The 7 Stages of Love
Stage 3 – Notes
A/N: In this chapter, the italicized words mean notes/letters being sent. Or thoughts and some other stuff.
Summary: Her heart was beating too too too wildly. His heart was going to explode because it was beating so damn fast.
WARNING: Please understand that this is based off the old Fairy Tail. However you vision how old I meant, it's up to you. But please do know that I'm not updated about Fairy Tail's latest chapter/episodes. Thank you.
And please notice that their high school is based off the American one wherein the students switch classrooms. And they where casual clothing in here. No uniforms.
AND THERE ARE CUSSES!
DISCLAIMER: Kleia does not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does.
And why are we doing this again? (・_・ヾ
Because, Gray scribbled on a piece of bright blue Post-It note, his tongue unconsciously sticking out as he wrote down his reply. I don't know. It seems kinda fun, so why not? He clicked the cap of his pen back to its head, smiling slightly in satisfaction at his reply, as he folded the paper and passed it on to Lucy, who was just beside him.
It was just their first week of high school. And so far, Gray was feeling grand. (Simply because he had gained the attention of a lot of girls during his first day, which was rare in his middle school years. But he did get some verbal slaps from the guys, too. Which made things even better.) High school was much, much different than middle school. Much. Everything was new—fresh, and it was as if Gray could make this year his debut year. (Because his middle school years sucked badly. The nerdy days of spending time playing video games like Pokémon and binge-watching anime, completely forgetting what school was. Although, he still sneakily does those past hobbies of his, but with limited time. How could he resist Pokémon and anime so simply?)
But he had to admit, it wasn't really just pure coincidence that his childhood friend (and kind of a crush), Lucy Heartfilia, was his schoolmate. And he had two reasons for that matter: 1) they may or may not live near each other, and Magnolia High may or may not be the nearest school to go to, and 2) he may or may not have missed her since their last encounter (which was when he had a series of déjà vu that became abnormal and it became more abnormal because he ended up finding Lucy hiding behind a bush like their childhood days) so he may or may not have stalked her on Twitter and Facebook just to get the name of the school she was going to attend for high school.
He was such a creep. And he hopes Lucy will never find out his reasons for studying in Magnolia High. Ever.
But so far, his friendship with Lucy was, well, awesome. She acted as if they haven't been separated—and as if they didn't have that moment behind the bush in middle school. Damn, that was embarrassing now that he thinks about it—and now they're kind of like glued together. Sure, some guys hate him for it, and some girls hate her for it, but there are still a combination of other guys and girls who don't care. And they're included in the latter. So what if he hangs out with Lucy (despite the fact that she's now grown so achingly gorgeous he couldn't bring himself to talk to her at first because he kept on thinking it wasn't her when it truly was her)? At least he had the guts to approach her unlike the puny guys who could only stare at her from afar and just dream on.
He was such a lucky guy.
A note was slapped gently on his desk. He knew who it was from, but he still glanced up at the back of her blond head and smile so slightly. (He knew he looked like a love-struck idiot. But it was from Lucy, so who cares?) His eyes then traveled to the yellow note on his desk, folded neatly and squarely, the name Gray written on the front of the paper in elegant cursive. (He would never throw this one away.) He stopped himself from staring at a dumb piece of paper (from his slight crush) and decided to open it quietly, glancing up at the front of the classroom to check on their teacher before opening the note carefully and discreetly.
Fun my ass, Fullbuster. You just want to exchange books with me 'cause you weren't able to buy one on time. (;¬_¬)
Her emoji drawings are always so cute. He smiled at her writing and got another Post-It, scribbling down his reply: Okay fine you got me. But I wouldn't want your efforts of exchanging books with me go to waste. How about a deal, hm? You exchange your books with me—whatever books I'll need—but if you don't get a topic or if you need answers to some certain questions, I'll gladly help you out on it. I mean, Chemistry's the only class we have together. So… deal? He read his reply once again before folding it, mollified at his negotiation. He then passed it on to Lucy, who looked at him from his peripheral vision, before opening his note.
He then planted his cheek on the palm of his hand, absent-mindedly tapping his pen on his empty notebook which was left open. Their teacher's voice was all blurred out to his ears. It was too boring, this class. He decided to sneak a peek at Lucy, who was apparently trying to get his attention by piercing her eyes through his head. He blinked at her drowsily, as she raised her thumb up, showing him that she had agreed to his proposition.
