"Well, looks who's here."
I didn't bother to gaze up to know who was coming.
It was already obvious, what with the screaming fan-girls and whatever else; I knew perfectly well who it was. Who wouldn't, anyway?
Gracing his presence was something of a daily routine for most of the students here in Magnolia High, and I wondered why no one had gotten tired of it over these past four years. Anyhow, let me tell you something about the person I was reffering to.
I knew you're guessing; trust me, you were far from the truth. He wasn't a Hollywood actor, a billionaire, or a star athlete. Or even someone who could perform miracles like walking through walls or something. In fact, he didn't apply to any of the above. In actuality, he was even more attractive and desirable than all of that put together.
He was the Prince.
But here's the deal breaker: he never came from a royal family.
Confused? No, you're not. How many times have you seen someone so ruthlessly exposed in the limelight? So much that they might as well have actually been freaking royalty? After all, he certainly looked the part: tall, handsome, well built; well read.
He had those cute little dimples with the gorgeous eyes and stunning smile to match. The shine you got from those straight pearly whites could blind you if you even dared to look long enough. No, he didn't have a white horse, but he had the next best thing: a deadly, unbeatable red Porsche. Most girls would die just to stand next to it.
In short, Natsu Dragneel was the very epitome of a Prince: the most dashing and unobtainable young man on the face of the planet.
And all I could think to do was to roll my eyes at him.
Prince, my ass.
"Once upon a time, there was peace, and now it was unfortunately over." I slammed my book shut and let out an exasperated sigh. Honestly, I wasn't the bookish type, which explained why hardly a single piece of information had registered in my mind while reading. Let's just say I'd only picked the boom up in an effort to avoid his unshakable presence.
"Lis, come on. Let's get outta here," I said to my best friend Lisanna Strauss, who was busy stargazing at Natsu.
"Already? Why?" the whitehead asked. "We only just sat down."
"Oh please, don't even ask. You clearly know the reason why."
She glanced at him again, and returned to me with a playful smile growing on her lips, "Whatever you say, Lucy."
But before we could escape and enter the over-crowded school building, footsteps came rushing behind and someone slung their muscular arms around my shoulders. Despite managing to avoid his existence for a whole four minutes, I knew that my grace period had just ended.
Speak of the devil and he shall appear...
"Hey, Lucy! So why are you ignoring me, huh? I've tried calling you a couple times already."
I hastily pulled away from him, turning around; I put up my best sarcastic expression. I didn't want to face hi, but it's not like I could avoid it forever. There stood the salmon-haired guy, within his infectious ever-charming aura. Good thing I was already immune to that.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Didn't see you there," I said scornfully.
That's it. Bring out the sarcasm, like we practiced.
"But wait, how did you get here? Did someone leave your cage open?"
Score!
He let out a soft whistle of self-pity. "Well someone's pretty grouchy today," he uttered nonchalantly, averting his dark onyx eyes away from my own piercing stare of despise.
"It's because I have allergies," I informed him.
"Allergy? To what?" he asked. No, he wasn't obvious to the fact that I disliked him. Actually he was just mocking the whole situation.
"Pretentious people like you, of course," I snapped.
He smirked haughtily. "Ooh, big word. Have been reading your thesaurus lately?" his eyes dropped on my book. "Figures. Look, Luce, I came here with a good vibe, okay? Until you start freaking out. Again."
A brittle laugh rang out of my lips yet my cold expression need remained. "Hey, I'm not freaking out. Jeez, I'm just impassively telling you that you should get outta my sight," I said sweetly. "Or better yet, I should go first because Nostradamus predicted that a a guy talking to me right now would be a loser."
Suddenly all nerve to deal with him diminished and I just walked away.
"That was a totally cool come back, girl," Lisanna commented.
I grinned and we both we made a high-five and a low-five. That was something we always did when neither of us would have done something badass or whatever, ever since ninth grade.
"But mind you, sarcasm would always be his defense mechanism," she reminded.
