Hey guys! I'll be posting a few oneshots since they're my science fair project which I'm finishing last minute...hehe.. but yeah these are inspired from different types of music, and this one was inspired by Mirajane's Theme. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't ownFairy Tail or its characters
Not for Long
Chapter 1: Crimson Tragedy
I stare at the ground. My shoes are muddy. I look up at the sky. The clouds are covering the blueness of the sky with their grey, cottony fingers.
"Lucy!" My father calls from the house. I look back at him with clouded eyes. My regular eyes. Dad says to his coworkers that my eyes haven't had the same sparkle to them since she passed away. He says I don't have the same cheery voice or the same golden smile. I don't mind. Everything changes, right?
"Come inside, Lucy! It's going to rain!" He calls again. He's scared of the rain. Of the gloominess it emits. I know why. It rained the day Mom died. It rained the day she was buried. It rained the day I was born. I shuffle into the house, wiping my muddy shoes on the flagstone just outside of the door. The rain starts, tiny drops of water falling from the heavens. I outstretch my hand, allowing the drops to fall onto my palm. They're cold, and I retreat my hand, walking back into the white and cream kitchen. Dad's sitting at the dinner table, his reading glasses set loosely on the strong bridge of his nose. He's reading an e-mail, probably, looking at his laptop screen with a stern look.
"I'll start dinner," I say in a voice the both of us have gotten accustomed to. The bored, monotone voice of mine hardly fills the stale room, like an unsatisfying meal. I turn to tie on my floral apron. I take out the needed ingredients for spaghetti.
I slip on my shoes, and head out the front door. I walk down my regular street, listening to my regular music in my regular headphones. Nothing changes here. I see Mrs. Herring, still in her robe and slippers and picking up the newspaper that I'm surprised people still read these days. I wave at her with my usual fake smile, and she waves back cheerfully. I continue down the road, towards my high school. I make sure to pull down my long sleeves, just the slightest.
"What're you doing near our lockers?" The girls hiss, but I'm sure they know I walk this way to get to my own locker. The popular girls call me names, the football players trip me. I'm used to it. I get up, dust off my uniformed skirt, and continue down the hallway. I try to ignore the stinging emitting from my wrists like wildfires. These shoes are muddy now, too, I notice.
"Lucy!" A boy calls. I turn my head. I thought no one knew my name? He stands next to my locker, dark eyes smiling at me.
"Do I know you?" I ask, a grin illuminating his face. He shakes his head. "Then how do you know my name?"
"I'm in your first hour. I'm new to this school, and Mrs. Dreyar told me you'd be showing me around!" He grins again.
"Alright. Lemme go ask her about it first, sorry. She never told me about this," I say sheepishly. He follows me the whole way to Mrs. Dreyar's classroom.
"Mrs. Dreyar?" I ask politely.
"Oh, Lucy! I've already told the other teachers you might be tardy or absent in their classes. Go ahead and show Natsu the school, would you?" She smiles nicely at me, and I nod, retreating from the classroom.
"Okay, well, I guess we'll start with the front of the school," I say to him. His name is Natsu, apparently.
"Alright."
"Where are you from?" I ask, trying to break the ice.
"I'm from Florida, but we moved around a lot as a kid 'cause of my dad's work, so we lived in Japan for about ten years," He says.
"Your name means summer, right?" I question him, recognizing the word from my anime phase.
"Yeah! How'd ya know?"
"I used to watch anime a lot," I whisper. He laughs.
"I still do," He says in a quiet voice filled to the brim with humor. I show him the front office, the staff waving and smiling at us, acting as if they were such friendly people.
I finish showing him around, and it's nearly third hour. The rest of the day passes in a blur. When the dismissal bell screams, everyone rushes for the doors, and we flood out of the building like a wave. As I walk down the cement, the foot of the school's quarterback thrusts out in front of me, successfully sending my bag flying, and I'm not too far behind. I expect the sting of the pavement, the embarrassment of scrambling for my things, and the jeering laughter bombarding my ears, but it never comes. Instead, a hand clamps down on my wrist, a scream crawling up my throat at the pain. I swallow it, just like every other real emotion.
"You alright?" He asks. I nod and quickly gather my books and binders that had launched out of my bag.
"Thanks," I murmur quietly to him, and scamper off to start in my route home. I hear him following me.
"You didn't seem that shy this morning, why now?" Natsu asks from beside me. I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly, letting them drop back down lifelessly a moment after.
"Because everyone else was there. I'm the school's punching bag, y'know?" I laugh. He doesn't.
"Let's change that," He says in a voice, completely serious. I look at him over my shoulder, clinging onto my bag strap. "Let's make people know no one should be treated like that, yeah?" He grins, a blinding smile. I stare, dumbfounded at him for a moment and smile a smile that doesn't live long. We had stopped in the middle of the road; it was my fault. I had stopped out of surprise form his words. The car swerved violently, but it wasn't enough. The vehicle slammed into him, knocking him on the ground, and the red fluid was suffocatting me. I stare in horror, unable to move, unable to think.
And then I scream.