AFTER ANOTHER HIATUS, I'M BACK~! Missed you guys, its been so long! It's finally chapter 19 and wow we made it a long way together!
I love you, supporters!
When the first period bell rang, the students returned to their potions class seat. However the chatter didn't die down, at least not until Marco-sensei came bouncing in the room again twirling and dancing. The eyes of the students landed on their teacher and they stifled giggles. But Marco-sensei didn't care that his students were laughing at him. Instead, he sang and danced louder until he reached his desk and smacked a stack of papers on the table.
"Class! I have the best news to announce!" the teacher said, grinning from ear to ear. "You have a pop quiz! I…" Before he could continue, the class had lost interest in the announcement and started groaning.
Marco-sensei chuckled. "I was just kidding!" he shouted. "Geez, this class! They won't even let me finish my sentence and now they've just scared the heck out of themselves. Okay, class! My real announcement is," he took a sheet of paper that he placed on his desk earlier. "The school camp is coming up and we already have the permission slips with all the information ready!" Upon hearing the notification, the class cheered. At Fairy Tail Academy, school camp was the most exciting trip of the year.
Marco-sensei handed out the trip slips and a commotion started from exhilaration. "Quick reminder though! Girls and boys will have rooms in different sides of the camp! You cannot venture into the other gender's side of the camp, for any reason, or you shall be suspended for a week!" The students shouted across the room, arranging a roommate for the two-person chambers.
Erza turned around to catch Lucy's gaze. "Want to share the room with me?" the redhead mouthed, and Lucy nodded. Lucy would never let Erza down.
"So, Erza's bunking with you?" Jellal asked, since he sat right the Lucy and saw the exchange.
"Yes~! You should've seen us last year, going all the way to the water park areas! But this time," she took a quick glance at the trip sheet before she continued, "we're actually going outdoors! Track and field! Rock climbing! Kayaking! Ah~!" From the utter excitement, Lucy whipped out a pen to Jellal's surprise (because she's almost always never prepared) and started completing the form.
"Yo, Jellal!" The bluehead looked up to the caller of his name. It was Lyon, winking like a stupid idiot. "You and me, am I right?"
Jellal smiled, and replied with a stupid wink back.
Soon, midterms were administered in Fairy Tail Academy and unsurprisingly, Titania received full scores all across the board. After that, boring weeks passed with the same routine. Homework. Eat. Sleep. Homework. Eat some more. Sleep. But the weather got warmer and warmer as July pulled in as day for the school camping trip was arriving. Anticipation bottled up in the school. One more week, seven more days, and everyone's on their way for summer camp. Most of the school was participating in this annual two day one night field trip, and requested room assignments were already confirmed.
"Aren't you so excited to be my roomie?" Lucy shouted over Erza's phone. The two girls were currently packing, and a phone call to vent out their excitement was certainly a must.
Erza smiled. "Uh, yeah. I guess." She folded another T-Shirt and neatly placed it in her cute, flower-covered suitcase before reaching for the next top. "I-I don't know. I guess I'm kinda scared."
"Of what?!"
"What if I embarrass myself in front of everyone?" What if I embarrass myself in front of Gray. Oh no, what will he think of me then? The huge klutz, Erza Scarlet.
"Aw, sweetie, don't worry! I told Natsu that he better be watching out for Gray! Those two are rooming together," Lucy added. There goes his name again. The one name that made Erza's face blush and heart race. But why was there also a familiar pain in her chest?
"Hey, Lucy," Erza called in a shy voice.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think Gray liked me before, even though he said he only thinks of me as a younger sister?"
Lucy choked on her own spit, and was wildly coughing. She cleared her throat, "Um. . .I don't know. He's really nice to you, so I guess. . .yes?" And he lowkey still likes you. She couldn't believe she spitted out the truth, even though she told Gray she would never tell Erza he likes her. The blonde held in her breath, scared to face Erza's reaction.
"O-oh. That's nice." A smile formed on Erza face. "I wish he still likes me, but I guess not. . ." Her voice trailed off.
"Eru, don't be like that!"
"But Lucy, haven't you felt like Gray's not himself lately? Especially in the past several weeks." Erza stopped folding her pajamas and released a heavy sigh, but that still didn't take off the weight from her heart. "He's always with. . .Juvia. Remember when we used to eat lunch together? He never does that anymore, but instead goes to Juvia's table. Should I be upset?"
Lucy gulped. Wow, that was a good question. "I bet he's trying to be nice to the new girl! Plus, Juvia's not even going to camp because she's going on vacation the next two weeks with her family. That means you ain't gotta think about her for the entire time of camp!"
"That's pretty mean of me, though," Erza replied. "She's still a classmate."
