Chapter 9
Old Friends, New Friends, and Maybe More than a Friend
Soft rays of light flooded the school library as Lucy casually strolled through the aisles, occasionally stopping to pick up a book and skim the summary on the back cover to see if it would be worth a read. Her private school may be small when it comes to population, but its library was second to none (well maybe that's an exaggeration, but seriously, it was pretty awesome). Wealthy parents and sponsors donated all sorts of books to the rich mahogany shelves, filling them with everything from classic literature to the Twilight Saga.
Coming in, she hadn't meant to check out exclusively romance novels, but the two books she had in her hands were packed full of sappy teenage love stories. She couldn't help it. Before, she hated reading romances because she could never relate to them and was always envious of the flawless heroines that always had the perfect man fall head over heels in love with her.
But now, romance and relationships were the only thing on her mind.
She kept replaying her night in New York with Natsu over and over again in her mind. Originally when she asked him to go with her, she had meant for it to be a date, but Natsu being Natsu was completely oblivious to that. Nevertheless, the night was absolutely magical. It wasn't magical in a fairy tale sort of way. It was just magical in a Natsu and Lucy sort of way. The pink haired teen was so cute when he got all motion sick in the limo and Lucy wasn't about to complain about him lying in her lap. With his enticing pink locks so near she couldn't help but run her fingers through it.
Once they were in New York, the night just got even better. Conversation flowed as naturally as if they had known each other for years and although they had very different personalities, they actually shared a lot of the same interests, hot dogs being a perfect example. Things got more serious towards the end of the night. Natsu opened up to her about being homesick and Lucy opened up about being sick of home. It amazed her how the boy seemed to have everything figured out. He never wavered in what he believed in and always knows what he wants to do next. She could tell he had big dreams for the future and he had that unfaltering belief that he could make them come true.
To Lucy, that was one of his most endearing qualities.
She only wished she had that sort of resolve as well. No, she ended up in tears by the end of the night, not knowing what to do with her life. She still didn't know for sure, but thanks to a combination of Natsu's words and his strong arms wrapped around her, she felt a lot better.
She recalled something Natsu said to her at the ice cream parlor.
Deep down, everyone knows what they want. It just that sometimes they don't like what their heart is telling them or are too scared to follow it
The more she thought about it the more she knew he was right and the more she knew what it was her heart was telling her to do.
Her heart was pointing her towards Natsu. The way he made her laugh, the way he made her smile, the way her skin tingled when he touched her, and the way he had become her only real friend all pointed toward the same thing. She wanted Natsu to be a part of her life forever. He had some weird antics for sure. Just the other day he was able to smell hotdogs literally a mile away and touch the surface of a flame without getting burned. She knew he wasn't being completely honest with her about who he was or where he was from, but she trusted him completely.
Checking the time, Lucy realized her study hall period was almost over. She took her two books up to the librarian and checked them out and put them in her back pack, eager to read them later tonight.
When she walked out of the library she ran into someone.
"I'm so sorry!" Lucy exclaimed as she jerked back from the collision, looking up to see who she had run into.
It was Abby. The same Abby that she used to be good friends with until they got into an argument about whether or not she should be hanging out with a certain new kid in school.
"Hey Lucy." She said with a small smile.
"Hi." Lucy replied blankly, unsure of what to think and very surprised that she wasn't being ignored anymore. Abby and her long silky brunette hair looked as pretty as ever, making the Martin uniform look as though it came straight off the runway.
"Do you have a sec to talk?" The girl asked, almost nervous.
"Yes, of course!" Lucy replied instantly. "I've been wanting to talk to you too. About what I said to you in class… I shouldn't have-"
"Please don't even apologize." Abby replied quickly. "It's all my fault really. I should have realized that being friends with Natsu made you happy and as your friend I should have respected that. I'm so sorry and I hope we can be friends again?"
Lucy smiled wide and felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off her chest. This was the sweet and kind Abby that she was friends with. As good as it was to hang out with Natsu, every girl needed another girl to talk to.
"Yes that would be amazing." Lucy agreed.
"Awesome!" She said, springing forward to engulf Lucy in a massive hug. As soon as she released her, Abby started talking really fast. "Yay, I'm so happy we're friends again and I was hoping that we could hang out this weekend, does that sound cool? Sarah's having a party at her house Saturday night and everyone is going to be there and I was hoping you could come too! You can even bring Natsu and his friends as well. It will be so much fun, I promise."
"Y-yeah, sure." Lucy stammered, unable to say anything else in the wake of Abby's excitement. She had never been to a high school party before and to be honest they never sounded that appealing to her, but it wasn't like she could say no, especially after she had the generosity to invite Natsu, Erza and Gray too.
"Perfect!" She squealed. "I gotta get to my next class but I'll talk to you soon, kay?"
Abby hustled off in the opposite direction, leaving a very flabbergasted Lucy behind.
What exactly just happened?
