Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

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Summer Camp (Ch. 3)

Another two and a half hours later, and they had finally arrived in Greenville. Lucy stretched her limbs when she got off the bus with her luggage and checked her watch: her estimation was correct; it was nearly four o'clock. She sighed, loving the long car ride, but happy it was over. About thirty minutes before they arrived, Lucy's iPod died and she was out of inspiration which meant the pen wasn't hitting the paper anytime soon. She sat there bored and was tired of riding a bus. It was great to be off.

"OOOHHH! FREEDOM BABY! I'VE COME BACK TO LIFE!"

Squealing and jumping in fright, Lucy turned to see the strange, pinked haired boy with the scarf now kissing the ground and shouting in joy. Gray and an overly pierced, intimidating man stood over him calling him names and saying how irritated they were.

"Now he's kissing the ground and making a scene?...He's so weird…"

"Alrighty then!" Master Makarov shouted to get everyone's attention. Lucy patiently waited for his words: "we're the last youth group here, so we get the leftover free beds and rooms. Gildarts will take you boys to your cabin down that road. Erza will take you ladies to your cabin down the stairs here."

"This way, everybody," Erza said, leading all the ladies away from the men. We went down the stairs to the basement where two cabins were. One was full, and the other was completely empty for all of us. As we entered the cabin, Lucy disappointingly met bunk beds and bunk buds, which meant she had to suck it up and ask someone to bunk with her. Luckily, before she looked around for a willing candidate, someone tapped her shoulder.

It was Levy. "Hi again, Lucy. I was wondering if you wanted to bunk with me."

"Yeah," Lucy nodded, "that would be great. Do you want the top or the bottom?"

"I'd like the bottom if you don't mind," she awkwardly giggled, "I'm short so I probably won't read the top."

"Okay," Lucy replied, ignoring her last comment, "I'll take the top."

As Lucy set her luggage, along with Levy's, at the foot of the bunk bed, she began to spread the sheets along with her blanket and pillow over the mattress, but before she could finish, Erza made an announcement:

"Listen up! Orientation is starting right now at the main hall down the road. You can finish getting set up later; right now, we all need to get going!"

Setting down her things and following Erza out the door, Lucy found herself watching the boys walk down the road to the left where their dorm is. They must be heading to Orientation as well.

"Hey there, Elfman!" Mira exclaimed, walking up to a tall, bulky white haired man along with the younger girl with short, white hair from earlier.

"They must be siblings," Lucy thought as she followed Erza to the main hall through the pathway, "they look a like."

When Lucy first entered through the doors, there were two small rooms to the left and the right of her. To the left was a game room, with foosball, table tennis, dart throwing, and even a pool table. A couple of couches were in there as well. To the right was a tiny library with about three couches and two bookshelves. Lucy bit her lip, wanting to pull out a book to read, but knew she had somewhere to be.

She followed Erza as they went past the rooms straight ahead which opened up into a large room in the back.

At the front of the doors where you first enter, there's a basketball court which a few people from other youth groups were already playing at. After that, was a computer which a couple of adults were on making sound-checks in front of two sections of about a dozen rows of seats that most people were at already. And farther than that was a stage.

Lucy followed her youth group as they sat in the center of the left section. Lucy sat quietly in the back, behind all of them where the chairs around her were empty. She breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the lonesomeness welcome her with their cold, open arms.

Cold, open arms that she willingly fell into, like a trap, every time…

"Alright everyone! Settle down! Settle Down!" An announcer walked onto stage with a pretty young girl behind him. He was short and old, looking a lot like Master Makarov, but he seemed slightly older and without a mustache. The lady was tall, with shoulder-length green hair in a ponytail. "My name is Toma and this is my daughter, Hisui. We both own and run this campsite and we hope you have a wonderful time here…"

As Toma spoke, the seats began to completely fill in and Lucy bit her lip as she felt crowded. The empty seats next to her drew attention and were filled one by one. Lucy felt self-conscious and she didn't like it.

"…Some of you may have noticed the paper on the wall back there…" Lucy turned as Toma pointed. Near the entrance, there were sheets of paper hanging on the wall. "Those tell you the family groups you're in. Find your name, and you find your group. The purpose of family groups is getting to know people in different youth groups and, of course, to have fun…"

"You must be joking…" Lucy zoned out, internally groaning. She was forced to hang out with strangers…

"You'll have group meeting with your fellow group members twice a day: after breakfast and before dinner. It lasts only half an hour."

