Erza was nervous. Of course, she had been informed that she would be seated with none other than Jellal Fernandes- the arrogant student council president well in advance. But it didn't make the shock any better.
She had been nervous about this. This whole concept of field trips, she had heard about them but she had never been on one before. According to all the movies she had ever watched, they usually went to places in close by cities for education and relaxation. Therefore, she assumed that there was something educational about the beach city that she was not aware of. So far, all she had heard of was that the beaches were the best places to be- the water was cool and as this was not the peak season, very few tourists would be there. Therefore, it would not be very crowded. However, she had also been warned to stay away from the boys during the field trip as 'things' generally happened. Erza assumed that they were talking about sex, not that she cared. Unlike them, she could refuse people and she could take care of herself extremely well.
What she was however nervous about was the fact that since they were going outside Magnolia, they needed to stock up on their weaponry. Naturally, she couldn't carry her heavy-duty weapons- the ones that she felt the most comfortable with. Instead, she chose smaller weapons that could be easily concealed in the light, airy fabrics of beach clothes. These included small hand guns, daggers, bottles of poison- but that was more of Mira's thing than hers. Erza preferred blades and weaponry, whereas Mirajane preferred poisons. There was a time when they used to call her the 'poison princess' as she really was terrifyingly good with poisons. Hence, she was good with medicine.
Erza on the other hand, was good at battle. She dominated the field overwhelmingly and she knew it. She was not maternal, nor was she nurturing. Erza was a cold woman, but she accepted that. She had an innate sense of intelligence and was strategic, but when it came to actual acedemics, she was not very smart. She could not memorize things and had trouble understanding fundamental concepts. While it amused other people, it really didn't amuse her. The reason behind this was the fact that she had learned how to survive. She had witnessed and experienced concepts that could not be taught through the pages of a book. Therefore, her understanding of the world was fundamentally different. She really only understood it through battle. She was not sadistic, yet she was not harmless either. She killed when she had to do so- she did it to survive and unfortunately, on the battlefield, survival was the only norm. Therefore, on the battlefield, Erza was a fierce War Goddess but in reality, she was a socially awkward redhead.
Right now, she was the latter. She was sitting in the train, waiting for it to leave the station. She had wanted to sit beside Mira. She would feel more comfortable if she did that anyway. But she was not allowed to. Instead, she was seated beside Jellal Fernandez- the person she had intentionally avoided since their unpleasant encounter on the football field a few weeks ago.
The second that was announced, the school had turned into frenzy. Girls glared at her all day as she was treated with excessive coldness. Once again, Erza actually preferred that because people didn't ask her useless questions to annoy her. But it was awkward nonetheless. It was the same situation now. There was a petite girl who sat opposite her- she had long blue-ish hair and wide eyes. She wore a yellow dress and her hair was tied into two pigtails at either side of her head. She was short and she really did look like a child. However, that child was glaring daggers at her.
Raising a perfectly arched eyebrow, she sent the girl a questioning look. The girl straightened up quickly and attempted to pretend as if nothing had happened. Well, Erza wouldn't forget it but it wasn't as if she would do something about it either. Therefore, she just let it slide once again.
When she finally felt the train move, her wonderful neighbor had arrived. As soon as he walked in, girls waved at him and giggled excitedly. The boys did the same, without the giggling. Either way, Erza felt a familiar dull pain in her temples as she massaged it with her fingers. She noticed that the girl opposite her suddenly sat up straight and had a bright smile across her face the second she saw Jellal. He simply greeted her politely, as he did with everyone.
Fake, she thought to herself in silence.
She knew people like that. The excessive politeness, the selflessness, the kindness- it was all just a farce. No one was that nice in reality. Those who claimed to be simply pretended to be for one reason or another and she knew for a fact that Jellal was one of those people. She didn't know why he did so and quite frankly, she didn't care either. The point was that he did behave like that and it annoyed her. He led people on constantly, making them believe that they had a chance with him. They were fooled by his smile and pretty words but they never noticed his eyes- those eyes were cold, bored and Erza swore that she had seen them light up only in context of violence. Whether there was a fight or the topic of violence came up, Jellal's eyes suddenly had life in them and that bothered her. He consciously concealed a very dark part of himself from the world.
"So, are you excited Wendy?" she heard him ask the girl opposite her who nodded vigorously as her face turned as red as a tomato.
"Y-Yes, I can't wait. W-what about you J-Jellal?" she questioned softly, her voice stuttering as she had her eyes fixed on him.
"Me? Well, I'm excited I suppose. I mean, I don't think that I can't be excited- I did plan this after all," he responded brightly, letting out a light peal of laughter that earned him a scowl from Erza.
Seeing that, he instantly turned to face her, questioning her about it, asking her if something was wrong or if he had said something to annoy her. She could feel Wendy's eyes glaring at her and all of a sudden, she felt every girl in that cabin glare at her the same way. But she didn't care. They meant nothing to her.
"Of course you did," she responded icily as he faced her with a confused expression, pretending as if he didn't know what was going on.
"I'm sorry, but am I missing something here?" he asked again in the same infuriatingly polite tone.
But this time, his eyes were filled with a cruel amusement- he was paying attention for once, he was playing and once again, no one had noticed.
"Don't pretend as if you have no idea about what is going on. You arranged it in such a way that I would be seated beside you," she accused coldly as she instantly felt the glares intensify around her and whispers among students erupted once again.
"Listen here you red-headed bitch, don't you dare say stuff like that. You're lucky that you get to sit beside Jellal a-"she heard some female voice begin as others chimed in to agree with her.
Now she was annoyed. Were they really that stupid that they couldn't see what was so bluntly obvious? He had planned it all.
"This doesn't concern you so go back to your happy oblivious land of unicorns, candy and glitter before I send you back there forcefully," she stated coldly without bothering to address the person responsible those words.
Once again, whispers erupted and all she saw was a mildly impressed Jellal. He knew this would happen. He was testing her and unfortunately, she had passed and for the next 36 hours, he would be beside her.
"You planned this," she hissed, whispering in his ear as she leaned towards him.
"So?" he questioned nonchalantly- he wouldn't deny that of course.
Every man got bored of his toys and he had just found a new one to entertain himself with. He wasn't letting go that easily. Besides, if he did, the girls might ease up on her. But what was the fun in that now? A little amusement was never a bad idea now was it? But Jellal had done well for himself today.
Wendy, he knew for a fact liked him and well, as usual Jellal couldn't care less. She looked like a child and her hair bothered him. But the reason she was important now was because she sat right opposite Erza and her eyes glared daggers at the scarlet-haired woman beside him. She really wasn't subtle, but neither was Erza. It was a situation that would escalate to a chaotic and Jellal had no problem being the catalyst in this situation.