Chapter 11
The next morning, Lucy is casually munching on her favorite brand of cereal while watching her guilty pleasure, Say Yes to the Dress. She does not even have a boyfriend yet, but she loves this series along with the other version. Her routine is interrupted by an incoming phone call. She grabs her nearby cell phone and smiles when she sees it is Natsu. She answers the call and holds her phone up to her right ear. "Hello."
"Hiya, Luce," he greets warmly. "Do you have plans for later?"
"I planned on writing," Lucy pauses the recorded episode so she can hear better and not miss what is happening. "Why do you ask?"
"Do you wanna go on a double date with me and two friends? It'd be after I get off at four."
"Ooo, which friends?" she inquires, picturing Levy and Gajeel in her head.
"Ice Princess and his girlfriend."
She remembers him mentioning them before. "Oh, the two that are living together."
"Bingo!"
"What would we do?" Lucy inquires, balancing the bowl on her lap while she twirls around a strand of her hair with her free hand. Is she nervous? Pfft, why would she be? She is only speaking to the guy who kissed her before he left. The same guy who brought over her favorite kind of pizza for just because reasons.
"Just chill at Magnolia Mall," Natsu answers. "Get some food and shop."
"That sounds really nice," she admits.
"So you in?"
"Sure, why not?"
Natsu grows excited. "Great! I'll text Ice Princess so he knows I won't be third wheeling it."
She chuckles. "You go and do that."
"Ugh, so I gotta get back to work, but I'll get in touch with you later. Sound good, Luce?"
"That sounds good, Natsu."
"Okay, byeee!"
"Bye!"
With that, Natsu ends the call.
Lucy lowers her phone and smiles down at it. "You're such a weirdo…"
So it looks like she will have to work on her latest novel before she goes out to have fun later. At least she has ideas to work with and characters to design and name.
x-X-x
Lucy is proud of what she accomplished before she left her apartment to drive over to the mall. Just before four o'clock, she is aimlessly walking around. She has no idea what the real names of who she is meeting with are or even what they look like. Lucy tried getting a hold of Natsu so she could get information from him, but he never answered her calls or replied to her texts. It did not even cross her mind to ask him when she spoke with him earlier when he had called her.
Currently checking her phone, Lucy is somewhat disappointed Natsu has not gotten back with her. She feels helpless because all she can do is wait for him to reply.
A loud squeal from in front of her interrupts her train of thoughts. Lucy looks up to see a teenage girl standing not too far from her, a huge smile on her face. She has bright chestnut hair pulled into low twintails and bangs that fall above her very dark eyes. A cat bell choker is around her neck and jingles every time she moves.
"Hello there," Lucy says, feeling certain this girl knows her.
"Y-you're Ashley!" she stutters from excitement.
As if Lucy can deny it. "It's true."
She squeals again. "I'm Millianna and I'm a huge fan! There's a blog I run about you–" Her eyes grow considerately larger. "Can I get a picture with you? Pleaseee?"
"Sure. I don't see why not." Lucy points over to the nearby section of railing that has a gap to display the lower level on the other side. "Let's step out of the way first."
With her camera app already pulled up on her phone, Millianna is ready for a selfie. Lucy scooches in so they can fit in the frame and she smiles at the camera.
"Say kitty!" Millianna says.
Lucy goes along with it just for kicks. "Kitty!"
Millianna looks over the photo and bounces up and down, making her bell jingle. "Thank you so much, Ashley!"
"You're welcome."
"Is it okay if I ask you questions? Some questions? I promise there won't be that many!"
Lucy figures she has some time to burn. "It depends on the questions…"
Millianna squeals in delight before messing with her phone. "I'm gonna to record this before I start. Annnd there we go!" She aims her camera as Lucy. "Okay, first question, what inspired Elvina?"
That is a no brainer. "I wanted something that wasn't fantasy based like how my other novels have been."
"Oo, that's interesting! Wait, do you think you'll continue that streak with your next novel?"
Feigning innocence, Lucy presses a finger to her chin. "I did miss writing fantasy so maybe I'll get back to it in the next one."
"But will Elvina have a sequel?"
