I've finally updated this story! The idea for this chapter hit me...and I just had to write it out. I'm still thinking over Love Square Boy's Chapter Four, but...so far...it's not turning out so well...

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Fairy Tail or Yu-Gi-Oh!

Dear Journal,

I can't believe this….

Once again, I am in the bathroom…having the meltdown of my life…

You'd think if you've hid in the bathroom wishing to disappear from the face of the earth once, you'll never, ever do it in your life again…(especially since the bathroom isn't the nicest-smelling place in the world)…

Well…all I can say is WRONG!

Okay. Here's what happened.

Starting from this morning, when my assurance to Cana and Levy about Gray Fullbuster not talking to me was proven incorrect abruptly….

As soon as I had passed through the doors of the school, I spotted the A-Class group.

The cheerleading squad and the jocks were all crowded around in the hallway next to the classrooms, laughing and chatting ecstatically.

My heart gave a little painful squeeze when I saw Natsu's arm wrapped tightly around Sue's waist.

I averted my eyes quickly, and made my way towards my first class – English.

But just as I was halfway past the popular group, I heard a familiar voice call out to me.

"Oi, Lucy!"

On instinct, I turned, and my whole body froze when I saw that it was Gray Fullbuster.

He brushed his dark hair away from his eyes, and gave me a smirk as he approached.

I adjusted my glasses, and crossed my arms.

I could already sense the impending insult that was going to come my way.

Behind him, I could see Lisanna, Natsu, Sue, Loke, Sting, and everyone else looking at us curiously.

"So? What'd you do all weekend? Watch your two thousand DVDs of Yu-Gi-Oh? Do you want to take out a card and duel with me?"

"Please," I said icily; in my mind, I was stomping in frustration as I realized Cana had been right about this guy conversing with me all along. "I'd rather shove one up your ass."

"Oh…ouch," he says, wincing mockingly. "Do you shove things up people's asses often?"

I roll my eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Uh…talking to you?"

"Exactly. What are you doing talking to me?"

"I talk to who I want to," he replied, shrugging.

"Not according to Juvia, you don't."

"Well, Juvia isn't here. She goes to another school."

"A shame."

"Why are you so cold to me, OtakuGirl123?"

"It's OtakuGirl321, smartass," I corrected, sticking out my tongue at him.

He smiled toothily. "Oh, ha, ha, very mature, Lucy…"

He stuck his tongue back out at me; I smiled back at him despite myself, and jumped when I heard Cana calling my name.

"Friend's calling you…" he pointed out.

"Well, thank you General Obvious of the S.S. Right in Plain Sight…" I said sarcastically.

"See you later at lunch, Blondie," he replied, giving me a short wave and smile before he went back to his friends.

I watched him go, and looked at his friends turning around to talk to him and attack him with questions.

Except for one person.

Natsu.

No. Wait…two people.

And Sting.

Natsu and Sting.

They were looking at me with an offended look on their faces as if I had just publicly humiliated them.

For a moment, I looked behind me to see if they were staring at someone else…but I realized…no…they really ARE staring at me…

What? What did I do wrong?

"Lucy! I'm gonna count to three! And if I don't see your big ass over here by then, I swear I will-!"

"Cana!" Levy snapped before the brunette could finish her sentence.

Amazingly, the other girl fell silent, and watched moodily as I approached them.

"What's up, you guys?"

"What's up? What's up?" the brunette asked, smiling creepily as she pulled me into our English classroom. "I'll tell you WHAT'S UP!"

I actually felt a little scared of her.

"I TOLD you! And I was TOTALLY right!" Cana said in a singsong voice. Levy just rolled her eyes at her friend's eccentricity. "Gray talked to you! And now you've got to admit it! You've got to admit that he LLLLLLLLIKES you!"

"Just because a human being decides to hold a decent discussion with me does NOT mean he is crushing on me," I protested.

"Lu-chan…why are you so AGAINST the whole idea of Gray liking you?"

"Exactly…I mean…I wouldn't mind having that HUNK of HOT ABS having the HOTS for me!" Cana interjected.

I felt like mugging her to get her to shut up when I saw a majority of the students collected in the classroom giving us strange looks.

"Cana," said Levy impatiently, "Do you mind shutting up for a minute?"

"I'm only givin' you a minute."

