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Chapter Ten- Make a Wish
"Just how rich are you?" I blurted out, before clamping my hand over my mouth.
Natsu frowned. "That's rude."
I nodded. "Sorry. But this is huge; it must have cost you a lot."
Natsu shrugged, like renting the huge ball-room as big as a football stadium was no big deal at all, not to mention the stage at the far end, the furniture and the massive music system.
It was right after school, and Juvia was with Levy at her home, distracting her until it was time for the celebration. The rest of us had dashed off to the ball-room with Natsu, dumped our bags somewhere backstage, and started to run about getting the party ready.
The ball-room was situated right beside the Dragneel mansion, and I had been more awed at where Natsu lived than the ball-room. It was a typical rich estate, with its marble fountains in the middle of the garden and the porcelain pillars.
Mira had managed to get an incredibly large silver banner with 'Happy Birthday Levy' written on it in a glittering blue—how she had succeeded in doing that within half a day I had no clue— and now Erza and Mira were hanging it up on a ladder while Natsu and I were working on the confusing plugs and wires of the music system. Everything else was finished, except the delivery of the cake.
After another half an hour, the enormous place looked perfect; the banner was sparkling and flashing its words proudly, the tables and chairs were to the previously vacant left side, the food was to the right, the lights had been adjusted enough to make the place a bit dim, the music was playing away, the stage was ready with its midnight blue curtains swaying, and there was enough space for dancing. Natsu had even managed to get a chocolate fountain which got me drooling at once.
The only problem was, the cake still hadn't arrived, and now lots of people were beginning to stream in through the gigantic wooden, gold-framed doors.
"Lucy, call Juvia and tell her that Levy can come now!" Mira hissed beside me. The cries of 'Where's the birthday girl?' were increasing, and some boy had already smeared his face with cheese and tomatoes.
I nodded and backed away into a corner. Gray had said he would be arriving late because of the match, so he was not a problem at the moment. I dialed Juvia and she picked up on the second ring.
"Lucy, can we come now? Levy's getting impatient, and Juvia is going crazy with her jumping up and down."
"Yeah, bring her." I replied. "And she's got the red dress on, right?"
"Obviously!" If I could have seen her, Juvia would have been rolling her eyes at my stupidity.
The story Juvia had fed Levy, was that we were going for a simple girls' night out, and surprisingly she had believed her. I also gave a ring to the bakery, and after chewing them out for a two hour delay, they promised to send the cake in twenty minutes.
"Lucy! Get changed right now!" Erza called, just as I shut my phone. I ran up to her, and we both went backstage, where Mira looked dazzling in her light pink dress with sequins.
I was still in my paint-stained clothes which were even dirtier from working, so I badly needed fresh clothes. I slipped into a sparkling purple top with black straps, and got a pair of black shorts with silver chains hanging around the pockets on.
"Why are these things dangling from my pockets?" I asked Mira, who made a face of mock horror. "That's fashion Lucy, fashion!"
So I went along with 'fashion', and somewhere in the process, Mira even talked me into heels, or as she corrected, 'Stilettos', which was all Greek to me.
But honestly, it's pointless trying to look good at a party with Erza near you. The blue strapless dress fitted her so perfectly, it made me feel jealous.
Just as we were going out, we heard cheers from people outside, and we peeked around the curtains to see Levy arriving with Juvia and Gajeel. Her reaction was priceless; she blushed at first, then yelled something at Juvia while half laughing, then ran around in circles, then suddenly grabbed Gajeel and began to dance to the music. Seeing her, everyone joined in, and from somewhere Natsu dimmed the lights as much as possible and ignited the disco lights. But I was glad that I could at least make out what was happening, since I hated it when there was nothing but red and yellow lights to depend upon when you are trying to see.
Gray texted me once, saying he was sorry but he would miss the party as Sting was insisting on going to a place, so I texted that it was fine, as long as he was not going to a strip club.
The three of us came out and I rushed up to hug Levy. "Happy Birthday!" I said.
She punched me on the arm grinning, and said, "You could've just told me, idiot! Thanks so much!"
"I'm the best!" I quoted. Then I dragged her into a corner—much to Gajeel's disappointment—and gave her the locket. Erza, Mira and Juvia took their turns too, and Levy squealed hysterically, gushed over them, and then suddenly ran off into the crowd again.
"Lucy, what about the cake?" Mira asked. I checked my watch to see twenty minutes were long gone.
"It should be here by now." I muttered.
"Lucy!" I heard Natsu shouting, told my friends to wait, and made my way towards him.