"I'm not entirely sure," she replies honestly. "I'm happy with the way Elvina ended, but I'm sure if something comes to me I'll roll with it."
"A lot of my fans are curious to know if Nathaniel is based off your boyfriend or crush?"
"I think Nathaniel is what I'm looking for in a boyfriend. He's caring and funny." She chuckles as she thinks of a certain someone with pink here. "He's a dork, too. Not to mention a big weirdo."
"Oh, so you aren't dating anybody?"
"As of now, I'm single." Lucy dares not breathe a word about Natsu because it is too personal.
"Is there somebody you like?"
"There is, but I won't talk about them." Lucy keeps it neutral just so it is vague enough. She even presses a finger to her lips for extra emphasis. "My lips are sealed."
Millianna bounces on the balls of her feet, causing her bell to jingle even more. "I'm sure the world would love to learn about your crush!"
"I don't think I'm ready for the world to learn about my crush!" Lucy jokes.
"Can I just have one little hint about them?" she begs.
Lucy has reached her limit. "Unfortunately, I really don't want to discuss the matter anymore." She glances past Millianna, pretending she sees someone. "Hey, I think I see my friend so I'm going to get going."
"B-but I have some more questions," she whines.
"I think I've answered plenty of your questions," Lucy points out, trying to treat the matter lightly.
"Hey, there you are," an unfamiliar voice says.
Lucy and Millianna both look over to see a guy standing there, looking at Lucy. His dark hair is a little bit longer than Natsu's and he has slightly more of a muscular build than him. He has fair skin and dark blue eyes. The guy is wearing a silver sword necklace with a stone set in it and a silver metal bracelet around his right wrist.
"You found me," Lucy says casually, feigning that she knows who he is.
"Well, it's kind of hard when you don't reply to my texts," he mentions.
Lucy chuckles. "I guess that would make things kind of hard."
The guy jerks his head. "Let's get going then."
Lucy takes one last look at Millianna to end things on a positive note. "Thanks again." Then she walks away with the guy on her right side.
He raises a hand to point at a nearby clothing store. "The others are in there. I was getting ready to walk inside when I saw you."
"Wow, great timing on your part," Lucy says, rolling with what is happening.
When the duo enters the store, they immediately walk over to the right to get out of view.
"Do you think she'll follow you?" the guy asks in a low voice.
"I hope not," Lucy replies, beginning to regret agreeing to answer those few questions in the first place.
The two wait a moment and watch the doors to make sure Millianna does not enter the store.
"Think we're safe?" the guy asks after a moment.
"I think so. I would have guessed that she would have been in by now." Lucy sighs in relief. "Thank you so much for that save back there."
"No problem."
"I didn't think she was going to get as pushy as she did."
"What was that even about?"
Lucy waves a hand to brush the thought away. "It wasn't anything."
"Hey, do you want me to stick around for a little bit? Just to make sure you're good?"
"I don't want to cause you any trouble."
"No trouble. I'm waiting for people myself."
"Me, too."
"Looks like we both beat them here."
"Even though it was my friend's idea."
"Hey, it was my friend's idea, too…" The guy observes her for a moment. "Natsu."
She looks over at him, surprised that name left his lips. "You know Natsu?"
"Unfortunately," he jokes. "Been friends with him since we were little. How do you know him?"
"He delivered pizza to my apartment," Lucy chuckles, fondly recalling that encounter and what followed after.
The guy is now blatantly staring at her.
"Are you all right?"
"Lucy?"
She is slightly surprised he knows her name. "That's me."
"Wait, what?" He pokes her shoulder with a finger. "You're actually real?"
A/N: This double date bit will continue in the next chapter for sure. But I'm sure y'all know who saved Lucy :P Millianna miiiiiight be OC :P Also, this version of her is based off of the Tower of Heaven version. I just needed a "fan" to spot Lucy and I wanted a FT character than a nameless/faceless character.
Flamexofxchaos: A little late, but happy new year! And I finally got around to that update :P
Wishyouweremedon:wishyouweremedontya: Oh, wow! That's so awesome for you! AND THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH :D
