"Welcome to Topeka, Kansas!" Levy said as the bus pulled into town. The others got off the bus, but Lucy didn't like the looks of this place.
"Are we really performing here?" Lucy said. "It seems like a nice place, but something about the place gives me the creeps."
"Don't be wimpy." Gajeel said, but Lucy smacked him in the arm for it.
"I'm serious. I'm getting a bad feeling about this place." Lucy said.
"You're probably just thinking of that cemetery we passed about ten miles back." Levy said. "That cemetery is called Stull and it is one of the scariest places in America."
"I heard that too." Erza said.
"Don't be silly." Gray said.
"Yeah. That cemetery is miles away from here. The best part is that it's also officially summer vacation!" Natsu said as he was fully confident in where they were. "What could possibly be so scary here in Topeka?"
"Darn it! Darn it! Darn it!" They all heard someone complaining, but Natsu and the rest of them knew that voice all too well. It practically sent shivers down Natsu's spine.
"I know that voice. Why do I know that voice?" Natsu said as they all turned to where the voice was coming from. They spotted a man and his daughter having car troubles and the man was trying to work on the car.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. Looks like we're going to be stuck here for a while." The father said.
"No! We were suppose to be heading for the beach at this moment!" They all knew the girl so well. Lucy was right. There is something creepy and unsettling in this town.
"Talia?!" Natsu called out. Talia heard her name and was surprised to see the rest of them.
"Well, I'll be. If it ain't Fairy Tale." Talia said as she walked over to them. "What a coincidence. What brings all of you here to...wherever the heck we are?"
"We're in Topeka, Kansas." Lucy said. "We're here because we're on tour. What are you doing here?"
"My father and I were on our way to Miami beaches for summer vacation until our car started having problems. It soon broke down and we found ourselves here." Talia said.
"You were driving from California all the way to Florida?" Erza questioned. "Why didn't you take a plane? It probably wouldn't have faster and easier?"
"We have our reasons." Talia said. "Now, instead of tanning in the warm sun in Miami, we're stuck here."
"Gajeel, your father is a mechanic. You learned a few things. Maybe you can help." Levy suggested.
"I can at least take a look to find the problem." Gajeel said as he went to look over it.
"I'm sorry, honey." Her father said. "It looks like we're going to be here for a while. I'll see if I can book us a hotel to stay until the car is running again." Talia didn't like the sound of that. Neither did the others.
"Great. We're going to be stuck in the same city as her." Natsu said.
"Relax. Topeka is a big city. We're probably not going to see her again." Lucy said.
...
Hampton Inn
The band checked in to the Hampton Inn for them to stay. Once they found a hotel, the boys took one room and the girls took another. Even though Talia is here, that isn't going to stop them from enjoying their time here and when their concert comes.
"What are the odds we run into Talia here?" Gray said.
"Not how I want to spend the first official day of summer." Gajeel said.
"I'm not happy about it either, but as long as we don't have to put up with her, I really don't care." Natsu said. He stepped outside to check on the girls, but they heard him scream.
"What's wrong?!" Gray called.
"She's here!" Natsu said. The others came into the hall and they all spotted Talia with Natsu in the hall.
"You've got to be kidding. You're in the room across from ours." Gajeel said.
"Like I want to be here." Talia said as she turned away and walked out of there. None of them could believe this.
"Guys, I know Talia is not our favorite person, but let's try not to let her get to us." Levy said.
"Levy's right. We're only going to be here for a few days." Lucy said. "As soon as Talia's car is fixed, she'll be on the road as well. So let's try to make the most of it."
"I could actually stop by the garage her car is in and see how it's going." Gajeel said.
"Thank you. That could actually help out in getting us away form Talia." Natsu said. Most people look forward to the first day of summer vacation, but they don't like this one.
...
Gajeel
Gajeel found the garage that Talia's car was in. He went over to check it out. Once he got there, he looked around and found the right car.
"There it is." Gajeel said as he went over to check it out.
