A/N: Hey, guys! I was thinking of starting on another one of my story ideas and maybe posting the first chapter for it. Anyway, I was wondering what you guys think about that. I mean, is it too soon? Should I just focus on this story? Go for it? I don't know. I would love to hear what you guys think!
Also, if anyone has any ideas on some things that I could include in this story, it would be a big help. LIke,maybe some events I could include. I already have the next few chapters planned out, but I feel like I should add some more things in.
Thanks for reading! Hope you like this chapter!
Disclaimer: The owner of Fairy Tail is Hiro Mashima. Still don't know if I even have to say that.
Chapter 4: Making Friends?
Lucy POV
Today is a rare day. Daddy is letting me play outside. He hasn't done that in about 3 years, ever since I turned 6. Today, he hasn't even hit me yet. Maybe he's finally in a good mood. I better be careful not to make him mad again. Where did Virgo go? She was going to take me to the park. I think she had to get something from the house.
Oh, look. There are some other kids playing over there. Maybe I should go to them. But Virgo told me to wait for her. They look like they are having a lot of fun. I can't resist it; I quickly walk over to them, wincing at the bruises on my legs. Finally, I reach them.
"Hello. My name's Lucy. Can I play with you guys?" I ask them eagerly. There are four of them. I was the only girl.
"Of course. Come on over and join us," replied a boy with black, spiky hair. "Do your parents know you're here?"
Stifling a cry, I answer. "Not exactly, but I live just over there." I point across the street. "Someone should be coming for me soon, so I'm okay."
Then the boy with bluish-silver hair speaks up. "Hey, how come I don't see you around much if we're neighbors? And why do you have so many bruises?" I avert my eyes for a second as I reply.
"Um, I fell down the stairs really hard the other day. I'm such a clutz." I don't want to lie, but daddy told me to never tell anyone about how I really got so beat up.
The first boy doesn't seem to believe my story. "I've fallen down the stairs many times. And I never get so bruised. You must have a long staircase." He says the last part sarcastically.
I change the subject. "So, how do we play this game?" After they explained it to me, I quickly got the hang of it. I had so much fun, I don't know how long I was there. I am so happy to finally have some friends to play with. I want this to last forever. I don't even think about home.
That is until I hear a familiar yell coming this way. "What the hell are you doing!" I turn to see my father's angry face directed towards me. As he continues to shout and curse, two of the boys run away. The first two I spoke with remain, trying to explain that we were only playing a game. They don't understand why he is so angry.
Suddenly, Daddy grabs my hair and pulls me close so only I can hear what he says. "If you don't tell them to go away now, I'll make them regret talking to you forever." I don't remember much after that. Only my tears and the pain.
September 8th, Lunch Time
"Come on, Lucy," the girl named Levy turned to me as soon as the bell signalling the end to fourth period rang. "You should sit with me and my friends at lunch. They'd love to meet you!"
"I'm not so sure about that, Levy." Me and Levy share the first four classes of the day. She wouldn't stop talking to me whenever we had free time, so I couldn't help but warm up to her. Plus, she shares my love for books. "I mean, what if they don't like me? They might even stop hanging out with you just for being friends with someone like me. I don't want to do that to you." I plead with her to see my reasoning.
"My friends aren't like that, Lucy. And I know they'll like you! What's not to like?" I can see it won't be easy to convince her otherwise.
Before I can reply, a familiar voice takes our attention. "There you are, Luce! I finally found ya. Why didn't you show me your schedule before I left?" Natsu was pouting like a child. Then he drapes his arm over my shoulder and starts to pull me away. "Come have lunch with me. I want you to meet all of my friends."
"You already know Natsu? Lucy, why didn't you say so! Now you have to come with us!" Natsu looks at Levy, just now noticing she's there. "Let's go, Natsu. Lucy needs to eat lunch with us today."
Before I know it, Natsu and Levy are dragging me to the cafeteria. All I can think about is how I would much rather be home right now. There's no way their friends could like me. Could they? I still don't even know why these two seem to like me. I'm sure they wouldn't if I let my hood fall down.
"Do you see them, Natsu?" the bluenette questions the pink one. "Gah! Why do I have to be so short!"
Natsu's face lights up as he points to a table in the middle of the room. "There they are. Hurry up!"