From a distance, I could hear his laughter echoing amidst the crowd that had been watching us all this time with baited breath.
"Yeah, good idea, walk away. Can't expect anything more from a weirdo like you."
Oh, that did it.
Everyone else in the area went into hysterics at his remark. Blood rushed to my face and I didn't even have anything to cover it up. Even if I did, it still wouldn't been enough to conceal my utter embarassment.
Jeez, what a freaking douchebag!
The laughter continuely echoed in my ears, making my nerves snap.
"Told you, " said Lisanna. She tapped my back for reassurance, knowing I possessed a precious little tolerance towards idiots like him. I closed my eyes, forcing myself to relax.
"Remember who you are to me, Lucy," he called aloud. "The universe is laughing behind your back now,"
My eyelids fluttered in dread, and I groaned.
My life isn't a fairy tale nor did it revolve around sovereigns, crowns, lavish clothes, and I certainly was not a royalty. Since Natsu was the so-called "Prince", of course, he definitely required a so-called "servant".
And unfortunately, that was me.
In his face.
"Lis, can you, like, resurrect me?" I exhaled after we had finally escaped the crowd and found an almost empty hallway to stay. "I think I just died from embarassment."
"You know, it's physically impossible to die because of that," said Lisanna, as the know-it-all she always was.
I rested my head on the wall. "Who knows, I might turn out to be as an exception to that rule."
"Uh...yeah, but before that, I think you have to deal with something right now, Lu." she pointed her finger.
I looked around and saw a girl, having both of her hands on her face, Even as her white curls cascaded down her face covering it up, I knew who she was.
Oh not again.
Before I could bolt myself away, the girl looked up, tears streaming down her Enflamed face and said, "Heartfilia. C-can I t-talk with you for a moment?"
There were only five words and fourteen letters that could describe what I felt now.
I. Hate. Him. So. Much.
Wait, that was an understatement.
Gritting my teeth, I wiped my left shoulder with a handkerchief and prayed that the tear stains would come out without much hassle. Now I know what you're thinking, but trust me, I was not into bringing waterworks—at least not anymore. Anyone who did cry was just kidding themselves.
"You okay there?" asked Lisanna. She had her chin cupped in her hands as she stared at me in a bored manner.
"Fantastic as ever, Lis," I moaned.
"So how was the session with Angel?"
"It's getting worse even to the point where I think I might literally rip my hair out someday, I'm not even kidding." I traced my fingers on the coat's wet patch, which had more or less vanished, and exhaled deeply. I wasn't that pissed about having my coat wet, since there was a good reason behind it—it was Angel had just wailed like a banshee for the better part of thirty minutes.
"Chill down." Lisanna snickered as she pushed a white strand of hair behind her ear. "What'd you guys talked about?"
"Same old crap as usual. Natsu this, Natsu that. It's getting to the point where I don't even know what to say anymore so I started recycling my old speeches. I don't know how to make her feel better." I sighed. "I've been dying to tell her that she never stood a chance, and that she was like, the twelfth girl he dumped. But as we all know, that would be the last thing a broken-hearted girl wants to hear, right?"
She shrugged. "Guess so."
"Why does this seem to go on forever?" I threw up my hands in the air. "That's it. I'm done."
"What do you say; let's grab some Cokes before we get home?" Lisanna suggested, jabbing her thumb at her back. She smiled sympathetically. "Gee, I hate to say this, Lu, but you seriously look dead-beat now, and I think you need a little refreshment to calm your nerves down."
I gave her a flat look. "I always look dead-beat, Lis. No matter how much I fix myself, I still look like a mess." I shook my head. "Thanks, but no. Not today. I have to find that jerk and settle this once and for all."
After Lisanna drove me home, I slowly dragged my feet to the porch. I'd spent nearly an hour finding Natsu around the campus, but I'd had a tough luck for that. He was probably away for the day, flirting with girls and playing billiards.
So much for the long day.
