Happy Valentine's Day!
Lucy groaned as she rolled over in bed. She felt a sting in her stomach, so she sat up. She looked down and saw that she never changed into her pajamas. Her belly button was red from where her ring rubbed in her sleep.
Lucy looked around her. She was in the green room, which was now her room. She could smell eggs and bacon, so she got out of bed. She trailed her hand along the unfamiliar wall as she walked down the long hallway.
When she reached her kitchen, she saw Layla cooking at the stove. She had an apron tied around her, and her hair was loose, ending at her shoulders.
"You're awake," Layla said without turning around. The bacon sizzled as she flipped the thin pieces of pork. "I was just about to go wake you up." She wiped her hands on her apron and turned around, a smile on her face, as if this morning was just like any other. It wasn't, though. Lucy was there, so it was different.
"You went out to eat without me," Lucy noted. She really didn't care, but she felt she needed to bring the fact to her mother's attention.
"You were sleeping, and I didn't want to wake you," Layla said. Lucy rolled her eyes. "Why don't you go take a shower?"
Lucy walked towards the bathroom without saying anything. She took off her clothes and belly button ring, replacing it will a stud. She turned the hot water on so it could heat up. She sighed in relief when the warm water hit her back.
She couldn't believe that she was in Fiore. Just a few weeks ago, she was in America. She definitely had an interesting life. She kept a book with stamps from everywhere she's been. The book is pretty full so far. Her passport was not collecting dust over the years, that's for sure. She still couldn't believe that a kid could move from country to country so easily. Her faster was rich, true, but he must have noticed money missing. She stole one of his credit cards before she left, and she used it for everything. He must not pay attention to his bills.
Lucy shut off the water and stepped out of the shower. She combed her hair and brushed her teeth with the toothbrush that magically appeared on the sink. After wrapping her body in a fluffy white towel, she set out for her room.
She changed into black and white jeans. The right pant leg was black while right was checkered. Her shirt was red and torn up, a black tank top underneath. She kept her diamond stud in her belly-button. She changed her tongue ring to a black one. She put black eyeliner on, and no other make-up on her face. She braided all her hair to one side. Finally, she put her black converse on. Satisfied, she left for the kitchen, hoping for some breakfast. She hadn't eaten since lunch the day before, so she was hungry.
Layla was setting two plates down at the island when she entered the room. Three barstools sat there, so Lucy assumed that's where she would eat all her meals.
"We have twenty minutes before we have to leave," Layla said. Lucy sat down at one of the stools.
"Where are we going?" Lucy asked, putting a fork full of scrambled egg in her mouth. She looked over at the clock and saw that it was almost seven in the morning.
"You have school," Layla laughed. "I signed you up last night."
"Why are we going then?" Lucy asked, accenting 'we'.
"I'm the gym teacher at your school."
Lucy sighed and took a drink of orange juice. Having your mom as a teacher wasn't cool. It was pretty pathetic, in her mind.
She suddenly remembered Wendy saying that Gray was competing in the youth competition the night before.
"Is Gray is high school?" Lucy asked. He looked like he could be graduated, but if he was, he wouldn't be competing in a youth event.
"He's in eleventh grade with you, why?" Layla asked. Lucy shrugged and took another drink. She ate half her egg, none of her bacon, and drank all her orange juice before she decided she was done. She doesn't really each much.
Layla grabbed her purse and keys, and Lucy grabbed a green and black backpack from her room. The two walked to Layla's red Ford F150 truck. They only lived five minutes from the school, since they lived in town, so it was a short ride.
The school was a large brick building. A few trees and benches were out front, and students were hanging around. Directly inside sat the cafeteria. A larger group of students were gathered. Two hallways extended from either side of the room. Opposite of the front doors were the doors to the gym and locker rooms. The office was beside the hallway to the right.
"Ninth and tenth grade classes are down there," Layla said, pointing to the left, "and eleventh and twelfth grade classes are there." Layla pointed to the other hallway. "Art and music rooms are in the same hallway as he freshmen and sophomores. Cooking and shop classes are in the junior and senior hallway. Have fun!" Layla smiled at her daughter before heading towards the gym.
Lucy sighed and pulled the crumpled piece of paper from her back pocket, which happened to be her schedule. Her first class was art. She shoved the paper back in her pocket and went down the hallway to the left. Not many people were in the hallway; most were hanging around the school, or already in their classes.
Lucy found the classroom rather quickly. When she walked in, she saw four tables. Four chairs were at each table. A young women sat at the desk in the front of the room. She looked up and Lucy and motioned for her to come closer.
"You look just like Layla," she said. "My name is Miss Molly. I already set out the students' projects for this class, so just pick an empty seat. Everyone should arrive shortly. I'll help you once class starts, okay?"
Lucy didn't respond. She started walking around the room, looking for an empty seat. She found one in the far back corner by the window. She figured a nice view would make up for an over-talkative teacher.
After five minutes of twirling a pencil, the bell rang. Lucy watched the door as everyone entered the room. The first was a girl with short white hair. She was wearing a yellow sundress. The second was a girl with medium-length blue hair. She was wearing a dressy orange shirt and black, loose jeans. The third was a boy with orange hair. He was wearing a black dress shirt, the first few buttons undone, and blue jeans. A few more students entered, then a boy with pink hair came in. He was wearing a plain black shirt and red gym shorts. The last boy was wearing a tight white shirt and faded blue jeans. He looked too familiar.
The boy with pink hair sat across from Lucy. The girl in the sundress sat beside him. And beside Lucy, sat Gray.
