What We Share: Chapter 2
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The night before camp—Erza's bedroom
Like the responsible student she was, Erza had waited until the last minute to pack. Her excuse was that she was too busy with the girls in her cabin group to actually start packing. Yes, the cabin groups were now decided.
Flashback—Yesterday
"Alright guys, the cabin groups have been decided. I'm posting the sheet on the wall outside the classroom after school, you can look at it then." Mr. Clive announced.
Just as expected, students swarmed outside his classroom as soon as the final bell rang. Erza was indeed curious, but decided to wait until the crowd cleared to see who she would be bunking with. Jellal walked up next to her as she waited for the seniors to leave the area.
"Did you see the list yet?" He inquired.
Erza shook her head. "I'm waiting. I don't really feel like shoving my way to the front."
"Good plan. I'll wait with you."
The two listened to people shriek "we're in the same cabin!" until they found themselves standing before the sheet of paper.
Senior Camp Cabin Groups
Boys
Fairy Plains Cabin:
Natsu
Gray
Gajeel
Jellal
Elfman
Lyon
Erik
Laxus
Bixlow
Girls
Fairy Hills Cabin:
Lucy
Juvia
Levy
Erza
Mira
Lisanna
Cana
Meredy
Kinana
There were other cabin groups, of course, but these were the only two Erza and Jellal really cared about.
Erza grinned, pleased with her cabin group. She'd gotten everyone on her list, plus others she wanted but didn't have room for on the paper Mr. Clive gave out. Jellal was also happy with his group, although quite predictable.
"Well, not bad! I like my cabin group!" Erza declared.
"I like mine as well. Camp will definitely be fun!" Jellal added.
End Flashback
After realizing her bag wasn't going to pack itself, Erza hastily began picking out clothes and throwing them in, checking things off on the packing list Mr. Clive provided. She was on a roll until her phone buzzed, completely distracting her.
Do you have anything you want to put in my bag? I can swing by your place if you need me to.
From Jellal, of course. Erza could already tell she would need more space, so she sent a quick text back.
Yes, I have a few things that don't fit. Thank you so much, you're the best!
;) Be there in ten.
Erza set her phone down with a sigh and resumed packing. What would she do without him?
A knock sounded on the front door just as Erza finished cramming what she could in the duffel bag.
"I'll get it!" Erza yelled before her parents or sister got the door. She flew down the steps and swung open the wooden door to reveal her one and only best friend. "Hey! Come in!"
Erza led Jellal back up the stairs to her bedroom.
"What do you need me to take? I can fit quite a few more things in my suitcase."
Erza handed him a plastic bag filled with the items she couldn't stuff in her bag. "Just this. For the life of me I can't find a spot for it!"
Smiling, Jellal took the small bag. "I've got plenty of room for this. Are you sure there's nothing else you want me to take?"
Erza couldn't help the grin that crept up on her cheeks. It was so like him to help her in any way possible. "No, thank you though. I've got everything else."
"Great! I'll see you tomorrow at school then."
"Yup! Thanks again for doing this."
"It's no problem at all."
Erza walked him back downstairs and gave him a quick hug before he left. Jellal gave her a wink as she shut the door behind him, leaving her blushing and awkwardly standing in front of the door.
"Who was that?"
Erza whirled around at the sound of her mother's voice. "Jellal." She seriously hoped she looked and sounded casual when she said that.
"Oh, Jellal, huh? You're blushing."
The comment only succeeded in making her face turn even more red. "No I'm not! It's just hot in here!" Erza mentally cursed herself at the lame excuse.
"Whatever you say," Erza's mother snickered as she walked away.
Back in Erza's bedroom, the soon to be camper double checked she had everything packed. The last time she went somewhere overnight, she forgot to bring all of her toiletries. That was the absolute last thing she needed. Satisfied she was ship shape and ready to go, Erza climbed in bed. Sleep sounded especially good when the seniors were leaving for camp the next morning.
Camp. She had never actually been camping before, but it's not like they were sleeping in tents or anything. Then again, there is no telling how clean and secure the cabins were. Erza just hoped they had heaters so she wouldn't freeze to death in the middle of the night. Thoughts of camp slowly carried Erza off to dreamland.
Then her phone buzzed. Groaning, she reached out to grab the mobile device from her bedside table. Squinting at the brightness of the screen, Erza read the text message she just received.
Don't forget to pack the cards!
Lucy, reminding her to bring the decks of cards. All of the girls in their cabin decided to bring a game of some sort, and Erza is in charge of playing cards.
