The Magic of Three

Chapter 16

Before opening the front door, Juvia said a small prayer that all would go well and that Gray wouldn't start spooning around or asking too many questions. She was sure that if he ever found out she was half witch then that would be the end of their friendship and she's go right back to being the lonely and gloomy freak. She'd rather die than ever go back to that.

"Hi Gray." She greeted him with a smile when she could finally bring herself to open the door.

"Hi." He waved to her. "Ready to go?"

"Almost, I just have to wait for my cousins."

"Your cousins?" He inquired.

"Yes! Would you like to meet them?"

She invited him inside and escorted him into the kitchen where they stood.

"Gray these are my cousins Erza and Lucy. They'll be staying here with me for the school year. They're from Europe."

An awful tightness was already forming inside Juvia's throat and in her belly and in her chest. She wondered if this could be what a heart attack feels like. For all she knew she could end up unconscious on the floor in seconds flat, her blood boiling, her brain fried. God, she hated lying to Gray. She hated lying to anyone she cared about. It made her feel like she was betraying them in someway.

When Gray first saw Lucy and Erza, he was surprised by how very little resemblance the girls had to Juvia or each other. Sure, all three were equally pretty but that was the only thing he could find similar between them. Their hair, their skin, their eyes, their faces, completely different in every way. Then again, he barely looked anything at all like his uncle Gildarts or his cousin Cana.

"Hi. Nice to meet you two." Gray said, holding out his hand to shake.

Erza and Lucy both flashed him a smile. Erza's was platonic and respectful, the kind that someone would practice making just before a job interview. Lucy's of course was her usual coquettish like smirk that she gave every boy she met. The one that would cause every male specimen to just drop everything and worship her. Erza counted in her head how long it would take for this poor sap would just fall at Lucy's feet and propose marriage. But to her and Lucy's surprise, he did no such thing.

"Well hello." Lucy spoke to him in her flirty voice. The two shook hands and she pulled his closer. "Mind if I read your hand lines?"

"Read my what?"

Juvia thought that she would have a conniption right then and there.

"I'm into astrology." Lucy explained. "You know zodiacs, fortune telling, palm reading, that sort of thing."

"Oh you don't say." Gray said, getting intrigued. "My folks are kind of into that. I'm half gypsy, you know."

"Interesting." Lucy batted her eyes at him. "So can I read your hand lines?"

"I...I guess."

Lcuy batted her eyes at him again and looked down at his hand, running her finger over the palm in an almost sensual way. Erza face-palmed, Juvia couldn't figure out if she was horrified or jealous. Gray just stood there, confused and wondering how long this girl would be doing this.

"Wow, fascinating lines." She said truthfully. "They say that you have a dark secret and a very subtle charm. Quite the rare thing to find in a person. I'd love to uncover what you're hiding."

"May I have my hand back please?" Gray asked, not at all aroused by the blond's tactics at flirtation.

"Oh..." Lucy said, once again surprised by his reaction. "Sure."