"My arms feels like they're gonna fall off!" Levy whined as she entered the girl's locker room, quickly grabbing her clarinet case to put away her instrument. "You cheerleaders are so lucky."
Lucy scoffed, pulling a change of clothes from her bag as she began to speak. "No we don't, I'm constantly yelling, jumping, and trying not to break any part of my body!" She declared, putting a large sweater on before sliding off her skirt. "On top of that, we have to make sure the crowd is excited, which is really hard when the other team starts winning!"
The season for high school football was finally coming to a close as October reached an end, the last few games helping to determine which teams would go on to be Fiore's best for the next year, this week's game: Fairy Tail High School versus Sabertooth Academy.
"Juvia!" Lucy called, seeing her other blue haired friend had entered the room. "Which is more difficult, cheerleading or being in band? Give an unbiased opinion!"
Juvia hesitated before answering, looking between her friends to try and figure out which side would elicit a kinder reaction. "Um, well, Juvia thinks that both groups worked very hard, she can't decide which activity is more tiring…"
Levy and Lucy reluctantly agreed- much to Juvia's relief- as they finished changing, grabbing all their belongings before exiting the locker room.
"Hey, Luce, got any snacks in that bag?" Natsu asked as soon as she was out of the room, Gray standing not too far away with a hopeful smile.
Lucy sighed as she opened her bag, pulling out two large candy bars. "I know you run across the field for almost three hours every week, but there's a reason your coach tells you to eat a lot." She said, giving one bar to Natsu before handing the other to Juvia, who was on her way to talk to Gray.
"I could eat an entire buffet right before each game, and I'd still be hungry afterwards." Natsu announced as he ripped open the candy bar, eating it in about three seconds. "Now we gotta go, if we don't get to the bus in time it'll leave without us."
Fairy Tail was known quite well for it's large budget, allowing cheerleaders and band members to go with the team to every sports game, and for games that were later at night and over two hours away, everyone was allowed to stay in a nearby hotel, two or three people in every room.
"Juvia and I are off to grab a bite with everyone else, are you two sure you want to stay here?" Levy asked from the doorway, checking her phone before putting it back in her purse.
Natsu and Lucy gave some sort of grunt in response, too distracted by the game they were currently playing to pay attention to what was going on around them.
"Why'd you just jump off the map?!" Natsu asked as he furiously began to hit every button.
"There's another Robin and I got confused!" Lucy yelled back as Levy closed the door.
As Lucy entered the school on Monday, she could feel everyone's eyes on her, whispering to their friends as she passed.
Worrying there was some extreme flaw with her outfit or makeup, Lucy ducked into the nearest restroom, the four girls already in there instantly stopping their conversation as soon as they spotted her, shuffling out while they whispered amongst each other.
Lucy cautiously exited the restroom after reassuring she looked fine, making her way to homeroom as nearly every student watched her.
"Lu-Chan, are you okay?!" Levy asked as soon as Lucy entered the classroom, where students finally minded their own business.
"Why wouldn't I be-"
"Levy," Gajeel mumbled, speaking so silently Lucy could barely hear. "she doesn't know about the rumors…"
Lucy froze, breath hitching in her throat as everything began to fall into place. "What...what rumors?" She asked quietly, her voice weak.
Levy hesitated, looking to Gajeel for affirmation before speaking. "Well, when you and Natsu were two of the few people who didn't join everyone else, word quickly spread that you were alone in the same room, and people started coming up with their own reasons why, some of which you could probably guess…"
Lucy was silent, processing Levy's words before slumping into a nearby chair. People were really saying things like that? Sure, she and Natsu were being noisy, but it was only about the game, and most of it was Natsu!
"I'm sorry, Lu-Chan, Juvia and I tried to stop it, but we couldn't." Levy spoke softly, rubbing Lucy's back in comfort.
By Friday, the entire student body had heard the rumors, blowing them completely out of proportion and adding other people in that had less than nothing to do with it.
"Did you hear about what Natsu and Lucy did?"
"I heard she did it with Gray, too!"
"I was told there was a foursome where Levy and Juvia were involved!"
"Ew, she's such a slut…"
Nobody bothered to whisper anymore, some would straight up point at her, declaring to their friends that she was the girl who slept with those people. On top of that, lunch was practically hell, some would scoff in disgust as they passed her table while others would talk about how they were "totally getting her in the sack".
Lucy made sure not to show that it bothered her the first few days, Natsu didn't seem to care, and telling him she did would probably just end up with somebody getting punched. Despite how hard she tried, Natsu easily saw through the act, sometimes it was annoying how well he knew her.
A scoff was heard behind Lucy as a group of upperclass girls walked by, the supposed leader, Kyoka, mumbling "skank" loud enough for Lucy and her friends to hear. Kyoka's group laughed as they continued on, not bothering to see how Lucy reacted.
Lucy looked down to her untouched food, wrapping her arms around herself while tears began to brim in her eyes. She ignored the fact that it was becoming easier to feel her ribs, the sudden anxiety of the week causing an extreme loss of appetite.
Natsu slammed his fists on the table, shooting up with a scowl on his face. "Alright everyone, listen up!" He shouted as he got on top of the table, drawing the attention of every student and teacher in the cafeteria. "You wanna know exactly what happened with Lucy and I after the game last week?"
Lucy watched in awe, murmurs of confirmation coming from around the room as everyone's attention shifted to her.
"We were playing video games all night, you got that? I dunno how you got sex from me screaming at Pikachu!" Natsu continued as he looked around the room, sneaking glances to Lucy to make sure she was okay.
"Then how do you explain all the moans from Lucy?" Someone asked, earning multiple shouts of agreement throughout the room.
Seeing Natsu's confusion, Levy quickly got up on the table, pointing in the direction the voice came from. "The groaning happened way after Natsu left, and only because we found out she likes...someone but that's not important!"
Students began to shout out more questions, not bothering for one to be answered before asking another. Natsu and Levy quickly shot them all down, announcing that they already proved nothing had happened and they didn't need to say anything more.
"Come on, Lu-Chan!" Levy whined, pulling the hotel's blanket tighter around her body. "Juvia and I told you who we're crushing on, so it's only right that you say yours…"
Lucy groaned, burying her face into a nearby pillow. "I don't want to, you guys will laugh!" She yelled, voice muffled by the pillow.
"Juvia promises not to tell, and she is quite sure Levy will do the same!" Juvia announced, looking back at her phone as it began to buzz.
Despite Levy's nod of agreement, Lucy hesitated, knowing her friends would freak out no matter what. "Alright, but you can't laugh or freak out…" She stated, looking down at her hands as her face turned red, waiting for her friends to agree before continuing. "I...like Natsu, and I have for two years…"
Lucy nervously looked to her friends when they didn't respond, only to find them unnecessarily surprised.
"She actually admitted it…" Levy mumbled, looking over to a befuddled Juvia. The two momentarily shared a look before bursting into a fit of giggles.
Lucy panicked, falling back on the bed while shoving a pillow in her face. "It's not funny!" She yelled into the pillow, the giggles turning to laughter.
"Sorry, Lu-Chan!" Levy apologized once she calmed down. "Everyone is already pretty certain you like him, I just wasn't sure you knew…"
Lucy sat back up, smacking the pillow onto the bed next to her. "What do you- never mind, we're done talking, I'm going to bed!" She proclaimed before flopping to the side, pulling the blankets until they covered her head.
And the truth is revealed! Bit of a serious tone this chapter, but nothing too big, just know that the next chapter will be much more serious and kinda dark, which is why tenth grade will be two parts.
(Quick spoiler hint for you readers: Somebody may or may not be in the hospital...)