Fairytale | Jerza | AU

10. Unfateful Encounter Part 1.

After School

Erza's POV:

     Lucy, Juvia, Levy and Wendy were waiting for me at the entrance. As I walked closer, I could hear them talking about places around the city, or something like that. When I reached close to them, Lucy turned towards me and announced, "Erza, tomorrow we are going to hang out. All of us girls!"

     "Wait, what?" I asked, confused. Lucy elaborated, "We girls are gonna hang out tomorrow. Have some time off, you know. Enjoy. And mainly, welcome you here officially." "Where are we going to go?" I asked.

     Lucy gave me a wink and said, "It's gonna be a secret! Meet us with Juvia at the Library at 9. We will go from there!"

     I nodded. We started walking home. 'So.. I am going to hang out with them, huh? I made some new friends, mom....Friends...' Juvia and I parted from the rest and strolled down our usual way.
We didn't talk much. We said goodbye when we reached our homes, that was all.

     I opened the door and walked in. I closed the door with my leg and put my bag onto the sofa, walking to the bedroom. I changed into some comfortable clothes and came out into the living room. I plopped down on the sofa and pulled books out of my bag.

     'No homework here.. none here... There's an essay for English... That's all... Let's get the essay done...' I completed the essay in about an hour and put it in my bag. I put my bag in the bedroom and went to the kitchen. I made myself some dinner and ate it while reading a book.

Morning

Erza's POV:

     I got up early and dressed up. A white top and blue jeans. I went down to the kitchen and had my breakfast. Egg and toast. Beep, beep. I saw a message from Juvia.

     Let's leave by 8:45.

    I took a look at the time. '8:30 am..'  There was another message from Juvia. I clicked on it.

     Juvia will be waiting infront of Juvia's house.

     I swallowed the last piece of my toast and placed the plate in the kitchen sink. I washed my hands and went into the living room.

     I took  my phone and wallet, stuffed them into my pockets and left for Juvia's. Locking the house, I only walked a few steps when I saw Juvia come out of her house. I called her out, "Hey Juvia!"

     She turned her head in my direction and smiled, "Hello Erza." We silently started walking towards the library. Juvia said, "Juvia is happy you could join us. It's going to be so much fun with you there!" She smiled again. Her cheerfulness was infectious. I started smiling with her too. I said, "I am glad I could join you. I am really lucky to have made such nice friends."

     Juvia blushed, flattered. She said, "Th-thank you Erza.." We reached the Library. Lucy and Levy were already there, waiting. We joined them and waited for Wendy. Lucy said, "Once Wendy comes, I will tell you the plan for today." She winked. Something in my mind told me that the wink didn't mean good.

     Wendy came along in a few minutes and joined us. She said, "Good morning everyone." Lucy spoke, not paying attention to her greeting, "Now that you are here, Wendy, let's hear the plan for today. First.. we are gonna go to the amusement park. Have some fun. We will eat something for lunch there. Then we will go shopping. And in the evening, the beach. How does that sound?"

     "Good to go!" Levy said cheerfully. I nodded in agreement. We left for the amusement park, happily chatting along the way.

After about 20 minutes

Erza's POV:

     We reached the amusement park in what felt like no time. We bought tickets and entered the park. It was huge and beautiful. The park was bustling with crowds going in different ways. We could hear excited screams and happy voices all around us.

     We all proceeded towards the rides, discussing excitedly about which ones to go on. Finally, we decided that we will start with the Ferris Wheel. We walked towards the towering structure, smiling.

     Surprisingly, there were less people than we expected. We were almost at the start of the line and got in easily when the empty coaches came. As we slowly moved higher in the air, the whole park was visible. The view was not only limited to the park, but also to the city that laid beyond.

     It was a breathtaking sight. Buildings and structures in the park were looking small already. Tiny, Lilliputian people were scattered here and there throughout the park. I heard a loud click of a camera shutter, and broke out of my trance.

     I turned my head to locate the origin of the sound. Lucy was enthusiastically taking photos of the beautiful view that was infront of us. As we reached the top, Wendy and Levy pointed out some places in the city.

     "Oh, look, there's the bell tower!" Wendy said, excitement in her voice. "Yes! And there is the Library! You can see it's too from here!" Levy added. Lucy joined them, pointing out some other places which I didn't recognise. The air was filled with warmth and laughter as we began the descent.

     We slowly reached the ground, and quickly got off, ready to ride the roller coaster. We navigated through the map that we got from the counter and made out way to the Roller Coaster. Unfortunately, our luck seemed to have run out as we looked at the huge line infront of it.

     Despite the line, Lucy said, "We should go and have a ride in the Roller Coaster! I am sure the ride will be worth the wait." The rest agreed and we joined the line.

     After about 15 minutes, finally we had our turn. We took seats in the Roller Coaster and put on the safety belts. An attendant came to check that we were safely locked into our seats and then we were off.

     The Roller Coaster started slowly, steadily gaining speed and going up a climb. As we reached the top, time seemed to have slowed down. But even before we could brace ourselves for what was to come, the Roller Coaster went down at full speed, gaining screams and howls from the riders.

     Juvia, who was seated next to me was screaming Gray's name at the top of her voice, and I was torn between laughing at that and screaming for my life. The ride slowed down considerably as we took a few turns and then came the last part of the ride - the loop.

     The loop was one of the major reasons why this ride was so popular. It was a full 360° turn, almost at the end of the ride and after a couple of turns, the ride was over.

     As the loop neared us, we braced ourselves. The speed was slowly increasing, and that did not help with the nerves. The speed kept increasing till we reached the loop and suddenly all sense of balance and gravity was lost.

     It didn't last for more than a moment but we did not fail to scream at the top of our voices as it happened. The ride was thundering through the last couple of turns, slowing down steadily. It finally stopped at the platform, from where we had left.

     We got out of the Roller Coaster, shaking with adrenaline, which was surging through our bodies. As we left the site for another ride, we had still not stopped shaking when Lucy asked, "Who's in for another go?"

     I stared at her incredulously as she looked at us expectantly. Levy and Juvia put their hands up, weak, but eager smiles tugging at their lips. Lucy looked at the not so crowded line infront of the Roller Coaster, which we would have certainly appreciated earlier, and said, "Then let's go!"

     Me and Wendy chose to stay here as the other three girls made their way to the Roller Coaster. We made our way to a nearby bench and took seats. The crowd near the Roller Coaster had thinned now, for some mysterious reason.

     I scanned our surroundings as we waited for Lucy, Levy and Juvia to come back. A figure slowly walked towards the bench and stood beside it. Out of curiosity, I looked up and my breath hitched.

     I stared at the figure for what felt like a long time. My insides boiled with anger and before I could stop myself, I blurted, with all the disgust and anger that I could muster, "You?!"