A/N HI! FrenchSha here. I'm gonna make this a dumping ground of all Gruvia one-shots that plays on my head. Hope you guys support this!
Hello Lover!
Genre: Slice of Life, Highschool
The sky was all dark and gloomy as I tried to count the falling raindrops that rippled on the stocked water around my boots. I tightened my grip on the umbrella, oblivious of the linked hands passing before my reminiscing eyes. I wasn't Ms. Popular, nor was I a head-turner that makes all men jump off their chairs when they see me coming. In fact, I have nothing that should be proud of, envied of. Nothing that must be praised by anyone. I was the typical addition in the flock of the losers, outcasts, the nobodies. But what happened to me this summer was indeed, splendid.
The end of the school year was fast approaching. I was hoping that I could spend more time with my best friend, Lucy, since she has been very busy with her extracurricular activities. Student Council and Science Club President, major position in her other three organizations, a declaimer, singer, dancer and the class Valedictorian, a few words to define how remarkable she was.
"I can't just sit there and do nothing. I want adventure." She'd always tell me.
That's why I wasn't surprised when she told me she was going on a School-related Summer Camp.
"C'mon Juvia, you need to work those muscles. You can't just stay home."
"Sorry Luce but I have a lot in hand this break."
"By a lot you meant nothing?" she mocked, more of an insult.
But still, my decision was final. I was not going and nothing was going to make me.
"Gray's gonna be there."
My heart skipped a beat. Gray? Gray Fullbuster, the school's basketball captain? What was he going to do in a Science Summer Camp?
"S...So?!" I stuttered. "So what if he's gonna be in that camp? As if, I care." I rolled my eyes, emphasizing the last words.
Was I? Was I not really bothered? Did I really not care? It was the best chance to get close to him after all. But what if he did not feel the same way I did?
"No, Lucy. I'm not going and that's final." Then I stormed off, leaving a confused Lucy at the corridor.
Next thing I knew, I was staring at the same person I was thinking about the whole time, Gray-sama.
"So this summer, the Fiore Science Club Organization will hold their annual nation-wide summer Camp in Magnolia. We are here to..." His lovely voice faded gently in my ears as I look intently and straight at his stature as if nothing exists but him.
"Hey, so how are you?" I called my best friend up as I did every night since the first day of camping. I never asked her about Gray-sama, not wanting to give myself away but she kept on talking about him. I never gave her a hint of enthusiasm when it comes to things related to Gray-sama. Although, deep inside, I was secretly happy about it. What I really wanted to talk about was everything regarding Gray-sama.
"Juvia, if you were asking me then I'm fine. But if you were asking about Gray, well, he is enjoying himself, a lot."
"Yeah, right." I sarcastically replied.
I heard her chuckle. Afterwards, she excused herself and cut the line shortly. She could not talk to me the whole day because she was on camping. What was I thinking?
Then our routine went on the whole, almost a week, camping of theirs. And each day I grew to like the man she told me about, the man I thought only existed in books or movies.
"He's kind, sweet and a real gentleman. He even offered help to carry my luggage all the way to the girl's room." It must be hard for him since Lucy was the type of girl who always needed an extra everything.
One morning, to my surprise, I've read a newly sent message from an unregistered number.
"Good morning." It read.
I was so curious of who was it and where he got my number but before I could even think of texting him back, my phone rung.
"Are you up?" A thrilled Lucy greeted me.
"Yeah. Why?" Then she never stopped, never stopped talking about Gray-sama, never stopped babbling about the things he did for her, about the things I wish he did for me.
I must not be threatened for she was my best friend and she, above all, knew my true feelings even though how many times I denied it. But I must be alarmed that Lucy was a girl who suited him well. It was not hard to fall in love with the girl who was adored by everyone. What was I compared to Lucy? I was just a thorn on the rose's stem.
On the last day of camp, Lucy told me all her plans for the summer. I felt guilty on getting angry at my best friend. The jealousy was eating me up and I could not even answer her calls without rolling my eyes. But in the end, I decided that a real friend would be happy. So even if it was hard, I slowly gave up on Gray-sama.
"Life is unpredictable, Juvia. Even the impossible could happen."
What did she mean? And my curiosity was provoked when this mystery text mate sent another message.
"You can do anything as long as you believe. Good night." With a smiley at the end. Could Lucy just be playing with me? Was this just one of her dirty schemes to make fun of me?
I was in the middle of searching up her number to call her back when, suddenly, a message flashed on my phone. It was the same unregistered number again I named 'enemy'. (For whatever reason, don't ask why. I just felt like doing it.)
"By the way, this is Gray." Was I reading the text correctly or just hallucinating and imagining things here? I rubbed my eyes – once, twice, thrice.
My heart, I could feel it hammer against my chest. My jaw, I could feel it dropping down widely. My stomach, I could feel the butterflies flying around like crazy. My fingers were melting, my knees trembled. My phone loosened its way out of my hand but good thing I recovered immediately. And not another moment later, I begun scrolling down my contacts and called my best friend's number.
"Lucy! Oh my gosh!" I gasped after three consecutive ringing.
"You won't believe what just happened. Remember the stranger I was telling you about? The one who kept on texting me goodnights and a few quotes? It was him. It was him all along." I fervently informed her, not minding the silence over the other line.
"I can't believe it was Gray-sama. You were right about the things you've said about him. Luce, even if it was all just through text, I can still feel like he actually cared. Maybe you'll call me stupid or even corny but his words... it was over-whelming. Like, he knew what was going on with me." I paused for a while.
"Luce? Are you still there?" Then I heard a soft chuckle on the end of the line so I assumed she was still up.
"Anyway, Fine! You were right. I like him and I really do. But what am I compared to the other girls who craved for his attention. Maybe if he finds out about my true feelings, he would just laugh at me." I added with a tone of depression at the end of my speech.
"Do you think I should really tell him how much I like him?" She didn't answer but only responded a soft groan. It was almost eleven-thirty in the evening. I shouldn't be disturbing her but I could not help it. Something urged me to call Gray-sama or just even text him back. But something in me held back, maybe it was the logical side of me.
"Luce, I don't know but every time I'm depressed, his smile would easily wash all the sorrow away. It's his voice that I want to hear every now and then. His greetings and laughter, all enough to complete my day. Call me crazy but I think, I have fallen deeply in love with this man who I think doesn't even know my existence." Tragic.
And to my great surprise, it wasn't the voice I expected to hear. It was rather... masculine.
"W-who is... this?"
"Well, this is surely not Lucy." He giggled.
"But please don't hang up." As if he had guessed what I was about to do next. I tried to remember this voice. He sounds familiar, awkwardly and creepily familiar.
"I think you should tell him about your feelings because I know he feels the same."
"And how can you say that?"
"It's because I know myself too well."
Suddenly, I felt a pair of warm hands cover my eyes.
"Guess who." He whispered.
I brushed off his hands and appeared before me was a six-foot tall man in a pair of jeans and hoodies. He turned to carry my books as he took the umbrella from my hands. And as his eyes landed on mine, I remembered it well, the first night we've spent talking over the phone until dawn, the very night I confessed my love for him.
This was the first time we've seen each other after that little incident but there was no summer night that passed that he failed to contact me.
And as we walk to our classrooms with a thousand pairs of glaring eyes to embarrass me, this memory continued to linger along with the incessant pouring of the rain. I came to realize one thing... This was going to be a long school-year.