Two Worlds Collide
Chapter 4
Throwing her pink backpack over her shoulders, Lucy Heartfilia jumps down the wired black fence, as she jumps down onto the hard, grey concrete floor. With a sprint, she runs and hides behind a nearby green garbage can, looking around at her surroundings. Around her is an abandoned world, with green benches with paint peeling off. Abandoned cars and skateboards lie out in the open, as well as an empty billboard, the corners slowly starting to rip apart.
Making sure nobody was near, she can hear her heartbeat quicken, as she leaves her hiding spot and sets her things down.
Sitting in front of the plain white billboard, she opens her backpack, ready to create another piece of artwork. After all, this thing was practically screaming at her to bomb it, considering the fact that it was nothing but plain white. So colorless and lifeless, she just had to make a piece of art out of it, because she couldn't let something like this come to waste. And perhaps when she's finished she can hang it in the city someplace...
Mixing her newly opened spray paint bottle, she mixes the store brought pink and white paint, until it gets to her signature light pink color, she uses to make the dress of her girl. Mixing yellow with a few shades of white, she gets the color to be a certain blonde shade, and she pulls out the black spray paint for the silhouette.
Shaking the bottles, she looks around the place for inspiration, as her heartbeat quickens, hearing the motorcycle coming closer to her destination. Then again, nobody would bother stopping here anyways, so why bother?
Using the blonde spray paint, she quickly makes the hair of her little creation, the back of her face towards the audience. Using the pink spray paint, she sprays the dress of the girl, making it look like she's sitting on something. Using black and a little bit of grey, she draws a silhouette of the body of the girl, as if the girl is sitting on the floor.
Perhaps she should make things a bit more interesting than just a girl sitting on an empty white canvas.
Using her other colors, she mixes a bit of grey and a bit of green, as she creates train tracks, all around the girl, indicating that she's sitting on the train tracks. Using grey, she quickly sprays onto the girl's wrist, a pair of chains on both hands, connecting it with the tracks, as if the silhouette of the blonde haired girl and pink dress is chained onto the tracks, and there's no way out. Using a few colors, she draws a few pebbles that are usually apparent on the tracks, as she hears footsteps getting closer.
Pausing her actions, she admires her work, as the footsteps keep getting louder.
"Shit."
She turns her head, and sees a guy with black spiky hair and red eyes, with piercings all over.
"Y-you're... G-gajeel?" She speaks, in disbelief. Eyes widening, the two stare at each other, before the man chuckles.
"Gi hi, guess that blonde chick from Riverdale is actually a badass," he laughs, crossing his arms.
"N-no way! P-please don't tell anyone you saw me here!" She says, almost coming out in whispers.
He shrugs. "Who would I tell? Besides, I'm a street artist too. Black Steel Gajeel. Nice to meet ya, Blondie!"
"Don't call me that! Someone might figure it out!"
"Fine, Bunny Girl, happy?"
"WHY BUNNY GIRL?!"
"Ya seem like some sort of bunny. Maybe you were a bunny in the past life. Eh, who the fuck cares?" He says, with a shrug. Walking closer, he looks at her artwork, before he sighs.
"Is it bad?" Lucy asks, as he takes a seat next to her.
"Nah, it's actually pretty good. Just didn't expect Badass Blondie to be a rich kid from Riverdale. I mean, no offense to some people out there, but your art is legit. I actually admire it, which is pretty damn impressive. Man, I was gonna bomb this billboard too, but I guess ya beat me to it!" He says, looking over at her work.
"You can tag it if you want. I'm planning to put this somewhere in the city where everyone can see."
"Alright. I'll add a train coming and some stormy clouds, if ya don't mind. Gonna make a rainy scene and a train coming, along with some black clouds and lightning. Gonna color bomb this whole damn thing, and we can sign our names on it. Blondie and Black Steel. Damn, salamander's gonna be jealous. This is something he's always wanted to do," Gajeel laughs, thinking of his friend with his obsession with street artist Blondie.
Lucy scoffs. "Salamander?"
"Yeah, why do ya always think he's always finding your work and tagging it? Obviously he wants a collaboration with you," Gajeel says, pulling out his spray paint.
"I doubt that'll ever happen," Lucy says, and the guy laughs.
"You know, Bunny Girl, you're like that sister I've always wanted. You're better than I thought, honestly. Anyone messes with you, they mess with me, got it? Here's my number," he says, handing her his new phone he received just a while ago.
"Thanks bro," she says.
Who would've thought things would've turned out this way.
"WHAT?! I just charged this damn thing 2 hours ago! How is it on 15% already?!" Natsu screams, as he stomps his feet on the ground of their trailer, acting like a whiny spoiled kid.
"Dude, chill! That's your fault for playing Dragon Slayer non-stop. Ain't nobody's problem but yours!" Gray says, eating leftovers from yesterday's dinner.
"But it's sooooo fun!" Natsu says, complaining on the couch.
"Juvia thinks Natsu should do his homework before Erza comes back," Juvia says from the kitchen, making a batch of cookies. "Meanwhile, Juvia is making cookies for Lucy as a little friendship present," she says with a hint of sadness, as if hiding something.
"I told ya Luce was awesome!" Natsu says, going back to his game.