"Hello, I'm Lisanna," the white-haired girl greeted Lucy. The blonde just nodded her head, looking out the window. She could hear her, but didn't want to look at her. She didn't want to see the cheery face that matched the cheery voice.
"I'm Natsu," the pink-haired kid said. Lucy didn't nod her head that time. She tried to tune out his voice as he said everyone's name in the room. "...and this is Ice Princess," he finished.
Lucy tuned to see him pointing at Gray. She internally laughed. The way he fought Layla, she was surprised that he could have a nickname with "princess" in it.
"Lucy?" Miss Molly asked. She set a piece of paper in front of Lucy, along with a pencil and eraser. "We started a sketching unit earlier this week, so we are just drawing what we want. The only rule is that you aren't allowed to look off anything. I want to see a picture from your head." She nodded to the others at the table and walked back to her desk.
A few things came to Lucy's mind during Miss Molly's little speech. One, she didn't want to know what was in her head. Two, it was, in fact, Friday. And three, it was November, so the school year was well underway.
Lucy picked up her pencil and started drawing a willow tree. That particular type of tree reminded her of an old friend, whom she missed dearly.
"You draw good, Lucy," Natsu said. Lucy looked at his drawing. She assumed it was a dragon, but she wasn't quite sure.
"She draws well," Lisanna corrected. Lucy looked at her paper. She was drawing a butterfly. The picture seemed to fit her personality, for what Lucy could tell.
Just because she could, she looked over at Gray's paper. He was just adding finishing touches to his Labrador picture. It was actually really good. It was usually difficult to dry a realistic drawing such as a dog, which was why his drawing was so impressive; he drew it by memory.
Lucy looked back at her own drawing. She pushed the memories back into her mind and continued drawing. She didn't want to remember the happy times she experienced during her two years in Rome. She would just be reminded of him. She didn't want that.
When the bell rang, Lucy went to her reading class. They were all assigned To Kill a Mockingbird, and had to read the first chapter for homework. Third period was math. She got to spend the whole period flipping through the book, "catching up" with the other students. Fourth period, the unwanted period, known as PE, came.
"I want you all to run three laps!" Layla yelled. All the students groaned and started running around the gymnasium. Since it was cold outside, Layla decided to have gym inside.
After three laps, everyone played a friendly game of basketball. Lucy found a nice bench to sit at. She wasn't the best at sports, so she selectively excluded herself from the group.
"Hi, Lucy," Levy said as she sat on the bench. Levy, so far, had every class with Lucy. She talked to the the blonde at least once every period. "I'm not one for sports either."
Lucy was happy that Levy didn't talk after that. She found a random spot in the room to stare. She let her mind wander, not paying attention to where she was really looking. Sadly, the human eyes tend to follow a moving object.
Levy gasped. Lucy snapped from her thoughts and looked at the girl beside her. "Do you like Gray?" she asked. Lucy rolled her eyes. "You've been staring at him for five minutes! You have to!"
"What is up with you teenage girls?" Lucy snapped. "Someone always has to like someone else. It's fucking annoying."
Lucy felt someone smack the back of her head. She lazily looked up and saw her mother. She did not look happy. Levy was a bit shocked that Layla would hit a student, but also trying not to laugh
"If I ever hear you say that again you are going to regret the day you were born," Layla hissed. Levy lost it. She started laughing, causing the attention of everyone in the class. They all gawked at the scene.
"Oh really? What can you do?" Lucy asked. She really liked seeing people upset. Her mother's face was priceless, so she liked making her mad the best.
"I don't think you want to know," Layla hissed. All the students were exchanging glances, silently asking each other what was happening. Layla never yelled, except during her martial arts classes. Lucy looked pretty happy, but Levy was laughing really hard. It was an odd sight.
"Try me," Lucy snapped. Layla's eye twitched.
"You know what?" Layla asked. Lucy shrugged. Layla's face turned to a smirk. "You are going to start cleaning the dojo. I don't have class tonight, so you can have fun when we get home."
"I'm not doing your shit!" Lucy asked, loud enough to Layla to hear. Her mother didn't even flinch. She just continued walking to her office.
"Lucy?" Natsu asked. The blonde rolled her head around to face him. "Do you two know each other?" The whole class was waiting for her answer.
Lucy let out a sigh. "Sadly, she's my mother."
"Seriously, who is she to you?" Natsu asked, laughing slightly.
"I said that she is my mother, didn't I?" Lucy said through grit teeth.
"You may have the same eyes and hair, but you two are not related," Natsu said.
Something inside Lucy snapped. She didn't really know why Natsu bothered her so much. She could care less if people associated her with Layla. Maybe it was the fact that he was indirectly insulting her that she jumped up and tried punching him in the face.
"Although I would completely support punching Natsu, I can't let you do that at school or with Erza watching," Gray whispered, gripping her fist in his hand a little tighter. Lucy pulled her hand away and tried kicking him in the shins. She figured it was the perfect plan. If he were to move, Natsu would get kicked, since he jumped in front of him and blocked her punch.
Gray had other plans. The second Lucy's foot lifted off the ground, he picked her up bridal style. She blushed and struggled in his arms. Gray ignored her and walked to Layla's office. Levy smiled. To her, that was just proof of her earlier assumption.
"Package for Miss Star," he said while opening her door. Layla tried not to laugh. Gray set Lucy in her arms and walked off.
"I hate him," Lucy spat out.
Notice: I am going to start updating my stories every Monday. For every review, I will update one day sooner! So make sure you review after reading!