This chapter is dedicated to LaminateGem12 (stay awesome).

Chapter Three

Two people

Point of View: [Lucy]

Deciding to skip the party was one of the best decisions I have made in the past few weeks. I hate going to parties where everyone gets drunk in the end, and ends up passing out on random spots in the house. I also hate the way guys try to come on to you and get your number or even something more, and plus, I had a book that needed finishing. As a huge bookworm, I love reading more than I love anything else. The third book of The Remnant Chronicles had just come out that day, and I used up my allowance to buy it.

I live in a small two-bedroom house situated right beneath the town square, and my place is pretty close to the school. I used to have a roommate living here with me, but she moved out two months ago, and now the rent was higher since I was the only one occupying the house. My parents live in a smaller town that's a two-hour drive from here, and I moved because there are no colleges in my hometown. I usually visit my parents once a week or two, but this weekend I decided to stay at home and relax. I didn't really feel like wasting the money my parents sent me for a bus or train ticket all the way to their house.

I was also thinking about getting a job, since most of the money they sent me was spent on rent and food, and I wanted to buy a change of clothes and some books, which is partly why I avoid parties; I don't have a lot of fancy clothes and dresses, and I can't keep wearing the same thing over and over. Don't get me wrong, I'm not poor, I'm just not rich either.

I cracked my neck, as my body draped across the sofa in the living room. All the rooms were nicely furnished and decorated, and I especially liked the living room, since it was a peachy-pink, with a small stone furnace, a light brown sofa, two armchairs, a small creamy-white coffee table, and a big window overlooking the small yard. My bedroom is full-blown pink, contrary to the dark purple one that my former roommate used to sleep in. We have a blue bathroom with a shower upstairs, and a small kitchen/dining room downstairs. In short, I have everything I need, and it was warm and cozy.

I set the warm white coffee mug filled with dark hot chocolate on the coffee table, and reached for today's newspaper. Scanning the pages with job advertisements, I tried to find the perfect workplace for me. I had only marked three places so far, when I heard the doorbell ring. That was weird, since not so many people knew where I lived.

I dismissed the nagging feeling of returning to my hot chocolate, and rose up to my feet. Feeling the loud cracking of my tired bones, I strode towards the door, and asked who it was.

"It's Erza." The stern voice of hers called back in an instant. Deciding on not to ask what the hell she was doing here in the middle of the night, I opened the door, letting her in.

To say that she was beautiful would be an understatement. She wore a long lilac gown, with a slit running down from her upper thigh all the way to her feet, and a white silk scarf wrapped around her waist as a belt. I also had a front row seat view to her cleavage, but decided not to comment on the subject. "Erza?" I asked in surprise, hoping she would give me a valid explanation as to why she looked like she missed the prince's ball, and drove straight here to the wicked witch of the west – me.

Raising my hands to straighten the wild bird's nest I called my hair, I realized that I probably looked awful compared to her. I looked down on my gray sweatpants which were comfortable – but ugly, and the cotton pink shirt that hadn't been washed in quite a while. But before I could start feeling totally out of place, she sat down and started talking.

"Why are you here?" She asked, and her voice told me not to mess with her.

"Uhm," I looked around, "I live here." It came out more like a question than a statement.

"That's not what I mean," she pointed at me, "Why are you here, and not at the party?"

So that's what this was about. But still…

"Not to be rude but, why does this concern you?" I asked, "I said I'd come, but decided it was too much of a hassle to get ready, and I have a lot of homework."

She raised a brow, as if having too much homework was not a good enough excuse for her.

"Plus," I looked at the grandfather clock next to the furnace, "It's getting pretty late. You can stop by for some coffee tomorrow if you're up for it, but I just feel like getting some sleep now."

She eyed me top to bottom, still not looking like she was about to give up. "Someone was asking around for you at the party."

"You went there?" I asked, finally understanding why she was all dolled up.

"Yes, and when a person started asking for you, I decided to come and see why you aren't there." She replied, matter-of-facility.

"You didn't have to go through all that trouble and come all this way—"

"That doesn't matter now." She cut me off, and stared at the door a while, before it looked like something came to her mind. "Do you have a clue who the person asking around for you was?"

Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow at her. Why would she ask such an absurd question. But I ignored my own question, and went through my mind to find an answer for hers. Who would ask around? I wasn't exactly what you'd call 'the most popular girl in school'.

"Um," I racked my brain for answers, "Maybe Natsu?" I looked into her eyes as if the answer was hidden there. She shook her head.

"No, it wasn't him. Can you think of anyone else?"

This started sounding like a police interrogation.

"Um, not at the moment, no."

"Well," she reached for the red marker that I'd been marking the job requests with, and started scribbling something on the side margin of the newspaper. She ripped off the sip of paper with writings on it, and handed it to me. It was a phone number.

"Call this number if you remember anything else." She said, with a determined glint in her eyes.

Okay, this was definitely a police interrogation. I was this close to asking her if she was an undercover cop, but decided that this night had had enough weirdness.

"Yeah, sure," I mumbled back, not sure what else to say to her.

Luckily, she spared me of more inconvenience, and headed for the door. "Is there anything I can say that will make you come to the party with me?"

"Sorry," I felt bad for having to turn her down, "I'm just too tired."

"It's okay," she said, before disappearing out of my sight.

The next morning welcomed me by having the sun shine down on my face until I got tired of it and got up to take a quick shower. Since it was Saturday, I decided that it was the perfect time to call a friend and go see a movie or something. But the newspaper staring at me from the coffee table told me otherwise. I took my keys, ripped out the piece of paper with all the job ads and took off to look around.

But lady luck did not take pity on me, and after two hours of looking around and crossing off half the jobs on the paper, I decided that maybe today was not the day I'd become a working girl. I let out a defeated sigh as I slumped down on a chair in a random coffee shop. This was not going the way I had planned. I thought I'd land the first interview I showed up on. But apparently you have to be super young but with forty years of experience, have double Einstein's IQ, not rush your work but also do well under pressure, never get in a fight but be physically ready for one, and sacrifice a virgin to our lord and savior Satan.

"What would you like?" The familiar voice pulled me back into reality. I looked up to come face-to-face with Levy, one of my best friends. She was a petite blue-haired girl, who was also a huge fan of reading, which is probably why we got along so well. I didn't know she had a job though, and seeing her here in a uniform sure made me feel inspired.

"I didn't know you worked here," I said, a bit disappointed that she hadn't shared the news with me.

"I started yesterday, so I still haven't told anyone," she excused herself, handing me a menu, "I was just passing by when I saw the 'help wanted' sign on the door, and decided on the spot." She gave me one of her signature cute grins, writing down my order for a cappuccino with a lot of milk.

"Do you think they need another waitress here?" I tried sounding casually, but even I could tell how needy I sounded. Luckily, Levy was a busy girl and didn't pay much attention.

"Not really. Thinking of joining, huh?" She asked, and I shrugged.

"Nah, just making small talk." She scurried away to bring my drink, and I hid the piece of newspaper in my pocket. I didn't want people thinking I was broke or something, so there was no reason to go around flaunting that paper all around town.

Levy was either a fast brewer, or she didn't make the coffee herself—I was betting on the latter one—but my cup of warm cappuccino was served in front of me in just minutes after I ordered it. The warm liquid slid down my throat, heating up every stiff part that had been frozen with the lack of enthusiasm. Levy was just about to go take another customer's order, when she suddenly stopped in her tracks, and looked at me. She then looked at something more farther away, and motioned something with her head. It was as if she was telling me to look at something.

Unsure of what she was talking about, but curious, I looked to where she seemed to be directing me. There was nothing there. I could see beautiful rose bushes out of the window, which were planted inside the small park across the street. I looked back at her, more confused then before, but she was still pointing towards that direction.

And then I saw it. The rose bushes had nothing to do with it, but the tree behind them did. I could clearly see the spiked pink hair sticking out from behind one of the branches. It seemed like the idiot noticed me, because he hid again, only to quietly show his face when he knew he was caught and there was no way to go. I groaned in defeat, gesturing him to come inside. He was a bit farther away, but even from that distance I could see that his face brightened up in happiness. I told Levy to double my order and bring one more cappuccino for the 'stalker', and she just snickered evilly while walking away.