"Look," Levy said quietly, wrapping an arm around me and heading out into the hallway.

There, the hubbub of chatter would drown out our voices and our conversation would be unheard.

Good thinking, Levy!

"Even if you like Natsu…you should give this thing with Gray a try."

"But, Levy…I don't like Gray and I'm positive he just thinks of me as a friend."

"Lu-chan. I am equally positive that he thinks of you as more than a friend. Think it over."

And with that, Cana's minute was up, and she bounded into the hallway, screaming at the top of her lungs, "MY LUCY IS GROWING UP! FINDING LOVE AND POSSIBLE FUTURE HUSBANDS!"

I considered flipping a coin.

Heads, I beat her up.

Tails, I maul her.

Levy gave me a sympathetic smile, and said, "See you later, Lu-chan. I'm going to class. I think the warning bell will ring soon."

As soon as she had said that, a series of dings and dangs rang out through the hallway.

"Lunch, okay?!" the bluenette called as she ran for her classroom.

I looked warily back at the brunette that was waiting for me.

She winked at me, and started blowing kisses towards me.

I dug through my pockets.

Damn.

No coins.

Pretty soon, lunchtime came.

Lunch is a time that I'm usually dreading because of the nasty foods that are served.

I keep reminding myself to make lunch.

But a few extra minutes before school devoted to watching anime always entices me more than spending that time in a kitchen, making food for myself.

And then I regret that decision hours later when I'm in the cafeteria trying to decide if what's in front of me is either dog poop from the sidewalk outside or a badly made chocolate pudding.

I walk to the table where Cana and Levy are waiting for me, and stare at the stuff before me in curiosity.

"What are you waiting for? To see if it's alive or not?"

I could feel the back of my neck break out in a cold sweat.

"Actually…I was trying to decide which was worse…the smell or the appearance…but now you've put ideas into my head."

"I think it's curry…" Levy said, looking at the dish. "…I think."

I gave the bluenette "The Look". "Thanks, Levy. You've totally changed my mind about this meal."

"Hey…" she said in defense. "Here. I'll give you my raisins and my extra packet of juice."

"And here's two granola bars," Cana said, tossing me said food.

"Thanks you guys," I said gratefully.

I actually teared up a bit.

I shoved ONE spoonful of the nasty lunch given by the school (even though it's disgusting, I can't throw away food without one bite of it…it'd be…wasteful).

But the lunch is so conglomerated together that one spoonful practically takes half of the dish of the plate…so I end up eating half of the stuff.

Yum.

After gagging for a full five minutes, I down the juice Levy had given me, and gobbled down the granola bars as fast as I could.

I was popping raisins into my mouth when it happened…

"Lucy!"

I froze as I turned and saw Gray waving at me from the A-Class table.

He was gesturing for Levy, Cana, and me to come over from the looks of it.

I hesitated. Levy froze. Cana got up, whooped, and strutted over with complete confidence.

After two minutes, Levy and I got up, and followed suit.

Gray smirked at me and gestured for the guys sitting across from him - Gajeel, Loke, and Rogue – to scoot over and make room for us.

Levy filed in first, so she was next to Gajeel.

Cana sat down next, so she was beside Levy.

I sat down last, on the very edge of the bench, and was right across from Gray.

I could feel the stares of the whole school population on me and from the popular group themselves.

Lisanna was staring at me in amusement, Mira was smiling at me kindly, the guys were analyzing me, Sting was glancing at me conspicuously, and Natsu…

He wasn't even looking at me at all. His attention was all on Sue, whose attention was all on me.

"So…"

"What do you want?" I asked Gray, interrupting him.

"I thought you looked a little lonely over there without me to talk to, so…"

I stuck my lower lip out in a sort or pout and turned my head to harrumph.

"I…do NOT…miss your company whatsoever under ANY circumstances."

"Even if you had lived by yourself for years and I was the only person who had ever visited you and I suddenly stopped?"

"Even if. I'd rather get visited by a stampede of rhinos and elephants combined than receive an annoying visit from you."

"The Queen of Anime-Watching spits out an insult again…" Gray said dramatically, raising his arms into the air.

"What is with the dumbass nicknames you keep giving me?"

"It's a lot more interesting than having to call you Lucy, Lucy, Lucy over and over again."

