Hey everyone! I'm back from vacation, and have a 3,500 word chapter to make up for the last short chapter & my absence! It's Lucy's first day at Magnolia High, so prepare for a lot of cameos as well as some introductions to Natsu's friend group :)

Enjoy!

(Oh, and happy late Nalu Day! XD)

Chapter Six

21 Days Until the Truth

My heart is pounding a mile a minute as I pulls into the parking lot of Magnolia High. My palms are sweating like crazy on the steering wheel, causing the black surface to become slick. I check my reflection in the mirror on the sun visor, making sure that my makeup is accurate and my hair isn't messy. This is it...my first day of real school.

I step out of the car, my whole body shaking violently. I am absolutely terrified, even though I am also excited beyond belief. I sling my bookbag up onto my shoulder, stepping towards the front of the school. People are everywhere: both girls and boys. I swallow, telling myself that I must remain calm, otherwise I'm going to embarrass myself on my first day of school.

I desperately search the crowd for a familiar face. A group of three guys wink at me as I pass, making me feel a tiny bit violated. A skinny, yet muscular white-haired young man is talking to a pink-haired girl, who is listening with an odd expression on her face. A brown-haired girl wearing a blue crop-top is drinking from a metal water bottle, but by the way she's acting, I doubt that it's water. A very fat man is holding a sketchbook, sketching the tree in front of him. Just as I begin to fear that I'm not going to see anyone I know, a slightly familiar voice reaches my ears, "Oh! Lucy!"

I turn around to face a girl I've met once before, "Yukino!" I exclaim. "I didn't know you went here. It's a pleasure to see you again!"

"Good to see you too," Yukino giggles. "How'd everything go with your guy?"

"Wonderful," I smile. "We are official now!"

"Oh, yay!" Yukino laughs.

I nervously tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. "How did everything go with your boyfriend?"

Yukino's radiant smile fades. "Oh..." She looks down at her feet with a sigh. "Well...nothing's really changed. If anything, he's been getting worse."

I open my mouth to respond when another voice cuts into our conversation. "Hey, Yukino!" a slightly harsh voice snaps. "Hurry up. The others are getting antsy." I look up into the face of a blond boy with dark blue eyes and a small scar through his right eyebrow. He is wearing a white tank top, a pair of dark jeans, black converse, and a single earring. His expression is stern, as if he's scolding Yukino.

"S-Sorry, Sting," she suddenly turns shy and slightly frightful. "See you later, Lucy." He then wraps an arm around her shoulders and steers her away. I watch as she sends me a hopeless glance over Sting's shoulder. My heart drops. Poor Yukino...

"Lu-chan~!"

"Hey, Lucy, over here!"

The voices of Levy and Gray couldn't have come at a better time. I feel like screaming out loud with relief. I glance in the direction of their voices, spotting Levy waving her arms wildly. She's with a fairly large group of people, most of which I do not recognize. Besides her, Gray, and Juvia, the rest are strangers. I shyly approach the group, my hands behind my back. "Everyone, this Lucy," Levy smiles, introducing me to them. "She's my best friend, and Natsu's girlfriend!"

"Salamander has a girlfriend?" a slightly familiar dark-haired man grunts. It takes me a moment to register where I've seen him before, but it soon comes to me. That's Gajeel, Levy's boyfriend.

A redheaded young woman chuckles. "That's quite surprising." She turns to look at me. "Hello, Lucy. I'm Erza."

Instantly my mind flashes back to everything Natsu and Gray have told me about Erza: supposedly she's scary, strict, and very smart. I reach out my hand to shake, my voice a little too soft as I reply, "N-Nice to meet you."

"No need to be scared," Erza smiles gently as she shakes my hand. "Whatever Natsu has told you about me, it's most likely a slight exaggeration."

I find myself laughing, "Okay." I turn to Gajeel. "You're Gajeel, correct? Levy's boyfriend?" He grunts instead of giving me a clear answer, then folds his arms across his chest.

I then watch as Erza nudges a silent blue-haired boy with her elbow. "Say hello," she tells him softly.

He looks up at me, his greenish-yellow eyes studying my face. "Hello," he says. "I'm Mystogan."

"He's one of Erza's boyfriend's brothers," Gray explains. "He wanted to go to a different school than the two of them since people always mixed them up. They're identical triplets."

"Ah, I see," I nod in confirmation. "I guess that makes sense."

