"Juviaaaaa~"
I looked behind me and saw Levy zooming towards me with a thick notebook in her small hands. I braced myself for impact seconds before her itty-bitty body smacked into mine.
"Oh Ju-Ju, you'll never guess what happened to Lucy!" She squealed, skipping a few feet in front of me.
"Oh yeah? What happened?" I asked, my thoughts not wavering from the Gray-dilemma.
"She talked to Natsu! Oh my gosh, it was so cute!" Levy fangirled shamelessly, almost dropping her notebook in the process.
"Great." I said with less enthusiasm than I had intended. Levy didn't seem to mind, she continued without further ado and was pretty much dancing her way into Spanish.
I fucking hate Spanish. Like, not only is this fucking language difficult, with its fucking accent marks and weird I dots, but it also has to make things fucking masculine and feminine.
What's with all the labels bro? If you ask me, Spanish is one sexist language.
A joke, obviously. Spanish is a beautiful language, and I'd maybe enjoy it more if my teacher and I weren't in a deadly blood feud.
The class was only half bearable because I had Levy, who was like a little language goddess. This shit comes as naturally to Levy as breathing is to most people. I say most people because I myself am one of the few poor idiots who often forget to remember to breathe and sort of sit there half choking, half gasping like a fish out of water.
Just…fuck.
Halfway through class, my evil Spanish teacher decided to call on me.
"Juvia," her voice rang out loud and clear, jingling throughout the empty classroom.
"Hm?" I answered unintelligently. Considering she already thought I was a dumbass I might as well play the part.
"See me after class." She enunciated with a hard, pointed look.
Oh, fuck.
I knew she was serious because she didn't ask me in Spanish. I must've fucked up. I tried to rack my brain for stupid shit I'd done in the last week. Had I failed the last test? It was possible, but unlikely. Levy had helped me study, so I must've scored at least a solid B. What the fuck did I do?
I let the anxiety build up until we finally reached the end of class. I waited until the rest of the class left, including Levy, so I could engage my teacher in private. If I was going to be embarrassed, might as well do so without an audience.
I walked up to her desk slowly, and she gave me a sort of pointed look. She looked pissed and pleased at the same time, which I didn't think was even possible.
"Juvia," she began, in her signature condescending tone. "A few weeks ago, I received a very insulting e-mail from Mr. Hammond."
Huh.
Did I do that?
Eh, probably.
"Now knowing that Mr. Hammond is an adult and he would never pull something as simple and childish as this, even given our…history…"
Ha, he hates her almost as much as I do. English teachers, you gotta love 'em.
"I knew it must've been one of his students." She slammed own the stack of assignments she had been organizing and stood up, leaning close to me.
"It wasn't difficult to find out who was in his class at the time, and it was even easier to make an educated guess on who might've sent this."
Ah, fuck.
"Do you have…anything…to say for yourself, Miss Lockser?"
Yeah. Go take a flying fuck and call me when you die, that way I can organize the funeral that no one will come to.
Ouch. That seemed kind of harsh, even for me.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I elected to say instead.
She smirked, like she had been waiting her entire life for me to say those words.
"Well that's alright, because I know exactly what I'm talking about. And you know what? So does Sherry."
Mother fuck me to fucking fuck town on a tractor, god dammit!
That little skanky pink haired cock eater was such a little snitch! God, I could just rip her boobs off and give them to the basketball team for fucking charity!
Sherry Blendy was an annoying suck-up if I ever met one. Ordinarily, I am all for supporting other women, but if this particular women fell down the stairs and broke her legs, I for one wouldn't be organizing her GoFundMe.
"O-oh really?" I said, my voice cracking a teensy bit as I ran my hands along the top of my bag.
"Yes really. And if you'd be so kind to show up for detention today, I'd be positively flattered."
The only way you could be flattered is if you got run over by a truck. Ha! Get it? Flat? I'm funny most of the time…trust me.
"Well I'd love to do that!" I said with as much sarcasm as I could possibly bottle up into one sentence.
"Mm. Good, see you then." She said with a wave of her chubby hand.
I can't fucking wait.
It took me exactly twelve seconds to book it down the hall from Spanish, and all the way to English without stopping to grab my stuff.
Mr. Hammond doesn't even look up from his book, but he greets me, knowing very well that the only one who would run into class would be me, running from Spanish like it was a wildfire.
"You're late." He observes without his sense of sight.
"Yeah. Somebody decided to kiss Miss bitch's ass." I said with a pointed glare at Sherry. She looked around, like she was completely innocent but I'd kick her ass later.