XXX
Lucy gritted her teeth anxiously as she shouldered her way through the crowds of drunk teenagers. She could barely see where she was headed and the only thing she could hear was the loud thuds of heavy music and the laughter of everyone who was enjoying themselves at the party. Just about the only person who was not included in that number was a certain blonde haired girl who felt extremely out of place.
Although she knew most everyone at the party (after all it was a small private school), she had no idea this was how all her classmates acted after hours. Nearly every single one of them already reeked with the stench of alcohol, either playing another round of beer pong, dancing on tables, or off in the corner hooking up with someone they barely knew. Lucy was doing none of these activities. She was making her fourth round of weaving around through the packed house, searching for Natsu, Erza and Gray who were supposed to be here about half an hour ago. When she told Natsu about Abby's invitation, he had instantly agreed to come, saying he'd bring his two roommates with him. In fact the teenage boy had seemed rather excited about it. She had tried to warn him about what high school parties were really like but now Lucy was beginning to think that even she didn't have a clue. It was eleven o' clock and she could tell everyone was just getting started.
Maybe I should just wait for them out front. Lucy thought desperately. They'll probably be here soon.
And so, she headed towards the front doors and escaped the stuffy house onto the front lawn. She breathed a deep breath of the fresh air, already starting to relax more.
The party was happening at Sarah Gilbert's house. It was the perfect location for a party because her parents were out of town and she lived in a big fancy ranch house far away from town, out in the middle of nowhere. There weren't any other houses nearby so the chance of their party getting crashed by police was very slim. Lucy was grateful for that bit because if her parents knew what she was really doing tonight… she didn't even want to think about it.
Lucy walked down the side walk a few steps and settled herself down on the cement. She wasn't the only one who had the idea to come outside. A rowdy group of rather large boys (she couldn't see their faces) were off to the side goofing off and a couple was making out in the bushes. Still, it was better than being inside the house or in the back yard; who knows what was going on back there.
Out of a last ditch effort, she was hoping to find either Sarah or Abby out on the front lawn too. She hadn't been able to find her two friends yet tonight. Well, Lucy was fairly sure they were friends. After all since Abby and Sarah were best friends and Abby had recently apologized, she assumed she would have at least been able to hang out with them at the party, but instead she was left to wander the party by herself like an idiot. Lucy sighed. Maybe once Natsu and his friends got here, the five of them could all stick together.
"Well, look what we have here." Lucy froze as she heard the deep growl-like voice sound from above her. Reacting from the wave of chills that were sent up her spine, she looked up at her visitor.
It definitely wasn't Natsu.
"Gordon!" Lucy stammered out in surprise, her brown eyes shooting wide open. As if returning from some very bad dream, the ginormous bully was standing in front of her accompanied as usual by his gang of lackeys. She stood up nervously, wishing that life could be like the movies where once you defeated the bad guy, they were gone for good.
"Lucy Heartfilia, isn't it? The girl with the big time daddy who cries randomly in class?" Gordon drawled with a smirk, clearly liking the effect he was having on her.
"Yes." She said weakly, wishing she could say something much more cool or snarky.
"I've been hearing rumors that the pink haired idiot is coming to this party. You're buddies with him right? You should be able to tell me if the rumors are true."
"So what if they are?" She replied, feeling some of the strength coming back into her voice.
"Curiosity." The wrestler said, cracking his knuckles. "And besides, pinky and I got some catching up to do."
Judging from the way Gordon's buddies started to laugh and form their hands into fists, Lucy knew that they wanted pay back. Really it didn't come as a surprise at all, but still, the last thing Lucy wanted was to see Natsu get into a fight again. She remembered the first time so clearly… the look in his eyes, the way he acted without flinching, the sheer rage that radiated off of him- that was something she never wanted to see again.
"I thought that things between you guys were settled." Lucy said finally. "I didn't think you'd want your butt kicked again."
"Let's get one thing straight, that little punk just got lucky the first time. He tricked me into letting down my guard but that isn't going to happen again. I'm settling the score tonight. No one's going to doubt who the strongest guy in school is after I'm through with him."
"Can't you just let it go?" Lucy pleaded. "I don't want any more trouble."
"It doesn't matter what you think, girl. I make the rules around here." Gordon said, lowering his voice into a more dangerous tone. He took another step towards Lucy, who was too frozen in fear to back away. He was much too close. She could feel Gordon's hot smelly breath on her face. "Now, tell me where Pinky is or you'll be in trouble too."
Lucy tried to shrink away, but Gordon reached out with his grubby hand and grabbed her shoulder, holding her in place.
"I- I-"
"BACK AWAY FROM HER YOU BASTARD!" A familiar voice roared. Lucy turned her head to see where it came from and her heart soared in relief. Natsu was running over towards her, closely followed by another black haired boy and a tall red head girl.
"Natsu!" She gasped, her face letting on a small smile.
