UUUGGGHHH!" Lucy Heartfilia, 17 year old Senior at Magnolia High, groaned in frustration, squeezing her warm brown eyes shut and brushing back a few stray strands of her blond hair. She swiftly crumpled up the piece of paper she had been writing on and tossed it over her shoulder in the general direction of her waste basket, only for it to go unnoticed as it bounced off the rim of the basket and fell to the floor among dozens of other crumpled up papers. She couldn't write in the state that her mind had been in for the past two weeks. It all started when he showed up.
She had been walking to class, chatting about a book with Levy, her best friend. Levy was a short girl with a clear pale complexion, bright blue hair, and eyes like chocolate. She was the biggest book nerd you would ever meet, with Lucy coming in at a close second. Levy had suggested that Lucy should read the book "The City of Bones", the first in "The Mortal Instruments" series by Cassandra Clare, and Lucy had loved it. She spent the last few days locked up in her room, squealing at the book because it was "perf." "LEVY THEY'RE JUST SO PERFECT WHY DID CASSANDRA HAVE TO DO THIS TWIST IT RUINS EVERYTHINGGGG LEVYYYY I NEED THE NEXT BOOK GIMMEEEEE!" Lucy yelled excitedly at her friend. Levy chuckled at her friend's eagerness, but had no room to speak, for she was the same when she had finished the first book. "Would you like me to bring the next one in tomorrow?" "YES PLEASE THANK YOU LEVY I LOVE YOU!" Lucy squealed giddily, throwing her arms around Levy's slight figure.
"Alright, I'll have it tomorrow." The blonde and bluenette walked into room 1215, their English class. Nearly all of their classmates were already in their seats, chatting about random things as the teacher, Mrs. Cuthbertson, prepared for the lessons of the day. The room wasn't as bright as it normally was. The sun was blocked out by massive gray clouds indicating that a rain storm was on the way. This left the pale yellow walls illuminated only by the artificial glow of the sharp incandescent light bulbs, rather than the usual warmth of the sun. Books were scattered throughout the room, having no real organization, and papers were littered around the floor. There was this strange smell along with it, like a mix of dust, cheap perfume (most likely from Mrs. Cuthbertson) and teenage desperation. It really was an unpleasant classroom to be in.
Lucy's and Levy's seats were across the room from each other, thanks to Mrs. Cuthbertson, who thought it was a swell idea to move anyone who talks. The bell rang and the teacher stood in front of the class… with someone next to her? Lucy looked over at the boy next to Mrs. Cuthbertson. He had spiky, yet soft looking salmon colored hair, and his eyes, though black, appeared to be alit with a fire burning somewhere inside him. His outfit was… different, consisting of baggy black shorts, a matching vest on top of a red wife beater shirt, a white scarf that had a scale-like pattern woven into it, and a pair of black Adidas man sandals. That guy… he's… really cute...Wait, is that a tattoo on his shoulder!? Upon closer inspection, Lucy saw that there was indeed an odd, pink, fairy-like tattoo on the boy's right shoulder. He smiled as he looked around the class and introduced himself.
"Hi everybody, I'm Natsu Dragneel! I'm gunna be your new classmate! I'm an exchange student from Japan!" He seemed really happy to be here, Lucy thought. She smiled when Natsu walked over to her and asked, "Can I sit here?" Lucy looked around the room and noticed there were plenty of extra seats. She wondered why he chose to sit next to her. "Sure!" Lucy answered politely, a light blush sweeping across her cheeks.
They spent the next two weeks talking during class. One day, as they were standing in the school's soccer field ditching class (something Lucy wouldn't normally do, but was some how talked into by a certain pink haired delinquent), Natsu asked Lucy if she wanted to hang out sometime.
"Sure! What do you want to do?" She replied with a light blush staining her cheeks.
"Why don't we hang out at my house?" Natsu asked, cheekily. Lucy thought back to the time when Natsu's living conditions were brought up in conversation, and how he said he lived alone. She could assume that, with him being an independent teenage boy, his house was probably a complete wreck. She also thought of her dad, who still treated her like a child.
"Um… Why don't you come over to my house?" She suggested, her blush growing even darker. Her dad would be happier if he was able to stalk them (though Lucy would do everything in her power to stop that from happening).
