Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

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Summer Camp (Ch. 2)

Lucy ended up falling asleep on the bus half an hour after they pulled out of the high school parking lot. She didn't know how long she was asleep, but the next thing she knew, everyone was moving and Master Makarov was telling people to use the restroom and if we're hungry, buy a snack. It took Lucy a moment to realize they were in a gas station.

Rubbing her eyes and standing up, she waited for the girl who was sitting next to her on the ride to get into the aisle and slowly make her way off the bus. It was hot now, and she was starting to sweat. This morning, Lucy was cold in her room and just quickly pulled on a short skirt, a tank top, and then over it to keep her snuggled and warm, a large sweatshirt. Now it was hot, she quickly shed it, throwing it onto her seat so she could remember where she was sitting.

Once she was off the bus, Lucy stretched high into the air, letting her breath out in a sigh of relief. Ah! It was good to be off that crowded bus!

"Ow!"

Curiously, Lucy looked over.

It was the strange, pink haired boy with the scarf who had yelped. He was holding his cheek and was stumbling back. The person who had hit him was the same half naked man from this morning.

"What'd you hit me for, Gray?!"

"I've wanted to do that forever!" The man, named Gray, grinned and started to unbutton his pants. Lucy blushed and looked away, but continued to listen to what was going on. "Man! You were so annoying on that bus! When we leave again, stop puking everywhere!"

"Oi! I can't help it, Snowflake?! You were just as annoying as I was!"

"Ha! You just admitted you were annoying, Flame Brain!"

"And you didn't deny it! And put your pants back on, you Pervy Popsicle!"

"Wha-oh crap! Not again! Where did my pants go?!"

That was all Lucy heard before she turned and headed toward the bathroom.

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The employees looked surprised at the unexpected swarm of teenagers going in and out the bathroom and wandering the store. Lucy browsed through the shelves, overlooking the candy she didn't need, but hesitating at her favorite soda.

"I wouldn't buy anything if I were you."

Lucy jumped and turned around to see a tall, muscular man with orange hair slicked back and tucked behind his ears. He was so tall, Lucy almost had to crane her neck to look into this eyes, but despite that, she immediately slipped out of her comfort zone. She felt breezy and out of whack, but remained respectable anyway:

"E-excuse me?"
"I said, I wouldn't buy anything if I were you. Unless you're really hungry, I'd wait on food. Our next stop is in Onibas where we're all going to eat. That's our halfway point."

"O-oh. I-I wasn't really hungry…it's just…" He waited patiently as she gestured to the fridge that contained the delicious soda she was addicted to. "It's root beer…"

The man chuckled, "you like root beer, huh?" She nodded as he pulled the bottle out of the fridge. "You've got good taste; A&W is the best."

She blushed at his compliment – not receiving them often because she hardly talks to anyone – and bit her lip.

"I like root beer too." He smiled before putting the bottle back and holding out his hand, "The name's Gildarts Clive. I'm the bus driver for Fairy Tail, one of the youth leaders, and the Physical Education teacher for the high school."

Hesitantly and nervously, Lucy reached out and shook his hand. "Lucy."

"You must be the new girl."

"Um…yeah," she let go of his hand.

"You'd probably be good friends with my daughter, Cana, she's around here somewhere…probably over by the liquor section. She loves alcohol."

"That's great," Lucy said with fake enthusiasm in her voice. Luckily, Gildarts didn't catch it. "Um…how long have we been traveling?"

"About an hour and forty-five minutes. We're a quarter of a way to Greenville. I hope you brought something to do because it'll be another five hours until we get there."

Lucy didn't groan because honestly, she liked long car rides. It was an easy excuse to listen to her iPod as long as she wanted. Lucy knew she wasn't allowed to bring any electronics, but she was addicted to music and she'd die if her iPod wasn't with her. It was just a nano and Lucy was only going to listen to it on the way to camp and back. When she was in her cabin, she would put it away in her suitcase after it's charged. Also, even if she didn't want to listen to music, she had a book to read and if not that, she had her journal.

There was nothing else in this world Lucy was more addicted to than writing. It was her passion and her dream. She loved the way she was able to create and shape her characters the way she wanted them. It was like, to her, knitting together a scarf. First, she knits only little seams together, but soon, after hard work, it creates a beautiful piece of clothing she could enjoy. That was writing to her: she would be inspired by little ideas, get plot ideas from dreams she would have, form a few characters here and there, outline the things she wanted to happen, and then, finally, finish a beautiful story. She loved creating unrealistic expectations, the thrill of each plot twist, and it was so much fun leaving cliffhangers and write foreshadowing. She had so many stories she's writing and she loves reading the comments she gets when she posts each chapter online. Lucy is always so happy when her fans compliment and share her stories. It meant the world to her. Writing was like breathing, she needed it daily to live. Eating, sleeping, breathing, drinking, and writing are when she needed in order to live. It was in her blood and she felt desperate and incomplete when a day or two had gone by and she hadn't punched the keys on her keyboard.

However, there was one problem: as much she was adored writing, she still felt incomplete and was still a loner…She felt as if something in her life was still missing…

"Yes," Lucy answered to Gildarts. The thought of continuing her latest chapter had her itching to pick up the pencil. "I brought many things to do."

"Well that's good," he smiled at her before another youth leader, one with spiky, blonde hair with a strange lightning scar on his eye, began to lead everyone back to the bus.

"That's Laxus," Gildarts said, noticing Lucy's attention on him, "He's the Master's grandson. He had just recently graduated this year…Well! Let's get back on the bus, Kiddo! We've got a long way to go so let's grin and bare it!"

At his enthusiastic attitude, Lucy felt even more uncomfortable. She unconsciously took a step away from him and nodded, following him back to the bus.