Toma and Hisui then disappeared from sight as a projection shown onto the wall above the stage. It was a YouTube video showing the camp rules. It was simple really: no boys in girls' cabin and no girls in boys' cabin, no PDA, no inappropriate clothing, lights out at eleven-thirty, no alcoholic beverages, no drugs, no leaving the camp property without a youth leader…they were all relevant and understandable rules…Lucy could easily see herself following them and leaving them unbroken. They were simple.

As Orientation ended, before Lucy could go back to her cabin to finish unpacking, she stopped at the wall, looking for her name. It seemed other people had the same idea so Lucy had to stand on her tip toes to see. There were twelve groups total and Lucy was in number four. She read all the names off to herself:

"The leader is Mirajane Strauss from Fairy Tail," Lucy mumbled to herself. "Jenny Realight from Blue Pegasus, Yukino Agria from Sabertooth, Wendy Marvell from Fairy Tail, Shelia Blendy from Lamia Scale, me, and Eve from Blue Pegasus."

Great, she has to hang out with that many people? Ugh…perfect.

Lucy immediately got out of the way for more access for other people and headed off to her cabin. Once she finished making her bed, Erza appeared next to her.

"Here, Lucy," she said, "this is your nametag. It has the schedule on the back of it and your group number next to your name. Don't lose it, okay? Dinner is in about ten minutes and the cafeteria is literally above us. Just go outside, up the flight of stairs, and the door is to your left."

"Okay, thank you," as Erza began to walk away, Lucy remembered something, "wait, Erza!"

She turned back to her, "yes?"

"You said you were a youth leader, right? Can I borrow your cell phone? I told my mom and dad I would call them when I got here."

"Of course," Erza smiled and handed her her cell phone that was tucked in her pocket.

"Thank you. I'll give it back when I'm done."

"Okay."

Lucy left the cabin with a sigh and headed up the flight of stairs. To her left, like Erza told her, was a door to the cafeteria. Lucy, though, went by it to the porch wrapping around the building and ending with a deck in the back. She sat on a bench and dialed her home number.

"Aaaaaand Gajeel steals the ball! He shoots….he scores!"

As the phone rung, Lucy looked over to her right to see a small basketball court where four boys were. Lucy immediately recognized the pink haired boy and the intimidating man with piercing, but there was a blonde man with a small scar across his eyebrow and a man with long black hair that covered his eye. They must be from a different youth group. The four of them were playing basketball.

"You cheated!" The blonde man shouted as he stole the ball, but he had a smile on his face.

"Hey! Sting, give it back!"

"Not a chance! Rogue, catch!"

"I've got it!"

"Rogue has the ball!" It was the pink haired man who was narrating everything out. "He shoots-BANANAS!-He misses!"

Thanks to the pink haired man shouting bananas, Rogue missed his shot. Sting tackled him and a brawl started, but all four of them were smiling, which made Lucy frown. What was there to smile about? She didn't understand. He made Rogue miss his shot and he was smiling? It didn't make sense to her. Why were they so happy?

"Hello?"

Lucy turned her back to them, recognizing the feminine voice, "hi Mom. It's Lucy."

"Lucy! Hi! How are you?!"

"I'm good. We made it to the campsite. I'm waiting for dinner to start."

"That's great! I'm glad you made it! So, have you made any friends?"

Lucy sighed, not wanting to go through this, "Mom, I had only just arrived. It's my first day. I haven't made any friends yet."

Freezing, Lucy realized she had just said the word "yet". It made her panic; it made her freak out. She didn't want any friends! She didn't need them!

Layla didn't realize the tiny mistake Lucy made, "well I suppose you're right…Listen, Sweetie, I have to get going, I have a meeting. I'll tell your father you called, okay?"

"Okay then."

"Don't forget to call us every so often."

"I won't, Mom. I love you."

"I love you too, Lucy. Goodbye."

"Bye."

As Lucy hung up, she noticed the boys leaving the basketball forgotten on the court as they walked past her to the cafeteria. She stood up and followed them, very hungry. She didn't eat very much today, just a simple salad, strawberries, and chocolate milk. She was rather excited for dinner.

As she sat down at a table in the far back, she kept an eye out for Erza so she could give her phone back to her.

Then, someone sat next to her:

"Hi Lucy!" It was Levy.

"Hi," Lucy turned to her, "have you seen Erza? I have to give her phone back to her."