"What?" I asked. At first, he looked me up and down without shame for a good two minutes, and then breathed out, "You look amazing!", so I punched his head and demanded, "Stop that, and tell me why you called me."
"Oh right. Yeah well the cake's here, so—" "Why didn't you say so?" I muttered, and pushed past him and out of the doors. A man had brought it in, and when I opened the lid, my eyes narrowed and I served my best demonic look to the poor guy.
"You messed up the order!" I yelled. In the box, there was a medium sized strawberry cake with the usual birthday message, but the age was also written in pink icing, and Levy certainly was not six years old.
"Sorry, ma'am, I only deliver, you have to—"
"Get the right one now! It's vanilla with three stands, and the age written on it is seventeen, not six! GET GOING!" I glared until the man scampered off with the promise of getting the right one.
"Wow Lucy, you traumatized him for life," Natsu remarked as we came in again. I shot him a dirty look, called him an useless penguin, and stalked back to Erza.
Everyone was enjoying themselves, and there were some food fights going on in a corner, which I knew would be pointless in attempting to stop, and a few people were singing along on the stage whenever their favorite songs came up.
Suddenly, someone stopped the music, and Levy came up on stage. "Alright people!" she yelled. "Now, my friend is going to sing! And her name is Lucy Heartfilia!"
I froze and tried to hide behind a chair when a boy grabbed my arm and yelled, "She's here! Come on, get up and do the tunes!" I remembered his name was Fried, and that he didn't know me very well.
"No, I am Madison Waters!" I protested.
Fried raised his eyebrows and dragged me up on the stage. As soon as I clutched the microphone, I suddenly realized I really did want to sing. So I grinned, rubbed my nose, and sang one of my favorite songs. Everyone fell silent, and when I finished, the whole room exploded in claps as I blushed with pleasure.
Then a really beautiful singer in our school, Lyra, came up and we began to sing together as people cheered.
When I finally came down from the stage, I saw a group of people huddled around Levy and Gajeel, urging them to kiss, which they did. I laughed in amazement while the boys whistled. I told Erza to calm down when she started to glare daggers at Gajeel, since she didn't approve of metal piercings very much.
Sometime after, the correct cake arrived, and I paid the man— much to his relief. Levy jumped when she saw it, and danced up near the table on which it was set. Once we were done blowing the candles, she closed her eyes, put her arms around Juvia, Erza, Mira and me, and silently made a wish. Then of course, once the 'moment' was over, the inevitable cake fight started, and I had to wash my face thrice after receiving white sugar roses right on my forehead.
It was almost eleven, and people were still dancing away, so I went out of the room to get some fresh air. I could see the statues and fountains in the Dragneel mansion from there, and the immense noise from the party inside was fainter as I leaned against the walls.
"Now it's your turn." I didn't have to look to see who was talking; it was Natsu, and I couldn't avoid my side of the bargain any longer. As he said those few words, I sighed and faced him.
"Natsu, this is going to be the first and the last time, so don't get your hopes up."
Natsu grinned and said smugly, "Let's cross that bridge when we come to it."
And before I could buy more time with sarcastic words, Natsu grabbed my waist, pulled me closer and knotted his right hand into my hair. The move was not unexpected, but it was way too sudden, so I naturally struggled as his lips collided with my protesting ones.
Then I realized struggling was no help, so I stood perfectly still and waited. But though I was still pushing at him vainly, I was not exactly applying my best efforts to pull myself away, so I blamed that part on his tight grip.
"Stay still Lucy, or I'll do this is in front of everybody else." Natsu threatened as he finally broke away for a moment.
"Too late." A smooth voice said from behind Natsu, and I managed to push him aside to see the person I hated the most. Mia was standing there, smirking as a sign of victory and triumph, and the worst part was that she had a camera in her hands. I noticed the picture already sliding out from beneath—it was an old-fashioned camera—and into Mia's waiting hands.
Natsu growled and went up to her, but I knew that wouldn't help; this time, force was not going to work. So I yanked the boy back roughly, and pushed him against the wall.
"You've done enough damage." I whispered menacingly.
"It was a deal, Lucy!" Natsu yelled.
"Well, that doesn't matter now, does it?" Mia slurred, and I felt like punching her, but resisted the urge.
Then I did something which was both pathetic and weak, but I was desperate. I pleaded to Mia; "Listen, there was a bargain, I don't like Dragneel! Please, can't we just make a truce Mia?"