"My brothers got into quite a lot of trouble during Freshman year," Mystogan explains. "Siegrain was the school's Freshman treasurer, and he ended up using all the money for his own gain. And then Jellal started tricking people into joining this strange club of his. Jellal's gotten a bit better with things, but Siegrain...not so much."

I am silent, not wanting to pry into his family's situation. Erza sighs, looking downcast. "Jellal is definitely getting better..."

"You've been good for him," Mystogan tells her, his eyes smiling at her.

I glance around the group, feeling a little out of the loop. "Uh, where's Natsu?"

"Good question," sighs Gray. "I haven't seen that asshat all morning. Normally he's here by now." He folds his arms across his chest in annoyance. "Jeez. If he's skipping the first day of school..."

"I'm going to kill him," Erza grumbles, cracking her knuckles.

BONG BONG BONG!

"Shit, the bell already?!" Gray hisses, yanking off his sweatshirt. I frown when I realize that there's a second sweatshirt underneath. Why would you wear two sweatshirts in the summer?

"Fuck," growls Gajeel. "I don't want to go to class...and I have math too...what shit..."

I glance down at the schedule I got in the mail a few days ago. I'm supposed to head to Room 17 for History, but I have no clue where Room 17 even is.

"Don't worry," Levy smiles at Gajeel. "I'll help you with your homework again this year!"

"What class do you have right now?" Gajeel grumbles. "Is it something you can skip so we can go someplace during first?"

"No!" Levy cries, her cheeks pink. "I have History! No way can I skip out! I'd miss so much!"

"Room 17?" I ask her hopefully.

She whirls around to face me, the smile back on her face. "You too, Lu-chan?!" I nod. "Oh, yay! That means I can show you where it is, introduce you to people, help you if you're confused-" She continues to babble on, obviously overexcited.

"Everyone better be heading to class right now!" Erza snaps in an almost motherly tone as she slings her book bag higher up on her shoulder.

"Y-Yes Ma'am!" Gray stammers, yanking off the second sweatshirt as he starts to run across the schoolyard.

"AND KEEP YOUR CLOTHES ON!" Erza shouts.

Juvia's cheeks turn pink as she mumbles something under her breath. She then takes off after Gray screaming, "WAIT FOR JUVIA, GRAY-SAMA!"

"YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE SAME CLASS AS ME! ARGH LET GO!"

Levy giggles, grabbing my arm and leading me away from the now departing group. "C'mon, Lu-chan. Time for History." I follow her through the mobs of people. We turn down many hallways, passing by people of all types. My head can't stop turning. Snippets of various conversations reach my ears as we walk through the 30's hall.

"And then, Rufus, she said 'it's because your singing sounds like a dying cat'! I can't believe her! Who the hell says stuff like that?!"

"My parfum is too men~"

"Ughhh I really need some booze right about now..."

"Silly, we all know that love is the cure~!"

Finally, Levy pulls me into Room 17. People are already sitting in desks, the back row almost all the way full. A boy with glasses kisses a white-haired girl on the cheek. Another girl is sitting backwards in her desk, talking to the girl in the desk behind her. Levy takes a seat in the front of the class, and pulls her glasses case out of her book bag. I take the seat to the left of her, feeling slightly nervous.

Two more boys enter the classroom, both dressed in t-shirts that say 'Team Shadow Gear' on them. "Levy-chan!" they chorus, rushing towards Levy.

"Why aren't you wearing your shirt?" sobs the one with lighter hair, pointing to Levy's orange flowery top.

"Jet," Levy sighs, "those shirts are from Freshman year. We're done with that, remember?"

"But Levy-chan..." whines the dark-haired boy.

"Jet, Droy," Levy says, ignoring their pathetic attitudes. "This is my friend Lucy. She's new."

"Hi," they chorus. Jet suddenly plops down in the seat to the right of Levy with a smug look on his face.

"I'm next to Levy-chan!" he cries.

"No, I want to be next to her!" growls Droy.

"Sit down," a woman with dark hair says to them. "I don't want anymore of your whining." The other boy sits down just as the bell rings again, pouting slightly. "Well," the woman says. "My name is Ultear. I will be your history teacher. Messing around will not be tolerated. Is that clear?" The class is silent. "Good." She picks up her role sheet, then clears her throat. "Agria, Solano?"

"Here."

"Akatsuki, Ren?"

"Here."

"Blendy, Sherry?"

"Here."

"Cheney, Rogue?"

"Here."

"Corona, Flare?"

"Here."

My mind begins to wander slightly as she continues going through names. I gaze down at my desk, hoping that I don't miss my own name.

