I'm so sorry this took me so long guys, schedules and I don't really mix well. But here is your chapter 3!
I do not own Fairy Tail or it's characters, they belong to Hiro Mashima, I simply own the plot to this story.
Lucy had finally picked her outfit for the night, no way was she going to meet the rest of her dorm-mates wearing sweats and her Magnolia University shirt. She had picked something simple, white shorts, a flowy purple spaghetti strap shirt, knee high black boots, and a white ribbon to tie up her long hair in a side pony. "Levy," she turned to her friend after she had finished tying up her hair, "do you think this looks alright?"
Levy looked the busty blonde up and down before answering, "You look great! I was actually going to ask you the same thing." Levy had taken a similar approach, wearing white shorts, an orange tank top with a black vest, black gladiator sandals, and an orange ribbon used in place of a headband.
"Levy, you're too cute to ever NOT look alright!" Lucy giggled at the blunette as they smiled at each other.
"Aww thanks, Lu! Well then," the small girl grabbed her room keys and the book that was lying on her bed, "I guess we should go down to the main floor."
Lucy grabbed her keys and her cell phone as she followed her small friend out of the room, "Yeah. What do you think we'll even be doing?"
"I'm not sure," the blunette said as she waited for her roommate to lock their door, "it's probably just going to be a meet and greet. Half of these people probably already know each other though so I'm not entirely sure what to expect."
As the two made their way down the hall and to the stairs, Lucy couldn't help but wonder what kind of people she would meet. After all, the only three people she had met so far were Levy, Erza, and that pink haired boy, Natsu. She was enthralled with the thought of meeting more people, until she walked into the common room. There were so many people that Lucy didn't even know what to do. She stood behind Levy as they made their way across the room to a relatively empty corner. Levy was right; it looks like everyone is talking to each other already. Well, at least I have Levy here. She poked her friend and whispered in a hushed tone, "Levy, what do we do? I didn't think there would be so many people…"
The blunette looked at her friend with slight concern, just as she was about to comfort her friend, her name was called. "Levy?!"
"Levy, we found you!" Two males around their age were making their way through the throngs of people to reach the short girl.
As the two boys finally reached the girl, they wasted no time tackling her, to which Levy smiled and patted their backs. "Jet, Droy, I didn't know you two were going to MU!"
The redhead was the first to speak as they parted, "Well this school does have the best track team in Fiore, did you really think I could resist it? And Droy here got a scholarship in the biology department." The boy, who Lucy now assumed was Jet, pointed at his friend, who had the weirdest cow lick to his hair she had ever seen.
"We didn't know you were gonna be here Levy, it's good to see you." Droy blushed a little, but Lucy figured her petite friend hadn't noticed it, since her eyes went slightly downcast as she rubbed the back of her neck.
"I'm sorry I haven't really kept in touch, a lot happened after I left. It's good to see you guys again too." A flash of sadness passed through Levy's eyes, but disappeared when Lucy grabbed her shoulder, giving her a warm smile. "Oh! I want you guys to meet my roommate! This is Lucy, a total sweetheart and a really close friend." She then pointed to the boys, "This here is Jet, the fastest guy I've ever met, and this is Droy, I don't think anyone has a greener thumb than him."
The boys flashed huge smiles at Lucy as she nodded to both of them, "It's great to meet you both. So you all went to the same high school?"
"Actually," Levy looked between her friends, "we were in school together since kindergarten, I moved just before senior year though."
Lucy nodded in understanding as the boys started talking to Levy about everything that happened while she was gone. Her eyes scanned the room she was in once again, having forgotten that there were still so many new people. Anxiety crept up on her as she looked at the groups of people laughing and smiling together, she idly scratched at her arm behind her back. So many people… And I don't know any of them.
She hadn't noticed the scarlet haired woman who had walked up to her. "Lucy, it's good to see you came."
She blinked and turned toward her resident advisor, "Oh, yes," she laughed a little nervously and put on an uncomfortable smile, "I wouldn't have missed it."
The scarlet vixen looked at the blonde with understanding eyes, "Well I'm happy that you're here. We're going to start a foosball match soon, would you like to be my partner?"
Her eyes grew wide as she stared at her new companion, "Uh, me? Why me? I don't even think I've ever played foosball before! Wouldn't someone else be better?"