Gordon backed away from her, but not because he was following any orders. His face was contorted with a sick excitement as he laid his eyes on his new prey.
"Finally, he shows up." He said, rubbing his fist.
Natsu ran past Gordon and straight to Lucy, his wild black eyes thick with concern. He put his hand on her shoulders and looked right into her eyes.
"You alright, Luce?" He asked. Lucy's heart skipped a beat and she completely lost any power to talk. She felt like a princess who was just rescued from a villain and Natsu was her prince. She couldn't think of any coherent response, just that she felt warm and safe with Natsu's hands resting on her shoulders.
When she didn't respond however, Natsu only looked more worried.
"He didn't hurt you did he?"
"No, I'm okay." She said finally able to form a sentence. Although, she quickly wished she hadn't said anything because as soon as he knew she was alright, Natsu's hands disappeared as he whirled around to face Gordon, who was looking angry at being ignored.
"If you know what's good for yah, you'll scram before I really get angry." Natsu said in a threatening voice.
"If you know what's good for you, you'll shut that giant mouth of yours." Gordon retorted.
They were in an insane four way face off. Natsu was standing in front of Lucy as he faced Gordon. Next to Natsu were his two friends, who looked just as angry as he was. Across from them and adjacent to Gordon was his group of lackeys, eager for a fight.
"That's it!" Natsu hollered, taking a step forward. "I'm gunna-"
"Calm down, Natsu." The pretty girl with the long red hair commanded in a steely voice. For the first time, Lucy looked closely at her. She remembered Natsu calling her Erza and telling Lucy to never make the fiery female angry. Now Lucy understood why. Erza's dark blue eyes were full of disgust as her mouth was twisted into a disapproving frown.
To Lucy's surprise, Natsu listened to her, stopping in his tracks.
"Why?" Natsu said to her, not taking his eyes off of Gordon. "This guy deserves it."
"Perhaps, but you know why you need to just let it go." She said, being the voice of reason.
"I don't like it." He said, his voice still strained.
"Neither do I."
"Fine." Natsu huffed, finally relenting.
"What a joke!" Gordon roared after listening to the exchange. "You're not going to fight me because you let a girl boss you around. What a wimp!"
Natsu looked like he was about to say something, but Erza beat him to it. She broke formation, walking straight up to Gordon and looked at him straight in the eyes, unflinching.
"Listen to me and listen good." Erza said fiercely to him. "You are going to leave Lucy and Natsu alone and you are never going to bother them again. If you so much as look their direction I will let both the authorities and your parents know the trouble that you've cause. I wonder how your hopes of a wrestling scholarship will be tarnished once assault is put on your permanent records. When you mess with either of those two, you are messing with me and I am not someone you want to anger. I can and will destroy you."
Gordon looked like he was just slapped in the face. Although Erza never had to raise her voice, it was the scariest tone any of them have ever heard. It took the bully a few moments to shake off his shock.
"L-let's go, boys." He said. No one missed the note of fear in his trembling voice. "These w-wimps aren't worth the time."
"Um y-yeah, boss." His lackeys agreed, not daring to make eye contact with Erza. They all shuffled away down the drive way, to their cars and out of sight.
Lucy was in utter shock as well. How did she do that?
"That was amazing." Lucy whispered in awe.
"I still think you should have let me kick their asses again." Natsu pouted with his arms crossed, not at all fazed by Erza's display. He was grateful not to be on the receiving end of her anger.
"Like that would have helped anything, Natsu." The black haired boy said, rolling his eyes. Lucy remembered that his name was Gray. Looking at his dark eyes, dark hair and mysterious vibe, Lucy thought that the name suited him.
"Shut up, Gray!"
"You know what flame brain, if you want a fight you got one!"
"You're on snowflake!"
"Shut up both of you!" Erza screeched, causing the boys to go silent just as she forced Gordon to moments ago. "After all, we have a party to attend." She finished with an eased smile. Lucy sweat dropped.
"We're still doing that?" Lucy asked weakly.
XXX
"I love parties!" Natsu declared as he crouched over a bowl of barbeque Lays potato chips, shoveling them all into his mouth at frightening speeds. "Lucy, why don't we come to these things more often?"
"Because most people don't come for the chips, Natsu." Lucy sighed shaking her head.
"That idiot." Gray agreed. Erza just smiled as Natsu scraped the last of the crumbs from the bottom of the bowl.
"These things are amazing!" He said licking his fingers.
"What, did they not have Lays in California?" Lucy said with a chuckle.
"No, they don't-"
"He just means he's never had them before." Erza said quickly, shooting a glance at the pink haired teen.
Lucy nodded once and smiled, seeing that Natsu had now moved onto the bowl of pretzels. The group of four was standing in the kitchen of the large ranch house and although the rest of the people there had only gotten louder and drunker, Lucy was having a much better time. Over the loud thudding of the music, she was enjoying getting to know Gray and Erza, two characters nearly as interesting as Natsu.