"Hey!" The mechanic called and got Gajeel's attention. "What are you doing here?"
"Just came to check on the status of this car." Gajeel said as he pointed to Talia's car. "Let's just say my friends and I want the girl hitting the road as soon as possible."
"Well, I haven't even checked that one yet. It just got here." The mechanic said.
"It's probably nothing major. Maybe a broken piece in the brake system, maybe the battery just needs a fresh charge, or could be that the radiator is about to overheat." Gajeel said. The mechanic was surprised that Gajeel seemed to have known so much.
"You...might be right. You seem to have an eye for this sort of thing." The mechanic said.
"My old man's a mechanic too. I learned a thing or two from him." Gajeel said.
"Really? I could use a little help around here. You wanna do it? You could learn a lot more. I'll pay you." The mechanic said.
"Sold!" Gajeel said as he got to work as a mechanic instead of a drummer.
...
Natsu
"I can't believe we have to share a hotel with her!" Natsu complained to Lucy since she was the only one around.
"I can't believe you're still complaining." Lucy said. "I should have went with Erza to the pool, or Gray to get some food, or Levy to set the stage. Anything sounds better."
"What else am I suppose to do? You know how awful she is." Natsu said.
"I know, but I'm also curious about that. I wonder why she's like that." Lucy said.
"I'll tell you why. She was born with all the advantages and thinks she's better than everyone." Natsu said.
"But we don't really know that." Lucy said. "This whole thing has me thinking. We don't know her really that well. She might seem pushy, but we've never been to her house. You may have picked her up for prom, but you never went into her apartment. We don't know much about her."
"Are you saying you actually want to be friends with her?" Natsu said as he did not like the sound of that.
"I'm saying we could ignore her or maybe try to get to know her so she seems less of a pain." Lucy said.
"Oh brother." Natsu said as he stepped into the hall with Lucy following. Natsu stood outside Talia's door. "That girl just drives me nuts." He slammed his fist against the door, but they saw it open. "It opened?"
"Talia and her father must have thought it closed when they left." Lucy said. Natsu went inside, but Lucy didn't like this.
"Natsu, you can't just go into someone else's hotel room." Lucy said.
"This could be our chance to learn a thing or two about Talia like you said." Natsu said and had a look around.
"Natsu, this is an invasion of privacy. Let's go before someone sees us." Lucy said, but Natsu kept looking around.
"Got something." Natsu said as he pulled something out from under the pillows and it was a book. "Oh man. I think this is Talia's diary."
"Natsu, no!" Lucy said as she knew where this might be going. "You can't look through Talia's diary no matter how mean she might be."
"Lucy, I am offended." Natsu said. "I can't believe that you think I would actually do something like that, open someone's diary and read it." Lucy pointed at Natsu and he saw that he was already able to get it open while he was talking to her. "It's not like she doesn't deserve it!"
"Natsu, it's wrong." Lucy said, but Natsu kept looking through it.
"This goes back to when she was in middle school." Natsu said as he read a page. He was actually shocked at what he read. "Whoa... I can't believe it. So that's why?"
"What is it? No, I don't want to know." Lucy said as she was trying to avoid the temptation of wanting to know.
"Talia was bullied." Natsu said. That got Lucy's full attention.
"What?" Lucy said.
"If I'm reading this right, Talia use to be bullied by the older girls who thought they were so hot, the beauty queens." Natsu said. "They made her feel so awful."
"They did?" Lucy asked.
"Big time." Natsu said. "They made fun of her father's job, which wasn't something extravagant. I always thought it was. I thought she seemed rude because she always thought she was better than everyone because of her lifestyle."
"Maybe that's why she and her father didn't get plane tickets. Maybe they couldn't really afford it." Lucy said.
"They also made fun of Talia for wearing faux fashion products, trying to look good when it was all lies." Natsu said. Seeing all this made Natsu feel bad for it. "I can't believe this. Talia always acted like a diva, but it was to hide the pain she was in. She wanted to be like those girls, but it seems like it's difficult for her."