"Well…I apologize if it's so tiring to say MY NAME repetitively."

Gray gave me a crooked smile, and then…it spread out into a mischievous one.

Crap.

"So…I heard you work at Natsu's café in that maid outfit?"

Damn it.

"Yeah?" I said. I couldn't come up with something to retort back.

"What do you say when I customer comes in? 'Welcome back, Master'?"

"I do not!"

"Ahahaha!" he started to laugh. "I bet you do! I want to see it!"

I turned back around so that I was facing his laughing figure.

"Do you want to know what people would like to see more?"

"What?"

"Gray Fullbuster stripping while doing a provocative dance!"

I blinked as I saw Gajeel choke on his milk, Loke spit out his sandwich, Lisanna and Mira crack up, Rogue nearly fall out of his chair, Sting's snort of laughter, Natsu's elbow slide off the table, Sue's piece of gum fly out of her mouth, Cana's fist pounding the table, Wendy's red face, Levy's quiet laughter, Hughes loud laughter, Mary's equally loud laughter, and Erza's piece of cake flying off her plate.

Gray's mouth was hanging wide open. "What…the…hell?!"

My face was super red…I could tell from the heat that was radiating off my cheeks.

"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment…or a…joke…or an insult?"

I shook my head wildly.

"No, wait! Forget it! I mean! I don't! Ugh!"

My eyes widened as Gray's face broke out into a smile.

"Ahahaha, hell, Heartfilia, I didn't know you had that kind of thing in you."

"What…? I-?"

"Anyways…speaking of cafes…do you want to go to one that I know after school? And talk or somethin'?"

I was already in panic-mode.

That question pushed me towards my limit, but didn't quite exactly get me to hit it.

It was when Cana nudged me in the ribs that I soared through the ceiling labeled very appropriately as, "My Limit".

I panicked so badly that when I spoke, I was screaming.

"NO! I DON'T!"

"Hey…what?"

"I MEAN! I DON'T WANT TO – TALK – I MEAN- I DO, BUT-!?"

My face was on fire.

"I MEAN…I DON'T WANT TO BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND!"

My eyes widened in horror as realization donned on me. What…had…I just said?

Instead of mending what I had blurted out, I babbled on.

"I mean you're a really nice guy and all…but I see you as more of a friend, and you're really, really HOT, really, really, really so. One billion times hotter than a habanero pepper, but…uh…I think that we-"

"LUCY!" Cana said, backhanding my shoulder. "SHUT THE HELL UP!"

"WHAT?!"

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

"OH! OKAY!"

That was when I saw…

The whole freaking school…was staring at me.

Gajeel's straw had fallen out of his mouth and onto the table.

Everyone else's reactions were similar but in different variations.

Sh*t.

"WHAT?" Gray asked, spluttering. "Girlfriend?"

His face twisted up.

"I…you were thinking that the WHOLE time?"

"I…er…no…more of a friend…but Cana and Levy-"

"Ahahaha, shut up, Lucy," Cana said, nudging me.

"You think of me…as a friend?"

"Well…yeah? Or are we…not friends?"

Gray closed his mouth and looked at his friends.

Finally, he directed his gaze on me, and said:

"I've been rejected before I've even confessed."

Silence…and then…

"I TOLD YOU!" Cana yelled, standing up and jabbing me in the chest.

Then that means…

Oh…my…Mavis…and sweet peas and Makarov Dreyar and Fairy Tail Sabertooth Lamia Scale Mermaid Heel Blue Pegasus…

That means I just turned down Gray Fullbuster in front of the entire student body…and the cafeteria ladies…

"MY UNICORNS ARE CALLING ME!" I screeched, and stood up.

I ran out of the lunchroom, down the hallway, into the bathroom, and locked myself into the nearest stall.

And now here I am…

The biggest dork, loser, geek, nerd there is in the entire history of dorks, losers, geeks, and nerds…

I'm Lucy Heartfilia.

Unfortunately.

Signed,

Lucy

Poor, poor Lucy, one thing after another for her...never a break...I felt like it moved too fast between Gray and Lucy, but...I like how this chapter went...and so I stuck with it...hopefully, this story has caught your attention now!

Natsu, Sting, and Gray.

Hmmm...

Still a NaLu though! I'm not planning on changing that up!

Please review!

Until next chapter!