"So what do you guys want to do after we graduate?" Lucy asked. "Have any colleges in mind?"
Erza and Gray shared a glance that lasted no more than half a second, but Lucy caught it nevertheless.
"Haven't figured it out yet." Gray said, falling back into his cool façade. "I plan on just taking things as they come."
"Well, if you are going to apply to any universities you better do it soon!" Lucy replied. As much as the boys didn't like to admit it, she was starting to see some definite similarities between Natsu and Gray. "And what about you, Erza?"
"I have taken an interest in weaponry." She said with a fond smile. "If given the opportunity I'd like to study the field more thoroughly."
"Weapons, really?" The blonde girl asked in awe. No wonder Natsu had told her never to mess with the red head.
"I find nothing more peaceful that the clang of metal against metal in a fight to the death."
Lucy just smiled, unsure whether she should laugh or start running in the opposite direction. What she definitely didn't do was point out the irony in her statement.
"So you like older weapons? Like swords instead of guns?"
"Yes, this modern aged weaponry doesn't appeal to me as much."
"I get it." Lucy agreed. "I always like reading medieval books about knights and warriors. I've always found it more interesting than modern war movies."
The topic of weapons carried the two females in conversation for quite a bit longer. Lucy was amazed by just how knowledgeable the other girl was about swords, maces, spears, and all sorts of other lethal devices.
"And what about you Lucy?" Erza asked. "Do you know what you want to do with your future?"
"No." Lucy said with a sad smile. "Well I don't know if I do or not, it's complicated. I don't know if Natsu has told you but my dad wants me to inherit his manufacturing company. He wants me to go to a prestigious business school and then take over for him when he retires. I should be jumping on the opportunity. I know a lot of people would kill to have an easy path like that, but I just know that running that company is not what I want to do with the rest of my life."
"Yes, of course." Erza said warmly. "If you can't be happy with that job, then you shouldn't take it."
"I just wish I knew what I did want to do. Writing would be great, but being cooped up in a room all day typing doesn't sound that amazing either." Lucy sighed. "Not too long ago, I had my heart set on running away, but I don't know if I can do that either. I'd have no money, no family, and no plan."
"I see your dilemma." She said, nodding her head. "But I also believe that you will be able to find the path that's right for you. You just have to believe that it exists."
Lucy smiled. Natsu really did have some amazing friends. Gray was friendly and easy-going but mysterious and deep at the same time while Erza was fierce but warm and protective. Natsu may not have any parents or real family, but he had something that was just as precious. Lucy couldn't help but be a little jealous.
"Thanks, Erza." Lucy said with a bright smile. "You're right."
"Hey, where'd the hothead disappear off to?" Gray asked suddenly. Lucy looked over to the snack bowls where Natsu had been moments earlier, but he had disappeared.
"For his sake, he better not be getting into any trouble." Erza said with a growl.
"Let's split up and try to find him." Lucy said, laughing on the inside. Knowing the pink haired teen, there was a very good chance he was going to have to face Erza's wrath.
"Good idea." Erza said, suddenly sounding like she was commanding battle units. "Gray, you check the upstairs and I'll patrol the ground floor. Lucy, you check out back. Ready, break!"
Giggling at her antics, she followed instructions and shouldered her way out the back doors. Although the music wasn't nearly as loud outside, the party was just as crazy. There was a large pool that was filled to the brim with shirtless boys and girls in their bikinis. Straining her eyes in the dim light of a few scattered torches, Lucy searched for a familiar mop of pink hair. She failed to see Natsu himself, but her eyes did catch a familiar looking scaly white scarf on top of an inflatable raft in the middle of the pool. What was it doing there? Looking closer she saw that someone was wearing it tied around their head and that person wasn't looking so good… He was shirtless and passed out on the raft, being laughed at by everyone around him… wait was that Natsu?!
It was! Lucy hurried to the edge of the pool and started calling out his name.
"Natsu! Natsu, it's me, wake up!" She was starting to get worried. Judging by the pained look on his face he wasn't alright at all. Her heart started to race and her eyes were wild with fear. What happened to him? Did someone drug him? Did he hit his head? Did he get into another fight and lose?
Lucy was prepared to jump into the pool and rescue him herself, when someone stopped her.
"Chill out, blondie." A mellow voice sounded from some blonde guy sitting on the edge of the pool with what looked to be his girlfriend. "That idiot just started getting pukey once he jumped into the pool and landed on that raft."
"Pukey?" Lucy echoed, her heart still beating abnormally fast.
"Yeah, that kid must have a serious case of sea sickness or something." The dude laughed.
Motion sickness? Lucy thought to herself. Are you telling me that Natsu was that motion sick from being on a pool raft?!
"That IDIOT!" Lucy yelled. "Someone push him off, now!"
A few teens in the pulled happily obliged, flipping the raft over and sending Natsu tumbling into the water. A couple seconds later, Lucy saw his pink head pop back up, looking confused, but completely normal.