"That's mine!" They looked and saw Talia standing at the door and she did not look happy with them having her diary.
"Lucy, you were suppose to be on lookout." Natsu said.
"Look out." Lucy said. Talia walked right over and grabbed her diary out of his hands.
"I knew you were trouble, but who would have guessed that the great Natsu Dragneel would break common decency." Talia said.
"I didn't know you went through that with those girls." Natsu said.
"And you shouldn't have known because you shouldn't have looked through my diary. Now get out!" Talia demanded. The two of them didn't even argue with her as they left. "You better hope I don't post this!" Lucy closed the door, but they still felt bad for her.
"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I feel really bad for her." Natsu said.
"I don't blame you. No wonder she acts the way she does." Lucy said. "I just wish there was something we could do to help her." Natsu thought about that and he might have had a few ideas.
...
Gajeel
Gajeel has been helping out the mechanic at the garage. He's actually been a big help and he learned a few things. Gajeel was finishing working on Talia's car and it was looking good.
"Rev it up." Gajeel said. The mechanic started it up and it was purring like a kitten. "Wow! It actually worked!"
"Not bad, kid." The mechanic said. "How would you feel about working here part time?"
"I can't. I'm only here for a few days." Gajeel said.
"But you certainly have talent. You should consider a career in this." The mechanic said as he handed Gajeel some of the money's he earned. "Here's your pay, but you should really consider it."
"Thanks, but I'm in a band right now." Gajeel said.
"I'm tell you, you should consider it." The mechanic said and it certainly was something Gajeel would consider.
...
Talia
Talia sat outside the hotel on a bench. She seemed pretty upset about Natsu and Lucy reading her diary. Now they know her history and she never wanted anyone to really know. Natsu and Lucy came up to her and they felt guilty about the whole thing.
"Hi, Talia." Natsu said.
"What do you two want?" Talia asked.
"We wanted to say we're sorry. We shouldn't have read your diary." Natsu said. "That being said, is that really true? Were you bullied by upperclassmen that were like the beauty queens of school?"
"What if I was? What's it to you?" Talia said.
"We're sorry you went through that." Lucy said as she sat next to her. "Those girls sound like jerks, but why try to be like them?"
"Because people loved and respected them." Talia said. "They had all those fancy clothes, designs, and they're parents had great jobs. Dad and I had to save every bit of money we could just so we could make this trip. Now, because of that stupid car and we have to stay here, I won't be able to have the vacation I planned."
"Talia, all that love and respect was fake." Natsu said.
"Natsu's right. You should have to be like them to get any of that." Lucy said.
"That's easy for you to say!" Talia said. "You guys are in a hit band. Everyone loves you."
"I'm sure people would love you, but you shouldn't treat them the way those girls treated you." Lucy said.
"Here. We put something together for you." Natsu said as he handed her a disc.
"What's this?" Talia asked.
"Just play it on your computer when you can." Lucy said. The two of them left her alone after that. She wanted to just throw it away, but she was curious as to what it was. Later that night, Talia put the disc in her computer and she hit play. She saw it was a montage of photos of her with some of their music. It was like a tribute to her and Talia was actually touched by it.
...
The Next Day
Thanks to a little help from Gajeel, Talia's car was fixed and ready to go. That means Talia and her father can hit the road once again. The band was even seeing her off.
"Enjoy your vacation, Talia." Erza said.
"I will. Natsu and Lucy...thanks." Talia said. "I actually enjoyed what you two did for me."
"Of course." Lucy said.
"You just have fun in Miami." Natsu said. Talia was about to get in her car, but she surprised them all as she hugged both Natsu and Lucy. She got in the car and she headed straight for Miami.
"What was that about?" Gray asked.
"We'll tell you later." Lucy said. "You know, Talia's not as bad as we thought."
"Yeah... Levy?" Natsu said.
"Yeah?" Levy asked.
"Don't book us for Miami." Natsu said. Talia might not be as bad as they think, but it's going to take some baby steps to deal with her after knowing her for so long.