It was another beautiful day, as I met up with all my friends at the greenhouse.
"Lucy," I heard someone calling from behind me. I turned around to see Erza standing there.
"Oh hey Erza," I greeted as she caught up with me.
"Did those wild animals hurt you yesterday at the party?" she asked me as I shook my head.
"No not really, but we did play tag though and it was a lot of fun,"
"Tag?" Erza asked raising a brow. "Of those boys even so much as hurt a hair on your head I will make them pay,"
"Stop being noisy so early in the morning," Gray yawned out as he approached. The next thing I knew was that Erza was no longer standing next to me but now she had kicked Gray in the face and sent him flying into the nearest tree.
"I'm sorry, I have said too much. Please forgive me," Gray choked out as I watched from afar. My friends sure can be violent.
"Good morning," I turned around to see Natsu standing just a few feet away and my mind started replaying the incident with Laxus last night and what he told me. Laxus's words kept repeating as I grabbed onto my head and screamed slightly. This was just too much to handle right now.
"Did something happen?" Natsu asked watching as I freaked out.
"Oh no it's nothing," I managed to say even though I knew that my face was crimson. "Nothing at all," I added while backing up then I quickly turned around and ran off.
"Natsu, what did you do to Lucy?" Erza asked. Her murderous aura was surfacing. She lifted a large boulder and threw it towards Natsu who dodged it without even glancing at her. "Damn you piss me off,"
I sat behind a tree not far from where we normally eat at. I hugged my knees into my chest wondering why I ran. What has gotten into me? Once again my mind played back the events of the almost kiss with Laxus and then the face Natsu made after he pushed Laxus away.
"Lucy," I felt the blood drain from my face as I turned to the side and saw Natsu standing there.
"Laxus said something to you at the party didn't he?" He asked looking down at me with, was that worry in his eyes?
"Yeah, I guess he did." I said turning to face the ground so that I wouldn't have to look at him.
"What did he say?" Natsu took a step closer and I flinched slightly.
"Well, actually he said..." I felt the heat returning to my face but it increased ten fold. It felt like I was on fire and I didn't want to talk to Natsu about this. I tried to tell him but the words just wouldn't come out. Why can't I just say it?
"What did he say?" Natsu asked once more, aggravation etched across his face.
"No it's not a big deal so don't worry about it," I said standing up and trying to act like I wasn't bothered by it. He just continued to stare at me clearly not buying my act. He said nothing though so I turned around and made my way over to my seat.
"Lucy, tea is served," Mirajane stated as she sat it down in front of me. I thanked her as I took a sip.
"Was a wild animal bothering you?" Erza questioned with a harsh glare set on Natsu.
"Don't worry Lucy, we are here for you and if you need someone to talk to just let any of us know," Mirajane added as she gently placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Thanks guys," I said. Natsu ignored the glare Erza was sending his way.
"And who does wild animal refer too?" Natsu asked looking over at me.
"You of course," Erza answered. I started laughing to cover up my confusion but it didn't work too well. You could tell it was fake.
"She called you a wild animal Natsu," I said still pretending to laugh.
"What's wrong Lucy?" Gray asked noticing the awkwardness the hung around me. I stopped laughing as I looked at the hands that were in my lap. What is wrong with me? Why does this bother me so much?
"Oh yeah Lucy," Mirajane said catching my attention. "Shall we all go on vacation this time?" she asked. "How about Europe, there is great shopping there and we could forget all the unpleasant things. And then I could get you, Erza and Levy to wear all sorts of cute dresses. We can take the guys to help carry all our stuff, "
"Oi! Don't decide things on your own!" Gray shouted jumping to his feet. "Even under normal circumstances I hate organized trips so what makes you think I would be willing to go with you? If we are going anywhere though, it should be on a survival trip through the jungle. And we will all have to camp out too."
"Denied," Erza stated.
"If we go on a trip through the jungle it shouldn't be for survival, it should be to observe all the animals in the environment and to learn about the plants and animals that live there," Levy chimed in.
"No what we should do is go on a world music trip and go to all the best concerts all over the world," Gajeel added. Soon everyone started to argue among each other about who had the better idea for a vacation.
"Stop with the whole shopping crap, that's only for women!"
"Don't mess with my dreams!"
"We will NOT go camping out there in the dangerous jungle!"
"I am also against the whole surviving the jungle thing,"
"Well I am not going on a vacation just to learn!"
"The music tour is definitely out of the question!"
I watched as all my friends excluding me and Natsu were in the middle of the greenhouse arguing and fighting with each other. It turned into an all out battle with so many people yelling that it was hard to tell who was saying what.
"Come on now, let's not fight. I am sure we could come up with something that everyone would like," I said in an attempt to calm them down.
"No way!" They all turned to me and shouted. Natsu had sat down and started to drink his tea.
"How about this then," he paused as he waited to get everyone's attention. "Shall we have a contest and whoever wins decides where we go?"
"In that case that it's obvious that you would be the winner Natsu," Levy stated.
"If I win then I will hand my decision over to the runner-up since I don't really care where we go," he took another drink of his tea before turning to me. "But if I do win, you will tell me what it was that Laxus told you,"
"Eh?" I said a little surprised at the outcome.
"You may be able to run away from me but can you run away from a challenge?" I bit my lip thinking that I hated this predicament.
"Of course not!" I stated jumping from me seat as I glared at him.
"So basically Natsu is using this to get some information out of Lucy?" Gray said watching them from the other side of the table.
"Alright so the contest will be tomorrow, lets go over the details Natsu," Erza informed.
~Later~
"So it will start at the greenhouse, you just need to run one lap around the school grounds and back here of course. First person back wins, simple as that." Erza stated. "However, this time we will have a handicap."
"Handicap?" Gray asked.
"Levy, you will be riding a mountain bike, and I will be running normally. Mirajane will be using roller blades, while Gray and Gajeel carry weights.
"Why did it have to be something like this?" Gray asked.
"Where did you even get something like this?" Gajeel asked pointing to the huge statue on his back that him and Gray had to race with.
"Lucy, you shall also have weights but not as large as the others," Erza informed. I took a look at the bands that were around my wrist, they were heavier than the looked but not as heavy as one would think and definitely not enough to hold me back. I glanced over and noticed that there was someone sitting in a chair, tied to it and they were wearing some weird robe like thing with a hood that completely covers the head and has two holes cut out for the eyes. Charcoal eyes locked onto mine as I gasped.
"Natsu?" I stared at the person in disbelief as Erza approached. "Isn't this going overboard?"
"Natsu is a monster, this has to be done," she said in a tone that suggested that she thought this was a normal thing to do.
"Erza shows no mercy," Gray added.
"There shall be variations in the start times. Gajeel, Gray and Mirajane will start first. Then 30 seconds later me, and Levy will start. Lucy you will start after one minute and Natsu will be two minutes. Understood?" Erza asked looking at each of us.
We all got behind the starting line as we were ready for when it was time for us to start.
~TBC~