Hi, guys. C: How's your day going today?
In honor of this story getting 600 followers, (thank you so much, by the way omg) I'm going to tell you guys something that happened to me today after school.
I was putting my backpack inside of my car and as I was closing the door, I realized there was a wasp flying inside. I'm absolutely terrified of wasps, mind you, so after staring in horror at the wasp, I quickly opened the door and ran to a friend's car to get her help. While she checked my car, I was standing probably 400 feet away from my car and watching her check through it, she told me it probably flew away. But even then, I have never felt so afraid in my life as I drove home with all the windows down.
So, the point of this story is: If you see a girl sobbing because of a wasp in her car, it's probably me.
Well, anyway, thank you for 600 follows! That's insane and I can't believe it's only 100 follows away from having the same amount as Secret Lovers.
I said earlier in the fic that I was using the Japanese school year as Magnolia High's school year, but I decided to change it around. I even wrote down my own schedule for Magnolia High.
I should be the coordinator for school systems or something.
Okay, I'll be ending this A/N here. Enjoy this chapter, everyone, and don't hate me for the way I ended it! ;-)
Despite there being just a few days left until summer break, each student in Magnolia High was forced to endure the pain of taking one of the most agonizing tests of the year.
Midterms.
Just the word midterms was enough to make Lucy wince. Every year, she studied until her brain would beg her to not push in any more information.
Whoever failed the midterms was sent straight to summer school for several weeks, no questions asked.
Lucy wasn't planning to go to summer school or break her studying tradition this year, but she also wasn't planning to have an obnoxious roommate this year either.
"Can you please let me study?" she whined at her usual spot in the kitchen table.
"But I'm not doing anything," Natsu insisted.
"Your videos games are too loud," she stated. "Can you lower down the volume?"
Natsu pouted while obediently snatching the remote and muting the TV.
Lucy gave him a content smile and returned to her studying—ignoring the guilt inside of her.
"Want to make a bet?" Natsu challenged once he noticed she was finished studying for the night.
"Depends," Lucy replied hesitantly. "What is it?"
"If I score higher than you on our midterms, you have to take me to this new restaurant I want to go to and pay for my meal."
Lucy stifled a laugh due to how ridiculous this bet was. "What happens if I score higher than you?"
"That's up to you," he allowed.
She paused, thinking of something even more ridiculous than the bet itself.
"If I score higher than you, then you have to give me a piggy back ride to every place I want to go to."
"For how long?" he asked.
"The entire summer break," Lucy answered with a smuggest smirk.
"A whole month and a half?" he muttered to himself as though he was having second thoughts.
"Don't think you can do it?" she taunted.
"Deal," he responded, walking over to the kitchen table and extending his hand out to her. Lucy gladly shook his hand.
"You're still not going to study, are you?" she inferred as she watched him go back to his video games.
"Probably not," he shrugged.
"Fine by me," she mumbled to herself.
With Natsu being too lazy to study, this simply gave her a better chance on winning the bet. It wasn't like she thought she was going to lose, though.
Now that the bet was on, all Lucy had to do was her best on the tests and patiently wait for the piggy back rides Natsu was surely going to be embarrassed doing.
The school's schedule during midterms was different from the regular schedule, but the students didn't mind.
For the two days they took the test, they were allowed to leave school a couple of hours earlier than usual after they were done taking it.
It was a present to everyone due to how drained the tests made them.
"I am so tired," Lucy loudly exhaled once the tests were over.
"I need a drink," Cana agreed, slouching in her seat.
"I just want to see my results already," Levy pouted.
"Good thing we see them tomorrow," Gray spoke.
The group nodded. They had no idea how their tests were graded so quickly, but they didn't question it.
"How do you think you did?" Natsu asked with a pencil spinning around his fingers.
"Better than you," Lucy responded with a grin.
"Really now?" he smirked with eyes flooded in amusement.
"We're going to Lucy's apartment tomorrow, right?" Lisanna questioned after a while.
"Of course," Levy confirmed. "Gajeel, are you going?"
"I have to work," Gajeel said.
"Y-You do?" Levy's face fell with disappointment.
"Just kidding," he snickered.
Levy's eyes widened as her face immediately reddened, gaining a giggle from Lucy.
Once everyone in the group—including the still snickering Gajeel—confirmed they were going to Lucy's home, they happily rose from their seats to leave school.
"I love leaving school early," Levy sighed gleefully.
"But now I'm going to be nervous for the rest of the day," Lisanna complained. "I know I didn't do well on the tests."
"You did fine," Erza assured.
"We all know you did," Cana rolled her eyes. "You don't have to brag."
"I'm not!" Erza declared. "But I will if you want me to—"
"No, thanks," the girls interrupted simultaneously.
With that, they separated to their homes and waited for the next day to arrive.
Lucy couldn't help but pace around the apartment as she waited.
"Nervous?" Natsu teased after an hour of her pacing.
"O-Of course not," she stuttered, biting her lip. "What about you?"
"Of course not," he grinned.
As much as Lucy wanted it to be summer break, when it was time for her to sleep, she desperately didn't want the next day to come.
"This is killing me," she groaned into her pillow in the middle of the night.