"Natsu!" She yelled, catching his attention immediately. "Get over here!"
Fear striking his eyes, he quickly swam over to the edge of the pool and pulled himself out. The moment he was standing up in front of her, Lucy began her rant.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Do you have any idea how worried I was? First of all, you disappear and then I find you dead looking in the middle of the pool!"
"It's not my fault I got motion sick!"
"And that's another thing! Who gets motion sick from lying on a pool raft?! That's absolutely pathetic."
"I didn't want to get in the pool in the first place, but I had to! I ate these things that were really spicy -they were called flaming hot Cheetos- and I had to jump into the pool to cool myself off!"
"Cheetos?" Lucy said in exasperation, losing her volume. "You ran away and jumped into the pool because you ate spicy Cheetos?"
"Yup!" He said nodding his head rapidly.
"That is just about the dumbest thing I have ever heard." Lucy said with a sigh, but she couldn't help but let the corners of her mouth creep up into a small smile.
"It wasn't dumb!" He protested. "Those things were super spicy."
It was so hard to stay mad at him for long, especially now that Lucy was just starting to get a good look at him. He had taken his scarf off his head and had started to wring all the water out of it. His pink hair was completely soaked and took on deeper almost magenta color as it drooped over his eyes. But the most distracting thing was seeing him shirtless. Little drops of water were slowly sliding down over his smooth defined muscles and his bright red tattoo was in full display on his shoulder.
Lucy felt her heart rate start to pick back up again. He was standing so close to her that she could feel the heat radiating off of his body. Thankfully, it was dark outside so no one could see the deep blush that was spreading across her cheeks.
"Let's go somewhere quieter so we can get you dried off."
"Sure, let me just grab my shirt first!" Natsu said eagerly, hopping off to pick up his long sleeve navy blue shirt that was discarded along the edge of the pool.
"I'll grab you a towel!" Lucy called out over all the noise. She picked one up from a pile on the back porch.
"Hey Luce, come over here I found a good spot!" She looked up to see that Natsu (now with his shirt back on) had gestured to her and was already running off in the opposite direction.
"Hey, wait for me!" She laughed and started running after him too. Soon she realized that he was leading her towards the small woods that stood behind the ranch house. Nevertheless, she hurried to catch up to him. When she finally did, they were far enough away from the party to not hear any of its noise. Lucy's ears greatly appreciated the break.
"Isn't this tree awesome?" Natsu said. Lucy followed his gaze upwards and realized what he was talking about.
They were standing beneath the most beautiful willow tree. As tall as the tree reached, its width nearly equaled its height. The tree trunk was barely visible beneath the large clumps of branches that appeared to droop towards the ground, its light sea foam green leaves tickling the soft grass. The moonlight twinkled down onto the slender light leaves and was reflected, giving the tree almost a silvery glow.
"It's beautiful." Lucy breathed.
"It's even better on the inside." Natsu said. Then he pushed aside one of the branches and stepped into the middle. Lucy quickly followed inside. Both teens plopped down onto the ground, sharing the thick trunk as a back rest. The low hanging branches shielded their view of the outside, only allowing the narrowest rays of moonlight to streak through.
"How'd you even find this place? It's amazing."
"I smelt a weird tree smell coming from over here. I've never seen one like this before."
"You have one incredible nose." Lucy said.
The fell into a peaceful silence. Natsu continued to star out on the small patches of visible sky, as if he were content to stay this was for the rest of the night. Lucy, however, had different things on her mind. Her shoulder was brushing against Natsu's. Just that little bit of contact sent tingles down her spine. She sneaked a peak at him out of the corner of her eye.
Sometimes Natsu acted so goofy she would forget how good looking he really was. The small curve of his mouth was slightly parted and his eyes were bright. The sharp angles of his face looked good in the moonlight. Lucy's heart gave a small lurch, but she quickly shook it off as she remembered something.
"Hey, I just remembered here's a towel for you to dry…" She trailed off as she looked at him closer.
He was completely dry! Everything from his hair, to his skin, to even his previously drenched shorts didn't hold even a single drop of water.
"How'd you dry yourself so fast?" Lucy asked, startled. Natsu looked alarmed too as he looked at his dry body, almost as if he was just realizing this too.
"I uh- I don't know." He said, locking gazes with her, almost as if he was searching for any hint of anger in her eyes. Lucy stared at him blankly for a couple moments, but the found herself more entranced by the deep darkness of his eyes rather than his miraculous dryness.
"You're unbelievable." Lucy breathed out, sinking back against the tree trunk, brushing shoulders with him once more.
"Unbelievably good or unbelievably bad?" Natsu asked, still looking at her intently.
"A little bit of both."
"I can live with that." He said, satisfied.
