[Third Person POV]
Present day,
High School.
.
The pick-up truck stopped near the gateways, and Juvia stepped out. This place might seem like a film studio to some, with the humongous stones splayed all over the lawn. The wallpapers had faded to the caustic yellow of leviathan teeth; a touch of antiquity, that's what the artist had meant to present. But pals, this is not for the shoot. But an institution to serve, with a pinch of extravagance to flaunt. Scribbled on the rich black acrylic wall was "Fiore's heart and art of magic." Juvia looked at it, then peeped back at the grinning face of the driver before snickering. "Yhup. I feel much better! Hopefully, I can fill in for the hostel this year. I shouldn't be wired."
Magnolia Autumn High. As she rounded across the lotus ponds with the pointed heels of her shoes stabbing the pebbles on the path, she wondered why this place got named that way. Shouldn't it be named after its creators, the Fullbuster-Vastias? Or the city of Magnolia? Hmm. That's a what-if for another day. "Ahaha hha." Juvia giggled when a plump lemon toad spang out of one of the ponds to sit on the dip atop her backpack. "marom, marom, marom, marom."
"Ew. It's the first time I heard that. That's not how a frog sounds." Juvia threw her head back to look at the source of "Ew." Because that's the only thing that registered inside her brain. But as Juvia had expected, it wasn't some snobby madam? (There are quite a lot of them around here. This place, is cursed with them forever. Juvia is sorry, not sorry, sorry.)
No, it was not.
"Cana-san!" It was her Bonny Queen! Juvia's billowy white skirt blew like bubblegum when she pivoted on her heels. She sprinted to her best friend and beamed. Cana peered down at the cute shortie before her own philtrum stretched like a bow for a huge smirk.
"Daydreaming again, Juves?"
"Nuh. Nuh." Juvia's eyes fluffed shut, waving an arm behind her head to flip her hair. "I just saw a pretty frog." Further to their left, the cafeteria bustled with staff and students alike. The taller girl recognised a few of her previous dormmates, sweaty in their joggers and tracksuits, retreating to their rooms after the morning walk, a hurried crunch of leaves melting into the backdrop.
Two bright sneakers came to a noisy halt in front of them just as they were about to carry on with their loafing traik. "Huh?" Cana's judgemental eyes travelled up from the shoes to meet a sickening (for her) shade of pink.
"It's him." Juvia's hushed, high-pitched voice was for Cana's ears only. However, Natsu heard it too (it was high-pitched nonetheless.) "The bad boy." She had been reading so many romantic fics these days.
"Hey, Jessica."
As soon as he said that, Juvia's jaw tightened. Immediately, she pinned him with her orbs, albeit having long stopped complaining.
"You guys stood me up yesterday." Even as Cana's eyebrows met the roof of her forehead, the lad maintained an indifferent expression on his face. Save for the vein blooming on his neck.
Left, right and centre, pupils in dark pants, mottled, fluorescent cardigans and checkered skirts, either too short or too lengthy, skipped past them. The weird triad received furtive glances few and far between. Cana folded her arms with a shake of her head. "Your highness, it was not a date."
The pink-haired boy had cut his hair. It was now spiky. Juvia would reluctantly agree that it smelled nice, like roses. However, even if it was so early in the morning, Natsu's shirt had somehow gotten itself successfully dishevelled. "I knocked."
"Juves and I were sleeping."
"I had knocked loud." Natsu rolled his eyes.
"Together." If that wasn't enough for the other to put two and two together, Cana cared to elaborate. "Sleeping together. Juvia is my Boo. Not only that, but she's my fuck buddy alike."
Natsu froze in his tracks, remaining the same for 60 seconds too long. Before Cana got a chance to knock him out of his reverie, he gathered himself together right away.
"Too many details." He grumbled, then simpered. "But she's still available." He must've done something monumentally benevolent in his previous life, for Juvia, long lost somewhere in her dreamland, didn't seem to be descending back to earth for a while. Praise the goddam lord Mavis.
Juvia's companion scrunched her nose, her chocolate gaze narrowing even more. "The fuck do you mean by that." As foreseen.
Right then, she saw Juvia colliding with a student on the way, taking both her and the other slamming to the ground. Juvia is greatly studious, an overthinking nerd. Be as it may, Juvia wasn't any less scatterbrained.
Silently grimacing at the scene on the abutting footpath, Cana pinched her eyes closed. "You clumsy knucklehead. Don't break yourself up before the year begins!" The brunette all but screamed.
"H-hai." Arms flailing, the bluenette reached for all the papers that had scattered off, rocketing from the open file that belonged to the stranger. Dusting off the dirt smearing her knees, Juvia apologised to the person who had fallen beside her, whose black, gelled-back hair shimmered like a raven's feather. Her eyes tingled in a phantom feeling of familiarity, taking a dekko at the guy to her opposite.
"Do I know you, Miss?" His crooked smirk, heavy eyelids, and strong cheekbones hit home hard.
"Uahm. I don't think so." Startled, she bent her waist in a 90-degree bow to let her waterfall of long hair fall over her face, concealing it. Juvia's mouth went dry. At once, she put a foot behind to scoot away already from whatever had bothered her mind's equilibrium. What did she do for this disaster to present itself to her just when she thought she could get away with living her life like a regular slap-happy lassie?
In favour of letting the man relish quite a few unwarranted seconds to connect the dots, the bluenette swiftly speed-walked to the nearest covering. Over and above, reminisce her catastrophic past self, which may further lead to him trying to build up an awkward conversation between them, or worse, asking her about her class. Is he a transfer student? Why would he come all the way to Magnolia from a town up the north and now?
"Why is Jane hiding behind a tree? Jane's friend had gone off searching for Jane." The jock, Natsu, greeted her slumped up against another tree, right next to the one she had chosen to lurk. "Is Jane chickening out because she saw a smexy guy? That's ice princess. We're roommates." Then and there, it dawned on Juvia that this strawberry-brained blockhead might possibly become a flaming-pain-in-her-arse.
.
Author's Note:
I'm very satisfied with my scratchings-on-the-paper. papaaaay. Mwah.
