Chapter 9: Prelude Of Pancakes

They were in the countryside. A warm, beautiful valley in the middle of a scenic town by the trail they hiked on. Their rings glistening as they moved about, smiling to each other and proclaiming this to be the best Honeymoon the girl has ever been on. The boy retorts with hopefully this is the last honeymoon you're on. She only simply giggles as she unpacks her delectable lunch, her tired eyes sparkling as she touched upon the Caesar wrap.

You didn't have to do that for me! She says. The boy waves her off and winks. She ravages the container carrying it and opens it to the nice smell of fresh garden herbs before taking a bite-

Sou sa We can do it!

Motto HATENA darake de ikou!

Fushigi he no tobira wa me no mae ni aru

Kono sekaijuu ga Wonder land~!

A small groan escaped the blanket monster as it tried to fiddle for the alarm clock playing that blasted music. After a few minutes, when it came up short, it rose to life, revealing a zombified-like girl.

The alarm clock shut up immediately once she got it, and for one second, she feared that she might've broken it. Before looking at the time and sighed. 7:45 am.

She dug out her phone from the depths of her nightstand, drawing out a deep sigh from the 15 message notifications. The first ones she looked at, it was only little matters like homework questions and an essay question from Cana. The last six came from Lucy, the increasing urgency sent with each, alarming Juvia.

Lucy (6:55 am): Hey, you ready to go today?

Lucy (6:58 am): Juves, I thought you set your alarm for 6:50 don't tell me you forgot!

Lucy 3 (7:10 am): Juvia! C'mon!

Lucy 3 (7:13 am): Juvia!

Lucy(7:33 am): Ok, I'm ready to go. I'll be coming soon!

Lucy(7:44 am): I'm coming in 10 minutes you better be there!

As if on cue, another one rolled in.

Lucy (7:52 am): I'm going now.

Juvia bore an expression of worry, her head whipping around her room for any semblance of clean clothes. She cursed herself; Juvia spent all night working on the essay that by the time she finished, it was 1am. Since the only thing on her mind was sleep, and also being woozy, she set her alarm for s random time accidentally. Not realizing she had the first day of play rehearsal!

Rapping out a string of curses, she quickly slipped into clothes and grabbed the bag with her one-gallon water bottle. Outside, she heard the groan of a vehicle stopping and it clicked in her brain Lucy was here. Throwing on whatever shoes she found, she met her outside, realizing at the last second she didn't brush her teeth nor hair.

A blonde girl was coming up the driveway to greet her, her smile faltering at the ridiculous nature of her outfit. It reappeared once again, however, once Lucy sighed and took her bags.

Now finally seeing her up close, Juvia got a full view of Lucy and what she was wearing. Her outfit was plain, considering they were about to go to rehearsal yet somehow stylish. Her shirt was a band t-shirt from the 70's, The Wizard Saints: World Tour. It was baggy and looked so comfortable compared to the form-fitting shirt Juvia has. With that, only black leggings and the bottom was Converse sneakers. The ribbon on top was the authentic Lucy touch: her golden hair tied in a bow that created a waterfall-like impression.

She looked to her own and sighed. A shirt from one of her favorite YouTubers in 8th grade - that fit surprisingly well for being three years old - also paired with leggings. Her shoes were the ones she used for runs on weekend mornings - the good kind - and her hair- don't get her started on the hair. It was a frivolous, insane piece of blue mop that was stuck on her head.

"Juves, can you hand me your bags? Uh, Juvia?"

She flinched when a hand waved in front. "What? Oh, yeah, sorry. Here." The two girls loaded the bags and then got in the front, setting down their personal items. That's when a thought occurred to Juvia.

"Uh, we're going to rehearsal, right? Lucy?" She said, desperate to know she just didn't get dressed like an idiot for nothing when she's going to sweat. Lucy whipped around and started at her with an incredulous look. "No, I told you. We're going to Blue Pegasus Pancake joint, remember? Yesterday, I said we were going."

She tried to recall the incident but all she could remember was packing away her backpack and scrolling through Instagram.

Ohhh-

"I'm guessing it came up when we met at my locker. I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention, Lucy," She said, blushing. Lucy threw her a pitiful look before turning her attention back to the road. "Yea, I tried to tell you there but you seemed adamant on leaving. But now, at least, you know you're going and it's not a kidnapping."