Today's note from Gray at the back of Lucy's History book says, It's got to be London.
She'd just left a note for him from her yesterday's History class, after her teacher had asked them what the first city to have a population of one million was as their day-to-day trivia. She contemplated on this before giving an impressed look, neatly putting her other unneeded books in her locker while still rereading the note Gray has sent her. (They know each other's locker numbers for easy access to their replies and whatnot.) His writing was always so… architectural. Always even and in all caps.
She then walked briskly to her next class, immediately sitting next to Cana, since all the seats were taken. It wasn't as if she didn't like Cana (she was a really nice girl), it was just they weren't able to talk so much. So it was awkward. On Lucy's part, that is.
"What's up with you and that Fullbuster guy, huh, Lucy?" Cana teasingly and suddenly asked, as if they've been friends—really close friends all this time. She planted her cheek on her hand, whose elbow was resting on her desk, as she looked at her with half-lidded eyes and a joshing smile.
Lucy simply blinked at her. She's confused. "What do you mean?"
Cana chuckled, snorting softly. "You mean you yourself don't know what's going on?" she asked, voice quite shaky from her small fit of chuckles. When Lucy simply eyed her blankly, her smile faded and she looked at Lucy with pinches of understanding, pity, and shock. She nodded slightly, her smile slowly returning. "What I meant to ask was," she composed herself, "are you and Fullbuster like… a thing?"
She almost choked on her own saliva.
"What—why would we—God, I—no!" she exclaimed, controlling her voice so as not to attract attention from her other classmates. Cana simply laughed at her reaction. She felt herself heating up at the moment. She recoiled herself. "Well, Gray and I are childhood friends, so we know each other a lot."
"Well, what's with the mushy smiles both of you have on from time to time? I see notes sometimes, too."
Lucy rolled her eyes at Cana's wiggling eyebrows, giggling to herself as she opened her mouth to explain the truth behind the notes—
Class started. The teacher went in and everyone greeted him before sitting back down. He asked them what was the first city to have a population of one million? London, she confidently said. The class was then silent for a while. And the teacher gave her an impressed smile.
She was right.
No.
Gray was right. She smiled at this as she took a triumphant sit on her chair, earning a thumbs-up from Cana. She fished out her Post-Its.
Thanks, Genius. I owe you one. （○｀ω´）ゞ
During Chemistry, Gray writes Lucy a note that says, Wanna grab some snacks after school? He drew two boxes at the bottom of the question, a yes or a no.
They've been doing this—the note-passing thing—for a few weeks now, and he has to admit, it feels as if they're something. Maybe their in a relationship, or maybe their friendship has gotten even deeper. It's something to consider. Not only have they written stupid nicknames and answers to this and that on their notes, but also, when they're bored, some fun facts about them or everything else. And it was fun. Passing notes and leaving them at the back of their books and their lockers. It was as if they relived the 90's, when texting wasn't a thing yet. And there was something so retro yet sweet about passing notes.
What's more, is that he could keep them—all of the notes—until he's old and wrinkly and he feels like reminiscing his past with the most beautiful girl he's ever seen.
And suddenly he feels so lucky to have this friendship with Lucy Heartfilia.
He ducked his head and looked at the opposite direction from Lucy so she wouldn't see how stupid his smile looked.
A tap on his desk. He whipped his head to Lucy, finding her pointing at the new note on his desk. He stopped a smile from forming as he opened the note, reading his question and raising his brows because Lucy has checked neither yes nor no. But she wrote something else below the boxes, Asking me out is not part of the deal. ( ￣ ︶ ￣）
Red was painted on his face and ears and neck.
Has she figured him out?
Shit.
He snapped his head toward Lucy, knowing fully-well how stupidly red he looked. But he didn't care anymore after seeing Lucy in a fit of giggles. (Shit she's so cute when she giggles.) But then he remembered how she was flushing his man-pride down the toilet. So he took out another Post-It and wrote, Excuse me, but you owe me one, remember? And passed it on to Lucy, a smug smile decorating his face.
It was her turn to be quiet, and he covered his mouth with his two fingers as his haughty smile continued to grow.
Fine… whatever. Meanie. ( ○･ ε ´･○ )
He chuckled lightly.
I know you love me.
He heard her mock-grimace. He smiled.
Holy shit, I cannot believe you don't know the answer to that, Jedi. You're so dumb.
