It's been some time since I updated this story! I'm so sorry! I hope you like this chapter!
Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Fairy Tail and Naruto
Dear Journal,
I was watching Naruto in the safety of my room when my mom opened my door and told me my FRIENDS had come over.
Immediately, I paused the episode I was watching, and turned on the lights. I hadn't even realized how dark it had gotten.
Cana peeked her head into my room, and came in, wearing a navy blue tube top that revealed a LOT of her cleavage.
Question: How had she gotten past my mom like that – and without a lecture?
Levy appeared next to her, wearing a more decent strapless, orange dress that came all the way down to the middle of her shins.
Her hair was tied back into a ponytail and she wore a flower-shaped hairpin.
Cana, whose hair looked as wavy as ever, eyed me skeptically.
"Lucy, why aren't you ready?"
"Ready for what?" I asked, turning off my television.
It had become apparent that I wouldn't be watching anymore anime.
"For the party! You know…the one Natsu invited us, too?"
"Ooooh, THAT…one…" I said, and my voice trailed off.
I considered rushing past them, and hiding under my parents' bed.
I would tell them that I would never, ever go to a social convention.
Where a million social predators preying on the nerdy inhabit.
"Get ready, "Cana said in a tone that made me shudder.
I also never, ever wanted to go against Cana when she was in a bad mood.
Quickly, I got up, grabbed something from my closet, and went into the bathroom to change.
When I came out, Cana's face froze, and so did Levy's.
"What are you WEARING, Lu-chan!?" Levy's high pitched voice was louder than Cana's howls of laughter.
I looked down at myself, and gazed at my friends' bewildered faces.
"Sakura's outfit," I replied.
The almost red outfit conformed to my body perfectly, and I thought the bandages wrapped about my pants leg made me look badass.
Apparently, Cana thought otherwise.
"You are NOT going dressed up as some character from Bleach."
"Sakura's from Naruto," I corrected quietly, and flinched as she shot me a poisonous glare.
"Well…it's the closest thing I have to a dress."
The brunette approached my closet, and I flushed at the articles of underwear I had strewn about the ground.
She ignored them and flipped through my clothes, which were mostly dull and boring sweats.
Like I said, they are comfortable, and are not a hassle to wear.
Cana slipped something off its hanger.
"What about this?" she asked me, hoisting up a turquoise, spaghetti-strap dress.
Levy came towards it, and observed its hemming and neckline.
"Despite its simplicity, it's pretty," the blunette observed.
"I refuse to wear it," I said, and braced myself against Cana's scowl.
"We are late enough, and I'm missing out on my date."
"Date?"
Levy shrugged. "She's going to meet up with this glasses guy or something at the party."
So that's why she was impatient with me.
The brunette shoved the outfit into my arms, and pointed towards the bathroom.
"Go."
I obliged.
When I emerged, Levy clapped and complimented me, even though I was noticeably slouching in the dress.
Under some threats by Cana, I straightened my back, and she led me to my bed.
She brought something from her small purse, and told me to open my eyes wide, and to not blink.
Curious and wary, I did as she told me and flinched back as she pressed something to my eyelashes.
"You're going to mess up the mascara," Cana said in a flat tone, and I bit the inside of my cheek.
I wanted to slap the stick away from her hand, and shout that I did not desire there to be make-up on my face.
But I kept still, and when she finished with the eyeliner, Levy told me ecstatically to look in the mirror.
Reluctantly, I looked, and perked up at what I saw.
It was if I was someone else.
Lucy Heartfilia, the girl obsessed with anime, did not wear dresses, and she certainly didn't waste her time with make-up.
But according to my reflection, she did.
The mascara and eyeliner brought out my chocolate brown eyes, and the dress brought out the curves of my body more.
However, my hair was still a mess, and I could hear my brown-haired friend's suppressed sigh.
"Come, here," she said, and took out a brush.
The next few minutes were filled with tears and winces as she wrenched the comb through the tangles of my golden strands.