Juvia laughs. "She is. She's the sweetest person you'll ever meet," she says, before stopping herself, as if hiding something important.
Gray looks at her strangely, before shrugging his shoulders. "Anyways, anybody know where Erza went? She's been gone for hours, and I'm kinda hungry," he says.
"Juvia would be delighted to make cookies for Gray! Ah, this is so sweet!" She gushes, before Gray nervously laughs.
"Y-yeah, okay, that'll do... although I was hoping for an actual meal..." He says under his breath.
As if on cue, the door opens, and there stood Erza, standing proudly with two bags of groceries, setting them on the plastic orange table. "Sorry for taking so long. I had to erase the security footage from the supermarket, so I wouldn't get caught. Anyways, this will last us for days. I assume you guys have finished all your homework?" She asks, pointing to Natsu's phone with a glare.
"A-aye, I'll get started right away!" Natsu says, squeaking. Grabbing his backpack he quickly makes his way over to his papers, and scans the room for a pencil.
"You know, you could've saved the work and took food from a small deli, right?" Gray says, crossing his arms, and leaning casually on the couch.
"Nonsense! These big supermarkets have more money, and therefore a few stolen goods won't affect them like it will to a smaller store. It's better to steal from a big local supermarket who has money than a small deli who doesn't have as much money," Erza says, crossing her arms with a proud smile.
"Whatever you say, Titania," Gray says, turning on the TV they brought a long time ago.
"Where's Gajeel?" Erza asks.
"Dunno, said he was gonna tag some billboard," Natsu replies with a shrug.
Juvia sighs. "Let's hope he doesn't get arrested."
Gray snickers. "Last time he was arrested we had to break him out and erase the security footage, and re-write all the files and paper crap to make it look like he was never arrested. Not to mention, drug the guards so they lose their memories of that certain day. Damn, someone should've went with him so he won't get into any trouble."
"Nah, he'll be fine. Besides, that was many years ago, and it wasn't even because of street art," Natsu says, twirling a pencil.
"He won't get arrested, Juvia. I've watched him mature, and he isn't as stupid as he was before," Erza says, before the girl nods, and focuses on her baking.
"Alright, you see that building? We can climb onto the roof, and hang the billboard there. That spot with no windows, so it's nice and high, and it's not covering any windows. Besides, it's not like it's important. It's just some crappy sex motel that's been shut down for years," Lucy says, and Gajeel grins.
"Got'cha. Here, give me the damn billboard. You climb the ladder first, and then I'll follow with the billboard. I'll hand it over to you when I'm at an arm's reach. Don't worry about the supplies. I got plenty of nails and screws and hammers and all that awesome crap," Gajeel says, and Lucy nods.
Climbing the unsteady old rusty wooden ladder hanging on the side of the brick wall with colors faded, she makes sure her hood of her sweater is up, so nobody can recognize her. Once she stepped onto the roof, she can feel the wind brushing past her clothes, as she takes in the deep feeling of freedom.
As Gajeel climbs up, she reaches her hands out to take the billboard from him, so he can climb up easier. After he too, reaches the roof, they use nails and hammers to attach the billboard now filled with colors and paint, on the side of the buildings, where there are no windows.
"Let's go," Lucy says, once their task is finished.
Quickly climbing down the ladder, they hear the police sirens from afar, and they run to hide in a nearby alley. Making sure nobody sees them, they stay there for a while, admiring their new art that's hanging on the side of the building where everybody can see.
"Ya know, who would've thought this rich chick would turn out to be such a badass after all?" Gajeel says, and Lucy laughs.
"You said that like 10 times already today," she says, as he ruffles her hair.
"And that's why I'm gonna be your unofficial brother."
Lucy laughs, as they finally leave the alley once the police has disappeared. "Well, dear brother, the other day I saw you eyeing my friend Levy. Care to explain?"
He shrugs. "She's cute. Kinda reminds me of a shrimp."
"How about I introduce you two?"
"Nah, it ain't gonna happen. It'll put her life in danger if she gets involved with someone like me."
Unsure of what it's supposed to mean, Lucy shrugs, and thinks about the party invitation from Natsu, at his friend Cana's place. Waving good-bye to Gajeel, she sees that the sun is starting to set, and as she takes the taxi home, she smiles to herself.
Who would've thought things would end up this way?
Unlocking the front door, she presses her fingers so the scanner can scan her fingerprint, before finally walking in. Her mansion has such a high security system, she laughs a little sometimes, thinking about how ridiculous the security system is.
"Where were you, Lucy?"
"Hello Father, I was simply exploring the city," she says, leaving every detail out as possible.
"Well, I have a surprise for you. Next Saturday you are to stay home because we are hosting a dinner party, and you will help prepare in the morning, and your presence is required in the afternoon and night."
"If you don't mind me asking, what's it for?"
"Just a simple dinner party with my colleagues," he says. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do" he says, and leaves the room.
With a sigh, Lucy heads up the room, knowing that her father wants her to be at another one of his fancy rich people parties where everyone drinks champagne and makes up ridiculous rumors and tries to impress other people with their outfits and money. Opening the invitation from Natsu, she feels her cheeks grow warm, thinking about the party Natsu invited her to.
And then realization struck when she realized her father's party was on the same date as the party Natsu invited her to...
And there was no possible way of avoiding her father's party...