STAR-CROSSED | NALU

02 | character development

"No, no. You've got it all wrong, Blondie."

Lucy groaned in frustration for the fifth time that morning. Her arms were trembling as she struggled to push the dumbbell upwards.

It was 10 AM the next day, and the middle of her first session with the personal trainer Aquarius had hired for her. She'd woken up early, fired up with determination.

Aquarius had told her the evening prior that her personal training sessions would begin at 9 AM the next day, so– after downing her morning coffee and putting on her sportswear– she enthusiastically made her way to The Carnation's gym.

What Aquarius had failed to tell her, however, was that her personal trainer was a complete jackass.

The man was as tough as iron, as she could see by the numerous tattoos drawn all over his arms. It seemed he thought she was too. Because he would not give her a break. He'd been bossing her around since the beginning of the session and hadn't let up since.

"And what exactly..." Lucy asked between exhausted pants. "Am I doing wrong?"

"Your form," Gajeel explained. "Your arms are facing outwards, it's causing unnecessary stress to your elbows. And your back. It's too relaxed. It would be best if you arched it to help you when you're lifting. It's exercise, not nap time."

She blinked. Her mind might have travelled elsewhere halfway through his lecture. She shook her head, regathering her thoughts.

"It's not my fault. It's the weight: it's too heavy," she complained.

"It's 4 kilograms, Blondie."

Lucy's left eye twitched in annoyance. "You know my name is Lucy, right?" she reminded him.

"Same difference," Gajeel shrugged. "When you can properly bench press, I'll call you Lucy."

She fought the urge to argue with him. He was bossy and rude, but he had taken the time out of his day to help her. She tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but she knew it was probably because he was being paid a fortune.

She placed the two weights on the ground, lifting herself off the bench and wiping the sweat off her brow.

"Let's move on," Gajeel picked her weights up and put them away. "Go get on the treadmill."

"What?!" Lucy protested. "Haven't we done enough today? Let's end it."

She said the last sentence at the same time the song, 'Let's Get It Started' by Black Eyed Peas, reached its chorus on the radio.

She sighed, remembering the promise she'd made to herself.

"Fine." She climbed onto the dreaded running machine and pressed the green button.

She had to admit, the gym session had left her feeling rather refreshed. She'd forgotten how nice it felt to start the day off by breaking a sweat. She was in a much better mood today than she was yesterday, and she had three times the energy.

She spotted a mirror hung on a door as she walked past the gym's locker rooms. She remembered Director Gildarts suggesting that they took the week to work on understanding and developing their characters. He mentioned that it would be helpful once they began acting on set.

She looked herself in the eye, imagining herself as Iris Featherwilt. It wasn't hard to relate to her, since they were already quite similar. Iris was the only heiress to a family fortune, much like herself, so her father kept her confined in her mansion.

Lucy didn't notice she was making a sad expression as she thought of Iris' past, or how it morphed into a sly smirk as she tried to capture her personality change upon becoming a spy.