Lucy was lost in a book.

It had taken weeks and required endless hours of constant reading but she was finally at the last chapter. The story was so intriguing. Every sentence was so well structured, so utterly gripping that Lucy smiled just thinking about it. But the fact that she only had thirty pages left of the nearly three thousand paged book irritated her. Not because she didn't want to finish it, in fact it was the exact opposite. She wanted to complete the book so much she couldn't process any other thought and concentration had become close to impossible to acquire during her morning lessons. But her torture was nearly over, break was next and Lucy planned to make the most of it. Impatiently she stared at the clock and waited.

It had been three weeks since she had joined Fairy Tail Academy but already she felt at home. Lucy loved it here. Every hallway was full of life, every student had a purpose, every moment had a sense of enthusiasm to it. It was a great improvement to the empty, isolated estate she had grown up in. She would never go back to how it used to be, she doubted she could cope with it if that happened.

The bell rang. Lucy was out the door within seconds. Heaving the large, clunky book from her bag she rushed to find the final chapter, the last part before she could finally learn the ending after so much effort and time spent getting to that goal. Her mind began to block out everyone around her. For now it was simply her and the book, nothing more.

She roamed the corridors, trying to find the library while she read. The school was massive and it was pretty clear she was going to need at least another month before she could go anywhere without hopelessly asking for directions or dragging her friends along to follow. Lucy had managed to make a few people like and accept her and even if they were crazy, friends were still friends and no teenage girl was going to get through high school without some.

Besides, Lucy thought with a smile, everyone here's more or less insane.

"Luce sorry need to borrow this!" A rushed voice called out. Lucy felt the book being pulled out of her grasp. Standing there in shock she saw the salmon haired boy sprint off with her possession, closely followed by a small group of older guys.

Lucy felt her fists clench, "Damn it Natsu, what did you do this time!"

She ran after the craziest of her new classmates, rolling her eyes thinking about what stupidity Natsu had got himself in. It didn't matter, she was getting her book back. It was a well-known fact to Lucy that if you trusted anything with Natsu for too long, he would probably end up breaking or losing it. He had a destructive nature, Lucy made a mental note not to let him into the antique room if he ever came to the estate.

"Natsu!" Lucy yelled down the hallway.

"Yeah Luce erm...I'm kinda busy!"

"NATSU! I need that book back!"

"Yeah can you gimme a minute while I get away from these pissheads!"

"Aw look at that, Salamander's got himself a girlfriend", the biggest of the group of pursuers joked. He had long raven hair, more studs than you could count and was at least three heads taller than Lucy. She shoved past him and caught up to Natsu.

"You wanna tell me what's going on?"

Natsu grinned, "The usual..."

Lucy looked at him in disbelief, "You need to stop pissing off your roommates!"

"Well it's not like I'm trying to get them to beat me up! I thought Gajeels toothbrush was mine and-"

"Natsu!" Lucy sighed, "At this rate you're gonna end up getting yourself killed. You've been put in a room with a complete psycho and this is like the fifth time you've got on his nerve. You are so screwed tonight!"

Natsu shook his head and smiled, "Gajeel gets so angry at the most stupid things. I'm fucked...nice knowing you Luce."

"Oh my dearest friend don't die!" Lucy said sarcastically, "You must first give me back my book which you took for no reason."

"All part of the plan Luce."

"You never make plans!"

"I do! When in doubt, destroy-"

"Anything that comes into contact with you", Lucy finished, "Unfortunately my book can't be part of that."

She tried to grab the book off him but he pulled away, "Luce come on! If I give this back to you you're gonna bugger off and leave me stranded."

"Well what the hell can I do if I stay?"

Before Natsu could answer there was a loud noise from the two of them slamming into a wall. The pain was bad, but not as horrible as the realization they were trapped. Gajeel's group approached them slowly with angry faces, fists ready.

Natsu turned to Lucy with wide eyes, "This...is going to hurt."