"I guess that's why they call you Titania. You gotta be mean sometimes, and be a little selfish, but you never are. You're always thinking of everyone."
"No I don't!" the redhead protested.
"Yeah, sure. And I. . .Oh shit, never mind! Natsu's here to help me pack! Eru, I'll talk to you tomorrow then!" The girls said their goodbyes before they hung up.
Erza sighed once more as she placed her phone on the table next to her. "I miss the normal Gray," she murmured. "If only he was back to his normal self again."
Her eyes caught hold of the bright red lucky charm on the bottom of her bookshelf. It was the present that Jellal gave her on magic day to console her. She walked up to it and took it from its little home and brought it close to her chest and suddenly, she felt a lot calmer. "Okay, lucky charm. If you want to go, let's go together," she said and tucked the charm at the corner of her suitcase.
Hopefully, camp goes well.
"Look at this," a delighted Lucy shouted. She took Erza's arm and they opened the bathroom, which had a sauna with temperature control. The blonde took her friend's hand again and they ran to the glass doors at the back of the room and slid the door open. A field of grass met by a forest nearby expanded in their views. "I know you are the heir to the Scarlet company, but you gotta admit this place is beautiful!" the blonde exclaimed. After a use of three hours on the coach bus, the two girls were exploring their camp room, since they were told to place their luggages in their rooms. The rooms were spacious and had great lightings, along with two queen-sized beds. For two days and a night, this was going to be their room.
The girls were going to continue exploring the room until an announcement blared through the speakers. "Hello, students of Fairy Tail Academy! This is Miss Strauss speaking from the camp main house. I am excited to announce that not only am I your assistant principal, I will also be your main camp counselor for the duration we are here! So, if I can get everyone from their rooms and let's meet up at the main house, where we will briefly start discussing some rules and get started playing!"
Lucy tugged on Erza's shirt. "Let's go."
By the next thirty minutes, students have filtered into the main house, a large, spacious gathering hall that was lighted by the sun above. On one side were the stacked makeshift tables and chairs, and the other was a large other girls met up with Natsu, but . . .
"Where's Gray?" Lucy asked as soon as she saw her boyfriend gulping down his sandwich.
"I don't know," he said. "He left as soon as he placed his luggage in our room." Natsu answered like he could not care less, and it angered Lucy.
"What!? I told you to watch him!" Lucy shouted. Erza patted Lucy's shoulder, hoping she would calm down. Heads were already turning, seeing a fight arising between Titania's friends.
"Lucy, chill. Gray's been weird, so I don't even know anymore."
"Natsu!"
The boy swallowed another bite before glancing at Erza then his girlfriend. "What?"
"You promised me! Real question, are you hiding something from me?" Lucy asked, her eyebrows raising from curiosity. The redhead, standing next to her friend, held in her breath. She hated seeing her best friends fight, and sadly it was all because of Gray. How could Gray do this to his friends? Didn't he make a promise in front of Lucy, that he would return to his normal self again? Does he not care about them anymore? Erza see him all the time, but he doesn't talk to her anymore, and it made Erza feel very, very disappointed.
"I swear to god I'm not hiding something. At least, it's nothing you gotta know."
"Natsu Dragneel, you better spill or I'll. . ."
The blonde was cut off by a loud voice through the microphone at the front of the room. "Hello, everyone!" All eyes turned to the voice, which happened to come from the camp counselor, Mira Strauss, in other words one of the hottest women ever. Especially when Miss Strauss was wearing her short shorts and a revealing pink tank top in the hot summer weather, boys were already drooling. She flashed a smile at the crowd at the school cheered back at their assistant principal. "Okay, so I'm just going to remind you of some rules, and you're off! First, you must report to your rooms with your roommate by 10PM. Dinner starts at seven, so that shouldn't be a problem. Second, no vandalization of your rooms what so ever, else you reprimand for your damage done. Be respectful! Third, you are also not allowed to venture into the other gender's side of the camp even it it's for getting your shirt back! Boys with boys and girls with girls, please! Fourth, if anyone gets hurt, notify a staff or teacher immediately! This is for the sake of your safety! Yes, you might miss a game, but it's no fun playing when you are hurt! Any breaking of the rules can lead to very serious punishments! Everyone understand?" The crowd responded with nods. She stepped aside before continuing, "These are your other camp counselors for the next two days." She introduced them, but everyone already knew them because they were their teachers at school. "Okay, so your game schedules have already been posted in your rooms, and were based off your own preferences you submitted on your trip forms! Take a look before you leave. That's it, and have a great time!"