"Oh yeah. The email." He says slowly, taking chaste sip out of his coffee mug.
"Yup." I confirmed, gliding over to my table which seated Erza, Jellal, me, and Lisanna, who was actually in her spot because for once in my life, I was more late than her.
How sad.
"Hah, she was so pissed. Thought she might pop, like a balloon," he said, happily envisioning her demise while shutting his book with a clack.
"Today, I don't really care. Do whatever you want, the assignments due tomorrow so waste your time as you please."
See, this is why I love Mr. Hammond. He leaves it up to you, it's your choice to do homework, your choice to study, and if you did well, you did well.
"I'm hungry." Erza moaned, right, I almost forgot I had lunch in a few minutes.
Mr. Hammond tossed us a box and Erza opened it, knowing quite well what was inside.
"Aw, only two?" Jellal asked, nudging the two donuts Mr. Hammond had snagged for us.
"Ungrateful." Mr. Hammond accused with a memorable chuckle.
I could feel the eyes of the whole class latched onto our table as they enviously watched us ration the donuts. Everyone in our class was pretty damn jealous that Mr. Hammond liked us best, but it was just because we were all pretty alike, and everyone else is significantly dumber than us.
I am the queen of modesty.
Lunch was uneventful for me. I never really talked during lunch, I just ate. Boring, but it's fun to watch Lucy attempt to gossip while eating a sandwich.
I couldn't believe it. The school day was finally over.
Well, not technically. I have homeroom and study hall but I could leave if I wanted to.
But I never do.
Plus I have detention.
Fuck.
Now, do you remember when I told you that I had one secret that I harbored from all my friends?
Right. I lied.
You see, on day one of high school on day one of homeroom, I met possibly my best friend in the entire universe.
…Gajeel Redfox.
And if you are ever so unlucky to meet this man your very first thought would be why
The fuck
Would an annoying bitchy chick
Hang out
With the fucking incarnation of Ghost Rider
And the answer is just and simple, I have no fucking clue.
The very first time I met Gajeel, I had gotten lost just trying to find my homeroom and I was so tired and sick of everybody's shit that I was not about to give up to some hunk of steel wearing a skin suit.
In fact, I had sassed him to the point of exasperation.
…Thus sparking the beginning of a beautiful, odd, dysfunctional, and fucking unexplainable friendship.
"Hey Jubes," He mumbled, stretching back in his desk that he had been sleeping in.
So Gajeel didn't go to school.
Not really, anyways.
Gajeel's late mother was good friends with the principal of the school, and I suppose he felt so bad about her passing that he just sort of…let Gajeel slide by. Gajeel came to shop class, which went on while I was in Spanish and English, and then homeroom, and then he bailed.
And if he were anybody else, I probably would've taken issue with someone completely voiding the responsibility of high school, but Gajeel was actually…smart.
Not exactly book smart, but he ...understood. It's hard to explain, but if you met him, you'd know.
Please, pray you never have to meet him.
"Hey 'Jeel." I sniggered, our back and forth nick naming each a source of annoyance for both of us.
He rolled his eyes. "What have we got today?"
Basically, everyday I give him a run down of what I did the whole day. Sad, I know, that I have to vent to possibly the last person on earth who would care, but I think that he actually enjoys hearing me curse out every dumbass here and all the teachers I'd like to publicly shame.
"Uh…well…"
And so, for the remaining hour I told Gajeel everything that had happened today. And when I say everything, I mean everything.
Ha, yeah, that's right. Even my little Gray run-in.
When I finally finished, my mouth dry from speaking so much, I laid my head down on my desk and stared.
"Huh. Can't believe what's-his-name finally spoke." He muttered, proving my point that he did indeed listen to me when I talked.
"I know. Can you kill him for me so I don't have to look at his perfect face anymore?" I asked weakly into the desk.
"You know I'd love to," he says with a good-natured knuckle crack.
"I just…I can't wait to get out of here." I said finally, wiping strands of ocean colored hair off of my cheeks.
"So I've heard." He added sarcastically.
There was only one minute left of school. One minute left meant that I would start a little tradition Gajeel and I had, a tradition that we had never once broken ever since that first dreary day of Freshmen year.
"Will you come to school tomorrow Gajeel?"
He looks up with an almost wishful look in his eyes. "We'll see Jubie. We'll see."
It's the same answer he's given me every day, the same answer I was expecting.
