Chapter Nine: The Other Woman
"Lucy, are you alright?"
With Juvia's voice interrupting her ongoing gaze off reality, Lucy blinked rapidly before turning her eyes to her concerned friend. "Uh yea.. I'm alright. Must've lost my head for a second."
"Alright..." Juvia said, unconvinced with Lucy's excuse, however, leaving it for the moment. "So, you and Natsu, huh."
After letting out a soft giggle, Lucy took herself off of her bed, and made her way to the window - the stars were out bright. She let out a sigh, and gazed back at her friend. "I don't know what to make of this... I don't even know why any of it happened."
"Well, it's obvious he likes you."
"I doubt it..." Lucy replied while shaking her head. She had been recalling all the moments she had shared with Natsu so far - realizing that she doesn't even know him that well. However, he was able to read her in a way that no one - not even Juvia - was able to. The Smirnoff, the dance, the way he touched her; he made her feel special, and wanted. However, despite her own feelings, what did he feel? Would he ever want to see her again? Does he still want her? "He broke up with Lisanna. It's so recent - too recent. I really shouldn't have... but..."
"... but you wanted to." Juvia finished her sentence with a light giggle, making Lucy shed a grin in return.
"Yeah... I did."
"Well I'll admit, his SnapChat feed got a lot more interesting now because of you." Juvia laughed, making Lucy sneak in a snicker. "You're an amazing singer, Lucy."
"Thanks, but I don't think I'll be doing it again anytime soon."
"Why not?" Juvia sat up, with her arms crossed towards Lucy. "Usually, people who have voices like that would never want to shut their mouth."
Lucy shrugged, while giving an empathetic smile. "It's personal."
Taking it as an indication that Lucy didn't want to elaborate, Juvia smiled, and placed her hand on Lucy's shoulder. She stretched her arms out, while rolling her neck to ease the tensed muscles. She got off Lucy's bed, and zipped up her jacket. "Well, it's getting late. I should drive back home before my parents lose their minds."
"Alright. I'll walk you to the door."
Once Lucy and Juvia both got to the door, Lucy turned the locks, undid the chain, and held the door open for Juvia. But before she left, Juvia took one last glance at Lucy. "Hey, I'm sure he likes you. Who wouldn't?" She then left, following Lucy's timid smile.
Lucy paused at the door, listening to the footsteps that echoed behind Juvia's trail. Slowly closing the door, her voice still reflected on her mind. She placed her hand flat onto the door, breathing heavily. The voice - it was calling. And it was calling one name - over, and over, and over again.
Lisanna...
...
"Oh my god, Lucy, please, you have to enter."
Yukino sipped her latte impatiently while waiting for an answer from Lucy, who was doing a terrible job at ignoring her. The twins - Sherry and Sherria, amused by the situation, continued spectating the interesting exchange occurring between their two friends.
"Yukino, this is the tenth time you asked me. And my answer is still the same - I'm not entering that goddamn contest!" Lucy irritatingly laid her foot down, while taking a bite of her chocolate chip muffin.
At this time, a few younger girls came around to their table at the coffee house. Sherry and Sherria both hissed at the bickering Lucy and Yukino, urging them to keep their voices down. "Hi... we love your music!" one of the girls said shyly. "Is it okay if we get a picture?"
With that, Sherry turned to Lucy and Yukino. "Okay, we're going to take care of this. And while we're gone, please get this resolved. I don't want our fans to think that all we do is argue." Lucy sighed, as Sherry and Sherria got off of their table, and went with the two younger girls. Almost immediately, Yukino went back to staring at Lucy, attempting to persuade her.
"Please Lucy! You're the only one that can do it!"
"Look," Lucy said sternly, putting her espresso cup down firmly. "When we started Fairy Tail, we promised each other that whatever we did - we would do it together. This isn't any different. I'm not making and marketing a solo record for the sake of winning some dumb contest."
"But this isn't just 'some dumb contest'..." Yukino was sounding more and more defeated in her attempts to convince Lucy, but still unwilling to give up. "You are one of the only ones in this country that can speak English fluently. You're a great songwriter - and you're easily the best singer out of all of us. This is a chance for us to get placed on the American Market, and you can be featured in a movie soundtrack! Think about how huge that could be for us!"
"I..." Lucy was starting to slowly break. News about the contest that had been broadcasted just a week ago has been the topic of discussion among many 'Fairy Tail' fans. An American film composer looking for a young artist from around the world to write and compose an English song to add onto the film that he has been signed to - an attempt to discover talent of the youth across the world. Lucy was known as one of the rare artists that has a mastery in the English language - and fans have been speculating on whether she would enter the contest. However, the rules prohibited official groups to participate - whereas collaborations with a maximum of two artists were allowed. 'Fairy tail' couldn't make a track for the contest, but Lucy could. "I don't know, Yukino. I've never written a song in English before. And, you guys are the ones that handle the production. How am I going to do this without you?"
"May I offer my suggestion of 'Why would you even be thinking about doing it?'"
Lucy was taken aback with the sudden appearance of a seemingly unfamiliar voice. But when she gazed up to see who it came from, it became too clear. "You really want everything, don't you Lucy?"
'Back off Lisanna..." Yukino uttered through her clenched teeth, which Lisanna took immediate notice of. A smirk appeared on her lips as she brushed her short, white hair behind her while still locking her gaze at Lucy - who hadn't taken her eyes off of her.