Seconds after, the culprit was sitting right across from me, with his wide grin plastered all over the lower part of his face, and his eyes shining with determination. "Hey!" He said, as if it was a normal way to greet someone after you'd been following them for heaven knows how long.

"What do you think you're doing?" I cut right to the chase.

"Having coffee, duh." He rolled his eyes, Levy arriving just on time with his cappuccino.

I decided that talking about this would not solve anything, since he'd dodge all the question I'd throw in his way. So I sipped my drink in silence, staring out of the window.

"It's getting pretty cold outside," He said, and I couldn't believe we were going to talk about the weather. Like, that's the only topic you can think of when there's nothing else to say, and he was doing it right now. "You shouldn't go on foot." I shifted my gaze from the hurrying pedestrians to look at his worried expression. This was not the direction I was expecting the conversation to go. "It will probably start raining soon, and you'll get dripping wet by the time you get home."

"It won't rain." I tried sounding convinced, even though I could clearly see the clouds piling up on the sky. "And even if it does, I can always call a taxi."

"I'm here with my car." He said, furrowing his brows deeper, "I want to take you home safely."

"I think I'll be safer if I stay away from people who I don't know too well," I deadpanned, "Especially the ones stalking me."

I got what I least expected: a hurtful expression. He focused his eyes on something down on the table, hiding his look away from mine. I noticed his hand play with the unopened packet of sugar Levy left, and his mouth curve into a frown.

"I mean," I started talking a bit louder, feeling the need to justify myself, "I don't know you that well. We have one class together, and yet you always seem to be around, and want to be friends and stuff, but I'm busy enough the way it is." I was full-blown defending myself even though he hadn't said a single thing.

"I get it." He tried to muster a smile, "it would be weird if you hopped in my car right away. Like you said, we don't even know each other all that well."

I almost let out a sigh of relief, and my muscles relaxed.

"But I have an umbrella in my car," His eyes locked on mine, "At least let me walk you home."

I opened my mouth to protest, and quickly shut it when I couldn't find words to express myself. Why was he so persistent? But, I didn't have an umbrella of my own, I didn't feel like wasting money on a cab, and I couldn't wait it out since it could last for hours, so accepting his offer didn't seem like the worst idea ever.

"Fine."

We sat in silence a little more, and I found out that he could actually not be so threatening now that he was in his happy place. He seemed like an okay guy. We continued sitting like that without saying a word, in a somewhat comfortable silence, before deciding it was time to go.

The walk home had been pretty quiet, with occasional small-talk questions like, 'Did you study for that test', or 'How was Juvia's party', and I got home pretty fast. It never rained, and the clouds were gone the moment we left the coffee shop, but he had been so persistent that I let him walk me home even with the weather looking like it was summer. When we got to my house, we did the whole 'awkward hand' thing where I raised my hand for a handshake and he did the 'high five' thing. We ended up doing a brofist and he left.

I didn't invite him in.

He was decent company, but I had books to read, lunch to make, and jobs to look for, and he was not going to help. Not to mention I didn't even know what kind of guy he was outside of school, except being a stalker and all that.

The only good thing that had come out of this was that he picked up the tab at the coffee shop. I wanted to pay my part of the bill, but he wouldn't let me split it. He said it was a given that the guy always pays, and no matter how much I pressed on, he wouldn't have it. He even gave Levy a tip, and I tried sneaking money into his pocket but failed miserably.

Truth be told, I had forgotten the amazing feeling of having someone else pay for your drink, and I was happy. After all, that's how everyone acts on a date, it's only natural.

Date?

Was that a date? No, I wouldn't call it that. We were just two friends out for some coffee.

We weren't even friends though. We were less.

We were just two people who knew each other…

Author's Notes: Here I am! Better late than never, I guess. That phrase must have been invented by a writer with writer's block.

Anyways, you guys didn't go against my idea of going two chapters Natsu, then one chapter Lucy, so I've decided to stick with it.

And here it is, chapter three of "Stop Playing Hard to Get"! I hope you guys liked it. If you did, or have ways to make it better, leave a review and I promise to read all of them like I always do. Reviews always inspire me to write more!

Thank you for reading, and stay cool!

~With keys, through flames! Aye!~