Lucy smiled. She seemed to always smile when she was around him. Her heart felt all fluttery and there was definitely butterflies in her stomach. She just couldn't help it. Over the past months she had enjoyed her friendship with Natsu. It was so important to her that she hadn't welcomed the feelings she had for him. She knew she had liked him for a while now, but she had always thought that the crush would just fade away.
It definitely hadn't. She wanted to be more than just his friend. She loved the way her heart basically jumped out of her skin every time he touched her. She wanted more of that. She wanted… she wanted to tell him. She needed him to know how she felt. It was the only way to get what she wanted. Natsu was too dense to make the first move and after all she wasn't even sure that he felt the same way.
It was a massive risk, but it was one she would have to take.
"Natsu." She said quietly, if she thought her heart had been beating fast before, now it was about to break her ribs with its hard thumping.
"Yeah?" He asked. When Lucy didn't reply immediately, he looked concerned. "Is everything alright?"
Lucy gulped. She just had to suck it up and do this.
"Yes, I just need to tell you something." Her voice shook with nerves.
"You can always tell me anything, Luce." He smiled.
Damn, he's making this way too hard.
"Well, I just wanted to say that I-"
"NATSU, LUCY!" A voice suddenly yelled. On instinct, Natsu leaped to his feet and hurried beyond the branches of the willow tree, leaving Lucy behind somewhere between relief and disappointment.
Shaking it off, Lucy jumped up and followed Natsu out to see who had yelled their names. As she stepped back out into reality, she got her answer immediately. It was none other than a very frantic Abby who had called their names. Even more to her amazement was who she was accompanied by. It seemed like Abby, Sarah, Erza and Gray had all been searching for them. Lucy blushed about how Natsu and her emerging from beneath a willow tree must have looked, but it seemed like the search party had other things on their minds.
"There you two are!" Abby said out of breath as Lucy jogged over to join Natsu and the newcomers.
"When we sent you to look for Natsu, we didn't mean for you to sneak off with him." Gray scowled, out of everyone he probably looked the most relaxed.
"What's going on?" Lucy asked, ignoring his comment. Why was everyone looking so frantic?
"The police showed up at the party!" Abby said urgently.
"I don't know how they found out about it since my house is so far away from everywhere, but they're here and are searching the whole estate and rounding up everyone into the house. They're coming to search the woods next!" Sarah added, looking positively mortified.
"Police?" Natsu echoed. "Why would they want to come to the party?"
"To bust us, pinky!" Sarah said indignantly.
"We're underage and not supposed to have alcohol." Lucy explained quickly to Natsu, her heart sinking. "We could be in big trouble."
Lucy's mind was racing. She couldn't afford to be caught! Sure she hadn't drank any alcohol tonight but what if she was guilty by association? The police would call her parents and she would be in major trouble. This was bad. This was very bad.
"So the police are coming to the check the woods?" Lucy asked.
"Yes they've already done a sweep of the house." Sarah said. "Me and Abby managed to sneak out and we were outside when we saw Gray and Erza looking for you two. Before we left we heard the cops say that they were coming out to the woods next. If they find us we are going to be in huge trouble!"
"So where do we go?" Lucy asked. She hated the idea of trying to hide, but she simply could not let the cops call her parents.
"The barn." Sarah answered immediately. "It's out of the way so the cops won't look there. We can hide there until the police leave."
"What about you?" Erza asked. She had been listening intently to the plan with her arms crossed.
"What about me?" Sarah asked taken aback.
"The police are going to wonder whose house this is. I'm sure at least one of the others at the party has told them. The police won't stop looking until they've found you."
"You're right." Sarah said with a sigh. "I guess I will just have to show you guys to the barn and then turn myself in."
"But Sarah-" Abby said, almost too dramatically.
"It's alright." She said. "It is my house and my party after all."
Everyone nodded and began to follow her to the barn. They bid farewell to Sarah and walked into the barn.
And there were two police officers standing right in the middle of it.
"You four!" One of the officers said. "Stop right there!"
Lucy froze in fear. How could this happen? I thought Sarah and Abby said the barn would be safe-? Wait, did he say four? Where's Abby?
She looked around and saw that Abby had never entered the barn with them. None of this made any sense. She jerked her head back and forth between the stern, bulky police officers and the place where Abby should have been.
"They sold us out." She heard Gray growl from beside her. Erza motioned for him to be silent and Natsu just stood there casually with his hands clasped behind his head, oblivious to everything that was going on.
What did Gray mean by 'they sold us out'? Then everything clicked into place. Abby and Sarah were behind this. They lied. The cops were going to check the barn not the woods. They purposefully led us to the one place we would certainly be found. This was all a set up. But why?
"You are all coming with us back to the house." One of the officers said in a no-nonsense tone that made it clear he was not going to be argued with.
"So you're the police?" Natsu asked.
"Natsu, shut up." Erza hissed under her breath.
"I'd listen to your friend if I were you." The cop said to Natsu, who promptly stopped talking and just put a pouty look on his face instead.