Erza chuckled as the blonde freaked out, her eyes sparkling a little, "True, I could do that, but I would like to get to know you, and what better way than through the joys of competition?!"
Lucy stuttered over her words, "I, uh, umm, okay, yeah, I can do that."
She was promptly grabbed by Erza and dragged to the other side of the room where numerous other students had already begun to gather, sending one last glance to Levy before the scarlet beauty started yelling. "Alright, everyone who intends to be a part of the foosball tournament, grab your partner and circle around!"
People were scrambling, some looking excited, others bored, and others absolutely terrified. What? Why would people be scared? It's just a game. Lucy stood next to her teammate and scanned the pairs that were forming around her, she noticed Jet and Droy pulling Levy back and forth, a lot of male pairs, and finally, on the other side of Erza, she saw Natsu paired up with a beautiful girl with short, white hair fashioned into pigtails, and mesmerizing cerulean eyes. She hadn't noticed that she was staring until Natsu waved her out of her trance, "Heya Luigi! Ready to get whooped?!"
She smiled faintly as he gave her a huge grin, "I've never really played," nervously, she let out a laugh, "I don't think I have much of a chance against this many people… And my name is not Luigi!"
"Lucy," the scarlet haired woman's hand was on her shoulder now, "don't worry, I'm sure you'll do wonderfully. Just keep in mind that we must win."
She saw the older girl's face contort into one of absolute seriousness and shivered a bit, "Y-yes ma'am!"
The older woman was now barking out orders to the groups, rules, the basic layout of the competition, and she had even pulled a whiteboard from who-knows-where to draw out the pyramid in which the teams would move to get to the next rounds. Lucy had lost interest after she had heard the rules, and had taken the opportunity to observe the room while no eyes were on her. Almost immediately, she noticed something strange, as she caught sight of Jet and Droy once more, she noticed that neither were paired with her roommate, instead, they were both glaring daggers at said girl standing, rather uncomfortably, with what Lucy could only describe as a giant metal-head, quite literally. Not only did this guy fit the style of someone in a metal band, with the long black hair and black clothing with chains hanging from his pants, he was also covered in piercings; his ears, his eyebrows, his nose, he even had some under his bottom lip. She didn't know what to think aside from how awkward, yet at the same time complimentary he looked next to Levy. With amusement and wonder, she continued to observe the odd pair, until a certain pink haired boy brought her back to the world around her. "That's Gajeel. How the heck does your friend know him?"
"Huh?" she blinked as she turned her attention to Natsu, "I, uh, I actually have no clue. How do you know him?"
He gave her a blank stare in response, "He's my cousin."
"He's your cousin?! But he's so…"
"Scary lookin'?" he let out a chuckle as he eyed the blonde who seemed to be freaking out over nothing, "Not by blood, his adoptive dad is my adoptive dad's brother."
She did nothing but stare as the wheels spun in her head. Adoptive dads? "Oh."
Both of their thoughts were interrupted as the voice of Erza grew louder, "Alright teams! You know your opponents and your playing orders! Time to begin! Lucy, join me, we're up first."
The blonde froze as all eyes were now on her, "O-okay." She stumbled over to the foosball table as the redhead pointed her towards the goalie side. Maybe this won't be so bad; I just have to keep people from scoring. You can do this, Lucy!
She wasn't wrong, as the matches continued on, Lucy quickly realized that she wasn't entirely necessary, Erza was doing most of the work, and no one could even get past her iron-clad offense, save for a few lucky shots that Lucy managed to shoot back to her teammate before they got near the goal. The two chatted between their own matches, watching the other teams while Erza pointed out each and every one of the students to Lucy. She struggled to remember some of the names, but the girl's help was greatly appreciated, as Lucy became more and more comfortable around these strangers.
By the time the semi-finals rolled around, she was entirely invested in the matches; the first was between her and Erza, and a team of two siblings, Mirajane and Elfman. It was easy enough for Lucy, the heated match hardly ever left the center of the table, as Mira seemed to be just as competitive as Erza; the match went on for so long, in fact, that it had to be decided on the first goal, instead of three. Lucy's team won after another ten minutes, then, it was time for Lisanna and Natsu's match against his longtime rival, Gray, and his partner, Cana. It was almost as painstakingly lengthy as her last match was, though theirs was full of insults like "Flame-brain", "Ice princess", "Slanty-eyes", and "Droopy-eyes". In the end though, after all the shouting and loss of clothing on Gray's part, Natsu's team won.