Several people are already sitting at the table I'm brought to. I swiftly count six heads, consisting of five different hair colors. Two of them have silvery white hair. I am easily reminded of that Mira girl from earlier today. Only two of them are female, the rest are males. The situation makes me more than a little uneasy.
Natsu speaks up to get their attention. "Hey guys!" his childish grin soon following. "We'd like you to meet someone. She's new to Fairy Tail this year. Say hi, Lucy." Him and Levy both look at where I used to be. They just now notice that I'm not there anymore. "Um, Luce. Where'd ya go?"
Levy finds me first and pulls me out from behind Natsu. "Here she is." Why, Levy! I almost got away! "She's still a little shy. Take it easy on her." I don't want to hear them reject me. Let alone see their looks of disgust that are sure to appear.
"That means you, Ice Princess!" Natsu yells to some boy with black hair.
"What do you mean by that, Flame Brain?" he shouts back. Soon enough, punches are flying back and forth.
"Cut it out, guys!" the girl with short white hair tells them after noticing how skittish I am right now. "Don't worry about them, Lucy. They do this all the time." Is that supposed to make me feel better? "Oh, my name's Lisanna, by the way."
"But fighting is so manly!" the large guy with white hair practically roars. It wasn't long before he, too, was pulled into the fray. The rest of the school doesn't even seem to care.
"That's my brother. Elfman," Lisanna explains before I can ask.
"Lucy," the brunette was holding out some drink for me to take. "Drink this and you won't be shy anymore." It smelled strongly of alcohol, a smell I am all too familiar with. "Just call me Cana!" she grinned with a slur in her words.
"You should know better than to give some of your drink to someone, Cana." A boy with blue hair and a tattoo around his right eye scolded. "Don't make me tell Erza you have that. It won't be long before she notices. Lucy," he looks at me. "I probably don't have to tell you not to take it. I'm Jellal. It's nice to meet you."
So far, he seems like the most sane guy out of this group. Shyly waiting for the last person to introduce himself, I soon see a sight that causes me to blush.
"Gray, put your clothes on!" the final guy, a blond, shouts. Where have I heard that name before?
"What are you talking about? I'm still wearing…" He looks down at himself to see he is only in his boxers. "Gah! When did that happen!" He sounds genuinely surprised. As if his closed just hopped off his body all on their own.
"Lucy isn't here for five minutes and you're already stripping, Droopy Eyes! What's with you?" Natsu punches Gray once his clothes are back on. And so the fight continues.
"That's it," the blond with the scar on his eye sounded pissed. "It's time for you three to knock it off!" With that, he manages to bring the fight to an end with one punch. Yeah, he's not scary at all… This is all too much to handle. Maybe I should just go home.
"Oi, blondie." What's he talking about? He's blond too! "Word of advice. You should lose the hood. People can see your face better that way. Unless you have a reason to keep it on. Just call me Laxus. Laxus Dreyar."
"D-Dreyar?" I question. "Does that mean you're…" I don't finish my question. There's just no way that someone as tall as him is related to the principal. It must be a coincidence.
"Yeah." Levy pipes in. "Laxus is Makarov's grandson. He is also the nephew of our homeroom teacher, Ms. Dreyar." Laxus just shrugs like it's no big deal.
"Come on. Let's all get lunch." Of course Natsu is the one to suggest this.
"Hey, Lucy," Gray begins when we're heading back to the table with our lunches. "Sorry about earlier. I really have no idea why that happens." Is he talking about the fighting, or the stripping? "It's just this weird habit I've had for years. I'm just glad my clothes were still somewhere nearby." Guess that answers that.
"It's okay, Gray," I respond, though I really just want to leave before they all decide that they hate me. Or anything bad happens to them because of me.
When we've all been seated, I notice two empty chairs; one is by Jellal and the other is between Elfman and Laxus. Does that mean they have even more friends on the way here? I don't think I can handle this.
About to stand up and excuse myself to the restroom, I'm interrupted by Natsu.. "Hey, guys. Where's Erza and Mira?" Mira sits here too? Who's this Erza person they keep mentioning?
"Listen up, you brats!" a voice shouted, causing everyone to quiet down and turn their eyes towards the stage at the front of the lunch room. Hey, I recognize that voice. "The student council president and vice president have some announcements to make." The principal then walked off the stage. Mirajane and another pretty girl take his place.
