EPISODE TWO : IS IT REALLY FOREIGN
EXCHANGE IF THERE'S NO MONEY INVOLVED?
Gray woke up to screaming and something burning. The first thing he thought : This wouldn't be happening at my fucking apartment. The first thing he did was bury his head under his pillow in a half-assed attempt to block out the noise.
He was sure this was karma getting back at him for the time he plopped hot sauce in Laxus' coffee and watched the older beat the shit of Natsu. The outcome resulted in the usual Fairy Tail brawl, but a barbecued Natsu was the highlight of the day.
He'd come to learn being friends with Natsu resulted in zero peaceful days and constant scolding from everyone including the prime minister himself. Which was funny considering he called himself Natsu's biggest fan. One would think that having the prime minister as your biggest fan meant you wouldn't go around denting the Tokyo Tower. Natsu was walking proof that it didn't matter who your biggest fans were : you could still be a royal fuckup
Gray heard the room door swing open, and Erza's voice, loud and confident like she always was, rang out, "Gray, are you still asleep?"
He wondered why she sounded so surprised considering their flight landed in New York five hours ago and they spent two hours trying to find where the Heartfilia's New York home was located. Gray would never say it out loud, but he was kind of glad Lucy was rich. It beat having to sleep in some hotel.
"No, Erza," He grumbled, not bothering to move from the bed, "I'm not."
Erza didn't buy it and within seconds she'd dragged the ice mage out of bed. "We leave for school in thirty minutes. I expect you down in ten. Don't be late." She sauntered out of the room, not bothering to close the door.
Ten minutes later Gray was downstairs, freshly showered and dressed for school. He was surprised he brought along his leather jacket. The last time he saw it, he'd given it to Juvia to keep her warm. He cringed slightly while remembering how she'd fallen into one of her daydreams
"Good morning, Gray!" Wendy beamed, bright eyed and looking like she actually got a full eight hours of sleep. "Hey, we're matching."
"Morning," He greeted, plopping in one of the dining room chairs. He took note of Wendy's sky blue leather jacket and was surprised she even had one. To complement her outfit, she wore her signature black skirt, and a white tank hid under the jacket. He gave her a thumbs up at the outfit, smiling slightly when she beamed at him. A clear sign he boosted her confidence. Next to her Charle was drinking tea, ignoring Happy who was desperately trying to give her fish. Lector watched Happy with a pitiful look.
"Sleeping Beauty has awoken," Natsu commented, stuffing pancakes in his mouth.
"Isn't it awaken, flamebrain?" Gray shot back, reaching for some of pancakes of his own.
Natsu opened his mouth to retort, but a glare from Erza stopped him.
"Our agenda for today is as followed," Erza spoke up, scrolling through her phone for the notes she'd taken down from Makarov, "We'll attend Midtown High then head to the detention room after school. From there, I believe one of the agents will take us to SHIELD. Afterwards, we'll be enrolled into SHIELD Academy. Happy, Charle, and Lector will meet us there." She sent a look Happy and Lector's way. "Don't be late."
"A-aye sir!" The two male Exceeds chorused.
"Don't worry, Erza," Charle spoke up, "The tomcats and I will be there on time."
"I can't believe I had to come on this stupid trip," Sting grumbled, sadly poking at his scrambled eggs. From what Gray knew, the idiot was forced by Rogue to join in on the Foreign Exchange program due to not attending an important Hero Council meeting. Gray couldn't blame Sting. The Hero Council was fucking annoying. "I don't even like you people."
Lucy gave him a blank stare. "Aren't you the reason Natsu hurled fire at the Tokyo Tower?"
Sting gave her an equally blank look. "You must have me confused with my twin brother, Gnits."
Natsu slowed his chewing, confusion on his face as he asked, "You have a twin?"
"You really are a dumbass," Gray said.
"What was that, ice breath?!"
The trek to school wasn't too bad considering the Heartfilia home wasn't far from Midtown High. Lucy said there weren't too many differences between Magnolia High and American public school. Gray thought otherwise. Magnolia High was the only place his stripping habit wouldn't get him in trouble and Natsu could openly try (and fail at) fighting the teachers.
Gray was determined to keep a handle on the stripping. Erza threatened to beat him black and blue otherwise.
The group stared up at the school with mixed expressions. Lucy and Wendy looked excited, Erza was smirking, Natsu didn't seem to give any shits, Sting wanted to be anywhere that wasn't here, and Gray was praying to whatever god was out there his two shots of espresso would kick in before he collapsed.
"Some ground rules before we go in," Erza faced the group, "Natsu under no circumstances are you to start any fights or punishment will be delivered," the dragonslayer paled, "Gray, we've had a chat about your stripping, and Sting," She eyed him, "Behave."
"But I'm always behaved."
She ignored him, flashing the group a smile. "Let's have a great day."
Wendy couldn't believe her luck. Her excitement for the school had dissipated once she found out she had no classes with her friends. They'd compared the schedules they received from the office and she had been the unlucky one. The only time she'd see them was during lunch, gym on Wednesdays, and after school. It was bound to happen considering their age differences, but even at Magnolia High they had joint classes. She was sure there had to be some sort of mix up, but the office lady assured her that her schedule was correct.
It took everything in Wendy not to start crying. She didn't want to be labeled the crybaby on her first day and she definitely didn't want to worry Natsu and the others.