Lucy meanwhile was on the brink of tears. Not only was she about to get in so much trouble, but her "friends" had just betrayed her. She felt like such an idiot. This must have been Abby's plan from the start. Apologizing to her, inviting her to this party, it was all so that she and her friends would suffer. She never thought Abby would do something like that, but it looked like she was wrong about a lot of things that night.
The police steered them back towards the house where inside the other cops were testing to see which kids had been drinking with a breathalyzer. Even though the loud party music had been turned off and the atmosphere was silent, it was still very chaotic inside the house. The cops ordered for the kids who had been drinking to go to one side of the room and the kids who hadn't been drinking stand at the other. They made it quite clear what would happen if anyone were to lie. The police were allowing kids who hadn't been drinking to call their parents and be picked up. However, there weren't too many of those kids.
Lucy gulped and started to walk with her friends over to the sober side of the room, dreading the inevitable phone call she would have to make to her parents. Honestly, she didn't know which was worse, being caught at a party or being caught at a party with Natsu.
Why did Abby do this to me? I get Sarahh never really liked me, but I thought Abby was different. This is not fair… I didn't do anything to deserve this.
"What if we don't have any parents to pick us up, sir?" Erza asked one of the cops politely.
"Then we'll have to take you back to the station." He replied with zero sympathy on his grizzly face.
"But we haven't done anything wrong. My friends and I haven't been drinking." Erza said very diplomatically.
Lucy started to feel a dash of hope as she scooted closer to Erza. Maybe the redhead would be able to get her out of this situation. A wave of respect crashed over Lucy as she saw how Erza handled herself around the adults. Perhaps she wouldn't have to call her parents after all.
The cop tested them to confirm her statement.
"Alright, you four can get out of here. Hurry before I change my mind." The officer gruffed.
At his words, Lucy felt a sense of relief so massive that she almost passed out. Was she really about to get out of this horrible situation with any consequence? Her heart hammered with joy know instead of fear as they were escorted out of the house by the cop.
"We'll take my car." Lucy said hurriedly, walking over to the small black BMW she had drove here in. The cop left them once they got into the car. And Lucy heaved out a sigh of sheer unadulterated relief.
"That was so scary."
"I can't believe those two girls!" Gray said angrily. "I thought they were your friends, Lucy?"
"I thought so too." Lucy said. Maybe it was just a side effect of the wild emotional roller coaster she had been experiencing that night, but she started to tear up. "I'm sorry."
"Don't cry, Luce." Natsu said gently. "No one blames you. Anyway, we didn't even get in trouble. Why is everyone so upset?"
"Abby and Sarah didn't know that none of us had been drinking." Erza said thoughtfully from the passenger seat. "I assume that their plan was to give us to the cops. If we had been drinking like they thought, then we would have gotten into serious trouble just like everyone else. But it seems like their plan backfired. As I didn't see Sarah and Abby in the house, I can only assume that they tried to sneak away despite my warnings."
"Well then let's go get them and make sure they know not to mess with us in the future!" Natsu said.
"We don't know where they are, idiot." Gray said.
"I can smell them."
Out of nowhere, Natsu jumped up and got out of the car, sprinting off away from the house.
"We have to follow him." Erza said, getting out of the car as well. "He might get into trouble."
"What an idiot!" Gray yelled in frustration, but then got out of the car too.
The last thing Lucy wanted to do was go back out there, to risk getting in trouble again. But if Natsu's nose was right (and at this point Lucy had no doubt that it was), then she wanted to see Abby and Sarah for herself. She had some things to say to them. It was about time that she stopped letting herself get pushed around.
And so, Lucy sprinted after them.
Natsu led them off the road and into the thick of the woods surrounding Sarah's ranch house. Once they got close they slowed down and began to walk, keeping their ears pricked for the two other girls who were wondering through the trees at night. Lucy couldn't help but commenting on Abby and Sarah's poor choice of escape routes. After the loud thumping of the party, the thin silence of night was eerie. Cold wind whistled through trees which were coated with darkness so thick that Lucy found herself needing to look up towards the moon to keep track of where she was.
"Not going to lie, this is pretty creepy." Lucy whispered, looking back over her shoulder at a shadow she could have sworn moved…
"Be careful or the ghosts are going to get you." Natsu said in an eerie high pitched voice.
"Not funny, Natsu."
"Hey I hear them!" Natsu exclaimed. Lucy strained her ears but she couldn't make out any noise.
"Really?"
"Yeah, they're complaining about getting mud on their shoes. Come on, this way."
Soon Lucy was able to hear them too and not long after that the two groups met head on in a small clearing that allowed for more moonlight to illuminate the scene. Sarah and Abby were so startled that they screamed, a high pitched girly noise that was cut off when they realized that they weren't being ambushed.
"Wait Lucy?" Abby said in shock. "What are you guys doing here? I thought-"
"That we'd be in jail right now?" Gray finished for her.