"Um…she was right behind me," Levy turned around, tapping her chin before she caught a glimpse of red hair. "Oh, there she is! Erza!" She waved her down.

Erza smiled and waved back, sitting in front of Lucy who sighed. She didn't want company; she just wanted to give Erza her phone back and be alone.

"Hello," Erza greeted before eying her phone. "Did you reach your parents, Lucy?"

"Yes, I did. I was waiting for you to get here so I could give it to you."

"Actually," Levy spoke up, "I need to call my parents too. Erza, do you mind?"

"Not at all. Go ahead, Levy."

"Thank you," Taking Erza's phone, Levy left the crowded lunchroom to make a call.

"So, Lucy," Erza started as more people sat down at different tables around them, "how are you liking Magnolia so far? You just moved here from Acalypha at the beginning of summer, didn't you?"

"Yes," Lucy answered. "It's a lot warmer here than Acalypha, but I like it."

"That's good. And you're joining Fairy Tail?"

"No," Is what she wanted to say, but she didn't want to be rude. "Well…my parents want me to join…"

"That's great! You'll like it in Fairy Tail," Erza smiled, "we might be a little chaotic at first, but all-in-all, we love each other and have fun."

Lucy flashed her a fake smile that lasted only a second before turning to her left to see the same pink haired boy harassing his friends, Gajeel, Sting, Rogue, and now Gray at a table across the room. Why does he keep popping up? It's weird.

"Hey Erza?"

"Yes?"

Lucy nodded her head over to the boys' table, "that pink haired boy with the scarf over there…I know he's apart of Fairy Tail because I saw him this morning, but…who is he?"

Erza turned around, "him? Oh, that's-"

"Alright everyone!" Hisui walked into the middle of the room to get everyone's attention. "Dinner is ready! We're going to pray and then we'll get in line to eat, but each table will go one at a time starting with…" She looked around before her eyes landed on Lucy who shivered, "the table in the back with the ladies!"

Lucy, at first, thought Hisui was going to call on her for a moment, but she let her breath out when she didn't. Levy sat back down next to her before everyone bowed their heads.

It was spaghetti for dinner, which was absolutely amazing. Lucy found herself humming in delight at the steaming food melted on her tongue. It was the most delicious food she has ever tasted.

When she was finished with her meal, people brought slices of ice cream cake around, which Lucy admitted was just as good as the spaghetti. However, the room was packed with a bunch of youth groups and Lucy escaped out a second door onto the porch where it was less crowded. It was getting dark, which meant she should get in a shower in her cabin before anyone else does.

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After her shower and her damp, blonde hair was thrown over her shoulder in a braid, Lucy went back up to the cafeteria to buy a chocolate bar. She saw a bunch of candy to the side and she heard from Erza that she could buy some if she wanted to.

And for tradition, she did.

As she stepped back out onto the porch, she slipped the chocolate into her jacket pocket before heading back to her cabin, but before she could take a step, someone spoke up:

"Hey there, Gorgeous. What's your name?"

"Oh no," Lucy thought before sighing, "Lucy."

"Pretty name for a pretty girl."

As Lucy turned around to see who was talking to her, she blushed. It was a cute boy with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. However, even though he was cute, he wasn't Lucy's type, especially since it's been recently discovered that he's obviously a pervert.

The question is, how does she escape?

Lucy shook her head to get the blush away, "what do you want?"

"I was hoping for maybe a kiss?"

"There's no PDA here."

"No one's around."

"I don't know you and you're not my type. Now leave me alone," Lucy began to walk away, but the man grabbed her arm.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Ugh! Let go of me!"

"Hey!"

The two turned around to see a figure. Since it was dark, she couldn't see him at first, but as he got closer, Lucy's eyes widened; it was the pink haired man.

"What do you think you're doing, Hibiki?" He asked.
"Back off, Man! I'm just getting this beauty alone with me."

Before Lucy could defend herself, the pink haired man spoke up again, "funny, I heard her telling you to leave her alone." He came in front of them and yanked Hibiki's grip off her arm.

"Do you have a problem?" Hibiki hissed.
"I do now! You didn't let her go before, so I had to get involved."

"Who do you think you are, getting involved in my business?"

There was a deadly silence and Lucy found her heart racing in fear. The pink haired man spoke again, but this time, it was to her:

"Get going, Girlie. This isn't going to be pretty."

By the time the first punch was thrown, Lucy was around the corner.

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11/11/16 – 11/13/16 == the date I wrote this.

-zEllie