The students rushed out of the hall as soon as the announcement was over, since play time was slipping away. Everyone quickly returned to their rooms and changed, before heading to different activity stations to start. Even though the sun continued to beat down on them, everyone remained excited. After all, it was one of the only school trips of the year.
By the time the sun had reached its climax in the sky, Lyon and Jellal have finished their first activity of track and field. The two were nearing Field C at the east side of camp to meet up with other students to play assassin with paintballs. Yes, assassin with paintballs, but the exciting part was that it would take place in the nearby forest. "Let's make the most out of today," Lyon said. He was returning back to Magnolia later in the afternoon since his family was going on vacation. "Take care of yourself while I'm gone, Jellal."
The bluehead nodded. "I will try." He had a good feeling he was going to be alright, even though the temperature was around the mid 30s degree Celsius. He told himself that he would constantly stay in the shade to make sure he doesn't overheat himself.
"It's really hot," Lyon said, wiping his sweat with his arm. "But I'm worried about you. You never even told your mom you're on a trip! But if you think you're gonna go crazy, I'll help tape your mouth shut and drag you back to our room. I mean it." The two chuckled and continued walking.
"I'm pretty surprised they were that quiet," Lyon suddenly chimed it, referring to Gray and Natsu who happened to be their next door room neighbors. He was pacing by Jellal as he twirled the edge of his shirt.
"At least that means we won't have to sleep hearing their stupid voices," Jellal pointed out with a tone of annoyance. Everytime he saw Natsu or Gray, they are almost always bellowing and it pissed Jellal off so very much. . .especially when it was Gray Fullbuster.
"Hey, you don't have to be so salty. You already surpassed their midterm grades, so be proud!" Lyon exclaimed. He was right. Jellal's midterm grades placed him third in the school, after Erza and Levy. The bluehead had to admit that if it weren't for Erza's help, he would not have achieved such a score, but he kept quiet in front of his friend. "Ah, you're so lucky!" Lyon added. "First being Titania's tenant and now you are one of the top students! What do you even have against Gray?"
Jellal sucked in his breath and stiffened. "Nothing," he lied. But in his mind, he knew he wanted everything Gray had. In fact, Jellal had to admit he was jealous. Erza Scarlet. He shook his head, ridding the thought. No, I don't like her. He also hated to admit that ever since he studied with the redhead, the image of her sleeping so soundly popped up whenever Jellal was idle.
Lyon continued, "Exactly! Besides, what else do you want besides impressing your parents with a good grade?"
"Nothing, really." Another lie.
Lyon grinned. "Well, I don't know about that, Jellal. Every time you're around Titania, you always. . .Ow!" Lyon shouted after Jellal smacked his arm.
"Shut up, we're almost there," the bluehead scolded. It was more that he could already unmistakably recognize a redhead from the field in front of them. . .and Jellal definitely did not want anyone listening to this embarrassing conversation. Seeing the queen playing the same game as them was a surprise, and Jellal was trying to hide his happiness. "Let's get there quick," he said, changing the topic. As he neared the area, he also spotted Gray Fullbuster, and his mood dampened.
The two stood with the rest of the assassin players, and continued chattering until a loud whistle broke through the air. It was Marco-sensei, one of the camp counselors. "Attention all assassin players, listen up! Game's going to start in ten minutes, so let me explain the game! Assassin is basically where everyone tries to eliminate each other and the last one standing is the winner, except in this game we will be playing in teams! To eliminate your opponents, you will use. . .paintballs!" The students cheered. Marco-sensei hushed them and pointed to the forest. "That's your hiding spot! There will be fences that marks the out of limit zone and if you hide there, you are automatically disqualified!" He pulled out a sheet of paper from his pocket. "Teams are. . ." Marco-sensei started reading aloud the pairs. As each pair was announced, the team walked to the front, grabbed a sachet of paintballs and paintball guns before disappearing into the forest.
"Please let me have a good partner!" Lyon murmured next to Jellal. His hands pressed together as if in a prayer.
"Yo, shut up I need to listen to sensei and not you," Jellal replied. He had to admit he sounded pretty mean, but he couldn't help but feel a little scared to know who would be his partner. What if it was someone he didn't like or. . .
"Lyon Vastia and Lucy Heartfilia! Gajeel Redfox and Levy McGarden! Gray Fullbuster and Natsu Dragneel! And finally, Jellal Fernandes and Erza Scarlet!"
Lyon groaned and Jellal stood there, stiff. Was he happy? Angry? Scared? He didn't really know, but he did know luck just had to be with him today.
It's a short chapter, but I hope you like it! The real exciting part is Chapter 20 because I HAVE SO MANY WAYS THE PLOT CAN GO, but I can't choose!
In advance, happy Thanksgiving, everyone! ~CHS