Chapter Three: New Look, New School, and First Party
"The decision to switch schools would be difficult for a lot of people, as they would've held fond memories of the school. I mean, you meet your friends there, you grow together, and you share experiences together." Lucy had gotten off the stool and continued pacing the stage, trying to focus the audience's attention to her. "However, for me, the decision was easy. My old school reminded me of a cinder block prison that I'd dread to go everyday, only to be relieved to return home after the long day was over. I was going through a lot as it is, and having to suffer the constant abuse was too much. There was one night where… one of my panic attacks transitioned into a full-on mental breakdown. It was one of the worst moments of that dreadful summer."
Lucy sighed, and wiped a tear that she had noticed flowing down her cheek. "Something else I had realized, was the fact that I had barely thought of the girls. I kept telling myself I was going through so much, with their deaths... but was I? I couldn't bring myself to miss them, I couldn't bring myself to bring back the good memories we shared, and I couldn't even look at a guitar. I broke it, because I couldn't stand to see it there. Music was one thing that had brought us together, but now, I saw music as something I couldn't stand to be near. And it was hard, because music used to be what I'd breathe, live, and do everyday. It brought us together... and I felt as if I lost that."
…
"Is this a permanent colour?"
"As long as you don't dye your hair with another colour, it'll stay just as it is."
Facing the mirror, Lucy had just bleached her hair, and was beginning to dye her hair with a shade of blonde. Her natural brown locks were no longer in existence - in fact, she looked nothing like she used to. She ran her fingers through her now seemingly straightened bleached hair, untying any knots that were present. She spent another hour putting the new shade of colour into her hair, attempting to marble the broken pieces of her shattered emotions with a fresh coat.
After letting the dye sit, and washing it off, she unwrapped the towel that was on her head, and presented her new hair to her in her bedroom mirror. Straight, blonde, and unrecognizable from her former self, Lucy seemed satisfied with the end result. If I'm going to go to a different school, it might be in my best interest to not have anyone recognize me, Lucy thought to herself, as she tended to the paperwork on her table that she needed present on her first day tomorrow. She felt a sense of relief at terror in the same moment. She was about to escape the horrors that she had induced, but she worried of being recognized despite the makeover she had given herself. Shrugging it off, she proceeded to gather everything else she had needed to start her day tomorrow, until she heard a knock on her bedroom door.
"Lucy, I'm home from -' Grandpa took one straight glance at Lucy and he could no longer finish his sentence. "What in the world did you do to your hair?!"
"I did what every girl does at least once in their lifetime." Lucy said with a flat, monotone voice as if wasn't a very big of an issue to fuss over. Grandpa shook his head in disbelief, but decided not to argue with her further. He left her room, leaving her to finish organizing all her papers and materials.
After she finished packing her backpack, and gathering all her documents in a secure folder, Lucy hit the lights and tried to sleep for the night. Her attempts to shut her eyes failed, as she kept twisting and turning in her mattress. Not having her friends with her took so much of a toll on her, she was no longer able to cry over them. She couldn't visit their graves, or even look at their pictures. She no longer watched the videos they had made together, the songs they sang together, or even acknowledge they existed for that matter. She could no longer look back at the memories they had together, and she no longer had the capability to miss them.
...
Lucy didn't know what to expect when she entered the doors to her new school, but what she didn't expect was for people to not come up to her as scream Oh my goodness, you're that girl from Fairy Tail! She was relieved, however, that she wasn't recognized by the sea of students that were walking back and forth down the hallways. Paperwork in hand, Lucy tried navigating herself to the front office among the sea of kids, until she bumped face first into a blue-haired girl.
"Oh my goodness! Are you alright?" she asked, reaching her hand towards the stumbled Lucy, who had her paperwork scattered around the ground. Lucy didn't take her hand, and proceeded to gather the paperwork back into the folder before anyone put footprints on them. The blue haired student had a guilty expression on her face as Lucy got up on her own. "I'm so sorry I bumped into you…"
Lucy sighed, "It's alright, don't worry about it." She paused for a minute, "Umm, actually, do you think you can lead me to the principle's office?"
Nodding elatedly, Juvia grabbed Lucy's hand and began to lead the way of where she wanted to go. Lucy, not knowing how to react, clenched onto the paperwork and allowed the student to lead the way. "Are you new here? I haven't seen you around before."
Lucy nodded, "Yea, I transferred before the end of the last school year." she said as they passed through student after student to the office.
"My name is Juvia," the girl exclaimed with enthusiasm, "Welcome to Magnolia High!"
"My name is Lucy…" she said, trying to fake the same sense of enthusiasm Juvia was omitting, however, failing miserably. After a few minutes, Juvia had taken her to the Office and had introduced her to Principal Makarov Dreyar and Vice Principal Erza Scarlet. Juvia waited outside the doors and left Lucy to take care of the documents she had filled up, including all her information and her transcripts from her previous school. After receiving her uniform and course schedule, Lucy exited the Office, and was greeted by Juvia's warm energetic smile.