When that was done, she ushered me to the bathroom, where she twisted my locks around her brush, turned on the blow dryer, and waited for the air it breathed out to become hot. She then used it to blow dry my…not wet hair for a couple minutes, until she turned it off.
She took her brush away from my hair in a flourish, and I marveled at the way it slightly curled.
Levy came towards me next, with a hair tie around her wrist, and pulled my hair to the side.
She then tied it into a side ponytail, and thrust a blue barrette – that she had found in my room – in a position where it would completely hide the hair tie.
"You now look amazing," Cana declared, "So, can we get moving?"
I bid my mom and dad farewell (maybe the last one I would ever give them), and left.
Levy and Cana knew the way to Wendy's house fairly well ("I found the directions beforehand, and memorized them," was what Levy told me), and we were there in ten minutes flat.
"Wow," the blunette marveled.
"They must be loaded," the brunette drawled.
"Natsu's cousin's house is amazing!" I agreed.
And it was. It was a two story house with flowers in front, lemonade yellow walls, a large front porch, and a green lawn. The front gate was quaint and black. It looked brand new, unlike the Heartfilias' rusty one.
"Excuse me?" Cana asked.
"I said -"
"I know what you said. But did you seriously say Natsu's cousin?"
"Yeah, Wendy…oh."
Levy shook her head at me. "Wendy is Natsu's step-sibling, Lu-chan."
I held my face in my hands. I was having a brief panic attack inside my own head.
It had been fine when I thought I was being invited to his cousin's house, but it was a different thing altogether if he was really inviting me HIS house.
Which means he lied to me about Wendy being his cousin…so that I would have no trouble coming to the party? Did he really want me to come that badly?
I bit my nails. I shall not let my wild imagination get a hold of me.
"And anyways, doesn't the daughter of Jude Heartfilia have a massive home of her own?"
"Well, yeah, but…"
I bit my lip. "Our garden's not the greenest, and our fence is the rustiest."
"Hmm."
We opened the gate, and made our way down the paved pathway leading to the front door of the house.
Cana rang the bell before I could prepare myself, and next thing I knew, a petite girl with blue twin tails opened the door and peered curiously outside.
Inside the house, I could hear the babble of dozens of other people already enjoying the party.
"Oh…Cana-san! Levy – san…and…" Wendy eyed me with a cute look on her face, "Lucy – san! Did Natsu call you over?"
"Um…well, yeah?"
"Natsuuuuuuu! I love you, my one and only brotherrrrrr!" she called over her shoulder.
She turned back to me.
"Lucy- san! I can't believe I finally get to meet you! I've always, always thought you were awesome for just calling my brother hot out of nowhere like you were so brave – even if Natsu's far from being hot – and…and…I think you're such an inspiration to shy people like me!"
"Well…I'm not…really…not shy…I still get nervous around people like your bro-"
"Luce."
I jump as Natsu appears behind Wendy.
"What are you doing, sis? Let them in."
The blunette pouts. "I know, I know."
"…ther…." I finish.
My heart pounds loudly in my chest.
"Well? Come in," Natsu says, sweeping us in.
I immediately want to run and hide as soon as I step in.
The music is blaring, and everywhere, people are talking.
Everyone is so pretty, wearing dresses or pants, or just casual shorts.
They're eating pizza, drinking soda, sitting on couches, talking, and I turn away as I see the familiar figure of Erza making out with some blue-haired guy with a tattoo around one of his eyes.
He's not from our school, I can tell.
I'd remember someone like that.
"Erza forgets the 'moralities of high school students' as she calls it when she meets up with Jellal," Natsu tells me as he notices my flustered state.
I turn towards him.
He's wearing a button down gray shirt, and beige cargo shorts. He has a black watch strapped around his right wrist.
His pink hair is spiky as ever, and he grins at me when I meet his gaze.
"Glad you could make it, Luce."
In my curious situation, I forgot all about my stutter.
"Why did you lie to me?"
"Hmm?"
"Why did you lie to me about…" I struggled to remember his exact words.
"'My cousin Wendy – you know her? – she's having her birthday party at her house'."