"Dragneel, Natsu?" My head jerks up. "Dragneel?" I glance around the room, not seeing his pink hair anywhere. "Absent on the first day of school," Ultear-sensei mumbles as she marks him absent. "I hate seniors." With a frown etched on her face, she continues. "Dreyer, Laxus?"

"Huh?"

"You're here then," Ultear-sensei says flatly. "Eucliffe, Sting?"

"Here." Sting's voice comes from behind me and to the left. I glance over my shoulder at him. He's sitting to the right of a dark-haired boy who's fiddling with a leather bracelet on his wrist. Sting has a very annoyed look on his face. He nudges the other boy's shoulder. "Natsu didn't show."

"I know," the other boy replies, sounding very uninterested. Sting opens his mouth to say something more when the other boy interrupts him. "No. I don't want anything to do with it."

"Suit yourself," Sting says to the other boy. "But honestly, you're missing out...again."

The dark-haired boy looks away from Sting, as if trying to hide behind his long bangs. He fiddles with the bracelet even more, his red eyes skittish. For some reason, I find myself feeling slightly bad for him. I swallow, really wanting to ask about Natsu, but too afraid to. Even though the boy seems much nicer than Sting, I'm not sure if talking to him is a good idea.

"Oi, blondie," Sting suddenly says to me. My heart jumps, then twists. "Can you mind your own business?"

"S-Sorry," I stammer. "I j-just was wondering if you knew where N-Natsu was..."

Sting laughs slightly. "I have no clue. Now leave my friend and I alone, okay? Pay attention before you miss your pretty little name on the role." He smiles in a very unfriendly way. I swallow hard and quickly turn around. I hear the other boy mumble something incomprehensible under his breath, but Sting doesn't acknowledge it.

"Heartfilia, Lucy?"

"He-" My shaky reply is interrupted by the door being violently swung open. Standing in the doorway is no other than Natsu Dragneel, dressed in his orange sweatshirt and black shorts.

"Sorry I'm late," he breathes.

"Sit down," Ultear-sensei snaps. "There's an available seat next to Heartfilia." Murmurs go all around the room at the sound of my last name that people most likely do not recognize. Natsu smiles at me, although it seems forced. He takes the seat to the left of me, throwing his backpack to the floor with a loud thunk. Our eyes don't meet for the longest time as Ultear-sensei lectures us about the rules of the class. Some people are white faced, and I even hear someone mumble 'she's strict'. I hold back laughter. She honestly seems tame compared to my old teachers.

Suddenly, something touches my left arm. I look down to find a tiny scrap of paper, most likely torn from a notebook. hey i know we havnt been talking much latly but are we stil togeher and evrything i never ment to hurt your feelings lucy when i told you not to come here i just was worried that people may treat you badly becuz theyre not used to you since you came from such a nice scool i meen people here are relly rude and judgmantel and i dont want anything to happn to you

My heart warms up. Natsu's handwriting is horrible, as is his spelling, but his words are touching. I glance back over at him, my cheeks warm. His dark eyes are hopeful as he studies my face. 'Well?' he mouths.

I smile back at him, nodding ever so slightly in hopes he gets the message. His cheeks turn the shade of his hair, and his trademark smile lights up his whole face. Next to me, I can hear Levy stifling a fangirl-ish squeal. Natsu rips another corner of his torn up paper, then starts scribbling on it. He reaches across the way to hand me the paper when his chair suddenly is yanked backwards out from underneath him. With a loud cry, he falls to the floor. The tiny slip of paper flies out of his hand and onto his desk.

Almost the entire class bursts into laughter. Levy is holding back a snort, while I simply look at Natsu with concern. How did the chair even move like that? I then notice that there's a few others not laughing: namely Mystogan and that black-haired boy with the leather bracelet. Natsu staggers to his feet and slowly slides back into his desk.

"Dragneel." Ultear-sensei's level yet commanding voice silences everyone. "Are you passing notes in class?"

Natsu swallows hard, a line of sweat sliding down his face. "N-No ma'am."

Ultear-sensei approaches his desk, a stern look on her face. She slowly picks up the tiny scrap of paper, her expression unwavering. Natsu's eyes widen with evident fear as she unfolds the piece of paper. To my horror, she begins to read it out loud to the entire class. "Lucy, I am so glad that everything is alright between us. It means the world to me when you're happy, especially when you smile."

All I can think about is how badly Natsu must've spelled 'especially': that is, until the class starts laughing again. Natsu's face burns crimson and he buries his face in his lined scarf.