Lucy simply snorted at the answer Gray sent her. He didn't even answer her question! She ripped off a Post-It off from the pile she has in her locker, and wrote down, Are you asking me to go back on our deal, Ice Queen? before slapping it at the back of her book. She them smiled vindictively as she stomped off to class.
He winced at how evil Lucy sounded as he reread her reply to his teasing note. I'M JUST KIDDING! Don't take the deal back I'm sorry! He wrote and pasted it at the back of the same book. He then took out another one of Lucy's books from his bag, and instantly turned it to the flyleaves.
I hate you, butt-face. (ு ꁞ ு ) ･･･
He chuckled. She always had the lamest comebacks to whatever he was teasing—
"Ahem, Mr. Fullbuster,"
Oh
Shit.
Oh God. He got caught chuckling at a book like the idiot he was. Slowly, his eyes traveled to the board filled with whatever topic they had, then to the fuming teacher in which he had forgotten the name due to sheer embarrassment, then to his classmates. Shit. Shit shit shit. All eyes were on him. The room was painfully silent and damn did he look so stupidly candid right now he wanted the earth to swallow him whole. Somebody was snickering silently. It was probably Natsu. Damn him.
"Do you find my lesson funny? Or do you find me funny?"
"I find nothing funny, sir." He mumbled under his breath.
He was so red he was about to become a tomato himself.
"Sorry?"
He straightened up and looked him in the eye. "Nothing, sir."
Sir then dubiously eyed him as he slowly reverted his attention back to the board. He cleared his throat. "So," he began, but the rest of the words started to slur out in Gray's hearing as he snapped his head at Natsu. And surely enough, he was chortling his ass off at what just happened.
He threw him his useless notebook.
Upon opening her locker, Lucy being surprised was an understatement, as she watched a note falling off her locker. She picked it up. It read, You look pretty today. I like your hair like that.
She read it over and over again. It seemed so unreal. Did Gray really write this? It couldn't be. But the Post-It was blue. Anyone could have a blue Post-It! But—
Roses started to creep up her cheeks and it was consuming all of her face until she was a rose herself and God it was so hot hot hot she was burning but she was burning in a good way. Her heart was running laps around the world and it was never stopping but her breath was. She didn't know how to breathe now. Was breathing needed? She didn't know. She needed to distract herself.
So she did. She opened up a flyleaf from a random book in her locker. She needed to distract herself. She scanned all the notes they sent to each other, and she was calming down. She read the most recent one: I just got scolded in Physics today. It sucked like hell. We need to stop this or I'll die because of embarrassment. He probably just put that book in her locker moments ago. It was so fresh.
She chuckled to herself. He got scolded? That must've been a sight worth seeing. Too bad she wasn't there to witness it. She took out her pink Post-It and penned, Well it's your fault for getting distracted. I like what we're doing. It's cute. She stuck it below Gray's note, folded it—since it was already filling up the book—and dashed towards her next class.
Hi.
Why are you sending me a note? We're just seatmates, Gray. (￣ ‸ ￣ )
I just want to, okay?
You miss me, don't you? ( ¬ ‿ ¬ )*
Maybeeee, maybe not. ;)
Hey do you want to know about my hobby?
Here he goes again. What is it? Lucy replied, passing him her reply in boredom.
Rapping
She furrowed her eyebrows and unfolded the paper.
you in my arms ;)
He was snickering beside her. She was a tomato.
She kicked him underneath their table.
He screamed.
He got scolded.
She didn't.
It was almost prom. So Gray decided to do something stupidly cliché yet hopefully so terribly romantic or cute for Lucy. (So he bought sets of markers, colored papers—especially pastel ones because he knew how much she loved pastel colors—tape, and some other unnamed things.) Of course he was going to ask her to prom. Why wouldn't he?
So for her, he's going to imitate Justin Bieber.
But instead of letting her get her scarf back, he's letting her look for her Chemistry book.
It was prom season, and honestly, Lucy wasn't liking it any bit.
Everywhere—literally everywhere—she goes, it's either there's someone 'promposing' or there are couples making out like there's no tomorrow just because they're going to prom together. (Screw them. Screw them all.) She so badly wanted to scream, "Yeah we get it! You're in love! God, you won't even last a lifetime, dammit." Because it really was true. Well, for her, at least. She simply sighed as she made her way to her locker, discreetly rolling her eyes at the exceptional lovey-dovey-ness being displayed out in the open by her school mates.