"And?"
"Wendy is your step-sister, Natsu."
"And this is her house, though, isn't it?"
"But it's yours as well."
The pink-haired teen shot me a dazzling smile, and I could feel my throat constrict, and my heart squeeze.
"Okay, you got me. But if I had said, 'I'm having a party at my house tomorrow because of my sister Wendy's birthday' and had invited you over, you would have definitely said no, right?"
"H-how would you know?" I want to slap myself for the returning stammer.
"You don't look like the type to except party invitations that take place at a guy's house."
"W-well, you're r-right a-about th-that."
Natsu looks at my face for a long time.
"Wh-what?"
"Why do you always stutter when you talk to me?"
"I d-do it t-to e-everyone I t-talk t-to."
"Not to Cana and Levy."
"They're d-different."
"How so?"
"They're m- my fr- friends."
I realize my mistake as soon as I had said it.
"And I'm not?"
He sounds genuinely hurt.
"No! I m-mean, yes! Wait, I m-mean…"
I want to rip my hair out of my head, but Cana would definitely kill me for ruining her hard work.
"W-we're fr-friends, N-Natsu."
He gazes at me, and smiles. "Okay!"
"Y-you…you d-did that o-on purpose didn't y-you?"
"Hmm, maybe…"
"Natsu!"
It's Sue. She's just come from…somewhere, and she's waving at her boyfriend to come over.
"Ah, gotta go."
"All right."
"You look pretty, though, Luce."
"Um, th-thanks."
I watch his receding back as he walks over to his girlfriend, and wraps his arm around her waist.
I feel a tight pinch in my stomach and heart as he does so.
"Hey, you're the girl who called Natsu and Eucliffe hot, right?"
I turn around, now suddenly aware that both Levy and Cana have disappeared.
In front of me is a boy with a head full of spiky black locks, drooping eyes, and a very good-looking face.
Behind him, I see the dark shadow of some blue-haired girl. She's trying to keep her distance, but I can't see how the guy can't feel her creepy aura behind him.
"Um…y-you're, Gr-Gray…Fullbuster, right?"
"Well, yeah. You can call me Gray, but that wasn't the question I asked you, was it?"
"Oh, yeah, I'm th-that g-girl."
"A-and I'm N-Natsu's fr-friend."
I blinked. It was the first time someone had actually mocked my stutter. I look up.
On Gray's face is a big smirk.
"Juvia," he suddenly says, turning sharply around. "Couple you PLEASE leave me alone?!"
"Juvia will do anything Gray-sama ASKS!" the girl behind him says, and walks past me as she follows him command.
"Don't make a move on him…love rival!"
I am thoroughly creeped out by her.
"You want a drink?" he asked me.
He held out a cup of punch.
"No."
"Suit yourself."
"W-why are y-you t-talking t-to me?"
"Why are you asking? I can't?"
"Um…"
"Pssh! I'm just messing with you! I'm talking to you because you are damn funny!"
"I am?"
He looks at me incredulously.
"Uh, yeah…you are? Where have you been living? Under a rock?"
"No. Not with what's been happening to me lately."
He gives me a meaningful smile. "I like the kinds of jokes where people turn figurative phrases into literal jokes."
"I remember you," I say suddenly. "You called me a geek when I accidentally dropped my lunch on Natsu!"
I glare at him, which is very unlike me. Usually, I don't mind being called a geek.
But this time, it's different.
The guy who insulted me before is actually making a move to talk to me.
He claps me on the back. "Oh come on! Lighten up a bit, Blondie!"
"Blondie?" I ask, pursing my lips. "I have a NAME…you know?"
"What is it? AnimeLover123…OtakuGirl321?"
"You are…one hell of a jerk you know that?"
"So even Miss No Backbone has a sarcastic demeanor!"
"I'm not being sarcastic, and you can just get outta my way."
"I've never been called a jerk before. I have tons of fangirls…but not as many as Natsu."
"That last comment was a little off topic."