Juvia hummed in humor. "True, very true. By the way, did you start the essay?" It was Lucy's turn to play the blushing girl. "No. Yeah yeah, I know it's due Monday. But it's easy, right? Mrs. Uist says we have to write about Roy's development and say when he started to go crazy," Lucy guessed, her tone clipping onto anxiety.

The blue-haired teen's silence sent Lucy spiraling into doubt. "No, we just have to write about the book in general. If you're honestly that confused, I'd go search up the book on Google and see what you come up with?" Lucy shook her head, and with the utmost certainty proclaimed, "I'm really never going to get it in on time, am I?"

The car swerved as they neared the restaurant before straightening out again as they secured their street. Before long, the signs of industry rolled along in front of the car as Lucy babbled on about how bad of a student she was accompanied by the insistent, positive remarks of Juvia shooting down any negative comments. The teens continued with the show before Juvia interrupted with a large gasp of excitement, clapping rapidly when a little beige building sat at the end of the lane.

Forgetting her worrisome behavior beforehand, Lucy puffed out a sigh and shook her head at her friend's ridiculousness. She parked and they quickly headed inside.

The waitress only nodded upon seeing them, gesturing to a little corner table in the back. Once they revealed themselves to the aforementioned table, a whopping cheer reverberated against the walls of the little joint, an annoyed look from the surrounding patrons.

"Oh, look who decided to join us?"

"Hey, it was only because of Juvia! For your information, Cana, it wasn't me this time!"

'Cana' sauntered her to Lucy, wrapping her arm around the blonde. She then tugged her closer, almost snuggling up to her like a cat. Lucy grew agitated as if this is happened too many times to count before she pushed her away, sending a very agitated look to the brunette. The teen only waved her off, pursing her lips at the gesture.

She then fixed her attitude and turned to face the rest of her friend group, a beautiful smile gracing her lips. "Good morning, guys!" Her voice was as chirpy as the morning birds that sang outside Juvia's window.

"Good morning! What took you so long? Having hot sex in the back of Lucy's Jeep?" Cana answered back, a mischievous grin sliding its way on. Juvia blushed with embarrassment. "No, I just didn't see my alarm. I was working on the essay," She answered in a somewhat shaky tone.

"Of course, only you'd work on a thing like that on a Friday night," Gajeel answered and the discussion was long gone. They sat down in the normal seats, situating themselves down. Lucy made sure to check the time to confirm what time they're leaving.

The waitress, finally seeing all party members, sighed relief and brought up seven menus for all, trudged her feet and throw them down, her throwaway comment receiving chuckles, "You already know."

They threw the menus in the middle though, as true to the waitress's words, they've been here way too many times to count and each had a special thing they ordered.

Once that was done, the table came alive with conversations as they all excitedly or nervously talked about the first dress rehearsal, ranting about Ms. P and how much they all hate her. Then, switched to the aforementioned essay Juvia had been doing, calling her a nerd but also worrying for their own sakes. It was at this point the food had been brought to their table, but no one completely noticed as they were too busy in conversation to realize.

The essay talk continued after the food had been brought. "Dude, I can't do an essay to save my life. Shrimp over here tries to help but then writes the whole god damn essay for me," Gajeel said, punctuated with a good natured laugh. Meanwhile, the subject of the sentence, did not look happy one bit. "Yeah, because you almost always make me write it for you!" She stood up from the table, and punched the table, resting her foot there. Hey expression was gruff to replicate Gajeel's, furrowing her eyebrows in order to get the real look. "You're like, "'Oh, my dear, beautiful, Levy. I hope you know you're the smartest woman in the whole planet. And I'm sure you know I'm not. It would be a great honor, my dear, if you'd write my essay for me." Once she finished reciting, she pulled back from the table, trying to hold back from dastardly laughing.

"I never said that! Hey, where did you get that from?!" Gajeel, was not amused. The tanks broke into laughter upon seeing an amused Levy eclipsed by the giant, muscular Gajeel who was, currently, red and frantically waving his arms around. Lucy sent a look to Levy and brought up a thumbs, and the two exchanged smile.

But then she remembered. She gasped and a look of concern rested upon her face, finding six eyes on her. She began to mutter incoherent sentences but they changed adjectives as they got louder. Juvia reached over the table and gently placed a cold hand on her arm, causing Lucy to flinch back from the sudden winter on her arm.