Next to our yard stood Natsu's humungous residence. I saw mom and Gradine, his mother, sitting on one of the white chairs in their wide yard. They'd been a close friends since we moved into this neighborhood four years ago —few weeks after Dad's funeral—, and I couldn't help but like the Dragneel family since they were so darn nice! Well, except for their only son, of course.
I waved my hands amd called, "Hey, Mom, Grandine!"
A beautiful, dark blue-haired woman who was sitting at Mom's side waved back at me, while Mom answered with a smile, "Oh! Hi, honey! I bought your favorite pudding a while ago. Its in the fridge."
As food suddenly registered in my mind, my eyes brightened depsite of the weariness I had right now. "Really? Aw, yeah. Thanks!"
Quickly, I entered the house and in the living room, I spotted Michelle watching TV while reclining on the couch; her hair, which was two tones darker than mine, was like long sun rays spread on the red throw pillows. She shifted half of her attention to me.
"Hey sis," she greeted, waving her fingers. "Where did you go?" she was oblivious to what was happening to me, as usual, although we went to the same school together.
"Where else do you think?" I groaned as I took off my bag and threw it on the couch. "Of course, I'm fresh from another batch—"
Clattering sounds from the kitchen distracted me. I stood there, seething at HIM swaggering around the cupboards as if he owned the place. So he was here all along!
His eyes suddenly targeted mine. He waved a spoon at me in greeting. "Oh hey, Luce! It's about time."
I marched up to Natsu and slammed my palms on the kitchen table. "What do you think you're doing?" I yelled so loudly that Michelle had her head turned. She lowered the volume instinctively, apparently more interested in our argument than the film.
Raising his eyebrows, he opened a familiar plastic cup without looking at me. "Jeez, you're so 'effin loud. Hey, I don't see any wrong with eating a pudding." he took a spoonful scoop and dug it in his mouth. "They say it helps you ease the pain of a breakup."
My eyes practically popped out. "What! That's my pudding you freakin' moron! Give it back!"
"Wait, your pudding? But this doesn't have your name on it."
"Wha—how dare you!" It's mine, so give it back! Give it back!"
"Can't hear you."
I crossed my arms let the frustration run riot; oh God, he was impossible. My stomach was starting to grumble, yet I just kept staring at the vanilla pudding that was supposed to be mine. I'd been waiting for weeks just to have that flavor again, but now it was on the hands of the devil. There was no way I could snatch it from him since he was already halfway done with it.
"Why don't you just go to hell, Natsu?" I said between gritted teeth.
He grinned causing his dimples to show, the ones I wanted to dig into with a knife. "We'll still see each other there, Lucy."
"Ooohhh," my sister crooned.
Jaw clenching, I closed my eyes. "Michelle."
"Peace!" she chirped.
I opened my eyes and tried to compose myself. "Do you have any idea what happened a while ago, Natsu?" I asked after a moment, trying to control the loudness of my voice. "Angel came to me, crying her heart out over you. Seriously, when will you ever get even a nip of guilt about it?"
He snorted. "You know I'm not the type, Luce."
"Oh right, because you're actually the type that always acts like arrogance is a virtue."
"Virtue is knowledge," he pointed out nonchalantly. "So if you said a few weeks ago that my arrogance is as big as the moon, then—wow, I already bested Newton, thank you very much."
I raised my eyebrow. "Wait, what did you say? Because all I heard was 'blah, blah, blah, I am a jerk."
His hands flew up in surrender.
"Listen, Natsu," I griped, "If you want to be a playboy for a lifetime, you might as well ship yourself to research camp; because, you know what? You're like the perfect guy that could be used as an outline to build an asshole!" I just had to add the cussing. Otherwise, I'd have regretting it later. Any opportunity to insult Natsu was taken as often as it could.
"Ouch, Luce," he said putting a hand on his chest like I had actually hurt him. "You can't say mean things like that to your best friend."
I stared at him blankly.
What the hell?