He had never once shown up. To actual classes, I mean. He did what he pleased, and I had to respect him for it.
The bell rang and I sighed, waving to Gajeel as he took off to the back lot, where he parked his motorcycle.
I was left to my own devices, which was study hall. Basically an hour of listening to shitty music on my phone while I did the fuck ton of homework I was assigned for the day.
Ordinarily, I would go home with Gajeel after homeroom because study hall was optional. But today I had to stay because I had detention afterwards.
I've only been to detention a few times in my life, a few times for swearing, a couple times for bitching out idiots, and one time for actually punching someone in the face.
That's a story for another day.
The detention room was at the exact opposite corner from the school's exit, almost like they were waving the fact that you can't escape right in our fucking faces.
Assholes.
The second I stepped into the room, I was instantly surprised by the amount of people that were actually there.
Natsu, (well, no one's really surprised about this one…) was sitting in the far left corner dangling a pencil in front of his eyes and attempting to make it wiggle. Successfully, if I might add.
Elfman and Evergreen were making out (viciously) a few seats in front of Natsu.
Cobra was flicking tiny paper balls at Elfman and Evergreen.
There was a group of girls that I only slightly recognized. I think they were there because they tried to organize a senior skip day on facebook and the whole lot of them got busted.
Laxus was sleeping.
Bixlow was doodling on his desk.
Great.
It was pretty obvious that the detention supervisor for today, who I was assuming was my evil Spanish teacher, was a no show.
It was pretty much a detention free-for-all.
Forget everything you learned in The Breakfast Club. It's all bullshit. There would be no emotional heart-to-hearts, or makeovers, or touching dance parties. No weed either, sadly.
Detention is much more consistent with a bad episode of Jackass.
"Hey guys, I bet I can make this pencil disappear!" Natsu exclaimed, standing on top of his desk and waving the pencil around.
"Natsu, shaddup." Elfman said, apparently deciding to take a small breather from Evergreen's throat.
I slunk to the back of the room that wasn't occupied by a loser, careful not to draw too much attention to myself.
Be extra careful, they can smell fear~
I mentally prepared myself to sleep for the next hour, god knew I could use the extra hours to remove the permanent bag check under my eyes.
But just before I could lay my weary head to rest (heheheh) the door to the detention room swung open and I almost choked to death on my own saliva.
"Hey, wow. Guess everyone's here today." Gray said with an unconscious flick of his dark hair. His eyes scanned the room to confirm his statement.
Come on invisibility powers! I know you're there! Work, dammit!
His bored expression almost instantaneously lit up as his eyes skirted across me.
Please don't sit by me, I'm allergic to beauty.
He drew closer to me, like a moth to light, before stopping in front of me with a playful smirk.
"Well, well, well, looks like we got ourselves a newbie," he said, just soft enough so that no one else in the room heard his voice.
Thank god. It's not like I need anymore distractions.
Especially if the distractions are so beyond sexy you need to be farsighted to see how far it goes.
I only groaned under my breath. He laughed light-heartedly and sat down beside me.
Just…excellent.
"What got you in here Juvia?" He asked, intrigued. I opened my mouth to say something mean, but immediately clamped it shut again. All I needed to do was act like a normal person. That was it! My terrible personality would scare him away, anyway. I needed to chill.
"I…sent an insulting e-mail to one of my teachers. Would've got away with it too, if it weren't for stupid Sherry…" I grumbled lowly, lifting my head off of my desk to look at him.
Definitely a bad choice.
Alert! Alert, he is way too attractive to be sitting this close to me!
"Really? I didn't peg you as the type of girl to do that…" He mused.
Well, you didn't know I existed four hours ago, so...
"I didn't peg you as the type of guy to hang out with idiots but…" I gestured around the room, heavily emphasizing Natsu who was sticking the point of his pencil dangerously close to his eye socket. "But here you are."
He laughed really loud this time, loud enough to draw some of his friends to look over and see what had Gray laughing his ass off.
"Yeah, they're pretty much morons, aren't they?" He said after his laughter had died down.
"That's an understatement. Yesterday, Natsu tried to convince everyone that there was no other language besides English, and that every other country in the world that claimed to speak anther language was, and I quote, 'just fucking with us'.." I disdained, attempting to keep my voice as low as possible.
"Yeah…well, underneath all that idiocy and annoyingness…he's an ok guy." He sympathized. His eyebrows dropped, like he was daring me to say otherwise. I wanted to. But instead I didn't answer him, I just kind of slowly sank back down to my desk with sleeping intentions.
