MEANT TO BE | GRUVIA

5

"I'm going to assign you all partners for this project!" Mr. Young, the history teacher called out. Juvia found it weird that he last name was young, when he was actually very old. She figured he had to be at least sixty, which was like a dinosaur, in her mind.

Juvia didn't realize she zoned out. All she heard was her name, then saw everyone get up and move around.

"You weren't paying attention," Gray said. He pulled a chair over to Juvia's desk. He set a paper down that had a bunch of writing on it.

"I heard him say something about a project," she admitted.

"We are going to start learning about Italy, so we all have to pick a topic to present," Gray explained. "We're partners, just in case you missed that."

"Fantastic," she said. She rested her head in her hand and started twirling her pen. "What's our topic?"

"You were the one that was in Rome, so what was most interesting? What made it different then most places?"

Juvia thought a moment. She remembered the humid climate, the breezy nights, the misty mornings, and the fresh, crisp air. Despite her hair sticking up, she loved the weather there. After her two years there, she started to care less about her hair.

"How about the education system?" she asked. "I learned a lot more than I should have in two years. You don't take tests, and everything is at your own pace."

"Alright, let's go with that." Gray scribbled their topic on a small piece of paper and took it up to Mr. Young. He nodded in approval and typed their topic into the computer.

"Come, on!" Natsu yelled. "Lisanna and I were going to do that!" He held up his own paper, proving his point.

"You like food, right?" Juvia asked. Natsu nodded. "You should research the food. They have really great seafood. I've never tasted anything like the spices they use. I bet you could even find a few recipes to try."

"That's a great idea! Thanks, Juviii~!" Natsu said happily. He told the teacher his topics then ran back over to Lisanna.

"Juvia, have you been to Rome?" Mr. Young asked the blunette. She nodded. "You don't look Italian."

"I'm from Japan," Juvia said. She saw he interested look in her teacher's eyes.

"Where else have you been?"

In the end, Juvia and Gray didn't get to work on their project at all. She spent the whole class period telling Mr. Young about her travels. Gray was starting to think that Juvia was smarter than she was acting. She talked with better grammar than most of the seniors, which really put out a red flag. She even knew the history of every country she visited, which was a lot. She said after she left Rome, she didn't stay in one place longer than a week.

Juvia was really glad lunch came after history. After her PE class the period before, she could use a break. She was tired physically and mentally.

"Did you guys know that Juvia is actually smart?!" Natsu asked his friends happily. Juvia rolled her eye and took a drink of her water.

"Of course she's smart," David said. "We share the same blood, after all."

"Don't forget where you got that blood," Jennifer said, appearing behind David. She had her forearms in his shoulders, and she was leaning over him.

"What's up, Miss Waters?" Loke asked. He had that sparkle in his eyes. Everyone thought it was creepy that he had his eyes on the gym teacher, but that didn't stop him from trying.