Seriously, "best friends"? I couldn't remember a time when we'd actually acted like best buddies. He always called me a 'weirdo', treated me like a servant, or instead made fun of my haggard appearance. Now, he was calling us "best friends"?
Well I'd admit; we only put up that act when our parents were around, but in reality, the whole thing was in his overinflated head. I didn't really consider him a friend anymore, not even an aquaintance. Not since, he showed his true colors.
Besides, it wasn't like I got any benefits from the charade. Mostly it was just him enjoying everything while I clear up his mess, from his terrible household manners, to his stupid personal relationships. Well, it wasn't like I barged myself into his affairs—jeez, I never wanted to do that.
Let's just say I was more like the "resident counselor" to that stuff, listening to all the pathetic dramas from those girl he'd broken up with, just like what happened with Angel. And I couldn't do anything about it because they kept on coming to me like a horde of zombies.
I laughed at him mockingly.
He brushed his upper lip with his finger and grinned again. "So you don't like the idea of best friends... That means you want to go to the next level, huh? We can have an intimate relationship if you'd like, Lucy."
Then again, Michelle made teasing sounds. She was surely enjoying this scene.
Natsu's words sent shivers down my spine. Just the thought of having that relationship with him made me want to puke.
"I dare you—no. I double dare you to say that again. Are you out of your mind? I mean, who in their right mind would go out with you?"
My eyes flamed with anger, and he cringed slightly. I could feel myself barely towering over him.
Clearly, it was a stupid question, since I knew many girls crave him and wanted to take their relationship with him to "the next level". After all, they weren't in their right minds. Too stupidly love drunk to see through the deceiving Prince-like aura he created and see the true evil, conceited jerk deep inside.
"Damn," he grumbled between his heavy breathing, "This is rich, coming from a girl no one wants to date with." His lips curked into a smirk as he reveled his insult.
I clenched my teeth. "What. Did. You. Just. Say?"
"Here we go again," Michelle sighed. I wasn't sure uf she was reffering to the fight scene in the film or the fight scene inside this house, but trust me, she was already used to this stuff.
Natsu shrugged; his eyes were focus, not on me, but on the celing. "Relax, Luce. You might think that you're a guy and that you can pick a fight. But we both know what you really are."
My fists clenched. He had to be so stupid if he didn't know the reasons behind my boy-like attitude, or if he did know, he just couldn't understand them.
Now he'd just reminded me about the shame he'd done to me at school.
"Get out!" I yelled, pointing my finger straight to the door. "I don't even want to see your face in this house again! And don't ever call me Luce!" That was the nickname he made up for me and I hated that so much!
He was stumbling his way out of the front door while I shoved him forward, yelling death threats if he might come again.
"Go fly a kite or jump off a bridge! Just go away!"
"If I'd go away, your life would surely suck," he said.
"I don't care! So shut the hell up and get outta here!"
After he was gone, I took a deep breath to collect myself. I thought I was hoing to have a stroke. Seriously, all the blood inside my body was steaming away, and so much of it had rush to my head that my temples almost exploded! I looked at the mess he'd made in the kitchen. Darn, another cleaning spree again.
"Chill out, sis." Michelle giggled, her attention now back to the TV. "You'll get over it someday."
I blew a shorted strand of blonde hair away from my face. You know how many times I'd hear those words from her? It was uncountable. Well, I couldn't blame her for having a carefree view about life, particularly about her own. Anyway, what did she have to worry about? Natsu never bugged her. He actually treated her like his own little sister so she always said that he was one heck of a nice guy. Natsu this and Natsu that.
Change the freaking record!
"Get over it someday?" Oh come on. Someday was way too far away, for crying out loud!
notes: Oh my, I finally finished the 1st chapter of my first fanfiction. And this sorry if the characters are a little OOC •~•
notes2: I might update every 2-3 days depending on my schedule since I kinda have a hectic schedule.
notes3: Tell me your thoughts by clicking the review button! :3