"Luce, what's the matter? Is everything ok?" Juvia asked softly. Lucy pursed her lips and looked away, a churning sensation in her stomach making her unable to look at the food. "I just remembered," she looked at Juvia again with two concerned eyes, "we forgot Wendy."

The revelation of the sentence caused the teens to be in an uproar, many already getting they bags and halfway out the door at this point. The waitress from earlier watched with a perturbed expression, leaning over to her fellow coworker to go check on them.

"We did?! How could we!" Juvia looked pissed, meanwhile. "I don't know, you tell me! Anyone have her Instagram to, like, maybe check if she's actually coming?" Levy said, dragging some of the runaways back to the table. "I don't know, she said she was. You think she stays true to her word?"

"I think so. Wendy seems like a very loyal person to me. I don't think she's going to bail on us; perhaps, she just simply forgot to put her alarm on like someone over there." Juvia blushed in embarrassment, sputtering something about god awful friends. "Hey! It's true! You're the one who forgot to set our alarm too before rehearsal! Ms. P made us walk the track three times in freezing December weather and by the time we came in, all of us were too tired to even sing!" Lucy giggled at the sudden memory, her face breaking out in a stupidly large grin. The rest of the group - save for Juvia, of course - followed suit.

Juvia herself wasn't too happy about being the subject of such teasing, but after relentless minutes passed by, she couldn't help but slip a giggle in. But she resumed her stance when she checked her phone again, realizing it was almost 7:15 and they were supposed to leave at 7:30 for the 7:45 start time. In the three minutes passed, Juvia had grown more worried than what was considered healthy.

"Hey, guys, can someone text Wendy and make sure she's coming! Like, I just want to make sure nothing bad happened to her," She said. The serious nature of Juvia's comment cut through the jovial atmosphere like a knife. They were reminded again of the current predicament but instead of the expected worrisome faces, they all looked like they were already tired.

"Juves, relax. She's coming, I promise. What if you call her instead, if you're that worried," Gajeel said, and Juvia could detect a small flicker of annoyance in his tone. She flinched back before putting on a joyous smile, as if she was excited to call. "Oh, good idea! Hold on," She said, and excused herself from the table.

She rushed through the restaurant, the building's colors whizzing together in neat splotches of color, and fully noted the waitress calling for her. When she pushed on that plain door, the first thing to greet her was a small, petite girl that had bounds of blue hair spilling over her shoulders.

Juvia looked up and took in the rest of the girl: shoulders shaking from either fright or the autumn chill, her eyes shining glassily, and her small face puckered into a defining chill. The rest of her explained her chill as she had on a cute white shirt with blue outlining and what looked to be very, very thin grey leggings with more blue outlining. Even her little pigtails were done up with a blue scrunchie.

Her eyes met with Juvia's and her clench tightened on her rehearsal bag before sighing relief, and jumping - like, literally jumping - into Juvia's arms. "Omg, I thought you'd hate me for being so late! Because- because, I got so many messages from Lucy and you and everyone how late I was! I'm so sorry! Mom and Uncle Igneel were out on a morning trip somewhere and I think Natsu was getting ready to go someplace so I didn't have the guts to ask him so I thought I'd be a bother but he happily agreed and asked where and-"

Wendy stopped when Juvia let out her own sigh and placed her hand gently on the perfectly done ponytail. "It's ok, Wendy, we forgive you. Because, honestly," Wendy looked up, "I also was late. I forgot to set my alarm and Lucy was pissed, but I'm sure it's fine now." The worried girl receded from Juvia and made a smile - something Juvia had appreciated seeing. "You think Lucy's still mad?" Juvia rolled her eyes. "No; if she is, just get her a gift of something. That'll help," She said, as she took Wendy's shoulder.

They traveled back to their small table, ignoring the waitress's confused calls, and sat down. Their cheering yells again annoyed fellow patrons and the waitress was really holding back from making them leave for causing her a giant headache. Juvia pulled a second seat for Wendy while she went up and greeted each friend with a large hug - even getting a special spin from Cana.

The excitement leveled out when Lucy asked why and Wendy told the story again, and just as Juvia had said, the blonde teen wasn't that mad as the girl perceived she was going to be. Immediately, conversations stroke up again and this time, it was something other than the essay.

"You know Wendy, you never told us about your old life. What was your high school like?" Levy said, leaning over the table. Her gaze was fixed upon Wendy's teetering smile, who was slightly squirming from the intense gaze.

