cost any money?"

"Huh?" asked Anne, surprised.

Luz pulled out her new sketchbook to show Anne. "My mom gave this to me today. And hey, I need a subject to practice on. What if I drew a portrait of you?"

"What, really?" asked Anne, surprised at this offer. "I mean, are you sure you want me to be the subject of your art?" Anne hesitated and looked away from Luz, a seed of self-doubt forming in her, before continuing, "Plus, I bet you could find a better-looking model than me."

"No, I couldn't!" said Luz rather quickly. Luz realized just how fast she had said it and tried to play it off. "I mean, if you don't want to, that's fine, but I think you'd make a great subject for me to try to draw. Can I get a good picture of your face?"

"Well, I guess if you really want to," said Anne. She smiled and posed for the picture as Luz brought out her camera, being careful to take the best possible picture she could as she would need it as a reference for the portrait.

"Don't make me look ugly," joked Anne.

"That would be impossible," whispered Luz under her breath.

"Huh? What did you say?" asked Anne.

"Nothing!" replied Luz quickly, trying to talk to Anne about something else. "So, uh, Anne, have you ever felt… I don't know."

"Felt what now?" asked Anne.

"I, uh… Sorry, I lost my train of thought there," said Luz. "What I meant to say was… Have you ever…" Luz again stopped, unable to finish her question.

"Are you okay, Luz?" asked Anne, concerned for her friend.

"I just… I was having some thoughts about myself. I've been feeling… weird feelings, and…" Luz trailed off again, not able to say what she wanted to say.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Anne, concern on her face. "You know, you once told me that friends should be able to talk about difficult things with each other. Well, if there's something going on with you, feel free to let me know." Anne put her hand on Luz's, trying to comfort her, though this only served to make Luz even more nervous as she felt the warmth from Anne's hand and the tenderness of her touch.

Luz was glad that at that moment Marcy returned to the table, telling the girls about something she had found online.

"So check this out, guys," began Marcy as she read something on her phone. "Do you read creepy pastas?"

"Yeah," said Luz and Anne together.

"I found this one about a cursed treasure box," said Marcy. "They say it's a box that has treasure and jewels in it, but every person who's ever owned it has mysteriously vanished. According to the story, people would take possession of this box, and then a few days later, they would vanish without a trace. This box has shown up at various garage and estate sales, as well as auctions and raffles. I'll send you the full story. But the craziest part is that, according to the story, the last person who owned it lived here in Los Angeles. It could be somewhere here in this city, waiting for the next person to find it. The story says it's cursed, but it also says that there may be a way to end the curse and then claim the treasure. With that treasure, you could be rich beyond your wildest dreams!"

"Sounds like a Twilight Zone episode," said Luz. "The box has treasure in it, which is what causes people to seek it out, but then they get ahold of it and suddenly they disappear. I think that creepy-pasta is trying to warn you against being greedy."

"I think you've been reading too many creepy pastas, Marcy," said Anne. "You know that they're all fake, right?"

"I know some of them are fake, but how do we know that some of them aren't real?" asked Marcy.

"I mean, even if that one were real, it sounds like getting that box would be a bad idea," said Luz.

"Unless we could break the curse," suggested Marcy, "then we could have the treasure."

"Ha! That would be nice," said Anne. "Now that would be a great birthday present."

At this statement, Marcy's eyes lit up.

"But it will never happen," finished Anne. "Though, Mar-Mar, if you're into creepy pastas, I know a real good one about a video monster that traps you in its video if you watch it. Want me to send it to you?"

"Oh, sure, that'd be great!" said Marcy, somewhat distracted.

At the end of the day, Marcy, Anne, and Luz waited by the gym for Sasha, who had her cheer captain tryout, and they wanted to hear how she did. It didn't take long for Sasha to emerge in her cheerleader uniform.

"So how'd it go, Sasha?" asked Anne.

"Ahem, that's Captain Sasha to you now!" said Sasha slyly.

All the girls cheered at this news and gave Sasha a series of high-fives to congratulate her!

"Way to go, Sasha!" said Anne

"Knew you could do it!" said Luz

"You're gonna be the best cheer captain ever!" said Marcy.

"Oh, I already know that!" said Sasha. "But hey, that's just the beginning for me. Can't wait to see what the rest of the year holds. Oh, hey, girls, before I forget, here, I got a friend from the computer lab to print us out copies of that picture I took this morning. Here you go."

Sasha handed a copy of the picture to the other girls. Luz took her copy and smiled at it. She was standing next to Anne with her arm around her. Anne had closed her eyes for the picture but was still smiling and giving a peace sign. Sasha was on the other side of Anne, and Marcy was next to Sasha. Luz wasn't sure what she'd do with this picture—maybe keep it in her locker or maybe keep it with her.

"Oh, this is definitely a keeper," said Anne. With that, she took a purple marker out of her bag and wrote on her picture, BFFS, and drew a heart next to it for good measure. She handed the marker to Marcy, who did the same with her photo before handing it to Sasha. Sasha then handed it to Luz when she was done. When the girls were done, they brought their matching pictures together and looked at them.

"May this moment be the beginning of a great and wonderful year for the four of us," said Sasha.

"Here, here!" said the other girls in unison.

"So, don't forget, girls, send me pictures of what clothes you want to wear to the dance and the type of makeup you have. And Luz, I'll bring some of my makeup for you. A little bit of eye shadow, the right color of lipstick, and good nail polish, and then you won't look so plain for the dance; maybe I can even help you spice up your everyday look."

That statement hit Luz like a ton of bricks. She tried her best not to show it, but on the inside, she was hurting. She tried to laugh it off, though, and not show any pain.

"Yeah, ha, right," she said. "Thanks, Sasha. I appreciate you looking out for me."

When Luz got home, she tried not to go and look at herself directly in the mirror. But unfortunately, she found herself unable to resist. She opened her bathroom door and took a long look at herself, especially her face in the mirror.

Am I plain? She thought. What does that even mean? Does Anne think I'm plain? I've never worn makeup before. If I wore it, would Anne find me more attractive?

Luz continued to stare at herself in the mirror. As she had started growing up, Luz had done her best to try not to succumb to body shaming. She had purposefully avoided reading any sort of beauty magazine and had always tried to be happy with the body she had. Now, however, after Sasha's comment, she found herself wondering if there was something wrong with her. Something she should change. These thoughts didn't last long, though, as new thoughts entered her mind, allowing her to regain her confidence. She told herself that she had her own style and her own way of doing things. She had a look that worked for her and one that she was proud of. She reminded herself that Anne had actually said she looked fine without makeup. That feeling she had gotten around Anne wasn't a fluke; it wasn't a one-time thing. She now knew for certain that she had a crush on her friend! All she had to do was come up with a plan for how to confess her feelings to Anne! And the upcoming dance would be the perfect setting for doing that, just like in all those teen movies!

Finally, though, Luz regained her composure and said to her reflection: "Yo soy una chica fuerte, no importa lo que algien dice de ti!"("I'm a strong girl, no matter what someone says about you!"