"Do you normally judge people you've barely talked to?" He asked after a few minutes silence. It was weird, his voice was just a degree below accusatory. Was he trying to pick a fight with me? I tried to discern what he wanted from me in those deep, dark eyes, but I got nothing. I swallowed my doubt so I could respond to him with my usual biting sarcasm.
"Ever heard the phrase actions speak louder than words?" I answered, my voice bit muffled by the sleeve I was resting on. "I may not talk to people all that much, but I can see what they do. Then I make my unflinchingly rigid judgements."
He hesitated, taking in my answer. That was why I liked him so much. He was introspective. I saw it whenever he interacted with people. He had the sort of quiet intelligence that allowed him to take what he needed from conversations without anyone realizing how smart he really was.
If he had a problem with what I said, he didn't show it. He simply smiled, like he knew something I didn't. Which was infuriating.
"Fair enough." He said plainly. I gritted my teeth. I knew he had more to say, why was he holding it in?
"What?" I asked, the word slipping out of my mouth before I could stop it. I couldn't help myself. I wanted to know what he was thinking. Something about him was so intriguing, it was probably what drove my obsession with him in the first place.
He shrugged. "It's nothing."
Ass! He knew what he was doing. Wish it didn't make him 10x more attractive.
"So." He mused, propping his arm up so I got a tantalizing view of his bicep, "do you play any sports?"
I looked at him like he was insane. What kind of conversation transition was that? Did this guy know how to interact with people, or was he raised by rocks?
Oh wait. I'm thinking of myself. Fuck.
I decided to humor him. "Sort of."
His eyebrows crinkled adorably. "How does one 'kind of' play a sport?" He asked.
Ah…shit. I don't want to explain this to him…great job Juvia. You've fucked yourself over for the eighth time today.
"I swim…but I don't compete."
Gray took in the information slowly. "Really? I mean, Evergreen's on the swim team, if you want to compete I could just ask her-"
"No!" I interceded, just loud enough to grab the attention of Natsu.
"I mean…that's nice, but I don't really want…to compete." I covered lamely, drumming my fingers on my desk.
"Oh ...why not?" He asked, clearly trying not to be too rude with his invasive question.
Don't tell him. Don't tell him. Don't fucking tell him or you will be embarrassed for the rest of your gaddamn life.
"Hey Gray! Who are you talking to?!" Natsu screamed from across the room.
Well now I'm solidly fucked. Thanks a bunch Natsu, I wonder how it would feel if I stuck that pencil in your trachea, it'd feel great, wouldn't it?
"Ah…Juvia, she's in my physics class." He answered coolly.
Evergreen momentarily stops giving Elfman a tonsillectomy and looks, no, glares over at me from a distance.
Fuck, I am so fucked.
"Hey, why's Evergreen giving you the death stare? Most people turn to stone after a look like that…" Gray asked quietly. Fuck him and his overly observant nature!
"We uh…we swim together." I said simply, looking away from Gray's beautiful face and towards the only window in the room, providing me with glorious view of the forest.
You fucking idiot, he knows you swim together! Now he's gonna think you're slow.
"With that kind of look, I'd say you've beat her a couple times, am I right?" Gray noted.
Damn him. Damn him and his spatial thinking.
"Um…maybe once or twice." I lied weakly.
"Evergreen's the best swimmer there is, if you've beat her once, than you should at least be on the varsity team," he reasoned carefully.
"I'd rather not…" I said, stealing another glance at Evergreen who seemed to be glaring at me while simultaneously getting her throat cleaned.
"Are you…afraid of competing, or something?" Gray asked tenderly, genuinely interested in my answer.
I hate you, you perfect, perfect man.
"I just…freeze up on competition days." I lied thinly. It was a pretty believable lie, lots of people can't handle the stress of competing.
Just not me.
Also, sidebar. Why was I telling him all this? He wasn't my therapist. I mean, I definitely needed one, but what was it about this perfect human specimen that made me word vomit whenever he asked me a simple question?
"Oh. You should still try out though, aren't the varsity tryouts in a few days?"
Yes. I never miss them.
"I think so."
"Great. Just go and see how you do, and if you make it, you make it."
It's not that fucking simple.
"Ok." I mumbled, looking up at the clock diligently.
Holy shit. I have been in detention for nearly forty five fucking minutes.
And there is only fifteen minutes left.
Awesome.
"Do you like…hockey?" Gray asked nervously.
Nervously? Why is he nervous? There is literally nothing to be nervous about!