"Anyways, as you might have noticed, I have a very refined talent of making even the shyest, quietest people angry," he continued. "I've never actually had a girlfriend, though."
"Somehow, I can't really be surprised by that."
"Wow. That was…harsh," he said. He points his thumb to the right side of his chest. "Hurts me right here…in my heart."
"Your heart is on the other side," I say, smiling.
He smiles back, and I know he's just making a joke. "Really? What do you know?"
"So…has anyone ever confessed to you, though?"
"Oh?" he says, taking a sip of his drink. "So you're interested?"
"I could just leave you here with nothing else to do."
"Well…" he says, starting right away, "Why don't we have a seat on the stairs?"
I oblige, and follow him to the steps. I look around for that Juvia girl.
She's talking to some spiky-and-white-haired dude, who looks like he's head over heels for her.
I figure it's safe to have a normal conversation with Gray.
We sit down.
"Well, I've gotten tons of confessions…I mean, who could resist this?" he asked, gesturing to himself vaguely.
"Um…I can think of at least a million people."
Usually, I would have let that statement be said only in my mind.
"This is MY story, AnimeLover123…anyways, I've only had one girl I truly loved, though."
"Who?"
"This girl named Ultear Milkovich, but she was totally into another guy, and she was older than me…so that didn't turn out so well…"
"I also dated this other girl named Daphne…but…I was just trying to find out if she was trying to do something horrible to our group."
He pointed to The Group…which consisted of the cheerleaders and football players and a bunch of other people I didn't know.
"Turned out she was…trying to get all the cheerleaders off the squad or something so that she and her friends could be on it."
"But I thought you said you never had a girlfriend…" I interrupted.
"Well…I meant…a REAL girlfriend, OtakuGirl321…not a fake one."
"Oh. It seems like that girl Juvia really likes you…or more like, obsessed."
Gray snorted. "Tell me about it. I feel her presence all the time. It gets a little scary."
"Does she declare everyone her love rival?"
"Yep."
"That's funny."
Gray makes a face, and then imitated the expression Juvia had shown me menacingly moments before. "Don't make a move on him…love rival!"
I start to laugh, and then clap my hands over my mouth. I look around to see if anyone heard.
I turn back to Gray, whose smiling gently.
"You look cute when you laugh," he tells me. "And when you smile."
I feel my cheeks warm, but luckily, someone slams open the front door, snatching Gray's attention before he can see the redness of my face.
It's Sting, Lisanna, and Yukino.
"We brought the CAKE!" Lisanna trilled.
Yukino is hanging off of Sting's arm as they walk in. She's looking particularly moody.
Maybe Lisanna had done something?
But by the looks of the white-haired girl, it looks like she has done nothing wrong.
"Ooooooh!" everyone coos, as Lisanna lays a box on a table.
I watch as she opens it with a flourish. Wendy squeals.
"Red Velvet cake! My favorite! And you got it decorated so nicely! Thanks so much Lisanna-san!"
"Your welcome!" Lisanna said, entranced my Wendy's adorable behavior.
"All right everyone…let's sing," Natsu calls out from somewhere.
I move my lips silently to the birthday song, and blink when it's over, and Wendy blows out her candles.
She rips open the gifts she got – which makes me realize I should have bought her one.
And when all of that was done, they finally cut the cake.
"Do you want some?" Gray asks, as he gets up to grab some dessert.
"Oh, no…I already ate before I got here."
"All right, then."
After he got his slice, Gray came back, and we talked for a bit more. Soon though, he was taken away by Juvia – who snarled at me like a vicious dog as she sauntered away.
I was left alone for a while, watching as Levy socialized with five different people, and Cana grew steadily bored with her date.
"Uh, hi…Lucy."
I look up. A lot of people were talking to me today.
"St – Sting!"
The blonde rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, and looked down at me. He shot me a feeble smile.
"Um…didn't know that you would be here. You look, uh, amazing."
"O-oh, u-um, th-thank y-you…" I replied, hoping DESPERATELY that Yukino wasn't anywhere nearby.