It wasn't about the bet anymore—okay, maybe a little—but nothing made her more anxious than the results of any exam.
She knew she wasn't going to get any sleep if she didn't do something about it, so she forced herself out of her bed to pour herself a glass of milk.
Slowly opening her door so she wouldn't wake up Natsu, she tiptoed out of her room.
She froze when she realized who was also in the kitchen, gulping down a glass of orange milk.
"Natsu?" she tilted her head.
"Can't sleep either?" he asked.
She shook her head while getting her milk; she took a seat in the chair opposite of his at the table.
"Why can't you sleep?" she questioned curiously.
"No reason," he coughed, revealing his uneasiness.
"You're nervous about the results, aren't you?" she laughed softly.
"So what if I am?" he scowled.
"That's good," Lucy looked down at her milk with a smile tugging at her lips.
"You seem more nervous than me," he remarked at her leg bobbing up and down under the table.
"Yeah," she admitted apprehensively. "I'm always nervous like this before the results."
"You did great," he guaranteed. "I know you did."
"I don't think you're supposed to be encouraging your opponent," she commented.
"I never said you did better than me," he countered with a sly smile.
They shared a smile for moment; Lucy watched as Natsu glanced at the time.
"If we're lucky, we can get four hours of sleep," he said while heaving himself up from the table. "Night, Luce."
Lucy was about to say goodnight back, but as he walked past her, he gently ruffled her hair.
"Goodnight," she whispered once he was halfway to his room.
Listening to his door click behind her, she finished her milk and flipped the single light off in the kitchen.
With the feeling Natsu's hand still in her hair, Lucy knew she wasn't going to be able to fall asleep now.
Somewhere during the night she did end up falling asleep, but when her alarm went off in the morning, she felt as though she didn't get any in the slightest.
The only motivation she had to get out of bed were the test results and it being the last day of school for the first trimester.
"Are you ready, are you ready?" Natsu asked over and over.
"To win?" she inquired with quick steps to school.
"I already know what I'm going to order at the new restaurant," he stated, daydreaming into the sky.
"Watch where you're going," she scoffed.
Natsu effortlessly dodged the trash can in front of him and returned to thinking of what he was going to eat.
Natsu's enthusiasm was definitely entertaining, but Lucy had no idea why he was when the results were going to be revealed at the end of the school day.
"We both have bags under our eyes!" Levy cheered when Lucy entered the classroom.
"Why are you so happy about that?" Gajeel grunted.
"Because I know Lu-chan was suffering with me," she explained.
"I don't want to think about it anymore," Lucy sighed.
"Agreed," Lisanna spoke.
"I just want to go back to sleep," Gray slid down in his set and closed his eyes.
Since the last day of each trimester was simply a day to do nothing, the group talked amongst themselves to distract each other from the time rapidly passing.
And before they knew it, the last bell of the day had dismissed them.
Lucy moved as slow as she could to put her things in her bag. She was about to stroll with Levy to the front of the school where the results were, but a warm hand seizing her wrist didn't let that happen.
"Let's go!" Natsu shouted as he dragged her with him to the front of the school.
He swiftly led her past the crowd of students; she was surprised Natsu didn't allow her to bump into anyone.
She was out of breath by the time they reached the board. Pressing her hands against her knees, she leaned down to catch her breaths.
"Well…" Natsu's voice trailed off beside her, hardly out of breath.
"Did I score higher than you?!" she exclaimed breathlessly, lifting her neck and scanning the list.
She found her name in seconds and she was just about to cry out in happiness until she realized whose name was on the left instead of the right.
"You scored higher than me," she said.
"By one point," he added.
"I can't believe this," she helplessly stared at the board.
"Look like you're going to buy me dinner one of these days," he beamed triumphantly.
"Just once, right?" she rubbed her temples, glad that it was all over with.
"Maybe three times," he shrugged.
"I'm only paying once!" she declared.
"Fine," he chuckled.
They exited the school to wait for the rest of the group to come out. By the expressions on their faces, Lucy could tell everyone had scored decently as well.
But there was just one face that was furious.
"Gajeel failed the midterms," Levy whispered to Lucy.
"Doesn't that mean he has to go to summer school?" Lucy whispered back with large eyes. Levy nodded sadly.
"At least you can teach him when he needs help," Cana sneered.
"I-I'm not doing that!" Levy shrieked with embarrassment.
"Is everyone here?" Erza asked the group. With their nods, she proclaimed, "To Lucy's house!"
"Shouldn't I be the one leading?" Lucy giggled at Erza in front of the group.
"I will always be the leader," Erza stated strictly.
Taking a brief stop at the convenience store, and getting a discount from Gajeel, Erza finally brought the group to Lucy's home.
Lucy could see Natsu subconsciously pulling out his keys as he spoke with Gray; she smacked his hand before anyone noticed.
"Welcome to my apartment," Lucy presented while opening the door for everyone to enter.
"Your apartment looks just like mine," Natsu joked, receiving an elbow jab from her.
Natsu and Lucy had prepared several days ago to remove all evidence that they lived together.