"Yeah. My dad watches it a lot." I said truthfully. My dad was a major hockey fan, and he knew exactly who Gray was. In fact, he thought Gray was awesome.
Right. Gray is a hockey star.
Does he seriously think I don't already know this about him? I mean, sure he doesn't exactly assume that every girl he meets is a semi-stalker, but it's not really that big of a secret, it's kind of school-known.
"Yeah, I know what you mean, my brother is obsessed. I play a little bit though."
A little bit?
A little fucking bit, Gray?
Is this his idea of modesty? Because it is extremely adorable and I kind of just want to hide him in my purse and keep him forever.
Well if we're going to play the modesty game, I'm in.
"Really? That's pretty cool, I've never seen a school hockey game before, what position do you play?"
"Uh…center forward…" He said, almost confused by the fact that I didn't recognize him as the school's star hockey player.
"Nice. Maybe I'll catch a game sometime." (I know it's not hockey season. But I also don't give a fuck.)
He smiled. "That'd be awesome."
Am I…flirting with him? What the fuck Juvia! This isn't how it was supposed to go, you were supposed to admire his beauty from afar until college, then you can run away! It was a great plan, but you just had to go and fuck it up.
Thee door opened and interrupted my self-lamenting thoughts.
"Gray, hurry up, we have hockey in fifteen." The guy said impatiently, tapping his watch like it was his own funeral.
Gray looked extremely disappointed. "Yeah, yeah, gimme a fuckin' minute, ok?"
I wonder what made Gray so upset all of a sudden. He didn't really seem like the type to just belt out swear words willy nilly, like me.
"Jesus, hurry up." The guy said, shaking his head like Gray was the most annoying thing to ever plague his life.
"Ah…I gotta go, there's a game this Friday…" He suggests awkwardly, hefting up his bag with surprising strength.
"Gray! Stop flirting and get your ass over here!" The guy yelled.
Gray instantly goes red. "Shaddup Lyon!"
"Come on, coach'll give you extra pacers if you don't pick it up!" Lyon yelled, dragging Gray from the back of his shirt and out the door.
"Bye Juvia!" He yelled just as the door slammed shut.
Fuck. I am so fucked, I'm an idiot, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!
"Hi!"
"Gah!" I jumped back in surprise when I saw Natsu hovering inches from my face.
"I think Gray likes you." He said flatly, sitting down backwards at the desk in front of me.
"I just met him today!" I fired back, because it actually was true.
How pathetic.
"So? You like him too." He said bluntly.
"What? No I don't, I don't even know him!" I argued. Natsu rolled his eyes.
"Tch. Lying is a sin. Tell you what, I'll help you hook dat up if you do my Government homework." He said , examining his knuckles like this was actually a deal that should be considered.
"No. Go away." I said, mustering all the bitchiness I could.
"You're friends with Lucy, right?" He asked, ignoring my previous statement.
"Yes. Fuck off." I spat. If I could do anything in my power to keep him away from Lucy, I'd do it. Even if it got me tossed in jail.
"Yikes. Bitchy much? Is she single?" He fired each question faster than the one before.
"Stay away from Lucy, or I'll kick your ass all the way to Hargeon and back. Then I'll stick you on a train and have you mailed to Pakistan."
For a second he looked like he might be sick, but it faded just as fast as it had appeared.
"Why? I think she's cute." He said simply, with a somewhat dopey smile.
"Of course she's cute! That's why you need to stay away. You'll ruin her." I countered.
He looked a bit hurt. I felt a little bit…bad…even. I felt like I had just kicked a puppy with a wing tip.
"I don't want to ruin her…" He said softly, rubbing his fingers guiltily on the back of his chair.
"Good. Because if you leave her alone, you won't." I said, a little bit less harsh than before.
"…Okay." He said, defeated.
Shit.
No actually, shit. I feel awful, God he looks so broken…I…fuck.
"I…ok, look. If you clean up your act, and at least maintain a solid B grade, then maybe…I'll look into it for you."
God, I'm a fuckass. Oh I'm so dumb!
"Really!?" He asked, shooting up from his desk with enough pep to kill a girl scout.
"Uh…yes. But stay away from her until then, or I'll get Erza."
Natsu shuddered and nodded, just as the clock sang out, telling everyone in the room that we were free.
Free at last!
Time sped up as I ran out of the school.
Only three more months.
Only three more months until I'm out of this hellhole.
Only three more months until I can forget about Gray Fullbuster.