The Playboy of Fairy Tail High

Truth and Lies

I turn around quickly and almost fall backwards. 

"Lisanna?" 

"Hi, Lucy." She looks down, looking shameful. As she rightfully should! 

"What do you think you're doing?" I stand up and put my hands on my hips. 

"Um, this is my room...?" She looks at me as if I'm clueless. 

"I know that. I mean with me. Why did you tell everyone my secret? People hate me now! They think I'm some shallow, rich, daddy's girl who looks down at people and can't do anything for herself!" 

Lisanna continues to look at the floor. She wipes her palms on her pants, "I'm sorry, Lucy. I didn't know they'd broadcast it over the announcements." 

"They who?!" I look down at the paper in my hands. "The same girls who are threatening you?" 

"What are you doing with that?!" Lisanna rushes up to me and tries to grab the paper. I move it out of her reach, but the momentum knocks us both to the floor. Next to us, Levy rolls over in her sleep. 

"Can we do this outside?" Lisanna asks. I glare at her, but exit the room. 

"What's happening, Lisanna? What are they talking about when they say your 'dirty little thoughts'?" I shove the paper in her arms. When she looks up at me, I'm surprised to see that she's on the verge of crying. 

"I'm sorry, Lucy!" She sinks down against the wall, and I sit next to her. "At first they approached me because I like Natsu, too. Well, because I was his first girlfriend, and they thought I could... help them, somehow. They thought I could get them closer to Natsu, but of course he never paid any attention to them. And then you showed up, and Natsu practically asked you out right away. Well, they didn't take that very well. They wanted me to talk to Natsu, see if there was anything wrong with him, if you were manipulating him somehow. But when that didn't work (and of course to them there's never anything wrong with Natsu) they wanted me to find out what was wrong with you. They already disliked you for being close to Natsu without trying. 

"What made things worse, though, was that after I joined their little 'friend group', I wanted out. I didn't want to keep spying on Natsu. But they found my notebook. See, I never really get along with many other people, and there are just some people who really bug me. But my first year here people would make fun of me because I went to school abroad before and I developed an accent. I didn't know things that were common knowledge here. And to deal with my anger towards those people, I wrote my feelings down in this notebook. But they have their hands on it! I had to do it, Lucy! I had to! I'm so sorry!" Lisanna puts her head in her hands and starts to sob, but I don't move. 

"You knew," I mutter. She looks up. "You knew how it feels to be made fun of, to be called out. I told you things were hard for me right now, but you still went and told those girls!" I rage. 

"I told you, I didn't know what they would do!" 

"You could've stuck up for me! You could have told us, and we would have helped you! We could have gotten your stupid book back! We could have worked together. But it's too late, Lisanna. Not to be cliche, but the damage is done." 

"Fine," Lisanna pouts. "I won't ask you to forgive me. Just... don't hold it over my head?" I stand up and offer her my hand. She takes it and stands up. "Thank you, Lucy, I-" 

I start to walk away, and wave her off over my shoulder. "We were all your friends, too. Not everyone made fun of you your first year, I'm sure. The same way Levy, Cana, Erza, Natsu, Gray, Mira, and Laxus don't make fun of me. And they're my friends." 

I walk out the doors to the girls' dormitory and leave campus to take a walk. I walk past a bunch of stores. After a while I find myself standing in front of Love and Lucky. Gazing into the window, I find Aries and Loke sitting together at a table, laughing. For reasons that don't involve marrying Loke, my heart clenches. They look so happy. For a fleeting moment, Natsu's face flashes in my mind. 

"Forget it," I whisper to myself. "I- I only thought of him because of what Levy-chan made me promise. Yeah..." Looking back up at Love and Lucky, I run away from the restaurant. After a little bit of jogging, I find myself at another unintentional destination. I don't know how I even found it, seeing as I was blindfolded the first time I came here... 

"The Rocket Palace." Closing my eyes, I take a step forward, expecting the place to be as empty as it was when I first came here. So I fall back, surprised, when I see a flicker of the lights. As I scramble to stand up so I can run away yet again, the bell on the door jingles, and someone walks out. 

"Luce? What are you doing here?" It's Natsu. I sigh in relief, and stop struggling to stand up. He walks over to me. 

"Sorry if I interrupted you, Natsu. I just needed a breath of fresh air. I was taking a walk when I stumbled across this place. This is where you took me on our first-" The word catches in my throat, unsure how Natsu would react if I actually said it. 

"Date? Yeah, I guess you could call it that," Natsu winks at me, and I roll my eyes. I feel a little color rise to my cheeks, and pray that Natsu doesn't notice. 

"I was going to say, 'our first time hanging out." 

"Sure you were." He laughs, and I lightly shove him on the shoulder. "Hey, do you want to come in?" 

"O-ok, thanks!" I take Natsu's extended hand and stand up. 

The Rocket Palace has the same effect on me as it did the first time. We spend a while playing a bunch of different games. I try Street Fighter again, and I'm somehow actually better than I was last time. One of the last games we play is air hockey. 

"You ready to be crushed?" Natsu jokingly trash talks. 

"You've got nothing on me!" I joke back. Grabbing the puck, I start the game. Natsu and I simultaneously reached levels of intensity that I have never reached before playing a game. 

"Nice save, Luce!" He would call out once in a while. It would bring my body to a slight stop, but then I'd be back in the game. 

"Thanks! Nice shot!" I'd reply. The game ends with a score of 5-7, with me as the victor. "YES!" I shout. 

"Nice game! You have to teach me some of those moves." Natsu smiles and gives me a high five. 

"Totally! Another time, though, I'm getting tired!" I watch as Natsu's smile grows, and I notice that I actually said 'another time'. 

"Of course. We should be getting back, actually. It's getting late, and tomorrow we still have classes." Natsu puts an arm around me, and I allow it. I lean into his body to support me. Because I'm so tired, I mean! 

"Yeah. Sometimes it feels like we never even have classes!" I look up at Natsu, who looks back down at me. 

"I know, it's weird, right? Anyways, let's go back to the school." He looks forward with a smile, and I find myself staring at his profile. 

I feel like I'm forgetting something... something important. Something I need to say, or ask... hmm.