Being the new girl was something she thought she could bear as long as she had some classes with her friends. Lucy gave her a pitiful smile and said she'd swing by after each of Wendy's classes to walk together. Wendy declined. She didn't want Lucy to risk being late to class just because she was anxious. It would make her feel worse.
The group said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. Lucy had English with Sting and Natsu while Gray and Erza had History. She wondered how her friends had gotten paired up for most classes and she hadn't. Was it too late to go home?
She sulked the entire way to her first class, an advanced Chemistry class she begged Makarov to make sure she was placed in. At Magnolia her chemistry course had been a breeze. She wanted more of a challenge this time around. She wondered if her course choices were the reason she wouldn't see her friends.
The Advanced Chem room didn't have a lot of kids in it and even less available seats. She counted six boys and no girls, all messing around with some of the equipment. The teacher wasn't in yet.
She awkwardly shuffled to the back of the room, ignoring the curious gazes that followed her. There was only available seat in the back and it was taken by a boy's backup. "Can I um sit here?" She hoped she wouldn't break down and start crying. She could already feel some tears threatening to spill.
He moved his backpack without a word, motioning with his hand that it was fine. He looked a little shorter than Romeo (He was sitting down so she couldn't really be sure) with shaggy black hair and dark brown eyes. She took a seat, mumbling a small thank you.
"I uh your bag- i like it," Wendy spluttered, pointing at his backpack. It was such a stupid way to start a conversation, but Charle was always telling her she needed to step out of her shell.
He didn't seem to mind, and gave her a small smile. "Thanks. I like your hair."
"My names Wendy."
"Amadeus. My friends call me Cho. Are you new?"
She nodded. "I just joined today with some of my friends. We're on an exchange program from Japan."
"Cool." There was a moment of awkward silence, before Cho spoke up again. "Can I see your schedule? Maybe we have some more classes together."
She handed over her schedule without a word, cheeks warming up slightly.
"We actually have the same classes. I can walk you around, if you'd like."
She beamed at him, a bit surprised at the friendliness. "I'd like that very much."
The teacher walked in and Cho gave her another smile, before turning to face the front.
So, maybe things wouldn't be too bad.
The end of the day came around before any of them knew it. Wendy told Erza earlier she'd meet them in the detention room in case her classes ended later. The entire day, she'd been following Cho around and he told her he'd introduce him to his friends so she knew a couple people around Midtown. She promised to do the same, silently hoping her friends-mainly Natsu-wouldn't scare him off. She opened the door to the detention room, spotting her friends already in there.
"I can't stand any of you." The statement came from Sting who'd taken it upon himself to sit far away from the Fairies. His school attire closely resembled what he wore at Magnolia High : a crop top, black adidas, and white sneakers. Yes, they had a uniform at Magnolia. Yes, Sting did not follow it.
"Then take a seat, dumb bitch," Natsu replied, feet resting on the desk before him. Erza made a comment about this not being his house and he should put his feet down. Either Natsu didn't hear her or he chose to ignore her. Wendy doubted it was the latter. After all, Natsu didn't have a death wish. Probably.
Gray scoffed, adding, "Imagine a dumb bitch calling another dumb bitch dumb."
"Yeah, you could relate," Sting said, prompting an argument between the three.
Lucy rolled her eyes once Sting, Natsu, and Gray started arguing. She waved over at Wendy. "Hey, Wendy! How was school?"
"It was okay. Cho showed me around since we have most of our classes together," Wendy said taking a seat next to Lucy. At the raised eyebrow, she added : "He's a new friend I made."
"I am glad you were able to enjoy your school day," Erza offered Wendy a smile. "I was a bit worried-" A book hit the back of her head, promptly shutting her off.
Lucy sweatdropped, slowly inching away from the scarlet beauty.
"It was Sting!" Gray screamed, pointing over at the blonde.
"No, it wasn't!"
"You three," Erza slowly turned to face them, a murderous look in her eye. Before she could do anything else, the door swung open and Principal Coulson walked in.
"Glad you're all here." He gave them a brief nod. "Hopefully our foreign exchange program is working well for you."
Lucy was positive Midtown's foreign exchange program recently started up and was specifically designed for her and her friends.
"Is it really foreign exchange if there's no money involved?" Natsu questioned.
The room fell into silence, confused glances thrown around. Sting stared at Natsu as if he were the dumbest person in the room which he probably was. The silence was broken by Gray. "What?"
"Like you know when you go to the embassy and you have to switch the money." Natsu tried to explain his point further, but it feel on deaf ears.
Erza scoffed. "Natsu, you have never stepped foot in a fucking embassy."
"Aren't you banned from the one in Japan, anyways?" Lucy added.
"What's your point?"
Sting's face was scrunching up as he asked, "Don't you go to a bank to exchange money?"
Natsu frowned. "Why is a banker getting money at the embassy?"
"He's not talking about the goddamn baNKAA-" Gray was cut off when the ground, quite literally, swallowed him up.
omg hi hello chapter two !1!111! im really hoping i got the characters written well but i do tend to be awkward with some of em
im probably gonna start summarizing the chapters or sum shit but idk yett also uh wendy x cho friendship is gonna b one of the many highlights since they are the same age
thanks for reading ! reviews and feedback are more than apreciated
edit : 8/29/19 : changed the ending for this