"How dare you guys try to hurt Lucy like that!" Natsu added on. "And you call yourselves her friends?"
"We will not let you two get away with this." Erza said, stepping forward.
Despite the circumstances, Lucy managed a weak smile. Even though her two old friends sold her out, it felt good to know her new friends had her back.
"Thanks guys." Lucy said, walking past them to face Abby and Sarah head on, giving them her fiercest stare. "But this is something I need to handle myself."
As she took a deep breath, Lucy realized that for some reason she was calm. For the first time, she didn't feel inferior to the two popular girls. They were both covered in sweat and dirt from their trek through the forest and the disgusted, arrogant scowls on their faces did nothing to help their appearances. Lucy no longer wanted to impress or please the girls. She merely wanted them to know that she was done with them.
"How did you get away from the cops?" Sarah said, looking at Lucy like she was a nasty piece of garbage.
"I didn't, you made sure of that. But once they checked us and saw that we haven't been drinking they let us go."
"Damn it." Sarah cursed under her breath.
"So it looks like the ones who are really going to be in trouble is the two of you. Erza is right. The cops aren't going to stop looking for you, Sarah. And Abby, I wouldn't trust your friend to protect you."
"So what are you going to do?" Abby said, speaking up. "Turn us in?"
"No." Lucy answered. "Unlike you I don't stab people in the back. But it's not like I even need to turn you in. You'll get what you deserve in the end."
"You ungrateful bitch." Sarah spat. Her hair was matted and sweat was dripping down her face, ruining her makeup. She looked so pathetic Lucy didn't even take any offense by her comment.
"The only reason I'm here is to ask you why you did this." Lucy said with an empowered serenity. "It's not like I ever did anything to either of you. Abby, I embarrassed both of us in class that day, but I did nothing to warrant this."
"How cute." Sarah said to Abby with a harsh laugh. "She thinks this is all about her."
"We never hated you Lucy. In all honesty we feel bad for you. What could have possibly driven you to associate with those filthy poor kids? You had a future, Lucy. You had promise. And then you went and threw it away to be friends with a disgusting pink haired bag of dirt who probably can't even afford to buy another pair of shoes." Abby sneered.
Natsu gritted his teeth and clenched his fists together in anger, but Erza was sure to hold him back, although Lucy didn't miss the fact that her face was twisted in rage as well.
"We had to do something." Sarah said. "We can't have you three peasants stinking up our school forever, especially after the cheap trickery Pinky showed with Gordon. So we made a plan."
"I would befriend my dear old pal and then invite you to this party." Abby said. "The original plan was to use this party as an opportunity to embarrass the three new kids so badly they would have no choice but to change schools, but then cops showed up unexpectedly. It was then we decided that why bother making you want to switch schools, when we could try to get you kicked out! We lured you into that barn thinking that the cops inside would take the three of you to jail seeing as you are over eighteen and have no parents to bail you out."
"But you had to be goody two shoes and not drink." Sarah spat. "But it doesn't matter. We are still going to find a way to get you kicked out of the school."
"No you aren't." Erza said, speaking up. "I'm sorry Lucy, but if you don't mind I would like to say something."
"Go ahead." Lucy said.
"If you try to hurt any of us or try to get us expelled ever again, I will personally make sure that your parents, the school and the police know exactly what went on here tonight. As we were never friends, don't consider it as a back stabbing, but rather as a warning. We are not to be messed with."
Lucy smiled as Erza's words had the same effect on the two girls and it had on Gordon earlier that night. Judging from the look on their faces, Lucy didn't think that they would bother the four of them anymore.
"We will be going now." Lucy said. "Good luck on your escape plan, I hope you thought this far ahead. Oh, and if it wasn't obvious, we are no longer friends. I can't believe it took me this long to figure out, but the new friends I've made are a million times the people you could ever be. And you may think that Natsu, Erza and Gray are 'bags of dirt', but right now it looks like the two of you are the ones who are covered in it right now. Goodbye Sarah, Abby. See you at school."
With that she turned and walked away, closely followed by her three real friends. On paper the night may have looked like a total failure, but she was happy that Abby invited her. It made her see the truth and feel a huge weight lifted off her shoulders.
"Wow, Luce, you showed her!" Natsu said beside her in excitement. "That was awesome!"
For the first time since being under the willow tree, she remembered that only a short time earlier she had been about to tell Natsu how she felt about him. Looking back, it was probably best that she never got around to it. At the moment she was happy to have three such amazing friends and she didn't want anything to change that.
She was completely and utterly happy. And that felt pretty damn good.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Wow that was really long, but I don't think anyone is complaining! Don't get too used to the 8,000 word chapters though, this was just a special case since I didn't want to break this part up into different pieces. ANYWAY, much more importantly, there is going to be a FIVE MONTH time skip between this chapter and the next! According to my timeline, Natsu and his team have been in America for five months so far and with the time skip there will only be two months left for them to complete their mission. It's about to get real.