"Hey! You got your schedule, right? Tell me, what do you have first block!" Lucy handed her schedule to Juvia so she could take a glance at it, while Lucy went towards the bathroom that was sitting near the office to change into her uniform. After she came back, wearing her blue and white blazer and skirt, she was greeted with, "Hey, I have first block Chemistry with you! This is perfect!"
Lucy nodded, as Juvia and herself walked together to Chemistry - which was taught by a teacher named Jellal Fernandez. As they were walking, Juvia filled Lucy in with all she needed to know about Magnolia High, the teachers, the events, and also, the other students. "The only class that I only have you with is Chemistry, however, I think you have Calculus with Natsu! He's great, I'm sure you guys will be friends! Semesters here are five months long, because we only have two semesters at this school."
As Lucy was listening to Juvia ramble on about her friends, she felt a sense of dizziness that wasn't associated with illness. Hearing Juvia speak didn't come off as annoying, or even frustrating to Lucy - it made her sad. Lucy tried to suck up that feeling by putting on a fake mask of excitement, however, it started taking a toll after a little while. "Hey, you alright?"
Nodding vigorously, Lucy reassured, "Yea, I'm alright." They had reached the Chemistry classroom, and was greeted by Mr. Fernandez as soon as they entered the doors.
"Ms. Heartfilia, it's nice to have a fresh face in the school, " the chemistry teacher beamed with an easy flow to his voice, releasing some of the tension Lucy had been building up over the course of coming to the school. "I've seen your pre-requisite standings in Chemistry 20, and I'm sure you can manage this course without too many problems."
After her small meeting with Mr. Fernandez, Juvia took Lucy to the center of the seating arrangement, where two free desks were present. Class had begun shortly after, and as hard as Lucy tried to pay attention to remotely anything Mr. Fernandez was saying, she couldn't bring herself to do so. Staring blankly at her notebook, she wandered her eyes to everyone that was surrounding her. Not once was she knocked off of seats, not once was she harassed, and no once was she pushed against a locker and left on the ground crying. Why am I still upset…? Lucy kept repeating that question over and over in her head, without coming anywhere near a conclusion. She felt stiff, and her eyes started to droop. Forcing herself to open them, Lucy tried her best to get through the class without being called out for sleeping during the lecture.
Once the bell had rung, Juvia walked over to her table, and asked Lucy as she was putting away her handouts, "Hey, there's going to be a house party tonight; it's a tradition to hold parties whenever a new year in Magnolia High starts. You should come! You can meet some of my friends!"
"I… don't know.." Lucy said hesitantly, as she placed her backpack over her shoulders, " I'm not much of a party person." Lying through her teeth, Lucy smiled at Juvia in hopes of pushing her away.
"Oh come on! It'll be great for you!" Juvia persuaded as hard as she could possibly can. "I'm sure you don't want to go through ten months of high school with only having me to talk to."
Yes, actually, Yes I would. But Lucy knew she couldn't tell Juvia that. She'd start asking Lucy for a reason, and Lucy didn't have time to come up with an elaborate and convincing lie to cover up her real reasons. Hesitantly, Lucy finally agreed, "Okay, sure." Excited, Juvia gave Lucy a tight but short hug - without receiving a hug back - and left the classroom for her next course, leaving Lucy to wonder what just happened.
The rest of the day was quiet and reserved for Lucy. She had met all her teachers for all the courses she had, but she was never active during classes. It was almost as if she didn't have a voice, therefore she didn't exist. Nobody came up to talk to her - nobody even took the time to greet her and welcome her to the school besides Juvia. However, she didn't mind it one bit. She wanted to be left alone, and she wanted to blend into the lockers and not get noticed. It's the one way I won't be recognized for sure. It was the end of the day, and as Lucy was walking through the hallways along the other students to find her locker, she found Juvia waiting for her near one of the water fountains outside of Lucy's locker. She let out a short wave, which Lucy reciprocated with a short smile. Lucy walked towards her locker, and Juvia had her hands together as she said, "Hey, here's an idea! Why don't you come over to my place and we can get ready together?"
Lucy jerked back as she proceeded to put her books away, "Umm... you know, we just met. Wouldn't your parents mind if I just showed up at your house?"
Shaking her head, Juvia reassured Lucy, "They'd be thrilled to meet you! Take this as a 'Welcome to Magnolia High' present!"
"I don't know..." Lucy murmured in between her breath as she strapped her backpack onto her shoulders. After she had locked her locker, and faced Juvia, the guilt that came from seeing Juvia's saddened expression lead Lucy to say, "Oh alright, let me just call my Grandpa so that I can tell him where I'll be." And it had immediately brightened up Juvia's face to what is usually was - vibrant.
Moving to the corner of the locker row, Lucy flipped out her phone, dialled her grandfather's number and waited for a response. Once she received one, she said, "Hey, is it okay if I go out tonight? A girl I met at the school wants to show me around this part of the town."
"Right now? You're not coming home? I thought we could go out for dinner and -"
"We can reschedule that. She really wants me to go, and she's been nice to me. I really don't want to say no to her."
"Okay... but do you know how long you'll be out, cause I don't want you to -
"I don't really know, but I'll try to be back home as soon as possible. Take the day off Grandpa. You deserve it. And don't stay up too late, alright?"