"Really Lucy, you're gonna let your minion defend you again? It really is the 'Lucy Heartfilia' show with 'Fairy Tail', now isn't it. I always knew you were secretly thinking of going solo."
"I never said that, Lisanna."
"Oh really? You expect me to believe that after you released an album full of songs that only you wrote? What's the matter... your other mates aren't good enough for you?"
"She writes our songs because that's what we all agreed on." Yukino, once again, jumped to Lucy's defense. Lisanna pursed her lips while staring coldly at Lucy's stale, white face - who eyes were longer in tact with her own. But before Lisanna could degrade any further, two more voices mix into the group unexpectedly.
"Yukino's right, Lisanna." Sherry said firmly, with her arms crossed. "Lucy has displayed authenticity through her lyrics, therefore, we agreed that she would be the songwriter for the group."
"I guess you really are still mad that we caught you stealing our songs for your shit EP." Sherria said, coldly, causing Lisanna's back to straighten, and her eyes to release all the hatred she had bottled in. She turned her head towards the twins who had embarrassed her, and stared at them with the same eyes.
"You did not just say that to me."
"Oh yeah we did, and we can do a lot worse if you don't get out of our table." Yukino added.
Blinking several times, Lisanna sharply inhaled, and walked away from the girls - as she was instructed, but leaving behind the sourness of her presence. Sherry and Sherria quickly took their seats again, and gazed at a clearly hurt Lucy... who wouldn't even make an effort to raise her head to look at the girls. Yukino placed her head across her temple is frustration, while the twins looked at one another in a slight distress. However, that all changed when Lucy found her voice, and raised her eyes to look at Yukino.
"Where do I sign up for the contest?"
...
Splashing cold water on her face, Lucy kept her hands intact with her face, as she looked back in the bathroom mirror. Her eyes filled with trauma, and memories. Lisanna dated Natsu... the mere thought of that sent a sharp chill through her spine. She couldn't get close to him any more - not after knowing that. People might not recognize the Lucy that she became now, but she didn't know what to predict around Lisanna. She couldn't. She was too afraid. Too hurt. Too affected by all that they went through. She can't have her look at the Lucy that she knew again with the more disdain, and more cruelty. She couldn't handle it. She couldn't be with Natsu... she just couldn't.
I can't... do this.
...
Sunday came by and went with Lucy ignoring texts from both Natsu, Lucy, and Gray - who kept asking her to reply to Juvia. Her phone still remained untouched, and when Monday came out and about, Lucy came to school, with her thoughts echoing back to those memories that she had recollected. They were all she could think about. Turning the lock on her locker slowly, her breath became uneasy. She tried calming down by tightly shutting her eyes, but it seemed to do more damage than anything. Vigorously opening the locker door, she placed her backpack in her locker door, until a mob of platinum hair caught the corner of her eye. Quickly, Lucy turned her head to the left…
... and her stare was fixated.
Walking down the hall with another female student, Lisanna remained the same as ever, with her posture and attitude. Her hair was a bit shorter, but her face remained determined and sly. Lucy continued to gaze at her, concealing half her face with the door of her locker, her body frozen in time and space. Her voice was no longer there, and her anxiety was reaching levels of danger. But it wasn't long after her lingering stare was interrupted.
"Lucy! There you are! Why haven't you been answering me?!"
As soon as she recognized the voice of the salmon-haired boy behind her, Lucy found her body once again, but she went white cold. She turned around, and saw Natsu walking to her, but what caught her eye the most was the fact that he walked right past his ex-girlfriend - as if she no longer existed in his world, while Lisanna gave Lucy a stare of pure anger and hurt, before she an her friend left.
Lucy's heart fell.
"Hey," Natsu said once he approached Lucy full at her locker, placing his hand on her. Expectedly, his touch sent chills all through her body, but Lisanna's eyes - which she saw today for the first time in a long time - stabbed her all through her body; evening out the pleasure with the pain. Her eyes went back to Natsu, as he started talking to her uncontrollably.
"Look, I don't know how to say this, but I really didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable the other night. I know I was spamming your texts, and I didn't mean to do that either, it's just -
"No, it's fine." Lucy replied with the faintest of voices. She grabbed her Chemistry book in her hand, and shut the door to her locker. But the moment she was about to walk away, Natsu grabbed her hand, and began to pull her close. Lucy jerked her head towards Natsu once again, but she didn't resist.
"Please stay. Just a little longer."
Sighing, Lucy released her grasp from Natsu, and looked at him proper - without the fear of Lisanna being near them. Without the fear of old memories coming back. Without any of the tension she was feeling with her own emotions. She was willing to stay.
"I know I just got out of a relationship. And I don't want you to think that I'm using you."
Hearing those words from Natsu caused Lucy's eyes to widen. I don't want you to think that I'm using you. What she had feared when it came to Natsu was now a fear of his own. Did he really think Lucy thought he was using her? The mere thought hadn't once crossed Lucy's mind, even though it would've been reasonable if it did.
"But... last weekend was one of the best weekends I've had in a long time, and I don't want to stop spending time with you."
Speechless, all Lucy was able to do was stare at Natsu, as she tried to comprehend what he had said to her. He really did want her. Even though he broke up with Lisanna... he now wanted Lucy. She wasn't just a fling. Not just.
"It doesn't have to be serious. We don't have to talk about anything."