"Detention, Dragneel," Ultear-sensei says in a demanding voice. She turns to look at me. "Heartfilia."

"Y-Yes, ma'am?" I ask meekly.

"Since this is your first day, I'm only giving you a warning. Next time this happens, detention."

Relief floods through my veins, although I feel bad for Natsu getting detention. Not only was he late, now he has to stay after school? And it's only first period!

BONG BONG BONG!

The sound of the bell ringing is a complete and total relief to me. Natsu practically jumps out of his seat, snatching up his backpack as he runs for the door. I quickly follow after him, ignoring the whispers about Natsu all around me. "Natsu!" I cry, running towards him. He's still racing down the hallways, running to somewhere unknown to me. As other people start filing out of class, the halls slowly get more crowded. As I push past two small girls with pink and blue hair, I realize with horror that I've lost track of Natsu. "Natsu!" I shout again, weaving around another group of people.

Panting, I stop once I reach the main hall. I place my hands on my knees, desperately trying to breathe. Where could he have gone in such a hurry?

"Oi, Lucy, you need some help?" I look up to see a slightly concerned Gray, dressed in a white tank top. Because of this, I'm able to see an odd cross necklace around his neck.

I don't question the absence of his clothes, and instead suck in a breath and reply, "Have you seen Natsu?"

"Yeah, he went into the bathroom over there," Gray thumbs over his shoulder at the boy's bathroom behind him. "Jeez. I thought he wasn't gonna show. What a letdown."

"Thanks, Gray," I smile at him gratefully, feeling reassured. No wonder Natsu ran. He's probably embarrassed about the incident that happened in the classroom and needed to take a breather. Just as we finish talking, Natsu emerges from the bathroom. He wipes sweat off his forehead, looking slightly ill. I say goodbye to Gray and approach Natsu with careful footsteps. "Natsu?"

His head jerks up to look at me in a flash. "Lucy!" he exclaims. "There you are!"

"You were the one who left me behind, silly!" I playfully scold him. My mood quickly turns somber as I look him in the eye. "Sorry about getting you detention."

"Nah, don't worry about it," Natsu waves a hand dismissively. "I wasn't worried about detention. It was more that I didn't want that note getting read aloud to the class..."

I freeze up. "You weren't worried about detention?" I repeat. "How?! That's a big deal, you know! Isn't your step-mom going to be mad?"

"No," Natsu frowns. "I drive myself home, so it's not really a problem. She's never asked me about it before."

"You get detention that often?" My eyebrows raise up into my hairline.

"Almost every day," Natsu replies nonchalantly. My jaw drops. How can he be so laid back about having to stay an hour after school?

"Who are you, and what have you done with Natsu?" I reply. He laughs slightly. "I'm not joking." His face falls, concern spreading out across his features. That concern quickly fades into nerves as I speak again. "I know you. You'd rather be beta-testing video games, eating chips, and ordering pizza than be cooped up in detention for an hour on end."

Natsu laughs nervously. "I-It's not too bad, you know?" For a moment, fear is incredibly prominent in his eyes. But it fades almost as quickly as it arrived, making me wonder if I even saw it at all.

The rest of the day flows by smoothly. Natsu's not in any of my other classes, although Levy is in almost all of them. I have one with Erza, two with Gray, and none with anyone else from the group. Not that I mind too much, as not only do I have four classes with Yukino, but I made some new friends already. I met this man named Elfman and his Junior sister Lisanna. Turns out, they both know Natsu. I found out that Lisanna is actually Natsu's one and only ex. She's incredibly sweet, has a boyfriend named Loke, and congratulated me on my relationship with Natsu. Elfman said that I'm very 'man', which Lisanna told me to take as a compliment.

On my way to the parking lot, a few people waved goodbye, and Levy gave me a hug. Everything seemed like a dream: absolutely perfect (minus the fact that Natsu is sitting in detention rather than taking me out for ice cream or something). But as I ran the days events through my head, all I could do was smile. Everything had gone surprisingly well.

From that point on, little by little, I began to fall in love with Magnolia High.

Argh writing Sting hurt my poor heart DX My poor baby... But I didn't know who to replace him with...

Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Some splashes of other ships in there for you all :) Sorry if Ultear was OOC, I wasn't really sure how to write her...

But the plot thickens! Do you think that Lucy's safety was the only reason Natsu didn't want her come to Magnolia High? ;)

Please leave a review, it'd mean the world to me! :D Hugs to all of you!

~ForeverDreamer12, signing out!