Before she could hear a response, Lucy had hung up and closed her phone. She went back to her locker, and was greeted by Juvia's eager expression. "Yea, we're good to go."
...
"I absolutely love that on you!" Juvia exclaimed, after Lucy had tried on one of her navy blue tops. Juvia's closet consisted of a lot of blue, with the occasional teal, turquoise, white, and black. However, some of those other colours appeared to be untouched. Juvia had already picked out her look, which included a striped light blue and white dress, which had complimented her hair very well. Lucy, on the other hand, was struggling to find a blue that complimented her as well as it complimented Juvia.
"Well..." Lucy relied, unsure, "I think these clothes look better on you than they do me." Lucy had reached to her backpack, and pulled out the ordinary looking jeans and black T-Shirt she had worn to her new school before changing into her uniform. "I could just wear - "
Before Lucy could begin to say another word, Juvia sternly grabbed the clothes from Lucy, and threw them on her bed - much to Lucy's shocked expression. "Oh no, there is no way I'm letting you walk to the party looking like that! I know there is something here that will look good on you!"
Juvia got off her bed, and started digging through her closet. She searched for a while, going through blue t-shirts, blue skirts, blue blazers, and blue high-heels, and tossing them aside. She found a box that was hidden at the corner of the closet, and once she opened it...
"Aha! This is perfect for you!"
…
The party 'venue' wan't large, however, that didn't stop a large number of people showing up. It was at someone's house, however, neither Lucy or Juvia knew who's place it was. The outfit that Juvia had found for Lucy was in fact perfect - Lucy was surprised Juvia even had this in her closet. A black jacket over a white embroidered tank top, followed by torn gray jeans with high boots. Lucy's makeup was freshly done - as this was her first time wearing a smokey-eye. She also had a muddy-pink shade on her lips, bringing out her brown eyes. Lucy was never one to wear dresses, so an outfit like this was right up her comfort zone.
Juvia had taken her to the patio - where it was even more crowded - as she wanted to introduce Lucy to her boyfriend. Lucy had wondered why Juvia would've invited her over when she could've attended the party with her boyfriend, but she kept that to herself.
"Babe! There you are!" A raven - haired boy turned around and hugged Juvia before planting a kiss on her cheek. His eyes matched his hair, and he had a white T-shirt on with black baggy jeans. Why can't I stick to something plain and simple like that... Lucy ran the thought through her head. "Lucy, this is Gray! He goes to school with us, we just never have the same classes."
After Lucy and Gray had shaken hands, Juvia turned towards him, and asked, "Is anyone else here tonight?"
"Well," Gray said as he paused to think of the names, "I think I saw Rogue talking to some girl at the balcony, and I think Levy and Gajeel are making out somewhere in the building."
Lucy wanted to gag, however, Juvia replaced her horrid expression with a soft giggle, "Oh those two lovebirds!" And after pausing for half a second, Juvia asked, "What about Sting and Lyon?"
It took those five words to make Lucy's head shoot up like a bullet - faster than a lightning bolt. Hearing those names shot as hard as lightning also, as she didn't want to believe what she was hearing. Sting and Lyon... went to Magnolia High... and she had no way of knowing. They completely forgot about her during her hospitalization, not coming to visit her once. Lucy placed her eyes back on the floor - not wanting Juvia or Gray to see her distraught face. "They didn't come tonight. They haven't gone anywhere since... you know..."
After Gray informed her, Juvia went silent for a minute, despite the blaring noise. In fact, she didn't notice Lucy as she excused herself to the bar, making her way back inside, and away from the two.
Why now? Lucy screamed inside her thoughts as she wiped the tears that began to flow down her face, why am I crying now? Frustration took over her, as she made her way to the bar, and paid for a beer. Using a bottle opener, she sat on the stool, and chugged half of it. Continuing to wipe her flowing tears that seemed to go endless, and not caring about the endless stream of people that were potentially watching her, she kept taking sip after sip after sip. When the bottle was finished, she allowed her hand to cover her temple, as she cried to herself silently. The pain she felt was overwhelming - and it happened by hearing the names of the two people that she felt had betrayed her. She was so occupied with her running thoughts, she didn't realize the peering eyes coming towards her from the other side of the bar.
"Ma'am, here's your Smirnoff."
Surprised, Lucy's eyes widened as she eyed the glass with the Smirnoff, and shot them straight to the bartender, "But, I didn't order one."
He nodded, but instead of saying 'My bad', he said, "It was from the guy sitting across of you."
The bartender left Lucy in astonishment, however, she was tempted more than ever, Who was this guy, and why would he order her a drink? She turned her head to the left, slowly, and her eyes were met with the most unusual shade of pink she had ever seen on someone's hair. He was looking away at first, but when his head moved, his eyes met hers.
Shoutouts to reviewers: Morenoel, MidnightCeleste, Simin-chan, xXWannabeXx, Ana-chan, dynamitelol, my guest reviewer Ija, amd my good friend GalaxyVisionary! You guys are amazing, and thank you for reviewing Chapter Two! T_T