I got em!
Erza was actually glad Lucy woke her up with the text message, because she forgot to set her alarm. Once it was set, Erza pulled the covers to her chin, and finally fell asleep.
The next morning
In her half asleep state, Erza wondered what that quacking duck sound could be. It took her about five minutes to finally realize it's her alarm going off. It took another five minutes to for her to drag her lazy butt out of bed.
"Erza! Are you awake? Camp is today!" That would be her mother, yelling at her from the other end of the house.
"I know mom, I'm up!" Erza shouted back.
After hastily getting ready, she hauled everything she packed last night down the stairs and dropped it by the front door.
"Are you ready to go?" Erza's mother approached, munching on a bagel.
"Yeah, I'm ready. It's pretty early, can we stop at Starbucks on the way? I could use some caffeine."
"Sure! Put all your stuff in the car and we'll go."
The two piled the duffle bag, sleeping bag, her lunch, and carry on backpack in the backseat, then got in the car themselves. Erza got herself a frappe on the way to the school.
When her mother pulled into the Fairy Tail High parking lot, Erza immediately jumped out of the car and started gathering her bags.
"Do you need help carrying anything?" Her mother asked.
"No, thank you. I can handle it."
"Okay then. I'll see you in a few days! Have fun!"
Erza waved as best as she could with her hands full, and proceeded to enter the building through the main doors. Mr. Clive was waiting in the entryway, yelling out directions to the seniors.
"Put everything you're not going to carry with you on the bus along the wall. All the stuff you put over there won't be accessed until we get to camp."
Erza walked over to the wall where she found other campers' bags already lined up. As she bent down to put her own bags there, her frappe conveniently spilled on her duffle bag. Erza swore and quickly made sure nothing else was about to spill. Luckily, the damage wasn't too bad. A few paper towels would do the trick. She rushed to the nearest bathroom and snatched up five paper towels. When she ran back to her bags, she made sure to carefully set down her drink to avoid an even bigger mess. As she wiped up the mess, she noticed that some had spilled on the floor as well. Great. Thankfully, the bag and floor didn't suffer any stains.
Erza stretched as she got up again, making sure the remains of her drink stayed in her cup, and threw away the used paper towels. By this time, all of the seniors had arrived and were chattering in the school entryway.
"All right, kids, gather round!" Mr. Clive shouted over the noise.
Erza quickly downed the rest of the frappe and rushed to stand next to the girls in her cabin group.
"You ready?" Mira asked, grinning at the scarlet haired student.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Erza replied. She caught Jellal's eye in the crowd and gave him a smile, which he returned. The other boys in his cabin group surrounded him.
"Okay, here's how this is going to work," Mr. Clive announced once the talking ceased. "The buses will be here any minute. When they arrive, I want you to grab any two bags and bring them outside to be loaded. Don't go searching for your bag, just take the two closest to you and haul them outside. Once that's taken care of, you'll grab another two random bags and load them right on the bus, got it?"
The crowd nodded.
"Good. Once everything is loaded, you'll have one last chance to use the restroom. The bus ride is four hours, so I suggest you do. These aren't charter buses, they're regular school buses, which means no bathrooms and uncomfortable seats. We will be stopping for an early lunch about half way through the trip, so you'll have a bathroom opportunity there as well. Any questions?"
The seniors responded with silence. Mr. Clive glanced out the window. "Looks like the buses are here. Alright, you know what to do."
Erza snatched up the closest two bags, as instructed, and dragged them out to parking lot. One of the bags probably weighed about fifty pounds. No doubt it was one of the girls trying cram in as much as possible. When Mr. Clive gave the signal, she then shoved the bags in the storage compartment underneath the bus.
"Last chance to use the bathroom for the next two hours!" Mr. Clive hollered.
Erza decided it was better safe than sorry, so she quickly used the restroom before joining the others back in the parking lot.
"Alright kids, there's two buses! Pick one and get on! I don't care who you sit with just make sure you're in one of the vehicles!"
There was quite a bit of pushing and shoving as everyone tried to sit with their friends. Erza ended up get jumbled around and had to jump on the nearest bus and take a random seat to avoid getting trampled.
By some miracle, Jellal found her and sat next to her, while Gajeel and Levy took the seat in front of them. Lucy and Juvia sat across the aisle on the right side of the bus, and Natsu and Gray in sat in front of them. Erza was thankful her friends managed to catch up with her, otherwise this would be a very boring bus ride.