It wasn't as if she was those girls who didn't believe in love, or something else. In fact, she was an avid reader of romance. She loves how love manifests itself in words and characters and fiction. She loves how that manifestation of love captures her and traps her in a universe filled with literature. But for some strange reason, seeing love in the real world is, for her, an eyesore. Perhaps it's the public display of affection, which sometimes makes her cringe horribly. Perhaps it was how the boys spoil the girls and turns them into brats. Perhaps it really is just the show of affection in public.
She inwardly cringed.
She knew not all love is like in the books or movies. Not all love is filled with deep conversations and profound quotes. Not all love is filled with passion, intensity, with a dash of goofiness and lust on the side. Not all love is staring deep into each other's eyes and finding a galaxy or an ocean within them. Not all love is memorizing his/her face, flaws, and body. Not all love is actually love. So she can't just expect everyone to act as couples she'd read in books and watched in movies. She knew that everyone is in love in their own way.
She wasn't even in the place to give an opinion, since she hasn't had any boyfriend. Ever.
She sighed and
There was a note stuck in her locker. It was blue.
It was from Gray.
She took it out.
It read, _ _ _ N _ E _ T
Was she supposed to fill this out?
A smile was creeping up her lips like vines growing. She knew he knew how much she loved puzzles and solving and mysteries and clues and detective things. She wondered what surprise he had for her. Or what shenanigan awaits.
Now, what would she do with the letters n, e, and t?
She opened her locker, and instantly, another clue popped up. She took the blue note.
A small picture of the famous boy band, One Direction, was pasted on it. She furrowed her eyebrows and—
The bell rang. It was time for class.
She sighed in frustration, taking out all the books—
Her Chemistry book is missing. She needs it.
Shit. It's with Gray. (Did he take it out of her locker? That sneaky bastard. But why would he? They're classmates in Chemistry. Weird.)
But he's not here. He's not anywhere.
He's screwed.
Gray was smiling so goofily as he was putting up the signs and other cliché stuff up in places only they both know, and even putting warnings such as, "JUST FOR LUCY HEARTFILIA!" (He was cutting classes. For the first time.) He knew Lucy would love this—what he's doing. He knew how she adores solving puzzles and stuff he doesn't even get. She's that clever. Smart. So, for her—no matter how cliché it would sound—he would be this mushy for a day.
A light bulb flicked on in her mind, sounding a ding! She almost wanted to exclaim, "Eureka!"
Luckily, the bell had rung just in time for lunch. She tapped her ball pen rapidly on her desk, biting her lip apprehensively and jerking her leg up and down rapidly as she forced herself to listen to their teacher's final remarks. It also seemed like he was rushing. Once he was done, they gathered up their things, while Lucy already dashed out of the door, making a beeline for her locker.
Upon arriving, she took out the two notes Gray had left for her as clues. If the first note consisted of eight letters, and the second note said One Direction, then most probably Gray was pointing to a certain direction. And while the directions point to up, down, left, and right, she can't possibly go with down—since who on earth turns down? She will definitely go with left.
She fished out her pen and filled out the missing letters:
T U R N L E F T
She smiled in satisfaction, walking straight ahead after turning left from where she stood. Not knowing where to go next and making an intelligent guess to turn left again, seeing another sign not far from where she was walking:
JUST FOR LUCY HEARTFILIA!
She had to giggle at that. It was very Gray of him to do. She jogged up to the sign, and right below it, was another Post-It taped to it, containing a drawing of a very familiar scarf. She only knew one boy who would wear a scarf like that to school. (And she was shocked to see how Gray has managed him to agree in helping him out.)
And not far from where she stood, was Natsu. Just there, standing, with a lame look on his face.
Okay, so basically he was forced into this... whatever this is, Lucy thought with a giggle, as she trotted towards Natsu. When she came up to him, however, a grin spread across his face.
"Hi'ya, Luce!" he greeted sprightly, presenting his raised hand for a high five, in which Lucy did.
"So, um, why did Gray want me to see you?"
Natsu rolled his eyes. "Oh, well... he wanted to give this to you,"
It was a phrase of some sort, written in a Post-It. Jeez, how many Post-It's did he use for all these clues? She giggled at that. It was sweet of him, though. The note read, I'M STRECHY.
She looked at Natsu, dumbfounded. "'I'm strechy?' Thought he spelled stretch wrong." she pointed out, furrowing her eyebrows and inwardly wanting to add that missing t in the word. But aside from that...