Mia looked surprised. "Truce? What are we, soldiers on the war field? No thank you, you should have thought of that before reading out my personal thoughts." Even as she said it, she flinched at the memory, and inside I felt a moment of triumph which dissipated quickly.
"You had done things to me for no reason." I retorted.
"Whatever." She shrugged.
I was beginning see red, but I controlled myself. "And why are you here anyway? No one invited you!" I spat.
"I heard Gray was going to be here, otherwise I don't come to such lame parties," Mia stopped here for a second, smiling at my seething form. "Sad he's not here, but it turns out I got a lot out of a dork party, yes?"
"Mia, please! Just…just don't show that to anyone, please!" I was pleading again. Then her reply surprised me. "Okay, I won't tell or show it to anyone, except one person."
This was not going anywhere good, and I braced myself for the worst, even though I knew who that 'one person' was.
"Gray gets to have the honour."
Before I could rip out the picture or argue or even plead more, Mia took off, right past the fountains and near a sleek and shiny black Mercedes waiting at the gate. I raced after her just as she got in, and it raced off, leaving me in the dust.
"Lucy, I—" I heard Natsu's voice and turned around, a dozen emotions playing through me. But I had no time to murder him, I had to do something more important.
"Tell Levy and the others I had to leave," I whispered as I ran out past the gates and into the shadows of the trees near a lone pavement, my shirt sticking to me in the heat. I checked my phone and saw that it was almost midnight, which meant Gray must be home by now.
I ran like I had never run before, and unlike every Sports Day, I did not stumble or slow down. After several minutes I reached the neighbourhood which Gray had described to me back at school. I had no idea which house was his, so I looked around until I found a name plate with 'Fullbuster' carved on it. The house was bigger than mine, and looked comfortable, but I had no time for that now.
I was about to ring the bell, when the door opened and Mia came out, smirking her hugest yet.
"Have fun, Lucy." She whispered in my ear, as I looked up on the porch where a stricken and angry Gray was standing, a picture clutched in his left hand.
"Gray, I have to explain what actually happened. I don't know what Mia told you, but—"
"Tell me that picture was fake Lucy." I could hear betrayal in his voice, and I was tearing up inside. Before I even answered, he looked completely pissed.
"It wasn't." I whispered.
Gray's face was unreadable now, even though a caught a few emotions dance across it; hard to notice in the dim porch light.
Before he could say anything, I poured out the whole story, in my messed up, stammering way. "So…so he kissed me. I swear I didn't want it Gray, really." I finished after a few minutes.
Gray closed his eyes for a minute, and pinched the bridge of his nose while I waited anxiously. It was like I was a victim, and he was the judge who would decide on whether I was to live or to die. I was suddenly wanting it to be my birthday instead, so that what I was fervently wishing for right now would somehow come true.
Finally, he opened his eyes, much to my relief. "You're not lying right?" The words stung; as if I could lie to him in this situation. But I shook my head anyway. "Of course not!"
"And you'll never kiss Natsu again?" I shook my head once again, before I realized he had not said 'You won't kiss anyone else again', but used Natsu's name instead.
"Then go back to the party and wish Levy happy birthday from me."
I couldn't remember being this happy ever. I knew I had been very unfair to Gray, and yet he had forgiven me with an unspoken agreement. I jumped up and hugged him and yelled all at once, "I'm so sorry! Thanks so much! I'll make it up to you, I promise! And can't you just come to the party with me?"
Gray laughed and said, "If you use so many feelings at once, you'll explode. And I want to watch the highlights of the match again, so nope, I'm not coming."
Gray and his football match. I released him, and then snatched the picture from his hands. I tore it up right from the middle, threw Natsu's part into the nearest bush, and kept my part in my pocket.
"Since I don't want to waste such a beautiful picture of me." I explained to Gray.
I went back to the Dragneel estate, and a joyful Levy bounded up and asked, "Where were you? You missed Juvia slipping on a French-fry and falling right onto the pizza with extra cheese."
I laughed and replied, "I'll tell you about it later." I wasn't going to explain that evening in a hurry, but I said it anyway.
The party didn't last long after midnight, and everyone filed out except Cana, who was hugging a bottle of alcohol and refusing to let go. I didn't see Natsu, but I dismissed him from my mind as Erza and Mira tried to get pepperoni off of Juvia's face while Levy and I cheered for them to go on.
I was sure that Natsu was not giving up yet, but I didn't care at that moment, because birthday or not, my wish had come true.
I hope this was good enough, little worried! I am going to try and update as fast as I did for this chapter :) Please review guys, thanks :)