Sting must have noticed. "Yukino isn't really…near me, right…now. She's talking to Rogue…that is."
"Uh, yeah…."
How should I act around a guy I had called f***ing hot!?
How should I act around a guy I had called f***ing hot!?
How should I –
"Look, Lucy, um, about yesterday. Maybe we can just forget it?"
He gives me his faltering smile again. His weak attitude towards me makes me want to melt, and shout, "YOU ARE SO FULL OF BISHIE-NESS!"
I clamp my mouth closed, not really trusting myself to speak.
I just nod.
Sting's face falls.
"That's not really the response I was hoping for," he muttered, scratching the back of his head.
"Stingy-kun!" Yukino called in sickeningly, oversweet, honeyed voice. "Come here, pleeeeease?"
"Okay, Yuki!" Sting replied. "See you at school, Lucy?"
I nod.
It's hard to ignore the glare Yukino's giving me though.
When the party finally ended, I was exhausted.
Cana looked at me as we walked away. "What's up?"
"I've had way too much encounters today."
"Really, now?"
"First, you talked with Natsu. Then you chatted with Gray, And then, you had a short, brief exchange with Sting. Three hot guys…talking to YOU, Lucy Heartfilia, the food dumper, the obsessed anime girl…what more could you ask for?"
"I, well-wait a minute, where's my phone?"
"Huh?" Levy asked.
"I thought someone like you wouldn't have a phone."
"Don't be ridiculous, Cana,she gave us her cell number right? And we gave her ours."
"Right."
"I think I left it at…" my whole face warms, "Natsu's house. I'm going back to get it."
"Do you want us to come with you?" Levy asked.
"No, no…I'll be fine."
I ran back, and blinked incredulously at the open front door. The gate was closed, but it didn't creak as I opened it. An open door like this was a security issue, I scolded to no one particular in the safe recesses of my mind.
I walk in – everyone has left so the house is empty, and immediately spot my phone on the stairs. I go to grab it, and freeze when I hear a high-pitched voice.
"Could you just stop talking to her!?"
"Why!?"
I creep to the source of the yelling – which is the kitchen.
I peer around the corner, wondering whether I should be eavesdropping like this.
It's Sue and Natsu. Wendy's nowhere in sight.
"It's obvious she's just putting on the façade of a weak, stuttering, helpless, anti-social girl so she can lure you in!"
Who are they talking about? I have a really dreadful feeling that -
"That's not it! Luce just has a shyness problem! Once she gets to know me, then we'll get to know her!"
I was right…I'm surprised that I haven't sneezed by now.
Since you know, they say that when you're talked about by someone, you sneeze…
"Once we get to know her? Natsu, I don't want to get to know her! I want you to stop talking to her NOW!"
"But Luce-!"
"But Luce what!? She already has friends! Why do you keep on bothering with her!?"
Bothering? I had never looked at Natsu talking to me as him BOTHERING with me…
"Because I'm also her friend!"
Silence ensues his outburst. My heart is pumping fast, and I can feel my throat constricting.
They're fighting about me. And Natsu's on my side. He called me his friend!
He called me his-!
"I…I'm so scared our relationship is going to change," whispers Sue.
"Look, Sue…I…I love you. You know that, don't you? You're my first love. And I love you so much. You're my girlfriend. That's not changing."
I clench my fist at my sinking heart.
I watch with wide eyes as he takes the girl in his arms. She cries into his chest.
And then…she lifts her head, and he lowers his.
I immediately snap my gaze away as the outcome is shown to me.
"Lucy-san? What are you doing here?"
I turn towards the voice. Wendy has come down the stairs, dressed in sweats. Her hair is down.
"I-!" I begin to say. But I can hear Natsu and Sue approaching.
"Lucy?" Natsu's voice is close.
Before he can turn the corner though, I'm already out the front door, and past the gate.
All the while, I want to cry.
They kissed.
They kissed.
They kissed.
Natsu and Sue kissed.
*GASP* What's going to happen NEXT!?
Please review and tell me what you think!
Until next chapter!