"And what do I have to do with him being 'strechy?'"
Natsu simply scoffed at her, plating his hands behind his head and looking at her with disinterest. "Honestly? I have no idea. Up to you to find out, I guess..." he shrugged, waving her a good-bye, and walking off nonchalantly, leaving a baffled Lucy standing. She stared at the note more. Probably since stretch is misspelled, this is just like a series of jumbled up letters which form a word. Hm, I'm strechy, I'm strechy...
"It doesn't ring a bell!" She exclaimed softly to herself, lightly stomping on the ground, yet inwardly applauding Gray for his genius-ness.
Let's see... Mis—no... Mystrech? Chyimstre? Doesn't sound like a word... is it even a word? She shook her head. Trychemis?
Wait.
Whoa.
Holy fuck.
Try-che-mis.
It's fucking chemistry! What the fuck! He's so gonna die—oh wait 'til I find him!
She vigorously turned her head left and right, eyes rapidly scanning the areas for a sign—
There was an arrow pointing to their secret hideout.
Oh, he was so gonna get it.
She stomped towards the direction of their hideout—which was just some old abandoned staircase near the almost-dead part of their school. They don't make out—ew, no, she wasn't ready—but they just meet up there in case a) Lucy has some juicy gossip she'd like Gray to know, b) Gray has seen some hot chick or something else he sees everyday, c) they're both feeling like shit and need some comfort from a best friend, and d) just to sit there in silence for the fun of hiding out. And what better and more mysterious place to go to do those than to an old abandoned staircase? It was something they agreed on anyway.
"Fullbuster, you are going down! And not down like down the stairs, but as in down-down!" Lucy scolded, making funny gestures with her hand as she stomped towards the stairs, glancing at the occasional clues she would pass by. He was definitely there. "Gray, can you—"
Oh, oh
I saw so many pretty faces
Before I saw you, you
Now all I see is you
Her eyebrows furrowed as she stopped in her tracks. What the actual fuck?
I KNOW YOU AREN'T A FAN OF JB... a sign said by the staircase. She walked towards it, and saw another sign that read, BUT I'LL STOP THIS MUSIC IF YOU JB A CHANCE...
Lucy chuckled. That joke sucked. But Gray always sucks.
The song continued to play in the background as she went down the stairs. The cliché part was, it was covered with rose petals. (She was also even surprised that the bell hadn't rung yet. Or maybe it did, and she just didn't notice.) BECAUSE I KNOW THAT WE HAVE CHEMISTRY...
And her Chemistry book was taped to the wall. She laughed. How did he manage to have it taped to the wall?
"So will you go to the prom with me?"
And there he was, at the bottom of the staircase, with a bouquet of lilies (her favorite) and a plush toy of a snowman of some sort. She laughed again, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes as her heart beat faster faster faster and she knew that she was red red red and her head was throbbing but it was throbbing in a good way as she went down the stairs and tackled Gray. They both landed on the floor. The song was still playing.
"I'll take that as a yes..." Gray croaked out, earning another round of giggles from Lucy.
Then he handed her a letter. It had an envelope and everything. She giggled once again. Huh, so he knew I was going to say yes to him? She thought, smiling as she took the letter from him. And on the letter was a note that read, Yes, I knew you would say yes to me. Heh. ;) It made her laugh, considering it was as if they almost had the same thoughts—only Gray had anticipated it.
Her heart was now a balloon and it was floating up up up in the air. She had never felt this happy. She had never felt this special. For a guy to put all these efforts just to ask her out to prom. It was stupidly cliché, but hell, how could she consider such a thing after all of the other things he'd done? She giggled.
And for that, she gave him a kiss on the cheek out of overwhelming joy.
She felt him stiffen.
"Holy fuck," he muttered. He looked into her eyes and placed his hand over his cheek. His jaw dropped. "Holy shit did you just kiss me?"
Lucy giggled at his goofiness. "Uh, yeah,"
"Do it again."
And she did.
"Holy shit this is the best day ever."
"Yes, yes it is."
A/N: THIS IS MY FAVORITE SO FAR. Don't even ask me what happened after lmao and if they got back to class. (But to answer that, hm, nope. HAHAHA. They skipped school, mwahaha. BUT DON'T DO IT, KIDS! Even though I'm practically a kid myself... but naw, I ain't skippin'; only to class. Heh.)
Hope you liked it!