All of his hot sauces were shoved inside his room, only pictures of Lucy lay around the apartment, Kemokemo comfortably sat on the couch, and of course, Happy lazily roamed around the living room to his heart's content.
"Not bad," Gajeel complimented half-heartedly.
"Clean," Jellal noted, getting a look of approval from Erza.
"Let me go pour some drinks. Make yourselves at home," Lucy appointed them to the living room.
"I'll help," Lisanna and Levy followed Lucy into the kitchen.
With two helpers, it took them only one trip to bring the drinks to them.
Lucy sat in the middle of Levy and Gray on the floor while everyone else either decided to sit on the floor also or on the couch.
"It's a good thing the midterms are over," Cana said gratefully. "I don't want to take that test again."
"We take them again in October," Erza and Jellal reminded in unison.
"Whatever," Cana shook her head, taking a swig of her drink that nobody knew what it was.
They tried not to look too much at Gajeel when speaking about passing the test, but with the glares he sent them, they instantly went on to another subject.
After solely relaxing, once it was sunset, Lisanna spoke up.
"I want to play a game," she said.
"How about truth or dare?" Cana proposed.
Since there wasn't an objection, Cana gave the group a mischievous smile.
"I'll go first," Natsu volunteered.
"Truth or dare?" Lisanna asked.
"Dare," Natsu answered within seconds.
Lisanna searched the apartment with her eyes, thinking for the best dare to give him.
"I dare you to put ice down your shirt," she stated.
"How much ice?" Natsu inquired.
"Three cups of ice," Lisanna replied.
Gray couldn't keep himself from laughing at the dare; Natsu sent him a dirty look before he went to fetch the three cups.
Lucy couldn't bear to watch as Natsu took the front of his collar and stretched it forward so there was enough space for the ice.
"Well, here goes," Natsu muttered, slowly tilting the cup down into his shirt.
"This is giving me the chills," Erza shuddered while rubbing her arms.
They could see just how uncomfortable Natsu was with the three cups of ice in his shirt, and Gray reaching over and roughly patting his stomach didn't help with their goosebumps.
"Okay, you can throw the ice away!" Lisanna commanded frantically when she couldn't take it anymore.
"Thanks," Natsu sighed in relief, lifting his shirt up and allowing the ice to fall across the floor.
"Pick it up," Lucy ordered.
Natsu knew that by the look in Lucy's eyes, he wasn't going to be able to argue his way out.
"Now, Gray," he turned to him after returning from throwing the ice away. "Truth or dare?"
"Dare," Gray answered.
"I dare you to hug Jellal for three minutes," he smirked.
The group facepalmed at how absurd the dare was, but Gray wasn't going to back down from a challenge in front of them.
"Don't look at me, breathe on me, or anything," Gray told him as he started to wrap his around the stiff Jellal.
"Someone take a picture of this!" Cana howled, pointing at Gray and Jellal gazing in different directions to avoid seeing each other closer than they would like.
"How much longer do I need to do this?" Gray groaned.
"You smell strange," Jellal stated, clearly provoking him.
"I'm going to punch you," Gray threatened.
"It's been three minutes!" Natsu laughed loudly, his fist pounding against the table, causing the cups to jump in response.
"Gray, why are you taking off your shirt?" Lucy questioned when he stomped back to his spot next to her.
"Gray strips when he's angry," Natsu informed. "Don't mind him."
Lucy stifled a laugh, watching Gray hastily button up his shirt again.
"Levy," Gray said. "Truth or dare?"
"T-Truth?" she squeaked, nearly hiding behind Lucy's arm.
"Do you prefer big or small?" Gray asked vaguely.
"Big or small what?" Levy tilted her head while leaning forward to look at him.
Gray merely shrugged in response, leaving Levy absolutely clueless.
"Big?" she answered, even though it sounded like a question.
It was dead silent as everyone awkwardly pressed their lips together, but Gajeel couldn't contain his cackles.
Pushing the joke aside, they resumed playing the game. Alternating between dares and truths, the game turned out to be more entertaining than they first thought it was going to be.
With the occasional truths some answered, it let the group know more about one another.
"Lucy, you haven't even gone yet!" Levy realized.
"I haven't?" Lucy laughed nervously. "I didn't notice."
"Truth or dare?" Gajeel inquired.
Lucy's eyes widened, deathly afraid that it was Gajeel asking her. She wouldn't have minded if it was anyone else; Gajeel's crimson eyes were just too terrifying.
"Dare," she blurted out.
"I dare you to pick one guy and go into your room for five minutes," Gajeel challenged.
"What are we supposed to do in there?" she asked.
"I'll tell them," Gajeel replied with a devilish glint in his eyes.
Pushing herself up from the floor, Lucy cautiously peeked at everyone.
"Well, let's go, Gray."
"Sure," Gray rose from the floor with a nod.
She trotted to her room, sneaking a glance over her shoulder to see Gajeel whispering in Gray's ear.
"Good luck, Lu-chan!" Levy called out before Lucy entered her room.
She paced around her room; the wait was longer than she thought it was going to be.
Eventually, the door began to creak open and Gray smoothly stepped inside and shut the door behind him.
"So, what are we supposed to do?"