It Started with a Big Mac

Chapter 1

I couldn't believe him! What kind of a jerk is he? I huffed in anger and stalked through the crowd, ignoring all the curious eyes lingering on me. I was furious. After all this hard work of losing weight, wearing makeup, and acting like a total airhead, my ex-boyfriend cheated on me. Not only did I catch him in the act, but he even pointed out my "flaws" and gave excuses! Seriously?! I'm too "fat" to be with him? I'm too "fake" to be with him? I'm too "stupid" to be with him? What kind of excuses are those? Did he not notice that I lost weight just because he called me fat when we first started dating? I even acted like an airhead because he told me he felt too stupid to be next to me, and wore makeup to hide those "ugly bags" he "noticed" under my eyes! I did everything for him, and yet he goes and backstabs me!

I guess this is what I get for being a petty teenager in love. I changed who I was so that he could be happy! I did everything I could so that he would love me, so that he would cherish me forever, but no. Of course he had to go cheat on me and insult me. Pathetic. That's what I am. Pathetic. I growled in anger and noticed some people walking by jump at my sudden... show of emotion? Whatever. Serves them right for walking too close to me.

As I continued to stomp past the numerous people in the busy city sidewalks, my stomach growled. Loudly. The crowd around me paused to stare at me weirdly. My face flushed in embarrassment. Great, they heard that too. But come on, it isn't my fault that my stomach growled. I starved myself on purpose! I starved myself for the sole purpose of having my "boyfriend" think I was hot. If anyone, he's to blame for my hunger. Pretending not to care, I continued on, thinking about that idiot ex of mine. That is, until I came across a McDonald's. I stared at the golden arches carefully, thinking about the wonderful big macs, French fries, and chicken nuggets they had. Oh... but what about my figure? I worked hard to... appease... him... You know what? Screw him! I'm hungry! With that thought in mind, I marched towards McDonald's and threw the door open.

It was actually pretty empty. Only a couple people here and there. Standing behind the cashier with his back turned towards me was a guy around my age washing the grill. Seriously, I thought to myself, people these days would dye their hair any color. I snorted inwardly and went up to the cashier, eying the menu floating above us greedily. After I chose what to order, I leaned over the counter and tapped the guy's shoulder.

"Hey, uhh... I'm ready to order now."

The pinky jumped in surprise and turned towards me. "Oh! Sorry about that! What would you like to order?" He grinned cheekily at me, giving me a full view of his perfect, straight teeth. His onyx eyes also shined a bit when he smiled.

Shaking my head a bit, I answered, "I'll have a big mac, a serving of fries, 20 pieces of chicken nuggets and a soda please."

Pinky's eyes widened at my rather large order before smiling widely again. "Sure thing! That'll be $8.00. Did you forget to eat or something?" He asked.

I shrugged and handed him the money. "I guess you could say that. Let's just say I've decided to come off a diet."

"That's cool! For here or to go?"

I thought for a bit. There really wasn't any place where I needed to go. My father doesn't really care where I go, thank goodness for that, as long as I get back before my curfew. And, I could really use some company. "Here please!"

"Alrighty then, give me 5 minutes." Pinky promised before rushing around the kitchen.

I chuckled at his slightly childish behavior and found a seat that was relatively close to the cashier. This person didn't seem to be too bad. Sitting down, I pulled out my phone. I groaned. He just had to text me.

Lulu-chi! Come on baby, answer me. You know I don't like it when you -

Huffing in anger, I deleted his message and began to erase everything about him on my phone: I blocked his number, deleted him from my contacts list, and deleted all the pictures we took together. I was so done with him. That jerk brought me nothing but pain for the last two years. I leaned back in my seat and rubbed my eyes. The more I thought about him, the more I realized that the "love" that we had was nothing more than me obediently doing his every command. God, he had me whipped. But no more. Now, I'm making my own decisions. *Growl* ... After I eat.

"Here you go! One big mac, one serving of fries, 20 pieces of chicken mcnuggets and a large soda." A voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked up and saw Pinky laying out my tray of (delicious) food.

"Thanks! You didn't have to bring my food here."

"Don't mention it. And besides, you looked a little busy there being pissed at something."

I laughed. That was true.

Pinky slid into the chair in front of me. "So, wanna tell me what got you so upset?"

"Oh," I said nervously, "but don't you have to work?"

He looked around the nearly-empty restaurant and raised an eyebrow at me.

I giggled. "Alright. Fine. You win. Basically, I've been dating this guy for a couple years. I did everything that he asked me to: lost weight, wore makeup, and stuff like that. Tonight, we were supposed to go out on a date. But when I got to his house, I caught him cheating on me. And not only that, but he dared to insult me! He called me fat, stupid, and ugly! So yup! That's my story."

Pinky frowned angrily with a hint of a fire burning behind his eyes. "Oh, well you know what? That guy was a total douche. He doesn't deserve you! Look at yourself. You're beautiful. No one should ever tell you otherwise. Oh man, just thinking about what kind of guy he is makes me wanna go beat him up..." He continued to mutter darkly to himself.

My heart swelled at his previous words (about beauty). No guy had ever told me I was beautiful before.

We continued to chat for another hour and learned more about each other. He had a younger sister, and I was an only child. He was single, I was (now) single. We're both seniors in high school. I just moved to Magnolia from the next town over and will attend Fairy Tail High with him and his friends. He's working in McDonald's to save up for college. His pink hair is actually his natural hair color. And so much more.

A few people walked into the restaurant. "Oh, I gotta go take their orders down. I'll be right back." Pinky headed towards the register before abruptly stopping and turning towards me.

"Also," Pinky continued, "I get off in 15 minutes. Do you wanna hang out for a bit afterwards?" His dark eyes gleamed hopefully, and I just couldn't say no.

I glanced at my watch and realized that I still had a couple hours left before I needed to head home. Looking back up at Pinky, I smiled and nodded. "Sure! I'd love to."

He grinned happily. "Great! It's a date!" Pinky continued towards the register before talking over his shoulder, "Oh, and my name's Natsu by the way. Natsu Dragneel"

I smiled again. Born in summer. "I'm Lucy!"

And for the first time in years, I felt truly happy and loved.