"Come on, Simon. Let's go!" I say as I take Simon's hand. We have been best friends since I can remember. I've always had a tad of jealousy for him because he has the best mom in the world, Erza. His mom never walked out on him. She was strong and stayed by her husband, Jellal Fernandes. Apparently it was Erza who had chosen my name. That's the only thing I dislike about Erza. Naming me after Lucy's mom, how could she do that to me? My dad and all the elders at Fairytail are the only ones who call me Layla though. I force everyone else to call me Lola. Though Simon being the stubborn person he is calls me Layla. He knows I hate it.
"Lead the way, Layla. I trust you," he said with a blush. Why was he blushing? Never once, had he blushed in the past 14 years, but all of a sudden in these past few months, he has. He's acting like a completely different person… "You know, Layla. Tomorrow's my birthday. So I think we should do something special today."
"It is my birthday too. Even if you were born 20 minutes before me-"
"And don't you forget it," he laughed out. Then he picked me up and ran down to the guild. Right before we arrived inside the guild, he looked down at me, blushed once again, and gently let me down. What was up with him? "W-Well come on Layla, the guild is waiting," he said as he pushed the double doors open. Everyone was eerily quiet.
"Umm guys? It sounds like a ghost town in here? What's up?" The guild hasn't been this quiet since Master Makarav died.
"Layla…" Gray whispered. He pulled me into a long hug. "It's about your dad."