As soon as she had sat down, the pen was to the paper and there was no way she was going to set it down anytime soon. As the bus pulled out of the gas station, Lucy checked her watch: it was almost eight. If her math was correct, they should be arriving at Greenville at four o'clock.

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Two and a half hours have gone by since the bus pulled out of the high school parking lot. Lucy had finished three chapters of her book when she decided to close her journal. She was happy no one was looking over her shoulder and reading what she was writing because it's always embarrassing to see people read what you write, except when you post them online, but even then, sometimes it's nerve-racking.

No one was paying attention to her, which was just how Lucy liked it. The girl sitting next to her had her back turned to her and was talking to her friends in different rows. Before Lucy popped her ear buds in, she caught a few words in their conversation.

"Hey Juvia, you shouldn't be rude to the new girl sitting next to you. You should talk to her. She looks lonely," a young blue haired girl with pigtails said. She looked way too young to be in high school, but Lucy then remembered that her mother had said the youth group was sixth grade on up. The girl must be one of the only middle school students here.

Lucy pretended not to listen to the conversation and looked out the window as the girl sitting next to her, named Juvia, turned to look at her before looking back at her friends. "She's not really talking to me though. And…and you know how nervous I get when meeting new people. Besides, if I was talking to her, I wouldn't be able to talk to my boyfriend!" Juvia girlishly giggled and scooted closer to the edge of her seat.

The boy across from her, who Lucy remembered was named Gray, face palmed, "ugh…Juvia, how many times do I have to tell you that I am not your boyfriend?"

"Maybe not now, but you will be someday, my darling Gray!"

Gray groaned.

"Back to the topic, Juvia," A girl with short, white hair said, "talk to her. She really does look lonely."

"B-but I don't know what to say…"

"Just say 'hi' and introduce yourself."

"Um…okay."

That was when Lucy sighed. Great, she has to deal with more people. Why can't they just leave her alone?

Then she was tapped on the shoulder.

At first, she didn't move, but Lucy knew she needed to be respectful so she turned to the curly, blue haired girl.

"U-um, hi!"

"Hi."

"I'm Juvia Locksar."

"Lucy Heartfilia."

"Nice to meet you!"

"You too."

"Um…so where are you from?"

Lucy didn't smile, trying to give off the vibe that she wanted to be left alone, but at the same time, nice and respectful. "Acalypha."

"I've been to Acalypha before. It's very pretty there."

It was in that moment that Gildarts drove the bus into a gas station to park it, saving Lucy from more discomfort, as Master Makarov said to walk across the street to the fast food restaurant for lunch…which was upsetting to Lucy.

They had stopped at McDonalds to eat which happens to be a fast food restaurant Lucy absolutely loathes. She just decided to go hungry and buy some food at their next stop another hour and forty-five minutes later.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

Lucy turned to the left, "Pardon?"

It was a beautiful, white haired lady that spoke. Lucy assumed it was one of the youth leaders, judging by her height.

"Aren't you going to eat?" She repeated. When Lucy said no, she introduced herself as Mirajane Strauss, or simply Mira, and tried to persuade her to eat. Lucy declined though. "Why not just get their salad? They're pretty good and healthy, unlike a bag of chips from the gas station. If it makes you feel any better, I can order a salad too and we can eat together."

Lucy hesitated and decided to change her mind, "okay, I'll get a salad, but you don't have to eat one with me. You should sit with your friends."
"Well okay. If you say so, but you should sit with us."

Lucy shook her head, "no thanks."

Mira frowned, "well, why not?"

"Um…I'd rather not say."

"Well, okay then, but I still think you should sit with us. We'll save you a spot." With that, Mira walked away.

Sighing, Lucy ordered her food and got a medium root beer. As she waited, she as happy to find herself in her comfort zone: nobody came up and talked to her as she stood there patiently.

"Man, Fairy Tail sure is chatty…" Lucy turned around to look at the group of teens eating, talking loudly, and even brawling in the middle of the restaurant. "And very strange…" The same strange, pink haired man with the scarf caught her attention again and she immediately noted how fast he was shoving food down his throat. He didn't even look like he was chewing. "He's so strange, I don't even know what to think about him."

When her salad came, Lucy found the quietest place she could eat without being interrupted over and over: the girls' bathroom.

At first, she didn't want to go in there and eat disgusting McDonalds in a stall on the toilet, but she was desperate not to be talked to again. She had stepped out of her comfort zone way too many times.

"Dang! How am I going to survive three weeks of this? It hasn't even been a day."

After eating half the salad in the bathroom stall, Lucy threw her food away in a trashcan outside. As she sipped the rest of her root beer, she was tempted to hide away back in the stall, but if she did, she wouldn't know when Laxus was going to haul everyone back to the bus, and if that happens, she'll be left behind and she didn't want that.

Instead, she sat outside on a bench and pulled out her journal again. She had a new oneshot in mind and she as itching to write it.

That was when someone cautiously sat next to her: "Hi. I'm Levy McGarden."

Lucy acknowledged her presence by a simple glance up to the short, blue haired girl before looking back down, "Hi. I'm Lucy Heartfilia." She scribbled the rest of her sentence before Levy spoke again:

"Is that your diary?"

"This?" Lucy shook her head and unconsciously scooted away from Levy. "No, it's just a journal. No big deal."

"Oh, interesting. What do you write in it?"

Lucy looked up at her, raising her eyebrow, "why do you want to know?"

Before Levy got to answer, Laxus began to lead everyone back to the bus. Luckily, everyone was supposed to sit in the same seats and Juvia didn't talk to her. Lucy sighed in relief as she popped her ear buds back in and continued to scribble down in her journal. It was good to be back in her comfort zone where she could live in her stories and hum to the melody of music.

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11/9/16 – 11/11/16 == the date I wrote this.

-zEllie