"That sounds grea-"
"OI NATSU WHACHA DOING WITH A CUTIE LIKE THAT? I'M COMING OVERR!" Another boy screamed. That guy's in my math class. Lucy thought. He's a foreign exchange student too. Didn't he come from Japan as well? He threw himself over a fence separating the school campus and an empty lot, and landed on the spongy grass. Lucy heard Natsu whisper to himself, "Damn ice princess." and then louder say "What do you want, Gray?" The boy, Gray, walked over and Lucy took in his slightly wind blown dark blue, nearly black, hair, his obsidian eyes with something like mischievous mirth dancing within their depths, and WAIT A MINUTE WHERE IS HIS SHI-
"Oi, Gray, why are you naked again?" Natsu asked. Gray looked down at his bare chest and his luckily-still-there black cargo pants and combat boots.
"I'm not naked! Anyway, it's not like I'm bothering anyone. I'd say I'm making some people very happy." He said, pointing his thumb at a blue haired girl who had apparently followed Gray from wherever he came from, and was staring intently at him. Her blue hair was a bit darker than Levy's and was shoulder length and slightly curled. Her eyes were a deep blue that were slightly darker than her hair. She wore a pretty, white, knee-length summer dress and clung tightly to a doll that looked just like the half-naked exhibitionist.
"Okay, well, Juvia's a different story. Does it make you happy, Luce?" Natsu inquired.
"Um… I'm not going to get into this." Lucy answered. Happy? Only if it were you...Wait, what?!
"LUCY?! DON'T TELL ME YOU ACTUALLY LIKE THIS?! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY ICE PRINCESS!" Natsu exclaimed. He punched Gray in the face, sending him skidding across the grass. Lucy stood in shock as Gray wiped away blood from his face and got to his feet, ignoring a flustered Juvia flittering around him, trying to make sure he was okay.
"SHUT UP FLAME BRAIN, YOU KNOW YOU DON'T HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BEAT ME IN A FIGHT!" Gray shouted. He charged towards Natsu, grabbed him by the collar with his left hand, and dealt a forceful blow to the stomach with his right. An "oomph!" escaped Natsu's lips and he doubled over at the unexpected blow.
"STOP IT NATSU! WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO YOU? YOU TOO, GRAY! I DON'T KNOW YOU, BUT GET AWAY FROM HIM! WHAT ARE YOU GUYS FIGHTING ABOUT ANYWAY?!" Lucy shouted at the two childish boys a few feet in front of her. Her small fists balled up and face turned red with anger. Her blond hair swayed in the slight breeze and glinted in the sun as she tried to keep her trembling at bay. The boys looked at her in shock. No one had ever interrupted one of their fights before now.
"Um… we don't really remember." They said in unison. Lucy sighed and relaxed her posture, letting the earlier tension roll off.
"You guys are hopeless." She turned to the Juvia, who had been watching the proceedings anxiously a few feet left of Lucy. "Go take care of Gray, will you?" Juvia nodded and dragged Gray unwillingly to who knows where. Lucy turned to Natsu. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up." He looked at his watch on his hand and his eyes widened with surprise.
"AH! No time, sorry! I don't want to miss lunch!" He ran off, leaving Lucy wondering to herself in the school's soccer field.
Lucy snapped out of her reverie, now back in her baby blue colored room and trying to continue her novel. She couldn't stop thinking about Natsu getting mad at Gray for something so simple. "But he was doing it because I said I wasn't going to take any sides. Hmm…" She was writing when she noticed she was writing things that she didn't want to think about.
"Lucy Dragneel"
"Natsu 3"
"Can't wait to see him Monday!"
GAH WHY AM I WRITING STUFF LIKE THIS!? She balled up this paper and threw it with the others. At this rate, she would never finish her novel. There were just too many things going on in her head for her to work. "A good night's sleep should do the trick." It was only 6:43 pm, but she was desperate to take her mind off of Natsu. Just as she was lying down, her dad knocked on the door.
"Sweetie, did you forget that it's Friday Family Movie night?" Oh, right. Movie night. Ever since the death of her mom when Lucy was 10, her dad, despite having a cold and stoic exterior, put in extra effort to keep the family from falling apart. This resulted in cheap pizza and children movies her dad kept picking, which probably stems from his stubborn desire for Lucy to stay a little girl instead of accepting the fact that she was growing up.
"What movie is it?" She called, to him, though her voice was muffled by her pillow.
"It's called 'How to Train Your Dragon'!" Hmm, dragon? A picture of Natsu with horns on his head, sharp teeth, and fire coming out of his mouth popped into her head and Lucy giggled. She got up and opened her door, greeted her dad with a kiss on the cheek, and moved past him towards the living room where the menu for the movie was already shown on their TV screen and a box of pizza was placed on the coffee table in front of the couch. Maybe this movie will help me train my dragon.