The Playboy of Fairy Tail High

Bed rest and Blackmailing

I pull out my spare key to Levy's rom and gently open the door.

"Hi Lu-chan," Levy croaks. She's lying in bed, tucked all the way in. The blinds are pulled shut, only letting in a little bit of sunlight, which seems to be the only light source on so far. There's a box of tissues next to Levy's head, and a trashcan next to her bed half-way filled with used tissues.

"Levy-chan! How are you feeling?" I kneel by her bedside and stroke her hair. Her nose is bright red and irritated.

"My head hurts, my nose is running, and I have a slight fever." She grins weakly at me. "I probably feel worse than it is."

"Do you think you'll be ok by the time of the dance?" I ask.

"I *cough* don't know. Gajeel actually said he wasn't feeling well either, so he won't be going alone. Maybe I caught something from him... A cold?"

"That's it," I mockingly put my hands on my hips and shake a finger at her. "No more kissing, the two of you!" Levy lightly laughs at that.

"So what's this Cana said about a date?" Levy smiles up at me. Answering my unasked question, she picks up her phone, which was resting by her bedside. "Cana texted me. They really met Loke?"

"They gave him their numbers," I nod, smiling.

"Baka... Don't let Jellal or Bacchus hear," she jokes.

I laugh, "yeah, well. Loke wanted to take me to the Halloween dance."

"But you said no." I nod, "That's my girl," Levy smiles before closing her eyes.

"But I told him I already have a date!" Her eyes shoot open at that. "What am I supposed to do?" I wail into Levy's blankets.

"That's easy." I look up at Levy. "You get a date."

"Who?" I wait until she finishes blowing her nose. We make eye contact, before she breaks it off with a laugh.

"Natsu, duh!"

"Hmph. I happen to remember a certain blunette discouraging any kind of fraternizing with that particular pinkette." I sit back on my heels.

"Yeah well, that was before I knew he was a person. That was before you started spending time with him - despite my aversion - and changed him. Lu-chan, you changed Natsu."

"What are you talking about?" I hold my hands up in front of my face, as if to defend myself from the words Levy says.

"Ever since that first 'date' he took you on, he hasn't had a girlfriend. He doesn't flirt like he used to, he doesn't ignore people like he used to. He *cough* isn't as afraid of creating human connections as he used to be. I think you should ask him to the dance."

"Oh, uh. Ok. But just to fool Loke, right?" I hear my voice strain a little. I look at Levy, who seems a little frustrated.

She squeezes the life out of a tissue before replying, "sure, fine, whatever. Just promise me you'll ask him?" I look down at my sick friend and stroke her hair again.

"Ok. I promise."

"Good." As Levy sinks back into her pillow and falls asleep, I stand up and stretch. Looking around the room, I see Levy's large bookcase. I slowly tiptoe over to it and browse. At the beginning of the year Levy already told me I could borrow whatever book I wanted from her, as long as I returned it, and she got to read each new installment of my story. I might as well just hire her as my editor.

"Oh, Levy-chan! You have this book?" I whisper to myself. In the process of pulling out a book, I accidentally knock over a snow globe that was on the desk. Somehow, the snow globe did not break, but it did roll off.

"No!" I whisper.

I immediately drop down to my knees and look for it. It's not under the desk, the bookshelf, or in the trash. Crawling on my hands and knees, I trespass into the area that used to be Lisanna's. Her side looks relatively untouched. Except for one little snowglobe under her bed. I reach out with my arm and feel around for it. Placing my hand on something round, I grab it, but it sinks under my hand like crumpled paper. My curiosity gets the better of me. Doing some reconnaissance myself, I think. Sitting up, I pull the paper out and flatten it.

LISANNA

Her name is written in big letters at the top in such a sinister way that I doubt she wrote it herself.

You have three days to come up with something good, or we will spill your dirty little thoughts on everyone at school.

Signed, Your Dearest Friend

"What the hell?!" I burst out loud. Somehow, thankfully, Levy does not wake up. I stay on the floor, crouched over the dirty, little secret I found. "Blackmailing? Someone must really hate Lisanna..."

Suddenly, I hear the creak of a door opening, and hear a voice behind me.

"Or you."