"Uh, well, I really only had about five friends and stuff. I was apart of the dance team in my school and it fifteen of us - five of my friends, one of me, and another five girls and one boy. It was actually pretty fun. We won a lot too, and once won a competition on the national level," She said. Her squirming had calmed thoroughly as a nostalgia veil lowered over her eyes.

She perked up again, seemingly remembering another fantastical memory. "Oh, and we had an ice rink near my house! I used to ice skate with my gir-friend Chelia and her big brother, Lyon, down there on Saturday's. And then! At noon, we'd head down to the pretzel cart on Cloud Street and we'd sit there on the curb for hours and talk. My mom and me, in the evening, had a movie marathon with helpings of popcorn," She said. The table listened with interest, all leaning over the still steaming food.

"Why'd you guys move?" Wendy's smile teetered but recovered. "Because... um, mom lost her job. Her office closed down because of the recent job shortages but I promise it's good. We actually have a job here when Uncle Igneel reached out, and asked mom if she'd like a job here. She now works here, in Magnolia," She shrugged at the end, her smile lopsided in an effort to keep herself cool.

The table withdrew. Cana spoke. "Igneel? Like, Igneel Dragneel, the owner of the restaurant off of Mulberry street?" Wendy's expression flitted from concern to an unreadable face; the only expression available was her pursed lips.

"Yeah, he's the dad of Natsu, right? How could you be related to him?" Gajeel sneered. This earned a small hit to his shoulder by Levy, but even she seemed reluctant to do it. "Honestly, um, when you get to know him, he's kinda cool." Her breath was almost wispy, like what you'd lower your voice down at 3am talking on the phone.

Her statement, though barely heard, caused the eyebrows to be raised dramatically - yes, even more than the usual theatre kid's dramatics. "Really? I would not except that to happen. Next thing I know is cows will jumping across the moon and the sky will come falling down," Another commented and Wendy could feel the sarcasm oozing out of their mouth .

"Ok, I agree, Cana, but maybe tone it down. Look, you're upsetting her," Lisanna pointed out. And true to her words, Wendy was starting to cry, the beginnings of redness seeping through.

Immediately, Lucy and Juvia shot to her side and comforted any way they could. Wendy, in return leaned into their sides for support. The rest watched with guilty eyes and offered their own ways of comfort by joining in on the almost group hug. (Gajeel was the only one to sit it out).

"Thanks, everyone," Wendy blubbered through her tears. Her only reply was a tighter hold. The hug was shattered when a round of applause broke out from the surrounding patrons, who had got up to clap intensely while the friend group had a comforting moment.

Juvia looked back to Lucy, who simply rolled her eyes and flashed the group the time: 7:32. This sent everyone scrambling for their things in seconds as they hurriedly tried to pack up. Wendy looked on with a smile, watching the chaotic scene unfold of different things whizzing past in flying colors.

Then she realized she didn't have a ride and promptly freaked out herself. She studied the scene again and tried to survey who not to disturb, but as soon as Lucy finished packing, she tapped her on her shoulder.

Wendy caught a whiff of Two and One: Coconut Island Shampoo and Conditioner and was met with a very frightened face of Lucy. But this softened when she saw the girl.

"Hey, Wendy? What's the matter?" Lucy asked. "Can you- can you drive me? I was driven by Natsu and I would probably call him again. But, um, since their reaction was so negative, I think I'm just going to ask you to drive." As Wendy began to speak, her face melted into one of concern to one of immediate pity. It almost made Wendy want to retract her statement, but it was too late now.

"Of course. Yeah, anytime, Wendy!" Lucy said back. She turned back to Juvia, who was stuffing away a little plastic container into her bag, and looked up frighteningly at almost being caught. She clenched the container in a chokehold at her notion. We're getting a third passenger, Juves. Wendy's coming with us." The girl released the chokehold and slipped into a very friendly expression, one Wendy was used to seeing. The familiar expression relaxed her.

"Of course! Are we going now?" Lucy nodded curtly, gathering the rest of her stuff. The little group headed towards the car and it finally hit Wendy rehearsal was coming.

IM BACK! I'm so sorry for being gone for, like, five months? Holy shit, I'm sorry.

But anyway, I hope this quells your worries. Because I promise, IHE is not going away. I cant sit to start writing chapters again for it. I'm still deciding whether or not to go into my old schedule of two week updates but for now, sporadic updates.,

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed, have a good day/night, and I'll see you next time! Bye~!