"Who's excited for the new year?" Mira's abundance of excitement can almost be seen flowing out over the entire student body. Most of them respond with affirmative hollering. "That's great to hear! Everyone, there will be several events going on this year that will make it even better than last year. I'm sure everyone will have a good time!" She's beaming with excitement. "Erza here will tell you more about it."
"Alright, then. First off, I expect you all to behave this year. If you don't, you will face proper punishment." She looks right at our table. Natsu and Gray visibly flinch under her dark glare. It said that they were already on her list. "In a few weeks, Fairy Tail will be hosting a school visitation week for all the other school in our league. That week will be filled with activities that each school will participate in and compete against each other." She seemed a little eager when she mentioned the competition part.
"Yes," Mira chimed in. "There will even be a special prize for the school that wins! So make sure it's us."
I zone out the rest of what their saying. That means there will be even more people here. There's already more than I can handle. What should I do?
I feel a poke in my side. I look at Natsu to see what he wants.
"Luce, aren't you going to eat anything?" He gestures to my plate still full of food. I've barely even touched it. I'm too nervous around these people to eat.
"I'm not that hungry. Here. You can have it." I can see that his plate is empty. He eagerly accepts the food I hand him.
"Hi again, Lucy," Mira cheerfully waves at me when they finally come over. "I see you've met everyone else here. You're free to join us for lunch anytime you want."
"Thanks for the offer," I force myself to respond. I don't bother with a smile since they won't even see it under my hood.
"So you're the Lucy Mira has told me about. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." The redhead from on the stage greets me. "I am Erza, president of the student council here at Fairy Tail. I trust that Natsu and Gray are behaving nicely."
They respond simultaneously, looking a little frightened at her tone.
"Aye, sir!" Natsu stammered out.
"Yes, ma'am!" was Gray's answer.
"That's good to hear, boys," Erza continues. "Because, if I see either of you two neglecting to make Lucy feel at home, you don't want to know what I'll do." Even I cringed at the dark aura that emanated from her.
With Erza sitting beside Jellal and Mira by Laxus, the rest of lunch seemed to fly by as we all talked. Or rather, as they talked and I wished I hadn't even agreed to go to school. They all seem like nice people. I just don't want to see any of them get hurt because of me. I don't want that to happen again. After all, my father never gave me a second warning about something. I was lucky to get a first.
When the bell signaled us to get to our next class, Erza walked up to me. "Hey, Lucy. I think you should know it's against school rules to cover your face with your hood. I'll let it slide this time, since it's your first day. You need to take it off before you get in trouble."
Oh no! What am I going to do? I can't let them see my face! They won't want to be near me if they see how ugly I am. I know! I'll go to the restroom and take my knife and…
"Actually, Erza," Mira began. "I don't see anywhere in the student handbook where it says you can't wear your hood up like that. So Lucy should be okay. It wasn't like that last year, though."
"Is that so?" Erza's tone said that she wasn't happy with being told she was wrong. "Oh, well. Forget what I said, Lucy. You can keep it up if you like."
Hearing my sigh of relief, Natsu whispers in my ear. "I don't know why you don't want them to see your face, Lucy. It's not like you look bad or anything."
Feeling my face heat up, I swiftly walk away to my next class.
Friday, September 12th
The final bell of the day rings, dismissing us to go home. I rush to my locker to get my things. I hurry outside the school so Natsu isn't able to walk home with me. I need some by myself to think.
I can't believe I made it through my first week of school. And it wasn't even all that bad. I'm getting used to having all of them around. I'm still not sure if I can call them my friends, though. Not that they did anything wrong. I'm just afraid that they will disappear or leave me if I call them that. It wouldn't be the first time.
But my dad doesn't know where I am, so maybe it'll be okay.
They have even gotten me to talk a little more. My favorite place to go in the school is the library. It has so many books for me to read. And it's really quiet. Levy spends a lot of time there, too.
My classes aren't even that bad, either. I've already gone over most of the material from when I was home-schooled. I guess that's one good thing that has happened to me. Although, it was more lonely than real school. I found out that there is at least one of my ten new 'friends' in each of my classes. Some of my classes even have two or more of my friends in them.
I wonder what my homeroom teacher looks like. Between Laxus and the principal, she could look like anything. I hope she's nice, unlike Ms. Aquarius. I don't know why, but most of the teachers here insist that you call them by their first name. I go with it just because it puts me at ease to know I don't have to act so formal anymore. My dad didn't like it when I forgot about the formalities.