"You kids picked the right bus, 'cause this is the one I'm riding on! Haha!" Mr. Clive laughed as he took a seat up front by the driver. Erza and Jellal sat a good eight rows behind him in the middle.
"Here we go, kiddos! Off to camp!" With that, the bus driver pulled away from the school parking lot.
000
"And that's how I became a vegetarian," Levy finished telling Gajeel.
"I might just become one, too, after hearing that," he said, shuddering, "but I don't think I'd be able to give up steak."
It had been an hour since the bus left the school, and the students were keeping themselves busy by sharing stories. Levy just finished telling Gajeel about the traumatizing day she visited the slaughter house. The students also had been entertained with Natsu's story about the time he rode his bike off a small cliff and put himself in the hospital for a week.
"Wow. That's lovely."
Erza and Jellal unfortunately overheard Levy's tale.
"So," Erza began, "tell me about your dream house."
Jellal raised an eyebrow. "My dream house? Like the house I dream of having in the future?"
"Precisely. Tell me about it."
"Well, I guess I always wanted to live on a lake. Not too crowded, with a few neighbors. The house would be simple, yet elegant. I do want a spacious yard, and a balcony that overlooks the water."
Erza smiled. "That sounds nice! What would the interior be like?"
"Just normal, I suppose. A modern kitchen, but an older styled sitting room. It would probably have three bedrooms and bathrooms." He paused. "What about you?"
"Me?" Erza's eyes lit up as she carried herself into the fantasy world. "A mansion, of course! Right on the ocean, with it's own garden. Everything will be modern and expensive, and the master bathroom would have the most glorious bathtub! There will be a whole outdoor deck with a fantastic ocean view!" Erza came back to reality. "But I could never afford that so I'll probably end up living in a plain old house in an average neighborhood. I can dream, though."
"What a lovely home you want to live in," Jellal chuckled.
"It's certainly not a realistic fantasy, although it would be superb if it came true."
"Who knows? I don't know how much FBI agents make, but it could be enough to get you a house like that."
For the longest time, Erza dreamt of being part of the FBI. Many times she told Jellal of all her imaginary adventures. The two had many fond memories of staying up all night when they were younger, pretending they were on secret missions. They grew out of the game when they got into sixth grade, however.
"Maybe." Erza couldn't suppress the dreamy smile that overtook her face at the thought. "You'll for sure get your dream house when you become a super awesome astronomer."
Jellal's career choice, definitely different from Erza's, was to be an astronomer. Ever since he was little, he would lay under the stars and try to identify constellations. The fact that the planets and stars were out of his reach only fueled his desire to know more.
"I hope that's the case. Only time will tell." Jellal grinned, feeling ecstatic his best friend had that much faith in him.
The bus's attention soon turned to Mr. Clive at the front when the intercom crackled to life. "We're approaching the Great Bridge of Fiore. This is one of our country's submarine bases. When we get on the bridge, try looking out over the water. If you're lucky, you just might see a sub."
Erza had the window seat, so she leaned back to make sure Jellal could see as well. Both peered intensely and at the waves as the bus rolled onto the bridge.
"See anything?" Erza asked, "I don't."
Jellal shook his head. "Nope, nothing."
Unfortunately, no one else seemed to spot anything, either.
"Oh well. We might see something on the way back." Lucy said from across the aisle.
The group once again picked up the small talk. There wasn't much else to do, especially since everyone didn't have their electronics.
"Hey, do you guys remember what happened on Lucy's first day at Fairy Tail?" Gray asked with a smirk.
Lucy buried her head in her hands. "Seriously, Gray? Why'd you have to bring that up?"
Lucy transferred to Fairy Tail High halfway through sophomore year. Her first day was not a pleasant one. The day she arrived happened to be the day of the school talent show. Gajeel, a talent show singer, just lost his "bunny girl", and needed a last minute replacement. The instant he saw Lucy in the hallway, he snatched her up, had her put the suit on, and she stood on stage with Gajeel in a skimpy bunny costume. Talk about a great introduction to the new school.
"Gihi! You did good, bunny girl. No need to be embarrassed about it."
Lucy curled up into a ball in shame, still hiding her face. The others laughed as they remembered the day.
The intercom turned on once again. "We're now at the lunch spot! Get your food and get out!" came Mr. Clive's voice.
Ah, lunch. What could possibly go wrong?
A/N: Yeesh. I kind of feel like the quality of this chapter is below par. Let me know what you think, and stay tuned!