"It seems we shall be facing off once again, Natsu, I hope you are prepared." Erza faced off with the pink haired boy.
"I'm all fired up and ready to take you down, Erza!" He let loose a lopsided grin that showed off his canines. Why are they so sharp?
The blonde felt a light pressure on her shoulder as she watched the two and turned to face the source. She was met by the same beautiful cerulean eyes of the girl she now knew as Lisanna. "Good luck! Lucy, right? Ignore them, they're always like this, let's just have fun alright?"
The light smile that the white haired girl gave to the blonde drew out one of her own, and she giggled as she shook the girl's hand, "Good luck to you too! And thank you, this is actually a lot of fun!"
"The battle of the best begins now!" Both girls looked over as their redheaded companion beckoned them towards the table once again, shared one last smile, and made their way.
"Good luck Luigi, but we're gonna win!"
"Not if I can help it, pinky!" He gave her the sexiest smirk she'd ever seen, or at least Lucy thought it was. She determined that it probably wasn't intended that way, but blushed a little nonetheless and smirked right back at him.
The battle that ensued was treacherous, by far the most vicious one of the night. The four shared competitive glares, playful sneers, and empty threats, even the crowd was riled up, choosing sides, making bets, it was a riot. Lucy did not have it so easy this time around, there were quick defensive maneuvers all around the board as Natsu's offense was just as tenacious as Erza's, and Lisanna wasn't letting up one bit, putting up just as much of a fight. A fight to the death, and just as Natsu was about to score, Lucy surprised everyone, with a flick of her wrist, the little ball flew straight for the opposing team's goal. No one saw it coming, not even Lucy fully comprehended what had happened until the red haired maiden slapped her on the back and Natsu fell to the floor in defeat, with Lisanna flopping onto the table, completely out of breath. "I can't believe we lost." Lisanna wheezed out, barely audible amongst the shouts and cheers in the crowd.
"I don't… I don't know what just happened." The blonde blinked in confusion as she turned to her comrade, "We won?"
"Yes, Lucy, we've won, and I couldn't be more proud of my partner." She was squeezed into a tight hug, once again slammed into the competitive woman's breasts. "We are going to be great friends, I'm assured of that."
"Congrats Luce, Erza, you guys won fair and square. Good job!" Natsu had, at some point, raised himself from his slump on the floor and rushed over to the two women in their embrace. He offered them the brightest smile, apparently completely over his defeat.
"Oh, umm, thank you! That was all luck though on my part, I don't think I could do that again." She laughed lightly at the smiling boy as he chuckled.
"Aye, Lucky Lucy, but I'm sure you could do it again! Hell, I'll play with ya again sometime, it'll be fun!"
"Me too, that was amazing, Lucy!" The white haired girl joined in on the laughter, and Lucy pulled them all into a hug now.
"I'd love to. This was awesome! I'm looking forward to a lot more crazy adventures!"
The remainder of Lucy's night was spent introducing Levy to all the people she had met and of course, after seeing Levy's book still in her hands, asking everyone for recommendations of their favorite books until the resident advisors told them all to disperse. Lucy was ready for this year more than ever now, she had her best friend at her side, some new friends to help her along, and a trip to the bookstore to plan.
She crawled into bed that night hugging her Plue tight to her chest and whispering into the dark, "Are you ready Plue?" When she heard no response, she turned to her side and closed her eyes. I am, no matter what this year brings.
So this one is kind of weird, I know, but I wanted to introduce some more characters and show off Lucy's anxiety a little. It's true I changed her a little for the sake of this story, but she will grow into the same Lucy we all know and love. I also apologize if any of my characterizations don't sit well yet, but please keep in mind that this is an AU, not everyone will be exactly the same as in the manga/anime.
There's still a bit of filler to go through until I get to the main part of the story, so bear with me still, aye? I'm still getting the hang of multi-chap stories and the flow I need for them, but I'm learning.
Anyway, tell me what you think, who you might want to see more of, any constructive criticism you might have. Ya know, read, review, follow, favorite, whatever strikes your fancy!