I don't know why, but I just feel at home at Fairy Tail. It's like I finally belong somewhere. Not one single person has said anything bad about me. At least, not to my face. All my friends make sure of that. The ones that are the most protective of me are Natsu and Laxus, though I have no idea why. With all of them around me and supporting me, I haven't even felt the need to cut myself this past week.
Seeing my house down the street, I smile as I think about all that's happened this week. I should probably tell Virgo so she stops worrying so much about me.
Virgo's POV
"Hello?" I answer my cellphone. The caller ID was unfamiliar to me. "Virgo speaking. Who is this?"
"Virgo? Is that really you?" an easily recognizable voice responds. "I can't believe you finally came back!" She sounded much relieved.
I laugh as I think back to before I left Magnolia. "Yes, it has been a long time, hasn't it, Aquarius?"
"At least seventeen years, I think. So, what's up with that brat of yours? I don't remember you telling me you got pregnant," she scolded.
"Well… It was more of an adoption, actually. But how do you even know Lucy? She hasn't been out that much, other than for school."
"And that's exactly where I met her. I coach the school's swim team, bunch of lazy brats." Her irritation at them was clear to me. "Anyway, for this week I have been a substitute for her homeroom teacher. With her last name, I could hardly believe that she belonged to you."
"Yes, Lucy told me she hasn't met her real teacher, yet. How is she doing, by the way?" I ask, before adding, "I've been a little worried about her. This is her first year at a public school. Is she too much trouble?"
"Ugh! Don't even get me started. All the students are trouble. But she seems to be making friends. She's really quiet and sits in the back. And she wears her hood up all day. It's no wonder why she doesn't have a boyfriend." I could see the smug look on her face from here.
A thought pops into my head. "Hey, Aquarius. We should get together sometime to catch up. I have a lot to tell you."
"Okay. I'm busy this weekend, so why don't you show up at the school on Monday morning? I no longer have to substitute, I'll be free then," she suggests.
I readily agree. "I will only be able to stay for a little while, though. My new job won't be able to wait all day." Despite what I had initially thought, it's been taking me longer than I had anticipated to get Fairy Hills cleaned up.
"Are you still cleaning up after other people? Come on, Virgo. Don't you ever get tired of it?"
"Not really. I love my new job. I don't get punished as much, though." I say with just a hint of regret. "Although, I never knew the students living at Fairy Hills could be so messy."
"Well, I gotta go now. Got a date with my boyfriend. It was nice talking to you, bye." With that, she hung up.
Going back to preparing dinner, I hear the front door open. Lucy soon strolled into the kitchen with a smile on her face. I noticed she already had her hood down; that's a good sign.
"Welcome home, Princess. You look happy. How was your first week of school?" Thinking about what Aquarius told me, I hope Lucy tells me it's true.
"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Most of the students and teachers seem nice and like they genuinely care. Except for the substitute teacher I have. She acts like she was stung by a scorpion or something," Lucy explains.
Again, I find myself laughing. "That's Aquarius for you. She's always been like that."
"You know her?" the surprise in her voice amused me.
"Yes. I spoke with her on the phone just before you got home. We are just a couple of friends who went to school together. Actually, she was probably the closest friend your mother had back in high school." Upon seeing the sadness in her eyes, I decide to change the topic. "So, Lucy. Have you made any friends, yet?"
Her face brightens up again. "I think so. Ten of them, maybe? This one girl, Levy, is in almost all of my classes. During lunch, she introduced me to her other friends. They are all pretty weird, but interesting. I'm never alone with them. And there's never a dull moment."
"That's good, Princess." I smirk as I form an plan. "What about that boy with pink hair?"
"Natsu? Yeah, I guess he's my friend, too."
"But is he your boyfriend?" I emphasize the word, knowing what her reaction will be.
Sure enough, Lucy's face turns a bright shade of pink. "V-Virgo! He isn't, I swear! Why would you think that? H-he's just a f-friend!" She stammers in embarrassment.
"That's too bad. He seems like a nice boy. Make sure you tell me when you two become closer, Princess." I immediately focus my attention back on my cooking. I easily feel her glare of embarrassment and mock anger on my back. I smile at my accomplishment.
"Virgo, don't forget," she begins sweetly, too sweetly. I turn my head to look at her in suspicion. "You have to make more cookies for me."